Chilliwack

"Four men in a rock 'n roll band
Fly at night in the morning we land
Fly at night 'til we're satisfied
See the morning from the otherside"



Bill Henderson is the voice behind Chilliwack, a very talented Canadian band from the seventies and early eighty's. They had many good hits that were spread between eight or so albums. The Greatest Hits and Anthology discs are very cool. I would highly recommend at least one of them if you want to round out your Canadian classic rock collection.



Top hits came from Wanna Be A Star with My Girl and I Believe around 1981. 82's Opus X had Whatcha Gonna Do (When I'm Gone), Secret Information, and a few other good ones. Other great songs of note credited to Chilliwack are Lonesome Mary, Crazy Talk, California Girl, Arms Of Mary, Communication Breakdown, Baby Blue, Don't Stop, and my favorite Fly At Night.



Brian Macleod (r.i.p) and Ab Bryant left Chilliwack eventually to Join with Darby Mills forming The Headpins.






"She talks crazy talk She'll tell ya anything
She talks crazy talk
She could give a man the ruin"

Loverboy

"Touch that dial - turn me on
Start me like a motor, make me run
Lovin every minute of it
Lovin every minute of it
Turn that dial all the way
Shoot me like a rocket into space
Lovin every minute of it"




Not many Canadian bands from the early 80s cracked the American market, but Loverboy did. The first album was my favorite, simply called Loverboy. I'm not sure if it's because my music collection was limited or listening to full albums was the norm, but back then I listened to that first compilation a lot and i still like every song on it.

1. The Kid Is Hot Tonight
2. Turn Me Loose
3. Always On My Mind
4. Lady Of The '80's
5. Little Girl
6. Prissy Prissy
7. Teenage Overdose
8. D.O.A.
9. It Don't Matter

As with a lot of Canadian music back then, the second album was actually the breakout release in the USA. Get Lucky contained the huge hit Working For The Weekend and When It's Over. Other good songs were Jump, Lucky Ones and Take Me To The Top.



If you bought the self titled debut Loverboy album and Loverboy Classics shown above you would probably have all you need for your listening pleasure. To be honest, i would say some of the next recordings were pretty sparse for hits. Keep It Up had Hot Girls In Love and Lovin' Every Minute had that song and This Could Be The Night. Singles like Heaven In Your Eyes is best known for being on the Top Gun soundtrack and Almost Paradise with Mike Reno and Ann Wilson as the love theme song for the movie Footloose.

Headpins

"Psssssssst, come on, turn it up
Ho, turn it up
Come on, turn it LOUD!"

In 1982 and 1983 the Headpins ruled the Canadian music charts for awhile. The amazing vocals of Darby Mills streaked through the airwaves like nothing anyone had ever heard before. The album Turn It Loud says it all. Great classic songs include, Don't It Make You Feel, Don't You Ever Leave Me, People, You Can't Have Me, Winnin', Mine All Mine, Feel It (Feel My Body), Celebration, Keep Walkin' Away, and of course Turn It Loud. Headpins still tour and are on my list of bands i still must see live.

Update: I went to my first Headpins concert last night and i wasn't disappointed. Not everyone can do what Darby Mills does. I don't know how she can still hit those high extended notes after all these years. The distinctive guitar riffs that we remember from the albums sounded great too, just as expected.

















"Don't wanna hear the back bar sound
Just wanna hear the bass thump loud
Here come the band right across the stage
Oh just one thing gonna start to play
I wanna hear the guitar sound
Just wanna hear the band play loud"