Editing Nash the Slash (section)

==Identity==
Nash was born in [[Toronto]]. He performed with [[Surgical tape|surgical bandages]] covering his face starting in 1979. "During a gig at The Edge in the late 1970s to raise awareness of the threat from the [[Three Mile Island disaster]], he walked on stage wearing bandages dipped in phosphorus paint and exclaimed: 'Look, this is what happens to you.' The bandages became his trademark."<ref name=canoe>{{cite web|url=http://jam.canoe.ca/Music/Pop_Encyclopedia/N/Nash_The_Slash.html|archive-url=https://archive.today/20130101031216/http://jam.canoe.ca/Music/Pop_Encyclopedia/N/Nash_The_Slash.html|url-status=usurped|archive-date=January 1, 2013|title=Nash The Slash|last=Canoe.com|website=canoe.ca|access-date=October 13, 2017}}</ref><ref name=Now1998/> Prior to 1979, Nash performed three times on [[TV Ontario]]'s ''Nightmusic Concert'', first as a solo artist (a live broadcast which was never re-aired), then with FM (Nash and Cameron Hawkins), and again as a solo artist. In all of these appearances Nash wore his typical black tuxedo, top hat, and dark sunglasses, but not his signature bandages. He was also photographed in this attire for a profile in the ''[[Toronto Star]]'', published April 28, 1978.<ref name="Star1978">{{cite news | title = Shadowy showman cuts an eerie album | first = Peter | last = Goddard | work = Toronto Star | date = April 28, 1978 | page = D3 | id = {{ProQuest|1372125188}} {{subscription required}}}}</ref>

In later years, he attempted to keep his true identity the subject of some speculation, although the ''Star'' profile of 1978 had already matter-of-factly revealed his real name.<ref name="Star1978" /> Nevertheless, in a 1981 interview with the UK magazine ''[[Smash Hits]]'', Nash was questioned about his real name, and replied with "Nashville Thebodiah Slasher".{{Citation needed|date=March 2011}} As a result of his coyness about his name, some fans came to believe that the Nash persona was an alter-ego of [[Ben Mink]], who replaced him as FM's violinist in 1978. This is a common misconception, but he has been photographed onstage with Mink.<ref name=photo1>{{cite web|url=http://web.ncf.ca/fi142/images/fm_3_dia.jpg|title=Link to photo of Nash and Ben Mink|website=ncf.ca|access-date=October 13, 2017}}</ref>{{original research inline|date=July 2012}}

The "Nash the Slash" persona came from silent film, and Nash said he took his stage name from that of a killer butler encountered by [[Laurel and Hardy]] in one of their first films, ''[[Do Detectives Think?]]'' (1927), for which he composed a soundtrack score.{{citation needed|date=February 2019}}
(The film character's name is actually "The Tipton Slasher"; nowhere on screen does "Nash the Slash" appear.)<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fzcKFCK8MGk |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231107200903/https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fzcKFCK8MGk |url-status=dead |archive-date=November 7, 2023 |title=Do Detectives Think?|last=milkshakesmania|date=August 10, 2011|access-date=October 13, 2017|via=YouTube}}</ref>

Images of Nash the Slash are featured in a variety of murals painted by artist Jungle Ling in Toronto. These images are located in the [[Leslieville]] district, next to a [[TD Bank]] at Queen St. East and Logan Avenue and below Queen St. East on Connaught Avenue, as part of a neighborhood beautification project conducted by the [[Toronto Transit Commission]].{{citation needed|date=October 2017}}

There was an [[urban legend]] that Nash the Slash was actually Canadian country artist [[Anne Murray]] in disguise.<ref>{{Cite news|title = Colin Brunton: Toronto Mike'd Podcast Episode 1579|url = https://www.torontomike.com/2024/11/colin-brunton-toronto-miked-podcast-episode-1579/ |website = TorontoMike.com|date = November 11, 2024|access-date = November 12, 2024|first = Mike|last = Boon}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news | title = Nash The Slash :: And You Thought You Were Normal|url = https://igloomag.com/features/nash-the-slash-and-you-thought-you-were-normal |website = Igloo Magazine|date = March 30, 2019 |access-date = November 12, 2024}}</ref>