April Wine (Classic or Dud, Search and Destroy)

there seems to be no thread about this band on ILM.

i saw a Canadian junkie movie today and they used several songs from this band. i don't think i ever heard of them before.

Their version of 21st Century Schizoid Man was passable.
Can't think of anything else to say.

are there any Canadians who can tell me a little bit about this band?

btw, the movie was called High Life.

I'm a big fan of "Tonite Is a Wonderful Time to Fall in Love"--excellent power-pop ballad that sort of sounds like the Move's "Do Ya."

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k_KvJtHZyn8

"You Could Have Been a Lady" was one of the first 45s I bought as a kid, and they had a big hit here with a cover of Elton John's "Bad Side of the Moon" around the same time. Also: for years and years, I thought their "Say Hello" was by Steve Miller.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M48DitTJTw8

I've recently become quite partial to their 50's pastiche "You Won't Dance With Me":
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9DTQUhhnMec

And then there's "Oowatanite" which for years I only knew as "the Lotto 649 Song":
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fXYPWE_8Twg

The album Nature of the Beast 1981 was a huge radio hit here in Houston.

"Sign of the Gypsy Queen", "All Over Town", and "Just Between You and Me" were instantly recognizable when I bought a used vinyl.

"Gypsy Queen" could be a BOC or Outlaws type song. "All Over Town" is Canadian glam pop like Nick Gilder or Honeymoon Suite. "Just Between You and Me" is a power pop ballad like Bryan Adams or REO Speedwagon.

I think they were one of the major bands of Canada from the mid-seventies to early eighties and then petered out. So, I guess they are as good or better than Triumph.

Those Texans really had a "thing" for Canuck hardrockers, didn't they? Triumph broke big there, also Moxy and Pat Travers.

Mostly having to do with a radio station somewhere near San Antone, one devoted entirely to hard rock. It made not only these bands, but the likes of Budgie, UFO and even Trapeze big there, too. Paradoxically, Budgie moved to Canada during the late Seventies to make it easier for them to dive down and tour the States.

Record-collector remorse: selling the first Moxy LP to I guy I worked with at a record store in the mid-'80s.

I think I like the earlier stuff like "Tonight Is a Wonderful Night" better, myself. Nature of the Beast was huge on rock radio in Canada too, but they lost the thread soon after that, esp with trying to compete with some of the glam-influence metal like Quiet Riot. I still remember the track they had on the Fright Night soundtrack, which contained traces of what made them excellent, but you could tell it wasn't the same:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=65wxXQqJfCE

I really only know the hits (of which there were many here in Ontario), dunno why I've never bothered to check out any of their actual LPs - except for the debut, which is not great and has one of the ugliest covers you'll ever see. But "Oowatanite" and "You Could've Been A Lady" and "Weeping Widow" always sound fine when they come on the radio, so I'm glad I own "Greatest Hits" anyways. (Same deal w/Trooper's "Hot Shots")

I didn't know they did this kind of unaccompanied guitar improv live. (I think he's just using volume and delay pedal?)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EYhz1db8ZuI

RIP Myles Goodwyn.

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/nova-scotia/myles-goodwyn-dead-at-75-1.7047852

RIP

“If You See Kay” - they were onto that joke 25 years ahead of Britney Spears

Just saw this. Probably the biggest Canadian rock band after the Guess Who for the first half of the '70s. Covered Elton John in '72, 15 singles in the Top 40 here during the decade.

Probably the biggest Canadian rock band after the Guess Who for the first half of the '70s.

I guess if you consider B.T.O. a slightly later phenomenon.

I remember reading that they achieved a lot of their Canadian success by being willing to bring a full sound and light show to every town big enough to have a hockey rink. They would literally be the biggest show of the year in remote rural places that otherwise only saw bar bands.
Having heard their third album Electric Jewels, it seems to me that they also had a certain slickness and flash that allowed them to compete with the mid-level US and UK rock bands - they weren't embarrassed in the company of Nazareth, Grand Funk, Foghat, or whoever. It's also impressive that they were still able to get MuchMusic airplay as late as 1993 (with a power ballad!) - they must have been deeply imprinted in the Canadian baby boomer rock psyche.

Yeah, maybe B.T.O.; fewer hits, but bigger ones (and bigger in the States). Here's something amazing, though. When I went to look them up and check their discography, found out about this:

https://www.theglobeandmail.com/arts/article-chad-allan-founding-member-of-guess-who-and-bachman-turner-overdrive/

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZQYtkPizcpg

That was 10 days ago...maybe someone already posted about it.

There's nothing on the obituary thread and there should be.

Going through classic rock groups, I checked out April Wine's hey day records from the late 70s and early 80s - First Glance through Animal Grace a few years back.

They were a pretty good band with a fairly wide sound. They would do ballads, they would do hard rock, they had some numbers with lots of guitar solos (3 of them would solo) and then they would use quite a few harmonies.

They have this video that shows the classic Canadian recording studio "Le Studio". There is a Rush video that shows the same place during the winter.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YlcY_enzwmI

I'd say a similar group to April Wine might be Golden Earring - in that they had this really long career where they were very popular in their home country for along time and then had moments where they were popular across other parts of the world.

Video from "Flight of the Gypsy Queen" shows April Wine in the UK and if I remember right has them riding on a double decker bus outside the Hammersmith Odeon. Been a while since I seen that one, but I seem to recall that being the case.