- A native of Durham, North Carolina, Anne Elizabeth Woods moved from San Fransisco to Toronto in the mid 70’s after fronting Sass, and then Gambler. She was introduced to Brian Allen in 1977, whose own band, Rose was on the verge of being cut from their label if they didn’t produce a ‘hit’. Woods guested on the single “Johnny Law” on their third and last album JUDGEMENT DAY … to no avail.
Over a year later Woods’ and Allens’ paths would cross again. Enter Jimmy Fox on drums whom Allen worked with in Rose, Scott The Mott Kreyer on keboards and Nick Costello on bass. Kreyer, Costello & Fox were all native New Yorkers and had also played with Woods (who’d now adopted the name “Holly”) at one time or another. They added Sheron Alton, Allen’s girlfriend and future wife and soon gained a rep as one of the most energetic live hard rock acts on the Ontario circuit.
After originally re-adopting the name Sass, a bar manager changed it to Toronto one night mere minutes before showtime. They were noticed by the same management company which handled The Raes, The Headpins and Chilliwack, inking a deal with Solid Gold Records in ’79. Recorded at Toronto’s Sounds Interchange Studios, their street-wise image translated to a hard-edged sound and made Toronto instant staples on FM stations across the country. Produced by Bill Henderson and Brian MacLeod from Chilliwack, LOOKING FOR TROUBLE was released the summer of 1980. The lead-off single “Even The Score” made the critics instantly take notice of the band as one of Canada’s most promising new talents. The now-classic title-track, “5035” and covers of the ‘Stones’ “Let’s Spend The Night Together” and the Rascals’ “You Better Run” (months before Pat Benatar had released it herself) all drove home the message Toronto was here to stay, pushing their debut platinum in near-record time.
Following a successful cross-country tour, they went to Le Studio in St Savre, Quebec, where they began working on the next record with Terry Brown, whose credits included Rush and Klaatu. The result was HEAD ON, hitting the stores a year later. From the opening riffs of the lead-off title-track and supported by the killer single “Enough Is Enough”, HEAD ON showed the versatility of a band capable of not only the straight forward rockers, but also the well-thought-out complexities of a good power ballad. Also on the record were “Silver Screen” the tale of a young girl’s dreams of movie stardom and Allen/Woods’ duet rocker “Still Talking About Love”. Another extensive tour across Canada with the likes of The Headpins and Jenson Interceptor followed, taking them into the States the next year.
Their third straight platinum record came in the form of GET IT ON CREDIT in the fall of ’82, featuring new drummer Barry Connors and Gary Lalonde (also an ex-member of Rose & later with Honeymoon Suite) on bass. Recorded at Toronto’s Eastern Sound and produced by Steve Smith, best known for his work with Robert Palmer, the lead single “Break Down The Barricade” yet again saw furious lick trading between Allen and Alton and Woods’ now trademark vocals. Harder than ever, the title-track and the smash “Your Daddy Don’t Know” were further evidence a six piece group could act like a well-oiled machine “Start Telllin’ The Truth” again showed the diverse writing talents of the group, crossing over to the keyboard-laden easy listening side of the rock realm, yet still keeping the band’s renowned ‘edge’. Interestingly, the thirteenth song which was eventually dropped was “What About Love”, co-written by Jim Vallance. It would turn into a smash hit when Heart recorded it three years later.
The band kept Smith on as producer for 1983’s GIRLS’ NIGHT OUT, featuring new bassist Mike Gingrich. Backed by the first single, “All I Need”, the title-track and “Ready To Make Up” it marked the fourth straight record to reach platinum. Also included were “Standing In” and “When Can I See You Again” (another track co-written by Vallance), and the Stan Meissner-penned “Don’t Give Me The Once Over”. They displayed a growing maturity, incorporating more keyboards into what were now smoother melodies and another sold out cross-Canada tour followed, taking them into 1984. Innovative marketing before its time also saw the record packaged in a really trippey 3D jacket. But individual outside interests saw the dissolving of the ‘true Toronto unit’ later that year.
While the surviving members regrouped, Solid Gold issued a Greatest Hits package, which included the new tracks “Andrea” and “Me Generation”. Soon after, Woods, Kreyer and Gingrich carried on with new drummer Paul Hanna, who’d replaced Connors after he joined Coney Hatch, then later Lee Aaron. They returned to the friendly confines of Eastern Sound, releasing ASSAULT AND FLATTERY before year’s end under the guise of ‘Holly Woods and Toronto’.
Produced by Mike Flicker, who’d previously worked with the likes of Heart and Al Stewart, the record fell back on a heavier guitar-oriented sound. But now free to call the shots, Woods still managed to make it her most diverse recording yet. “New Romance”, written by Anton Fig and Holly Knight (originally recorded by Widow in 1980) would turn out to be their last single. Brian MacLeod returned to also play a role on the record, co-writing “No More Cliches” and lending a production hand on a number of others, including “Cats and Dogs”, Woods’ powerful duet with The Pins‘ Darby Mills. “Bang Your Head” showed the group’s maturity, able to blend slick hooks with the hard edge that brought them to the dance and kept them for the encore.
The record also featured “Kerry Anne” – about Woods’ friend Elba Gonzalez, an aspiring ballet dancer who died from a brain hemhorrage, and the jazz-tinged “Look What’s Showing Through”, written by Eddie Schwartz. Despite the strong writing of “Desperation” and “Sometimes Change”, the good ship Toronto hit an iceberg before year’s end. The band was literally forced in to breaking up when Solid Gold Records filed for bankruptcy protection. Complicating matters was the fact the label had just received a sizeable advance from CBS, the distributor. Basically used as scape-goats, Woods and Kreyer were caught in the crossfire and watched helplessly as CBS immediately cancelled all future deals with the band and recalled 30,000 copies of ASSAULT AND FLATTERY from the stores. What was to be another cross-country tour was cancelled after only the third date.
Woods and Kreyer ended up relocating to Atlanta, Georgia. They went into Lowery Studios with producer Sonny Limbo, but again ran into major problems when Limbo passed away before they could finish the sessions, forcing the two to assume the remaining costs themselves. Although they shopped the material around, labels shyed away from it, fearing legal ramifications from Solid Gold. The emergence of the ‘classic rock’ radio format of the mid 90’s seemed tailor-made to Toronto – and rock fans in general. With revived airplay, Holly Woods & company have again become mainstays of the stage, mainly during the popular outdoor summer concerts, reclaiming the band’s title as one of Canada’s most genuine rock outfits.
In 2002, a group out of Vancouver called The New Pornographers burst onto the scene with a remake of the classic “Your Daddy Don’t Know” on the ‘Fubar’ movie soundtrack. 2003 saw Solid Gold release a new ‘best of’ package. THE COMPLETE GREATEST HITS is 10 tracks that helped shape Canadian rock in the 80’s, as well as the previously unreleased original version of “What About Love”. Keeping with the label’s kewl habit of including videos in their re-releases, “Start Tellin’ The Truth”, “Your Daddy Don’t Know” and the previously unseen “When Can I See You Again” are also included.
Along with regular tours of Canada and the US, featuring back up from Kreyer and the likes of Jenson Interceptor, Stonebolt, Saga and Headpins members over the years, she also delved into a sideline project of blues material, showcasing her blues and jazz influences over the years alongside alternate versions of some of Toronto’s classic hits.
In ’07 the unreleased material following ASSAULT AND FLATTERY saw the light of day. Reworked and released as a solo Holly Woods album, LIVE IT UP was a blast from the past, sounding more like the ’80’s in all its glory than most of the music FROM the ’80’s, featuring seven ‘new’ tracks as well as a cover of the r&b classic “Hold On I’m Coming.” -
- Toronto is a Canadian rock band formed in 1979, in Toronto, Canada. This is our true and official story, written by us, in contrast to what you might read or be told elsewhere. Although we are not currently touring, we are each active musically and as united as we ever were.
Toronto was formed out of a merger of players from several bands: Rose (drummer Jim Fox and guitarist Brian Allen); Lady (guitarist Sheron Alton); and Sass (lead vocalist Anne “Holly” Woods, keyboardist Scott Kreyer and bassist Nick Costello). The band quickly became something greater than the sum of its parts and our signature sound developed into having a “life” of its own.
Believing in the pedigree of the band members, Neill Dixon and Steve Propas became our management team, funding a trip to make pre-album demos with producer Sonny Limbo at Pyramid Eye Studios in Lookout Mountain, Tennessee, in late 1979. It was Sonny who suggested that we call ourselves “Toronto”. His rationale was that, to many Americans, Toronto had a mythical and somewhat exotic reputation, and the name would be a good-vibes ambassador for the band.
The resulting sound from these demos led Dixon – Propas Productions to take the next big step of creating Solid Gold Records to release our first album, “Looking For Trouble”, which was produced by the team of Brian McLeod and Bill Henderson at Eastern Sound in Toronto.
Released in early 1980, the first single, “Even the Score”, steadily climbed the charts, leading to Toronto being signed to the prestigious A&M label in the U.S. Toronto hit the road for multiple tours across Canada and the U.S. to support the album, sharing the stage with international bands like Journey, Nazareth, Ted Nugent, Foreigner, Cheap Trick, and Robert Palmer. The album achieved Gold, and then Platinum status in Canada. We were proud to be presented those awards in front of Toronto City Hall!
Touring left little time for writing. Nonetheless, the four of us were able to create material for our second album, “Head On”, which was released at the end of 1980. In the Producer’s chair this time was Terry Brown (Rush, Max Webster, Jimi Hendrix) and the studio was the legendary Morin Heights in Quebec. For us, this was a level-changing experience with both the producer and the environment. If you listen closely to the intro of the track “Enough Is Enough”, you will hear Scott’s haunting synth lick echoing off the wooded hills across the lake from the studio. With extensive touring and Solid Gold’s promotion, we produced yet another Platinum-selling album and received a Juno Award nomination in 1981 for “Most Promising Group of the Year”.
A shift in direction for the third album led to the departure of Jim Fox and Nick Costello. The core members – Holly, Sheron, Scott and Brian – chose to hire supporting musicians from this point forward. Bassist Gary Lalonde and drummer Barry Connors were signed to be the supporting rhythm section for the upcoming third album, “Get It On Credit”.
Returning to Eastern Sound with Producer Steve Smith (Robert Palmer), we began writing and rehearsing for the “Get It On Credit” album, to be released in 1982. We were joined by Jim Vallance (Prism, Bryan Adams, Aerosmith….) to help as arranger, who also co-wrote a few songs with us. Over 20 songs were whittled down to the eventual 10 by a ranked ballot, with votes cast by the 4 band members, plus Neill Dixon and Steve Propas. When the ballots were counted, sitting just outside the final 10 was a song titled, “What About Love”, which we all liked, but most felt it didn’t seem to fit the overall style of the emerging repertoire. The song, written by Sheron Alton, Brian Allen and Jim Vallance, was a Top 10 hit for “Heart” in 1985.
In 1982, Holly was presented the Technics All-Star Band Juno Award for Best Female Vocalist. Others named to the All-Star Band included Alex Lifeson, Brian MacLeod, Moe Koffman, Mark Hasselbach and Geddy Lee.
Our third Platinum album featured the Top 5 single, “Your Daddy Don’t Know” (hitting #77 in the U.S. and Top 5 in Canada) and the Top 20 single, “Start Tellin’ The Truth”. “Your Daddy Don’t Know”, written by Geoff Iwamoto and Michael Roth, was nominated for a Juno Award in 1983 for Composer(s) of the Year. Two more singles were released from the album (“Don’t Walk Away” and “Get It On Credit”), making it clear that “Toronto” had become more than a city name.
In keeping with picking song titles as album titles, our fourth album, “Girls Night Out”, released in 1983, again had Steve Smith as producer, with Jim Vallance returning as co-writer and co-arranger. Mike Gingrich was added on bass for the album and resulting tours.
The album’s namesake single made the Top 20 and “All I Need” and “Ready To Make Up” climbed solidly into the Top 40, earning us our fourth Platinum album. In 1984, Holly Woods was deservedly nominated for a Juno for “Female Vocalist of the Year” and our touring schedule was now busier than ever.
However, the breakneck touring pace, lack of sleep and constant distractions contributed to frayed nerves and yet another examination of purpose. At that time the band fractured down the middle – Sheron and Brian departed in 1984. Scott and Holly continued, but out of respect, the new venture was renamed “Holly Woods and Toronto”. -
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