Skydiggers
Encyclopedia
Skydiggers are a Canadian
roots rock
band from Toronto
, Ontario
.
, drummer Wayne Stokes and bassist Ron Macey to their lineup. They quickly became a regular house band at Toronto's Spadina Hotel
, often playing with Cash's brother, singer/songwriter Andrew Cash
.
In 1989, the band became the first Canadian signing to Enigma Records
. Their self-titled debut album was released on Enigma the following year, and spawned the singles "Monday Morning" and "I Will Give You Everything". However, the label soon went bankrupt, and the album was never properly promoted.
Some of Enigma's Canadian staff created FRE Records
in 1992, and released the band's second (and most popular) album, Restless, that year. At the same time, Stokes left the band. Drummers Mike Sloski and Steve Pitkin filled in on drums until the band recruited Joel Anderson as its new permanent drummer. "A Penny More", the lead single from Restless, became the band's biggest hit, produced by John Oliveira and the band at Hamilton's Grant Avenue Sudios.
Capitol Records
, the distributor for both Enigma and FRE, also rereleased the band's debut album that year.
In 1993, the band's third album, Just Over This Mountain, was released, and consolidated the band's status by winning a number of music awards, including the Juno Award
for Most Promising Group. Following that album, Anderson left the band and was replaced by Peter von Althen.
In 1995, the band signed to Warner Canada
and released Road Radio. However, at this time, FRE went bankrupt, meaning that the band's earlier albums were no longer widely available. After the tour to support that album, Cash left the band. He was replaced by Paul MacLeod. The band subsequently left Warner, after which von Althen also left the band.
Since the band's sound had largely been defined by Maize and Cash's vocal harmonies, the band revised their sound somewhat for 1997's Desmond's Hip City, released on DROG Records. The title track had an almost trip-hop feel, and some other songs (notably "November in Ontario" and "The Shape of Things to Come") were closer to hard rock
than anything the band had previously recorded.
In 1999, the band made an unusual move. With Restless, their most popular album, still unavailable in stores due to legal uncertainties around FRE's bankruptcy, they decided that their next studio project would be to assemble a new version of that album using old rehearsal recordings. Still Restless: The Lost Tapes was released that year.
In 2000, the band released the live album There and Back Again, followed in 2003 by Bittersweet Harmony.
In 2006 they teamed up with The Cash Brothers
(former Skydigger Peter Cash and his brother Andrew) to release an acoustic album, and Finlayson and Maize collaborated on the album Dark Hollow, which was credited to the side project Finlayson/Maize.
In 2008 they released City of Sirens.
The band also launched MapleMusic Recordings
as a label and a web commerce portal to promote Canadian independent music.
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
roots rock
Roots rock
Roots rock is a term now used to describe rock music that looks back to rock's origins in folk, blues and country music. It is particularly associated with the creation of hybrid sub-genres from the later 1960s including country rock and Southern rock, which have been seen as responses to the...
band from Toronto
Toronto
Toronto is the provincial capital of Ontario and the largest city in Canada. It is located in Southern Ontario on the northwestern shore of Lake Ontario. A relatively modern city, Toronto's history dates back to the late-18th century, when its land was first purchased by the British monarchy from...
, Ontario
Ontario
Ontario is a province of Canada, located in east-central Canada. It is Canada's most populous province and second largest in total area. It is home to the nation's most populous city, Toronto, and the nation's capital, Ottawa....
.
Biography
Formed in 1987 by singer Andy Maize and lead guitarist Josh Finlayson, the band soon added rhythm guitarist Peter CashPeter Cash
Peter Cash is a Canadian singer-songwriter.He was a member of Skydiggers from 1987 to 1996. After leaving that band, he began to write and record music with his brother, singer-songwriter Andrew Cash, which was released as The Cash Brothers....
, drummer Wayne Stokes and bassist Ron Macey to their lineup. They quickly became a regular house band at Toronto's Spadina Hotel
Spadina Hotel
The Spadina Hotel is youth hostel located at Spadina Avenue and King Street, just south of Chinatown in Toronto.Built in the late 1873, the three storey Victorian building features a small clock on the east facade. In the early 1900s it was the Hotel Falconer and shared the corner with another...
, often playing with Cash's brother, singer/songwriter Andrew Cash
Andrew Cash
Andrew Cash is a Canadian singer-songwriter and a Member of Parliament for the Toronto-area Davenport electoral district. He grew up in Toronto, where he befriended future MP, Charlie Angus, and along with Angus founded the Toronto punk band L'Étranger. In the late 1990s, he also became a...
.
In 1989, the band became the first Canadian signing to Enigma Records
Enigma Records
Enigma Records was a popular rock and alternative American record label in the 1980s. It was initially a division of Greenworld Distribution, an independent music importer/distributor, which it split-off from in 1985 to become its own company...
. Their self-titled debut album was released on Enigma the following year, and spawned the singles "Monday Morning" and "I Will Give You Everything". However, the label soon went bankrupt, and the album was never properly promoted.
Some of Enigma's Canadian staff created FRE Records
FRE Records
FRE Records was a Toronto, Ontario based independent record label in the 1990s. It was originally formed by former employees of Enigma Records after that label's Canadian operations folded.The best-known bands on FRE were April Wine and Skydiggers....
in 1992, and released the band's second (and most popular) album, Restless, that year. At the same time, Stokes left the band. Drummers Mike Sloski and Steve Pitkin filled in on drums until the band recruited Joel Anderson as its new permanent drummer. "A Penny More", the lead single from Restless, became the band's biggest hit, produced by John Oliveira and the band at Hamilton's Grant Avenue Sudios.
Capitol Records
Capitol Records
Capitol Records is a major United States based record label, formerly located in Los Angeles, but operating in New York City as part of Capitol Music Group. Its former headquarters building, the Capitol Tower, is a major landmark near the corner of Hollywood and Vine...
, the distributor for both Enigma and FRE, also rereleased the band's debut album that year.
In 1993, the band's third album, Just Over This Mountain, was released, and consolidated the band's status by winning a number of music awards, including the Juno Award
Juno Award
The Juno Awards are presented annually to Canadian musical artists and bands to acknowledge their artistic and technical achievements in all aspects of music...
for Most Promising Group. Following that album, Anderson left the band and was replaced by Peter von Althen.
In 1995, the band signed to Warner Canada
Warner Bros. Records
Warner Bros. Records Inc. is an American record label. It was the foundation label of the present-day Warner Music Group, and now operates as a wholly owned subsidiary of that corporation. It maintains a close relationship with its former parent, Warner Bros. Pictures, although the two companies...
and released Road Radio. However, at this time, FRE went bankrupt, meaning that the band's earlier albums were no longer widely available. After the tour to support that album, Cash left the band. He was replaced by Paul MacLeod. The band subsequently left Warner, after which von Althen also left the band.
Since the band's sound had largely been defined by Maize and Cash's vocal harmonies, the band revised their sound somewhat for 1997's Desmond's Hip City, released on DROG Records. The title track had an almost trip-hop feel, and some other songs (notably "November in Ontario" and "The Shape of Things to Come") were closer to hard rock
Hard rock
Hard rock is a loosely defined genre of rock music which has its earliest roots in mid-1960s garage rock, blues rock and psychedelic rock...
than anything the band had previously recorded.
In 1999, the band made an unusual move. With Restless, their most popular album, still unavailable in stores due to legal uncertainties around FRE's bankruptcy, they decided that their next studio project would be to assemble a new version of that album using old rehearsal recordings. Still Restless: The Lost Tapes was released that year.
In 2000, the band released the live album There and Back Again, followed in 2003 by Bittersweet Harmony.
In 2006 they teamed up with The Cash Brothers
The Cash Brothers
The Cash Brothers are a Canadian alternative country/folk rock duo, consisting of brothers Andrew and Peter Cash.-Career:Prior to the creation of The Cash Brothers, Andrew and Peter Cash both had established careers as songwriters and musicians. Andrew was a member of the bands L'Étranger and...
(former Skydigger Peter Cash and his brother Andrew) to release an acoustic album, and Finlayson and Maize collaborated on the album Dark Hollow, which was credited to the side project Finlayson/Maize.
In 2008 they released City of Sirens.
The band also launched MapleMusic Recordings
MapleMusic Recordings
MapleMusic Recordings is a Toronto based record label.The MapleMusic Recordings label is a project of Canadian roots rock band Skydiggers and entrepreneur Grant Dexter...
as a label and a web commerce portal to promote Canadian independent music.
Albums
| Year | Album | CAN |
|---|---|---|
| 1990 | Skydiggers Skydiggers (album) Skydiggers is a 1991 eponymous album by Skydiggers.The album's most successful single was "I Will Give You Everything".-Track listing:# "Monday Morning" – 2:26# "At 24" – 2:27... |
|
| 1992 | Restless Restless (Skydiggers album) Restless is a 1992 album by Skydiggers. It was the band's most commercially successful release, and produced their biggest chart hit, "A Penny More".... |
34 |
| 1993 | Just Over This Mountain Just Over This Mountain -Track listing:# "Pull Me Down" – 4:20 # "I'm Wondering" – 4:36 # "Just Over This Mountain" – 3:31 # "She Comes Into the Room" – 4:28 # "I Thought I Knew You" – 3:40... |
42 |
| 1995 | Road Radio Road Radio -Track listing:# "Maple Syrup Song" – 0:51 # "Toss & Turn" – 2:53 # "Alice Graham" – 3:01 # "Drive Away" – 4:03 # "Radio Waves" – 2:33 # "What Do You See?" – 2:54... |
47 |
| 1997 | Desmond's Hip City Desmond's Hip City Desmond's Hip City is a 1997 album by Skydiggers. The album differs from the band's conventional roots rock sound somewhat, with several songs adopting more of a hard rock sound and the title track incorporating electronic keyboards and Sonic Youth-style guitar feedback.Desmond's Hip City refers... |
|
| 1999 | Still Restless: The Lost Tapes Still Restless: The Lost Tapes Still Restless: The Lost Tapes is a 1999 album by Skydiggers.The album is a different recording of the band's 1992 disc Restless. The 1996 bankruptcy of FRE Records had left the original album, the band's most popular, unavailable in record stores... |
|
| 2000 | There and Back There and Back (Skydiggers) There and Back is a 2000 live album by Skydiggers.Most tracks were recorded at Toronto's Horseshoe Tavern on December 18, 1999. Tracks 2, 5 and 7 were recorded at the Sidetrack Café in Edmonton in 1998.... |
|
| 2003 | Bittersweet Harmony Bittersweet Harmony Bittersweet Harmony is a 2003 album by Skydiggers. It was their first album of new material since 1997's Desmond's Hip City.... |
|
| 2006 | Skydiggers/Cash Brothers Skydiggers/Cash Brothers Skydiggers/Cash Brothers is a CD by the Canadian bands Skydiggers and The Cash Brothers, released in 2006.The CD evolved from a series of collaborative shows played by the two bands in the fall and winter of 2005 and 2006... |
|
| 2008 | City of Sirens | |
| 2009 | The Truth About Us: A Twenty Year Retrospective |
Singles
| Year | Single | Chart Positions | Album | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| CAN AC | CAN | |||
| 1990 | "Monday Morning" | 83 | Skydiggers | |
| "I Will Give You Everything" | 24 | 38 | ||
| "We Don't Talk Much Anymore" | ||||
| 1991 | "Maybe It's Just Not Good Enough" | |||
| 1992 | "A Penny More" | 27 | 36 | Restless |
| "Feel You Closer" | ||||
| 1993 | "Just Over This Mountain" | Just Over This Mountain | ||
| "I'm Wondering" | ||||
| 1994 | "80 Odd Hours" | |||
| 1995 | "What Do You See?" | 22 | Road Radio | |
| 1996 | "It's a Pity" | |||
| "You've Got a Lot of Nerve" | ||||
| 1998 | "Dear Henry" | Desmond's Hip City | ||
| 2003 | "Anything for You" | Bittersweet Harmony |
Non-album tracks
- Mr. Soul (Borrowed Tunes: A Tribute To Neil Young - 1994)
- St. Dunstan's One Request (from Pine Ridge: An Open Letter To Allan Rock/Songs For Leonard Peltier - 1996)
- One Day I Walk (from Kick at the Darkness - 1991)
- All Of Our Dreaming (from Shape of Things to Come - promo cd single - 1997)
- Mini-Bar Superstar (from Shape of Things to Come - promo cd single - 1997)