Kendall was the founding keyboardist and the band\u2019s musical director for the first 15 years of its existence. Chapman has written several books about the history of Vancouver\u2019s nightlife, including\u00a0Vancouver After Dark\u00a0and\u00a0Live at the Commodore.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think [the book] really started for me at the band\u2019s 40th anniversary, which was at the Commodore in 2019,\u201d said Kendall.<\/p>\n
\u201cAaron was working for Live Nation at the time, and I had already been interviewed for his book about the Commodore. And I had this idea, \u2018Gosh, I\u2019d like to do a little memoir.\u2019 And I prodded Aaron, and that got the ball rolling.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhy now? Well, because, gosh, we better not wait too much longer.\u201d<\/p>\n
There has been a reappraisal of Doug and the Slugs in recent years. First, there was the 2022 documentary\u00a0Doug and the Slugs and Me\u00a0from filmmaker Teresa Alfeld. Then the following year came\u00a0Doug and the Slugs: 50,000 Slug Fans Can\u2019t Be Wrong, a self-published memoir by Kendall\u2019s bandmate John Burton.<\/p>\n
It all started in late 1977, when a Toronto expat named Doug Bennett, who had been working at The Georgia Straight at the time, met up with a group of musicians who would become The Slugs.<\/p>\n
Kendall admits Bennett didn\u2019t impress him much at first.<\/p>\n
\u201cI just thought, \u2018Well, I really like these songs, but the guy can\u2019t really play very well,\u2019\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Kendall points out Bennett had never been in a band before, couldn\u2019t play guitar, but even then, he had a good ear for lyrics and an unconventional sense of melody.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe was a graphic artist, a singer-songwriter, [though] not a great musician. But that was our end [of the deal] because we got to take these diamonds in the rough and polish them into the masterpieces that we all know and love.\u201d<\/p>\n
One of those masterpieces was \u201cToo Bad\u201d their debut single, released in 1980.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat single started climbing the charts. We were blown away. We had no expectation when we made the record, but it got to national radio and suddenly we were a hit.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cToo Bad\u201d was also one of the songs former rock critic Fiona McQuarrie highlighted in her 2023 book\u00a0Mixtape: 21 Songs from 10 Years (1975-1985).<\/p>\n
\u201cDoug and The Slugs were just starting their rise to national prominence when I was working at the Vancouver Sun, so yeah, I interviewed Doug several times. I also saw the band play live several times,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was very exciting to see a band from Vancouver that was so unconventional have that much success.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI think they\u2019re one of the great underrated bands from Vancouver. They sort of acquired this reputation as a party band which is fair enough because they\u2019re a lot of fun to see live. But they deserve so much more credit than that because the songs that Doug wrote are so deep and so intricate while still being very listenable and clever.\u201d<\/p>\n
Chapman describes the band\u2019s enduring appeal this way:<\/p>\n
\u201cThere is an appreciation of Doug and the Slugs from tot to pensioner. You know, they\u2019re one of those bands that everybody seemed to like, and even the punk rockers seemed to like them because they were sort of self-deprecating.\u201d<\/p>\n
As a Vancouver musician himself in the 90s and 2000s, Chapman admits the Slugs were something of an inspiration.<\/p>\n
\u201cI thought if you could be as big as Doug and the Slugs and fill the Commodore\u2026to me, Doug and the Slugs were as big as the Rolling Stones.\u201d<\/p>\n
Real Enough\u00a0not only covers the band\u2019s 1980s heyday but also the lean years afterward. Kendall talks about leaving the band in the early 90s.<\/p>\n
\u201cI started getting into music directing for live theater and composing for film and television, which was something that I\u2019d actually done before the band, but had been totally sidelined by my time with the band,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cI was frustrated with touring and not being, not feeling as creative as I wanted and I had these opportunities\u2026either producing or recording or writing for film and TV. And I just thought, \u2018That\u2019s the outlet.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI was ready for a change, and that\u2019s the direction that I took. I really got out of live music performing for a few years, and I enjoyed studio work and composing.\u201d<\/p>\n
Frontman Doug Bennett continued with replacement players in what some would call Doug and the Subs. He passed away in 2004, the year after the original band reunited for a pair of 25th anniversary performances.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe realized what it was that was special about the band and special about those six guys. And we got together and we had that shared history, and we had a lot of fun. And then we sold out the Commodore twice. It was amazing,\u201d said Kendall.<\/p>\n
\u201cDoug was not in good shape, but he rose to the occasion and that was the last time that we played with him. So, I\u2019m glad we did it.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI thought he would pull himself together. It just didn\u2019t happen, and I certainly never thought that the band would get back together.\u201d<\/p>\n
Today, the original band is joined by singer Ted Okos standing in for Bennett and they continue to perform today.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen you hear somebody else singing those songs with the wrong kind of tone, it just does not work. And I went, \u2018Okay. We knew he had a unique voice, but it must be the right voice.\u2019 And Ted was the right voice.\u201d<\/p>\n
Real Enough\u00a0is a wild ride through the history of the band that is complemented by entries from Doug Bennett\u2019s personal journals.
\u201cThere are moments where Simon and him are recalling the same moments again, and they\u2019re almost in conversation after X many years. So, it\u2019s kind of Doug\u2019s return and it\u2019s fun to hear that voice again,\u201d Chapman said.<\/p>\n
Kendall is just happy his story is finally on paper.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m very happy that it\u2019s reached completion. It was a long and winding road,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m still too close to it to know what I think about it. I think there are some funny stories in there. There are some poignant stories [too] and it\u2019s the history of the band. So, I hope that people enjoy it.\u201d<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/RealEnough-IG-819x1024.jpg\")
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