Back in the 80's here in Canada (perhaps not so much outside of our fair country) the rock sounds of a young man named Gowan ruled the airwaves. Lawrence Gowan, born in Scotland, but a Canadian citizen, enjoyed much commercial success with his albums Strange Animal and Great Dirty World, and to a lesser extent Lost Brotherhood (which featured guitarist Alex Lifeson of Rush fame). But it was Strange Animal that really put Gowan on the map, garnering several Juno Award nominations... and two wins! The title track and A Criminal Mind were huge in '85. The year I actually got to see Larry onstage at Toronto's Diamond Club.
By this time, I not only owned Strange Animal (on untrustworthy audio cassette tape, pictured below) but also Gowan's lesser known eponymous debut album. And Canada's MuchMusic (our answer to the States' MTV) rotation of videos from '85's Strange Animal imprinted Gowan's distinctive look and moves on our youthful minds.
A college buddy (who actually resembled Gowan at the time) and I, both fans of the real Gowan's song-writing, vocals, and piano skills, scraped together our pennies for tickets to see the man perform in concert. This was all very last minute. I recall us tear-assing from Brampton (a Toronto suburb, so to speak) to the downtown core, where we would search for the venue.
Since we relied on public transit to get there and back, we were at the mercy of the subway and bus schedules. And sadly that meant that we had to leave before the concert was over. Gowan put on a mighty fine show while we were there, pounding on the piano keys with theatrical flair and leaping atop the instrument to continue playing from every conceivable vantage point. Pianists aren't usually known for their acrobatics, but this king of the keyboard turned his performance into a sweaty workout. One particularly impressive bit was when Gowan took us on an instrumental journey through the history of music... a little bit of Mozart (I think), something like ragtime, 50's rock'n'roll à la Fats Domino, and right up to modern day. Nervous glances at our watches eventually led to us tearing out of the club and praying as we ran that the subway and buses would get us home before shutting down for the night.
The concert was incomplete for us but what we saw and heard was still entertaining and memorable. Though Gowan's fame waned into the 90's, he did eventually find permanent residency as lead vocalist for 70's rock legend Styx. Not a bad gig, if it keeps you on the radar.
Cassette tapes... a sign of the times
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