Can-Con 45 Of The Day - March 31

Can-Con 45 Of The Day - March 31

Postby radiofan » Fri Mar 30, 2018 9:26 pm

Today's Can-Con 45 is from 1978 ... Doucette and "All I Wanna Do" ...

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

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Those who danced were thought to be quite insane by those who couldn't hear the music.
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Re: Can-Con 45 Of The Day - March 31

Postby Richard Skelly » Sat Mar 31, 2018 3:19 am

A boneheaded 1977 promotional ad for Heart caused Mushroom Records to quickly lose its marquee artist to CBS-owned rival Portrait Records. Despite that blow, Vancouver-based Mushroom carried on with Chilliwack, Iain Matthews and Doucette. The latter was a tight blues-rock band led by singer/lead guitarist Jerry Doucette.

A few years earlier, Doucette opted to settle on the West Coast after stints with Ontario band’s Brutus and Abernathy Shagnaster. Jerry caught on with the Seeds Of Time and the late Alexis Radlin. Mushroom signed Jerry and then encouraged him to form a recording group with co-guitarist/singer Brent Shindell, keyboardist/singer Robbie King (RIP), bassist Don Cummings and drummer Duris Maxwell.

The debut Doucette album, Mama Let Him Play, saw the title track soar on Canadian charts in late 1977 and even make the lower rungs of Billboard. All I Wanna Do, was much less raucous and focussed on Jerry’s ability to channel blue-eyed soul. Doucette would release a followup album The Deuce Is Loose. But within months of that 1979 release, Mushroom Records went bust.
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Re: Can-Con 45 Of The Day - March 31

Postby Richard Skelly » Sat Mar 31, 2018 3:35 am

Lo and behold, in February 2018, Jerry Doucette announced his retirement after a half-century of gigging and recording.

Salut, Jerry.
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Re: Can-Con 45 Of The Day - March 31

Postby drmusic » Sat Mar 31, 2018 3:47 am

Ok, I had to look up the Heart story. Boneheaded doesn’t begin to describe it.
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Re: Can-Con 45 Of The Day - March 31

Postby Richard Skelly » Sat Mar 31, 2018 7:04 pm

Thanks drmusic for indirectly mentioning the ad. I was initially tempted to get into its nitty gritty, but didn’t want to detract from Jerry Doucette. Still, how different things might have unfolded for Jerry if his label had continued to print money with Heart atop the roster.

About that notorious ad.

May Mushroom label boss Shelly Siegel rest in peace...But...how in God’s name did he devise or sign off on, hands down, the dumbest print ad in the history of rock music? Take Heart sisters Ann and Nancy Wilson—Mushroom’s two most famous personages—do a mock tabloid photo of them looking very sexy, and then add the unbelievable cutline “It was our first time.” Then, if you’re running Mushroom Records, act surprised when readers—including the Wilson siblings—conclude lesbian incest is going on. And shite hits the fan.

Still, even with the egregious ad, Heart must have employed a pretty good legal team to extricate itself from the Mushroom contract. The court ultimately freed the band, while allowing them final production and mix control over Heartless which Mushroom released to follow Dreamboat Annie.

Many rock-music pathologists traced the eventual demise of Mushroom to the unexpected death of Shelly Siegel in early 1979. I think the label’s end was preordained when Heart left the bunker building near Granville Island. Without steady cash flow, there was no way to pay staff salaries, a network of independent promoters and properly support remaining talent like Chilliwack, Iain Matthews and Jerry Doucette.
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