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Show THE THUNDERBIRD MONDAY NOVEMBER 7, 1988 PACE 17 $5o haircuts with student i.d. NAILS BY MICHELLE 375 N. 800 W. JERRYS BEAUTY SALON 586-613- 20 1. OFF SETS, POLISH, PERf.lS & HAKHCOLORS OFFER GOOD ONLY WITH MICHELLE " I The Northern Pikes, Canada's hottest young rock group, is currently opening for Robert Palmer. J I it U Canadian band finds success in U.S. BY CATHLEEN CASTLE band playing music in an original way. All major label debuts should be so blessed." And blessed they were when Big Blue Sky went gold in Canada in December of 1987, one year after signing with Virgin Records. The small town band found themselves "moving from local venues on the prairie club circuit to opening dates for David Bowie on his Class Spider tour before audiences of 80,000." They have also opened for The Fixx, The Alarm, Andy Summers, and T'Pau. Their new album release, Secrets of the Alibi, is currently on Canada's top 40 charts. tried-and-fr- When Virgin Records in the United States released the debut album from The Northern Pikes, Big Blue Sky, in late summer 1987, America got a chance to discover the distinctive and fresh sound that had already taken Canada by storm. The group, who united their individual talents in 1983, is currently traveling with Robert Palmer on his United States tour. Merl Bryck, vocalist and guitarist; Jay Semko, vocalist and bass guitarist; Bryan Potvin, lead guitarist; and Don Schmid, percussionist, got their start playing the club circuits of western on their Canada. They released two own label within their first two years and received airplay from these albums by distributing them to college radio stations and retail outlets throughout North America. After another two years of touring and promoting themselves, they gained a reputation as "the best unsigned band in Canada" and caught the watchful eye of Canada's division of Virgin Records. The Montreal Gazette referred to their debut album, Big Blue Sky, as "a terrific little LP from a tough little new wavepop-cum-root- s mini-albu- - i i k j f u jou 3 ' :'l l4 , 1 i-- ll .K-- i ' J 3 i I (T I ,, Il'lPit ,ftl i f, 1 - T ,1 iV -- . x it l F - i)i W- - t aJJ ., ? I H Touring with Palmer was a big break for the band as they attempt to capture the American market. "They will play to over 55,000 people with this tour and open themselves to second and third markets like Cedar City," said Fraser Hill, the band's manager and "Robert Palmer has been good to us," said Semko. "We've been treated very fairly in terms of a warm-u- p band." Bryck also feels that their relationship with Palmer has been positive. "Everyone has had a real good experience w ith him," he said. ' if H t if- - J f tt4Vi1 - - M l tt( ' i V - ' h f a - f nrIy WILSON REEBOK AND PENN MASTERCARD-DISCOVE- R ' W 9 iV T-SHI-RTS ".nr- AND SPORTING GOODS LAYAWAYS-VIS- - - J "4 4 i- - WfpT r 'X i i mill ITT rib f ' 1 r vr? obu A UTfliTJ" iTgroroii 'n!i 491 S MAIN 155 N BLUFF CEDAR CITY ST. GEORGE 586-252- 2 'Hi- 628-354- 4 t L 'N ni'triHiyTTr-- hi |
