Shooter, originally known as Greaseball Boogie Band, was a Canadian rock music group active in the early 1970s."Greaseball Boogie Band"

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 databa ...

. They were most noted for receiving a Juno Award nomination for Most Promising New Group at the

Juno Awards of 1975 The Juno Awards of 1975, representing Canadian music industry achievements of the previous year, were awarded on 24 March 1975 in Toronto at a ceremony in the Canadian National Exhibition. Paul Anka was host for the ceremonies, which were broadca ...

."Proudly Canadian: Shooter"
'' Cashbox'', March 11, 2015. The band, which initially tried to market itself as a Canadian version of

Sha Na Na Sha Na Na was an American rock and roll doo-wop group. Formed in 1969, but performing a song-and-dance repertoire based on 1950s hit songs, it simultaneously revived and parodied the music and the New York street culture of the 1950s. After ga ...

, consisted of vocalist Duncan White, keyboardist Ray Harrison, saxophonist Wayne Mills, guitarists John Bride and Michael Holman, and drummer Tommy Frew. Their debut album as Greaseball Boogie Band, consisting entirely of covers of 1950s rock songs such as " Be-Bop-A-Lula", "

Blueberry Hill "Blueberry Hill" is a popular American song published in 1940, best remembered for its 1950s rock and roll version by Fats Domino. The music was written by Vincent Rose, the lyrics by Larry Stock and Al Lewis. It was recorded six times in 1940 ...

", and "

Sea Cruise Cruise ships are large passenger ships used mainly for vacationing. Unlike ocean liners, which are used for transport, cruise ships typically embark on round-trip voyages to various ports-of-call, where passengers may go on tours known as "sho ...

", was released in 1973 on

GRT Records GRT Records was the name of both a U.S. and a Canadian record label, both created by General Recorded Tape, a California-based company that existed from 1965 to 1979.Richard GreenGRT of Canada, Ltd. The Canadian Encyclopedia. Retrieved 2013-02-26. ...

. The associated single "Be-Bop-A-Lula" received modest airplay but did not chart, and the band received a Juno Award nomination for Most Promising Group in 1975. Almost immediately, though, the band changed their name to Shooter, and changed their visual image from a greaser look to a 1930s

gangster A gangster is a criminal who is a member of a gang. Most gangs are considered to be part of organized crime. Gangsters are also called mobsters, a term derived from '' mob'' and the suffix '' -ster''. Gangs provide a level of organization and ...

style. Around the same time, Holman and Frew left and Norm Wellbanks (bass) and Sonnie Bernardi (drums) were added to the line-up. The newly christened band released the album ''Shooter'' in 1975."A concert more dress rehearsal than real show". ''

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 ...

'', May 31, 1975. The album again consisted entirely of covers, this time selecting more current songs by artists such as

Leo Sayer Gerard Hugh "Leo" Sayer (born 21 May 1948) is an English-Australian singer and songwriter whose singing career has spanned five decades. He has been an Australian citizen and resident since 2009. Sayer launched his career in the United Kingdom ...

Neil Sedaka Neil Sedaka (; born March 13, 1939) is an American singer-songwriter and pianist. Since his music career began in 1957, he has sold millions of records worldwide and has written or co-written over 500 songs for himself and other artists, collabo ...

, and Roger Cook. They had hits on the Toronto-based CHUM Chart with "Long Tall Glasses (I Can Dance)" and "Train" (a third single, "Hard Times", received airplay on some other stations) but GRT Records went bankrupt in 1976 before the band could release another album. They signed to Casino Records, releasing the radio singles "Cherokee Queen" and "Flows Like a River" in 1978 while working on the followup, but that label also went bankrupt before the album could be released. Harrison, Mills and Bride left to form

Cameo Blues Band The Cameo Blues Band is a Toronto-based blues band, originally formed in 1978. It is particularly notable for its association with several of Canada's leading blues singers, including Richard "Hock" Walsh, Tony Flaim and Chuck Jackson, all of ...

, while White and a returning Frew briefly carried on with a new band lineup that included Rhéal Lanthier and John Gibbard of Crowbar, but the band broke up by 1980 without releasing any further new music.

References

External links

* * as Greaseball Boogie Band {{Authority control Canadian rock music groups Musical groups established in 1972 Musical groups from Toronto Musical groups disestablished in 1980