Teenage Head’s ‘Iron Mahon’

There’s this thing about Teenage Head that only true fans seem to be aware.

Through the years we’ve heard a lot about the amazing guitar work of band leader Gord Lewis and the wild antics of the late frontman Frankie Venom.

But we don’t hear too much about Steve Mahon. He’s the tall gangly dude with the shaggy hair, pink bass guitar and forearms that seem to reach down to his knees. When he cracks a smile, all that crazy hair can make him look a bit like Garth from Wayne’s World.

True Teenage Head fans know that Mahon (pronounced “man”) is the real heart of the band. They’ll point out that Mahon is the only member of the band that has never missed a gig. Original drummer Nick Stipanitz was replaced first by Mark Lockerbie and then by current member Jack Pedler.

There were those six-or-so months when guitarist Dave Bendeth filled in for Lewis while he recovered from injuries suffered in a van accident. And that long stretch a few years later in the ’80s when Dave Rave took over the microphone while Frankie Venom worked out his troubles with the law.

But Mahon, he hung in there, through thick and thin, right from that first show in 1975 at Westdale high school. Legend has it he played a gig just a few hours after his daughter was born and then rushed back to the hospital as soon as it was over. There’s also the time he underwent eye surgery — didn’t miss a beat, played the show that night wearing an eye patch.

“He’s the iron man, the Lou Gehrig of Teenage Head,” says Lou Molinaro, longtime Head fan and co-owner of Hamilton rock bar, This Ain’t Hollywood.

So don’t fret when a new version of Teenage Head steps on stage Saturday night at This Ain’t Hollywood. Steve Mahon will still be anchoring the band on bass with Lewis on guitar. There will, however, be a new face at the microphone, with longtime friend Peter MacAulay replacing Frankie Venom who died of cancer in 2008.

Since last fall, MacAulay has done a total of four shows with the band, mostly in the Cambridge area wear he lives. Now Lewis and Mahon feel comfortable enough to unveil the new singer to a hometown crowd.

“The songs are still there and the people still want to hear them,” Mahon says from his home in Coldwater, Ont., near Orillia, where he lives with his new wife Debbie.

MacAulay, Mahon explains, owns a music store in Cambridge and has followed the band for many years. As it turns out, he’s a fairly good singer, too.

“To do this properly you need a guy who doesn’t have a predetermined image and that’s exactly who Pete is,” Mahon explains about MacAulay. “He treats the vocals just like another instrument, which is what it is. It’s rock and roll.”

• Expect to see Ruth Mitchell at the Teenage Head show Saturday. She’ll have a place at the only reserved table in the club, the one underneath the picture of Frankie Venom. Ruth has only been following the band for about 10 years, but she’s become one of the most loyal members of the Teenage Head fan club, rarely missing a show.

Ruth celebrates her 85th birthday on April 27. Drop by and say “hello” to her. Ruth would like that.

Need to know
What: Teenage Head, with singer Pete MacAulay; Buckshot Bebee & the Secret Boyfriends
When: Saturday, April 2. Doors open at 9 p.m.
Where: This Ain’t Hollywood, 345 James St. N., 905-529-9500
Admission: $15 advance, $20 at the door
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