Manitoba Live Music Event

About

HONEYMOON SUITE

Propelled by the success of of their debut Album, New Girl Now, 1985 saw the band headline shows throughout Canada, including a Juno Award & platinum sales status. Almost 22 years later the album has now sold over 400,000 units in Canada alone.

Honeymoon Suite’s second album was released on Valentine’s Day 1986. ‘The Big Prize’ featured a rare appearance by Jethro Tull’s Ian Anderson. It went platinum in Canada almost immediately and started selling steadily in the US. Tours in the States that year included opening stints for Heart, .38 Special, ZZ Top, Journey, Starship, and Saga. The band also headlined a sold-out show at the Kingswood Music Theatre just north of Toronto. Ray Coburn left and was replaced by Toronto whiz-kid keyboardist Rob Preuss (formerly of the Spoons). 1986 also saw the band win a gold award for ‘Best Live Act’ at the World Popular Song Festival in Tokyo, the ‘Group Of The Year’ Juno and headline more dates in both Canada and some northern States.

For album number three, the band went to Los Angeles in the winter of 1987 to record with Ted Templeman (Little Feat, The Doobie Brothers, Van Halen), and while there Dee was hit by a car at L.A.X. airport breaking his leg in several places and requiring surgery for a ten inch pin to help the leg heal properly. While recovering in hospital, Doobie Brother Michael McDonald was brought in to help out with the recording sessions; he wrote lyrics and sang back up on one song. The results of all the hard work was ‘Racing After Midnight’, a slightly harder-edged more guitar oriented album that spawned a European tour with Status Quo and a headlining tour of Canada.

HAYWIRE

It has been quite a journey for P.E.I.’s Haywire. Formed three decades ago in Charlottetown, the rock band has gone on to sell more than half a million records, spawned a dozen hit songs, won international awards and played with some of the biggest names in Canadian music. The band is currently writing new material with plans to celebrate its 30th anniversary.   In 1986 Haywire released its first album, ‘Bad Boys’, and produced three radio hits — Bad Bad Boy, Standin in Line and Shot in the Dark , which quickly certified double platinum in Canada.  Riding the wave of popularity, the band quickly went back into the studio after coming off tour and recorded their followup —‘ Don’t Just Stand There’ producing three more hit singles that can still be heard on radio today — Dance Desire, Black and Blue and Thinkin’ About the Years, and would eventually surpass double platinum status in Canada.