Toronto (band)

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Toronto

Background information
Origin	Toronto, ON, Canada
Genre(s)	Rock
Years active	1979 – 1984
Label(s)	Solid Gold Records
Website	Official site
Members
Annie "Holly" Woods Brian Allen Sharon Alton Nick Costello Jimmy Fox Scott Kreyer

Toronto was a Canadian rock band from the late seventies and early eighties who have been compared to Heart and Pat Benatar. They were formed in the late 1970s in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, when singer Annie "Holly" Woods met guitarist Brian Allen. The band's constantly shifting line-up was originally augmented by guitarist/backing vocalist Sharon Alton, keyboardist Scott Kreyer, bassist Nick Costello, and drummer Jimmy Fox.

1 Biography
2 Toronto's Influence
3 Discography
- 3.1 Albums
- 3.2 Singles
4 External links

[edit] Biography

Their first album, Lookin' for Trouble, was released in 1980, and the title track was a Top 40 hit in Canada. Head On (1981) followed , after which Costello and Fox left the band to be replaced by Gary LaLonde (later of Honeymoon Suite) and Barry Connors (later of Coney Hatch).

This sextet recorded Get It on Credit (1982), with "Your Daddy Don't Know" being their best known hit on the 1982 album. Lalonde was then replaced by Mike Gingrich for 1983's Girls' Night Out in 1983. This album also received attention, as did the band's Greatest Hits album of 1984.

There were subsequently several exits and entrances in 1984/85, with founding members Allen and Alton leaving, along with drummer Connors. They were replaced by Marty Walsh (guitars), Daryl Alvara (guitars) and Paul Hanna (drums), and the band rechristened themselves Holly Woods and Toronto. In 1985, the re-vamped sextet released their final album, Assault and Flattery. It featured the single "New Romance", written by Holly Knight and Anton Fig.

In 1985, the band was literally forced into breaking up when Solid Gold Records filed for bankruptcy protection. Woods and Kreyer ended up relocating to Atlanta, Georgia where they went into Lowery Studios with producer Sonny Limbo, but again ran into major problems when Limbo passed away before they could finish the sessions, forcing the two to assume the remaining costs themselves.

The album was shelved until just recently when Cyclone Records acquired the rights to the "lost" masters. Set to be released in summer 2007, the album "Live It Up!" will feature 8 original tracks.

[edit] Toronto's Influence

The song "What About Love" was originally recorded by Toronto, having been written by band members Sheron Alton and Brian Allen along with outside collaborator Jim Vallance. The band elected not to release this recording, and the difficulty Allen and Alton faced in getting this and other material onto Toronto's albums eventually led to their departure from the group. In 1985, the song was offered to Heart, who turned "What About Love" into an international top 10 hit. Toronto's version was eventually released in 2002, as a bonus track on various CD resissues of their albums.