Leslie Spit Treeo were 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 ...

folk-rock band in the 1980s and 1990s. The band took its name from the

Leslie Street Spit The Leslie Street Spit, or officially the Outer Harbour East Headland, is a human-made headland in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, extending from the city's east end in a roughly southwesterly direction into Lake Ontario. It is about long. The Spit i ...

area of

Toronto Harbour Toronto Harbour or Toronto Bay is a bay on the north shore of Lake Ontario, in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is a natural harbour, protected from Lake Ontario waves by the Toronto Islands. Today, the harbour is used primarily for recreational b ...

."Leslie Spit Treeo still true to street-busking roots". ''

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 ...

'', May 11, 1990.

History

The band originally consisted of vocalist

Laura Hubert Laura Hubert is a Canadian rock and jazz singer. She was the lead vocalist for the alternative rock group Leslie Spit Treeo in the 1980s and 1990s,"Leslie Spit Treeo still true to street-busking roots". ''Toronto Star'', May 11, 1990. and has s ...

, guitarist Pat Langner and guitarist Jack (J.D.) Nicholsen. Tag, a dog, was the band's

mascot A mascot is any human, animal, or object thought to bring luck, or anything used to represent a group with a common public identity, such as a school, professional sports team, society, military unit, or brand name. Mascots are also used as fi ...

, was listed as their official manager, and was sometimes directly credited as a contributing musician as some of the band's songs incorporated Tag's barking, growling or whining into the mix. They first began rehearsing as a band on the Leslie Street Spit, a public park area where they could bring Tag. All three of the human members had a background in theatre, as either actors or writers."Treeo spits in the face of music establishment". ''

Edmonton Journal The ''Edmonton Journal'' is a daily newspaper in Edmonton, Alberta. It is part of the Postmedia Network. History The ''Journal'' was founded in 1903 by three local businessmen — John Macpherson, Arthur Moore and J.W. Cunningham — as ...

'', December 10, 1992. They began as a street

busking Street performance or busking is the act of performing in public places for gratuities. In many countries, the rewards are generally in the form of money but other gratuities such as food, drink or gifts may be given. Street performance is pr ...

collective, sometimes with

Graeme Kirkland Graeme Kirkland is a Canadian record producer, composer, musician, and performance artist active during the late 1980s and 1990s. Musical career At age 15, while too young to be formally enrolled, Kirkland studied music in advanced classes at Yor ...

contributing on drums, and won a role in Bruce McDonald's 1989 film ''

Roadkill Roadkill is an animal or animals that have been struck and killed by drivers of motor vehicles on highways. Wildlife-vehicle collisions (WVC) have increasingly been the topic of academic research to understand the causes, and how it can be mi ...

'', playing buskers in a field performing their song "The Sound". They signed to

Capitol Records Capitol Records, LLC (known legally as Capitol Records, Inc. until 2007) is an American record label distributed by Universal Music Group through its Capitol Music Group imprint. It was founded as the first West Coast-based record label of note ...

and released their debut album ''Don't Cry Too Hard'' in 1990, garnering airplay on

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 ...

radio stations with a cover of

John Prine John Edward Prine (; October 10, 1946 – April 7, 2020) was an American singer-songwriter of country-folk music. He was active as a composer, recording artist, live performer, and occasional actor from the early 1970s until his death. He ...

's "

Angel from Montgomery "Angel from Montgomery" is a song written by John Prine, originally appearing on his self-titled 1971 album ''John Prine''. The song has been covered extensively by various artists. Background John Prine wrote "Angel from Montgomery" after a fr ...

" and with their own original song "UFO/Catch the Highway". They subsequently won 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 ...

for Most Promising Group at the

Juno Awards of 1991 The Juno Awards of 1991, representing Canadian music industry achievements of the previous year, were awarded on 3 March 1991 in Vancouver, British Columbia at a ceremony in the Queen Elizabeth Theatre. Paul Shaffer was the host for the ceremoni ...

. Around the same time, Nicholsen had an acting role in the film ''

Perfectly Normal ''Perfectly Normal'' is a Canadian comedy film directed by Yves Simoneau, which premiered at the 1990 Festival of Festivals, before going into general theatrical release in 1991. Simoneau's first English-language film, it was written by Eugene Lip ...

''. For their follow-up album, 1992's ''Book of Rejection'', the band brought in guests

Jason Sniderman Jason Sniderman is a Canadian musician and businessman. He was one of the chief executives of Sam the Record Man, He also played keyboards on a number of rock music albums, performed with the band Blue Peter, and later released several albums under ...

on keyboards, Frank Randazzo on bass and Joel Anderson on drums. That album included some songs from ''The Book of Rejection'', a theatrical show the band had collaborated on with actors

Daniel Brooks Daniel Brooks (born 23 June 1958) is a Canadian theatre director, actor and playwright. He is well known in the Toronto theatre scene for his innovative productions and script-writing collaborations. Early life Brooks was born in Toronto, Ontari ...

Don McKellar Don McKellar (born August 17, 1963) is a Canadian actor, writer, playwright, and filmmaker. He was part of a loosely-affiliated group of filmmakers to emerge from Toronto known as the Toronto New Wave. He is known for directing and writing the ...

and

Tracy Wright Tracy Wright (December 7, 1959 – June 22, 2010) was a Canadian actress who was known for her stage and film performances, as well as her presence in Canada's avant-garde for over 20 years. Career In 1989, she was a founding member of the Toron ...

, and included the band's biggest hit, "In Your Eyes", a Top 20 hit in the fall of 1992 which featured

Randy Bachman Randolph Charles Bachman (; born September 27, 1943) is a Canadian guitarist, singer, and songwriter. He was a founding member of the bands The Guess Who and Bachman–Turner Overdrive. Bachman recorded as a solo artist and was part of a num ...

on guitar. But they felt that they lost creative control of the recording process, and broke their seven-album recording contract."You can't keep a good Spit down". ''

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 '' ...

'', December 15, 1994. Nicholsen left the band in 1993 to focus on his acting career, most notably appearing as Val in the 1994 film ''

The Last Supper Image:The Last Supper - Leonardo Da Vinci - High Resolution 32x16.jpg, 400px, alt=''The Last Supper'' by Leonardo da Vinci - Clickable Image, Depictions of the Last Supper in Christian art have been undertaken by artistic masters for centuries, ...

''. With the core of the band now down to the duo of Langner and Hubert, their 1994 indie album ''Hell's Kitchen'' was initially credited to The Spits since the band were no longer a "treeo", but when initial sales were slower than expected, it was re-released under the band's original name. In 1995 the band appeared in another McDonald film, ''

Dance Me Outside ''Dance Me Outside'' is a 1994 Canadian drama film, directed by Bruce McDonald (director), Bruce McDonald. It was based on Dance Me Outside (book), a book by W.P. Kinsella.Rob Salem, "Dance Me Outside struts a lively two-step". ''Toronto Star'', M ...

'', again playing themselves in concert. In 1996, the band released the double album ''Chocolate Chip Cookies'' in a cookie bag package that closely resembled

Chips Ahoy! Chips Ahoy! is an American chocolate chip cookie brand, baked and marketed by Nabisco, a subsidiary of Mondelez International, that debuted in 1963. Chips Ahoy! cookies are available in different variations such as, original, reduced-fat, chunky, ...

packaging;"Band tosses cookie logo". ''

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 ...

'', October 9, 1996. after

Nabisco Nabisco (, abbreviated from the earlier name National Biscuit Company) is an American manufacturer of cookies and snacks headquartered in East Hanover, New Jersey. The company is a subsidiary of Illinois-based Mondelēz International. Nabisco's ...

threatened the band with a lawsuit, the band burned all the packaging in a bonfire in Toronto's

High Park High Park is a municipal park in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. High Park is a mixed recreational and natural park, with sporting facilities, cultural facilities, educational facilities, gardens, playgrounds and a zoo. One-third of the park remains ...

and created a new cookie bag that did not resemble Chips Ahoy!. They re-released the album the following year in a conventional

jewel case Optical disc packaging is the packaging that accompanies CDs, DVDs, and other formats of optical discs. Most packaging is rigid or semi-rigid and designed to protect the media from scratches and other types of exposure damage. Jewel case A ...

. For that album's supporting tour, Langner and Hubert were joined by guitarist Jason Reed, bassist Shaun Noronha and drummer Vince Montago. ''Chocolate Chip Cookies'' was the band's last album. Hubert has released three solo

jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, with its roots in blues and ragtime. Since the 1920s Jazz Age, it has been recognized as a major ...

recordings and is a fixture on the Toronto jazz scene. Langner is a writer. Nicholsen, who has always been credited as J.D. Nicholsen, Jack Nichols or Jack Matthews in acting roles to avoid any potential confusion with the more famous actor

Jack Nicholson John Joseph Nicholson (born April 22, 1937) is an American retired actor and filmmaker. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest actors of all time. In many of his films, he played rebels against the social structure. He received numerous ...

, continues to act and sings with

The Cameron Family Singers The Cameron House is a small bar, live music venue, and informal cultural centre located on Queen Street West, just west of Spadina Avenue, in the city's downtown core of Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The Cameron has a front lounge and a back room, bo ...

. Tag died in 2000, and was cited as the pretext for the band's breakup."Leslie Spit Treeo breaks up because of death of dog". ''

Sudbury Star ''The Sudbury Star'' is a Canadian daily regional newspaper published in Sudbury, Ontario. It is owned by the media company, Postmedia. It is the largest daily paper in Northeastern Ontario by circulation. History The ''Sudbury Star'' began as ...

'', September 22, 2000.

Discography

* '' Don't Cry Too Hard'' (1990) * ''

Book of Rejection ''Book of Rejection'' was the second album by Canadian folk rock group Leslie Spit Treeo, released in 1992 on Capitol-EMI Canada. The album's two main singles were "In Your Eyes" and "People Say". "In Your Eyes", the band's biggest hit, reached ...

'' (1992) * ''

Hell's Kitchen Hell's Kitchen, also known as Clinton, is a neighborhood on the West Side of Midtown Manhattan in New York City. It is considered to be bordered by 34th Street (or 41st Street) to the south, 59th Street to the north, Eighth Avenue to the eas ...

'' (1994) * ''

Chocolate Chip Cookies A chocolate chip cookie is a drop cookie that features chocolate chips or chocolate morsels as its distinguishing ingredient. Chocolate chip cookies originated in the United States around 1938, when Ruth Graves Wakefield chopped up a Nestl ...

'' (1996)

Film appearances

* ''

'', 1989 * ''

'', 1995 * ''

Jasper, Texas Jasper is a city in and the county seat of Jasper County, Texas, United States. Its population was 6,884 at the 2020 U.S. Census, down from 7,590 at the 2010 U.S. Census. Jasper is situated in the Deep East Texas subregion, about west of the Te ...

'', 2003

References

External links

Leslie Spit Treeo
at

Jam! Jam! was a Canadian website which covers entertainment news. It was part of the Canoe.com online portal, formerly owned and operated by Quebecor through its Sun Media division, and now owned by Postmedia Network. Jam! was the only media outlet ...

Leslie Spit Treeo
at

allmusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databas ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Leslie Spit Treeo Musical groups established in 1988 Musical groups disestablished in 2000 Musical groups from Toronto Canadian folk rock groups Canadian buskers Juno Award for Breakthrough Group of the Year winners 1988 establishments in Ontario 2000 disestablishments in Ontario