By David Farrell
Prism’s longtime drummer Rocket Norton has assembled an alumni cast of ‘70s and ‘80s west-coast musicians for an all-star charity concert on Oct. 1 at Vancouver’s Hard Rock Casino Theatre. All proceeds from ticket sales and sponsorships are going to the BC Cancer Foundation.
Marquee billings so far include Prism, Loverboy, Lee Aaron, Trooper, Chilliwack, Headpins, Streetheart, Powder Blues, and Nick Gilder (incidentally, all the bands save Lee Aaron and Gilder have connections back to various Prism line-ups). Spurring Norton’s urge to organize this “F**KCancer” event is the fact that he has been diagnosed with rectal cancer and is now facing an uncertain future.
Can’t attend? You can donate here.
– CBC hallmark broadcaster Barbara Frum, The Tragically Hip, and music video director Julien Christian Lutz have been added to the 2022 list of Canada’s Walk of Fame inductees. They join the list of earlier announced names that include sports hero Lionel Conacher, R&B singer Deborah Cox, business entrepreneur Heather Reisman, and the Canadian comedy institution Just For Laughs.
– It has been a long time since we heard anything about Greg Slaight, former manager of CFGM, but he and his wife Diane made headlines this week with a $2M donation to Niagara’s Pathstone Foundation, a primary provider of children's mental health treatment in the region.
–Vancouver-based Chaos Club Digital (CCD) has signed an “exclusive worldwide distribution deal” with Warner Music Canada. The announcement was made by CCD CEO and founder Buk Nkosi who launched the music enterprise in 2019 as a digital music company. The company has evolved and now has divisions that include management, creative services, and a tech development arm that has developed a blockchain-based fan club called Holdr.
– Vancouver-based 604 Records is now distributing the newly birthed Rock Is Dead Records for distribution. The new imprint’s founders are music producer Danny Craig and photographer/video director Dave Benedict who are also bandmates in the chart-topping, million-selling CanRock band Default.
“Normally, a label has to hire a producer to make a record, a photographer for promo shots and a director for music video direction. That costs a lot of money upfront to create quality content” explains Benedict. “With our approach, we can cover these costs and focus the majority of resources on promotion.”
Rock Is Dead Records’ schedule includes Vancouver rock acts Chase The Bear and The Vidos, with upcoming singles Underwater on September 2 and Boomshackalacka on September 23, respectively.
– The Paquin Agency has been busy signing new additions to its roster. Included are Paul Anka, Broken Social Scene, Dear Rouge, Hayden, Jason McCoy, and The Rural Alberta Advantage.
– Live Nation published Q2 results are impressive. According to the filing, the company generated revenues of US $4.4 billion during the quarter across all divisions and has already sold 100M tickets for concerts in 2022. That’s more than Live Nation sold in the whole of 2019. MBW digs deeper.
– Hat star Gord Bamford has raised over $143K in support of The Gord Bamford Foundation via his Kick COVID in the A** Tour Part 1. Funds raised for the Foundation benefit youth in communities across Canada through initiatives and programs that support education, music, health care, sports and multi-use community facilities. Over the past 15 years, Bamford’s charitable foundation has raised a total of over $5M to benefit Canadian youth.
– Quebec heartthrob and onetime rockabilly contender Bobby Bazini has massaged his sound and his profile since launching his career on a Quebec talent show and then given a big promo push by UMC. In a memo to fans recently, he shared: “I’ve been busy putting the final touches on this new album I’ve been working on since this winter. It’s a little bit of a new sound for me, it feels different, but it feels right where I wanted to be… It's deeply inspired by the concept albums I love from the ’70s.” He has also announced a series of theatre shows throughout September, including The Great Hall in Toronto on the 20th.
