FM is a Canadian
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. Init ...
music group formed in 1976 in
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 ...
, by Cameron Hawkins and Jeff Plewman (renamed
Nash the Slash
James Jeffrey "Jeff" Plewman (March 26, 1948 – May 10, 2014), better known by his stage name Nash the Slash, was a Canadian musician. A multi-instrumentalist, he was known primarily for playing the electric violin and mandolin, as well as the h ...
). The band existed from 1976 to 1989, 1994–1996, 2006, and 2011–present. They have had periods of inactivity during their existence. Their music has been categorized as
space rock
Space rock is a music genre characterized by loose and lengthy song structures centered on instrumental textures that typically produce a hypnotic, otherworldly sound. It may feature distorted and reverberation-laden guitars, minimal drummin ...
, and lyrics are dominated by
science fiction themes
The following is a list of articles about recurring themes in science fiction.
Overarching themes
* First contact with aliens
*Artificial intelligence
**Machine rule/Cybernetic revolt/AI takeover
*Extraterrestrials in fiction
*End of humanity ...
. In November 2011, Hawkins reformed the band with two new players.
History
Hawkins / Plewman "Nash the Slash" lineup
The band's original 1976 lineup consisted of two people: Cameron Hawkins on synthesizer, occasional bass guitar, and lead vocals, and Jeff Plewman (later known as
Nash The Slash
James Jeffrey "Jeff" Plewman (March 26, 1948 – May 10, 2014), better known by his stage name Nash the Slash, was a Canadian musician. A multi-instrumentalist, he was known primarily for playing the electric violin and mandolin, as well as the h ...
) on electric violin, electric mandolin, and backing vocals. The group did not use guitars. The duo first met each other while jamming with a band called Clear.
The group first recorded in July 1976.
[Recording dates from ''Lost in Space'' liner notes] A few months later,
TVOntario
TVO Media Education Group (often abbreviated as TVO and stylized on-air as tvo) is a publicly funded English-language educational television network and media organization serving the Canadian province of Ontario. It is operated by the Ontario ...
recorded an in-studio performance for the ''Night Music Concert'' TV show, first broadcast on November 3. It is very likely this was also the date of recording. The half-hour show, shown with no commercial breaks, presented the band playing three long pieces: "Phasors on Stun", "One O'Clock Tomorrow", and "Black Noise". It also included a nonsensical biography of the group resembling
free-association poetry, recited by David Pritchard (electronic musician, record producer, and
CHUM-FM
CHUM-FM is a Canadian radio station in Toronto, Ontario, broadcasting on 104.5 MHz. Owned by Bell Media, the station airs a hot adult contemporary format. CHUM-FM's studios are located at 250 Richmond Street West in the Entertainment District, ...
DJ, 1960s-1970s), accompanied by electronic background music and a collage of photos and artwork by Paul Till, appearing between the first and second songs. Neither this music, nor any performances by the original two-person lineup, were released on an album until 2001.
FM's first public performance took place in November 1976 at the
A Space
A, or a, is the first letter and the first vowel of the Latin alphabet, used in the modern English alphabet, the alphabets of other western European languages and others worldwide. Its name in English is ''a'' (pronounced ), plural ''aes' ...
art gallery in Toronto shortly after the TV show first aired.
Hawkins / Plewman "Nash the Slash" / Deller lineup No. 1
Some time after February 1977
the group became a trio when they added
Martin Deller on drums. Deller had worked with Nash earlier in 1976 when they and David Pritchard played a 13-minute improvised piece titled "An Admission of Guilt" for Pritchard's album, ''Nocturnal Earthworm Stew''.
After appearing on the
Canadian Broadcasting Corporation
The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (french: Société Radio-Canada), branded as CBC/Radio-Canada, is a Canadian public broadcaster for both radio and television. It is a federal Crown corporation that receives funding from the government. ...
TV variety show ''Who's New'', FM was approached by the CBC to make an album, ultimately titled ''
Black Noise
In audio engineering, electronics, physics, and many other fields, the color of noise or noise spectrum refers to the power spectrum of a noise signal (a signal produced by a stochastic process). Different colors of noise have significantl ...
'', which the group presumed would be distributed in stores like a normal release. But the CBC chose to sell it by mail order and only announced its availability during several radio shows. Only 500 copies were pressed,
which was sufficient to meet the demands of this limited promotion. The CBC edition's black and white cover shows a picture of a
manhole cover
A manhole cover or maintenance hole cover is a removable plate forming the lid over the opening of a manhole, an opening large enough for a person to pass through that is used as an access point for an underground vault or pipe. It is designed to ...
; a different cover by Paul Till was used for later reissues on other labels.
Sometime in 1977, Plewman, after recovering from a severe car/bike accident, decided to leave the band and resumed his solo career as Nash the Slash stating that the addition of a drummer gave the band a sound which was too commercial for his liking.
Hawkins / Mink / Deller lineup
Before the end of 1977, Plewman
ow 'Nash The Slash' solo artistwas replaced by
Ben Mink
Benjamin Mink (born January 22, 1951) is a Canadian songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, and producer best known as a longtime collaborator of Canadian singer k.d. lang. He plays several string instruments, notably the guitar, violin, and the m ...
, who also played electric violin and electric mandolin. Their first record was ''
Direct to Disc'' (also released as ''Head Room'', or ''Headroom''), and was made using the
direct to disc recording
Direct-to-disc recording refers to sound recording methods that bypass the use of magnetic tape recording and record audio directly onto analog disc masters.
Professional analog sound recording
Most sound recordings for records before the 1950s ...
method, in which recording tape is not used. Several editions of the album exist.
Later in 1978, the group got its first proper record contract with Visa Records in the USA, and Passport Records in Canada, the latter distributed by GRT Records. (Passport was a sub-label of Visa, although Passport was the more prolific of the two labels.) Their first release for these labels was a reissue of the CBC album, ''Black Noise'', now made available in stores for the first time. The USA edition was released in the summer of 1978, while the Canadian edition came out near the end of the year. A single from the album, "Phasors on Stun" helped to promote the album, for which the group were presented a
gold record
Gold is a chemical element with the symbol Au (from la, aurum) and atomic number 79. This makes it one of the higher atomic number elements that occur naturally. It is a bright, slightly orange-yellow, dense, soft, malleable, and ductile meta ...
award. However, Cameron Hawkins claims they never received royalty payments from any of the Canadian LP editions, as their contract specified all payments were to come through Visa Records in the USA, and none of the three Canadian distributors passed royalties on to Visa.
''Black Noise'' was followed by ''
Surveillance
Surveillance is the monitoring of behavior, many activities, or information for the purpose of information gathering, influencing, managing or directing. This can include observation from a distance by means of electronic equipment, such as c ...
'' in the summer of 1979, the first widely released album with the group's then-current lineup, although it was delayed because GRT Records went out of business one week before the intended release date.
Canadian distribution of the Passport label was bought out by
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 ...
who subsequently released both albums. In 1981 the Passport label declared bankruptcy,
but was rescued again the following year by new Canadian distributor
A&M Records
A&M Records was an American record label founded as an independent company by Herb Alpert and Jerry Moss in 1962. Due to the success of the discography A&M released, the label garnered interest and was acquired by PolyGram in 1989 and began distr ...
, who reissued ''Black Noise'' again.
In 1980, FM released another album, ''
City of Fear'', produced by
Larry Fast
Lawrence Roger Fast (born December 10, 1951) is an American synthesizer player and composer. He is best known for his 1975–1987 series of synthesizer music albums (''Synergy'') and for his contributions to a number of popular music acts, inclu ...
who under the name "Synergy" released a series of electronic music albums as well as playing keyboards on
Peter Gabriel
Peter Brian Gabriel (born 13 February 1950) is an English musician, singer, songwriter, record producer, and activist. He rose to fame as the original lead singer of the progressive rock band Genesis. After leaving Genesis in 1975, he launched ...
's early albums. Ben Mink also recorded an instrumental solo album, ''Foreign Exchange'' with the other members of FM as his backing band. Ben Mink left FM in 1983.
Hawkins / Nash the Slash / Deller lineup No. 2
In 1983, Nash the Slash proposed a future double bill tour with FM, as the two artists seemed to share a common audience, since FM's best known previous album was the one he made with them in 1977. But they had still not found a replacement for Ben Mink. Nash resolved the problem by rejoining the band. Just as work was beginning on a new album in 1984, Passport Records folded for the third and final time. Nash had been signed to
Quality Records
Quality Records was a Canadian entertainment company which released music albums in Canada on behalf of American record labels. They also released recordings by Canadian artists.
The company operated between 1950 and 1985 with offices in Toron ...
as a solo artist in 1983, and was about to release his solo album ''American Band-ages'', which the originally proposed tour had been intended to promote, and was able to get FM signed to the label as well. The other two members of FM also play on Nash's album. The double bill concept was retained, with Nash playing a solo set as the opening act for FM concerts. The FM album, released in 1985, was titled ''
Con-Test''. Ben Mink also appears on the album.
A live show at the
Masonic Temple
A Masonic Temple or Masonic Hall is, within Freemasonry, the room or edifice where a Masonic Lodge meets. Masonic Temple may also refer to an abstract spiritual goal and the conceptual ritualistic space of a meeting.
Development and history
In ...
in Toronto was videotaped and aired by the
CBC as one of its ''Rock Deluxe'' TV specials in 1985.
FM seemed to be cursed by record labels going out of business. The Quality Records company had existed since the early 1950s, and by the 1960s was Canada's biggest domestic label; but they ceased operations shortly after the album was released.
MCA Records
MCA Records was an American record label owned by MCA Inc., which later became part of Universal Music Group.
Pre-history
MCA Inc., a powerful talent agency and a television production company, entered the recorded music business in 1962 wit ...
picked up the reissue rights for ''Con-Test'', as well as Nash's ''American Band-ages'', but the abrupt change in record labels led to a near-absence of promotion for both records. Martin Deller left the band at the conclusion of its 1986 tour.
Hawkins / Nash the Slash / Brierly / Critchley lineup
In 1986, FM replaced Deller with Greg Critchley (ex
The Partland Brothers
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'', June 2, 1987. Originally fronted by brothers Chris and G. P. Partland with sup ...
and
The Spoons
Spoons is a Canadian new wave band, formed in Burlington, Ontario in 1979. They recorded several Canadian chart hits between 1982 and 1989, and in 1983, they were nominated for Most Promising Group of the Year at the Juno Awards. Their most ...
) on drums, and added Simon Brierley (ex
Lee Aaron
Lee Aaron (born Karen Lynn Greening; July 21, 1962) is a Canadian rock singer. She had several hits in the 1980s and early 1990s, such as "Metal Queen", "Whatcha Do to My Body", and "Sex with Love".
Early life
Aaron was born as Karen Lynn Greeni ...
's band and
Strange Advance
Strange Advance is a Canadian new wave band formed in 1982 in Vancouver, British Columbia. They were nominated for a 1983 Juno Award as Most Promising Group of the Year and again in 1985 as Group of the Year. Their first two albums, 1982's ' ...
) on guitars. Before this time, FM (and Nash as a solo artist) were notable for not using electric guitars, therefore this change made a significant alteration to their sound. They recorded ''
Tonight
Tonight may refer to:
Television
* ''Tonight'' (1957 TV programme), a 1957–1965 British current events television programme hosted by Cliff Michelmore that was broadcast on BBC
* ''Tonight'' (1975 TV programme), a 1975–1979 British current ...
'' for Duke Street Records, with the first pressing issued on green vinyl. Duke Street also issued the album on CD, with five bonus tracks from ''Con-Test'', followed by a CD edition of the earlier album. Five songs were also used in the horror film ''
Friday the 13th Part VII: The New Blood'' (1988).
Hawkins / Nash the Slash / Brierly / Cooke lineup
In 1988,
Randy Cooke
Randy Cooke is a Canadian drummer, percussionist, session musician, and touring musician.
Biography
Influenced by his drummer father, Cooke picked up the drums as a child, learning and playing as part of a local drum corps before starting his ow ...
replaced Greg Critchley on drums.
This lineup disbanded after touring the ''Tonight'' album.
Hawkins / Shaw / Brierly / Marangoni lineup
In 1989, FM consisted of Hawkins and Brierly, augmented by the new members Martin Shaw (also known as Marty Warsh) on mandolin and violin and drummer Paul Marangoni. Information on this lineup is scarce, and though Marangoni has stated that this line-up planned to record, they disbanded in the early 1990s. Marangoni has since shared footage of this lineup on YouTube.
Hawkins / Nash the Slash / Deller lineup No. 3
In 1994, Cameron Hawkins created a new record company called Now See Hear Records (initially self-distributed, but later distributed by
MCA Records
MCA Records was an American record label owned by MCA Inc., which later became part of Universal Music Group.
Pre-history
MCA Inc., a powerful talent agency and a television production company, entered the recorded music business in 1962 wit ...
as of 1996), and purchased the rights to ''Black Noise'' which was still owned by the CBC, but ownership was set to expire that year. Hawkins was surprised to find a competitor bidding for the rights, but his label emerged as the winning bidder. By this time, the CBC no longer possessed a master tape of the album. A search for the tape at the CBC turned up a reel tape box with an inferior cassette copy inside. Hawkins then travelled to the USA to search the former Passport Records vaults for the tapes of this, and the other Passport albums, without success. Ultimately, the Now See Hear reissue of ''Black Noise'' was made from a transfer from vinyl.
Now See Hear also licensed the recording to
One Way Records
One Way Records was an independent record label based in Albany, New York that specialized in budget reissues of classic rock albums. In the 1990s, it gained business pressing reissues of those records that had "fallen through the cracks" in the t ...
, a company specializing in reissues, which released an American edition.
The reissue was followed by a reformation of the group's classic lineup for a series of concerts from 1994 to 1996,
resulting in a new live CD titled ''RetroActive'' recorded November 1994 in Toronto, and issued on Now See Hear in 1995. The album included some previously unrecorded songs.
In 2001, Nash the Slash compiled unreleased and live FM recordings from the 1970s and 1980s on a CD titled ''Lost in Space'' on his own
Cut-throat Records label. This release was not approved by the other members, and did not mention the name FM; the artist was listed as "Nash the Slash, Cameron Hawkins & Martin Deller". It includes recordings made by the original Hawkins / Nash the Slash lineup in 1976 and 1977, and demo versions of songs for ''Con-Test'' recorded in 1984.
Hawkins / Vena / Deller lineup
In 2006, FM reformed again for a live performance at
NEARfest
The North East Art Rock Festival, or NEARfest for short, was a multi-day event celebrating the resurgence of progressive and eclectic music in the United States and around the world. The event was held annually in early summer in Bethlehem, Pennsy ...
in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, USA on June 24, and also gave a concert prior to this in Toronto on June 16.
The new lineup included Italian musician
Claudio Vena
Claudio Vena is an Italian-born composer for film and television, now living and working in Canada.
Compositions
Vena has written the score for the feature film, ''Silver Man'' and co-written another score for ''Boy Meets Girl''. Two of his a ...
on electric violin and electric mandolin. New CD and DVD recordings by this lineup have been issued, and the band's website has not been updated since 2006.
In 2010, Martin Deller uploaded a video on
YouTube
YouTube is a global online video platform, online video sharing and social media, social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by ...
, advertising for drumming and recording lessons. The video consists of clips from the
NEARfest
The North East Art Rock Festival, or NEARfest for short, was a multi-day event celebrating the resurgence of progressive and eclectic music in the United States and around the world. The event was held annually in early summer in Bethlehem, Pennsy ...
2006 performance which is also mentioned as being an upcoming release.
2011 to 2014
Since 2011, Cameron Hawkins has worked on material with a new incarnation of FM. Joining Hawkins are Paul DeLong on drums, Aaron Solomon on violin, and Ed Bernard of Druckfarben on viola and mandolin. The band is putting the finishing touches on songs for a new album that is to be released by Esoteric Recordings.
On May 12, 2014, Nash the Slash died at age 66.
2015
FM's first studio album in 28 years, ''Transformation'', was released in April, 2015 via Esoteric/Cherry Red Recordings. The lineup was Hawkins (bass, keyboards), Paul DeLong (drums), Edward Bernard (viola, mandolin), and Aaron Solomon (violin).
Members
Current members
*Cameron Hawkins -
keyboards
Keyboard may refer to:
Text input
* Keyboard, part of a typewriter
* Computer keyboard
** Keyboard layout, the software control of computer keyboards and their mapping
** Keyboard technology, computer keyboard hardware and firmware
Music
* Musi ...
,
lead vocals
The lead vocalist in popular music is typically the member of a group or band whose voice is the most prominent melody in a performance where multiple voices may be heard. The lead singer sets their voice against the accompaniment parts of t ...
,
bass (1976–1989, 1994–1996, 2006, 2011–present)
*Paul DeLong -
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 ...
(2011–present)
*Edward Bernard -
viola
The viola ( , also , ) is a string instrument that is bow (music), bowed, plucked, or played with varying techniques. Slightly larger than a violin, it has a lower and deeper sound. Since the 18th century, it has been the middle or alto voice of ...
,
mandolin
A mandolin ( it, mandolino ; literally "small mandola") is a stringed musical instrument in the lute family and is generally plucked with a pick. It most commonly has four courses of doubled strings tuned in unison, thus giving a total of 8 ...
(2011–present)
*Aaron Solomon -
violin
The violin, sometimes known as a ''fiddle'', is a wooden chordophone (string instrument) in the violin family. Most violins have a hollow wooden body. It is the smallest and thus highest-pitched instrument (soprano) in the family in regular ...
(2011–present)
Past members
*
Nash the Slash
James Jeffrey "Jeff" Plewman (March 26, 1948 – May 10, 2014), better known by his stage name Nash the Slash, was a Canadian musician. A multi-instrumentalist, he was known primarily for playing the electric violin and mandolin, as well as the h ...
- violin, backing and lead vocals, mandolin, harmonica (1976–1977, 1983-1989, 1994–1996)
*Martin Deller - drums, percussion, keyboards (1977-1986, 2006)
*
Ben Mink
Benjamin Mink (born January 22, 1951) is a Canadian songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, and producer best known as a longtime collaborator of Canadian singer k.d. lang. He plays several string instruments, notably the guitar, violin, and the m ...
- violin, backing vocals (1977-1983)
*Simon Brierly - guitars, backing vocals (1986-1989)
*Greg Critchley - drums, backing vocals, occasional lead vocals (1986-1988)
*
Randy Cooke
Randy Cooke is a Canadian drummer, percussionist, session musician, and touring musician.
Biography
Influenced by his drummer father, Cooke picked up the drums as a child, learning and playing as part of a local drum corps before starting his ow ...
- drums (1988)
*Martin Shaw - mandolin, violin (1989)
*Paul Marangoni - drums (1989)
*Claudio Vena - violin, mandolin (2006)
*Ivana Popovic
Discography
Albums
Studio albums
*''
Black Noise
In audio engineering, electronics, physics, and many other fields, the color of noise or noise spectrum refers to the power spectrum of a noise signal (a signal produced by a stochastic process). Different colors of noise have significantl ...
'' (1977)
*''
Direct to Disc'' (1978) (also reissued as ''Head Room'' (1980), with different takes of some tracks)
*''
Surveillance
Surveillance is the monitoring of behavior, many activities, or information for the purpose of information gathering, influencing, managing or directing. This can include observation from a distance by means of electronic equipment, such as c ...
'' (1979)
*''
City of Fear'' (1980)
*''
Con-Test'' (1985)
*''
Tonight
Tonight may refer to:
Television
* ''Tonight'' (1957 TV programme), a 1957–1965 British current events television programme hosted by Cliff Michelmore that was broadcast on BBC
* ''Tonight'' (1975 TV programme), a 1975–1979 British current ...
'' (1987)
*''Transformation'' (2015)
Live albums
*''RetroActive'' (1995)
*''Lost in Space'' (artist listed as Nash the Slash, Cameron Hawkins & Martin Deller) (2001)
*''Live @ NEARfest 2006'' (2014)
Singles
*"Phasors on Stun" / "Dialing for Dharma" – Passport Records, 1978
*"Shapes of Things" – Arista Records 0477 (USA), 1979
*"Just Like You" – Quality Records, 1985 – Canadian chart No. 38
*"All of the Dreams" – 1986 – Canadian chart No. 86
*"Why Don't You Take It" / "Just Like You" – MCA Records 52840 (with cover), 1986 – Canadian chart No. 90
*"Why Don't You Take It (Flight Mix)" / "Just Like You (Fun Mix)" – MCA Records 23634 (12 inch single with cover), 1986
*"She Does What She Wants" – MCA Records, 1986 – this song later appeared on the Duke Street album ''Tonight'', 1987
*"Good Vibrations" / "Good Vibrations (instrumental)" – 1987 – only available with fan club membership
*"Dream Girl" / "The Real Thing" – Duke Street Records (with cover), 1987 – Canadian chart No. 41
*"Magic (in Your Eyes)" / "I'm Not Mad (Ready for the World)" – Duke Street Records, 1988 – Canadian chart No. 52
*"She Does What She Wants" / "She Does What She Wants (Front and Main Mix, A cappella version)" – Duke Street Records 10042, 1988
*"Hideaway" / "Hideaway (Edited for broadcast)" - Now See Hear 1095, 1995 - Mixed mode CD containing CD-Rom and CD-Audio data
References
External links
Website for the reformed FMEntry at canadianbands.comEntry at thecanadianencyclopedia.ca Nash's website*
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Fm
Musical groups established in 1976
Musical groups disestablished in 1996
Musical groups from Toronto
Canadian musical trios
Canadian progressive rock groups
Canadian space rock musical groups
1976 establishments in Ontario
1996 disestablishments in Ontario