Michael Dent (drums)
Just Evan (bass, vocals)
Eddy Raw (guitar)
Andy Ham (2nd guitar)
Dent was a Grade 10 student attending a suburban Don Mills junior high school back in 1976. He was hanging out in clubs in downtown Toronto, under age, when he spotted a poster for a gig by The Dishes.
Already a household word as one of the new breed of DIY alternative acts on Queen Street, Dent went to see The Dishes at The Beverley Tavern. After meeting the band, he gravitated to Steven Davey because he loved the drums. Dent would help Davey put up Dishes posters and would hang out at Davey’s apartment to digest the newest batch of British imported records such as Chris Spedding, Deaf School, Alex Harvey, and the Sex Pistols.
Eddie Raw (Mohammed), Just Evan (Evan Webber), and Andy Ham were Dent's buddies from school but were a year younger and a grade behind. Evan’s brother, Mark, and his pals had a rehearsal space set up in their parents home across from the junior high school. Dent turned his buddies onto punk rock including his new love for The Ramones and Toronto's Diodes which everyone liked and soon decided to form a band. They immediately started writing their own songs, with Dent handling most of the lyrics while the music was handled by Raw and Evan.
Originally they the called themselves The Sneakers with Dent renaming himself Johnny Feotus.
With the Diodes calling Crash 'n' Burn their headquarters in the summer of 1977, Dent asked to open the show despite barely having enough material to fill a set. The Diodes gave them the opening slot and the Sneakers helped poster Toronto to promote the show. It was then that they noticed the show had been billed as The Diodes at Crash 'n' Burn - and introducing The Dents.
Dent protested and insisted the band be called The Sneakers but The Diodes' Paul Robinson said they didn’t like that name and had changed it to The Dents.
And so, The Dents were born. They were were the first multi-racial punk band in Canada and most certainly one of the youngest.
with notes from Steven Travis
Singles
Albums
Video
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