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Canadian Songwriters Hall of Fame
Carole Pope and Kevan Staples of Rough Trade
FYI
Obituaries: Rough Trade Co-Founder Kevan Staples, Country Hall of Famer Dick Damron
This week we also acknowledge the passing of hit Memphis record producer/engineer Terry Manning and Canadian country singer Harry Rusk.
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Kevan Staples, a Toronto songwriter, film and TV composer and multi-instrumentalist best known as co-founder of the adventurous Juno-winning rock band Rough Trade, died on March 23, of cancer, at the age of 75.
His creative partnership with charismatic and provocative vocalist and songwriter Carole Pope was at the heart of Rough Trade, a group that made a colourful mark on the Canadian rock scene in the late '70s and early '80s.
In a Globe & Mail obituary, Brad Wheeler reported that "Mr. Staples first met Ms. Pope in 1968, while auditioning for the same band (which never materialized). The singer recounted the moment in her 2000 memoir Anti Diva: 'Then he walked into the room, this gorgeous boy-man with blue-black hair and an aura of sweetness. … He pulled out a beautiful white Gretsch guitar and started playing atonal Aquarian-like things.'"
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"They lived together in Toronto while starting up a pair of bands, beginning with the art-folk trio O, formed in the late 1960s with keyboardist Clive Smith [later founder of Nelvana]. They memorably played a gig on top of a bus parked at City Hall for a National Film Board project.
"The short-lived acoustic duo the Bullwhip Brothers eventually morphed into Rough Trade [in 1973], which was essentially Mr. Staples and Ms. Pope with different accompanists over the years. Their first proper concert was a midnight show in 1975 at the Roxy, a Toronto movie theatre. Their presentation was sexually charged cabaret rock, with underground elements of bondage and other leathered passions. In 1977, they brought in U.S. female impersonator Divine to co-star in a one-night musical, Restless Underwear, at Massey Hall. The critics panned it."
In 1976, Rough Trade made history as the first rock band to record a direct-to-disc album with Rough Trade Live. Recorded live in the studio without an audience, it was cut directly to the mastering disc for greater audio fidelity. Though not a commercial success, the experiment was much loved by audophiles. One of its songs, the Pope-Staples co-write "Birds Of A Feather," was covered by Tim Curry in 1978.
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The group performed regularly on the Toronto club circuit during this period, and Pope and Staples also worked writing music for film and television soundtracks, picking up a Genie Award in 1978 for made-for-TV film One Night Stand.
By mid-1980, the revolving Rough Trade lineup settled into a stable five-person grouping of Carole Pope (vocals), Kevan Staples (guitars, keyboards), David McMorrow (keyboards), Terry Wilkins (bass) and Bucky Berger (drums).
Deemed too avant-garde or dangerous by the major record labels, Rough Trade signed with Bernie Finkelstein's independent imprint True North Records, one that was able to bring them significant, if possibly surprising, commercial success in Canada, and critical acclaim internationally. “They were a sensation on all levels when they hit, but the fact of the matter was that the big labels were scared of them,” Finklestein told The Globe and Mail.
The first fruits of that record deal came with the late 1980 release of the group's second album, the platinum-selling Avoid Freud. "Fashion Victim," the B-side of its first single, "What's the Furor About the Fuhrer?" became a top 40 hit in Canada, setting the stage for breakthrough hit second single "High School Confidential."
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The track's lesbian-themed lyrics attracted plenty of media attention, it made the Canadian Top 20, and it remains the most-discussed song in the Rough Trade catalogue. Rough Trade's performance at the 1982 Juno Awards during which Pope grabbed her crotch while singing the “cream my jeans” line of “High School Confidential” is now on most lists of memorable Juno moments. The song was inducted into The Canadian Songwriters Hall of Fame in 2020, accompanied by a Rough Trade performance.
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A third album, 1981's For Those Who Think Young, featured another raunchy single, "All Touch." It peaked on the charts at No. 9, the highest chart entry the band ever notched, and a year later it made a splash in Australia, reaching No. 40 in January 1983, and spending 40 weeks in the Top 100. "All Touch" also became Rough Trade's only U.S. chart hit, peaking at no. 58. The album went gold in Canada.
Wilkins and Berger left the group in 1982, replaced by Howard Ayee (bass) and Jorn Anderson (drums) as unofficial members. The next Rough Trade album, Shaking the Foundations, earned a top 20 Canadian hit in "Crimes of Passion." Famed English soul-pop star Dusty Springfield (at one time Pope's lover) contributed backing vocals to that record, and covered two Rough Trade compositions on her album White Heat.
Rough Trade's fifth 1983 album Weapons failed to make the Canadian charts, but did earn gold sales. The group's final studio album, 1984's O Tempora! O Mores!, included two singles that brushed the Canadian top 100, but proved to be Rough Trade's final studio release.
Some new tracks were included on the 1985 greatest hits compilation Birds of a Feather, and Rough Trade's final full-scale tour, "Deep Six in '86" followed.
After the final break-up in 1988, Rough Trade reunited sporadically for one-off shows and a mini-tour in 2001. In 2020, Pope and Staples reunited as Rough Trade to record and issue a new version of "High School Confidential." Though billed as "High School Confidential (Fame Whore Mix)", the track was a completely new recording, rather than a remix.
Rough Trade principals Staples and Pope were inducted into Canada’s Walk of Fame in 2023, celebrating their 50th anniversary with a show at the Phoenix Concert Theatre in Toronto that same week. In recent years, the pair were reportedly seeking financing to produce a stage musical built around Rough Trade songs.
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Rough Trade was involved in four Juno awards, though not directly under that name. The 1981 Producer of the Year category was won by Gene Martynec, for work on “High School Confidential,” and, despite not being a solo artist, Carole Pope won as Most Promising Female Vocalist of the Year in 1981 and Best Female Vocalist of the Year in 1983 and 1984.
Throughout the career of Rough Trade, Kevan Staples' fluent and funky guitar work and keyboard playing was a perfect complement for Carole Pope's compelling vocals and oft witty and raunchy lyrics. In a 1988 Globe & Mail review of a Pope concert featuring Staples, critic Chris Dafoe noted that "Staples played the foil, both visually and musically. His loose style and dippy grin added a welcome note of irony to the proceedings and his controlled, minimal guitar style played well off Ms. Pope’s visions of excess.”
In a Canadian Press obituary, Pope stressed that “There wouldn’t have been a Rough Trade without him. He wasn’t afraid to experiment as a musician. He created innovative keyboard and guitar sounds that made our music come alive.”
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In that obit, veteran Toronto radio pioneer David Marsden, a major Rough Trade supporter, noted that "Kevan was the shy guy behind this woman who was very, very demonstrative, but he played a role equally important,” he added.
After Rough Trade's demise, Pope continued to perform and record as a solo artist, while Staples turned his full attention to composing for film, television and theatre.
In 1997, he was nominated for a Gemini Award in the Best Sound in a Comedy, Variety or Performing Arts Program or Series category for his work onBuck Staghorn's Animal Bites. Other notable credits include the TV series The Smart Woman Survival Guide, Little Rosey Rin Tin Tin: K-9 Cop and TV movies The Guy With The Knife, Something About Mary Magdalene, Beauty Quest, Helldrivers, Crimes of Honor and Niagara: A History of the Falls.
As tributes to Kevan Staples were posted to social media and in media obituaries, comments about his sartorial splendour equalled mentions of his musical talent. Unsurprising, perhaps, given that he was the son of a CBC costume designer turned couturier father and an interior designer mother.
To Brad Wheeler, Bernie Finkelstein noted that "Kevan was an elegant man. If rock ‘n’ roll had a Fred Astaire in those days, it was Kevan Staples, not Bryan Ferry.” He added that “Kevan was a very talented musician. I thought he was the greatest rhythm guitarist I’d ever heard
Veteran Toronto concert promoter Gary Topp (to Wheeler): "Kevan was Rough Trade’s bandleader. He was quiet, laidback and always happy, but the other band members really respected him. When I did their lights at the Horseshoe Tavern, I always followed Kevan, not Carole. You knew what was going to happen by watching what he was doing on stage.”
Topp also paid tribute to Staples in this Facebook post: "I’m deeply upset at the news of Kevan Staples’ passing. I’ve known him since he and Carole transitioned from The Bullwhip Brothers into the electric Rough Trade at the Roxy. He was a brilliant musician, composer, arranger, bandleader and one of the nicest, light-hearted guys I’ve ever met along the way.
"Recently, we’d been having conversations by message and he was so pleased about He Hijacked My Brain [Topp's memoir]. We have lost a 100% legit, stylish, creative, visionary and honest to goodness lovely guy. My sincere good wishes go out to his family and all those who knew him."
Canadian music publishing veteran and founder of the Canadian Songwriters Hall Of Fame Frank Davies (to Billboard Canada): "Kevan and I never worked together directly though we often saw each other at industry events over many years and he was someone I always enjoyed seeing and chatting with like an old friend. He did however work directly with so many people who I have worked with and know, including my sister-in-law Maureen and her sound design company RMW and its principals Ted Rosnick and Steve MacKinnon (now Vapor Music). Without exception, they liked and respected him equally as a truly warm and generous person and of course for his undeniable talent.
"I was so glad that the Canadian Songwriters Hall of Fame was able to recognize Kevan a few years ago for one of his outstanding and lasting contributions to Canada's songwriting heritage."
Noted Toronto vocalist Colina Phillips worked with Rough Trade in the mid-'70s, and she sent Billboard Canada this tribute: "I was saddened to hear of Kevan's passing. My time with Kevan and Carole in Rough Trade was brief but I remember their openness musically and their kindness personally. They knew what they wanted and achieved it without force."
Renowned Toronto audio engineer Doug McClement (on Facebook):"So sad to hear this news. Worked with Kevan solo in the studio and with Rough Trade in concert at least a dozen times. A smart, funny and creative man. Always the best-dressed man in the room, too. Was just talking to him on the phone a few weeks ago about restoring some old Rough Trade tapes from their very early years. Hopefully I'll get to complete that task in his memory."
Famed Canadian music photographer Patrick Harbron (on Facebook): "I photographed Rough Trade periodically. Always impressive group. Kevan was a lovely guy. When they announced the end of the band in the '90s, I brought them into my studio on Adelaide and made series of fun send off photographs of the two of them. RIP Kevan."
Former Rough Trade bassist Terry Wilkins posted this Facebook tribute: "I just heard of the passing of my former boss, Kevan Staples of Rough Trade. Kevan was one of the greatest rhythm guitar players I have ever known and a gifted composer in his fruitful partnership with Carole Pope. A short while ago I had a visit with him along with Bucky Berger and Dave McMorrow, the Avoid Freud lineup. He was charming and funny as heck, like always. He left his mark writ large. I will miss that man. RIP Kevan and condolences to his family and all who knew and loved him."
Dick (Joseph Glenn) Damron, a country singer-songwriter and Canadian Country Music Hall Of Famer, died on March 29, at the age of 91.
In a news item in Billboard Canada FYI last year, David Farrell reported on a Facebook post indicating that "Bentley, AB’s self-styled outlaw country singer-songwriter and fine picker, Dick Damron is in hospital and apparently not faring so well."
Damron was inducted into the Canadian Country Music Hall of Fame at the 1994 Canadian Country Music Association (CCMA) Awards. Check out the induction video here.
A bio on the CCMA website then stated that "Few artists in the history of Canadian country music have worked harder or longer than Dickie Damron. He got his first guitar at the age of five, and has since released no less than 27 albums of many genres, from 1958’s Rockabilly to the instrumental and Christian country music that he is recording today."
"Damron’s 1957 debut single is considered by many to be one of the best and rarest in first generation Rockabilly. He recorded his first number one record, 'Hitch Hikin'in Nashville, topping the country music charts in 1965. His 1970 hit, ‘Countrified,’ was later recorded by George Hamilton IV and served as the theme song on his syndicated TV show.
"Early on in his career, Damron toured with the Musical Roundup Gang and the Nightriders, and through his career has toured extensively both domestically and internationally."
Damron is a member of The Rockabilly Hall of Fame, and was inducted into the International Country Music Hall of Fame, in Beaumont, Texas. He has won honours ranging from Foreign Artist of the Year in Europe to five Texas Country Music Awards. He was named the BMI Best Canadian Songwriter seven times.
Growing up in a very musical rural Albertan family, Damron fell in love with country music and the guitar, and was heavily influenced by Wilf Carter, acknowledged as the father of Canadian Country Music.
In between stints as a rodeo rider and oil field roughneck, Damron worked on his music. With his wife, piano player, Martha Ohlson, he started a band, The Musical Round-Up Gang, that had a popular radio show on CKRD in Red Deer. In his autobiography The Legend And The Legacy, published in 1997 by Quarry Press, Damron recalled that "somewhere between 1956 and 1964, we made a long, slow transition from being an old-time dance band playing waltzes, polkas and square dances to playing Fifties rock 'n' roll.'"
That was the real start of a lengthy and now legendary music career. In 1972, Damron appeared at the Grand Ole Opry, and in 1977 he presented the Dick Damron Country Music Festival in his hometown of Bentley, Alberta.
His most popular songs include "Silver and Shine," "Whiskey Jack," "My Good Woman," "High On You," "The Ballad of T.J’s," "If You Need Me Lord," "Countrified," and "Wild Horses." His country/gospel song, "Jesus It’s Me Again," continues to be one of his more popular compositions recorded by several Canadian artists, as well as by Nashville’s Charley Pride and George Hamilton IV.
He wrote over 500 songs and recorded over 30 albums, charting 14 Top 10 singles in Canada over his career. The 1994 CCMA tribute to Damron stated that "the dozens of nominations, citations, awards and honours Damron has earned over five decades in country music are a testament to his ability to write superb songs and entertain his audiences. These accolades also represent the sincere affection, respect and love he feels for the country music community."
His early work was collected into a 3-CD retrospective, More Than Countryfied: 1959-76, released on internationally respected archive label Bear Family Records. That label's website bio stated that "This collection is the first time that his early recordings have been properly reissued. It covers the period of 1959 to 1976, from his first rockabilly recording of Gonna Have A Party to his classic 1960s country albums recorded at the Starday studio in Nashville, to his 1970s 'outlaw country' recordings that firmly established the 'Dick Damron sound.' This 3-CD collection is a much-needed retrospective on one of Canada's great honky-tonk heroes."
A fellow Canadian Country Music Hall of Fame inductee, publicist and music journalist Anya Wilson sent Billboard Canada this tribute: "It was quite a challenge when after many years of working promo for rock I entered the world of country music. That was certainly a culture shock and a genre I had to learn very quickly if I wanted to survive in this world. Any success that I’ve had comes from a handful of people who took me under their wing, helped me cross that bridge and allowed me into their circle. One of those folks was Dick Damron."
"Dick was a massive personality and so talented. One thing I recall is, unlike many of the folks in the genre at the time, he was all for moving the country into the mainstream focus. When I became Country Editor for [trade paper] The Record, he was the first one to subscribe, partly to support me, but also he understood that country’s inclusion would put it in front of the industry. I loved him dearly, such a warm and talented man who was so funny he could have been a comedian and didn’t mince words."
Veteran Toronto music journalist Larry LeBlanc (senior writer, CelebrityAccess), sent this toBillboard Canada: “I fondly remember a night in Vancouver after the CCMA awards about 30 years ago singing bluegrass with Dick and the Family Brown at a hotel party. It was that kind of industry then. And Dick was a central figure for what seemed forever.
"I first met Dick Damron when he played rockabilly and rock 'n roll in the 1960s and for years we’d joke about how long we knew each other. He had Top 10 hits on Apex Records, Quality Records, and a long string of hits with RCA Records. He toured Canada extensively and performed on most every country TV show in Canada. As well, he toured Europe many times and Bear Family Records in Germany have released multiple CD box sets of his recordings.”
Harry Rusk, a B.C. country singer-songwriter, died on March 20, at age 87.
Canadian country music authority Larry Delaney (Cancountry) forwarded the following biographical information to Billboard Canada.
"Harry Rusk was born in Fort Nelson, B.C. Throughout his lengthy career was influenced heavily by the songs and music of his idol Hank Snow, and many of his albums reflected that sound. While living in Fort Nelson, he hosted his Country Time With Harry Rusk radio show aired over CHFN, a Canadian Armed Forces station.
After relocating to Edmonton, Rusk performed with Jimmy Arthur Ordge and with Gaby Haas. He also recorded several of his early career albums there. He later toured nationally, making appearances on various TV shows across Canada, and a special performance on The Grand Ole Opry in Nashville.
Harry Rusk placed six songs on the RPM Charts during the period 1968-1973, including the Top 20 tunes "Pineville County Jail" (written by Dick Damron), and "The Redman And The Train."
In his latter years he and wife Gladys resided in Carrot Creek/Edson, Alberta, where he published his autobiography Beyond The Bend Of The River in 1999.
In 1996, Harry Rusk was inducted into the Hank Snow Country Music Archives and Hall of Fame in Liverpool, Nova Scotia. In 2010, he was presented with the Bev Munro Traditional Country Music Legend Award in Alberta, and in 2015 he was honoured with a Lifetime Achievement award by the National Traditional Country Music Association, an organization based in Iowa.
International
Terry Manning, an American recording engineer, record producer, musician and photographer, died on March 25, following a fall. He was 77 years of age.
In a career spanning more than 50 years, he worked with major artists in a wide range of genres, as both engineer and producer. That list includes Led Zeppelin, Iron Maiden, ZZ Top, Booker T. & the MG's, Shakira, Isaac Hayes, Otis Redding, Johnny Winter, the Fabulous Thunderbirds, Big Star, Jason and the Scorchers, the Staple Singers, Georgia Satellites, Ten Years After, George Thorogood, Al Green, Widespread Panic, Shania Twain, Joe Cocker, Joe Walsh, and Lenny Kravitz and dozens of others.
Manning's discography features big Canadian names, including Shania Twain, Bryan Adams, The Tragically Hip and Colin James.
Born in Oklahoma City, Manning began working in the music industry while he lived in El Paso, where he played guitar and sang with several local bands, including sitting in with Bobby Fuller and leading the Wild Ones.
After moving to Memphis, Manning worked for years at two legendary recording studios, Stax Records and Ardent Studios, as an engineer and producer, recording and mixing. He was a principal part of Stax owner Al Bell's production team for the Staple Singers, responsible for such hit records as "Heavy Makes You Happy," "Respect Yourself" and "I'll Take You There."
In its obituary, The Hollywood Reporter noted that "the melding of the Memphis soul sound with rock and pop was a trademark of Manning's production work, which also marked early and significant commercial collaborations between white and Black musicians.
"With Stax increasingly gaining a reputation for becoming the Motown of the south, the label’s roster would take center stage at WattStax, the 1972 all-star concert and 1973 concert film, for which Manning served as music supervisor. Often referenced as a Black Woodstock of the west coast, the film has since been preserved in the Library of Congress."
He went on to work at another iconic studio in Memphis, Ardent, where Big Star’s seminal 1972 debut #1 Record was recorded. Manning, who became friends with singer Alex Chilton, is featured on keyboards and backing vocals in addition to production.
He later was credited on albums by Led Zeppelin (notably, Led Zeppelin III), and ZZ Top (including 1983’s diamond-selling blockbuster Eliminator).
The Zeppelin connection was a result of Manning befriending British guitarist Jimmy Page in 1966 during a U.S. tour by the Yardbirds which was supported by the American band Lawson and Four More with Manning on keyboards. Page then sought out Manning's engineering talents during the final mixing of Led Zeppelin III, work that was a great boost for Manning's career.
In the 1980s, Manning moved to London where he spent time at Abbey Road Studios. In 1992, Island Records founder Chris Blackwell came calling, enlisting Manning to revitalize his Compass Point Studios in Nassau, Bahamas where artists like Shania Twain, Shakira and Lenny Kravitz would record some of their most successful projects.
In the late ‘90s, Manning also launched his Lucky 7 record label and released a number of archival CDs by Memphis acts he was involved with, including Big Star precursor Rock City, bluesman Furry Lewis, rockers Cargoe and pop tunesmith Van Duren.
In 1970, Manning licensed a release of his own solo album, Home Sweet Home, on Stax's Enterprise label, re-released with extra tracks by Sunbeam in 2006. He later released solo albums including 2013'sWest Texas Skyline: A Tribute To Bobby Fuller, Heaven Knows in 2015, Planets in 2016, Playin' in Elvis' House in 2019, and, this past January, Red And Black.
Manning had a deep interest in photography, and his work was acclaimed. He specialized in urban photography as well as shooting many major artists, and worked as a photojournalist for NME.
In August 2015, Manning's photography work began showing at art galleries in several cities. Two photography books were published, Scientific Evidence Of Life On Earth During Two Millennia, and Cuba Despues Del Tiempo Especial, Antes De Los Americanos, and a number of photography books and new exhibits were planned.
Read an extensive obituary in Memphis newspaper The Commercial Appealhere.
Canadian blues-rock star Colin James worked with Manning and contributed this tribute to Billboard Canada. "I met Terry Manning when I recorded my 2nd record for Virgin Records at Ardent Studios with the late producer Joe Hardy. Terry was working on a Johnny Diesel Record at the time. A few years later Terry was running the Bahamian studios, Compass Point where I recorded Bad Habits.
"Terry produced two songs on my Best Of collection for EMI as I was transitioning to Warner at the time. We played a serious amount of Foos Ball on those sessions and Terry had an amazing amount of energy and a great sense of humor. I recently had a text exchange with Terry after watching the latest Stax documentary and finding out that Terry was the photographer of some of the most iconic shows of MLK ever taken. News too me. We both found the Ricola commercial quite humourous and would open and close our conversations with a resounding RICOLA! RIP My good friend and a loud RICOLA to you always !!!!!!"
Toronto musician and producer Derek Downham informed Billboard Canada that Manning was a major inspiration. "I never worked with him sadly, but he was a beautiful online presence, sharing stories and tech talk to younger engineers and producers like me. You could tell he cared about honesty and integrity in recorded music.
"He was creative until the end and a huge inspiration for myself and countless others. I’m honoured that he responded to my messages with respect and encouragement. I try my best to be like this for younger producers. I wish I had the chance to have him at my impending new studio. He’s just a large influence on my life as a producer/engineer."
In its social media tribute to one of its key figures, Ardent Studio noted that "Beyond his work behind the console, Terry was a passionate artist in his own right. He released his own music, explored photography with the same dedication he brought to engineering, and constantly pushed creative boundaries. But most of all, he was a kind, funny, and endlessly inspiring presence — a true innovator who made everyone around him better.
"Rest in peace, Terry. Your legacy will continue to inspire generations to come."
An tribute to Toronto rapper Bishop Brigante will run in next week's edition of Obituaries.
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