Obituaries: Canadian Hit Singer-Songwriter Ken Tobias, Anvil Guitarist Dave Allison

Dave ('Squirly') Allison, original guitarist for Canadian thrash metal band Anvil, died on Sept. 30, at the age of 68. An official cause of death has not been reported.

Allison was a member of Anvil from 1981 through 1989, and its earlier incarnation, Lips, from 1973. In Anvil, he shared guitar chores with frontman Steve “Lips” Kudlow. He performed on five studio albums, including fan favorites Metal on Metal (1982) and Forged in Fire (1983), plus 1989 live album, Past and Present: Live in Concert.

Allison left the group after that record's release. He rejoined his bandmates onstage in April 2017 at Red Dog in Peterborough, Ontario, performing three songs: “Metal on Metal,” “Forged in Fire,” and a cover version of “Born to Be Wild.” Check out some live video below:

The band shared the following statement via The Vinyl Frontier Canada: “We’d like to send our deepest condolences to the Allison family and friends. Dave passed away this morning. He was a close friend and we will miss him. He was proud of his early contributions to ANVIL, and his name and legacy live on. Rest in peace, Dave Squirly Allison.”

Musical peers and industry supporters paid tribute to Allison on social media.

Jeff Waters of fellow Canadian metal stars Annihilator, commented on Anvil’s original post that "Dave sure left his mark on those classic records and I sure looked up to him (and the other 3) every time I snuck into The Chaud, The British and Le Papillon. RIP Dave. Thanks for your part in my mind and my music.”

Canadian music biz veteran Ralph Alfonso posted this on his Facebook page: "I had a personal connection to all the bands I worked with during my time at Attic, and watching Anvil explode in the UK and Europe was especially gratifying. A lot of that is due to the fact that they were great people to be with and worked hard for every success.That original Anvil line-up was pretty incredible. There has been nothing else like it since. If you can find the Anvil book by Robb and Lips; it tells their story in great detail and is highly recommended .Lips was the wild man and Dave was the golden haired metal pin-up; the yin and the yang to the original band's interplay.God bless to Dave and family. You are part of history."

We'd like to send our deepest condolences to the Allison family and friends. Dave passed away this morning. He was a close friend and we will miss him. He was proud of his early contributions to Anvil and his name and legacy lives on. Rest in peace DAVE SQUIRLY ALLISON
— Anvil (@AnvilMetal666)

Ken (Kenneth Wayne Paul) Tobias, a popular folk/roots/pop singer-songwriter, died on Oct. 2 , at age 79. In a Facebook post announcing his passing, his brother, Canadian music industry veteran Tony Tobias, reported that "Ken passed away peacefully at the Saint John Regional Hospital, in his home town of Saint John, New Brunswick. Ken had been battling brain cancer for the past two months."

In its entry, Canadian Encyclopedia noted that "Raised in Saint John, Ken Tobias briefly worked as a draftsman and from 1961 played guitar in the local folk band The Ramblers, alongside his brother Tony Tobias, and drums in the rock band Badd Cedes, headed by guitarist Brian Ahern."

Tobias was profiled by Bob Mersereau in a feature in the National Music Centre publication Ampify in 2022, and he reported that "Ken teamed up with his brother Tony and started doing folk music when it became hot. They had their own show on local radio and ended up becoming professional performers. On Dominion Day (now Canada Day) in 1964, Tobias was chosen to represent Atlantic Canada on the nationally broadcast concert from Parliament Hill. Introduced by young CBC host Alex Trebek, Ken Tobias sang his composition, 'This is the Maritimes.'"

Moving to Halifax in 1965, Tobias appeared often on CBC television's Music Hop, and was a cast member of Singalong Jubilee 1966-68, singing his own compositions and duets with Anne Murray. Mersereau notes that from Music Hop, "Brian Ahern got him into the cast of the nationally-broadcast Singalong Jubilee, where Tobias was given solo slots alongside a lineup that included Anne Murray. The Halifax scene wasn’t big enough to hold these budding stars, so Ahern went off to Toronto, producing Murray and others, and Tobias got offered steady club work around Montreal."

One of his groups there was Crystal Staircase, in which he played guitar and shared vocals with Lisa Hartt. On Facebook, Hartt recalls that "Ken wrote amazing songs for us. We were all crazy about vocal groups and The Fifth Dimension with Jimmy Webb really inspired us. Ken wrote songs specifically for our complex vocal harmonies. Many adventures and lots of laughter."

When that band ended, Tobias formed a new group, Book of Tobias, and then, in 1968, a chance encounter with Bill Medley of The Righteous Brothers changed his career dramatically. At Medley's urging, Tobias moved to Hollywood, and signed to Medley’s production company. Medley produced his first single, “You’re Not Even Going To The Fair,” released in 1969, but work permit problems forced Tobias to relocate to Montreal.

He re-established himself in Los Angeles with MGM/Verve, then hit it big with a new song. In 1970 he penned the ballad "Stay Awhile," which as recorded by Montreal group The Bells sold over two million copies, went No. 1 in Canada and No. 7 on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100, and made the charts in Australia and New Zealand.

Tobias relocated to Toronto in 1972, performing in clubs in Ontario and New York. He and his brother and manager, Tony Tobias, formed publishing company Gloosecamp Music and Ken then began his successful recording career. He toured throughout Canada during the 1970s, played in Europe, and appeared on Canadian TV shows hosted by Denny Doherty, Rene Simard and more.

His debut solo album, Tobias/Dream No. 2, for MGM/Verve, spawned a hit single, "Dream No. 2," in 1972, and a year later, his single, "I Just Want to Make Music," became a Canadian top ten hit.

A sophomore album, the country-rock flavouredThe Magic's in the Music, was recorded in London at George Martin's famed AIR Studios in 1973. For Attic Records, Tobias then recorded and released Every Bit of Love, in 1975. Produced by John Capek, it harvested four hit singles. It was followed in 1976 by the self-produced Siren Spell, and, the next year, Street Ballet.

In 1978 Tobias expanded his music work to Rome where he collaborated in the writing of the soundtrack of the cult spaghetti western A Silver Saddle. The Ken Tobias Collection - So Far... So Good was issued in 1978, followed by the 1984 recordings Ken Tobias - Friends (a children's record) and Gallery, a co-production with the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation.

In 1983, Tobias released "Here You Are Today," his tribute to his home town of Saint John, New Brunswick for Canada's first city's bicentennial. In that same year his Tourism New Brunswick commercial won the prestigious CLIO Award.

Canadian Encyclopedia wrote that "Tobias's albums typically contained his own compositions, sung in a naturally-produced tenor especially suited to light rock. His hit songs painted attractive aural landscapes featuring memorable melodies, evocative imagery, creative subject matter, and skilful construction. Although Tobias was often called a folk singer, he is more accurately categorized as an adult contemporary singer-songwriter."

He stopped recording in 1984, but wrote and produced film and television scores through the 1980s-90s, including the 1987 award winning Shelly Saywell documentary Shahira and the 1988 award winning film Toronto: Struggle For Neighbourhood. In 1989, he was commissioned by Ballet Jorgen to create music for a feature segment of their new ballet, resulting in a work entitled Dreams Of A Subtle World. In 1991, he completed the underscore for the two-hour Michael Maclear documentary The Greenpeace Years, aired in Canada on CBC and distributed worldwide.

In 1992, Tobias returned to recording, completing six new songs at Toronto's Reaction Studios. These were released to Canadian radio in the Spring of '93 by The Pangaea Music House, a company headed by Tony Tobias, and were supported by sometelevision and live performances.

Tobias successfully took up painting, returned to live in Saint John in 2004, and made festival appearances throughout the Maritime provinces. His finalindependent recording project was the 2007 album From A Distance, recorded in Saint John.

Tobias' compositions were covered by Canadian British, European and American artists, including such notable vocalists as Cliff Edwards (The Bells), Anne Murray ("Some Birds," on her first album), Susan Jacks ("Dream No. 2") and actress Lindsey Wagner.

Canadian country music historian Larry Delaney reports that Cliff Edwards recorded the Ken Tobias song "My Songs Are Sleeping", also covered by Bonnie Dobson. Instrumental versions of "Stay Awhile" were also recorded by Nashville's Floyd Cramer and Billy Vaughn, Carroll Baker recorded "I Know I Can," Taylor Jordan covered "Don't Wanna Talk" and Winnipeg artist Judy Reed recorded "Crazy For Loving You."

Tobias received numerous BMI certificates; PRO Canada's 1988 Crystal Award; and SOCAN Classic awards for 100,000 airplays on domestic radio ("Give a Little Love," "Dream No. 2," "Every Bit of Love," "Stay Awhile," and "I Just Want to Make Music").

In 2016, Tobias was inducted into the Nova Scotia Music Hall of Fame.

After his music career wound down, Tobias earned praise for his evocative work as a visual artist, and over a hundred of his paintings have been sold and are hanging in private homes throughout Canada. In 2021, a feature story in FYI Music News profiled this passion. Read that here.

The True North Gallery in Waterdown, Ontario, is devoted to the art of prominent musicians, and its collection includes work by Ken Tobias. The Gallery is the creation of Geoff Kulawick (head of Linus Entertainment/True North Records) and his wife Mabruka, and Geoff informs Billboard Canada that "we particularly liked his still life works, and secured three of which we have on exhibit at True North Gallery. We only dealt with Ken on exhibiting some of his paintings, but of course were familiar with his music. He was always humble, a total gentleman, and a pleasure to talk to, although he never did visit the gallery in person."

An eloquent tribute to Ken Tobias from his brother Tony reads, in part, "While we are all trying to imagine a world without Ken, we can be grateful for the joy and beauty Ken brought to the world for more than sixty years, through his outstanding songwriting, recordings, live performances, and beautiful visual art. His music legacy will be with us to share for decades.

"So today, while we grieve for Ken in our own way, maybe we can listen to a Ken Tobias song or two. I would recommend his signature song, 'Dream #2.’ The lyrics speak to Ken’s artistic approach to life, that if you can imagine, you can make things happen. He drew a picture of a pair of wings because he wanted to fly. And Ken most certainly attained flight through the beauty of his art, and he brought us all along to soar through universe with him. I am so proud of my brother and his legacy. He has left a beautiful mark on this world and touched the hearts and souls of so many. Rest in beauty, my brother."

Former record label executive Kevin Shea recalled on Facebook that "When I worked in radio, Ken's songs were ubiquitous. Great pop songs. I particularly loved 'Dream #2' and 'Dancer.' I later worked at Attic where Ken had spent many years as one of the label's premier artists and got to know him fairly well. But as much as I admired him as an artist, I think I admired his love of his mother, caring for her so lovingly as she approached 100 years of age. A lovely man who will be fondly remembered. May he rest in peace."

On his Facebook page, Rheostatics guitarist/vocalist Dave Bidini posted this tribute: "Goodbye to Ken Tobias, who was a treasured and dear friend, and a huge ally to Rheostatics during our formative years. He also sang on the Whale Music soundtrack with us. He's a huge, important voice in On A Cold Road [Bidini's 1998 memoir included several pages dedicated to Tobias], but more than that he gave us encouragement and told us not to be afraid of who we were."

"Such a soft, beautiful presence who could also be deadly serious about art and life. Too many stories here to mention. Some of the best nights of the early 90s were spent with him in his studio below Reaction; playing, hanging, watching old Kinescopes. Sending love to Tony and the rest of his extended family."

International

Julie Gordon, a longtime music executive best known as the founder of online forum Velvet Rope, died on Oct. 2, at age 65, of cancer.

Variety reported that "She had been undergoing treatment for cancer for several years, chronicling her struggle on social media with frustration and emotion but a moving combination of realism and cheer, even as her prognosis grew negative."

"Over the course of her music industry career, Gordon held roles at Famous Music Publishing, BMI, and The Enclave, an EMI-distributed label, where she worked closely with the then-new Scottish act Belle and Sebastian. Yet she is probably best known as the founder and moderator of the Velvet Rope, which she launched in 1995 after taking over a music folder called 'Record Industry Dirt' on AOL."

"This influential mid-’90s online forum that was the first widely read online music-biz gossip site. Gordon later published an unsigned-band tipsheet for music executives. After leaving the music industry, she raised twins, relocated for Florida and served as director of operations at Israel Cancer Association USA, which raises funds for cancer research in Israel. Yet her perspectives on the music industry never ceased: In 2017, she wrote an op-ed for Variety titled "Sexual Harassment and the Music Business: The Song Remains the Same."

One Canadian act benefiting from Gordon's support was rock band Scratching Post. Group members Nicole Hughes and Mark Holman informed Billboard Canada that "In the late '90s, Scratching Post signed with NYC-based label The Enclave (Virgin/EMI), led by Tom Zutaut, who discovered and signed Motley Crüe and Guns N' Roses. Julie was our A&R rep at the Enclave and was instrumental in shaping our career and helping us navigate the music business. She was a force of will!"