FROM THE COLLECTION // A Super Rare Piece of Hogan’s Alley Musical History

Concert poster circa 1960. Photo courtesy of Rob Frith.

FROM THE COLLECTION aims to introduce readers to the inventories of local art galleries, museums and other cultural institutions, not via official exhibition notes but by way of the people that help manage and maintain the collections themselves.

“I love this poster because of the historical value…I gave a copy to Tommy Chong and he didn’t even have a copy.”

For this edition of From the Collection, Rob Frith, owner of Main Street institution Neptoon Records (which celebrated its 40th anniversary earlier this year), shares a piece of Vancouver’s musical history…

“This band [the Calgary Shades] was originally from Edmonton but moved to Calgary. They played shows in Calgary that were so wild, they were asked to leave the city. They came to Vancouver and played The Moon Glow Cabaret. The Moon Glow was a club in the area in east Vancouver known as Hogan’s Alley. The guitar player on the front right hand side is Tommy Chong of Cheech and Chong fame.

“I love this poster because of the historical value. An early Canadian band, an amazing photo and it’s from a small venue that I’ve never seen another poster from. I gave a copy to Tommy Chong and he didn’t even have a copy.”


There are 2 comments

  1. Soon they would become Little Daddy & the Bachelors and later form the backbone of Bobby Taylor & the Vancouvers. The name that came between those two will not be mentioned here but it was Tommy’s idea.