Kemptville Live Music Festival is pleased to announce that Canadian classic rock band Harlequin will headline the main stage on Sunday, July 23, 2023 with special guests, Toronto as opening act.

Harlequin was originally formed in the mid-seventies. After several demos and trips to Toronto, Harlequin was finally discovered playing in a tiny bar in Toronto by representatives of Jack Douglas, legendary producer of Aerosmith, Patti Smith and John Lennon. Ironically, the scouts for Douglas’ company had actually intended to see Goddo, the band playing downstairs, but were turned away due to a sold old show. Instead they retired upstairs to a much smaller bar – only to be blown away by the band, playing a high-energy set of strong original songs for only a handful of people. This chance meeting led to a production deal with Douglas.

With Douglas’ help, Harlequin signed a deal with CBS/Epic (home to Cheap Trick and Eddie Money) in 1979. The band proceeded to amaze everyone at the label by pushing the first release Victim of a Song (1979) to gold status through sheer hard work, incessant touring, word of mouth and solid songwriting. Songs like “Sweet Things In Life”, “You Are The Light” and “Survive” introduced the band to radio in many markets in Canada – especially Western Canada.

The second release, Love Crimes (1980), came with a bigger push from the label, and went on to go Platinum, powered in part by Harlequin’s biggest hit to date “Innocence”. Another track, “Thinking Of You”, became a staple of rock radio and a highlight of the live show.

One False Move (1982) cemented the band’s radio success with tunes like “I Did It For Love,” “Superstitious Feeling” and “Heart Gone Cold.” The fourth and final album, eponymously titled, featured a change of direction as well as producer – Alfie Agius, former bassist with The Fixx, replaced Jack Douglas. This album produced one single “Take This Heart” and the band’s only video, filmed at the abandoned Don jail in Toronto by Juno-winning Champagne Productions.

Harlequin was, and still remains, something of a work-horse of the Canadian road, soldiering through multiple grueling cross-Canada tours, and working with such bands as Triumph, Streetheart, Nazareth, Heart, April Wine, Pat Benatar and Saga. Saga took the band to Puerto Rico, where they discovered – to their shock and amazement – that “Innocence” had been a huge hit single. To capitalize on the song’s success, the band played in Caracas, Venezuela, headlining two nights at the city’s biggest arena. With Triumph, the band toured through the States and made some headway in the midwest and Texas.

The next album was the Radio Romances greatest hits package, which also featured a new tune (written by Tom Cochrane) entitled “No Mystery”.

“Waking the Jester” was released in 2007. It had two singles which touched every continent of the world, “Shine On” and “Rise”.

In 2009 the band released “On/Q” the first live compilation. Original singer, George Belanger, is proud to release the songs in the style and intent in which they were written and which he had always preferred. Songs representing the band from inception to 2009 are included.

Unlike many bands of their era, Harlequin is still a staple of rock radio in Canada, where the band’s old and new hits still receive remarkable amounts of airplay. Fueled by this continued success at radio, the band still tours, gaining new fans all the time, and attracting anyone who loves Canadian rock at its finest.

Harlequin

Harlequin was originally formed in the mid-seventies. After several demos and trips to Toronto, Harlequin was finally discovered playing in a tiny bar in Toronto by representatives of Jack Douglas, legendary producer of Aerosmith, Patti Smith and John Lennon. Ironically, the scouts for Douglas’ company had actually intended to see Goddo, the band playing downstairs, but were turned away due to a sold old show. Instead they retired upstairs to a much smaller bar – only to be blown away by the band, playing a high-energy set of strong original songs for only a handful of people. This chance meeting led to a production deal with Douglas.

With Douglas’ help, Harlequin signed a deal with CBS/Epic (home to Cheap Trick and Eddie Money) in 1979. The band proceeded to amaze everyone at the label by pushing the first release Victim of a Song (1979) to gold status through sheer hard work, incessant touring, word of mouth and solid song-writing. Songs like “Sweet Things In Life”, “You Are The Light” and “Survive” introduced the band to radio in many markets in Canada – especially Western Canada.

The second release, Love Crimes (1980), came with a bigger push from the label, and went on to go Platinum, powered in part by Harlequin’s biggest hit to date “Innocence”. Another track, “Thinking Of You”, became a staple of rock radio and a highlight of the live show.

One False Move (1982) cemented the band’s radio success with tunes like “I Did It For Love,” “Superstitious Feeling” and “Heart Gone Cold.” The fourth and final album, eponymously titled, featured a change of direction as well as producer – Alfie Agius, former bassist with The Fixx, replaced Jack Douglas. This album produced one single “Take This Heart” and the band’s only video, filmed at the abandoned Don jail in Toronto by Juno-winning Champagne Productions.

Harlequin was, and still remains, something of a work-horse of the Canadian road, soldiering through multiple grueling cross-Canada tours, and working with such bands as Triumph, Streetheart, Nazareth, Heart, April Wine, Pat Benatar and Saga. Saga took the band to Puerto Rico, where they discovered – to their shock and amazement – that “Innocence” had been a huge hit single. To capitalize on the song’s success, the band played in Caracas, Venezuela, headlining two nights at the city’s biggest arena. With Triumph, the band toured through the States and made some headway in the midwest and Texas.

The next album was the Radio Romances greatest hits package, which also featured a new tune (written by Tom Cochrane) entitled “No Mystery”.

“Waking the Jester” was released in 2007. It had two singles which touched every continent of the world, “Shine On” and “Rise”.

In 2009 the band released “On/Q” the first live compilation. Original singer, George Belanger, is proud to release the songs in the style and intent in which they were written and which he had always preferred. Songs representing the band from inception to 2009 are included.

Unlike many bands of their era, Harlequin is still a staple of rock radio in Canada, where the band’s old and new hits still receive remarkable amounts of airplay. Fueled by this continued success at radio, the band still tours, gaining new fans all the time, and attracting anyone who loves Canadian rock at its finest.

The band’s current line-up consists of George Belanger, Chris Burke-Gaffney, Derrick Gottfried, Gary Golden and AJ Chabidon.

TORONTO

Toronto’s first album, Lookin’ for Trouble, was released in 1980, and 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 to be replaced by Gary LaLonde (later of Honeymoon Suite) and Barry Connors (later of Coney Hatch). The band was nominated for a Juno in 1981 for “Most Promising Group of the Year” along with Loverboy, Martha & the Muffins, Red Rider and Powder Blues Band (winner).

This sextet recorded Get It on Credit (1982), with lead single “Your Daddy Don’t Know” reaching top 5 in Canada, and hitting No. 77 in the US. It remains their best-known hit. “Your Daddy Don’t Know” was also 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 album of 1984. In 1984, Holly Woods was nominated for a Juno for “Female Vocalist of the Year” along with Dalbello, Shari Ulrich and Anne Murray (winner).

There were subsequently several exits and entrances in 1984/85, with founding members Allen and Alton leaving, along with drummer Connors. They were replaced by Marty Walsh (guitars), Daryl Alvara (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 and Anton Fig.

In 1985, the band was forced into breaking up when Solid Gold Records filed for bankruptcy protection. Woods and Kreyer ended up relocating to Atlanta, 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 acquired the rights to the “lost” masters and released the album in 2007.

The band scored a handful of hit singles in their native 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 for the 2003 film soundtrack “FUBAR: The Album”.

The song “What About Love” was originally recorded by Toronto during the “Get It on Credit” sessions, having been written by band members Alton and Allen along with outside collaborator Jim Vallance. However, the band elected not to release the song, and the frustration Allen and Alton faced in getting this and other material onto Toronto’s albums eventually led to their departure from the group. In 1985, the song was offered to Heart, who turned “What About Love” into an international top 10 hit. Toronto’s original version was eventually released in 2002 as a bonus track the CD reissues of several of their albums.

The Kemptville Live Music Festival runs July 20-23, 2023 on the grounds of the Kemptville Campus, Kemptville, Ontario. See www.kemptvillelivemusicfestival.com for more information and tickets.