Lorraine Segato | |
|---|---|
 Segato at a fundraiser in Toronto, 1993. | |
| Background information | |
| Origin | Hamilton, Ontario, Canada |
| Genres | New wave, pop rock |
| Occupation(s) | Songwriter, vocalist |
| Years active | 1970s–1990s, 2005–2008, 2011–2014 |
Lorraine P. Segato CM [1] (born June 17, 1956, in Hamilton, Ontario) [2] 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.
Segato initially became known in the late 1970s as the vocalist in the Toronto rock band Mama Quilla II. [3] This band formed the core membership of The Parachute Club. The Parachute Club was particularly active in the 1980s, initially breaking up in 1989. Segato co-wrote nearly every song the band released, including all their singles. A reconstituted version of the band, including Segato, commenced performing in 2005 and continued to perform somewhat sporadically through 2014. After the initial break-up of Parachute Club, Segato released a solo album, Phoenix, in 1990. [3]
In 1990 she collaborated on the one-off single "Can't Repress the Cause", a plea for greater inclusion of hip hop music in the Canadian music scene, with Dance Appeal, a supergroup of Toronto-area musicians that included Devon, Maestro Fresh Wes, Dream Warriors, B-Kool, Michie Mee, Lillian Allen, Eria Fachin, HDV, Dionne, Thando Hyman, Carla Marshall, Messenjah, Jillian Mendez, Lorraine Scott, Self Defense, Leroy Sibbles, Zama and Thyron Lee White. [4]
Her second solo album, Luminous City, followed in 1998. [3]
She has also worked in film production, writing and directing a documentary on Toronto's late 1970s/early 1980s Queen Street West scene, Queen Street West, The Rebel Zone, and appearing in the documentary film The Pinco Triangle , [5] and as a lecturer and social justice activist. Segato also appeared on the science fiction show Lexx , singing a song as the "Time Prophet" on the episode "Brigadoom". [6]
She performed "Rise Up" at the state funeral of Jack Layton on August 27, 2011, supported by the choir of the Metropolitan Community Church of Toronto. [7] In 2014, the surviving band members released a contemporary dance remix of the song in conjunction with Toronto's hosting of the 2014 edition of WorldPride. [8]
Her third solo album, Invincible Decency, was released in 2015. She is also preparing Get Off My Dress, a loosely autobiographical one-woman theatrical play. [3]
Segato was one of the people named to the Order of Canada on December 29, 2022, citing "her contributions to the Canadian music scene and culture as a pioneer in 2SLGBTQI+ Canadian history." [9]
All songs co-written by Lorraine Segato
| Release date | Title | Chart peak | Album |
|---|---|---|---|
| Canada RPM | |||
| July 1983 | "Rise Up" | 9 | The Parachute Club |
| 1983 | "Alienation" | ||
| 1984 | "Boy's Club" | ||
| October 1984 | "At the Feet of the Moon" | 11 | At the Feet of the Moon |
| February 1985 | "Act of an Innocent" | 61 | |
| June 1985 | "Sexual Intelligence" | ||
| October 1986 | "Love Is Fire" | 24 | Small Victories |
| February 1987 | "Love and Compassion" | 81 | |
| May 1987 | "Walk to the Rhythm" | 90 | |
| January 1988 | "Big Big World" | 86 | Non-album single |
| June 2014 | "Rise Up (WorldPride Remix)" | — | Non-album single |
Ellen Naomi Cohen, known professionally as Cass Elliot, was an American singer. She was also known as "Mama Cass", but she reportedly disliked the name. She was a member of the singing group the Mamas & the Papas. After the group broke up, Elliot released five solo albums. She received the Grammy Award for Best Contemporary (R&R) Performance for "Monday, Monday" (1967). In 1998, she was posthumously inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame for her work with the Mamas & the Papas.
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.
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"Rise Up" is a pop song recorded by the Canadian group the Parachute Club on their self-titled 1983 album. It was produced and engineered by Daniel Lanois, and written by Parachute Club members Billy Bryans, Lauri Conger, Lorraine Segato and Steve Webster, with additional lyrics contributed by filmmaker Lynne Fernie.
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Mama Quilla II was a Canadian rock band that first performed together in 1977 in Toronto and dissolved in 1982. Although the band recorded only a single EP as Mama Quilla II, after 1982 a revised lineup evolved into the influential pop band Parachute Club.
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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.
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Eria Fachin was a Canadian dance pop singer, best known for her 1988 single "Savin' Myself".
Steve Webster is a Canadian bassist, record producer, arranger, audio engineer and composer. A multiple Juno Award nominee and winner, Webster's career spans over 3 decades of music production and performance. Recent accomplishments include Juno Award nominations for Producer of the Year and Jazz Vocal Album of the Year for Emilie-Claire Barlow's album Clear Day.
Sean Merrick, known professionally over his career by the pseudonyms Jacky Jasper, H-Bomb and HDV, is a Canadian-American rapper, record producer and celebrity gossip blogger.
Queer Songbook Orchestra are a Canadian chamber pop ensemble, who record and perform orchestral versions of pop songs with meaning to the LGBTQ community. Songs performed by the orchestra do not necessarily have to be explicitly LGBTQ-themed; the group's stated selection criteria permits any song that can be paired with a compelling story about how that song has "touched a queer life in a way".
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