Eight Seconds was a Canadian

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 ...

progressive rock Progressive rock (shortened as prog rock or simply prog; sometimes conflated with art rock) is a broad genre of rock music that developed in the United Kingdom and United States through the mid- to late 1960s, peaking in the early 1970s. I ...

band formed in 1982 in

Ottawa Ottawa (, ; Canadian French: ) is the capital city of Canada. It is located at the confluence of the Ottawa River and the Rideau River in the southern portion of the province of Ontario. Ottawa borders Gatineau, Quebec, and forms the c ...

. They are perhaps best known for their 1986 single "

Kiss You (When It's Dangerous) Kiss You may refer to: * "Kiss You" (One Direction song), 2013 * "Kiss You" (iiO song), 2005 * ''Kiss You'', 2002 EP and song by Naozumi Takahashi * "Kiss You", 1959 song by Tony Bennett * "Kiss You", 2000 song by Keith Sweat from Didn't See M ...

" which peaked at #14 in 1987 and was on the charts for 28 weeks in Canada from the

album An album is a collection of audio recordings issued on compact disc (CD), vinyl, audio tape, or another medium such as digital distribution. Albums of recorded sound were developed in the early 20th century as individual 78 rpm records c ...

''Almacantar''. The band's lineup included Andrés del Castillo (

vocals Singing is the act of creating musical sounds with the voice. A person who sings is called a singer, artist or vocalist (in jazz and/or popular music). Singers perform music (arias, recitatives, songs, etc.) that can be sung with or withou ...

guitar The guitar is a fretted musical instrument that typically has six strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming or plucking the strings with the dominant hand, while simultaneously pressing selected string ...

), March Cesare (

bass Bass or Basses may refer to: Fish * Bass (fish), various saltwater and freshwater species Music * Bass (sound), describing low-frequency sound or one of several instruments in the bass range: ** Bass (instrument), including: ** Acoustic bass gui ...

), Frank Levin ( keyboards), Scott Milks (

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 membrane, called a drumhead or drum skin, that is stretched over a ...

s), and Marc Parent (

Profile

Originally, Eight Seconds was a

cover band A cover band (or covers band) is a band that plays songs recorded by someone else, sometimes mimicking the original as accurately as possible, and sometimes re-interpreting or changing the original. These remade songs are known as cover songs. ...

playing local bars in Ottawa, but one of their first originals, "Where's Bula?", won the CHEZ 106's Sharechez '83 homegrown contest. The winning prize was the production of a video for the song, which received airplay 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 MTV's Basement Tapes show. "Where's Bula?" also won the 1984 Canadian Film and Television Association's Best Music Video of the Year. In 1985, the band competed in

CBC Television CBC Television (also known as CBC TV) is a Canadian English-language broadcast television network owned by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, the national public broadcaster. The network began operations on September 6, 1952. Its French- ...

's battle of the bands competition series ''

Rock Wars ''Rock Wars'' is a Canadian television variety series, which aired in 1985 on CBC Television."CBC opens fire with Rock Wars". '' The Globe and Mail'', February 1, 1985. A national "battle of the bands" competition, the series featured unsigned mu ...

''.Keith Sharp, ''Music Express: The Rise, Fall & Resurrection of Canada's Music Magazine''.

Dundurn Press Dundurn Press is one of the largest Canadian-owned book publishing companies of adult and children's fiction and non-fiction. The company publishes Canadian literature, history, biography, politics and arts. Dundurn has about 2500 books in prin ...

, 2014. . p. 143. In late 1985, the five-song EP ''Ottava Rima'' was released and charted in Ottawa both on CHEZ 106 FM and

CFRA CFRA is a news/ talk formatted radio station in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, owned by Bell Media. The station broadcasts on the assigned frequency of 580 kHz. CFRA's studios are located in the Bell Media Building on George Street in Downtown Ott ...

AM. This EP was sent to producer Rupert Hine who was impressed with the strength of the songwriting and flew to Canada to see them perform live. The band headlined an outdoor show in Ottawa with Hine in the audience. Hine was interviewed after the show and declared his interest in working with the band. With Hine now part of the band's equation, Eight Seconds became a hot commodity and soon signed an international record deal with Polygram New York. Eight Seconds spent the first two weeks of March 1986 in London England rehearsing songs from the previous EP along with new material. Then they joined Hine at his Farmyard Studios in

Buckinghamshire Buckinghamshire (), abbreviated Bucks, is a ceremonial county in South East England that borders Greater London to the south-east, Berkshire to the south, Oxfordshire to the west, Northamptonshire to the north, Bedfordshire to the north-e ...

to record the songs. The resulting studio album, ''Almacantar'', was released several months later through

Polydor Polydor Records Ltd. is a German-British record label that operates as part of Universal Music Group. It has a close relationship with Universal's Interscope Geffen A&M Records label, which distributes Polydor's releases in the United State ...

. The lead single, "Kiss You (When It's Dangerous)", reached #14 overall in the Canadian charts, #1 in Quebec, and #72 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 Continental United States, primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., ...

. The band spent the end of 1986 and 1987 touring extensively throughout the U.S. and Canada in support of ''Almacantar'', doing shows with Wang Chung,

Paul Young Paul Antony Young (born 17 January 1956) is an English musician, singer and songwriter. Formerly the frontman of the short-lived bands Kat Kool & the Kool Cats, Streetband and Q-Tips, he became a teen idol with his solo success in the 1980s. ...

, and

David Bowie David Robert Jones (8 January 194710 January 2016), known professionally as David Bowie ( ), was an English singer-songwriter and actor. A leading figure in the music industry, he is regarded as one of the most influential musicians of the ...

among others. They also headlined their own shows in regions where the CD charted well. The summer of 1987 found the band back in Canada as nominees for a

Juno Award The Juno Awards, more popularly known as the JUNOS, are awards presented annually to Canadian musical artists and bands to acknowledge their artistic and technical achievements in all aspects of music. New members of the Canadian Music Hall o ...

in 1987 for "Most Promising Group" and six

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. T ...

s (Best Single, Most Promising Group, Best Group, Best Video, Best Album Art). The rest of the year was dedicated to writing new material and further rehearsal. In early 1988 the band recorded their second studio album, ''Big Houses'' produced by Paul Northfield and Frank Levin. The album was to be released under their new label Warner Music Group but was delayed due to management issues. This material remained on the shelf until 1990, damaging Eight Seconds' momentum. This, combined with the merger and effective dissolution of their American record label

ATCO Atco or ATCO may refer to: Businesses * ATCO, a Canadian diversified company involved in manufacturing, utilities, energy and technologies ** ATCO Electric, a subsidiary of the above company * Atco (British mower company), a mower manufacturing ...

, led to the band's members parting way shortly following the album's release. The only charting single from the album, "Tell Diane", remained on the charts for five weeks and only peaked at #76. Eight Seconds reunited in 2002 and covered

The Beatles The Beatles were an English Rock music, rock band, formed in Liverpool in 1960, that comprised John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr. They are regarded as the Cultural impact of the Beatles, most influential band of al ...

' "

Hey Jude "Hey Jude" is a song by the English rock music, rock band the Beatles that was released as a non-album single in August 1968. It was written by Paul McCartney and credited to the Lennon–McCartney partnership. The single was the Beatles' fir ...

" for the 2004 Bullseye Records release ''It Was 40 Years Ago Today: A Tribute To The Beatles''. Del Castillo later founded r+d creative, a video production and live event company, involved in production for a number of Canadian government departments and

crown corporation A state-owned enterprise (SOE) is a government entity which is established or nationalised by the ''national government'' or ''provincial government'' by an executive order or an act of legislation in order to earn profit for the government ...

s. Marc Parent continued in music, as a guitarist and songwriter, based in Montreal.

Broadjam Broadjam is a US-based music community website, founded in September 1999. The service is aimed primarily at independent musicians. Users can interact with other artists, enter contests, and collaborate with peers through email, reviews, blog ...

Profile of Marc Parent
Retrieved 2016-07-21. Frank Levin pursued other business ventures, eventually moving to China. He died in 2017 due to a deteriorating health condition.

Discography

Albums

*''Ottava Rima'' (1985) 'EP''*''Almacantar'' (1986) *''Big Houses'' (1990)

Singles

" (1986) - CAN #14, U.S. #72 *"Where's Bula?" (1986) *"Sincere (I Shall Return)" (1987) *"Tell Diane" (1990) - CAN #76

References

External links

Eight Seconds
CanConRox entry

with principal objective being re-release of ''Almacantar''.
RIP Frank Levin aka Fish
{{Authority control 1982 establishments in Ontario 1990 disestablishments in Ontario Canadian new wave musical groups Canadian synthpop groups Musical groups established in 1982 Musical groups disestablished in 1990 Musical groups from Ottawa Atco Records artists