Inside The Glass Cage, a Nanaimo band reunites over a long lost album

·14 min·1 clip

In 1968, a teenage band recorded a live album that vanished until a collector found it decades later.

This episode details the rediscovery and reunion of The Glass Cage, a 1960s psych rock band from Nanaimo, through the efforts of music collector Marcus Pollard. Hosted by CHY News, it follows Pollard's journey from finding a mysterious record to tracking down the original band members. The narrative centers on how a forgotten live recording from 1968 resurfaced nearly five decades later. In the summer of 2016, Marcus Pollard of Victoria found an unlabeled acetate record at a consignment store called This and That in Portal Bernie. He purchased the heavily worn record for four dollars, initially adding it to a pile of other items. Upon finally listening to it weeks later, he was immediately struck by the raw energy of the unknown psych rock music. The recording was a live performance from the summer of 1968 by teenage boys who had pressed a single acetate copy. Pollard, a former performer and booker, describes having an eye for spotting early talent but rarely being profoundly moved by his vinyl finds. Pollard states that this record "blew out of my speakers" and stood out from 99% of the rare items he encounters. He compares its visceral quality to a description of Radiohead's first album, saying it "smelled like B.O. and teenagers" and embodied "brawny boy youth." The record's discovery sparked a mission to identify the band and its members after decades of obscurity. The episode traces how this acetate led to the reconnection of the original musicians, who had not played together since that 1968 gig. The most compelling insight is how a cheap, damaged disc in a consignment store preserved a complete cultural moment of teenage creativity. It highlights the fragile nature of local music history and how easily such artifacts can be lost. The story underscores the powerful, emotional impact of raw, unfiltered youth culture captured on a primitive recording. Pollard's professional background gives weight to his astonishment at the quality and energy of the forgotten performance. The tone is narrative and documentary, weaving interview clips with descriptive storytelling to build mystery. Its style is conversational and reflective, emphasizing personal discovery and musical nostalgia. Listeners who love stories of musical archaeology, lost history, and 1960s rock culture would deeply enjoy this episode. Those preferring fast-paced news or topical debate might find its focused, anecdotal style less engaging.

Listen to the show on

Apple Podcasts Spotify

Play clips from this episode More from Local News Update