DECEMBER
December 1 1966: The Mamas & Papas, featuring Canadian Denny Doherty earn their fourth straight gold record for CASS, JOHN, MICHELLE AND DENNY. 1968: Joni Mitchell and Graham Nash shack up together, moving into "Our House" on Laurel Canyon's Lookout Mountain Road. 1981: Bob & Doug McKenzie host Saturday Night Live. 1995: Calling themselves Canadian Recording Artists for Copyright Reform, Bryan Adams, Tom Cochrane, Bruce Cockburn, Celine Dion, KD Lang, Anne Murray, Oscar Peterson, Rush, Buffy Sainte-Marie and Michelle Wright send a letter to Prime Minister Jean Chretien, urging swfit passage of revisions to the Copyright Act. 1997: William Smith, vocalist and keyboard player for Motherlode, suffers a fatal heart attack at the age of 53. 2009: "Take My Life," the first single from the JFR Project's debut album premieres on college radio station CJSR in Edmonton.
December 2 1957: "Daddy Cool," peaks at #36 on the Canadian charts. There's two versions in that spot at the same time, one by The Diamonds, one by The Rays. 1972: After a show at the Montreal Forum, members of The Who, along with some of their friends, spend the night in jail for causing over $6,000 worth of destruction in their hotel. 1978: Nelly Furtado is born in Victoria, BC.
December 3 2009: Matthew Good plays at The Oxygen Club in Moncton, NB in support of his VANCOUVER lp.
December 4 1970: The classic rock album, SUPRESSION, a recorded jam session with Mike Bloomfield of Electric Flag, Al Kooper of Blood, Sweat and Tears and Steven Stills of Buffalo Springfield is certified gold. 1976: A year after leaving The Guess Who, lead singer Burton Cummings is awarded a gold record for his million selling US top ten solo hit, "Stand Tall". 1977: Dallas Smith, vocalist for Default is born in Langley, BC.
December 5 1964: Lorne Green becomes the second Canadian (after Paul Anka) to have a number one hit on the Billboard singles chart, when his spoken word recording about a Western gun fighter named "Ringo" reached the top. It made it to #22 in the UK. The former CBC news reporter and star of TV's hit shows "Bonanza" and "Battlestar Galactica" would go on to record seven albums for RCA. 1984: Andrea Martin and Joe Flaherty host the annual Juno Awards in Toronto. 1994: The Tragically Hip play in Brussells, Belgium. The show is released 15 years later as LIVE FROM THE VAULTS. 1994: Aldo Nova's second album, SUBJECT ALDO NOVA is certified gold in the US.
December 6 1994: LIVE LIVE LIVE, a live concert album recorded in front of an audience, is released by Bryan Adams. 1995:Joni Mitchell is presented with the Century Award at the Billboard Music Awards.
December 7 1964: RPM Weekly Magazine conducts the first survey of Canadians' favourite homegrown music, with a poll that got an astounding 150 responses. 1980: Rock Aid America, a live benefit to aid victims of the Armenian earthquake release "Smoke On The Water" which features Rush's Alex Lifeson.
December 8 1999: Investigators search 24 restaurants belonging to a chain founded by Celine Dion and her husband. The chain was suspected of using gadgets that allow restaurants' registers to avoid making cash sales and declaring them on tax returns. 2000: Sons of Maxwell play to a full house in a North Bay, Ont bar.
December 9 1978: The Blues Brothers, featuring SNL actors John Belushi and Dan Ackroyd and a band consisting mostly of Canadians, the SNL Band, release their version of Sam & Dave's "Soul Man." The re-released version reached 14 on the Billboard charts. 1997: Bryan Adams becomes the latest artist to do an MTV Unplugged lp. 2000: Sons of Maxwell play to a full house in a Sudbury, Ont bar.
December 10 2005: Next to no one shows up at a Harlequin show in Bonnyville, AB. 2007: The Road Hammers see the release of their first single in the US, "I Don't Know When To Quit."
December 11 2005: Helix's Brian Vollmer releases his autobiography, "Gimme an R."
December 12 2002: Gordon Lightfoot is released from a Hamilton, Ontario hospital more than three months after undergoing emergency stomach surgery there. 2008: Jane Siberry's first release under her new name of Issa sees the light of day, DRAGON DREAMS. 2009: An all Neil Young tribute show is performed by White Buffalo at Toronto's Seanachi Pub.
December 13 1971: David Clayton-Thomas lends his support to the 'Save The Seals Campaign', appearing on a TV ad banning the annual hunt. 1987: Corey Hart's Montreal Forum performance from that September is shown on the CBC. 1997: Kurt Winter, former Brother and Guess Who guitarist dies of kidney failure. 1998: Bob Clarke, guitarist for Club 69 Rebels, a late 50's, early 60's Edmonton based band with Wes Dakus died. 2001: Lee Aaron plays her last rock show for six years in Lac La Biche, AB. In the lineup are Bernie Aubin on drums, and guitarist Tony D, both of The Headpins. 2002: Zal Yanovsky of The Lovin' Spoonful dies of a heart attack. .
December 14 1930: Guy Lombardo's "You're Driving Me Crazy" tops Billboard's chart. 1972: FOR THE ROSES, Joni Mitchell's first album for David Geffen's new Asylum label, is released. It reaches #11 and "You Turn Me On, I'm a Radio" is a minor hit single. 1974: 'Miles of Aisles', a live double album documenting Joni Mitchell's tour in the wake of COURT AND SPARKS is released. It is recorded during four-night stand in August 1974 and finds her backed by Tom Scott and the L.A. Express.
December 15 2001: Lee Aaronplays her last rock show in years at Lac La Biche, AB. The band is comprised partially of present Headpins members. 2005: Lee Aaron's second jazz album is released. SLICK CHICK features The Swingin' Barflies as her backup band.
December 16 1969: While at the Toronto Peace Festival, John Lennon and the Oriental Harlotte hang out and smoke a few at Ronnie Hawkins' pad in rural Ontario. 1994: The Pope rocks out, as Sarah McLachlan takes part in the Christmas At The Vatican concert. 1999: The world yawns when it's reported that Celine Dion has sold more than 100 million albums worldwide. 2001: Nickelback's "How You Remind Me" tops the Billboard chart. 2007: The JFR Project put on another killer show, this time at Blues on Whyte in Edmonton.
December 17 1977: DECADE, a triple-album greatest hits collection personally assembled by Neil Young is released. 1994: Celine Dion marries her manager Rene Angelil in Montreal. 2002: Randy Bachman releases EVERY SONG HAS A STORY on DVD, a quaint, personal unplugged session in a Toronto nightclub from earlier that year, where he plays both The Guess Who and BTO classics. 2009: Mike Hall, former Killer Dwarfs and Helix guitarist releases his debut lp HAVE GUITARZ... WILL TRAVEL during a CD release party in Toronto.
December 18 1992: Toronto radio station CFRA just notices the lyrics to The Beatles' song, "Run For Your Life." Station reps say the lyrics "I'd rather see you dead little girl, than to be with another man" promotes violence against women and bans the track from its playlist, three decades after its release. 2009: Bobby Cameron plays an intimate pre-Christmas show at the Blue Chair Cafe in Edmonton.
Dec 19 1957: Doug Johnson, keyboardist for Loverboy is born. 2008: A tribute show for Kenny MacLean, deceased member of Deserters and Platinum Blonde at The Mod Club in Toronto. On the bill, among others, is Alan Frew, rock soprano Patrizzia and Platinum Blonde. 2009: Cold Lake's Angels To Ashes open for local group State of Shock at The Cooler in Lloydminster, AB.
December 20 1974: Rush open for KISS for the first time. The show is in Michigan Palace in Detroit, MI. 1995: Burton Cummings plays an intimate one-man show at Toronto's Glenn Gould Theatre, the first of two shows at the venue. The show becomes part of the UP CLOSE AND ALONE lp.
December 21 1976: Lukas Rossi, winner of the "Rock Star Supernova" TV contest is born. 2008: Arapacis is signed to Femme Metal Records, the world's leading record label specializing in female fronted rock groups.
December 22 1995: Burton Cummings plays an intimate one-man show at Toronto's Glenn Gould Theatre. The show becomes part of the UP CLOSE AND ALONE lp.
December 23 2006: Nova Scotia blues legend Dutch Mason dies of diabetes-related complications at the age of 68 in his Truro, NS home.
December 24
December 25
1969: Robin Bachman gets his first drum kit for Christmas. Years later it comes in handy as he's part of Brave Belt, then BTO.
December 26
1984: Ron Tabak, original singer for Prism dies of a brain hemhorrage following a bicycle accident in Vancouver days earlier.
2004: Robbie Rae of The Raes goes missing when a tsunami hits the village in Thailand that he's living in. He's found two days later and recovers from his injuries.
December 27
December 28
1964: The results from RPM Weekly Magazine's unofficial poll are printed, the first time any sort of 'top artists' has been done on Canadian music.
December 29
December 30
1957: "The Stroll," by The Diamonds is released. It peaks at #4 in the US and sparks a dance craze by the same name.
1995: After a 12-year hiatus, Max Webster reunites for a series of shows, starting with a show at the RPM Club in Toronto.
December 31
1954: Charlie Major is born in Aylmer, Quebec.
1971: Bob Dylan comes on stage during The Band's New Year's Eve concert at the New York Academy of Music, performing four songs. The show becomes The Band's ROCK OF AGES album.
1972: Paul Hoffert plays his last show with Lighthouse in Toronto, until their brief reunion a few years later.
1979: Max Webster, and special guests Private Eye do a New Year's Eve Show at Maple Leaf Gardens in Toronto.
1983: The British release of the Roman Grey EP "Body Shock" and "Shakedown" hits the stores.
1984: Bryan Adams takes time from the middle of an extensive North American tour to co-host MTV's New Year's Eve Bash.
1994: Burton Cummings celebrates his 47th birthday by beginning his year-long one man tour in Winnipeg.
2000: FOOTPRINTS VOLUME 2 by A Foot In Cold Water is released in the US.
2005: Just when you thought they were dead, a New Year's bash in London, Ont. features The Pursuit of Happiness.
2008: Barenaked Ladies' reworking of the Hockey Night In Canada theme, a bluegrass twinged copy complete with lyrics, debuts on TSN. |
