Rock ‘n roll legends Bachman & Turner, entertainment lawyer and television producer Stephen Stohn and broadcast pioneer Bill Evanov – three of Canada’s prominent entertainment figures – will be celebrated for their achievements and contributions to Canada’s musical heritage with an induction to the Canadian Music and Broadcast Industry Hall of Fame. The three will be honoured on Thursday, March 10, 2011 during the Canadian Music and Broadcast Industry Awards gala at Canadian Music Week in Toronto. Evanov, in particular, will be recognized with the Allan Waters Broadcast Lifetime Achievement Award, presented to a broadcaster in acknowledgment of their extraordinary contribution to the broadcast industry.
Randy Bachman, who is often referred to as the “architect of Canadian rock n’ roll”, is well known and respected throughout the world as a guitarist, songwriter, performer and producer. As evidenced by his 8 acknowledgments in the recently released book, The Top 100 Canadian Singles, his music has provided a veritable soundtrack of the last thirty years of popular music, with over 120 platinum, gold and silver certifications, and number one radio hits in more than 20 countries to his credit.
As a founding member and creative force behind The Guess Who, he was pivotal in the band’s success earning an unprecedented run of 5 million-selling singles alongside songwriting partner and bandmate Burton Cummings. The group scored their first Billboard hit in 1965 with the song “Shakin’ All Over” followed by “These Eyes” in 1969. By 1970, The Guess Who were outselling The Beatles, churning out hits like “American Woman”, “Laughing”, “Undun”, “No Time”, and “No Sugar Tonight”.
With the formation of Bachman-Turner Overdrive in the 70s, Bachman eclipsed his earlier triumphs with yet another musical phenomenon. Made up of core members Bachman and Fred Turner – the man with the “refrigerator-sized vocals” – the group sold in excess of 30 million records over the course of a four-year run, driven on the strength of a high-powered stage show and rock-anthems turned hit-singles – “You Ain’t Seen Nothing Yet”, “Taking Care of Business,” “Hey You,” “Let It Ride” and “Looking Out for #1.” At the pinnacle of their career, the band’s distinctive brand of stripped-down, blue-collar rock headlined some of the biggest arenas in the world. After Bachman’s departure in 1977, Turner, whose heavy guitars became a BTO trademark, remained as one of the group’s mainstays, and continued the legacy well into the ‘90s.
Randy Bachman and Fred Turner have reunited after over 20 years apart to record and tour again as a full-throttle rock machine: Bachman & Turner. The duo has released its first two singles, “Rollin’ Along” and “Slave To The Rhythm”, off of their latest self-titled album released on E1 Music (Canada), RBE Music/Fontana (U.S.) and Cadiz Music (Europe) last month. The album features all original new tracks penned by the pair, including “Rock and Roll Is the Only Way Out” and “Moonlight Rider”, which have a sound that seamlessly fits alongside Bachman-Turner Overdrive classics. As part of their induction to the Canadian Music and Broadcast Industry Hall of Fame, Bachman & Turner will be making a rare appearance with a performance of select hits.
A pillar of Canadian show business, Stephen Stohn is recognized not only as a leading entertainment lawyer, but also as an extraordinarily successful producer of music-related television series and specials.
For nearly 20 years until 2009, Stohn was a Director and then Chair of the Canadian Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences (CARAS) and Executive Producer of The Juno Awards, Canada’s national music awards show. And for nine years he was a Director and Chair of the Strategic Planning Committee of Ontario Media Development Corporation as it moved from a strictly film-based mandate, to now assisting six different silos of the entertainment industry including music and digital.
As a lawyer, his clients have included numerous recording artists, songwriters and record companies. But Stohn also helps bring Canadian music to the world in other ways. As President of Epitome Pictures Inc. and Executive Producer of all its productions, he has for many years overseen the television series Degrassi (in its current incarnation extending over ten seasons and over 200 episodes). He also executive-produced four seasons of the dramatic music series Instant Star. Over the years these series have licensed nearly a thousand tracks of independent Canadian music, and in turn showcase that music in over 140 countries worldwide. And they have also served as a launching pad for the careers of many young actors and musicians (including Drake, who starred in Degrassi for eight seasons.)
Stohn has been instrumental in the creation of a number of institutions – from the launch of Trent University’s radio station (now CFFF-FM) in the late ‘60s to the formation of the Songwriters Association of Canada. And for decades he has been an unabashed lobbyist for reform of Canada’s copyright laws. The Academy of Canadian Cinema and Television has honoured him with 21 Gemini Awards nominations and nine wins.
Bill Evanov is the Founder and President of Evanov Communications Inc., one of Canada’s fastest growing independent broadcast companies and the first broadcaster in Canadian history to elevate female employees to ownership status through new radio license acquisitions. A true entrepreneur, Evanov went from owning three radio stations in Toronto to 11 across the country in a span of just six years. His foray into radio kicked off with CHIN Radio where Evanov was instrumental in morphing the “Spaghetti Dig in Contest” to what is now the world-renowned CHIN International Picnic – over 30 years running and recognized by the Guinness Book of World Records as the largest event of its kind.
As one of the few independent broadcasters left in the country’s largest markets, Evanov has pioneered several distinct formats and become a leader in supporting new Canadian talent. He defined dance music as a unique radio format when he re-launched CING FM as Energy 108 in 1990 and took it from 90,000 to over 800,000 weekly listeners. He then recreated the format on CIDC FM and grew it into the #1 CHR station in the country as Z103.5 with 853,000 listeners. In 2007 he launched Proud FM, the world’s first of its kind, programming to Toronto’s Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender (LGBT) population.
His Summer Rush Concert, now in its 18th year, has developed into the largest annual live concert produced by a radio broadcaster in Canada.
Evanov strongly supports education with over a million dollars in scholarships and endowments offered through universities and colleges throughout Canada. He raises thousands of dollars every year for dozens of charitable initiatives including “Boating for the Cure”, whose proceeds go towards prostate and breast cancer research.
In honour of his induction to the Canadian Music and Broadcast Industry Hall of Fame, Evanov will receive the prestigious Allan Waters Broadcast Lifetime Achievement Award for his exceptional contribution to the broadcast industry. The Waters Family, specifically Allan Waters, founded the CHUM broadcasting empire in 1954 and built it into one of Canada’s most respected and successful broadcast companies.
Tickets for the Canadian Music and Broadcast Industry Awards gala dinner are available for purchase through the Canadian Music Week website at http://www.cmw.net/.
Canadian Music Week is Canada’s leading annual entertainment event dedicated to the expression and growth of the country’s music, media and entertainment industries. Combining four information-intensive conferences; a trade exposition; a film festival; three awards shows and the nation’s largest New Music Festival – Canadian Music Fest – CMW spans a five-day period from March 9 to March 13, 2011 at the Fairmont Royal York Hotel and various downtown Toronto venues, attracting participants from across the globe. For more information, visit http://www.cmw.net/
-30-
For Canadian Music Week information, please contact:
Bessie Bullard – Communications Director
T: 905.858.4747
E: bessie@cmw.net
Bessie Bullard – Communications Director
T: 905.858.4747
E: bessie@cmw.net