Gary O'Connor, better known as Gary O', is a Canadian rock singer and songwriter.
at

canoe.ca Canoe.com is an English-language Canadian portal site and website network, and is a subsidiary of Postmedia Network. The phrase Canadian Online Explorer appears in the header; the name is also evidently a play on words on canoe (or ''canoë'' in ...

's Pop Music Encyclopedia. He is best known for the singles "Pay You Back with Interest" and "All the Young Heroes", which were popular in the early 1980s, and for receiving 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 of ...

nomination for Most Promising Male Vocalist at the

Juno Awards of 1982 The Juno Awards of 1982, representing Canadian music industry achievements of the previous year, were awarded on 14 April 1982 in Toronto at a ceremony hosted by Burton Cummings at the Harbour Castle Hilton Convention Centre in the Grand Metrop ...

. He wrote the

38 Special 38 Special may refer to: * .38 Special The .38 Special, also commonly known as .38 S&W Special (not to be confused with .38 S&W), .38 Smith & Wesson Special, .38 Spl, .38 Spc, (pronounced "thirty-eight special"), or 9x29mmR is a rimmed, cent ...

song, "Back Where You Belong", which reached number 20 on the

Billboard Hot 100 The ''Billboard'' Hot 100 is the music industry standard record chart in the United States for songs, published weekly by '' Billboard'' magazine. Chart rankings are based on sales (physical and digital), radio play, and online streaming ...

charts in 1983.

Biography

The son of jazz musician

Billy O'Connor ''The Billy O'Connor Show'' was a Canadian variety television series which aired on CBC Television from 1954 to 1956. Premise Billy O'Connor, a jazz musician, hosted this series with a small house band - Vic Centro (accordion), Kenny Gill (gui ...

, he was a member of the bands The Synics and The Spasstiks in the 1960s before the latter band changed its name to Cat in 1968. Cat had a popular Canadian hit in 1970 called "We're In This Together", but broke up by 1972 due to creative differences. O'Connor then performed with a

Beatles The Beatles were an English rock band, formed in Liverpool in 1960, that comprised John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr. They are regarded as the most influential band of all time and were integral to the developme ...

tribute band called Liverpool; the band soon released two singles of original material, garnering some radio airplay with "Dolly". Following a name change to Aerial, they released the album ''In the Middle of the Night'' in 1978. O'Connor wrote the single "Easy Love", which reached #92 on the Canadian charts. O'Connor left Aerial after their first album. He subsequently formed the short-lived band Kid Rainbow and became a member of the board of directors of the Toronto Musicians Association. After folding the band, O'Connor adopted the stage name Gary O' and continued as a solo artist. His self-titled debut album was released in 1981 on Capitol Records. The remake of

The Hollies The Hollies are a British pop rock band, formed in 1962. One of the leading British groups of the 1960s and into the mid-1970s, they are known for their distinctive three-part vocal harmony style. Allan Clarke (singer), Allan Clarke and Graham ...

' song "Pay You Back With Interest" reached the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 Charts, where it peaked at # 70. Also, the singles "I Believe in You" and "All the Young Heroes" would receive a great deal of airplay on both sides of the border. In 1984, he released his follow-up album ''Strange Behavior''."Pop: Strange Behavior, Gary O'". ''

The Globe and Mail ''The Globe and Mail'' is a Canadian newspaper printed in five cities in western and central Canada. With a weekly readership of approximately 2 million in 2015, it is Canada's most widely read newspaper on weekdays and Saturdays, although it ...

'', September 6, 1984. The first single "Shades of '45", a song about the

Enola Gay The ''Enola Gay'' () is a Boeing B-29 Superfortress bomber, named after Enola Gay Tibbets, the mother of the pilot, Colonel Paul Tibbets. On 6 August 1945, piloted by Tibbets and Robert A. Lewis during the final stages of World War II, it be ...

bombing the Japanese, became a popular hit in Canada, and the follow-up "Get it While You Can" also became a modest hit. O'Connor has also had some success in writing songs for other artists, including

Terri Crawford Terri Crawford, formerly billed as Terry Crawford, is a Canadian musician, most noted as a two-time Juno Award nominee for Most Promising Female Vocalist at the Juno Awards of 1982 and the Juno Awards of 1983. Background Originally from Montreal ...

("Back Where You Belong", "One Time For Old Times"),

Molly Hatchet Molly Hatchet is an American rock band formed in 1971 by guitarist Dave Hlubek in Jacksonville, Florida. They were a popular band during the late 1970s and early-to-mid 1980s among the southern rock and hard rock communities. The band released ...

("What's It Gonna Take"),

Eddie Money Edward Joseph Mahoney (March 21, 1949 – September 13, 2019), known professionally as Eddie Money, was an American singer and songwriter who, in the 1970s and 1980s, had eleven Top 40 songs, including "Baby Hold On", "Two Tickets to Parad ...

("Maybe Tomorrow"),

Kim Stockwood Kim Stockwood (born 11 November 1965) is a Canadian pop musician, singer and composer originally from St. John's, Newfoundland and Labrador. She has recorded as a solo artist and also as a member of Atlantic Canadian music group Shaye with Damh ...

Billy Newton-Davis Billy Newton-Davis (born April 26, 1951, in Cleveland, Ohio, United States) is an American-Canadian Contemporary R&B, R&B, jazz and gospel music, gospel singer and songwriter. Biography Newton-Davis grew up in Shaker Heights, Ohio, a suburb of C ...

and

Beverley Mahood Beverley Mahood (born 2 November 1974) is a country music singer-songwriter and television host in Canada. Beverley emigrated from Belfast to Canada as a child. She is also formerly part of the all-female trio Lace, produced by the renowned L ...

Discography

Aerial

* 1978 - ''In the Middle of the Night'' * 1980 - ''Maneuvres''

Gary O'

* 1981 - ''Gary O * 1984 - ''Strange Behavior''

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gary O Canadian rock singers Canadian male singers Canadian songwriters Canadian people of Irish descent Living people Year of birth missing (living people) Place of birth missing (living people)