Eye Eye

Last updated
Eye Eye
Origin Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Genres Rock, new wave
Years active1983–1989
Labels Duke Street Records
Past membersBill Wood
Andy Ryan
Doug Ruston
Mark Caporal
Michael Bell
Tom Lewis
Donald Quan

Eye Eye was a Canadian rock band in the 1980s. [1]

Background

The band had its roots in The Oh Nos, a Toronto band whose members included vocalist Bill Wood and guitarist Andy Ryan. [1] After that band broke up, Wood formed the band Billy Club, [2] while Ryan joined with drummer Mark Caporal to form Eye Eye as a duo, [1] to which vocalist Michael Bell and bassist Doug Ruston were soon added. [1] Both bands were finalists in Q107's Homegrown talent competition in 1984, which Eye Eye won; [1] the following year, Eye Eye were also finalists in CBC Television's Rock Wars [3] and the Rock Express /MuchMusic Talent Search. [1]

Contents

With this success, the band entered the studio to record a demo which attracted interest from several record labels, but their early contract offers were withdrawn when Bell left the band. [1] Wood then joined the band as Bell's replacement, and the band signed to Duke Street Records in late 1985. [1]

Their song "Essence of You" featured in the 1988 horror film Friday the 13th Part VII: The New Blood .

Recording

They released the album Just in Time to Be Late in 1986 on Duke Street, [2] and released the singles "Out on a Limb" and "X-Ray Eyes". [1] "Out on a Limb" peaked at #51 in the RPM100 Singles chart the week of August 23, 1986, [4] and "X-Ray Eyes" peaked at #52 the week of November 22, [5] while the album peaked at #87 on the RPM100 Albums chart in the week of July 5. [6] They toured across Canada to support the album as an opening act for both Glass Tiger and Platinum Blonde. [7]

The band garnered a Juno Award nomination for Most Promising Group at the Juno Awards of 1986. [8] "Out on a Limb" also garnered a CASBY Award nomination for Best Video in 1986. [9]

When it came time to work on a follow-up album the band had few new songs ready to record, and thus worked with producer David Bendeth for several months to write and prepare songs and to toughen their sound. [10] During this process, Ruston left the band and was replaced by Tom Lewis, and Donald Quan also joined the band on keyboards. [1] Their second album, Common Ground, was released in 1988, and spawned the singles "Endless Night" and "My Sensation". [1] The album was generally praised by critics as being stronger than their debut, [11] and "Endless Night" charted on the RPM100, but the album was not commercially successful [12] and the band subsequently broke up.

Later years

Andy Ryan became a recording engineer and opened his own studio in Scarborough, and later went into real estate. [1]

Bill Wood initially continued in music with the band Ghosttown and as a solo artist, [1] before studying business administration and becoming a home renovation contractor; [13] he reemerged in 2007 with the solo album Take It, [7] and now fronts the band Bill Wood and the Woodies. [7] [13]

Tom Lewis joined Gordon Deppe's post-Spoons band Beyond 7, and went on to play with Honeymoon Suite, Amanda Marshall, The Partland Brothers, Tom Cochrane, Fefe Dobson, Alan Frew, Toronto and Rik Emmett.

Mark Caporal worked for Ontario Place and SOCAN until his death in 1990, after the pilot of the glider he was on suffered a cardiac arrest. Caporal, who had his private pilot license, and was still learning to fly gliders, tried but was unable to safely land the aircraft. [14]

Donald Quan later achieved prominence as a composer of television and film scores, most notably for the television series Relic Hunter and Mutant X .

Discography

Related Research Articles

Scott Dibble is a Canadian singer-songwriter, recording artist and producer, who has recorded and performed with the bands Watertown and Hemingway Corner.

Sandbox was a Canadian alternative rock band active in the 1990s. The band consisted of Paul Murray on lead vocals, Mike Smith and Jason Archibald on guitar, Scott MacFarlane on bass and Troy Shanks on drums.

Mae Moore is a Canadian singer-songwriter. Her music is a blend of pop, folk and jazz. Her most successful album, 1992's Bohemia, was an international hit, although her other albums have been successful mainly in Canada. Over the course of her career, Moore achieved nine top 40 singles in Canada, as well as two JUNO nominations, two Canadian Folk Music Awards nominations, and won two SOCAN Awards. Moore's second album, Bohemia, drew critical acclaim and was released internationally. Her biggest hit, "Genuine", became a top 10 hit in June 1995 and was one of Canada's ten most-performed compositions of the year.

Luba is a Canadian musician, singer, songwriter, and recording artist from Montreal. She was professionally active from 1980 to 1990, 2000 to 2001, and is active again as of 2007. At the beginning of her career, Luba performed with the traditional Ukrainian music group Via Zorya, with whom she released a self-titled album in 1973. In the 1980s, she sang with her own band, Luba, which released the album Chain Reaction in 1980. She went on to have a solo career using the mononym Luba. Two of her albums have been certified Platinum by the Canadian music industry. She has had nine top-40 hits on the Canadian pop charts. Her most successful song is a cover of Percy Sledge's "When a Man Loves a Woman", which reached number 6 on the Canadian pop chart and number 3 on the Canadian adult contemporary chart, in 1987.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Moe Koffman</span> Canadian jazz musician (1928–2001)

Morris "Moe" Koffman, OC was a Canadian jazz saxophonist and flautist, as well as composer and arranger. During a career spanning from the 1950s to the 2000s, Koffman was one of Canada's most prolific musicians, working variously in clubs and sessions and releasing 30 albums. With his 1957 record Cool and Hot Sax on the New York–based Jubilee label, Koffman became one of the first Canadian jazz musicians to record a full-length album. Koffman was also a long-time member of Rob McConnell's Boss Brass.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sons of Freedom (band)</span>

Sons of Freedom were a Canadian alternative rock band of the late 1980s and early 1990s. The band, consisting of vocalist James Newton, guitarist Don Harrison, bassist Don Binns and drummer Don Short, formed in 1986 in Vancouver, British Columbia.

Cats Can Fly was a Canadian pop rock band active in the 1980s. They released one album in 1986.

Ian Campbell Thomas is a Canadian singer, songwriter, actor and author. He is the younger brother of comedian and actor Dave Thomas. He was born in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada.

Hemingway Corner was a Canadian-American folk pop group, active in the 1990s.

Chalk Circle was a Canadian alternative rock band formed in 1982 in Newcastle, Ontario. The band originally consisted of lead singer and guitarist Chris Tait, bassist Brad Hopkins, keyboardist Tad Winklarz and drummer Derrick Murphy.

<i>The Thin Red Line</i> (album) 1986 studio album by Glass Tiger

The Thin Red Line is the debut album by Canadian band Glass Tiger. It was released by Manhattan Records in Canada on February 17, 1986.

New Regime was a Canadian new wave band, active from 1982 to 1987. They released two albums on RCA Records during their lifetime, and toured as an opening act for Platinum Blonde in 1985.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Colin James</span> Canadian blues rock singer-songwriter

Colin James is a Canadian blues rock singer and songwriter. James has been very successful in his native country, having attained seven Gold-certified albums in Canada during his career, including four Platinum albums and two Double Platinum albums.

<i>Crush</i> (Doughboys album) 1993 studio album by Doughboys

Crush is the 1993 album by Montreal pop-punk band Doughboys. Crush was released on A&M records and was produced by Daniel Rey and mixed by Dave Ogilvie. The album featured the single "Shine", which was a hit in Canada and was also the theme song for MuchMusic's alternative-themed show The Wedge during the 1990s.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">I'm an Adult Now</span> 1986 single by The Pursuit of Happiness

"I'm an Adult Now" is a song by Canadian band The Pursuit of Happiness (TPOH). It was written in 1985, and produced independently and first released in 1986 as a 12-inch single. Later that year, the band released a self-produced music video. As a result of the video viewership, all copies of the 12-inch single the band had pressed sold out. The song was nominated for "Single of the Year" at the 1987 CASBY Awards. The band became an "independent success story" because of the song and video, and owing to this popularity was signed by Chrysalis Records in 1988. In 1988, a rerecorded version of the song was released.

Patti Jannetta is a Canadian pop and rock singer, who was most prominent in the 1980s and early 1990s.

Young Saints were a Canadian hard rock band of the early 1990s. Although they recorded only one album before breaking up, they are most noted for garnering a Juno Award nomination for Most Promising Group at the Juno Awards of 1992 and for being only the second band from Newfoundland — and the first in a mainstream popular music genre, as their only predecessor was the traditional Newfoundland folk music band Figgy Duff — ever to sign a deal with a major record label.

Chester was a Canadian bubblegum pop band, active primarily from 1972 to 1975. Although they released only two singles in their original form before breaking up, the single "Make My Life a Little Bit Brighter" was a Top 10 hit on the Canadian pop charts in 1973 and the band garnered a Juno Award nomination for Most Promising Group at the Juno Awards of 1974.

Michael Breen is the former stage name of Michel Pépin a Canadian pop and rock singer and session musician. Although he released only one album as a solo artist, he had a hit single with "Rain" in 1987 and received a Juno Award nomination for Most Promising Male Vocalist at the Juno Awards of 1989.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 Eye Eye [usurped] at canoe.ca's Canadian Pop Music Encyclopedia.
  2. 1 2 "Eye Eye is growing up slowly and loving every minute of it". Windsor Star , October 22, 1986.
  3. ↑ Keith Sharp, Music Express: The Rise, Fall & Resurrection of Canada's Music Magazine. Dundurn Press, 2014. ISBN   9781459721951. p. 143.
  4. ↑ Chart for this week not archived at Library and Archives Canada; however, the following week's chart ( RPM Volume 44, No. 23, August 30, 1986) puts the song at #51, with no change up or down from the previous week.
  5. ↑ RPM100. RPM (Volume 45, No. 9), November 22, 1986.
  6. ↑ RPM100 Albums. RPM (Volume 44, No. 15), July 5, 1986.
  7. 1 2 3 "Never Mind the Musicians: Toronto’s Bill Wood". Toronto Review of Books, July 12, 2013.
  8. ↑ "Juno nominations list contains many faces that are familiar". The Globe and Mail , September 9, 1986.
  9. ↑ "Mark a CASBY ballot in The Star to pick Canada's rising music stars". Toronto Star , June 27, 1986.
  10. ↑ "Eye, Eye, sir: Toronto group hires tough producer". Ottawa Citizen , September 9, 1988.
  11. ↑ "Eye Eye revisited". Ottawa Citizen , February 17, 1989.
  12. ↑ "Eye Eye looking for way out of 'Out On A Limb' limbo". Toronto Star , February 17, 1989.
  13. 1 2 "Oh Look! It’s Bill Wood and the Woodies!". Cashbox Canada , January 8, 2015.
  14. ↑ "Two men killed as glider dives into cornfield". Toronto Star , September 3, 1990.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.