March 22nd, 2012
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It was a year ago. Prism played a date at a Port Alberni club on Vancouver Island with a local opening band. The band, a trio consisting of a father and his two sons, was unforgettable. "Braeden Marshal" is Joel Wiggers on Telecaster and lead vocals, with his sons Brayden, 15 years old at the time, on drums, and brother Marshall, then 17, on bass.
Some bands seem deserving. These guys have that quality, knowing where the groove is, how to lay into it, make it sound simple, easy, yet disciplined, relentless in focus. it's adhering to that magic place where the song and the playing lock up together. Their songs are deceptively simple, but powerful, anthem-like. Joel is youthful enough as it is, fronting and singing with passion. All of us in our band stood in admiration at the groove these guys put out, in disbelief that the rhythm section are sooo young. Mom was backstage with baby sister, sleeping while the band rocked. They're all great, warm people. The band deserves success in this crowded, hard to reach world. If you get the opportunity to see & support Braeden Marshal, do it. I think you'll agree.
February 5th, 2012
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As recent F-Book activity indicates, a new project with Al Harlow involved, “Heart of Stone”, a Rolling Stones theatrical production, filmed a debut video at Pan Am Lake City studios on Feb 2. An invitation-only studio audience witnessed the otherwise-secret filming, so word is leaking out. We asked Harlow to comment on the project:
“It’s something I’ve wanted to do for a long time. There are many Stones “tribute” bands out there, a few of them good. But we’ve never seen the full presentation that the best Abba and Beatle shows bring, multi-media screens and so forth, applied to a Stones production. Rather, the tendency often seems toward a bar-band, low-budget approach; Stones music deserves better. Shooting this video was a fitting debut: Pan Am is the movie-prop centre, a Disneyland of Hollywood sets, from airplanes to full-scale godzillas. Pan Am lent an artsy atmosphere to our event on the sound stage.
As a life-long Stones fan, I’ve been playing 5-string open slide guitar tunings & harmonica since I was a kid, so how about a cool excuse to play Stones music? But the real key to all this is a band that can really play, underneath the feel of the music; Charlie and Keith both rock and swing in a way nobody can touch. There’s a groove that many miss & dismiss. But now I found the right guys.
Two years ago we started Monday-night sessions, just for the love of playing this stuff, and it continued for two whole years, just our weekly jam, Mondays with the boys. Then we recorded nine songs in the studio, and upon hearing the playback, realized we must stage this thing. The groove is there.
I generally don’t care for tribute bands, or copy bands. But Heart of Stone is a stage production, a show that deserves to be presented. Singer-actor Steve Stone, aka “Mick Believe”, Elio “Keef” Martelli, Garry “Wyman” Koenig, and Slam as Charlie, or when Slam is away, John “Charlie” Cody are the only guys I know who really understand this music. Now that we’re together, we gotta run with it. And I get to slide on the strings!”
Okay Al, bring it on!
December 7th, 2011
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Recent web discussion on Lefsetz retrospective on Bryan Adams' "Cuts Like a Knife" spawned comments from those who remembered or were involved. My own modest recollection was posted Dec 6, 2011 as follows:
Hi Bob:
While I don't expect to see this posted under "Yet More & More Cuts Like a Knife", there are a few of us here in Vancouver who watched the afterburners kick in as Bryan & Jim Vallance stayed focused & worked hard to write the songs which became the vehicles for Bryan's career.
Early on, as he took over Nick Gilder's gig as lead singer for Sweeney Todd, Bryan showed up in everyone's basement or studio where writing and recording was taking place. I even recall him in a talent contest at the Body Shop club on Hornby Street at the time. He sang backup on my demos which later became cuts on Prism albums, where he and Jim Vallance contributed numerous songs prior to Bryan's launch. Following his disco entry "Let Me Take You Dancing", "Jealousy" was one of Bryan's first recorded songs ever, a single for Prism and Bryan's own later version.
There was a sense of community in those days; we all kicked in to help each other in the studio. Guitarist Keith Scott was a hot player in local cover band Zingo, from which Bryan enticed him to his own project. I had one of the first Music Man Odyssey basses in town, and loaned it to Bryan's bassist Dave Taylor for the Cuts Like a Knife sessions at Little Mountain studios in Vancouver. Jim Vallance guest-lectured my songwriting classes faithfully for twenty years during his halcyon days with Bryan and others. Bryan & Jim were kind enough to reunite our old Prism team for a couple of three-way co-writes on a Prism hits CD, just for old-times' sake.
As Bryan's and Jim's stars soared over the horizon, some of us back home are simply proud of Vancouver's most celebrated exports.
- Al Harlow
October 25th, 2011
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Prism has the privilege of sharing the stage with some cool bands and artists, in festival billings and via opening acts. A standout is bluesman David Boxcar Gates.
Even if you're not a fan of the blues, Gates will change your mind. Some dismiss blues as a primitive, unschooled form of the rock idioms to which it gave birth. David takes the itinerant solo blues performance to the level of Mozart.
He enters the concert stage with a couple of hundred-year-old archtop and flat-top guitars, harmonica harness made of bicycle parts, and a wood block near his left foot for stomping. A microphone is respectively placed nearby.
Then it starts. The intricate finger-picking, double-stops, time signature changes, straight-fours to swing. All the techniques that rolled down the tracks before Robert Johnson perfected them in the mid '30s come alive in David's hands. The vocals moan, holler and soar, while that left foot stomp is as classy as a full drum kit. He even announces songs as the great bluesmen of yore; mumbling the chorus refrain lines as mythical story-telling.
When David opened for Prism in April 2011, our band stood in the wings awestruck. While not everyone in our crew is a blues devotee, we kept smiling at each other, all thumbs up; David Gates is great. He's also young, a west-coast Canadian, a humble man of faith with a great future. If he's not touring Europe, look for an upcoming show near you. And watch him here: http://www.facebook.com/people/David-Gates/672096411
October 17th, 2011
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It's been awhile - the summer touring season for classic rock bands such as Prism was a good one, despite the shaky world economy and tales of poor concert attendance south of the border. Gratefully, Prism had perhaps the best tour in recent memory.
Something extra seemed in the air - people seem appreciative that we're still alive & doing it. It sparks gratitude in me, and a reflective sense. Recently I posted on the Ron Tabak Era Facebook group about that reflection. I offer it here for your approval:
Prism - State of the Union:
Having recently marked Ron Tabak's 58th birthday, with Christmas and a new year looming, I'd like to offer my current perspective to the friends and fans of Prism.
Being on the inside throughout this long journey, I'm very aware of the perceptions of the band, the public side of its ownership, as well as the the joys and struggles I've had in keeping the music alive to date. There have been many times I've questioned whether to continue.
I've spurned the idea of self-tribute, look-alikes or sound-alikes of the original team. Back when that team was together, our idea was always, "What can we do next? Where can we take the idea of this band?" I now appreciate that you approved of our explorations in those days.
Of course we all lost Ron; perhaps it's small comfort to those of us who remain that the team, Ron included, were reuniting on the eve of his passing.
I'm under pressure to finish my book for publication next year, and I hope it will, in part, convey a real picture of what those days were like for us, when Prism was recording and touring, living and working together. Ron and I had a special friendship; I hope that comes through in the reading.
In the meantime, through all the detours, victories and mistakes, I can say that fresh feeling of making the music has been the central thread for me continuing to date. That creative anticipation I felt when we were all in the same room with Ron is the same feeling I carry now.
As to the changes, Henry Small and Darcy Deutsch as vocalists, then my forcibly being recruited, it seems personnel changes are a part of life, unavoidable. If the Beatles came back to life, I'm sure we'd see Billy Preston and a small orchestra onstage with the survivors, or those willing to be there.
Recording albums with each edition of Prism was our way of saying we're still creating, we still care, still serious about the music. But I know nothing can replace those moments when it all came together, and magic happened. Producer Bruce Fairbairn and Ron Tabak are gone, but for that special time, we all came together and made those records, and took it on the road for those years.
I'm still on the road. When I recorded Big Black Sky a few years back, I became aware I was making the Al Harlow album, not a Prism album. I'm not ashamed of that; I stand by that music, too. I intend to write and record more, but not under the Prism banner. The Prism recording era is now history.
I now see the band in a fresh perspective, after all these years. Rocket Norton and I discussed this recently; he said we were so close to it, so inside, it wasn't until later we could see what we were, what we created: That musical combination of our rock/ R&B/ pop, with the blonde street fighter out front, singing like an angel. Like brawling brothers, the reality and appreciation kicked in much later for those of us who created it.
If the original five-man team is long gone, I've got my brothers. If Rocket can't be there, Gary Grace's award-winning drumming and high-harmony vocal can. Tad's huge bass groove and superb singing can. Add John Hall's cousin Marc Gladstone on keyboards & vocals, and the current live band is very much at the core of Prism's music. We're now rehearsing more of the old songs to add to the show.
Something changed this year. We've all noticed it; a renewed respect for the legacy. Public perception has moved to appreciation that Prism's music is still there, live, and as your faithful steward, I know it's the strength of the band these days; I'm grateful to the guys.
So I'll try not to let you down; I mention Ron during each show. We make room for him onstage every night. I like to think he'd approve.
Hope to see you all soon.
- Al Harlow
Sept 29, 2011
August 25th, 2011
Posted in: None — Tags: None — Admin @ 9:50 pm
Looking for something to listen to? A couple of offerings, if not exactly new spring to mind, as both are good for entirely different reasons.
The Black Keys deliver raw blues reminiscent of early Johnny Winter with melodic twists of the earliest Fleetwood Mac or Kim Simmons. Two guys, drums and guitar, using low-fi recording techniques take you to their realm. Rumour has it the first couple of albums were done on a four-track in a garage; later stuff adds instruments (the luxury of a bass), and augmenting players. You might want to listen chronologically from 2002’s “The Big Come Up” to check the progression to the recent “Brothers” with plenty between, including live recordings. In a word, raw...
At the other end of the spectrum, England’s “Elbow” may impress you as clever, evasively simple British pop, tastefully arranged and all, with featured vocalist Guy Garvey laying out melodies like Sting’s kid brother. But put an ear to the lyrics, and suddenly you’re in The Zone: Full novels of murder, returning to a hometown of one’s youth to find it irrevocably built over; unusual topics for rock lyrics. Yet so tastefully done it surprises. Recommnded first listens: “One Day Like This” and “Grounds for Divorce”, hooks that hook you.
These two bands show there’s creativity yet in the pop music art form.
July 30th, 2011
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I got off the plane in Vancouver moments ago, home from headlining the first night of the Minnedosa rock festival "Rockin' The Fields". Prism played the first event in '96, and after years of ups and downs for Minnedosa, this is the return of the full-scale Main Stage, which we inaugurated last night. It was a celebration. With massive new sound and lights from Barndog Productions, the thousands in attendance knew we were all part of something special. Over the next two days Big Sugar, Sass Jordan and my old tour mate Tom Cochrane will kick it up. Minnedosa organizers Tom Crook and company have a lot of history, passion & dedication, now back with a world-class festival. Long may it rock. - Al Harlow
June 28th, 2011
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Too many good ones are gone. Gaye Delorme was a guitar master from Edmonton whose career took him from Hollywood film scores, jazz & rock trio club gigs to fronting symphony orchestras on Spanish guitar. I'd heard of the legend before seeing him play and meeting him. It can be daunting for a musician, learning there's a monster on the loose. But in person he was the warmest, most humorous delight. Everyone knows his hilarious "Rodeo Song", and his work with Cheech & Chong was the comedic side of Gaye. But his sheer mastery of styles from Jobim Brazilian to jazz and rock was artistry. Each time I pick up a slide guitar I think of that first night I saw him play in a Calgary club; he was the very best at it; the high-mark. That he worked with David Foster, Jann Arden and kd lang is a testament to Gaye's musical force. The music stopped on June 23, 2011 as Gaye was setting up for a gig. Lord keep him.
June 9th, 2011
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Have you read “Red” yet? Sammy Hagar’s autobiography reveals a human dynamo with the entrepreneurial drive of an industrialist. Hagar ran his rock ‘n roll career like a box-office business. Where so many musicians consult their inner child or defer to their deep musical roots, Sammy grabbed his toolbox of Stones, Cream & Led Zep influences and worked it until it worked. He overcame a rough childhood which might have instilled bitterness in someone of less character; Hagar turned it into a determined work ethic. Revealing was his early yearning to combine what Plant & Page did onstage, likewise Jagger & Richards. Hagar had the vocal & guitar chops to put those roles together. He conquered all the usual conflicts of band members, managers, & record company setbacks common to recording artists, bringing many careers to a halt. But in every instance Hagar saw a way to learn & build toward success. With such bullish determination, he still comes off as a nice guy. I had the pleasure of hanging out with him at Sunset Sound studios in LA with our mutual producer Carter in ‘81, when Sammy was suing Capitol Records. He seemed a down-to-earth, open person; one of the boys who happened to be going places.
Aside from expected rock ‘n roll excesses including juicy recollections of meltdowns starring Montrose & Van Halen with and without Roth, the biggest eye-opener of the book is Hagar’s business empire. From buying up apartment buildings, franchising Cabo Wabo and a tequila manufacturing company, one wonders where Sammy gets such energy and vision. He’s smarter than you and me. Most successful rock stars are content with a career in music; Hagar’s afterburners kick in as he launches industries to rival Donald Trump. Devoting incomes from his entire Sammy’s Beach Bar & Grille restaurant chain to children’s charities is noble – a successful mogul giving back.
Embedded in the text is Hagar maintaining loyal friendships, from his teen-days drummer David Lauser rejoining the recent Wabos, to our mutual friend Carter. Though Sammy eclipsed Carter’s mentorship at Capitol Records as A&R & producer, it was heartwarming to see Sammy call him back to manage Chickenfoot so many years later. Carter’s hesitation to endorse the writing of ‘Red’ turned into full support at Hagar’s decision to go ahead with the book. So much so that co-author Joel Slevin felt he was writing it as a letter to Carter alone.
Perhaps the key to Hagar’s achievement is in a quote from Randy Bachman, who said he didn’t see himself in the music business, but in the ‘business of music.’ That reveals confidence in oneself to navigate a unique career. Hagar points out the curious fact that while most find success in rock bands and then go solo, he succeded as a solo artist and then took the strange route of joining Van Halen & Chickenfoot.
The last offerings of the book are a sincere lament to the current collapse of the music industry. Hagar speaks for many rock performers’ sorrow at no longer being able to release albums, sell meaningful quantities, and tour sizable venues. Not merely for his own sake, but for all involved in the industry. He now releases occasional singles as downloads, and tours smaller halls because music is still in his blood, the love and drive undiminished. It’s a heartfelt punctuation to a giant career.
As with Keith Richards’ autobio “Life”, Hagar ends “Red” on the tender moment of his mother’s passing. Biographies are reflective, but Hagar’s story isn’t over yet. He is a can-do guy with the energy of ten people, and proof that nice guys can finish first. God bless Sammy Hagar.
May 30th, 2011
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Thanks to everyone who attended Prism’s shows in Red Deer & Calgary May 27 & 28. It was good to hit the boards at Wild Bill’s North Hill Inn, a rock music venue for many years, rocking again. The capacity crowd drove the band to push the limits onstage. Next night was Calgary’s Deerfoot Inn Chrome Showroom, a great theatre-atmosphere. The billing with Chilliwack was special for us; we always look forward to working with them. They’re great guys, superb players, one of the all-time great bands. The fact we’re old friends, and drummer Jerry Adolphe was celebrating his birthday made for a fun schmooze backstage. A hot night with a sold-out crowd; that’s what this thing is all about. Thanks again to all who were there. – Al Harlow
May 12th, 2011
Posted in: None — Tags: None — Admin @ 10:54 pm
The music world has lost a champion. Carter, as he was singularly known, died May 10 of esophageal cancer, at age 65. He produced and/or did A&R for such records as Bob Seger’s “Night Moves” the Motels, Sammy Hagar’s “Red”, Bruce Welch’s “French Kiss“ with “Sentimental Lady”, and is perhaps best known for signing, A&R & production of Tina Turner’s “Private Dancer”, including the single “What’s Love Got To Do With It”, launching Turner’s spectacular solo career.
He also produced Prism’s single “Cover Girl” and “Small Change” album, detailed below.
He was a rebel; he fought corporate politics, stood up for his artists. After success with Capitol Records, A&M, Atlantic, Chrysalis & Island Records, he hit the street as an independent manager. His latter successes included Sammy Hagar’s Chickenfoot, Tonio K, Tori Amos, Melissa Etheridge's publishing deal and more.
Mainly he was, as he said, a “professional fan” of music, never losing that youthful love that drives many of us to music in the first place. I recorded with him, stayed at his Hollywood house. He made you feel you were his best friend. It’s not until someone so special dies that you find he made many feel the same way. Today the eulogies are pouring in. It’s on the TV news.
Here is my reminiscence of Carter, during the making of Prism’s “Small Change” album, and “Cover Girl”:
Nobody, not even his parents called him by his full name, John Carter. He was simply Carter.
To clear up another myth, Carter did write the lyrics on "Incense & Peppermints", the ‘60s hit by Strawberry Alarm Clock; he told me so. He didn't blow smoke, so it's true.
I had the privilege of working with Carter over a year-and-a-half period in '80 - '81, when he was a staff producer for Capitol-EMI Los Angeles.
Bruce Fairbairn had left Prism, recently signed to Capitol, so they sent their man up to Vancouver to sort us out for a new album.
But instead of a staff cop, Carter stepped off the plane and handed us a copy of the latest Talking Heads album with, "Check this out, man. Very cool."
Instantly we were all kids in the basement, enthusing about records and bands.
Carter’s first task with us was a single bonus track for a greatest hits album. We cut “Cover Girl”, a tribute to slain Playboy playmate Dorothy Stratten, at Little Mountain studios in 1980. Carter wrote a considerable portion of the lyrics. The song would later be quoted in Peter Bogdanovich’s book “The Killing of the Unicorn: Dorothy Stratten (1960–1980)”
It was singer Ron Tabak’s last session with Prism before he was bluntly fired & replaced by Henry Small. While not part of that decision, Carter now had to make an album for Capitol with a well-known band they signed, but a replacement vocalist. He did it with class.
We made "Small Change" at Sunset Sound in LA. Carter would enter the studio in Hawaiian shirt and shades with, "Let's make a raackord, man!" like a Kim Fowley or Shadow Morton. Carter didn't "go Hollywood" - he had fun with it.
Bobby Columby would come down from the round tower to ensure we were behaving. Carter described his role as "Prod" by stating, "We're all playing a hand here, but I'm holding the aces." He called himself "Mr Demo", pulling endless cassettes of song submissions from his pockets, like Harpo Marx's stolen flatware. Demos of friends like Davitt Sigerson made fans of us all. Session extras were all Carter's friends: Norton Buffalo, Randy Hanson, Shirley Matthews ("she was an Orlon, man!") all became kids in Carter's basement.
It was a great hang. Sammy Hagar would show up late at night, and the session would move to the lounge. Carter constantly re-wrote lyrics, even during vocal takes. "I read about your blues. Got it? Red..."
I moved into his home for a month, the historic Samuel-Novarro house in the Hollywood hills. But his heart was down on the street. It was the art of the hang.
In early '82, long after the album was done and we'd all gone home, my phone rang. Carter's voice said, "We did what we said we were gonna do. We're on the radio."
Some took his deadpan manner as dour, or assumed it was the Acapulco Gold. But Carter was the hipster, the perennial teenager with the company keys. He achieved greatness; now the music world mourns a champion's passing. Some of us mourn a friend.
- Al Harlow
Read more here:
http://lefsetz.com/wordpress/index.php/archives/2011/05/12/carter/
Interviews with Carter:
http://www.popmatters.com/pm/feature/116661-the-story-of-a-soul-survivor-private-dancer-at-25/P1
http://www.taxi.com/music-business-faq/ar/carter.html
May 5th, 2011
Posted in: None — Tags: None — Admin @ 11:41 pm
Bob Lefsetz, US advice guru for the music industry, announced the death of the music album in the April 27 “Lefsetz Letter” publication (see previous "Lefsetz" blog herein). Not the CD; it’s long gone, but very grouping of songs known as the album. No-one has time to listen to albums, he contends, and most these days are but one decent song and nine tracks of garbage, so why bother? Albums are for devoted fans only; single tracks are the only way to attract new listeners. Do you agree? His entire article can be found here: http://lefsetz.com/wordpress/index.php/archives/2011/04/28/albums-4/
I do agree with the cold fact of it, the reality that iPods are filled with far more individual song files than the albums they may have come from. But I sense something is being lost culturally in the scope of how good music can be made, if the album is truly dying. Sgt Pepper, anyone?
So I wrote Mr Lefsetz a “letter” of my own. It doesn’t disagree with his pronouncement, but laments what’s been lost, where the new trend could lead, and the possibility that albums might one day return. Here it is:
Mr Lefsetz:
As a classic-rock practitioner in Canada, my fifteen minutes in the late '70s - early '80s in rock band Prism with producer Bruce Fairbairn & manager Bruce Allen, I believe I'm qualified to comment on your reality check that singles have replaced albums as the unit of currency. But the discussion misses key points. Yes, there is too much music being served up by too many with too little talent. But ever-shrinking attention spans of a trigger-clicking listening public is equally the culprit. A culture of gaming over music and cherry-picking iTunes singles aside, something has been lost in the cultural ethos, if music still matters at all.
"Albums" of one good song with nine tracks of filler have existed since the earliest days of Phil Spector, but the bar was raised when Sinatra first demontrated the LP was a medium to create a unified mood, furthered by concept albums Pet Sounds, Sgt Peppers, Tommy, The Wall and onward. A period followed when the assumption was any worthy artist gave good album. When your friends said, "Have you heard the new one by..." (insert name: Led Zep, Meatloaf, Springsteen, et al) the unit was the album, not a song-plus-crap. The music became larger, better. I argue the art of the album may yet re-emerge.
But if the equivalent of Sgt Peppers was released today, no-one has the patience to recognize it. That's a loss. The catchiest song might go viral and the rest ignored. Forget the joy of listening to something six times, being rewarded by hearing nuances, instruments and lyrics not perceived previously. Nobody does that now.
Your implication is "artists" on the current landscape are incapable of album-scale music. Human creativity doesn't change; unsung heroes are laboring in obscurity as Leonard Bernstein's five percent still extant, worth seeking but harder to find in the din of iTunes wannabees.
As to those classic rock acts too dumb to quit creating, it's not as though their honed skills at making albums collectively disappeared. The fact nobody cares says more about the power of nostalgia than of music, allowing for a moment the new stuff might be good. Audiences of heritage bands care more for memories of their youth than new music, singles included.
Two years ago I released a full new album "Big Black Sky" under the Prism name, mortgaging my house to do it in major studios. Huge mistake; it nearly ruined me. Bruce Allen and others advised I'd have been far better off putting it out under my own monicker to avoid the baggage of an old name, but it was too late. A few critics and fans did recognize a cohesive album. Then ironically last March Space Shuttle Discovery used our 1977 single "Spaceship Superstar" as official crew music; that exercise in nostalgia did more for the band's gigging profile than any new recordings. So now I play my forty Prism dates per year in hockey rinks, festivals and clubs - just the old hits, new music removed from the set. I'll now release singles only, under a new identity. I get it, Bob.
But if the three-minute single is the max for attention spans, where next? Follow the dumbing-down to a one-minute single, with the 30-second edit not far behind. Perhaps only then will some, starved by the music-byte as sound-byte, demand better, discover a good album and take a sixty-minute audio vacation. Maybe then music will actually come back into fashion, with quality and scale important. I'm not holding my breath.
- Al Harlow
Vancouver, BC Canada
March 29th, 2011
Posted in: None — Tags: None — Admin @ 1:21 pm
The "Motown Meltdown" show at Vancouver's Commodore Ballroom rocked on March 25. An annual charity for the Shooting Stars Foundation (http://www.shootingstarsfoundation.org/), MC Terry David Mulligan introduces a revue of performers from varied genres, who belt out fave Motown classics in front of The Scorchers, a 14-piece band led by Dave Sinclair, with horns and four-girl vocal group. As one of the featured singers for most of the show’s eight years, I can only say what a rush it is to walk out in front of that band on the Commodore stage, and face a sellout audience up on its feet. The power of the music and the crowd propels you into the air.
Yearly performers include Jim Byrnes, Chilliwack’s Bill Henderson, Roy Forbes, Dee Daniels, John Mann of Spirit of the West, Sibel Thrasher, Tom Landa of the Paperboys, Cecile Larochelle, Riley Inge & Andre Benjamin, Jane Mortifee, Don Stewart, Garfield Wilson and too many more to list.
Producers Kendra Sprinkling and Jodi Smith are recasting the show as “Soul Shake” at the Red Robinson Theatre on May 7. Check it out for a great evening of great music.
- Al Harlow
March 15th, 2011
Posted in: None — Tags: None — Admin @ 6:23 pm
The buzz over Prism’s “Spaceship Superstar” as official music on Space Shuttle Discovery continues this week. Today music critic Tom Harrison ran this article in the Vancouver Province paper:
When the space shuttle Discovery got ready to make its final flight home last Sunday the crew's wake up song was Prism's "Spaceship Superstar."
This was an historic moment that closed one era but spoke about how pop music can be timeless. Discovery made its first flight in 1984; "Spaceship Superstar" was first heard in 1977.
Since March 6, Al Harlow, Prism’s leader, has been flooded with emails, most of which extend congratulations, and one from Jim Vallance, who wrote the song, telling Harlow he was thrilled.
"What a kick, eh?" Harlow exclaims, recalling how he first heard the news. "A Prism fan emailed me a regional newspaper link in Houston. We toured the US extensively in the early years, but who knew the reach of our music? Obviously it's still a force in the minds of Americans. We've endured time and space, no pun intended," he laughs.
There is irony here. While Elton John and Bowie used space themes previously, the timing of “Spaceship Superstar” coincided with the first Star Wars film and space craze, launching Prism’s initial US success - enough that NASA remembered the tune.
"This event is about American patriotism, and they use a Canadian band's music. They embrace us as one of their own," observes Harlow.
"We open with Superstar," notes Harlow, who has kept the band touring with all its hits such as "Take Me To The Kaptin," "Flying", "Armageddon," and "Young And Restless." Surviving personnel changes and death of “Spaceship Superstar” vocalist Ron Tabak, Harlow and Prism will carry on (it’s recent album “Big Black Sky” has updated space themes), whereas Discovery’s touch-down on March 8 destined it for the museum.
"The song caught up to us," Harlow adds. We've played it every night since its release and it's finally charting in space, its original destination. We have a few US dates this summer, but we hope this attention spawns a resurgence, where we can reconnect with our US audiences on a larger scale."
Province Newspaper Mar 15 '11: "Prism Hit Returns": Newsprint version:
http://www.theprovince.com/entertainment/Prism+returns+through+time+space/4440714/story.html
Link to online version:
http://communities.canada.com/theprovince/blogs/thegarage/archive/2011/03/11/spaceship-shuttle-star.aspx
And the official NASA news site:
http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/shuttle/shuttlemissions/sts133/news/STS-133-20.html
March 8th, 2011
Posted in: None — Tags: None — Admin @ 10:52 pm
The morning of March 6 the official wake-up music aboard the Discovery Space Shuttle was Prism's "Spaceship Superstar". Here's the Google News item:
The Planning Shift of flight controllers in Mission Control, Houston, awakened the crews of space shuttle Discovery and the International Space Station at 3:23 a.m. EST with “Spaceship Superstar” by Prism, played for the whole crew.
Today, the 12 crew members will spend their final hours together, transfer some payload science samples from a freezer aboard the station to one on Discovery, say their goodbyes and close the hatches between the spacecraft.
Posted on 6 March 2011 | 8:33 am
Space Shuttle – Google News: http://newsblogged.com/video-space-shuttle-discovery-launch-110310-live-streaming-sts-133-mission-nasa-tv-coverage-and-latest-news
And here: http://www.thecypresstimes.com/article/News/National_News/SHUTTLE_STATION_CREWS_WRAP_UP_LAST_DAY_TOGETHER/41467
February 28th, 2011
Posted in: None — Tags: None — Admin @ 10:19 pm
The future of the music industry is on everyone’s lips these days, and with tech-driven changes, the future includes the present. A case in point is the introduction of Thunderbolt, a conduit that dwarfs USB and Firewire, pushing the debate of file sharing closer to the reality of a single monthly charge for all music and movie downloads.
So you might want to subscribe to “The Lefsetz Letter”, a daily email publication by Bob Lefsetz, who rants about the state of the music business. Though sometimes wandering into more general critiques of pop culture, Lefsetz doesn’t mince words in his verdicts on Bieber through Beyonce, Ga-Ga to classic rock dinosaurs and the industry players who facilitate them. It’s integrity versus greed, fresh vision versus stale smells in Lefsetz’s view.
He seems to have the ear of some major industry figures, whose responses appear in Lefsetz’s weekly “Mail Bag”, making him the unofficial referee of the biz. An archive of past topics is handy, too.
You might not agree with all his pronouncements; I certainly don’t. But for an informative, incisive perspective on the music scene, here it is: http://www.lefsetz.com/lists/?p=subscribe&id+1
February 15th, 2011
Posted in: None — Tags: None — Admin @ 12:01 am
Keith Richards’ new book, “Life” is a must-read autobiography, and not just for Stones fans. Whether you like the Stones or not, or Richards’ image in particular, “Life” reveals a towering figure of our time, a blue-collar genius who had the talent, guts and savvy to scale the pinnacle of the pop world, where only the Beatles themselves were peers. Even now, what names can be uttered in the same sentence with McArtney, Lennon, Jagger… but Richards.
Some dismiss “Life” as a voyeuristic peep into Richards’ drug addiction. They obviously didn’t read the book. While the legendary excesses are all there, from Anita Pallenberg’s romping through Brian Jones’ meltdown, something far more worthwhile is revealed about Richards:
The studious side of the man is displayed, his conversing in three-syllable words (he owns a vast library), and his dedication to probing the depths of American roots music.
Richards goes into fascinating detail about the creative process in songwriting, open guitar tunings and using the recording studio to capture an intangible oneness of sound that was the power of the Stones.
His path of focusing on the elusive elements that defy description, chasing down a song’s simplest essence, a line of lyric or ringing open-tuned chord change, created new expressions from traditional techniques. Therein lies the irony; new rope for old. A young white blues band, borrowing an art form, another culture, transformed it in the hands of a student-turned-master to something new, something enduring, an unprecedented success, speaking to a new generation. That the Stones opened the door to renewed careers for their Chicago Blues mentors adds to the irony. Muddy Waters was once asked who his favourite blues band was. Without blinking he answered, “The Rolling Stones.” That the band nearly dissolved on more than one occasion, only to find new creative bursts from the engine room of Richards and Jagger, is stunning.
Richards’ reputation as a mumbling junkie mired in a stoner fog is, as he says, a cultivated public hook line. From the first bust at his Redlands home in ’67 he decided to trade on his outlaw image atop the bad-boy anti-Beatles PR already promoted by manager Andrew OIdham. Like Dean Martin’s ever-present Martini, Keith’s junkie image was as useful a headline grabber as it was a shield against the chaos of stardom. The irony for both Richards and Martin is the image was also the truth.
So it’s hard to imagine Keith Richards as a Boy Scout leader in his youth, yet he credits this directly to his ability to run the Stones, keeping them on a steady course over a lifetime.
At the centre we see a pragmatic, even old-fashioned Englishman, whose work ethic saw him as a “butcher cutting meat”, plying the trade of songwriter, rock guitarist and leader of the biggest rock band in history, the genuine working-class hero. There’s an education for us all here; “Life” is a great read.
- Al Harlow
January 17th, 2011
Posted in: General — Tags: None — Admin @ 10:21 pm
With much sadness we've lost not only another Prism alumni, but one who went on to a great career as worldwide Tour Manager for some prominent artists. Doug Grover was Prism's tour manager through the halcyon days of our biggest North American tours. His unflappable positive manner, zany humour and can-do professionalism made for great shows and clockwork efficiency, not easy in arena rock. That he was also the constant eyes and ears for alpha manager Bruce Allen put extra responsibility on Doug.
He went on to manage tours for Trooper, Loverboy, Bryan Adams and Elton John, with time to help launch Vancouver's GM Place in between. Doug passed on Dec 11, 2010, and with heavy hearts, over 400 of us who knew, worked with and loved "Grover" came together for a heartfelt memorial service on January 13 in Vancouver, where some stirring eulogies from prominent music figures recounted great memories of our larger-than-life friend. A video presentation by Craig McDowell of MCM & Associates took us all back on the road in the wonderful world of Grover. He will be missed. Lord keep you until we meet up again, buddy.
November 15th, 2010
Posted in: General — Tags: — Admin @ 1:34 am
Good to see everyone at the November 10 Prism show at the Summit Theatre, Cascades Casino, Langley BC, our last show for 2010. Jerry Doucette opened, and backstage I recalled to him that when Rocket Norton brought him to Vancouver from Ontario back in ‘74 to join the Seeds of Time, later the Rocket Norton band, later Doucette as solo artist, he ducked under the entrance of our shared apartment, 6′4″ and 98 pounds, a skinny bean pole with guitar case in one hand, tote bag in the other; we were room-mates for the first week or so. Mama let him play, and as of this past week, he’s doing it as well as he did back then. We had a great night.
November 4th, 2010
Posted in: General — Tags: — Admin @ 5:14 pm
Whoosh. “What was that?” That was your life going by, mate. This year Prism has been fortunate enough to have a brand-new website, thanks to the great work of Jamie Penner and his team at V3 Mediaworks. And from the moment of its launch my intention has been to communicate to the good people who are interested via this blog. The time flies. Apologies if you’ve been watching this space; it’s a privilege to start the dialogue here:
This morning I received an email from a fan in the US, recommending that Prism in its current form re-record our old songs again. This idea surfaces occasionally, and some well-known bands have done just that, especially if their early vocalists pass on.
I must say I’ve mixed views on doing this; when it came time to record our recent “Big Black Sky” album, insiders listening to its progress in the studio commented that it was all new songs, and we weren’t trying to re-create the old thing, aside from some obvious Prism arrangement trademarks, like the extended “100 Years”.
Truth is, I did make a decision; I didn’t want to go backward, to labour again on songs we wrote decades ago, imitate what once was, or even audition sound-alike singers. I could’ve done that, as some have done, but it wouldn’t seem right. I’d have to hold my nose to re-do what we did long ago. I totally understand the power of nostalgia and life memories music can evoke in us all; there are songs that do that for me, too. But when someone thanks me for keeping the band and memories alive, namely playing the old stuff, I’m grateful for that. But always add, “and it’s still going; I’m still here. There’s more music to come.” Funnily enough, new music creates new memories for the future, if you let it. Going forward is the only way I can function; the way we did it in the first place.
That said, I know blogs can later be edited into autobiographies; I’m happy to say my book is already done, now in need of editing from the 500-page journal to a manageable 350 or so. I’ll try not to bore you. Now to find the time to do it all… There goes that “whooshing” sound again…
January 29th, 2010
Posted in: General — Tags: — Admin @ 12:00 am
Welcome to our new website and our new blog!!
We’re still unpacking boxes and putting together furniture in here but we will soon have a great flow of discussion and information coming your way!
see older posts
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