Uploaded July 2021 | Updated September 2026, 2 hours ago
Phasers on Stun, the phrase made famous by Canadian William Shatner, is also the title of this FM tune. The song is pure Canadiana and represents the small progressive rock scene that existed in Toronto in the 1970s.
There was a noise complaint from Sector J-42 (Central Park), so the Cosmos And Nebulas Astronomical Dissonance Agency (CANADA) has dispatched a rookie agent to deal with the matter. A spaceship travels across the universe to put an end to the noise. After jamming the tune, I also jammed every space related thing I could think of into the video. Here are the highlights:
0:00 Introduction Video
0:09 Start of Song - Mandolin
0:22 Roto-Toms
0:31 Venator Class Star Destroyer
0:37 Comet Kohoutek (C/1973 E1, 1973 XII)
0:46 USS Enterprise (NCC-1701)
0:53 The Cube from Star Trek "Set Phasors on Stun", Season One
1:01 Dust from Distant Sun
1:03 Tantive IV''s readout of the Death Star plans
1:04 That's not a planet, it's a fully-functioning Death Star
1:05 "I cannot Touch the Wind", Cameron Hawkins, Nightmusic Concert, 1976
1:09 Mini-Moog solo
1:10 XM Satellite Radio
1:16 Harmony Mini-Moog
1:21 Hyper-drive Light Speed
1:23 FM Logo
1:24 "Black Noise" Artwork by Paul Till
1:29 Orion's Infant Stars
1:42 XM Satellite Radio
1:45 Klingon Warships
150 "I cannot Ride the Wind", Nash the Slash, St. Catharines, 2010
1:55 Mini-Moog solo
1:56 Space Ice
2:12 Meteor Shower
2:18 Saturn
2:23 Mars
2:25 The Tardis (Time And Relative Dimension In Space)
2:26 Mandolin Solo
2:31 Earth
2:35 Space Dogfight
2:38 Nightmusic Concert, TVOntario
2:39 An Unidentified Flying Object
2:45 North and South America
2:53 North America
2:57 The 48 Contiguous United States of America
3:06 New York State
3:13 New York City
3:17 Manhattan
3:21 Central Park
3:25 FM Airlines
3:29 Sheep Meadow
3:33 40°46'16.8"N 73°58'30.0"W
3:27 Mini-Moog, Roto-Toms, 5-String Bass Guitar, Applause Mandolin
3:54 Inside the Mandolin
I first discovered FM by happenstance. One night in 1976 at midnight, I turned on TVOntario and there on the tube was one of the most unique bands I had ever seen. A keyboard player was singing and playing a Mini-Moog and a string machine, while a mandolin/violist seasoned the mix with distortion and echo as well as operating a conga-like drum machine. That was it ... No drummer ... No guitarist. Just two guys and a wall of space sound blasting out.
The two musicians were Cameron Hawkins and Jeff Plewman, and the band was FM. Hawkins' rig consisted of a Mini-Moog, an Elka Rhapsody string machine with a set of bass pedals, and a 16-note sequencer, while Plewman played his violin, the mandolin, glockenspiel, an Echoplex (played as an effect and as a stand-alone instrument), drum machine and backing vocals. After the performance, I searched for their record, but as the lyrics forewarned, you "Just Can't Seem to Find it". It was two years before the album finally surfaced. The record was worth the wait. The band had added drummer Martin Deller and Plewman had rebranded himself as Nash the Slash (after a character in a Laurel & Hardy movie). Nash dressed himself in mummy-like bandages completely covering his face for live shows, an appearance he maintained for concerts and interviews for the rest of career. Sadly, Nash/Jeff passed away in 2014.
The band's career was fittingly meteoric but also experienced a number of stuttering starts. Their first public performance was in 1976, which was videotaped for TVOntario's "Nightmusic Concert" show (hosted by Reiner Schwarz). After performing the concert, it was not broadcast for almost six months. The performance featured the duo doing a 30-minute set of three long pieces - "Phasors on Stun," "One O'Clock Tomorrow," and "Black Noise," in addition to a quasi-bio recited by Toronto CHUM FM DJ and electronic musician David Pritchard.
The broadcast was something unique and uniquely Canadian. A progressive rock band from Canada? The performance caught the ears of CBC exec Keith Whiting, and FM were invited onto CBC's music variety show, "Who's New?" This in turn led to them recording their debut album later that year. Produced by Keith Whiting, the band assumed it would be a conventional release, but in actuality only 500 copies were pressed for public distribution. Even then, the CBC only announced its existence during the radio show and chose to sell it by mail order (CBC was federally regulated and not allowed to compete with other commercial radio stations). Finally in 1978 the recording rights were purchased by Passport Records from New Jersey, and the album Black Noise was released with a different jacket (featuring artwork by Paul Till). Almost two years later and the public was now able to take FM home.
Phasers On Stun got immediate airplay and the album sold over 100,000 copies. In 2015, Rolling Stone released its list of 50 of the Greatest Progressive Rock Albums of All Time, and the album Black Noise made the list at number 48.
Phasers on Stun, the phrase made famous by Canadian William Shatner, is also the title of this FM tune. The song is pure Canadiana and represents the small progressive rock scene that existed in Toronto in the 1970s.
There was a noise complaint from Sector J-42 (Central Park), so the Cosmos And Nebulas Astronomical Dissonance Agency (CANADA) has dispatched a rookie agent to deal with the matter. A spaceship travels across the universe to put an end to the noise. After jamming the tune, I also jammed every space related thing I could think of into the video. Here are the highlights:
0:00 Introduction Video
0:09 Start of Song - Mandolin
0:22 Roto-Toms
0:31 Venator Class Star Destroyer
0:37 Comet Kohoutek (C/1973 E1, 1973 XII)
0:46 USS Enterprise (NCC-1701)
0:53 The Cube from Star Trek "Set Phasors on Stun", Season One
1:01 Dust from Distant Sun
1:03 Tantive IV''s readout of the Death Star plans
1:04 That's not a planet, it's a fully-functioning Death Star
1:05 "I cannot Touch the Wind", Cameron Hawkins, Nightmusic Concert, 1976
1:09 Mini-Moog solo
1:10 XM Satellite Radio
1:16 Harmony Mini-Moog
1:21 Hyper-drive Light Speed
1:23 FM Logo
1:24 "Black Noise" Artwork by Paul Till
1:29 Orion's Infant Stars
1:42 XM Satellite Radio
1:45 Klingon Warships
150 "I cannot Ride the Wind", Nash the Slash, St. Catharines, 2010
1:55 Mini-Moog solo
1:56 Space Ice
2:12 Meteor Shower
2:18 Saturn
2:23 Mars
2:25 The Tardis (Time And Relative Dimension In Space)
2:26 Mandolin Solo
2:31 Earth
2:35 Space Dogfight
2:38 Nightmusic Concert, TVOntario
2:39 An Unidentified Flying Object
2:45 North and South America
2:53 North America
2:57 The 48 Contiguous United States of America
3:06 New York State
3:13 New York City
3:17 Manhattan
3:21 Central Park
3:25 FM Airlines
3:29 Sheep Meadow
3:33 40°46'16.8"N 73°58'30.0"W
3:27 Mini-Moog, Roto-Toms, 5-String Bass Guitar, Applause Mandolin
3:54 Inside the Mandolin
I first discovered FM by happenstance. One night in 1976 at midnight, I turned on TVOntario and there on the tube was one of the most unique bands I had ever seen. A keyboard player was singing and playing a Mini-Moog and a string machine, while a mandolin/violist seasoned the mix with distortion and echo as well as operating a conga-like drum machine. That was it ... No drummer ... No guitarist. Just two guys and a wall of space sound blasting out.
The two musicians were Cameron Hawkins and Jeff Plewman, and the band was FM. Hawkins' rig consisted of a Mini-Moog, an Elka Rhapsody string machine with a set of bass pedals, and a 16-note sequencer, while Plewman played his violin, the mandolin, glockenspiel, an Echoplex (played as an effect and as a stand-alone instrument), drum machine and backing vocals. After the performance, I searched for their record, but as the lyrics forewarned, you "Just Can't Seem to Find it". It was two years before the album finally surfaced. The record was worth the wait. The band had added drummer Martin Deller and Plewman had rebranded himself as Nash the Slash (after a character in a Laurel & Hardy movie). Nash dressed himself in mummy-like bandages completely covering his face for live shows, an appearance he maintained for concerts and interviews for the rest of career. Sadly, Nash/Jeff passed away in 2014.
The band's career was fittingly meteoric but also experienced a number of stuttering starts. Their first public performance was in 1976, which was videotaped for TVOntario's "Nightmusic Concert" show (hosted by Reiner Schwarz). After performing the concert, it was not broadcast for almost six months. The performance featured the duo doing a 30-minute set of three long pieces - "Phasors on Stun," "One O'Clock Tomorrow," and "Black Noise," in addition to a quasi-bio recited by Toronto CHUM FM DJ and electronic musician David Pritchard.
The broadcast was something unique and uniquely Canadian. A progressive rock band from Canada? The performance caught the ears of CBC exec Keith Whiting, and FM were invited onto CBC's music variety show, "Who's New?" This in turn led to them recording their debut album later that year. Produced by Keith Whiting, the band assumed it would be a conventional release, but in actuality only 500 copies were pressed for public distribution. Even then, the CBC only announced its existence during the radio show and chose to sell it by mail order (CBC was federally regulated and not allowed to compete with other commercial radio stations). Finally in 1978 the recording rights were purchased by Passport Records from New Jersey, and the album Black Noise was released with a different jacket (featuring artwork by Paul Till). Almost two years later and the public was now able to take FM home.
Phasers On Stun got immediate airplay and the album sold over 100,000 copies. In 2015, Rolling Stone released its list of 50 of the Greatest Progressive Rock Albums of All Time, and the album Black Noise made the list at number 48.
