The Partland Brothers are 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 ...

pop/rock band, best known for their 1986 hit single "Soul City"."The Partland Brothers struggle for recognition". ''

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 ...

'', June 2, 1987. Originally fronted by brothers Chris and G. P. Partland with supporting session musicians, more recently they have recorded and performed as a trio with their brother Robin Partland.

Biography

Originally from the small community of Colgan in Ontario's

Simcoe County Simcoe County is located in the central portion of Southern Ontario, Canada. The county is just north of the Greater Toronto Area, stretching from the shores of Lake Simcoe in the east to Georgian Bay in the west. Simcoe County forms part of the ...

,"Heartland pop from the Partland Brothers". ''

Hamilton Spectator ''The Hamilton Spectator'', founded in 1846, is a newspaper published weekdays and Saturdays in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. One of the largest Canadian newspapers by circulation,''The Hamilton Spectator'' is owned by Torstar. History ''The Hami ...

'', February 15, 1996. they played in area bands before moving their act 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 ...

in 1979 and forming Oliver Heavyside. In 1982, they entered and won the “ Q107 Homegrown” contest, which attracted the attention of Capitol Records. Their first album as the Partland Brothers, ''Electric Honey'', was released in 1986. It was described by '' Cashbox'' as an "appealing exercise in pop/rock", and reached number 146 on the ''Billboard'' 200. The single "Soul City", a soaring anthem featuring the brothers' distinctive

close-harmony A chord is in close harmony (also called close position or close structure) if its notes are arranged within a narrow range, usually with no more than an octave between the top and bottom notes. In contrast, a chord is in open harmony (also c ...

vocals which saw them compared to a more contemporary version of

The Righteous Brothers The Righteous Brothers are an American musical duo originally formed by Bill Medley and Bobby Hatfield but now comprising Medley and Bucky Heard. Medley formed the group with Hatfield in 1963. They had first performed together in 1962 in the Lo ...

, was a Top 40 hit in both Canada and the United States. This success earned them tours with

The Moody Blues The Moody Blues were an English rock band formed in Birmingham in 1964, initially consisting of keyboardist Mike Pinder, multi-instrumentalist Ray Thomas, guitarist Denny Laine, drummer Graeme Edge and bassist Clint Warwick. The group came to ...

and

The Beach Boys The Beach Boys are an American Rock music, rock band that formed in Hawthorne, California, in 1961. The group's original lineup consisted of brothers Brian Wilson, Brian, Dennis Wilson, Dennis, and Carl Wilson, their cousin Mike Love, and frie ...

in the United States, as well as headline gigs of their own at home in Canada and television appearances on ''

American Bandstand ''American Bandstand'', abbreviated ''AB'', is an American music-performance and dance television program that aired in various versions from 1952 to 1989, and was hosted from 1956 until its final season by Dick Clark, who also served as the pro ...

'' and '' The Late Show with Arsenio Hall''. Their live band engaged seasoned live performers, including Tom Lewis (bass), John Bride (guitar), Richard Evans (keyboards), Greg Critchley (drums), and Mike Skinner (sax). Produced by Vini Poncia, the album was reissued in 1987 with the

Jim Vallance James Douglas Vallance (born May 31, 1952) is a Canadian songwriter, arranger and producer. He is best known as the songwriting partner of Canadian musician Bryan Adams. Vallance began his professional career as the original drummer and main song ...

-produced new song "One Chance", which is still played on many adult radio stations today. That same year, their song "Outside the City" was featured in the horror film '' Hello Mary Lou: Prom Night II''. At the

Juno Awards of 1987 The Juno Awards of 1987, representing Canadian music industry achievements of the previous year, were awarded on 2 November 1987 in Toronto at a ceremony in the Sony Centre for the Performing Arts, O'Keefe Centre. Howie Mandel was the host for th ...

, they received a nomination for Most Promising New Group. Management struggles ensued, and it took until 1990 for them to record and release their second album, ''Between Worlds''."Partland Brothers rebound from bad deals". ''

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 '' ...

'', May 20, 1990. The album was supported with a smaller-scale Canadian tour. It was another three years and a label change before their next studio album, ''Part Land, Part Water'', was released on Kinetic Records. ''Part Land, Part Water'' was recorded at

Metalworks Studios Metalworks Studios is a music recording studio in Mississauga, Ontario, Canada. It was established in 1978 by Gil Moore of the Canadian rock group, Triumph. Over a span of 40 years, Metalworks has been the recipient of Canadian Music Week's ...

Mississauga Mississauga ( ), historically known as Toronto Township, is a city in the Canadian province of Ontario. It is situated on the shores of Lake Ontario in the Regional Municipality of Peel, adjoining the western border of Toronto. With a popul ...

. Production was given over to

Ken Greer Kenneth William Greer (born 25 July 1954) is a Canadian guitarist and keyboardist. He is one of the founding members of the Canadian rock band Red Rider. Biography Greer is the youngest of seven children born into a musical family in Toronto, ...

, who also played lead guitars, pedal steel, mandolin, bass, and all keyboards on the album. Occasional dates ensued, but the band chose to stay close to home rather than tackling an all-out tour. Following ''Part Land, Part Water'', the band were relatively inactive for a number of years until 2002, when they performed at a

Ronnie Hawkins Ronald Cornett Hawkins (January 10, 1935 – May 29, 2022) was an American singer-songwriter, long based in Canada, whose career spanned more than half a century. His career began in Arkansas, United States, where he was born and raised. He ...

tribute show at

Massey Hall Massey Hall is a performing arts theatre in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Opened in 1894, it is known for its outstanding acoustics and was the long-time hall of the Toronto Symphony Orchestra. An intimate theatre, it was originally designed to sea ...

. Afterward they returned to touring as an opening act for Hawkins, and performed at various benefit concerts before relaunching their own tour of Southern Ontario. In 2009, they released ''This Is Who I Am'', their first album of new material since ''Part Land, Part Water''. The album included "That's My Home", a charity single the band recorded as a benefit for the

Canadian Forces } The Canadian Armed Forces (CAF; french: Forces armées canadiennes, ''FAC'') are the unified military forces of Canada, including sea, land, and air elements referred to as the Royal Canadian Navy, Canadian Army, and Royal Canadian Air Force. ...

Military Families Fund. They followed up in 2010 with ''Every Now...and Again'', a compilation of songs from throughout their career."Partland Brothers salute Christmas at LAC"
'' Mississauga.com'', December 6, 2013. In recent years, Chris Partland has played a number of shows in the

Greater Toronto Area The Greater Toronto Area, commonly referred to as the GTA, includes the City of Toronto and the regional municipalities of Durham, Halton, Peel, and York. In total, the region contains 25 urban, suburban, and rural municipalities. The Greater T ...

as a solo artist."Singer Chris Partland helps promote talent through Burlington open mic nights". ''

Burlington Post The ''Burlington Post'' is the local newspaper of Burlington, Ontario, Canada. The paper covers local news and issues, as well as sports, entertainment, the arts, business, and classified sections. The ''Post'' is distributed once a week, on Th ...

'', September 12, 2016. In 2016 he attributed the band's lack of activity to one of his brothers recently having lost two fingers in an accident, but stated that the band still planned to return to performing in the future.

Members

*G.P. Partland - (

vocals 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 ...

guitar The guitar is a fretted musical instrument that typically has six strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming or plucking the strings with the dominant hand, while simultaneously pressing selected stri ...

s) *Chris Partland - (

s) *Robin Partland - (

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 ...

)

Discography

Studio albums

*''Electric Honey'' (1986) *''Between Worlds'' (1990) *''Part Land, Part Water'' (1993) *''This Is Who I Am'' (2009)

Compilation albums

*''Every Now... And Again'' (2010)

Singles

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Partland Brothers, The Canadian pop rock music groups Brother duos Canadian musical duos Musical groups established in 1983 Musical groups from Ontario