Julie Masi

Last updated
Julie Masi
Birth nameJulie Opocensky
Born Manitoba, Canada
Occupation(s)Musician
Instrument(s)Percussion, vocals

Julie Ann Masi is a Canadian musician, principally known as a percussionist and vocalist with The Parachute Club. She was also a co-writer of several of the band's songs. She is notable as being part of a female-driven movement mixing music and political activism, emanating from Toronto in the 1980s. She continues to perform and record on occasion.

Contents

History

Julie Masi was born Julie Opocensky and raised on a farm near Dominion City, Manitoba. [1] She commenced performing at the age of 11, initially in choirs. Her father then bought her a drum kit and her sister Janet an electronic keyboard. She started performing with her sister and older brother Bobby on guitar at house parties in southern Manitoba. [2] Following the death of their brother in 1968, [3] Masi, at the age of 14 and her sister joined a band composed of members from the neighbouring communities of Emerson, Letellier and St. Pierre-Jolys. The group performed regularly throughout southern Manitoba, as ManMaid, between 1968 and early 1970. [2] [4] The band was distinctive at the time in having two female members, both musicians, one of whom (Masi) played drums. [5]

Masi moved to Winnipeg in 1970, following high school, and sang various musical genres in local bands for a decade. She also obtained regular work as a session vocalist, including singing jingles and recording sessions with Burton Cummings and Tim Thorney. [2]

Masi relocated to Toronto and adopted the surname Masi following her marriage to Agostino Masi, a Winnipeg entrepreneur, in the early 1980s. [2] [6] She joined The Parachute Club in 1983, after its initial founding members, Billy Bryans, Lorraine Segato and Lauri Conger, had been offered a management and recording contract with Current Records. She was with the band between 1983 and 1986, leaving after the band's Canadian tour in support of its third album. [7] Some of the songs she co-wrote while with the band include "Slip Away" (from The Parachute Club), "At the Feet of the Moon" (title track and lead single from At the Feet of the Moon) and "Secret Heart (Wild Zone)" (from Small Victories). She has contributed to the recordings of Martha and the Muffins [8] and Raffi, among others, and has also collaborated with the band Images in Vogue. [9]

Subsequent to her departure from The Parachute Club, Masi was involved in session work for various artists, including Dan Hill, Bruce Cockburn, Shirley Eikhard, Alannah Myles, Leonard Cohen, Ken Whiteley [10] and David Foster. [2] From 1990 to 2005, Masi resided in Temecula, California, where her husband had an interest in a restaurant. [2] Based in Kelowna, British Columbia as of 2005, Masi continues to perform, [11] [12] including occasional reunions with the Parachute Club. [2] She also continues to contribute to the recordings of others. She is active in supporting those affected by HIV/AIDS, [13] and is also a supporter and fundraiser for Bicycles for Humanity, a Kelowna-based charitable organization providing bicycles to impoverished persons in Africa. [14]

Discography

Singles

Release dateTitleChart peakAlbum
Canada
RPM
July 1983"Rise Up"9 [15] The Parachute Club
1983"Alienation"
1984"Boy's Club"
October 1984"At the Feet of the Moon"11At The Feet of the Moon
February 1985"Act of an Innocent"61
June 1985"Sexual Intelligence"
October 1986"Love Is Fire"24Small Victories
February 1987"Love and Compassion"81
May 1987"Walk to the Rhythm"90

Albums

With The Parachute Club

  • 1983 The Parachute Club Current/RCA
  • 1984 At the Feet of the Moon Current/RCA
  • 1985 Moving Thru the Moonlight Current/RCA; remixes
  • 1986 Small Victories Current/RCA
  • 1992 Wild Zone: The Essential Parachute Club BMG; reissued 2006 by EMI International [16]

Other

  • 1977 Ron Paley, [17] Boxton
  • 1984 Martha and the Muffins, Mystery Walk
  • 1990 Raffi, Evergreen Everblue
  • 1997 Al Simmons, Celery Stalks at Midnight
  • 2008 Lindsay May, Bronze and Blue

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">The Guess Who</span> Canadian rock band

The Guess Who was a Canadian rock band formed in Winnipeg, Manitoba in 1965. The band found their greatest success in the late 1960s and early 1970s, under the leadership of singer/keyboardist Burton Cummings and guitarist Randy Bachman, with hit songs including "American Woman", "These Eyes", and "No Time".

Martha and the Muffins are a Canadian rock band, active from 1977 to the present. Although they only had one major international hit single "Echo Beach" under their original band name, they had a number of hits in their native Canada, and the core members of the band also charted in Canada and internationally as M + M.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lorraine Segato</span> Canadian singer

Lorraine P. Segato is a Canadian pop singer-songwriter, best known as the lead vocalist for and a principal songwriter of new wave and pop rock group The Parachute Club, with which she continues to perform.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dominion City</span> Community in Manitoba, Canada

Dominion City is an unincorporated community in the Municipality of Emerson – Franklin, Manitoba Canada. It is located in southeastern part of the province, approximately 20 kilometres north of the Canada–United States border.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">The Parachute Club</span> Canadian band

The Parachute Club was a Canadian band formed in Toronto in 1982. They released three top 40 hits in Canada between 1983 and 1987, including "Rise Up", "At the Feet of the Moon" and "Love Is Fire". The band was well known for being one of the first mainstream pop acts in Canada to integrate world music influences, particularly Caribbean styles such as reggae and soca, into their sound.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jennifer Jones (curler)</span> Canadian curler

Jennifer Judith Jones OM is a Canadian curler. She was the Olympic champion in curling as skip of the Canadian team at the 2014 Sochi Games. Jones is the first female skip to go through the Games undefeated. The only male skip to achieve this was fellow Canadian Kevin Martin in 2010. Jones and her squad were the first Manitoba based curling team to win an Olympic gold medal. They won the 2008 World Women's Curling Championship and were the last Canadian women's team to do so until Rachel Homan in 2017. She won a second world championship in 2018. Jones represented Canada at the 2022 Winter Olympics.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dawn McEwen</span> Canadian curler

Dawn Kathleen McEwen is a Canadian retired curler from Winnipeg, Manitoba. She was the long-time lead for the Jennifer Jones rink, who became Olympic champions, winning gold for Canada at the 2014 Winter Olympics. McEwen is a two-time world champion in curling, having won with Jones at the 2008 World Championships and again at the 2018 World Championships. In 2019, McEwen was named the greatest Canadian female lead in history in a TSN poll of broadcasters, reporters and top curlers.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Margo Davidson</span> Canadian musician (1957–2008)

Margo Isabella Davidson was a founding member of The Parachute Club, for which she was saxophonist, percussionist and vocalist. and an advocate for the homeless.

Lauri Conger is notable primarily as the keyboardist and one of the principal co-writers of most of the songs of The Parachute Club.

William Taylor Bryans was a Canadian percussionist, songwriter, music producer and DJ, known as one of the founders of The Parachute Club, among other accomplishments in music. As a producer, he worked on projects for artists as diverse as Dutch Mason, Raffi, Lillian Allen and the Downchild Blues Band. He was born in Montreal, but spent most of his adult life in Toronto, and was particularly supportive of world music as both a promoter and publicist, focusing on bringing Caribbean, Cuban and Latin American music to a wider audience.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Greg Leskiw</span> Canadian guitarist (born 1947)

Gregory Leskiw is a Canadian guitarist best known for playing guitar with the Guess Who from 1970 to 1972.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">The Squires</span>

The Squires or Neil Young & The Squires were a Canadian band formed in 1963 in Winnipeg. It was one of the first bands of singer-songwriter Neil Young.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kerri Einarson</span> Canadian curler

Kerri Einarson is a Canadian Métis curler from Camp Morton, Manitoba, in the Rural Municipality of Gimli. Einarson is the four-time reigning women's national champion in curling, skipping her team to victory in 2020, 2021, 2022 and 2023. She previously won silver in 2018. Einarson has won five Grand Slam of Curling events: the 2016 Boost National, 2019 Players' Championship, 2021 Players' Championship, 2022 Champions Cup, and 2022 Masters.

Sarah Pyke is a Canadian curler. She currently plays lead on Team Kristy Watling. She is a former Canadian junior champion and World junior bronze medallist.

Curtis Jonnie, better known by his stage name Shingoose, was an Ojibwe singer and songwriter from Canada. He played in Roy Buchanan's band during the early part of his career. He also recorded with Bruce Cockburn in his first album, Native Country. Shingoose was inducted into the Manitoba Music Hall of Fame in 2012.

Katie Lynn Spencer is a Canadian curler originally from Sanford, Manitoba. Spencer currently plays on the team skipped by her mother, Barb Spencer.

Gweneth Lloyd, OC was a co-founder of the Royal Winnipeg Ballet, a ballet teacher and choreographer.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jocelyn Peterman</span> Canadian curler

Jocelyn Andrea Peterman is a Canadian curler. She currently plays second for the Kaitlyn Lawes rink.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Shannon Birchard</span> Canadian curler from Winnipeg, Manitoba

Shannon Birchard is a Canadian curler from Winnipeg, Manitoba. She currently plays second on Team Kerri Einarson from Gimli, Manitoba. Currently, the Einarson team are the four-time reigning Scotties Tournament of Hearts champions, winning the title in 2020, 2021, 2022 and 2023. Birchard also won the 2018 Scotties Tournament of Hearts with Jennifer Jones when she filled for Kaitlyn Lawes who was competing at the PyeongChang Olympics. She would win a world championship as the alternate member of the Jones team that same year when they won the event in North Bay in 2018. She has also won four Grand Slam of Curling events with the Einarson rink.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Briane Harris</span> Canadian curler

Briane Harris is a Canadian curler from Petersfield, Manitoba. She currently plays lead on Team Kerri Einarson from Gimli, Manitoba. Currently, the Einarson team are the four-time reigning Scotties Tournament of Hearts champions, winning the title in 2020, 2021, 2022 and 2023. She has also won four Grand Slam of Curling events with the Einarson rink.

References

  1. ↑ Now part of the Municipality of Emerson – Franklin, as of 2015.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 John Einarson, Soaring with Parachute Club: Singer pulled rip cord on music career after success in the '80s. Winnipeg Free Press , October 19, 2014. Retrieved 2016-12-08.
  3. ↑ Robert Opocensky died in 1968, at the age of 18. See Particulars of Dominion City Cemetery; Canada Gen Web. Retrieved 2016-12-12.
  4. ↑ Manitoba Music Museum, Profile of ManMaid. Retrieved 2016-12-13.
  5. ↑ John Einarson, Girl rockers were groundbreaking. Winnipeg Free Press, November 21, 2015. Retrieved 2016-12-13.
  6. ↑ She remained married to Masi, with whom she had a son, until Masi's death in 2010, at the age of 62. Agostino Masi Obituary, Winnipeg Free Press, August 28, 2010. Retrieved 2016-12-08.
  7. ↑ Canadian Pop Encyclopedia, Biography of The Parachute Club [usurped] ; www.jam.canoe.ca.
  8. ↑ Who shared the same recording label (Current Records) and the same producer (Daniel Lanois).
  9. ↑ Images in Vogue 2002 Discussion Group [ dead link ]; www.espanol.groups.yahoo.com.
  10. ↑ Vocals on Bright Side album (1987).
  11. ↑ Amanda Morazain, Rise up to the sounds of Julie Masi at Vernon Jazz Club. Vernon Morning Star , December 11, 2013. Retrieved 2016-12-08.
  12. ↑ Including as Le Mo Nay, a duo with keyboardist Steve Soucy: Profile of Le Mo Nay; Schell Shock Entertainment. Retrieved 2016-12-16.
  13. ↑ See Living Positive Resource Centre, "Dining Out for Life" Raises $1,750, News Release, April 4, 2006; www.livingpositive.ca.
  14. ↑ Lori-Anne Charlton, Profile of Bicycles for Humanity Archived 2009-05-26 at the Wayback Machine , The Kelowna Daily Gleaner, April 6, 2007; www.bicycles-for-humanity.org.
  15. ↑ The song also peaked at No. 26 on the Billboard Club Play Singles chart. See Billboard Singles of Parachute Club; www.allmusic.com.
  16. ↑ Particulars via www.amazon.com; accessed 09-02-07.
  17. ↑ Winnipeg jazz and big band composer and performer. See Profile of Ron Paley; Canadian Encyclopedia. Retrieved 2016-12-14.
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.