Shooter (band)
Shooter | |
---|---|
Also known as | Greaseball Boogie Band (1972-1975) |
Origin | Toronto, Ontario |
Genres | Rock, rhythm and blues, soul |
Years active | 1972–1980 |
Labels | GRT Records Casino Records |
Past members | Duncan White Ray Harrison Wayne Mills John Bride Norm Wellbanks Sonnie Bernardi Tommy Frew Michael Holman |
Shooter, originally known as Greaseball Boogie Band, was a Canadian rock music group active in the early 1970s.
The band, which initially tried to market itself as a Canadian version of
The associated single "Be-Bop-A-Lula" received modest airplay but did not chart, and the band received a Juno Award nomination for Most Promising Group in 1975.Almost immediately, though, the band changed their name to Shooter, and changed their visual image from a greaser look to a 1930s gangster style. Around the same time, Holman and Frew left and Norm Wellbanks (bass) and Sonnie Bernardi (drums) were added to the line-up. The newly christened band released the album Shooter in 1975.[4] The album again consisted entirely of covers, this time selecting more current songs by artists such as Leo Sayer, Neil Sedaka, and Roger Cook. They had hits on the Toronto-based CHUM Chart and Canadian RPM charts with "Long Tall Glasses (I Can Dance)" (#13 CHUM,[5] #22 RPM[6]), "Train" (#23 CHUM,[7] #69 RPM[8]), and "Hard Times" (#69 RPM[9]), but GRT Records went bankrupt in 1976 before the band could release another album.[2]
They signed to Casino Records, releasing the radio singles "Cherokee Queen" and "Flows Like a River" in 1978 while working on the followup, but that label also went bankrupt before the album could be released.[2] Harrison, Mills and Bride left to form Cameo Blues Band,[1] while White and a returning Frew briefly carried on with a new band lineup that included Rhéal Lanthier and John Gibbard of Crowbar, but the band broke up by 1980 without releasing any further new music.[2]
References
- ^ a b "Greaseball Boogie Band". AllMusic.
- ^ a b c d "Proudly Canadian: Shooter". Cashbox, March 11, 2015.
- ^ "A deluge of records by pop's greatest and the lesser lights too". The Globe and Mail, December 8, 1973.
- ^ "A concert more dress rehearsal than real show". The Globe and Mail, May 31, 1975.
- ^ "CHUM Hit Parade - April 5, 1975".
- ^ "RPM Top 100 Singles - May 3, 1975" (PDF).
- ^ "CHUM Hit Parade - October 11, 1975".
- ^ "RPM Top 100 Singles - October 25, 1975" (PDF).
- ^ "RPM Top 100 Singles - August 28, 1976" (PDF).
External links
- Shooter discography at Discogs
- Greaseball Boogie Band discography at Discogs
- Article at canadianbands.com