It's -39 in the Ottawa region with the wind chill this morning. Arrgghhh...about 80pounds of additional clothing is the norm on a day like today. For some perverse reason this kind of weather harkens me back to my youth and the ways we chose to keep warm on a cold winter's night. More often than not we trekked out to the high school gym in the late 60s and early 70s and took in a dance. In those days big name Canadian acts toured the high school and local arena circuit.
From Toronto came Mandala - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mandala_(Canadian_band) - One of their big hits was Love-itis...
One of Montreal's most popular bands on the circuit was Mashmakhan. Here's an extended version of their hit As The Years Go By from the film Festival Express...
Chilliwack - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chilliwack_(band) - was from British Columbia and began life as The Collectors. A big hit of theirs later, in the early 80s, was My Girl
April Wine was another popular band, hailing from Halifax, Nova Scotia, prior to settling in Montreal. Their big hit back then was Bad Side of the Moon
A very popular group on the Ottawa scene hailed from Calgary. Although as they became popular, they moved to Toronto. The Stampeders had a string of hits, including Devil You.
One of Canada's most famous and most popular groups were based in Winnipeg. The Guess Who were hot, appearing weekly on the CBC-TV's after-school music series "Let's Go". One of their hits back in the day was These Eyes.
Ottawa wasn't without it's own nationally known rock groups. One was Don Norman and the Other Four who had a hit with Low Man.
Don Norman was a mainstay of the Ottawa music scene as a former member of local group The Esquires. Here's their 63 version of Man from Adano (Ottawa's own "surf" music!)
And, perhaps, the best known Ottawa group of the late 60s/early 70s was the Five Man Electrical Band. They enjoyed superstardom, eventually recording in California. Beginning life as The Staccatos, the Five Man Electrical Band had a string of hits, among them was Absolutely Right
And that represents a slice, more or less, of the hot Canadian music scene that Ottawa witnessed in the late 60s/early70s. Of course, there was no such thing as "You Tube" back then, so many acts are but a memory, or perhaps have left behind records that may have made it to CD but certainly - and sadly - most haven't had their performances videotaped for posterity.
From Toronto came Mandala - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mandala_(Canadian_band) - One of their big hits was Love-itis...
One of Montreal's most popular bands on the circuit was Mashmakhan. Here's an extended version of their hit As The Years Go By from the film Festival Express...
Chilliwack - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chilliwack_(band) - was from British Columbia and began life as The Collectors. A big hit of theirs later, in the early 80s, was My Girl
April Wine was another popular band, hailing from Halifax, Nova Scotia, prior to settling in Montreal. Their big hit back then was Bad Side of the Moon
A very popular group on the Ottawa scene hailed from Calgary. Although as they became popular, they moved to Toronto. The Stampeders had a string of hits, including Devil You.
One of Canada's most famous and most popular groups were based in Winnipeg. The Guess Who were hot, appearing weekly on the CBC-TV's after-school music series "Let's Go". One of their hits back in the day was These Eyes.
Ottawa wasn't without it's own nationally known rock groups. One was Don Norman and the Other Four who had a hit with Low Man.
Don Norman was a mainstay of the Ottawa music scene as a former member of local group The Esquires. Here's their 63 version of Man from Adano (Ottawa's own "surf" music!)
And, perhaps, the best known Ottawa group of the late 60s/early 70s was the Five Man Electrical Band. They enjoyed superstardom, eventually recording in California. Beginning life as The Staccatos, the Five Man Electrical Band had a string of hits, among them was Absolutely Right
And that represents a slice, more or less, of the hot Canadian music scene that Ottawa witnessed in the late 60s/early70s. Of course, there was no such thing as "You Tube" back then, so many acts are but a memory, or perhaps have left behind records that may have made it to CD but certainly - and sadly - most haven't had their performances videotaped for posterity.
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