this dude was one of the dumbest people in rock music. ever. he wrecked chilliwack and then wrecked the headpins. his ego was waaaay too big. zz top fired him for being an idiot. him and darby. the headpins sucked. boring. he was his own worst enemy
one of my guitar heros. awesome to see him speak [again]. was shocked to see a poster on the door of a beer & wine store advertising a Headpins gig .. maybe in the early 2000s. there was a small bar on the corner across the street from the boarder of South Surrey and WhiteRock, BC. I got the last ticket of a sold out show. so. stood next to the huge speakers by the stage to watch Tony Dellacroce .. take over for BTM. I honestly was expecting him to butcher those songs. but. no. he was nailing the feel of every tune. I got to lens them a couple of times since. the last time in March, 2023 Darby was replaced with another female Rosa L .. she was pretty decent from Trans-Siberian Orchestra fame, but. not Darby. didn’t get a chance to see Kat or Denise. the rest of the band is still there. so. they bring those tunes back to life. night after night. I got all of them to sign my hand painted Headpins jacket .. then retired it. not sure how I didn’t know they never stopped touring. ever. until that poster showed up. seemed like a sign. from the heavens. that my hero wasn’t really dead. [anymore]. Anthony told me they had materials for another studio album. but. well. I am still waiting. and waiting. very tough to beat Turn it Loud ... but, Ab and Tony did an instrumental deal that was very cool on stage. the drummer .. Bernie Aubin is still there. tearing it up. so. well. yeah. Brian. ain’t dead. he lives. every single night The Headpins play ... buy a ticket. go see them. wherever that may be ... any album that has a credit on it. of his. I buy it. all the Chilliwack ones. the Chrissy Steele one. can’t believe I noticed that actually. brand new. at Sam the Record Man in Montréal. flipped it over. credit in the back. produced by. okay. mine. I still can’t really believe that Tony nails it. so damn close. + I have photographed live music professionally since 1990. and. never seen anyone else play like that. no one attacks the fretboard like he did ... tho .. another hero I finally got to see outside San Francisco, long after they broke up - Dave Meniketti (Y&T), I took an Amtrack train from LAX to see him, then back .. does knob tricks like him sometimes. both were born in 52/53 ... so. maybe they knew of each other. until I saw each of them play. I figured those sounds were done on a synth. nope. guitar. holy sh!t. mind. still blown. so glad I got a chance to see him play a few times. and. said hi to him on granville island where I was going to art school .. so. 1986-90 he was still healthy. I noticed him driving around in his corvette so. had to say hello. kinda felt like a dork. but. he seemed happy enough to met a fan. is this interviewer still around. used to be on Much Music I think it was ... don’t remember his name tho. knows his stuff. got to photography DOA once. and. talked to Joey. he was in the middle of recording an album in Vancouver, but flew out to YYC to play this tiny punk bar (Distillery) in YYC then went back. killer shots of that show. that. no one has seen. oh well. one day. drop by the studio. ask to see them. some people .. just pull out all the stops. for what they love. RIP Brian.
There was something wonderful about Denis and his music. Full of heart and ever-inventive. Especially prolific in later years, he just got better and better, with an endless stream of ideas. Proud of his heritage and appreciative of his home, his family, his musical relationships. Everything bubbled to the surface in his work and thank goodness he has such a great body of work to remember him by. He deserved so much more. Take Me Home, indeed!
A top notch version of The Denis Parker Band playing a Parker classic. Denis is in fine form with a great vocal and a tone for days guitar solo. Rest In Peace Denis.
Its incredible how similar Brian and Gary Resharth from REO Speed Wagon look so similar. Brian could have easily played in some major Yankee bands back in the day. One of the best guitarists in Canadian rock history. RIP Brian, you are missed
Been realy digging back into all my old Chilliwack and Headpins stuff the past year or so, and have alot of fond memories, especially with Too Loud's contributions. I got to meet him once (I think it was either Coal Harbour or Horseshoe Bay where he was moored, most likely C.H.) when I was around 11 or 12, and he was real warm, and just very nice to me with no "star attitude". Just a relatable easy going guy. At the time admittedly I had no idea just how big he was, or what sort of an influence he would later be on my playing. I still remember the day I heard from my dad's girlfriend that he had passed. She was pretty broken up about it, frankly angry because cancer had taken so many family, friends and acquaintances over the years, and many like Brian, far too young. I felt terrible, and horribly down simply because beyond meeting him that one time, so many of the Chilliwack members past, (going back to the Collectors period with Claire Lawrence) right on up through Brian's time with them... that whole family were closely linked with mine, and aside from chance encounters here and there, and they were always the topic of discussion, and in our thoughts. It really was hard for me to hear the news. I always hoped someday we'd actually get to sit down and jam together, give me some pointers. Hell...Maybe just go fishing! He's missed greatly. Hard to believe, but if he we're still with us, he'd be in his 70's now! He'd still be rockin' though. Bill is, and he's done alot to keep his legacy alive, and shown him great respect.
The RU-vid headline about the ‘Mushroom Records tangle’ doesn’t jive with the description in the RU-vid. The actual description states that Brian was discussing the label woes of Headpins. Unless I’m mistaken, Headpins were never signed to Mushroom. If that’s the case, Brian was discussing the collapse of Solid Gold Records in 1984, and that Canadian label had released the first two Headpins albums in ‘82 and ‘83. From the sounds of Brian’s interview clip, the band had recorded a few new songs after the Line of Fire album. With the Solid Gold label shutdown, Headpins had to wait a bit to then sign with MCA and complete what became the 1985 album Head Over Heels. When still with Chilliwack, Brian was affected by the 1980 collapse of Mushroom Records. But that label bankruptcy came just weeks after Chilliwack album Breakdown In Paradise was released. As far as I know, Chilliwack had no new songs recorded for Mushroom in early 1980 because they were hoping to tour and promote the ‘Paradise’ album. Instead, Chilliwack was legally prevented from touring or recording for many many months after Mushroom collapsed. Brian and Ab devoted themselves to Headpins to sustain themselves.
The depth of Brian’s musical genius is not widely known. Everyone knows of his guitar prowess but few realize his phenomenal drum playing skills and also his music production skills. What a tragedy to lose him so early in his life and career.
@@donnie8917 Your comment is quite revealing: 1]you`re not a musician 2] you have no respect for the dead 3] you have low self esteem and derive your pleasure from tearing someone else down 4] you`re actually quite clueless regarding musicality.
