The Partland Brothers are a Canadian pop/rock band, best known for their 1986 hit single "Soul City"."The Partland Brothers struggle for recognition". ''

Toronto Star The ''Toronto Star'' is a Canadian English-language broadsheet daily newspaper. The newspaper is the country's largest daily newspaper by circulation. It is owned by Toronto Star Newspapers Limited, a subsidiary of Torstar Corporation and part ...

'', June 2, 1987. Originally fronted by brothers Chris and G. P. Partland with supporting session musicians, more recently they have recorded and performed as a trio with their brother Robin Partland.

Biography

Originally from the small community of Colgan in Ontario's Simcoe County,"Heartland pop from the Partland Brothers". '' Hamilton Spectator'', February 15, 1996. they played in area bands before moving their act to Toronto in 1979 and forming Oliver Heavyside. In 1982, they entered and won the “ Q107 Homegrown” contest, which attracted the attention of Capitol Records. Their first album as the Partland Brothers, ''Electric Honey'', was released in 1986. It was described by '' Cashbox'' as an "appealing exercise in pop/rock", and reached number 146 on the ''Billboard'' 200. The single "Soul City", a soaring anthem featuring the brothers' distinctive close-harmony vocals which saw them compared to a more contemporary version of The Righteous Brothers, was a Top 40 hit in both Canada and the United States. This success earned them tours with The Moody Blues and The Beach Boys in the United States, as well as headline gigs of their own at home in Canada and television appearances on ''

American Bandstand ''American Bandstand'', abbreviated ''AB'', is an American music-performance and dance television program that aired in various versions from 1952 to 1989, and was hosted from 1956 until its final season by Dick Clark, who also served as the pro ...

'' and '' The Late Show with Arsenio Hall''. Their live band engaged seasoned live performers, including Tom Lewis (bass),

John Bride John is a common English name and surname: * John (given name) * John (surname) John may also refer to: New Testament Works * Gospel of John, a title often shortened to John * First Epistle of John, often shortened to 1 John * Seco ...

(guitar), Richard Evans (keyboards), Greg Critchley (drums), and Mike Skinner (sax). Produced by Vini Poncia, the album was reissued in 1987 with the Jim Vallance-produced new song "One Chance", which is still played on many adult radio stations today. That same year, their song "Outside the City" was featured in the horror film '' Hello Mary Lou: Prom Night II''. At the Juno Awards of 1987, they received a nomination for Most Promising New Group. Management struggles ensued, and it took until 1990 for them to record and release their second album, ''Between Worlds''."Partland Brothers rebound from bad deals". ''

Ottawa Citizen The ''Ottawa Citizen'' is an English-language daily newspaper owned by Postmedia Network in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. History Established as ''The Bytown Packet'' in 1845 by William Harris (journalist), William Harris, it was renamed the '' ...

'', May 20, 1990. The album was supported with a smaller-scale Canadian tour. It was another three years and a label change before their next studio album, ''Part Land, Part Water'', was released on Kinetic Records. ''Part Land, Part Water'' was recorded at Metalworks Studios in

Mississauga Mississauga ( ), historically known as Toronto Township, is a city in the Canadian province of Ontario. It is situated on the shores of Lake Ontario in the Regional Municipality of Peel, adjoining the western border of Toronto. With a popul ...

. Production was given over to Ken Greer, who also played lead guitars, pedal steel, mandolin, bass, and all keyboards on the album. Occasional dates ensued, but the band chose to stay close to home rather than tackling an all-out tour. Following ''Part Land, Part Water'', the band were relatively inactive for a number of years until 2002, when they performed at a Ronnie Hawkins tribute show at Massey Hall. Afterward they returned to touring as an opening act for Hawkins, and performed at various benefit concerts before relaunching their own tour of Southern Ontario. In 2009, they released ''This Is Who I Am'', their first album of new material since ''Part Land, Part Water''. The album included "That's My Home", a charity single the band recorded as a benefit for the Canadian Forces Military Families Fund. They followed up in 2010 with ''Every Now...and Again'', a compilation of songs from throughout their career."Partland Brothers salute Christmas at LAC"
'' Mississauga.com'', December 6, 2013. In recent years, Chris Partland has played a number of shows 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 ...

as a solo artist."Singer Chris Partland helps promote talent through Burlington open mic nights". ''

Burlington Post The ''Burlington Post'' is the local newspaper of Burlington, Ontario, Canada. The paper covers local news and issues, as well as sports, entertainment, the arts, business, and classified sections. The ''Post'' is distributed once a week, on Thu ...

'', September 12, 2016. In 2016 he attributed the band's lack of activity to one of his brothers recently having lost two fingers in an accident, but stated that the band still planned to return to performing in the future.

Members

*G.P. Partland - ( vocals, guitars) *Chris Partland - ( vocals, guitars) *Robin Partland - (

drums A drum kit (also called a drum set, trap set, or simply drums) is a collection of drums, cymbals, and other Percussion instrument, auxiliary percussion instruments set up to be played by one person. The player (drummer) typically holds a pair o ...

)

Discography

Studio albums

*''Electric Honey'' (1986) *''Between Worlds'' (1990) *''Part Land, Part Water'' (1993) *''This Is Who I Am'' (2009)

Compilation albums

*''Every Now... And Again'' (2010)

Singles

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Partland Brothers, The Canadian pop rock music groups Brother duos Canadian musical duos Musical groups established in 1983 Musical groups from Ontario