Prism recording new music for 40th birthday

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Vancouver based classic rock band Prism celebrate 40 years as a band this year.

Al Harlow of Prism. Photo by Rchard Amery
 It is more or less business as usual for the band according to sole original member Al Harlow.


“We’re touring a lot. But we‘re also in the studio so we’re recording a new single or two and we’ll videos for both of them, said Prism’s frontman/ guitarist who was there in the band’s ’70s and 80s heyday when they recorded a string of hits still played to on radio today including including “Spaceship Superstar,” Armageddon,” “See Forever Eyes,” and “Take me To The Kaptain.”
“It’s hard to believe. I don’t even feel 40 years old,” Harlow chuckled.


They return to play Average Joes, June 24 with  the Bashed Tatties.


 Their pretty much annual Lethbridge show has become a tradition for the band, which includes Harlow on guitar and vocals, bassist Tad Goddard, keyboardist Marc Gladstone, and drummer Gary Grace.
“This band has actually been together longer than the original band,” Harlow observed.


The new music will be have a similar sound to their previous hits.


“Prism has that sound, that Spaceship Superstar keyboard sound. So it is similar to that. It’s still in the mixing stage,” he said, adding the band haven’t played the new songs live yet.
“We‘re pedalling as fast as our feet can spin,” he said.


He noted fans can expect to hear the hits and a lot more.
“We do what’s called the Spaceship Superstar/Armageddon sandwich. We begin with Spaceship Superstar and end with Armageddon with everything else squeezed in between them. We’re adding deep album cuts like Vladivostok and  have added ‘Open Soul Surgery,’ which we haven’t played in years,“ he said.

 He has fond memories of the early years of Prism.

 


“Rocket (Norton, original drummer) and I were roommates. He was working on his own project and I was working on Al Harlow stuff and we started trading tapes. That eventually became the Seeds of Time (in the 1960s) and then Prism. Bruce Fairbairn was making his name as a trumpet player and producer. So he started calling in favours. I think every musician in Vancouver is on the first Prism album,” he said,  adding the band also included a lot of hits penned by songwriter Jim Vallance was writing a lot of songs.


“Everything happened really fast for us when we discovered, a young, hungry singer named Ron Tabak (who died in a cycling accident on Dec. 24, 1984). That’s when we really started to gell.  There were weeks when we had two or three singles on the charts at the same time,” Harlow said.


He noted the Vancouver scene back then was extremely close.

““We were all really good friends with Chilliwack, Trooper and Loverboy. We’d all visit together. And we’d have bands from Toronto coming in and they couldn’t believe we were all friends,” he said.


“I still play in a side project with Rocket Norton and original keyboard player John hall with Ab Bryant, the bassist from Chilliwack who still plays with the Headpins. He’s actually on the cover of the second Prism album, though he isn’t actually on the album,” Harlow chuckled.


Tickets are $20 in advance $25 at the door. The show begins at 8 p.m.

— By Richard Amery, L.A. Beat Editor
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Last Updated ( Tuesday, 20 June 2017 10:25 )