Liner Notes: Various artists - The Trend Record Vol. 1

Trend Records holds a special place in Canadian music. Launched in 1965 by Merv Buchanan, the tiny label welcomed emerging artists at a time when Canada’s big record companies were looking the other way. It served as the launching pad for countless acts and released the first recordings by stars like Roy Kenner, singer with Mandala and Bush, and Triumph’s Mike Levine. Future members of Klaatu, Trooper and even Rush’s manager Ray Danniels all got their start with bands on Buchanan’s upstart label, which also released Bent Wind, whose Sussex album is holy grail for record collectors. This compilation is the first chapter in the amazing story of Trend Records.

As disc jockey Tommy Trend, Buchanan was busy spinning at Toronto’s Modern Age Lounge when he heard a promising outfit with a dynamic frontman. Convinced the group deserved wider attention, he recorded Roy Kenner & the Associates right there in the banquet hall and released their only single on his newly created label. His next release, by singer Guido Smit, was recorded in a basement below a grocery store. Clearly, better facilities were needed. 

Using Motown Records as his model and a mixing console from sound equipment wizard Pete Traynor, Buchanan converted a West Hill farm house into a full-service operation, producing, pressing, promoting and distributing records by groups like the Sedum Shadows, Cargo, the Valhalla, the Ultimate Image, Friday Afternoon and Terry & the Pyrates, with Mike Levine on bass. By the end of the decade, Trend had relocated to a former school house and there Buchanan worked with Bent Wind, Michael-Jon and Fear, managed by Ray Danniels. On one occasion, Stompin’ Tom Connors rented the schoolhouse for a week to cut his five-album box set for Dominion Records. Terry McManus and the band Whitemail, which morphed into Klaatu, the million-selling band everyone thought was the Beatles, were recorded at offsite locations.

These 20 tracks offer a striking cross-section of ’60s music, covering folk, rock, soul, garage and psych sounds, and include some of Canada’s rarest recordings. They feature both flash-in-the-pan acts and artists who went on to enjoy long and successful careers. More than anything, the compilation illustrates the pioneering work of Merv Buchanan and Trend Records, the little label that defied the odds to create an alternative home for Canadian music.