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News
November 25, '07. Norm Hacking, songwriter, poet, artist and author, much loved Canadian roots music personality, died of a heart attack at his Toronto home Sunday.
It is really a sad comment on the state of the arts in Canada, and personally a bit of a shock, when my news page begins to appear like an obituary. It is, however, a credit to the accomplishments of the baby boom generation.
August 28, '07. Doug Riley, Dr. Music died unexpectedly today of a massive heart attack at sixty-two. Keyboardist (B3 virtuoso), composer, arranger, producer extraordinaire, Doug was seated in an aeroplane waiting to take off from Calgary airport.
I met Doug after booking him as leader of the Ike and Tina Turner Revue for a high school dance in 1966. He later became a client of mine and a life long friend.
An artists artist, highly respected behind the scenes by musicians and music professionals around the world. He nonetheless succeeded in avoiding or evading fame. A beloved and gentle giant, Doug Riley's contribution to music in his time is unrivalled in Canada, and likely to remain so for a very long time. Doug was awarded the Order of Canada in 2003.
June 30, '07. On-line music sales edge the record retailer toward extinction today as Sam The Record Man, on Yonge Street, north of Dundas in Toronto, closed it's doors for the last time. The store was founded seventy years ago, by Sam Sniderman, now retired.
Sniderman gave shelf space to many local musicians, accepting their recordings on consignment.
A local institution, the store became the flagship of a chain accounting for twenty percent of Canada's retail music sales.
Sam's welcoming face, became a fixture at the door.
His sons, Jason and Bobby, characterise the decision as having been agonising
for the family.
May 27, '07. Describing him as one of Canada's greatest treasures, the TMA (Toronto Musicians Association) today presented it's lifetime achievement award to Gordon Lightfoot.
January 1, ’07.
Born in Highgrove, London, in 1945, and
long recognised as the voice of classic rock,
musician Rod Stewart
has been awarded a knighthood for services to music
in her majesty queen Elizabeth II’s annual New Year honours list.
Referring to his girlfriend, Penny Lancaster, Rod said:
It's a great honour and I'm overjoyed. We'll be celebrating the good news later today...I'm very proud to be British.
from his home in Palm Springs.
November 22, ’06. The Cape Breton-born entertainer John Allan Cameron, The Godfather of Cape Breton Celtic music, passed away this morning in Toronto at sixty-seven, after a long battle with leukaemia and bone cancer. John was awarded the Order of Canada in 2003. See this CBC Tribute to John Allan Cameron.
October 15, ’06. Toronto agent, impresario and promoter Gino Empry, has died at 83. In 1993, Empry received the City of Toronto's highest honour, the Award of Merit.
May 21, ’06. Sir Bob Geldof has been awarded the 2006 Lyndon Baines Johnson Moral Courage Award from the Holocaust Museum in Houston, Texas. Geldof was honoured for organising the 1985 Live Aid concert at the museum’s annual dinner.
January 10, ’06. It was announced at West London’s Riverside Studios in Hammersmith, two blocks from the Hammersmith Odeon where the Beatles launched their career, and one mile from my London home, that Sir Paul McCartney, sixty-four, has refused nomination for the Outstanding Contribution to Music award at this year’s BRIT Awards, saying that he is too young to receive it, and does not want to be perceived as a washed-up has-been. That’s the spirit Paul, why give in to generation ZZZ, you could have another fifty productive years ahead.
January 10, ’06. Toronto born Bernie Finkelstein, of True North Records, has been selected by CARAS (the Canadian Academy of Recording Arts & Sciences) to receive the 2006 Walt Grealis Special Achievement Award. The annual honour recognizes "individuals who have contributed to the growth and development of the Canadian music industry." The award will be made at the upcoming Juno Awards in April. Congratulations Bernie!
January 1, ’06. The 65-year-old singer Tom Jones, of Pontypridd in Wales, has been awarded a knighthood for services to music in her majesty queen Elizabeth II’s annual New Year Honours list. Keep it up Tom! I was involved with Tom’s Maple Leaf Gardens show in Toronto 1970.
August 21, ’05. Electronic music pioneer Robert A. Moog (Mohg) has died of a brain tumour at seventy-one in his Asheville, North Carolina home. Legendary Dr. Moog gave his name and his life to the development of music synthesizer technology and the advancement of Electronic Music. The recipient of two Grammy’s, he was given the Grammy Trustees Award for Lifetime Achievement in 1970, the Royal Swedish Academy of Music Polar Music Prize in 2001, and the Audio Engineering Society’s Silver Medal. I met Robert in 1970 at Chicago’s NAMM convention. We discussed Hi-Z FET solid-state technology and maintained contact over the years.
June 21, ’05. In 2005, Michael Cohl again emerges as Canada’s premier impresario, promoting the historical Toronto-Barrie Live 8 concert, and in association with David and Ed Mirvish, the exclusive world premier musical presentation opening February 2006, at the Princess of Wales Theatre in Toronto, The Lord of the Rings.
May 25, ’05. After a ten year struggle with cancer, guitarist Domenic Troiano has died. Known to his freinds as Donnie, he performed, among others with Mandala, Robbie Lane, Ronnie Hawkins, Guess Who, Bush, James Gang, Etta James, Joe Cocker and Diana Ross, produced records for Moe Koffman, scored music extensively for film and television, and is a member of the Canadian Music Hall of Fame. The Domenic Troiano Guitar Scholarship has been established in his name.
March 8, ’05. Michael Cohl of Toronto’s CPI (Concert Productions International), the president of Toronto-based music promotional company The BCL Group (Ballard Cohl Labatt) has been inducted into Canada’s Walk of Fame. Cohl is known for his associations with Pink Floyd, U2, David Bowie, among others, and as concert tour manager for the Rolling Stones, and promoter of the Toronto SARS relief concert.
March 10, ’04. Composer, Sir Peter Maxwell Davies, who turns 70 this year, was today appointed Master of the Queen’s Music by her majesty queen Elizabeth II, effective March 1st 2004.
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