Coney Hatch is 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 ...

hard rock band who released three albums in the 1980s and released their fourth album ''Four'' in 2013. Based 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 anch ...

Ontario Ontario ( ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada.Ontario is located in the geographic eastern half of Canada, but it has historically and politically been considered to be part of Central Canada. Located in Central C ...

, Canada, the band consisted of lead vocalist and guitarist

Carl Dixon Carleton Anthony "Carl" Dixon is a Canadian rock singer, keyboard player and guitarist. He has been a member of the bands Coney Hatch, April Wine and The Guess Who. Early life and education Dixon was born in Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario and grew up ...

, vocalist and bassist Andy Curran, guitarist Steve Shelski 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 (1851–1993) in

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

. The band's first album was produced by

Kim Mitchell Joseph Kim Mitchell (born July 10, 1952) is a Canadian rock musician. He was the lead singer and guitarist for the band Max Webster before going on to a solo career. His 1984 single, " Go for Soda", was his only charted song on the US ''Billbo ...

Max Webster Max Webster was a Canadian hard rock band formed in Toronto in 1972. The band's founder, Kim Mitchell, enjoyed a long and successful solo career in their native Canada. Biography Initially a trio for their first gigs in December 1972, the ori ...

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

. In 1983 Coney Hatch opened for

Iron Maiden Iron Maiden are an English heavy metal band formed in Leyton, East London, in 1975 by bassist and primary songwriter Steve Harris. While fluid in the early years of the band, the lineup for most of the band's history has consisted of Harri ...

at forty concerts on their

World Piece Tour In its most general sense, the term "world" refers to the totality of entities, to the whole of reality or to everything that is. The nature of the world has been conceptualized differently in different fields. Some conceptions see the worl ...

. The band performed at the

Hollywood Palladium The Hollywood Palladium is a theater located at 6215 Sunset Boulevard in Hollywood, California. It was built in a Streamline Moderne, Art Deco style and includes an dance floor including a mezzanine and a floor level with room for up to 4,000 ...

in 1985 with

Rough Cutt Rough Cutt is an American heavy metal band from Los Angeles who released two studio albums on Warner Bros. Records in the mid-1980s. Rough Cutt never achieved the commercial success enjoyed by many other Los Angeles bands of that time but vari ...

and Accept. 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 The Phoenix Concert Theatre is a nightclub and concert venue located at 410 Sherbourne Street in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is large and encompasses three distinct environments. The "Main Room" features one of the city's largest dance floors ...

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 Gordon Edgar Downie (February 6, 1964 – October 17, 2017) was a Canadian rock singer-songwriter, musician, writer and activist. He was the singer and lyricist for the Canadian rock band The Tragically Hip, which he fronted from its form ...

. A further live date was scheduled for the Firefest rock festival in

Nottingham Nottingham ( , locally ) is a city and unitary authority area in Nottinghamshire, East Midlands, England. It is located north-west of London, south-east of Sheffield and north-east of Birmingham. Nottingham has links to the legend of Robi ...

, England on 23 October 2011. Coney Hatch performed at the Rock n' Roar weekend event in August, 2013 in

Spanish, Ontario Spanish is a town in the Canadian province of Ontario, located on Trans-Canada Highway 17 in the Algoma District near the border of the Sudbury District. Formerly known as the Township of Shedden, the municipality adopted its current status and ...

. 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 April Wine is a Canadian rock band formed in 1969 and based in Halifax, Nova Scotia. Led by singer-guitarist-songwriter Myles Goodwin since its inception, April Wine's first success came with its second album, '' On Record'' (1972), which rea ...

and was lead singer of Guess Who 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 ''Degrassi High'' is a Canadian teen drama television series and the third series in the ''Degrassi'' franchise created by Linda Schuyler and Kit Hood. A direct continuation of '' Degrassi Junior High'', it debuted on CBC in Canada on November ...

, 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 *Barry Connors *Steve Shelski

Discography

Albums

* '' Coney Hatch'' (1982), released internationally by Mercury-PolyGram Records and Casablanca Records (Japan) * '' Outa Hand'' (1983) * ''

Friction Friction is the force resisting the relative motion of solid surfaces, fluid layers, and material elements sliding against each other. There are several types of friction: *Dry friction is a force that opposes the relative lateral motion of ...

'' (1985) * ''

Best of Three There are a number of formats used in various levels of competition in sports and games to determine an overall champion. Some of the most common are the ''single elimination'', the ''best-of-'' series, the ''total points series'' more commonly k ...

'' (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