 |
|
|
|
|
|
HONEYMOON SUITE
THE BIOGRAPHY |
 |
Johnnie Dee formed the first incarnation of Honeymoon Suite in Toronto in 1981, with original drummer Mike Lengyell, and established the nucleus of
the band. They added 3 other players to roundout the lineup with bass,
keyboards and guitar. They worked hard in that first year but the lineup was
short lived and changes were already in the air. In 1982, Johnnie was
introduced to Derry Grehan by manager Steve Prendergast. Deciding to work
together, they re-formed Honeymoon Suite with Grehan's former Steve Blimkie
and the Reason bandmate Dave Betts on drums. Also added to the lineup were
Ray Coburn on keyboards, and ex-Toronto bassist Gary Lalonde. |
|
 |
|
In 1983 they decided to enter
the Homegrown Contest put on yearly by Toronto's
Q107-FM radio station so Prendergast approached
his friend and producer Tom Treumuth to produce a
song for them. Based on the buying public's
response, “New Girl Now” won the contest and Bob
Roper at WEA Canada was so impressed with the song
and response that he signed the band right away. |
 |
|
Personnel conflicts eventually
arose and the keyboardist was replaced with
Toronto bred Ray Coburn. Although a session player
named Brian Brackstone played bass on the album,
the band soon found themselves a permanent bassist
named Gary Lalonde. Originally scheduled for
release on Valentine’s Day, the milestone first
album was released in June of 1984. |
|
 |
|
Throughout 1983 and 1984
Honeymoon Suite toured Canada and the US,
consistently headlining club gigs and opening for
such acts as Billy Idol, April Wine, Laura
Branigan, Jethro Tull, The Kinks, and Bryan Adams.
In 1984 the band was nominated for the 'Most
Promising Group' Juno Award but did not win. |
|
 |
|
Propelled by the success of
more singles from the album, 1985 saw the band
begin to headline gigs throughout Ontario and the
rest of Canada. A highlight was the presentation
of an award at the 1985 Junos. By this time the
first album had achieved platinum sales status.
Almost 22 years later the album has now sold close
to 400,000 units in Canada alone. |
|
 |
|
Honeymoon Suite’s second album
was released on Valentine's Day 1986. 'The Big
Prize' featured a rare appearance by Jethro Tull's
Ian Anderson. It went platinum in Canada almost
immediately and started selling steadily in the
US. Tours in the States that year included opening
stints for Heart, .38 Special, ZZ Top, Journey,
Starship, and Saga. The band also headlined a
sold-out show at the Kingswood Music Theatre just
north of Toronto. Ray Coburn left and was replaced
by Toronto whiz-kid keyboardist Rob Preuss
(formerly of the Spoons). 1986 also saw the band
win a gold award for 'Best Live Act' at the World
Popular Song Festival in Tokyo, the 'Group Of The
Year' Juno and headline more dates in both Canada
and some northern States. |
|
 |
|
For album number three, the
band went to Los Angeles in the winter of 1987 to
record with Ted Templeman (Little Feat, The Doobie
Brothers, Van Halen), and while there Dee was hit
by a car at L.A.X. airport breaking his leg in
several places and requiring surgery for a ten
inch pin to help the leg heal properly. While
recovering in hospital, Doobie Brother Michael
McDonald was brought in to help out with the
recording sessions; he wrote lyrics and sang back
up on one song. The results of all the hard work
was 'Racing After Midnight', a slightly
harder-edged more guitar oriented album that
spawned a European tour with Status Quo and a
headlining tour of Canada - but little interest
from the US. |
|
 |
|
Problems then surfaced with
long-time management Head Office and after the
group left the fold, keyboardist Ray Coburn
returned to the band in time for WEA to release a
'best-of' compilation in 1989. Betts and Lalonde
then took their leave and Coburn, Dee and Grehan
began writing together again. |
|
 |
|
The trio returned to the studio
in 1990 to craft 'Monsters Under The Bed' with
Paul Northfield producing. The album featured
Steve Webster ( from Billy Idol's band) on bass
and Jorn Anderson on drums. Singles like "Say You
Don't Know Me" and "The Road" did well in Canada
but once again failed to make a dent in the US.
They'd had songs played on TV's 'Miami Vice' and
songs on two movie soundtracks ('Lethal Weapon II'
and 'One Crazy Summer') and had won awards. Things
were in perspective for them. |
|
 |
|
The current lineup of Grehan
and Dee with Peter Nunn on keyboards, Stan Miczek
on bass and Bret Carrigan on drums is surely their
strongest yet. |
|
 |
|
Their last studio release
“Lemon Tongue” was released in Canada on Bullseye
Records and the Frontiers label in Europe. |
|
 |
|
In current activity a new best
of album has just been released on Warner in
Canada as part of their Essentials series. A new
best of Honeymoon Suite DVD featuring all their
videos and live concert footage is also scheduled
for release in early 2006. This will be followed
by a new studio album that will arrive later in
the year.
For more information please go to
honeymoonsuite.com or contact: Tom@hypnoticmanagement.com |