Toronto is 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 ...

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 ...

band formed in the late 1970s 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 ...

, Ontario, and perhaps best known for the top-ten

hit " Your Daddy Don't Know" (which also cracked the U.S. pop charts), and for writing and performing the original version of "

What About Love "What About Love" is a song originally recorded by Canadian rock group Toronto, re-released in 1985 by the American rock group Heart. The song was Heart's "comeback" single. It was the first Heart track to reach the top 40 in three years, and ...

," a song that would later become a top-ten comeback single for the band

Heart The heart is a muscular organ in most animals. This organ pumps blood through the blood vessels of the circulatory system. The pumped blood carries oxygen and nutrients to the body, while carrying metabolic waste such as carbon dioxide t ...

Biography

The band started when singer Annie "Holly" Woods met guitarist Brian Allen. The line-up was initially rounded out by guitarist/backing vocalist Sheron Alton, keyboardist Scott Kreyer, bassist Nick Costello, and drummer Jimmy Fox, but shifted constantly through the band's life. Toronto's first album, '' Lookin' for Trouble'', was released in 1980. Its lead single "Even The Score" was a minor hit, just missing the Canadian Top 40. '' Head On'' (1981) followed, after which Costello and Fox left the band, and were replaced by Gary LaLonde (later of

Honeymoon Suite Honeymoon Suite is a Canadian rock band formed in 1981 in Niagara Falls, Ontario. The band's name was a nod to the fact that Niagara Falls is the unofficial honeymoon capital of the world. History 1981–1985 The band was originally formed ...

) and Barry Connors (later of

Coney Hatch Coney Hatch is a Canadian hard rock band who released three albums in the 1980s and released their fourth album ''Four'' in 2013. Based in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, the band consisted of lead vocalist and guitarist Carl Dixon, vocalist and bass ...

). The band was nominated for a Juno in 1981 for "Most Promising Group of the Year" along with

Loverboy Loverboy is a Canadian rock band formed in 1979 in Calgary, Alberta. Loverboy's hit singles, particularly " Turn Me Loose" and "Working for the Weekend", have become arena rock staples and are still heard on many classic rock and classic hits r ...

Martha & the Muffins Martha and the Muffins are a Canadian rock band, active from 1977 to the present. Although they only had one major international hit single "Echo Beach" under their original band name, they had a number of hits in their native Canada, and the ...

Red Rider Red Rider, later known as Tom Cochrane & Red Rider, is a Canadians, Canadian Rock music, rock band popular in the 1980s. While they achieved significant success in Canada, the band never had a song in the top 40 in the United States, although "L ...

and

Powder Blues Band The Powder Blues Band is a Canadian blues/pop/jazz band formed in 1978 in Vancouver. Its first album ''Uncut'' went double platinum in Canada. The second album ''Thirsty Ears'' was similarly popular. Their best known songs include: "Boppin' with ...

(winner). This sextet recorded '' Get It on Credit'' in 1982. Its lead single "Your Daddy Don't Know" reached top 5 in Canada, and No. 77 in the US. It remains their best-known hit. "Your Daddy Don't Know" was nominated for a Juno Award in 1983 for Composer of the Year (the song was written by Geoff Iwamoto and Michael Roth). Lalonde was then replaced by Mike Gingrich for 1983's '' Girls' Night Out'' in 1983. This album also received attention, as did the band's ''

Greatest Hits A greatest hits album or best-of album is a type of compilation album that collects popular and commercially successful songs by a particular artist or band. While greatest hits albums are typically supported by the artist, they can also be crea ...

'' album of 1984. In 1984, Holly Woods was nominated for a Juno for "Female Vocalist of the Year" along with

Dalbello Lisa Dal Bello (born 22 May 1959), also known as Dalbello, is a Canadian musician. She released three albums in the pop and pop/rock genre in her late teens, from 1977 through 1981 under her full name. In 1984, she re-emerged as Dalbello, wit ...

Shari Ulrich Sharon "Shari" Ulrich (born 17 October 1951) is a Canadian/American musician and songwriter. She has also worked as a television host, actress, film composer, and educator. A multi-instrumentalist, she plays Violin, Mandolin, guitar, piano, and D ...

and

Anne Murray Morna Anne Murray (born June 20, 1945) is a retired Canadian singer. Her albums, consisting primarily of pop, country, and adult contemporary music, have sold over 55 million copies worldwide during her over 40-year career. Murray was the fir ...

(winner). There were subsequently several exits and entrances in 1984 and 1985, with founding members Allen and Alton leaving, along with drummer Connors. They were replaced by Marty Walsh (guitars), Daryl Alvaro (guitars) and Paul Hanna (drums), and the band rechristened themselves Holly Woods and Toronto. In 1985, the re-vamped sextet released their final album, '' Assault and Flattery''. It featured the single "New Romance", written by

Holly Knight ''Ilex'' (), or holly, is a genus of over 570 species of flowering plants in the family Aquifoliaceae, and the only living genus in that family. ''Ilex'' has the most species of any woody dioecious angiosperm genus. The species are evergreen o ...

and

Anton Fig Anton Fig (born 8 August 1952 in Cape Town, South Africa), known as "The Thunder from Down Under", is a South African session drummer, perhaps best known as the drummer and second-in-command for Paul Shaffer and the World's Most Dangerous Ba ...

. In 1985, the band was forced to break up when Solid Gold Records filed for bankruptcy protection. Woods and Kreyer ended up relocating to

Atlanta Atlanta ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Georgia. It is the seat of Fulton County, the most populous county in Georgia, but its territory falls in both Fulton and DeKalb counties. With a population of 498,715 ...

, where they went into Lowery Studios to record a solo album by Woods. However, the album was shelved for over 20 years, until

Cyclone Records In meteorology, a cyclone () is a large air mass that rotates around a strong center of low atmospheric pressure, counterclockwise in the Northern Hemisphere and clockwise in the Southern Hemisphere as viewed from above (opposite to an anti ...

acquired the rights to the "lost" masters and released the album in 2007.

Overview

The band scored a handful of hit singles in Canada during the early 1980s, including "Your Daddy Don't Know", "Start Tellin' the Truth", and "Girls' Night Out". "Your Daddy Don't Know" was covered by

The New Pornographers The New Pornographers are a Canadian indie rock band, formed in 1997 in Vancouver. Presented as a musical collective of singer-songwriters and musicians from multiple projects, the band has released eight studio albums to critical acclaim for th ...

for the 2003 film soundtrack '' FUBAR: The Album''. The song "

" was recorded by Toronto during the ''Get It on Credit'' sessions. It was written by band members Alton and Allen along with outside collaborator

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 ...

. However, the rest of the band elected not to release the song, and the frustration Allen and Alton faced in being unable to convince their bandmates to feature this and other material on Toronto's albums led to their departure from the group. In 1985, the song was offered to

, who turned "What About Love" into an international top 10 hit. Toronto's original version was released in 2002 as a bonus track the CD reissues of several of their albums.

Discography

Albums

# '' Lookin' for Trouble'' (1980) as Toronto S No. 185 # '' Head On'' (1981) as Toronto # '' Get It on Credit'' (1982) as Toronto S No. 162ref> # '' Girls' Night Out'' (1983) as Toronto # ''

'' (1984) as Toronto # '' Assault & Flattery'' (1984) as Holly Woods & Toronto # '' Live It Up!'' (2007) as Holly Woods

Singles

References

External links

Nick Costello's website

Toronto
at Canadian Bands.com * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Toronto) 1979 establishments in Ontario 1984 disestablishments in Ontario Canadian hard rock musical groups Musical groups established in 1979 Musical groups disestablished in 1984 Musical groups from Toronto