SWEENEY TODD BAND ARTICLE

Here's an article from the Toronto Sun, on September 24, 1976.

"SWEENEY TODD BAND - Breaking up is hard to do"
written by Wilder Penfield III.

Like the divorce of a young couple, the break-up of a young band seems always to reflect a lot of pain (regardless of what the parties involved feel it necessary to say).

But the break-up of the young Vancouver rock group called Sweeney Todd must have been more painful than most. They were just beginning to bust out of the west coast scene on the strength of Roxy Roller, a single that would become a Canadian smash, when the split came, and both parts of the split are struggling to maintain the momentum with four versions they have released of that song.

The rift came after Chrysalis Records, an English company which has gone independent in the U.S. as of Sept. 1, scouted the band and elected to sign only lead vocalist Nick Gilder and lead guitarist James McCulloch. This pair had been responsible for writing all but one half of one of the 11 songs on the debut Sweeney Todd album, including Roxy Roller.

Gilder was torn for five months between an American deal without the band and a band without an American deal.

He had confidence in his band which was justified when Sweeney Todd signed an international deal with London Records even after the split.

But Chrysalis had sweetened the inducement by arranging to give away his name, Sweeney Todd, in return for the rights to all his songs, and to release Roxy Roller in the U.S. under Gilder's name.

London had already had two versions of Roxy Roller on the market, the album cut and a completely rerecorded single, but they countered by releasing another single version with vocals by Clark Perry, Nick's first replacement, over the same rhythm bed. It too took off, particularly in Detroit, but had to be withdrawn and completely rerecorded for legal reasons.

By now Sweeney Todd had a third lead vocalist in Bryan Adams, and his is the voice heard on the fourth version of the song.

Manager Barry Samuals had gone with Gilder and McCulloch; Martin Shaer, who had produced all four versions, added management of Sweeney Todd to his own duties.

The wounds are healing but the scars may never disappear. Sweeney Todd had returned to strength in time to make it's Toronto debut at city hall on Sunday. Next week they'll be at the Penthouse; this week I caught them at the Queensbury Arms.

Without having seen the original ensemble, it's hard to compare, but they must have been fortunate indeed that Bryan Adams, who first saw the band at a dance at his junior high school, was so keen on joining them.

At the moment he shows the inaccuracy and strain of raising his range to that of Gilder, but where he is comfortable, his voice is quite exciting. And just as important, he is equally exciting to watch in a prancing bisexual way reminiscent of Mick Jagger.

The band was also lucky to acquire Skip Prest, 28, a long-limbed guitar-stabber with a nice melodic feel not yet properly integrated into the band.

The new boys look like punk rockers from two entirely different eras - Adams from the descendants of Marc Bolan, Prest from the contemporaries of Pete Townshend. The rhythm section of Budd Marr (bass) and John Booth (drums) bridges the gap.

Whether, with keyboard man Dan Gaudin, they have the individual brilliance or the team cohesion of a lasting success it would be unfair to guess on a dead night with a new band on a cramped club stage.

This was Bryan's first club performance, after all, so he felt handcuffed. And it was seventh professional gig EVER, so his nervousness at my grilling was understandable.

But he has the confidence to say, "I can't wait until we put out an album of our own material and prove we're a better band now than they ever were." And he has the innate ability to back up that confidence. Within a matter of months his own style should be truly riveting.

Say Hello, Say Good-bye, the band's upcoming single, is another Gilder-McCulloch composition, this time switching the dept. from T-Rex to Queen. With equivalent production, it could be just as strong a hit and should give them time to develop their own songwriting and team playing.

Nick Gilder, meanwhile was also in town this week. He's working on a Nick Gilder album, and still collaborating with James McCulloch, but he was here to promote a new Nick Gilder single called A Star In Her Own Right. It doesn't sound anything like his Sweeney Todd songs.

The single seems to be a commercial stopgap to keep the name in front of the Canadian public while Roxy Roller introduces him to most of the U.S.

But he claims it is within the broad range of his styles that will be revealed on the solo album. "On the surface," he told me, "you think -Oh god! There's no identity! But that's where the excitement sets in. I'm an actor on stage. I impersonate the character I feel the song portrays. And that's what prompted me to try a series of mini adventures on the album, songs which are concepts in themselves.

We'll be talking more about Gilder as the album release date approaches, which is when he'll be going back on the road and, hopefully, making his Toronto debut at last.

Take me back where we started!