Vital Sines was a

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post-punk Post-punk (originally called new musick) is a broad genre of punk music that emerged in the late 1970s as musicians departed from punk's traditional elements and raw simplicity, instead adopting a variety of avant-garde sensibilities and non-roc ...

/ new wave band active between 1980 and 1988 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, Canada. They are best known for their hit single, ''Collage'', which was recently listed as one of the most influential Canadian

alternative rock Alternative rock, or alt-rock, is a category of rock music that emerged from the independent music underground of the 1970s and became widely popular in the 1990s. "Alternative" refers to the genre's distinction from Popular culture, mainstre ...

songs.

History

The band got their start in punk rock venues in Toronto playing under the name 'The Offenders'. When Scott Taylor, the original drummer left the band they changed the name to Vital Sines, releasing their first indie single, "Subway Suicide" in 1981. Following this they often played under the cover name "Tryfono & The Heat Resistant Sheep" as openers for better known acts., The Canadian Pop Encyclopedia When the second drummer, Chris Weekes, left the band, and was replaced by Mike Clarke they re-invented their sound. In 1982 they released a seven-track cassette album, ''Rhythms In Dark''. This was moderately successful in the Toronto scene, and convinced the band to invest in a vinyl release of new material. Their work appeared in 1984 as the four-track ''Collage'' 12-inch EP. Losing their punk sounds, the new album combined the atmospheric guitar backing like those of

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with the pretentious lyrics and deep vocals of

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and

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. The eponymous single "Collage" gained wide airplay on CFNY-FM, and the indie release quickly sold out. David Ross, who helped record the EP, took a job with Midnight Records in the UK. Midnight picked up an option on ''Collage'', leading to a re-release in 1985 along with a

music video A music video is a video of variable duration, that integrates a music song or a music album with imagery that is produced for promotion (marketing), promotional or musical artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a m ...

. The re-release sold tens of thousands of copies in Toronto record shops, with continued sales well into 1985. CFNY nominated both the song and video for U-Know awards. The success of the Collage EP and its video led to jobs as opening acts for Shriekback,

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, and Love and Rockets. The band started recording follow up at their home studio "Rhythms in Darkness". These Demo tapes with the same line up as the Collage EP were not widely released. It included songs later rerecorded for "Big Dark Dreams". Follow-up work started in 1985 at Daniel Lanois' Grant Avenue Studio in

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, and Comfort Sound in Toronto. The band sold off most of their home studio to finance these recordings. Guitarist Gord Wilson, left the band early in the recordings, and was replaced by

Kurt Swinghammer Kurt Swinghammer is a Canadian singer-songwriter and visual artist based in Toronto."Canadian pop finds its own way to rock". ''Toronto Star'', 30 June 1989. He has released 13 full-length albums of original songs and as a session musician appea ...

. The late 1986 six-song EP "Big Dark Dreams" was picked up by punk label Fringe Product, and produced another CFNY hit single, ''Break These Chains'', leading to a video released in 1987. This led to Fringe Product releasing yet another sold-out run of ''Collage''. This led to college tours in the eastern US, but in May 1987 the midst of their popularity, Swinghammer and drummer Glenn Milchem left the band; Milchem joining

Andrew Cash Andrew Cash (born January 22, 1962) is a Canadian singer-songwriter and former politician who was the member of Parliament (MP) for the Toronto-area riding of Davenport from 2011 to 2015. A member of the New Democratic Party (NDP), Cash grew ...

and then

Blue Rodeo Blue Rodeo is a Canadian country rock band formed in 1984 in Toronto, Ontario. They have released 16 full-length studio albums, four live recordings, one greatest hits album, and two video/DVDs, along with multiple solo albums, side projects, a ...

.Joanne Huffa
"Demystifying The Swallows"
''Now Magazine'', 19 February 2011 The surviving original members, Rick Winkle, Terry Michaelson and James Grey continued touring with new band members, Gary Alexander and Tony Klinakis, but the band split up following the US tour in 1988.

References

External links

Vital Sines "Collage"
original promotional video {{Authority control Musical groups from Toronto Canadian new wave musical groups Musical groups established in 1981 Musical groups disestablished in 1988 1981 establishments in Ontario 1988 disestablishments in Ontario