“Outrageous” was one of many terms applied to Frank Zappa during his musical career. One album, he’d be in a smutty satirical mode, the next was full of serious compositions. When he and the latest incarnation of the Mothers of Invention arrived in May 1973, Zappa was on the cusp of what proved to be [...]

Born out of what could be called “Expo 67 envy,” Ontario Place was originally designed to be a park where the cultural and economic accomplishments of the province could be celebrated, with a side order of entertaining diversions. While the early exhibits flopped, Ontario Place became a spot where children played, teens saw their favourite [...]

There once was a time when newspaper book editors could relax on a tower of bestsellers, comforted by the knowledge that their section received full blessing from the bean counters. As today’s ad notes, the revamped Telegram books page featured editor George Anthony’s column on general notes from the publishing world, a selection of current [...]

It’s common knowledge that Toronto isn’t the most popular city amongst the rest of the country. Something about a superior attitude or being the centre of the universe. It’s a long-held belief, and one that Maclean’s was willing to exploit when it devoted a section of its April 1972 issue to the city. While the [...]

Though the visuals in today’s ad refer to Neil Young’s album Comes a Time, the set list during his performance at Maple Leaf Gardens on October 1, 1978, barely touched on that record—only three of the 20 songs that night appeared on the country-flavoured collection. Instead, as the Star’s Peter Goddard put it, Young’s performance [...]

With the eviction of Occupy Toronto, St. James Park will gradually return to its former, emptier condition. But the temporary landscaping changes the protesters created with their signs, tents, and yurts did not constitute the first physical redesign of the park. Over the course of the past 50 years, as this gallery shows, the site [...]

For a child growing up in the 1970s or early 1980s, a trip to a PoP Shoppe depot was an eagerly awaited adventure. Running around the stacks of red cases filled with a rainbow of soda flavours, you’d wonder which varieties your parents were going to let you pick: Black Cherry? Lime Ricky? Tall bottles [...]

After moving into the zigzagging towers of The Masters zipped into the Markland Wood neighbourhood, this couple spent more time together enjoying nightly swims, sipping fine wines despite the stares of the medieval citizens depicted on their wallpaper, practicing their golf swings, and spending quality time in the sauna. They also took advantage of the [...]

“For more than 40 years,” Toronto Sun columnist McKenzie Porter informed his readers on November 12, 1976, “I have wanted to write the column that follows. But I have refrained on the grounds of an old fashioned delicacy. Now that general attitudes toward bodily functions are more candid and wholesome I think I may deplore, [...]

If Tim Horton could run a donut shop, why couldn’t Bobby Orr lend his name to a pizzeria? Orr may have skated into the pizza business to fend off others hoping to utilize his name in the restaurant business. Around the time the first pizzas were delivered in 1970, Orr’s representatives sent lawyers after other [...]

In brief: Jack was a musical extravaganza based on the four Jacks in a deck of cards, and it featured Victor Garber embodying hearts. Another Jack, Star TV critic Jack Miller, praised it as fun, melodic, and unpredictable, “a musical experience that flies in several directions without ever losing either itself or its pace.” We’d [...]

Glitz, glamour, and stars galore. Beyond the movies, these are what one tends to associate with the Toronto International Film Festival. While Hollywood embraces TIFF with open arms now, the welcome was anything but warm when it began as the Festival of Festivals in October 1976—it took skilful programming and the anger of American critics [...]