Harlequin 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 ...
rock
Rock most often refers to:
* Rock (geology), a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals or mineraloids
* Rock music, a genre of popular music
Rock or Rocks may also refer to:
Places United Kingdom
* Rock, Caerphilly, a location in Wales ...
band from
Winnipeg
Winnipeg () is the capital and largest city of the province of Manitoba in Canada. It is centred on the confluence of the Red and Assiniboine rivers, near the longitudinal centre of North America. , Winnipeg had a city population of 749,6 ...
,
Manitoba
Manitoba ( ) is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada at the Centre of Canada, longitudinal centre of the country. It is Canada's Population of Canada by province and territory, fifth-most populous province, with a population o ...
that formed in 1975.
The band is best known for the hit singles "I Did It for Love", "Thinking of You", "Superstitious Feeling", and "Innocence".
History
In 1975, Winnipeg bassist Ralph James formed Harlequin upon recruiting
vocalist
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 without ...
George Belanger,
guitarist
A guitarist (or a guitar player) is a person who plays the guitar. Guitarists may play a variety of guitar family instruments such as classical guitars, acoustic guitars, electric guitars, and bass guitars. Some guitarists accompany themselv ...
Glen Willows,
keyboardist
A keyboardist or keyboard player is a musician who plays keyboard instruments. Until the early 1960s musicians who played keyboards were generally classified as either pianists or organists. Since the mid-1960s, a plethora of new musical instr ...
Gary Golden, and
drummer
A drummer is a percussionist who creates music using 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 mem ...
David Budzak.
The band began recording demos and travelling to
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 ancho ...
to perform in the local bars and clubs. It was in one of these small bars in Toronto that Harlequin were discovered by representatives of
Jack Douglas, the producer of
Aerosmith
Aerosmith is an American Rock music, rock band formed in Boston in 1970. The group consists of Steven Tyler (lead vocals), Joe Perry (musician), Joe Perry (guitar), Tom Hamilton (musician), Tom Hamilton (bass), Joey Kramer (drums) and Brad Whi ...
,
John Lennon
John Winston Ono Lennon (born John Winston Lennon; 9 October 19408 December 1980) was an English singer, songwriter, musician and peace activist who achieved worldwide fame as founder, co-songwriter, co-lead vocalist and rhythm guitarist of ...
, and
Patti Smith
Patricia Lee Smith (born December 30, 1946)
is an American singer, songwriter, poet, painter and author who became an influential component of the New York City punk rock movement with her 1975 debut album '' Horses''.
Called the "punk poe ...
, after they tried to see another band in a larger bar downstairs, but could not gain admittance due to a sell-out crowd.
These two individuals later became the producers of the first album, ''Victim of a Song''.
They were Lachlan MacFadyen and Kent Dobney.
Douglas helped get Harlequin signed to
CBS
CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS, the abbreviation of its former legal name Columbia Broadcasting System, is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainm ...
/
Epic Records
Epic Records is an American record label owned by Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Corporation of America
Sony Corporation of America (SONAM, also known as SCA), is the American arm of the Japanese conglomerate Sony Group ...
in 1979, and later that year that band released their first
LP, ''Victim of a Song'',
which went Gold, and received heavy radio play, particularly in Western Canada. Douglas was listed as the record's executive producer. For the next two albums, Douglas acted as producer. The band's second release, ''Love Crimes'' (1980), yielded two hits, "Thinking of You", and "Innocence", Harlequin's biggest hit to date.
Harlequin's third album, ''One False Move'' (1982), contained two more hits, "Superstitious Feeling" and "I Did It for Love".
For their self-titled fourth studio album, Harlequin replaced Douglas with
The Fixx
The Fixx are a rock band from London, England, founded in 1979. The band's hits include "One Thing Leads to Another", "Saved by Zero", "Are We Ourselves?", and "Secret Separation", each of which charted in the Top 20 of the Billboard Hot 100, ...
bassist Alfie Agius as their producer. ''Harlequin'' (1984) produced only one single, "Take This Heart".
The band effectively split after this album but, in 1986, Harlequin released their ''Greatest Hits'' album with one new track "(It's) No Mystery". This track was written by
David Bendeth
David Jonathan Bendeth (born 17 June 1954) is a multi-platinum award-winning record producer.
Early life
David Bendeth was born on 17 June 1954 in Stoke Newington, Hackney, London, England. He attended Parkhill School in Ilford, London and in ...
and
Tom Cochrane
Thomas William Cochrane ( ; born May 14, 1953) is a Canadian musician best known as the frontman for the rock band Red Rider and for his work as a solo singer-songwriter. Cochrane has won eight Juno Awards. He is a member of the Canadian Music ...
, produced by Bendeth, and featured Belanger on lead vocals backed by Randy Booth, Randy Heibert, and some session musicians. In 1986, the line-up was Belanger (vocals), Randy Heibert (guitar), Randy Booth (bass), Igmar Munsch (keys), and Brad Meadmore (drums).
The line-up changed almost yearly through the rest of the 1980s until 1987, when the line up of Glen Willows, George Belanger, Nik Rivers, Rob Waite, and M.J. Hutton toured parts of Canada up to 2007. Throughout that period Steve Broadhurst toured with the band as a sub for Rob Waite, and Paul McNair was also a sub for M.J.
In 2004, the band released an album titled ''Harlequin II''. The band was always active; leader George Belanger kept the band active while running another business for 18 years. He then set that enterprise aside and began recording again and released ''Waking the Jester'', in 2007, then a live album, ''On/Q'', in 2009.
In 2006, the band was inducted into the Western Canadian Music Hall of Fame at the
Western Canadian Music Awards
The ''Western Canadian Music Awards'' (WCMAs) are an annual awards event for music in the western portion of Canada. The awards are provided by the Western Canada Music Alliance, which consists of six member music industry organizations from Br ...
.
In 2007, Harlequin consisted of guitarist Derrick Gottfried, bassist Nik Rivers, keyboardist Darren Moore, and drummer A.J. Chabidon. This lineup released ''Waking the Jester'' (2007), which contained two singles, "Shine On" and "Rise". The band resumed touring and, in 2009, released Harlequin's first live album, ''Live On/Q''.
In 2013, Harlequin consisted of Belanger, guitarist Derrick Gottfried, drummer A.J. Chabidon, keyboard and guitarist Gary Golden, and bassist Paul McNair; and is the current line up touring in 2017. The band continues to tour, mostly within Canada.
Discography
Studio albums
Compilation albums
Live albums
Singles
References
External links
Official websiteCanConRox bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Harlequin
Musical groups from Winnipeg
Canadian pop rock music groups
Musical groups established in 1975
1975 establishments in Manitoba