![\"\"](\"http:\/\/www.johnborra.com\/images\/cleave%20page\/the-sharks.jpg\")
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I was looking for posters of Toronto bands in the 80s when this picture caught my eye and slowly something shocking came into focus – I know all of them.<\/p>\n
The Sharks – a band I never saw but had a poster in my Winnipeg bedroom as a teenager. The poster was just a cartoon shark dancing – The Sharks and The Basics at the Palais Royal. My older brother Ronnie played in The Basics<\/a>. I assumed The Basics were destined for greatness because Ronnie was in it. Presumably The Sharks were an unknown opening act. I think now it was the other way round. The Sharks had some notoriety and eventually Sherry had the hit as a solo artist with “I Want You Back”.<\/p>\n I’ve known all four members but I never saw any of them this young. I knew the least about Sherry, met her just once when I was trying to sell my place near Hagersville. One of the prospective buyers was a woman who brought her friend, Sherry. We started to discuss the area, the cost, what we did for a living yada yada,\u00a0 I volunteered that I was in the music business. The woman pointed at her friend and said to me in a proud whisper “She’s won a Juno!” I looked more closely and realized her friend was Sherry Keane. I thought about responding “I’ve won Junos too, in fact I have 5” but I could tell it was one of those situations where I would seem like a crazy person. Like hearing a Blue Rodeo song while standing in line at the Hagersville IGA with my groceries.<\/p>\n “That’s me playing the organ”, I might say to the check out girl but she would probably call Delbert, 17 yr old the bagging boy to escort me and my delusions from the premises.<\/p>\n Bazil and Cleave are on the left and right in the picture. I never saw either of them so young. That’s what was so weird when I found the picture and something kept me looking and wondering until I realized …that’s Cleave!<\/p>\n Pretty miffed on my way to the first rehearsal, Greg bragged about Cleave’s infamy having been the drummer in the Battered Wives. I saw the Battered Wives at the Playhouse in Winnipeg in the 70s when I was 17 open for Elvis Costello in Winnipeg. I thought they were assholes. So this is punk rock, spitting at the audience.<\/p>\n Note to self: any assumption you make about someone you don’t know might be wrong. Cleave was the best thing about Blue Rodeo.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"![\"me](\"http:\/\/www.bobwiseman.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/12\/me-and-cleave.jpg\")
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