Blue Peter was a
Canadian
Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...
new wave synthpop
Synth-pop (short for synthesizer pop; also called techno-pop; ) is a subgenre of new wave music that first became prominent in the late 1970s and features the synthesizer as the dominant musical instrument. It was prefigured in the 1960s a ...
band founded in 1978 in
Markham, Ontario
Markham () is a city in the Regional Municipality of York, Ontario, Canada. It is approximately northeast of Downtown Toronto. In the 2021 Census, Markham had a population of 338,503, which ranked it the largest in York Region, fourth largest ...
, by
Chris Wardman
Chris Wardman is a Canadian music producer, musician and songwriter. Wardman was a founding member of Blue Peter, and was their lead guitarist and main contributing songwriter. Wardman was also a member of Breeding Ground in the late 1980s. Wardm ...
and
Paul Humphrey
Paul Nelson Humphrey (October 12, 1935 – January 31, 2014) was an American jazz and R&B drummer.
Biography
Humphrey was born in Detroit and began playing drums at age 8, taking private lessons in Detroit. In high school he played baritone hor ...
.
In their heyday, Blue Peter opened for major international acts such as
the Police
The Police were an English rock band formed in London in 1977. For most of their history the line-up consisted of primary songwriter Sting (lead vocals, bass guitar), Andy Summers (guitar) and Stewart Copeland (drums, percussion). The Police ...
and
Simple Minds
Simple Minds are a Scottish rock band formed in Glasgow in 1977. They have released a string of hit singles, becoming best known internationally for "Don't You (Forget About Me)" (1985), which topped the '' Billboard'' Hot 100 in the United St ...
.
The video for "Don't Walk Past", directed by
Rob Quartly
Robert "Rob" Quartly is a Canadian music video, television and commercial director. During the 1980s, Quartly produced numerous Juno Award-winning music videos for artists, including Corey Hart, Gowan, Platinum Blonde and Rush. As both a di ...
, was No. 85 on
MuchMusic's top videos of the century list,
and was played on
MTV
MTV (Originally an initialism of Music Television) is an American cable channel that launched on August 1, 1981. Based in New York City, it serves as the flagship property of the MTV Entertainment Group, part of Paramount Media Networks, a di ...
in the
United States
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...
, in spite of the lack of American record distribution for the band.
[ Humphrey died on April 4, 2021, after a long illness.
]
History
Blue Peter was founded by guitarist/songwriter Chris Wardman and lead singer Paul Humphrey in the late 1970s, as a high school band.
The initial lineup was rounded out by bassist
A bassist (also known as a bass player or bass guitarist) is a musician who plays a Bass (instrument), bass instrument such as a double bass (upright bass, contrabass, wood bass), bass guitar (electric bass, acoustic bass), synthbass, keyboar ...
Geoff McOuat and drummer
A drummer is a percussionist who creates music using drum
The drum is a member of the percussion group of musical instruments. In the Hornbostel-Sachs classification system, it is a membranophone. Drums consist of at least one mem ...
Ron Tomlinson; this ensemble recorded Blue Peter's first EP, ''Test Patterns for Living
''Test Patterns for Living'' was the first release, an EP, by the Toronto-based new wave band Blue Peter. Released in 1979, it included the single "Factory Living", which helped the band get their first radio airplay on CFNY. The song "Same Ol ...
'', in 1979. In 1980, Mike Bambrick replaced Tomlinson on drums, and in the same year, the band released their first full-length album, ''Radio Silence''.
Over the next couple of years, Blue Peter ran into difficulties with record labels and management, which led to them briefly releasing material on their own label, including "Chinese Graffiti" in 1981. Around this same time, McOuat left the band and was replaced by new bassist Rick Joudrey. After a year without label representation, Blue Peter returned to Ready Records in 1982, in time to release '' Up To You''. "Chinese Graffiti" was included on the ''Up To You'' release, and won the band a CASBY Award
The CASBY Awards were a Canadian awards ceremony for independent and alternative music, presented annually by Toronto, Ontario radio station CFNY, currently branded as 102.1 The Edge. CASBY is an acronym for Canadian Artists Selected By You.
The ...
(then known as the "U-Knows") for Single Of The Year in 1982.
When ''Falling
Falling or fallin' may refer to:
*Falling (physics), movement due to gravity
*Falling (accident)
*Falling (execution)
*Falling (sensation)
People
* Christine Falling (born 1963), American serial killer who murdered six children
Books
* ''Fall ...
'' was recorded, the band was fleshed out by the addition of Jason Sniderman
Jason Sniderman is a Canadian musician and businessman. He was one of the chief executives of Sam the Record Man, He also played keyboards on a number of rock music albums, performed with the band Blue Peter, and later released several albums unde ...
on keyboards
Keyboard may refer to:
Text input
* Keyboard, part of a typewriter
* Computer keyboard
** Keyboard layout, the software control of computer keyboards and their mapping
** Keyboard technology, computer keyboard hardware and firmware
Music
* Musi ...
, and new drummer Owen Tennyson (replacing Bambrick). The album was their most successful, and would also prove to be their last. It spawned their biggest single, "Don't Walk Past", and its companion video, which won awards including "Best Video of 1983" from the Canadian Film and Television Association. The music video, inspired by ''Blade Runner
''Blade Runner'' is a 1982 science fiction film directed by Ridley Scott, and written by Hampton Fancher and David Peoples. Starring Harrison Ford, Rutger Hauer, Sean Young, and Edward James Olmos, it is an adaptation of Philip K. Dick' ...
'', was created at the insistence of the band who saw British and American artists making visuals for MTV
MTV (Originally an initialism of Music Television) is an American cable channel that launched on August 1, 1981. Based in New York City, it serves as the flagship property of the MTV Entertainment Group, part of Paramount Media Networks, a di ...
.
''Falling'' ranked 24th on CFNY's Top 83 of '83. "Don't Walk Past", was ranked at number 92 in CFNY
CFNY-FM (''102.1 the Edge'') is a Canadian radio station, broadcasting at 102.1 MHz in the Greater Toronto Area, licensed to the suburb of Brampton. CFNY plays an alternative rock format. Owned by Corus Entertainment, its studios are in Downtown ...
's Best 102 of the Decade, published in 1990. After ''Falling'', Blue Peter had some of the tracks, including "Don't Walk Past", remixed by engineer Kevin Doyle and released these remixes as ''Version'' in 1984. That same year, Blue Peter won another CASBY, this time for Male Vocalist of the Year, for Paul Humphrey.
Later in 1984, Blue Peter demoed several tracks for a proposed new album (tentatively entitled ''Vertigo''), but the band broke up in 1985 before the tracks were completed or released.
In 1997, the band issued the "best-of" compilation ''All Through The Night'' which featured one newly overdubbed and mixed track from the ''Vertigo'' demo sessions called "Equalizer".
In 2006, Blue Peter reunited for a concert to commemorate the release of ''The Best of Ready :: 20th Century Masters — The Millennium Collection''. The following year, the band reissued their catalog as three compilation CDs. The re-release of ''Falling'' included eight of the ''Vertigo'' demos as bonus tracks.
For the next decade or so, the band played a couple of concerts a year, including appearances at the Toronto International Film Festival
The Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF, often stylized as tiff) is one of the largest publicly attended film festivals in the world, attracting over 480,000 people annually. Since its founding in 1976, TIFF has grown to become a permane ...
in 2009 to promote the movie Suck
Suck may refer to:
*Suction, the force exerted by a partial vacuum
*.sucks, an Internet top-level domain
Arts and entertainment Music
* Suck (band), a South African hard rock group
* Suck, drummer for the 1990s Japanese punk band Teengenerate
* ...
, which featured music by them on its soundtrack
A soundtrack is recorded music accompanying and synchronised to the images of a motion picture, drama, book, television program, radio program, or video game; a commercially released soundtrack album of music as featured in the soundtrack o ...
. In January 2011, Blue Peter performed at the Horseshoe Tavern
The Horseshoe Tavern (known as ''The Horseshoe'', ''The 'Shoe'', The 'Toronto Tavern' and The 'Triple T' to Toronto locals) is a concert venue at 370 Queen Street West (northeast corner of Queen at Spadina) in downtown Toronto, Ontario, Canada, and ...
in Toronto
Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the ancho ...
as part of ''Juno
Juno commonly refers to:
*Juno (mythology), the Roman goddess of marriage and queen of the gods
*Juno (film), ''Juno'' (film), 2007
Juno may also refer to:
Arts, entertainment and media Fictional characters
*Juno, in the film ''Jenny, Juno''
*Ju ...
Decades: Songs of the '80s''.
Live
Blue Peter performed across Canada from 1979-1985. Some notable opening slots included the Boomtown Rats
The Boomtown Rats are an Irish rock band originally formed in Dublin in 1975. Between 1977 and 1985, they had a series of Irish and UK hits including "Like Clockwork", "Rat Trap", "I Don't Like Mondays" and "Banana Republic". The original line ...
(Toronto at El Mocambo
The El Mocambo is a live music and entertainment venue in Toronto, Ontario. Located on Spadina Avenue, just south of College Street, the venue has played an important role in the development of popular music in Toronto since 1948. It is best kno ...
), the Jam
The Jam were an English mod revival/ punk rock band formed in 1972 at Sheerwater Secondary School in Woking, Surrey. They released 18 consecutive Top 40 singles in the United Kingdom, from their debut in 1977 to their break-up in December 198 ...
(Toronto at the Concert Hall, and Ottawa), Simple Minds
Simple Minds are a Scottish rock band formed in Glasgow in 1977. They have released a string of hit singles, becoming best known internationally for "Don't You (Forget About Me)" (1985), which topped the '' Billboard'' Hot 100 in the United St ...
at (Massey Hall
Massey Hall is a performing arts theatre in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Opened in 1894, it is known for its outstanding acoustics and was the long-time hall of the Toronto Symphony Orchestra. An intimate theatre, it was originally designed to seat ...
in Toronto, and Montreal) and The Police
The Police were an English rock band formed in London in 1977. For most of their history the line-up consisted of primary songwriter Sting (lead vocals, bass guitar), Andy Summers (guitar) and Stewart Copeland (drums, percussion). The Police ...
at "The Police Picnic '83" in Toronto. In 1984 the band played a sold out show at Toronto's Ontario Place
Ontario Place is an entertainment venue, event venue, and park in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The venue is located on three artificial landscaped islands just off-shore in Lake Ontario, south of Exhibition Place, and southwest of Downtown Toronto. ...
Forum.
Discography
Albums and EPs
* ''Test Patterns for Living
''Test Patterns for Living'' was the first release, an EP, by the Toronto-based new wave band Blue Peter. Released in 1979, it included the single "Factory Living", which helped the band get their first radio airplay on CFNY. The song "Same Ol ...
'' EP (1979)
* ''Radio Silence
In telecommunications, radio silence or Emissions Control (EMCON) is a status in which all fixed or mobile radio stations in an area are asked to stop transmitting for safety or security reasons.
The term "radio station" may include anything cap ...
'' (1980)
* '' Up to You'' EP (1982)
* ''Falling
Falling or fallin' may refer to:
*Falling (physics), movement due to gravity
*Falling (accident)
*Falling (execution)
*Falling (sensation)
People
* Christine Falling (born 1963), American serial killer who murdered six children
Books
* ''Fall ...
'' (1983)
Remix EP
* ''Version'' (1983)
CD compilations
* ''All Through the Night'' (1997)
* ''The Best of Blue Peter, 20th Century Masters — The Millennium Collection'' (2006)
* ''Burning Bridges'' (released May 8, 2007) - ''Up to You'' and ''Version'' remastered
Remaster refers to changing the quality of the sound or of the image, or both, of previously created recordings, either audiophonic, cinematic, or videographic. The terms digital remastering and digitally remastered are also used.
Mastering
A ...
+ bonus tracks
* ''Falling'' (released May 8, 2007) - ''Falling'' remastered + 8 demos for an unreleased album to be called ''Vertigo''
* ''Radio Silence'' (released May 8, 2007) - ''Radio Silence'' and ''Test Patterns for Living'' remastered + bonus tracks
Compilation appearances
* ''The Best of Ready Volume 1 :: 20th Century Masters — The Millennium Collection'' (released 2006), Ready Records compilation
* ''The Best of Ready Volume 2 :: 20th Century Masters — The Millennium Collection'' (released 2006), Ready Records compilation
* ''Retro Active 4 Rare & Remixed'' (released 2005) includes "Don't Walk Past" (F Version Original 12")
References
External links
Blue Peter
{{DEFAULTSORT:Blue Peter
Canadian new wave musical groups
Musical groups from Toronto
Musical groups established in 1978
Musical groups disestablished in 1985
Musical groups reestablished in 2006
Musical groups disestablished in 2011
Canadian alternative rock groups
1978 establishments in Ontario
2011 disestablishments in Ontario