Attention Streetheart Fans: Kenny Lives!
That headline won’t make any sense to you unless you grew up in western Canada in the late 70s and early 80s. But if yiou did, read on.
Streetheart was the band guitarist Paul Dean and drummer Matt Frenette founded in Winnipeg before they bailed and moved to Calgary to form the much more successful Loverboy. Me and my buddiers were big fans, following them from bar to bar and cheering them on when they opened for Rush at the Winnipeg arena in the late 70s. Bass player Spider Sinnaeve still remains one of my favourite 4-stringers.
Their first album, Meanwhile, Back in Paris from 1978 (sample “Action” here), is something of a lost CanCon treasure and an honest-to-god Winnipeg classic.
Their second album, 1979’s Under Heaven Over Hell featured a different line-up (Dean and Frenette had left by this time) and a killer version of the Rolling Stones’ “Under My Thumb.” You still hear it on Canadian radio.
Streetheart broke up for the first in 1983 but has been sporadically gigging since 1999. Then yesterday, this appeared in my inbox. It’s a new recording featuring singer Kenny Shields performing yet another Rolling Stones song. If anything I’ve written so far makes sense to you, then you’ll want to listen to this.
It would make sense if you knew your Canadian music! They were a solid band, I've always lumped them with Prism. They had chart success with "What Kind Of Love Is This?" in I think '81, but my favourite is the anthemic "Hollywood".
Dude, he performs all over The Peg. I'd say twice a month.
Matt was still with the band when they recorded Under Heaven Over Hell. I even got his autograph with the band in the spring/summer of 1979.
Spider is one the greatest rock bass players, period. Rhythm monster.
Just saw them play in Red Deer, AB about a month ago, and they were great! It was a big odd though seeing that distinctive voice coming out of someone who kinda now looks like the guy on the Fountain Tire commercials. Ah well, time marches on and waits for no one!