Toronto (band)

Last updated
Toronto
Origin Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Genres Rock, hard rock, AOR
Years active1979–1984
Labels Solid Gold Records
Past members Annie "Holly" Woods
Brian Allen
Sheron Alton
Nick Costello [1]
Jimmy Fox
Scott Kreyer

Toronto was a Canadian rock band formed in the late 1970s in Toronto, Ontario, and perhaps best known for the top-ten Canadian hit "Your Daddy Don't Know" (which also cracked the U.S. pop charts), and for writing and performing the original version of "What About Love," a song that would later become a top-ten comeback single for the band Heart. [2]

Contents

Biography

The band started when singer Annie "Holly" Woods met guitarist Brian Allen. [3] The line-up was initially rounded out by guitarist/backing vocalist Sheron Alton, keyboardist Scott Kreyer, bassist Nick Costello, and drummer Jimmy Fox, but shifted constantly through the band's life. [4]

Toronto's first album, Lookin' for Trouble , was released in 1980. [4] Its lead single "Even The Score" was a minor hit, just missing the Canadian Top 40. Head On (1981) followed, after which Costello and Fox left the band, [4] and were replaced by Gary LaLonde (later of Honeymoon Suite) and Barry Connors (later of Coney Hatch). The band was nominated for a Juno in 1981 for "Most Promising Group of the Year" along with Loverboy, Martha & the Muffins, Red Rider and Powder Blues Band (winner).

This sextet recorded Get It on Credit in 1982. [4] Its lead single "Your Daddy Don't Know" reached top 5 in Canada, and No. 77 in the US. It remains their best-known hit. "Your Daddy Don't Know" was nominated for a Juno Award in 1983 for Composer of the Year (the song was written by Geoff Iwamoto and Michael Roth). Lalonde was then replaced by Mike Gingrich for 1983's Girls' Night Out in 1983. [4] This album also received attention, as did the band's Greatest Hits album of 1984. In 1984, Holly Woods was nominated for a Juno for "Female Vocalist of the Year" along with Dalbello, Shari Ulrich and Anne Murray (winner).

There were subsequently several exits and entrances in 1984 and 1985, with founding members Allen and Alton leaving, along with drummer Connors. They were replaced by Marty Walsh (guitars), Daryl Alvaro (guitars) and Paul Hanna (drums), and the band rechristened themselves Holly Woods and Toronto. [4] In 1985, the re-vamped sextet released their final album, Assault and Flattery . [4] It featured the single "New Romance", written by Holly Knight and Anton Fig.

In 1985, the band was forced to break up when Solid Gold Records filed for bankruptcy protection. [4] Woods and Kreyer ended up relocating to Atlanta, where they went into Lowery Studios to record a solo album by Woods. However, the album was shelved for over 20 years, until Cyclone Records acquired the rights to the "lost" masters and released the album in 2007.

Overview

The band scored a handful of hit singles in Canada during the early 1980s, including "Your Daddy Don't Know", [5] "Start Tellin' the Truth", and "Girls' Night Out". "Your Daddy Don't Know" was covered by The New Pornographers for the 2003 film soundtrack FUBAR: The Album .

The song "What About Love" was recorded by Toronto during the Get It on Credit sessions. It was written by band members Alton and Allen along with outside collaborator Jim Vallance. However, the rest of the band elected not to release the song. In 1985, the song was offered to Heart, who turned "What About Love" into an international top 10 hit. Toronto's original version was released in 2002 as a bonus track the CD reissues of several of their albums.

Discography

Albums

  1. Lookin' for Trouble (1980) as Toronto [US No. 185] [6]
  2. Head On (1981) as Toronto
  3. Get It on Credit (1982) as Toronto [US No. 162] [7]
  4. Girls' Night Out (1983) as Toronto
  5. Greatest Hits (1984) as Toronto
  6. Assault & Flattery (1984) as Holly Woods & Toronto
  7. Live It Up! (2007) as Holly Woods

Singles

YearTitle CAN
RPM 		CAN
CHUM 		US [8]
1980"Even the Score"
44
14
104
"5035"
–
–
–
"Lookin' for Trouble"
73
–
–
"Still Talkin' 'Bout Love"
–
–
–
1981"Silver Screen"
–
–
–
"Enough Is Enough"
–
–
–
1982"Your Daddy Don't Know"
5
2
77
"Start Tellin' the Truth"
15
4
–
"Don't Walk Away"
–
–
–
"Get It on Credit"
–
–
–
1983"Girls Night Out"
14
19
–
"All I Need"
38
25
–
1984"Ready to Make Up"
33
23
–
"New Romance"
26
20
–

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Red Rider</span> Canadian band formed 1975

Red Rider, later known as Tom Cochrane & Red Rider, is a Canadian rock band popular in the 1980s. While they achieved significant success in Canada, the band never had a song in the top 40 in the United States, although "Lunatic Fringe" from their second album, 1981's As Far as Siam, became popular on US album-oriented rock radio. They also charted on the Billboard Hot 100 with "White Hot" from their debut album Don't Fight It (1979) and "Young Thing, Wild Dreams " from Breaking Curfew (1984), and charted comparably to "Lunatic Fringe" on Mainstream Rock (AOR) with "Big League", "Human Race", and "Power", the latter two tracks off 1983's Neruda.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Diana Krall</span> Canadian jazz singer and pianist (born 1964)

Diana Jean Krall is a Canadian jazz pianist and singer known for her contralto vocals. She has sold more than 15 million albums worldwide, including over six million in the US. On December 11, 2009, Billboard magazine named her the second greatest jazz artist of the decade (2000–2009), establishing her as one of the best-selling artists of her time.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Holly Cole</span> Canadian jazz singer

Holly Cole is a Canadian jazz singer and actress. For many years she performed with her group The Holly Cole Trio.

<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">Ron Sexsmith</span> Canadian musician (born 1964)

Ronald Eldon Sexsmith is a Canadian singer-songwriter from St. Catharines, Ontario. He was the songwriter of the year at the 2005 Juno Awards. He began releasing recordings of his own material in 1985 at age 21, and has since recorded seventeen albums. He was the subject of a 2010 documentary called Love Shines.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Blue Rodeo</span> Canadian country rock band

Blue Rodeo is a Canadian country rock band formed in 1984 in Toronto, Ontario. They have released 16 full-length studio albums, four live recordings, one greatest hits album, and two video/DVDs, along with multiple solo albums, side projects, and collaborations.

Lisa Concetta Dal Bello, also known as Dalbello, is a Canadian musician. She released three albums in the pop and pop/rock genre in her late teens, from 1977 through 1981 under her full name. In 1984, she re-emerged as Dalbello, with an edgier brand of alternative rock.

<i>Lookin for Trouble</i> 1980 studio album by Toronto

Lookin' for Trouble is the 1980 debut album of Canadian rock band Toronto. Most tracks on the album were released as a singles. The U.S. release uses different cover artwork and excludes the final track "Let's Spend the Night Together". The album reached Platinum status in Canada, but did not chart in the US. The original cover art was designed by Hugh Syme and was originally intended to be the cover art for Max Webster's High Class in Borrowed Shoes.

<i>Head On</i> (Toronto album) 1981 studio album by Toronto

Head On is the second studio album by Canadian rock band Toronto, released in 1981. The album was produced by Terry Brown, best known for his work with Rush.

<i>Get It on Credit</i> 1982 studio album by Toronto

Get It on Credit is the third studio album by Canadian rock band Toronto, released in 1982. Both original members, Nick Costello and Jim Fox, left the band prior to this release, to be replaced by Gary LaLonde and Barry Connors respectively. LaLonde later joined Honeymoon Suite, while Connors went on to work with Toronto-based quartet Coney Hatch.

<i>Girls Night Out</i> (Toronto album) 1983 studio album by Toronto

Girls' Night Out is the fourth studio album by Canadian rock band Toronto, released in 1983. The first U.S. release featured 3-D cover artwork and included red/blue 3-D glasses. More personnel changes on this album, with bassist Gary LaLonde passing the torch to Mike Gingrich. The CD release features one bonus track, "What About Love".

<i>Greatest Hits</i> (Toronto album) 1984 greatest hits album by Toronto

The Greatest Hits is a compilation album by the Canadian Rock band Toronto, released in 1984. The album features two new studio tracks: "Andrea" and "Me Generation". The CD release features the bonus track "What About Love", as well as music videos for three songs.

<i>Assault & Flattery</i> 1984 studio album by Toronto

Assault & Flattery is Toronto's sixth and final album, released in 1984. The album features only two original band members, Anne "Holly" Woods and Scott Kreyer. Released as "Holly Woods & Toronto" which hints at Holly's increasing control and autonomy in the band at this time. The album was produced by Mike Flicker who produced five albums for Heart - the band Toronto are most often compared to. The CD release includes the bonus track "Where Are We Now?" - which was also performed by Holly herself, as a solo artist, on her CD Live It Up!.

Nicholas George Gilder is a British-Canadian musician who first came to prominence as the frontman for the glam rock band Sweeney Todd. He later had a successful solo career as a singer/songwriter.

<i>Oh What a Feeling: A Vital Collection of Canadian Music</i> 1996 compilation album by Various artists

Oh What a Feeling: A Vital Collection of Canadian Music is a 4-CD box set released in 1996 to celebrate the 25th anniversary of the Juno Awards. A second box set, Oh What a Feeling 2, was released in 2001 to mark the awards' 30th anniversary, and a third set, Oh What a Feeling 3, was released in 2006 for the 35th anniversary. All of the sets feature popular Canadian songs from the 1960s onward. The sets were titled for the song "Oh What a Feeling" by rock band Crowbar. The original 25th anniversary box set peaked at No. 3 on the Canadian Albums Chart and was certified Diamond in Canada.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">What About Love</span> 1985 single by Heart

"What About Love" is a song originally recorded by Canadian rock band Toronto in 1982. It was later recorded by American rock band Heart in 1985 and was released as the first single from the band's self-titled album, Heart. The band's "comeback" single, it was the first Heart track to reach the top 40 in three years, and their first top 10 hit in five. The song was also their first hit single on their new record label, Capitol Records. Grace Slick and Mickey Thomas, co-lead vocalists of Starship at the time, provide additional background vocals on the song.

The Juno Awards of 1983, representing Canadian music industry achievements of the previous year, were awarded on 5 April 1983 in Toronto at a ceremony hosted by Burton Cummings and Alan Thicke at the Harbour Castle Hilton in the Metropolitan Ballroom.

Anne Elizabeth "Holly" Woods is an American rock singer whose notable works include five albums in the rock band Toronto.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Billy Bremner (musician)</span> Musical artist

William Murray Bremner is a Scottish guitarist, best known for his work in the band Rockpile and on many of Nick Lowe and Dave Edmunds' albums. He has also played with The Pretenders, Shakin' Stevens, Carlene Carter and The Coal Porters, as well as issuing four solo albums.

"Your Daddy Don't Know (What Your Mama's Gonna Do Tonight)" is a song by the Canadian rock band Toronto, from their 1982 album Get It on Credit.

References

  1. ↑ "Nick Costello - Making Champions for God". Nick Costello. Retrieved 28 December 2017.
  2. ↑ "Greatest Unhits: Toronto's Your Daddy Don't Know". popdose.com. PopDose. 31 August 2011. Retrieved 2021-07-29.
  3. ↑ "Proudly Canadian: Toronto" Archived 2017-01-16 at the Wayback Machine . Cashbox Canada, 04/24/2014
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Colin Larkin, ed. (1995). The Guinness Who's Who of Heavy Metal (Second ed.). Guinness Publishing. p. 364. ISBN   0-85112-656-1.
  5. ↑ "Your Daddy Don't Know". youtube.com. YouTube. Archived from the original on 2021-12-13. Retrieved 2021-07-29.
  6. ↑ "Album Search for "lookin for trouble"". AllMusic. Retrieved 28 December 2017.
  7. ↑ "Album Search for "get it on credit"". AllMusic. Retrieved 28 December 2017.
  8. ↑ "Toronto - Billboard Hot 100 History". Billboard.com. Archived from the original on March 16, 2018. Retrieved April 11, 2021.
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.