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Track-by-Track: Celebrating its 30th Anniversary, Slik Toxik Frontman Nick Walsh Breaks Down ‘Doin’ The Nasty’

In honour of the 30th anniversary of Slik Toxik’s 1992 release, ‘Doin’ The Nasty’ (Capitol Records/EMI), lead singer Nick Walsh joins us for a track-by-track rundown of all 13 bangers.

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Although they were only together for a short time, Slik Toxik left their mark on the Canadian hard rock music scene in those glorious few years that bridged the 1980s and 1990s. Formed in Toronto in 1988 and led by lead singer Nick Walsh, the band had a quick but memorable run as one of the country’s premiere rock acts, with their most shining moment coming with the 1992 release of their Doin’ the Nasty album.

The record, released via Capitol Records and EMI (in Canada), featured four memorable singles that helped propel it to certified gold status, and even more impressively, the 1993 Juno Award for “Best Rock Album of the Year.” The music video for “Helluvatime” also garnered two MuchMusic Video Awards, including “Best Video of the Year” and “Best Metal Video Award.”

Three decades have flown by quickly and Doin’ The Nasty just celebrated its 30th anniversary. To commemorate the occasion, Universal Music Canada just reissued the album last month, along with Slik Toxik’s 1991 debut EP Smooth Deadly. This is also the first time the band’s catalogue is available digitally. In honour of this anniversary and the renewed interest in this killer band, Walsh has joined us today for a special, 30th-anniversary track-by-track rundown of all 13 bangers contained on Doin’ The Nasty.

1. “Big Fuckin’ Deal”

“Musically, this one started off with a (guitarist) Kevin Gale riff. It was a standard blues-rock track so we felt it would be ideal to have something very simple that the crowd could join in and sing along with. Lyrically, (bassist/lyricist) Dave Mercel went with something about us striving for the ‘Big’ record deal while the haters would hate, we would happen anyway.”

2. “Helluvatime”

“I remember when (guitarist) Rob (Bruce) came in with a very bouncy riff that reminded me of something Eddie Van Halen would do, I jumped all over it. I immediately had counter riffs to go along with it. I was always amazed how the guys in my band were my muse, they could come up with one riff idea and then I could create a whole musical arrangement around it. Lyrically, Dave had originally called this song ‘Killing Time’ but at the time we all didn’t think it was high-spirited enough for the music, so we all brainstormed a little bit on the dock at the back of our rehearsal spot and the teamwork paid off.

This ended up being the leadoff single and video from our debut album.

Sidenote: In the video when I do the scream leading into the guitar solo is the infamous Komodo Dragon barf scene. Try and spot it.”

Artwork for the album ‘Doin’ The Nasty’ by Slik Toxik

3. “Sweet Asylum”

“I remember when (original bassist) Pat (Howarth), Rob and I came up with the music for this one in my parents’ basement, this was a three-way collab of riffs. It was amazing that after doing the first two videos which cost somewhere around 80,000 dollars each, we squeaked out this video for a budget of 12,000 dollars. This was waaaay before being able to shoot a pro-quality video with a cell phone (laughs).”

4. “White Lies/Black Truth”

“This song started off as a joke riff and some lyrics pointing fun at one of our band members. After playing it for our management, they encouraged us to seriously turn it into a real song, which thankfully we did, as it was the pinnacle to us getting signed to a major record deal.”

5. “Cherry Bomb”

“This again was a song that started off as a single riff that Pat had played me. He then went out for the night and then came back home to a finished musical composition. Lyrically, Dave and I had just seen the movie Blaze about a burlesque dancer and were inspired to create our own story and fiery character in ‘Cherry Bomb.’”

6. “Marionette”

“This track is the second oldest of the batch. I had come up with an arrangement that was inspired by a new band at the time named Guns N’ Roses. Dave and I went and played it for Rob and he immediately came up with some cool counter-rhythms to what I was playing. You could say that this song truly was the birth of the Slik Toxik sound.”

7. “It’s Not Easy”

“Both the song ‘Rachel’s Breathing’ (from our debut EP) and this one’s original musical compositions were created in the same day when I was at home sick from work. Lyrically, Dave had put a spin on the whole Kermit the Frog thing with that title and chorus. Parts of it are based off of me not being able to handle my booze (laughs).”

8. “Crashed”

“‘Crashed’ is a song that had us just coasting to the finish line of success by just doing what we do. Back then, we wrote about what we knew, and that was being in a band of brothers, playing music, partying, and trying to make it! We opened with this for many shows.”

9. “By the Fireside”

“I remember coming into the rehearsal spot one night and Kevin was playing an idea that I thought was nice but reminded me too much of, believe it or not, Madonna’s ‘Live to Tell’ verses. I grabbed a guitar and we jammed through it, changed a few chords around, and were then on to something more Slik Toxik. This too was a song that Dean Cameron (who was President of Capitol/EMI at the time) pushed us into working on and recording. It seemed that like some of the heavier bands, we didn’t work too hard on ballads either.”

10. “Blood Money”

“This song had such an awesome sleezy feel. From my recollection, I was sick with pneumonia for about a week, so I had missed a bunch of rehearsals. When I had come back the band played me this new composition that they had created and I was blown away! It had all the same feel that the other songs had and I had nothing to do with these riffs. We were all so totally in synch with one another.”

11. “Cheap Nicotine”

“I believe this was predominantly a Pat song and maybe some Kevin riffs too. We had a lot of fun with this song in the studio. Dave and I were such fans of movies and cartoons that we always tried to paint a visual with words and audio. We actually break down the fourth wall in the middle of the song in which a telephone call from a nagging girlfriend interrupts the studio session.”

12. “Midnight Grind”

“This is the oldest song on the album which actually predates the incarnation of Slik Toxik. Here is another track that describes an actual rock show from both our point of view and what the audience experiences.”

13. “Rachel’s Dead”

“For the outro of the record, we created a soundscape in where we hear samples from some of our other songs and a darker version of the ‘Rachael’s Breathing’ main riff driving it.

Sidenote: I recall a trip in where Kevin and I were at the MTV studios in New York getting ready to do a taping of Headbangers Ball and we just so happen to be there at the same time as White Zombie. When I was chatting with Rob Zombie he had mentioned that he loved this track. If anyone was going to love this track it would definitely be Rob Zombie.”

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