Coney Hatch is a
Canadian hard rock
Hard rock or heavy rock is a loosely defined subgenre of rock music typified by aggressive vocals and distorted electric guitars. Hard rock began in the mid-1960s with the garage, psychedelic and blues rock movements. Some of the earliest hard ...
band who released three albums in the 1980s and released their fourth album ''Four'' in 2013. Based in
Toronto,
Ontario, Canada, the band consisted of lead vocalist and guitarist
Carl Dixon, vocalist and bassist
Andy Curran, guitarist
Steve Shelski
Coney Hatch is a Canadian hard rock band who released three albums in the 1980s and released their fourth album ''Four'' in 2013. Based in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, the band consisted of lead vocalist and guitarist Carl Dixon, vocalist and bassi ...
and drummer Dave 'Thumper' Ketchum. The band was known for its loud live shows.
In 2018, the band toured eight shows across Canada and played Germany's H.E.A.T. festival with Sean Kelly on lead guitar.
History
Coney Hatch formed in 1981,
["Coney Hatch". ] and began performing and developing original material. The band was named after the
Colney Hatch Lunatic Asylum
Friern Hospital (formerly Colney Hatch Lunatic Asylum) was a psychiatric hospital in the parish of Friern Barnet close to a crossroads which had a hamlet known as Colney Hatch. In 1965, it became part of the London Borough of Barnet and in th ...
(1851–1993) in
London.
The band's first album was produced by
Kim Mitchell of
Max Webster and released in 1982.
["'It's a miracle I survived and lived long enough to get to the hospital'"]
''Soo Today'', September 30, 2016; Donna Hopper Ketchum left the band in 1983, and was replaced by Barry Connors, who formerly drummed with the band
Toronto.
In 1983 Coney Hatch opened for
Iron Maiden at forty concerts on their
World Piece Tour.
The band performed at the
Hollywood Palladium in 1985 with
Rough Cutt and
Accept
Accept may refer to:
* Acceptance, a person's assent to the reality of a situation etc.
* Accept (band), a German heavy metal band
** ''Accept'' (Accept album), their debut album from 1979
* ''Accept'' (Chicken Shack album), 1970
* ACCEPT (or ...
.
In April, 2008, Carl Dixon was very seriously injured in a car accident in Australia, leaving him with traumatic brain injury and extensive titanium implants and a glass eye. On August 5, 2010, the original Coney Hatch line up including the injured Carl Dixon played a reunion show at the
Phoenix Concert Theatre in Toronto. It was the first performance from the original line up since 1993.
Two days later they played in Hamilton, Ontario at The Festival of Friends. They were the second to last act on the main stage. The final act of the night was
Gord Downie.
A further live date was scheduled for the Firefest rock festival in
Nottingham, England on 23 October 2011. Coney Hatch performed at the Rock n' Roar weekend event in August, 2013 in
Spanish, Ontario. Coney Hatch again featured at Firefest, Nottingham in October 2014. In 2018, Coney Hatch announced an eight dates tour from October to December, with Sean Kelly on lead guitar in place of Steve Shelski. Coney Hatch toured to packed venues with Steve Harris's British Lion in Ontario and Quebec. and went on to favourable reviews playing H.E.A.T. Festival Ludwigburg, Germany.
Members' other activities
Dixon later played with
April Wine and was lead singer of
Guess Who Guess Who may refer to:
*Guess Who (B.B. King album), ''Guess Who'' (B.B. King album), 1972
*Guess Who (Slim Whitman album), 1971
*Guess Who (EP), ''Guess Who'' (EP), a 2021 EP by South Korean girl group Itzy
*Guess Who (film), ''Guess Who'' (film) ...
for eight years in total, until his near-fatal car accident in 2008 in Australia. Coney Hatch bandmate, Curran spoke to Dixon via phone while Dixon was still in his coma, and told him Dixon had to live because Coney Hatch had more rocking to do. Dixon survived with multiple injuries and years in rehab. He tours solo and performs with his band and with former members of The Guess Who. He has released five solo albums. In 2016 he returned to The Guess Who for two sold-out shows in the USA. In 2017 Dixon released his debut country album "Whole 'Nother Thing". Dixon's survival from the automobile accident saw him become an inspirational speaker. He is listed with Canada's National Speaker's Bureau.
In 2015 his first book was published by Dundurn Press titled ''A Strange Way to Live'', and includes, among other things, his experience playing as part of Coney Hatch. Dixon has written instrumentals for television series including Tornado Hunters (Netflix), his songs have featured on
Degrassi High, Baywatch (Taste of Love co-written with Brett Walker) and The Saddle Club television series.
Curran also released a solo album and two hit singles, was nominated for two Juno Awards and awarded one for "Most Promising Vocalist" in 1991.
Membership
Current members are:
*Carl Dixon
*Andy Curran
*Dave Ketchum
*Sean Kelly
Former members:
*Paul Van Remortel
*Eddy Godlewski
*
Kevin (James) LaBrie
*Paul Marangoni
*
Phil Naro
Phillip Sampognaro (March 13, 1958 – May 3, 2021), known professionally as Phil Naro, was an American singer, songwriter, record producer, and guitarist, known for his participation in the hard rock bands Talas, Chain Reaction, and Coney Hatch. H ...
*Barry Connors
*Steve Shelski
Discography
Albums
* ''
Coney Hatch'' (1982), released internationally by Mercury-PolyGram Records and Casablanca Records (Japan)
* ''
Outa Hand'' (1983)
* ''
Friction'' (1985)
* ''
Best of Three'' (1992)
* ''Four'' (2013)
"Publishing Briefs: Raleigh Signs Elvis Presley Deal, Imagem and Cutcraft, Downtown to Represent Edizioni Curci"
''Billboard'', 3/3/2016 by Ed Christman
Singles
* 1982: "Devil's Deck" usic video* 1982: "Hey Operator" (#19 Canada)
* 1982: "Monkey Bars"
* 1983: "Don't Say Make Me"
* 1983: "First Time For Everything" usic video* 1983: "Shake It" usic video* 1985: "Fantasy" usic video* 1985: "Girl From Last Night's Dream"
* 1985: "She's Gone"
* 1985: "This Ain't Love"
References
External links
Coney Hatch
(Official band site)
Carl Dixon
Barry Connors
{{Authority control
Anthem Records artists
Canadian heavy metal musical groups
Musical groups established in 1982
Musical groups from Toronto
1982 establishments in Ontario