Quick: Name the First Canadian Band to Make a Music Video
One of the coolest things about all the Canada 150 celebrations are all the features people are writing on our history. For example, the Ottawa Citizen tells us that a local band called The Esquires were (probably) the first Canadian band to shoot a music video.
An Ottawa entrepreneur named Mac Levin like the band so much that he had the group create 16mm films for “The Man from Adano” (the single) and the b-side, “Gee Whiz It’s You.” Levin, the owner of Regent Vending and Amusements, had brought in some Scopitone machines–ancient video jukeboxes–for placement in restaurants, bars, bowling alleys, truck stops and wherever people listened to record on regular jukeboxes. I guess he felt there needed to be some Canadian content.
The Esquires were also one of the first Canadian bands signed by a major label(Capitol Records).They also won the first RPM Award in 1964, which became the Juno Awards.