Artist · chart history
The Demics
Band London Canada Active 1977–1980
The Demics formed in 1977 in London, Canada and was active until 1980. The Demics has 2 chart appearances on 2 radio countdowns from 1 station on RockLists, spanning 1991–1999. The most successful song on radio countdowns is “New York City”, which appears on 2 lists with a best position of #205. The station that charted The Demics most often is CFNY 102.1 The Edge (Toronto, ON), with 2 appearances.
The Demics crawled out of London, Ontario, in 1977 with a sneer and a short fuse: Keith Whittaker howling up front, Rob Brent on guitar, Iain Atkinson-Staines on bass and Jimmy Weatherstone on drums. By 1978 they were the ones to watch in Canadian punk, and once they had cut their debut EP that fall they packed up for Toronto, where the scene burned hottest.
That EP was Talk's Cheap, and its single, "New York City", put out by Ready Records, is the one that broke them, catching fire on CFNY in 1979: a lean, snarling blast with a chorus built for shouting from the back of a sweaty hall. Brent split to start Mettle, a post-punk and new wave outfit where he played guitar and synth, and Steve Koch took his place. A self-titled full-length followed in 1980, and then internal tensions tore the band apart.
The song outlived them. In 1996 Huge Records gathered both of their original records on a CD called New York City, and that same year readers of the music magazine Chart voted it the greatest Canadian song ever. Whittaker died of cancer that July.
Written with AI assistance from RockLists chart data, MusicBrainz and Wikipedia.
Songs by The Demics on radio countdowns
| # | Song | Strength | Lists | Best | #1s | Peak year |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | New York City | 2 | #205 | – | – |
Albums with charting songs
Where each song was first released, from MusicBrainz.
Every countdown appearance
| Year | # | Song | Countdown |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1999 | 837 | New York City | CFNY Top 1002 Songs of All-Time (November 1999) |
| 1991 | 205 | New York City | CFNY Top 1002 Songs of All-Time (1991 Edition) |
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