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  It's ironic that the group most assosciated with shaping the American music scene for an entire generation actually hailed from Canada. The son of a serviceman, Joachim Krauledat was born in East Prussia and grew up listening to the armed forces radio network while growing up in Germany. His family moved to Toronto in 1965, and after changing his name to John Kay, he formed a band with some Yorkville friends called The Sparrow. They released their self-titled debut with Columbia Records the next year as Jack London and The Sparrows and had the single "Hard Time With The Law". Less than a year later London's name was replaced by Kay's on the marquee and another self-titled record hit the stores. A fairly loyal following developed after the group moved to the New York area and had three singles on the airwaves over the course of a year. Disputes with the record company however spelled the end of the group less than a year and a half after the album's release. Kay, along with Jerry Edmonton, his brother Dennis (who went by the name of Mars Bonfire), Goldy McJohn and Nick St. Nicholas re-emeged in late '67 in San Francisco as Steppenwolf. Their self-titled debut came out in '68 on MCA in the middle of flower power and is one of the most important records in rock history. Backed by the instant classic "Born To Be Wild", the overall psychadelic sound blended with a hard-driving road beat to instantly make Steppenwolf the spokesmen for North America's attitude during the late 60's through to the mid 70's. Other classics such as the Willie Dixon blues classic "Hoochie Koochie Man", "Sookie Sookie" and the Hoyt Axton-penned tune about the life of a drug dealer called "The Pusher" quickly turned the album gold. The group came back the same year with STEPPENWOLF - THE SECOND. Supported by the smash "Magic Carpet Ride", and "It's Never Too Late", the closest thing they ever did to a ballad, the record stayed true to what would become their signature sound. AT YOUR BIRTHDAY PARTY was released in '69 and despite it being their third record in barely a year and a half, it was soon certified gold behind the support of "Jupiter Child", "Rock Me Baby" and "It's Never Too Late". The group's first live record, EARLY STEPPENWOLF, six tracks taped in England came out that same year. Noteable is a version of "The Pusher" that takes up the entire second side of the album. The band ushered in the '70's with MONSTER. Amid the turbulent turn of the decade, MONSTER contained the controversial "Fag", a diary of San Francisco's night life. Along with the title-track and "Draft Register", both commentaries about the Viet Nam War, MONSTER was certified gold that same year, just in time for the release of the double album, STEPPENWOLF LIVE. Recorded at various California venues on the MONSTER tour, it gave the group time to regroup, following nearly four years of constant touring. The lieu in the schedule also saw the release of their first greatest hits package, STEPPENWOLF GOLD. Released in '71, long before a 'best of' package had remixes and previously unreleased classics, it was the quintessential biker record and turned gold practically overnight. The time off seemed to go by unnoticed when they came back with FOR LADIES ONLY in the summer of '72. Though it produced two singles, neither the title track or "Ride With Me" broke new ground. Despite more gold for the band, a new sound was emerging, and like it or not, bubblegum was going to stay for awhile. That same year also saw the release of REST IN PEACE. Instead of re-thinking their approach, another biker album that year seemed to almost over-stuff the market. MCA released another greatest hits the next year while the group toiled in the studios. But while 16 GREAT PERFORMANCES fed a market already dominated by them, the release of SLOW FLUX the summer of '74 disappointed the critics, who by this time were jumping off the 'rebel ride' and on to the 'pansy express'. Another greatest hits package came out that year - this one called 16 GREAT PERFORMANCES. Their next album of original material was when HOUR OF THE WOLF hit the shelves in '75.
The mid seventies were a time of change, no longer a time of rebellion as such. Without decent support Years of squabbling over the use of the band's name ended in 1981when Kay walked out of the courts victorious and into the studios for the next project. LIVE IN LONDON was released later that year. Now free of the '60's lifestyle and now middle-aged, Kay's return album on MCA featured such classics as "Sookie Sookie", "Magic Carpet Ride" and of course "Born To Be Wild". Everything you'd expect really - but fact is it was a pinnacle album. It signalled Kay's return, and his apparent realization that though his music would alsways be stereotyped and his course had run, he was back clean and still able to please a crowd. More importantly, it signalled that even in England people in the '80's were still interested in Steppenwolf's message. Though the market was mostly the same people, just in smaller numbers, the niche was there. WOLF TRACKS was the first released on Kay's new label, Wolf Records, distributed by Attic here in Canada, hitting the stores in '82. Though not a bad album, it displayed Kay's trademark vocals and the tour across England and North America showed he could still attract the crowds. noteable about the record is it contained a remake of the Argent classic, "Hold Your Head Up". '84 saw the release of PARADOX. Interesting about this is it has a song called "The Fixer", sort of a "The Pusher - Part II" ..Poor sales however forced Kay into the background until he released '87's ROCK 'N ROLL REBELS. Again he dropped out of sight and Steppenwolf wasn't heard from again until - - you guessed it - - BORN TO BE WILD - A RETROSPECTIVE hit the stores in '91. Kay even released a compilation of his work with Sparrow two years later. FEED THE FIRE came out in '96, the same year John Kay was inducted into the Canadian Music Hall of Fame, followed by '98's RISE AND SHINE. Needless to say neither album exactly made Shania worry about her album sales. Though John Kay and Steppenwolf have a niche that for the most part grows smaller as time goes on, the fact he's still going and people still listen to their message spells legend in the language of rock and roll. I had the priveledge of seeing Steppenwolf live at K Days in '95 and was surprised to see the number of kids young enough to be Kay's grandchildren. And not because it was a free concert with admittance to the Exposition, but because they knew who they were listening to. Even the band was half Kay's age. But the name Steppenwolf was synonomous with an entire generation, and the attitudes and beliefs they held true. Most of those people either still buy his discs or see him live or have influenced their kids' tastes in music. Supply and demand even prompted Kay to agree to '98's first 'John Kay and Steppenwolf Weekend'. A weekend full of bikers, beer and rock and roll, it signifies the attitude at its best. Steppenwolf's sound paved the way for the modern grunge scene and although I still remember my brother's band wailing away to "Magic Carpet Ride" in the basement, his interpretation was in reality what Steppenwolf was meant to be, rebellion.
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from their label and no real expansion of sound, HOUR OF THE WOLF was in retrospect, the beginning of the downward spiral. Their second record in a row to fail to produce a single was released the next year in SKULLDUGGERY. The ABC COLLECTION released that same year was just another run of the mill, rather tedious except they were on vinyl and 8-tracks and needed to be replaced often. - (those too young to know what I'm talking about - - you're probably doing a report for history class or something - - consult your parents) greatest hits package. The group's status was in hiatus at this point and REBORN TO BE WILD was released in '77, a compilation of the second stage of the group's career.