The Parachute Club
| The Parachute Club | |
|---|---|
| General information | |
| origin | Toronto , Canada |
| Genre (s) | Dance , world music , rock |
| founding | 1982, 2005 |
| resolution | 1988 |
| Founding members | |
| Lorraine Segato | |
| Lauri Conger | |
guitar |
Dave Gray |
| Steve Webster | |
Percussion , vocals |
Julie Masi |
| Margo Davidson | |
| Billy Bryans | |
The Parachute Club was a dance , world music , and disco-pop formation from Toronto , Canada . The group existed from 1982 to 1988. Some of their titles became hits - including Rise Up , a piece that was directed against discrimination and was particularly popular in the gay and lesbian scene . In 1988 the band broke up. With a partially changed line-up, however, it was temporarily reorganized in the new millennium.
history
The founding members of Parachute Club met in the late 1970s in the dance, pop and world music scene in the Canadian metropolis of Toronto. Lorraine Segato ( vocals and guitar ) and keyboardist Lauri Conger had played together with Mama Quilla II , a rock formation that campaigned for the rights of gays and lesbians with their music. Drummer Billy Bryans was active in the Downchild Blues Band since the early 1970s; in addition, he was also active as a producer . Saxophonist Margo Davidson had worked for Candy Dulfer and the Canadian singer-songwriter Gary O'Connor, among others . The immediate forerunner of Parachute Club was Band V, a follow-up project to Mama Quilla II, in which both Segato and Bryans were involved. The founding of Parachute Club was triggered by a gig in 1982 at the Toronto International Film Festival . The new formation was completed by the percussionist and singer Julie Masi, the bassist Steve Webster and the guitarist Dave Gray.
The first album, entitled The Parachute Club , was released in 1983. The first release was produced by Daniel Lanois , a well-known musician and producer who had worked for Brian Eno , among others . The musical framework was a mix of dance, disco, soul and rock music. In addition, new wave sounds and some world music styles such as reggae , soca and other Caribbean styles strongly determined the sound of the group. The pieces varied between faster dance numbers and slower ballads. On the one hand, the group's music was catchy and strongly geared towards danceability, but the lyrics of Parachute Club put a strong focus on social and sociopolitical issues such as discrimination against sexual minorities or racism . The single, Rise Up , became the band's most successful track. The piece, which advocated breaking down sexual barriers, became a hit in Canada and won the Juno Award for best single of the year the following year.
The mix of world music-enriched dance and socially critical lyrics known from the first album was followed by Parachute Club on the 1984 album At The Feet Of The Moon . The producer was Michael Beinhorn , a musician from New York who was best known in the 1990s for his productions in the fields of grunge , metal and hip-hop . The Parachute Club has been relocated internationally by RCA ; Distribution in Germany was carried out by the DKP- affiliated label plans . With the single release of the title track At The Feet Of The Moon , the band achieved another Top 40 hit. The third album, the 1986 LP Small Victories , also contained chart-placed single releases, in addition to the title track, the track Love Is Fire. Love Is Fire , sung in a duet by Parachute Club lead singer Lorraine Segato and American singer John Oates and won the Juno Award for Best Music Clip of the Year in 1987 . As a single single not included on an album, Big Big World was released in 1987 . Further releases: A remix EP with the title Moving Thru 'The Moonlight and finally, four years after the formation of the formation, the best-of album Wild Zone: The Essential Parachute Club .
There had already been several line-up changes in previous years. Bassist Webster left the band in 1983 to work with Billy Idol . Russ Boswell initially stepped in as a temporary replacement for live performances; Keir Brownstone was the new permanent bass player from mid-1984. Julie Masi left the group in 1987. She was replaced by singer and percussionist Rebecca Jenkins. Co-founder Lauri Conger left the band in the same year. The group officially dissolved in early 1989. Some of the band members continued to work as professional musicians, while others withdrew from the music profession after the Parachute Club was dissolved. In 1998 there was controversy over the continued use of the successful Rise Up title . Several ex-members of the band protested against the use of Rise Up as the background music for a pizza advertisement, which the American convenience food company McCain Foods had placed. However, since the use of the song was authorized by EMI Music Canada , the band members could only express a "moral protest". Authorized by the musicians use, however, found the piece as part of the election campaign campaign of social-democratic oriented New Democratic Party 2003. 2014 published Parachute Club a new remix of the song.
In 2005 there was a first reunion of the group. The occasion was a joint revival appearance with the Canadian pop and new wave formation Martha and The Muffins . Masi, Conger, Webster and Davidson did not belong to the new formation; The original members Segato, Bryans and Gray were joined by the sisters Mystic and Miranda Walsh and the keyboard player Ashley Wey. The new formation did live performances, but did not record any new material. After a long period of inactivity until 2011, the bands again performed a series of gigs. The second reunion was overshadowed by the death of two founding members: Margo Davidson died in May 2008 at the age of 50, Billy Bryans in April 2012 at the age of 63.
Style and reviews
The members of Parachute Club aggressively propagated their ideas of a multicultural society in texts and music as well as in public statements . The emergence of the ethnically diverse music scene in her hometown of Hamilton at the end of the 1970s led singer Lorraine Segato back to favorable opportunities - low property prices due to the economic recession . Segato: “Artists moved in because there was nowhere else to live affordable. The most interesting thing about Parachute Club was the explosion on the scene. Many different currents came together and all of this happened at the same time. It was a city that absorbed enormous diversity: immigrants from the Caribbean, Chilean dissidents - all these people came and brought their music with them. ” According to Segato and keyboardist Conger, the group's philosophy was based on the slogan“ Vote with my feet ”. For this reason, strong, danceable dance beats were used as the basis. There was also the conscious decision to use beats from other parts of the world. Singer Segato outlined the group's political concept with a quote from anarchist Emma Goldman : If the revolution is not danceable, then it is not hers.
In their home country Canada, the formation was welcomed by the critics, sometimes enthusiastically. The music critic Greg Quill characterized the band in the daily newspaper Toronto Star in 2005 with the following description: “No musical collective brought the mood in Toronto of the 1980s to the point like The Parachute Club. Their hot, soca-soaked dance music carried vital messages about the social changes Toronto was going through at the time, the experiments in social, sexual, and personal politics, and the need for hope and courage at a time when local and Global leaders seemed rather disoriented. ” In Germany, the group received selective attention, but was unable to prevail against the double presence of international pop and German productions. The music magazine Musikexpress reviewed the album Small Victories with the words: “What you pre-drill for ten songs is also convincing: through excited percussiveness, sophisticated, danceable rhythms, through the skilful amalgamation of electrical and electronic instruments, through the always transparent arrangement puzzle, through intelligent lyrics, a vocal heart and profound musicality. "
Discography
Studio albums
- 1983: The Parachute Club (Current / RCA)
- 1984: At The Feet Of The Moon (Current / RCA)
- 1986: Small Victories (Current / RCA)
Remixes and samplers
- 1985: Moving Thru 'The Moonlight (EP; Current / RCA)
- 1992: Wild Zone: The Essential Parachute Club (BMG / EMI International)
Singles
- 1983: Rise Up
- 1983: Alienation
- 1984: Boy's Club
- 1984: At The Feet Of The Moon
- 1985: Act Of An Innocent
- 1986: Love Is Fire
- 1986: Love And Compassion
- 1986: Walk To The Rhythm
- 1987: Big Big World
Web links
- The Parachute Club at Allmusic (English)
- Parachute Club at Discogs (English)
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b c Parachute Club , The Canadian Encyclopedia, accessed July 3, 2014
- ↑ a b c Short biography at allmusic.com , John Bush, accessed July 3, 2014
- ↑ Parachute Club relaeases remix version of "Rise Up" , Jacques Gallant, thestar.com, 23 June 2014
- ↑ a b Rewind: The Parachute Club ( Memento of the original from July 3, 2014 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. , Chris Dart, The Grid, July 12, 2012
- ^ Greg Quill: Ready to rise up. Toronto Star, Sep. 1, 2005, pg. G1
- ↑ The Parachute Club - Small Victories , Musikexpress, issue 2/1987 (archive)
