Paul Wayne Hackman (November 14, 1953 – July 5, 1992) was a Canadian guitarist who performed with the rock band

Helix A helix () is a shape like a corkscrew or spiral staircase. It is a type of smooth space curve with tangent lines at a constant angle to a fixed axis. Helices are important in biology, as the DNA molecule is formed as two intertwined helices, ...

from 1976 until his death in a road accident. Among the hits which contain his playing are the #32 Canadian single "

Rock You "Rock You" is a hard rock song written by Bob Halligan, Jr., and the first track from Helix's 1984 album ''Walkin' the Razor's Edge''. It is best known for its call and response refrain of "Gimme an R, O, C, K." It peaked at number 27 on the R ...

" and the #20 mainstream Canadian rock single "Deep Cuts the Knife", which he co-wrote with

Bob Halligan Jr. Robert Sidney Halligan Jr. (born January 3, 1953) is an American singer, musician, music producer and songwriter who has collaborated with many artists, particularly in the hard rock/ heavy metal genre, throughout his career. He is currently the l ...

Sleez Roxx profile on Paul Hackman
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Career with Helix

A native of the

Southwestern Ontario Southwestern Ontario is a secondary region of Southern Ontario in the Canadian province of Ontario. It occupies most of the Ontario Peninsula bounded by Lake Huron, including Georgian Bay, to the north and northwest; the St. Clair River, Lake St. ...

city of St. Thomas, Paul Hackman played in two local bands, Whitehorse and Purple Wedge. He joined Helix in 1976 when original keyboardist Don Simmons handed in his resignation. Hackman saw an ad for a replacement keyboard player in the newspaper and contacted Helix manager William Seip. Hackman informed Seip that he too had been searching for a keyboard player for his own band, and hadn't found one in six months. He convinced Seip to let him audition as a new guitar player, which took place at the Seip farm in

Baden Baden (; ) is a historical territory in South Germany, in earlier times on both sides of the Upper Rhine but since the Napoleonic Wars only East of the Rhine. History The margraves of Baden originated from the House of Zähringen. Baden is ...

, a small Ontario community. Hackman was offered the gig, and according to lead vocalist Brian Vollmer, "our sound became heavier and more aggressive." Helix released two

independent albums The Independent Albums chart (previously titled Top Independent Albums) ranks the highest-selling independent music albums and extended plays (EPs) in the United States, as compiled by Nielsen SoundScan and published weekly by '' Billboard'' maga ...

on their own H&S Records, entitled '' Breaking Loose'' and '' White Lace & Black Leather'', in 1979 and 1981 respectively. Helix signed with

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 ...

in 1983 and released '' No Rest for the Wicked''. This album featured Canadian hit

video Video is an electronic medium for the recording, copying, playback, broadcasting, and display of moving visual media. Video was first developed for mechanical television systems, which were quickly replaced by cathode-ray tube (CRT) syste ...

"Heavy Metal Love", which Hackman and Vollmer co-wrote. ''

Long Way to Heaven ''Long Way to Heaven'' is the fifth studio album by the Canadian heavy metal band Helix. This album was their third for Capitol Records, and there were bigger expectations from the band after the success of the previous '' Walkin' the Razor's E ...

'', featuring Hackman's "Deep Cuts The Knife", followed in 1985. In 1986, another Hackman co-write, "It's Too Late" from the

movie soundtrack A soundtrack is recorded music accompanying and synchronised to the images of a motion picture, drama, book, television program, radio program, or video game; a commercially released soundtrack album of music as featured in the soundtrack of ...

to ''

Iron Eagle ''Iron Eagle'' is a 1986 action film directed by Sidney J. Furie who co-wrote the screenplay with Kevin Alyn Elders, and starring Jason Gedrick and Louis Gossett Jr.Mann, Roderick"Sidney Furie leads the cheer for 'Iron Eagle'."''Los Angeles Tim ...

'', was released. The 1987 album ''

Wild in the Streets ''Wild in the Streets'' is a 1968 American comedy-drama film directed by Barry Shear and starring Christopher Jones, Hal Holbrook, and Shelley Winters. Based on the short story "The Day It All Happened, Baby!" by Robert Thom, it was distribu ...

'' was considered a disappointment by Capitol Records, only managing an unexpectedly low #179 on the ''Billboard'' 200 in the United States, although the album did go

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in Canada. By the end of the 1980s, Hackman had toured not only all over Canada, United States and England, but even played in

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden,The United Nations Group of Experts on Geographical Names states that the country's formal name is the Kingdom of SwedenUNGEGN World Geographical Names, Sweden./ref> is a Nordic country located on ...

and

Trinidad Trinidad is the larger and more populous of the two major islands of Trinidad and Tobago. The island lies off the northeastern coast of Venezuela and sits on the continental shelf of South America. It is often referred to as the southernmos ...

. In 1990, after a short break, Helix released what would turn out to be its final album with Hackman, ''

Back for Another Taste ''Back For Another Taste'' is the seventh Helix studio album and eighth album altogether. It was also their last album of their original Capitol Records contract. In a fall 1987 interview on MuchMusic with Erica Ehm, lead vocalist Brian Vollme ...

'', for which Hackman and Vollmer co-wrote "Runnin' Wild in the 21st Century".

Death and legacy

Hackman and Brian Vollmer agreed to take a short break, during which Vollmer would compose songs for a solo album, while Hackman would write for the next Helix CD. A tour of Western Canada was booked for the 1992 summer touring season. On July 5, following a concert in

Vancouver Vancouver ( ) is a major city in western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the List of cities in British Columbia, most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the ...

, the group's van veered off and rolled down a 40-foot embankment and Paul Hackman, asleep in a seat behind the driver, was thrown from the vehicle and died upon being taken to a hospital in the nearby city of

Kamloops Kamloops ( ) is a city in south-central British Columbia, Canada, at the confluence of the South flowing North Thompson River and the West flowing Thompson River, east of Kamloops Lake. It is located in the Thompson-Nicola Regional District, w ...

. He was 38 years old and lived with his wife, Connie in Port Franks, a village in his native Southwestern Ontario. After Hackman's death, Vollmer released the solo album he was working on as the next Helix album, ''

It's a Business Doing Pleasure ''It's A Business Doing Pleasure'' was the eighth Helix studio album and tenth album altogether. It was their only release on Aquarius Records. ''It's A Business Doing Pleasure'' followed the death of lead guitarist Paul Hackman and the departur ...

'', in 1993. He included the song "That Day Is Gonna Come" as a tribute to Hackman, with the song's video featuring unique Super 8 and video footage shot by Vollmer on the road over the years. Hackman's most enduring song, "Heavy Metal Love", was resurrected for the

Trailer Park Boys ''Trailer Park Boys'' is a Canadian mockumentary sitcom television series created by Mike Clattenburg that began airing in 2001 as a continuation of his 1999 film bearing the same name. The show follows the misadventures of a group of trailer pa ...

movie '' The Big Dirty''. The then-current version of Helix later re-recorded the song and included it on their 2006 EP '' Get Up!''.HELIX – Get Up! CD Now Available
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Discography

Helix albums

*'' Breaking Loose'' (1979) *'' White Lace & Black Leather'' (1981) *'' No Rest for the Wicked'' (1983) *''

Walkin' the Razor's Edge ''Walkin' the Razor's Edge'' is the fourth studio album by the Canadian heavy metal band Helix. It was released on the Capitol Records label in 1984, reaching No. 27 on the Canadian RPM Album Chart, and selling 100,000 copies in Canada and 400, ...

'' (1984) *''Live at the Marquee'' (1984) (promotional live EP) *''

'' (1985) *''

'' (1987) *''

'' (1990)

Helix compilations

*'' Over 60 minutes with...'' (1989) *'' The Early Years'' (1991) (reissue of first two albums)

Posthumous Helix albums

*'' half-ALIVE'' (1998) *'' Deep Cuts: The Best Of'' (1999) (compilation) *''

B-Sides The A-side and B-side are the two sides of phonograph records and cassettes; these terms have often been printed on the labels of two-sided music recordings. The A-side usually features a recording that its artist, producer, or record company ...

'' (1999) *'' Live! in Buffalo'' (2001) (live)

DVDs

*''S.E.X. Rated'' (DVD 2001, VHS 1991) *''30 Years of Helix: No Rest for the Wicked'' (DVD 2004)

References

External links

Official Helix Website
*
Photographs of Paul Hackman
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hackman, Paul Canadian guitarists Musicians from Ontario People from St. Thomas, Ontario Road incident deaths in Canada 1952 births 1992 deaths Helix (band) members 20th-century Canadian male musicians Accidental deaths in British Columbia 20th-century guitarists