The Jitters were 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 ...

rock band formed in

Toronto, Ontario 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 ...

in 1981 by Blair Packham, Danny Levy and Matthew Greenberg. Five years of constant performing established them as one of the premier club bands in the

Greater Toronto Area The Greater Toronto Area, commonly referred to as the GTA, includes the City of Toronto and the regional municipalities of Durham, Halton, Peel, and York. In total, the region contains 25 urban, suburban, and rural municipalities. The Greater T ...

. They caught the attention of producer

Bob Ezrin Robert Alan Ezrin (born March 25, 1949) is a Canadian music producer and keyboardist, best known for his work with Lou Reed, Alice Cooper, Aerosmith, Kiss, Pink Floyd, Deep Purple, Peter Gabriel, Andrea Bocelli and Phish. As of 2010, Ezrin' ...

in 1982, but studio sessions with him did not produce any results. An independent video in 1984 for the song "Take Me As I Am" brought them limited national exposure, though the song never appeared on any full-length release. 1986 saw The Jitters in an opening slot for

Huey Lewis and the News Huey Lewis and the News are an American rock band based in San Francisco, California. They had a run of hit singles during the 1980s and early 1990s, eventually achieving 19 top ten singles across the ''Billboard'' Hot 100, Adult Contempora ...

at the

Canadian National Exhibition The Canadian National Exhibition (CNE), also known as The Exhibition or The Ex, is an annual event that takes place at Exhibition Place in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, on the third Friday of August leading up to and including Canadian Labour Day, ...

, and tying for third place in Q107's Homegrown Contest with the song "Last of the Red Hot Fools". These two events helped open doors with

Capitol Records Capitol Records, LLC (known legally as Capitol Records, Inc. until 2007) is an American record label distributed by Universal Music Group through its Capitol Music Group imprint. It was founded as the first West Coast-based record label of note ...

who proceeded to sign the band. A video for "Last of the Red Hot Fools" was eventually filmed at the

R. C. Harris Water Treatment Plant The R. C. Harris Water Treatment Plant in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, is both a crucial piece of infrastructure and an architecturally acclaimed historic building named after the longtime commissioner of Toronto's public works Roland Caldwell Harris ...

in Toronto. The clip received rotation on

MuchMusic Much (an abbreviation for its full name MuchMusic) is a Canadian English language specialty channel owned by BCE Inc. through its Bell Media subsidiary that airs programming aimed at teenagers and young adults. MuchMusic launched on August 31 ...

and other video programs in Canada. The Jitters had several songs that were ready for release, and after spending some extra time in the studio with producer Paul Gross, released their eponymous debut in 1987. "Last of the Red Hot Fools" was the first single and became a radio hit throughout the country, and they were nominated at the 1989 Juno Awards in the category of Most Promising Group of the Year. In 1988, they played support for

Heart The heart is a muscular organ in most animals. This organ pumps blood through the blood vessels of the circulatory system. The pumped blood carries oxygen and nutrients to the body, while carrying metabolic waste such as carbon dioxide t ...

on their UK tour. Three years later, The Jitters released their second album ''Louder Than Words''. The result of a collaboration with American songwriter/producer

Jules Shear Jules Mark Shear (born March 7, 1952) is an American singer, songwriter, and guitarist. He wrote the Cyndi Lauper hit single " All Through the Night" and The Bangles' hit "If She Knew What She Wants", and charted a hit as a performer with "Stead ...

, ''Louder Than Words'' was the last effort before the group split in 1991 due to the pressures of constant club tours. Videos for the songs "The Bridge Is Burning" and "'Til The Fever Breaks" also garnered airplay on MuchMusic during this time. The Jitters reunited in November 2015 for their friend Donna DeLorme's Memorial Concert at The Rivoli in Toronto, again in January 2018 for a show at

Hugh's Room Hugh's Room is a restaurant and live music venue in Toronto, Ontario.

in Toronto, followed by a third show in the same venue in September 2019.

Albums

*''The Jitters'' (Capitol, 1987) *''Louder Than Words'' (Capitol/EMI, 1990)

References

External links

Blair Packham Jitters page
{{DEFAULTSORT:Jitters, The Musical groups established in 1981 Musical groups disestablished in 1991 Musical groups from Toronto Canadian pop rock music groups 1981 establishments in Ontario 1991 disestablishments in Ontario