I remember you: Wait, that’s Skid Row. Remember Toronto sleaze rockers Slik Toxic? No? Back in 1993, they were hot stuff, as evidenced by our January 11, 1993 issue, which featured an interview with guitarist Rob Bruce. The band briefly were on top of the world, with gold records on major labels, limo-related dust-ups at Juno celebrations, and more excess than they can even remember. Cut to two years later and they were more or less completely forgotten in a musical landscape that decided that kind of rock wasn’t valid. Still, Bruce told Nexus that he was going to play guitar “for the rest of his life.” The band has broken up and Googling his name didn’t yield much in the way of solid evidence, but we can report that it does appear that Bruce is still out there playing the six-stringer.
Subtlety, we never knew ya: The editorial in this issue talked about donating some of those tight student funds to worthy charities. Always a good idea, yes, even when delivered with an opening sentence like this: “There are children dying of starvation in Somalia.” Luckily, the article turns around in tone by the end, with the last sentence being this: “Happy new year and welcome back to school”!
Just awesome: This issue featured a profile of Nexus contributor Elizabeth Rotenburger, a university transfer student who overcame impressive obstacles to persue her love of journalism. Lots of writers have a hard time meeting deadline for no particular reason, but Rotenburger dealt with something more concrete: she’s blind. Using a special Toshiba that told her what keys she was typing, she wrote for the paper, bringing students stories against incredible odds. Good on ya, Elizabeth.