A new feature here at The Captain's Table in which we will feature an educational (sort of) profile of a great, not so great or really nasty Canadian each and every Monday until we run out.
So let's start with a favorite to canadians everywhere - Kim Mitchell
If words like Sarnia, Max Webster and Gowan seem like Greek to you - then you've never really met a
little person called the Canadian-you-within.
Sarnia 1967!!: A young, ambitious Kim Mitchell joins "ZOOOM". Soon, after debating with his bandmates which songs they should COVER (yeesh), Mitchell leaves "ZOOOM" and pursues a career doing studio sessions, beer commercials, and the airport lounge circuit.
Early 70's: Mitchell sets off to the Greek island of Rhodes backing up a "Greek Tom Jones". Six months
later Mitchell invites childhood buddy Pye Dubois to Greece to co-write some songs; they decided to make it a band project with some Sarnia friends and set off to launch MAX WEBSTER (a name they picked from a phonebook).
1975-1978: Max Webster signs with SRO Productions and record their first two albums, 'Max Webster' and 'High Class In Borrowed Shoes'., then during the recording of their third album - 'Mutiny Up My Sleeve' - (1978) their producer quits over the album's musical direction.
Damn - this is like Spinal Tap only real AND Canadian! What could happen next? Success? Pathos? Bathos? Well read on...
1979: Max Webster (7 years after forming) finally crack the charts with the single "Let Go The Line" in
1979. Then, almost right after, THE BAND SPLITS UP (!?!) - with some members forming an unfortunately-named offshoot called "Antlers" and, Kim Mitchell - our hero, of sorts, I guess - decides to
pursue a solo career.
Early 80's: It wasn't all beer and skittles for Kim though! Kim's first work mostly involved doing session
work and producing Scottish-Canadian-pop-superstar-and-uber-oddity Larry "Your a Strange Animal (that's what you are)" Gowan's self-titled debut "Goman".
Kim - now donning his trademark half-mullety-haircut, shades and ball cap - then went on to record his own albums; "Akimbo Alogo", and "Shaking Like a Human Being"; they were both very successful, and included hit songs "Patio Lanterns", and "Go for a Soda" - which became the unofficial anthem for Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD). "Shaking" went triple platinum, and earned Kim two Juno awards. His latest album "Kimosabe", was released in 1999, and featured vocals from Lisa Dalbello.
Kim Mitchell - a true canadian success story!
Nobody drowns and nobody dies..rock on!
Posted by: sunny | April 14, 2005 at 12:11 PM