On June 9, 1977, Max Webster, a band not a man, topped the bill at the city’s venerable Massey Hall for the first time.
asserted
Webster → top → time
The stylish Toronto rockers opened the concert with Oh War!, a progressive-rock protest song.
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rockers → open → War
“So, so long, soldier, wash your socks and guns,” frontman Kim Mitchell sang.
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Mitchell → wash → socks
“And just remember if you don’t see a profit, sell your stocks and run.”
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you → remember → stocks
Reviews of the show that ended with three encore sets were universally ecstatic.
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that → end → sets
Trade magazine RPM Weekly, for one, wrote that the band “held the audience on the edge of their seats with a very tight set, both musically and stage-wise.”
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band → write → set
Bob Mackowycz of Q107 (CILQ-FM) was particularly impressed with the lyrics: “They’re written by some bizarre character named Dubois. …
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They → impress → character
He writes these surreal crazy songs about things like driving to the moon drunk or meeting a groupie in the washroom.
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He → write → washroom
They’re surreal, but the words really express Max Webster’s vision, which I guess is best summed up by the word ‘absurd.’”
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I → ’re → word
He made a rare public appearance at Massey Hall, briefly popping on stage and waving to the audience before Toronto Tontos, a song with bilingual lyrics: “Nous sommes fous/ Put down a little life from a morning cosmic.”
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He → make → morning
Mr. Dubois was born Paul Woods.
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Dubois → bear → ?
(“Dubois” translates to “from the woods.”)
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Dubois → translate → woods
If nothing else, the sighting dispelled any rumours that the invisible songwriter may have been a fanciful creation cooked up by the band’s publicity people and record label.
uncertain
songwriter → dispel → people
It was, after all, the seventies, a decade in which the mysterious Canadian band Klaatu was initially thought to be the Beatles undercover.
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band → think → which
He had a big head of curls and an unapologetic mustache − a stockier Kurt Vonnegut.
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He → have → curls
At Massey Hall, the man wore a white lab coat.
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man → wear → coat
Mr. Dubois died on Sept. 15.
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Dubois → die → Sept.
He was 77 and had been living in London, Ont.
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He → live → London
No details of his death were provided by the family in the death notice.
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details → provide → notice
He was the chief word supplier for Max Webster, whose eclectic music was once described by Mr. Mitchell as “high-class curiosity rock.”
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music → describe → rock
Mr. Dubois wrote obsessively, supplying countless sheets of paper full of poetry and far-out ideas he called “flourishes” that could be edited into singable songs.
uncertain
that → write → songs
“For me, Pye was the most important part of the band,” said Martin Popoff, author of A Million Vacations: The Max Webster Story.
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Popoff → say → Vacations
“He was a full creative partner,” author and musician Dave Bidini said.
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Bidini → say → ?
“The band counted on him.”
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band → count → him
The band’s drummer Gary McCracken and keyboardists Terry Watkinson and Jim Bruton all died in 2026, as did Kim Mitchell’s drummer, Chris (Suds) Sutherland, and songwriting collaborator, Jim Chevalier.
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drummer → die → 2026
Both Mr. Dubois and Mr. Mitchell hailed from Sarnia, Ont.
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Dubois → hail → Sarnia
Their songwriting relationship continued post-Max Webster into Mr. Mitchell’s more commercially successful solo career.
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relationship → continue → career
Royalties from the co-written mid-eighties hits Go for Soda and Patio Lanterns helped sustain him.
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Royalties → write → him
He also contributed to four songs recorded by legendary Canadian prog-rock trio Rush: Force Ten, Between Sun and Moon, Test for Echo and Tom Sawyer.
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He → contribute → Echo
“In my company, Pye was always very friendly and upbeat but remained a rather private person when it came to his life outside music.
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it → remain → music
His background was more of a matter of speculation than fact for those of us outside their band,” Rush singer-bassist Geddy Lee told The Globe.
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Lee → tell → Globe
“Adding his voice to our songs gave it a different twist, and twists and turns in our music were what Rush was all about.”
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Rush → add → what
Mr. Dubois was inducted into the Canadian Songwriters Hall of Fame in 2021 with songwriting partner Mr. Mitchell but never picked up his trophy.
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Dubois → induct → trophy
“I still have it,” Mr. Popoff said.
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Popoff → have → it
Some people described him as reclusive, but I would characterize him as secretive.”
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I → describe → him
Mr. Dubois held down a job for years at Toronto’s Clarke Institute of Psychiatry (now part of the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health).
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Dubois → hold → Addiction
He was a fan of Frank Zappa, Joni Mitchell, Kate Bush and fellow inscrutable persona Captain Beefheart, and was among a unique class of non-performing rock lyricists associated with a particular band: Pete Brown with Cream; Keith Reid with Procol Harum; Robert Hunter and John Perry Barlow with the Grateful Dead.
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He → associate → Dead
Despite not being a musician, Mr. Dubois toured with Max Webster, living and documenting the rock ‘n’ roll dream like a war correspondent embedded with troops.
“If I’m not on the road with those guys, songs like The Party and Oh War! and America’s Veins don’t happen,” he once said.
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he → tour → Party
From his spot backstage, he observed the interaction between fans and musicians.
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he → observe → fans
On The Party, for example: “We’re all here for a celebration, the madcap scene and the max machine.”
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We → ’re → celebration
…and 57 more, not listed.
The Aporia
