In the 1980s, hardcore punk was among the hardest, heaviest, and most intense genres in this arm of the galaxy. It was very heavy with testosterone. Speaking generally, the music was angry, confrontational, and anti-establishment. Sometimes anti-everything. The bands took no prisoners, and neither did audiences. Gigs could be very intense, places where rage was burned off with slam dancing, mosh pits, circle pits, crowd surfing, and stage diving that looked like an army battalion heading over a cliff at full speed. We had bands like Black Flag, Circle Jerks, Agnostic Front, the Cro-Mags, and Bad Brains. But the scene also had room for Hüsker Dü, a band from Minneapolis that introduced more melody into hardcore. And D.C. gave us Minor Threat, who, while still maintaining that hardcore spirit, lived a drug-free and alcohol-free lifestyle that they called “straight edge.” Sometime in the late ’80s, people plugged into the hardcore punk subculture started talking about a new flavour that grew out of whatever Hüsker Dü and Minor Threat were having. There were groups like Rites of Spring, Embrace, and Fugazi. Their music was still loud, hard, and often very fast, but there was something different about the lyrics… They were personal, honest, and even vulnerable… Things could get screamy, but there was no mistaking the emotion that came through… When Gen X entered their coming-of-age years in the 1990s, this emotional punk found itself rippling through the alternative nation… Its DNA showed up in bands like Nirvana and Weezer, while newer groups such as Sunny Day Real Estate and Jawbreaker stayed closer to the emotional punk playbook while also incorporating some of the sensibilities of ’90s indie rock. A couple of parts of North America really embraced this. The Midwest of the U.S. and the Northeast: New York, New Jersey, and parts of New England. By the end of the decade, emo—we’d already been calling it that for a while—started experiencing wider success. Jimmy Eat World, Alkaline Trio, Dashboard Confessional, Saves the Day. This set the stage for the main event: the emo explosion of the early aughts. And while many of the original bands continue to do their thing, one group in particular is doing better than ever. They took a genre built in tiny clubs and scaled it to stadiums. Yes, I’m talking about My Chemical Romance. But it wasn’t eas. This is a band with a career filled with trauma. Here are ten of them. Songs heard on this show (all by My Chemical Romance)

• • Skylines and Turnstiles

• • Helena

• • I’m Not Okay (I Promise)

• • Famous Last Words

• • Welcome to the Black Parade

• • The Only Hope for Me is You

• • Na Na Na (Na Na Na Na Na Na Na Na Na)

• • Boy Division

• • Fake Your Death

• • Foundations of Decay

This is Eric Wilhite’s playlist. The Ongoing History of New Music can be heard on these stations:

• • 102.1 The Edge/Toronto – Sunday night at 7pm

• • Q107/Toronto – Sunday night at 9pm

• • Live 88-5/Ottawa – Saturdays at 9am and Sundays at 6pm

• • 107.5 Dave-FM/Kitchener – Sunday nights at 11pm

• • FM96/London – Sunday nights at 8pm

• • Power 97/Winnipeg – Sunday nights at 10am and 10pm

• • 107-3 The Edge/Calgary – Sundays at 10am and 10pm

• • Sonic 102.9/Edmonton – Sunday at 8am and 8pm

• • The Zone/Victoria – Sunday at 9am and 9pm

• • The Fox/Vancouver – Sundays at 10am and 10pm

• • The Goat Network/Interior BC

• • WAPS/WKTL The Summit/Arkon, Canton, Cleveland, Youngstown – Mon-Fri at 9pm

 

© 2026 Global News, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.

When System of a Down was working on the Toxicity album, there was a lot of tension within the group, tension that led to actual fistfights. One night in the studio, drummer John Dolmayan punched guitarist Daron Malakian. He responded by slamming Dolmayan with a mic stand. Both of them ended up in the same emergency ward that night, getting stitched up next to each other.

When the album came out in September 2004, the band had a free concert planned for a parking lot in Hollywood. They figured about a thousand people would show up. Instead, the gig attracted 10,000 people. When fire marshals cancelled the gig, there was a riot. The crowd rushed the stage and destroyed about $30,000 worth of gear. Cops had to fire on the crowd with rubber bullets. Six people were arrested.

And while the gig was a disaster, it made System of a Down more famous than ever.

© 2026 Corus Radio, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.

Queens of the Stone Age have a pretty distinctive sound. How did Josh Homme’s writing style develop? Polka music.

Josh grew up in Palm Desert, California, a place he said didn’t offer a lot in terms of guitar teachers. The best he could do was a guy named Tom Polonsky whose specialty was polka music. Young Josh learned the guitar through playing those kinds of tunes over the course of two years’ worth of lessons.

Now that you know that, go back and listen to some Queens of the Stone Age Music, especially the song “No One Knows.” If you deconstruct that track down to its very essence, you can hear the distinctive bounce of a polka. This isn’t the only Queens song that feels this way.

Josh says that polka music is so ingrained in him that the polka feel keeps showing up in his songwriting as a default, whether he wants it to or not.

© 2026 Corus Radio, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.

West Vancouver-Sea to Sky is a provincial riding located in the region. This riding is currently represented by MLA who first took office in . collected votes, winning per cent of the vote in the 2024 B.C. provincial election.

Just two years after the previous election, B.C. residents have cast their vote in the 2026 provincial election.

BC NDP leader David Eby called a snap election in September, making the provincial election day one week after the municipal elections.

Voters will elect 93 Members of the Legislative Assembly to serve in the 44th B.C. Parliament.

B.C. has 93 seats and 47 are needed for a majority.

© 2026 Global News, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.

West Vancouver-Capilano is a provincial riding located in the region. This riding is currently represented by MLA who first took office in . collected votes, winning per cent of the vote in the 2024 B.C. provincial election.

Just two years after the previous election, B.C. residents have cast their vote in the 2026 provincial election.

BC NDP leader David Eby called a snap election in September, making the provincial election day one week after the municipal elections.

Voters will elect 93 Members of the Legislative Assembly to serve in the 44th B.C. Parliament.

B.C. has 93 seats and 47 are needed for a majority.

© 2026 Global News, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.

West Kelowna-Peachland is a provincial riding located in the region. This riding is currently represented by MLA who first took office in . collected votes, winning per cent of the vote in the 2024 B.C. provincial election.

Just two years after the previous election, B.C. residents have cast their vote in the 2026 provincial election.

BC NDP leader David Eby called a snap election in September, making the provincial election day one week after the municipal elections.

Voters will elect 93 Members of the Legislative Assembly to serve in the 44th B.C. Parliament.

B.C. has 93 seats and 47 are needed for a majority.

© 2026 Global News, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.

Victoria-Swan Lake is a provincial riding located in the region. This riding is currently represented by MLA who first took office in . collected votes, winning per cent of the vote in the 2024 B.C. provincial election.

Just two years after the previous election, B.C. residents have cast their vote in the 2026 provincial election.

BC NDP leader David Eby called a snap election in September, making the provincial election day one week after the municipal elections.

Voters will elect 93 Members of the Legislative Assembly to serve in the 44th B.C. Parliament.

B.C. has 93 seats and 47 are needed for a majority.

© 2026 Global News, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.

Victoria-Beacon Hill is a provincial riding located in the region. This riding is currently represented by MLA who first took office in . collected votes, winning per cent of the vote in the 2024 B.C. provincial election.

Just two years after the previous election, B.C. residents have cast their vote in the 2026 provincial election.

BC NDP leader David Eby called a snap election in September, making the provincial election day one week after the municipal elections.

Voters will elect 93 Members of the Legislative Assembly to serve in the 44th B.C. Parliament.

B.C. has 93 seats and 47 are needed for a majority.

© 2026 Global News, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.

Vernon-Lumby is a provincial riding located in the region. This riding is currently represented by MLA who first took office in . collected votes, winning per cent of the vote in the 2024 B.C. provincial election.

Just two years after the previous election, B.C. residents have cast their vote in the 2026 provincial election.

BC NDP leader David Eby called a snap election in September, making the provincial election day one week after the municipal elections.

Voters will elect 93 Members of the Legislative Assembly to serve in the 44th B.C. Parliament.

B.C. has 93 seats and 47 are needed for a majority.

© 2026 Global News, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.

Vancouver-Yaletown is a provincial riding located in the region. This riding is currently represented by MLA who first took office in . collected votes, winning per cent of the vote in the 2024 B.C. provincial election.

Just two years after the previous election, B.C. residents have cast their vote in the 2026 provincial election.

BC NDP leader David Eby called a snap election in September, making the provincial election day one week after the municipal elections.

Voters will elect 93 Members of the Legislative Assembly to serve in the 44th B.C. Parliament.

B.C. has 93 seats and 47 are needed for a majority.

© 2026 Global News, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.