Lighthouse
Lighthouse performing at a concert in Newmarket Ontario
Background information
Origin	Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Genres	Rock jazz rock
Years active	1969–1974 1975 1976 1978–1979 1980 1982 1992–present[1]
Labels	RCA GRT Evolution Vertigo Polydor Janus Denon Universal
Website	www.lighthouserockson.com

Lighthouse is aCanadianrockband formed in 1969 inToronto, Ontario, whose repertoire included elements ofrock music,jazz,classical music, andswing and featuredhorns,string instruments, andvibraphone. They wonJuno Awards forBest Canadian Group of the Year in 1972, 1973,^[2] and 1974.

Lighthouse was formed in 1969 inToronto by vocalist/drummerSkip Prokop, previously ofthe Paupers, and keyboardistPaul Hoffert.^[3] The two met on a flight fromNew York City to Toronto, and discussed forming a band structured around a rock rhythm section, jazz horn section, and classical string section. Prokop had admired Ralph Cole's playing when they shared the bill at theGrande Ballroom inDetroit, so he invited him to Toronto to be the band's guitarist. Prokop and Hoffert assembled the rest of the group from friends, studio session musicians, andToronto Symphony Orchestra members, and proceeded to make a demo recording.

Prokop and Hoffert took the demo toMGM Records in New York, who signed the band. Two days later they had a manager, Vinnie Fusco, fromAlbert Grossman's office, who overturned the MGM contract and made a deal withRCA Victor.

Lighthouse made its performing debut on May 14, 1969, atThe Rock Pile in Toronto, introduced byDuke Ellington with the words, "I'm beginning to see the Light...house".^[4] The band originally consisted of 13 members:

• Skip Prokop:drums andvocals
• Paul Hoffert:keyboards andvibraphone
• Ralph Cole:guitar and vocals
• Grant Fullerton:bass and vocals
• Vic "Pinky" Dauvin:percussion and lead vocals
• Ian Guenther:violin
• Don Dinovo: violin andviola
• Don Whitton:cello
• Leslie Schneider: cello
• Freddy Stone:trumpet andflugelhorn
• Arnie Chycoski: trumpet and flugelhorn
• Howard Shore:alto saxophone
• Russ Little:trombone

One of the first Lighthouse concerts was atCarnegie Hall, and in its first year the band also played atFillmore East,Fillmore West, Toronto, Boston, theAtlantic City Pop Festival, and the Monterey and Newport Jazz Festivals. A free concert atToronto City Hall in the summer of 1969 drew a reported crowd of 25,000.^[4]

Their first album,Lighthouse, was released in June 1969 byRCA recorded in RCA's Toronto Eastern Sound Studio. It features "If There Ever Was a Time", which was a minor hit on the popular Toronto radio stationCHUM 1050.

Their next album,Suite Feeling, was released in November 1969, recorded at Toronto Eastern Sound Studio. It features two cover songs:The Band's "Chest Fever" andThe Beatles' "A Day In The Life". The single "Feel So Good" was a hit, peaking at #5 on theCanadian Content chart and #55 on theCanadian Top 100. Lighthouse was invited to perform atWoodstock that year, but turned it down.

Their third and final album for RCA was also the last for original lead singer Pinky Dauvin.Peacing It All Together was recorded in RCA's Music Centre of the World Hollywood Studios. It includes theTop 40 hit, "The Chant".

In the summer of 1970, Lighthouse represented Canada andOntario atExpo '70 inJapan. The band appeared at theStrawberry Fields Festival in August 1970, followed by theIsle of Wight Festival where they performed two nights, along withThe Doors,Joni Mitchell,Chicago,Miles Davis, andThe Who.

At the end of 1970, due to less than expected sales, Lighthouse was dropped from RCA and moved toEvolution in theUS andGRT inCanada, recording at Toronto's Thunder Sound Studios. There were some lineup changes; the band dropped from thirteen musicians to eleven, including five original members (Prokop, Hoffert, Cole, Dinovo, and Shore), andBob McBride became the band's new lead singer.^[3]

In July 1971, Lighthouse releasedOne Fine Morning on Evolution/GRT. Thetitle track fromOne Fine Morning was a hit in Canada, peaking at #2 on Canada's Singles Chart, eventually goingplatinum.^[3][5] The song was also an international and American hit, peaking at #24 on theBillboard Hot 100 chart, goinggold, and the 'bubbling under' chart in theNetherlands. It was preceded on the Canadian charts by "Hats Off to the Stranger" (#9), yet anothergold single. That year the band performed at the anniversary celebration concert in the city ofHamilton.^[6]

In between recording albums and touring 300 days a year, the band was involved in the first performances by a rock band with symphony orchestras, a collaboration with the Royal Winnipeg Ballet company,Ballet High, which toured across Canada,^[7] and aCBC production ofPrometheus Bound with actressIrene Worth.

Thoughts of Movin' On was released on December 8, 1971. The lead single "Take It Slow (Out In The Country)" went to #12 on the Canadian Top 100, goinggold. The album also features the hits "I Just Wanna Be Your Friend" (#54) and "I'd Be So Happy" (#32), the latter covered byThree Dog Night on their 1974 albumHard Labor. BothThoughts of Movin' On andOne Fine Morning eventually wentplatinum in Canada.^[8]

Lighthouse Live! was recorded live atCarnegie Hall in February 1972 and released on Evolution/GRT. This was the first time aCanadian album wentplatinum.

The band returned to the studio later that year releasing anothergold album,Sunny Days, on Evolution/GRT. The title track became the band's second Top 5 Canadian hit single and second to goplatinum. It was also a Top 40 hit on theBillboard Hot 100, peaking at #34 on December 9, 1972. Hoffert, tired of life on the road, left the band shortly after but continued as the band'sexecutive producer.

During this period of recording from 1970 to 1972 with Evolution/GRT, RCA Records released adouble albumbest-of in 1972 consisting of selections from the first three albums recorded with RCA entitledOne Fine Light.

Bob McBride failed to appear atThe Record Plant inNew York City for the recording of their next album,Can You Feel It, and was fired. Prokop and Cole wanted to scrap the sessions but producerJimmy Ienner insisted they continue. He decided that whoever wrote the song would sing it.^[9] Evolution sold the band's recording contract toPolydor in the US, which reportedly cost the label "six figures". With the exception of "No More Searching", written and sung by newsax player Dale Hillary, Prokop and Cole sang all the vocals and harmonies on the album. The result was one of the band's biggest single releases, "Pretty Lady", which was a Top 10 Canadian hit, and was their final Hot 100 hit in the US, reaching #53. It did better inHawaii however, where it reached #1 for six consecutive weeks. Both the album and the single went gold in Canada.

Good Day, also on Polydor, was released in mid-September 1974. As with the previous album, the lead vocals were divided between Skip Prokop and Ralph Cole, but Prokop switched toguitar full-time and thedrummer was Billy King. The album wentgold and produced a minor hit with the title track. It also contains "Wide-Eyed Lady", a song co-written by Bob McBride.

At Thunder Sounds Recording Studios, the band began work on the next album, and had recorded several tracks when Prokop called it quits and left the band. The album was never completed.

Janus/GRT releasedBest of Lighthouse in January 1975 to capitalize on their past success. The album wentgold in Canada.

Paul Hoffert recruited new members and Ralph Cole took the band out for another couple of tours with Doug Billard (formerly a member of Pepper Tree, Central Nervous System, and Five Sounds) as lead vocalist but in 1976 Lighthouse disbanded. Cole toured as Lighthouse once again from 1978 to 1980 with a nearly completely new lineup consisting of only one other previous Lighthouse member, Dale Hillary.^[10]

Prokop, Hoffert, Cole, and McBride reunited along with many of the Lighthouse alumni in September 1982 for a weekend of four large concerts atOntario Place.^[6] Afterwards the members went their separate ways and made no future plans.

In 1989,Denon Records bought the rights to the Evolution/GRT recordings and released a greatest hits collection in Canada,The Best of Lighthouse - Sunny Days Again. The re-mix of the album was produced by Hoffert, Cole, Prokop, and McBride.

In 1992, the band reunited with a ten-member line-up which included founders Prokop, Hoffert, and Cole with McBride on vocals. McBride was dismissed several months later.^{[citation needed]} He was replaced by Dan Clancy.

Three years laterSong of the Ages, the band's first new studio album in 22 years, was released by Breaking Records. The single, "Remember the Times", was a top-thirty hit in Canada. In 1998, the originalmaster tapes ofThe Best of Lighthouse - Sunny Days Again weredigitally re-mastered and released onCD byTrue North Records who also re-releasedSong of the Ages in 1999.

After Lighthouse disbanded in the 1970s, many of the members continued with their musical careers while some went in different directions.

Paul Hoffert has continued his career as a film composer, winning a Genie Award in 1978 for his score for the cult-hit movieOutrageous!; headed up the Ontario Arts Council from 1994 to 1997; created and was the Director of CulTech from 1992 to 2000, a Research Centre at York University, and has written five books exploring the intersection of culture and technology. In 2004 he received the Order of Canada.

Prokop and Cole formed other bands with some success before hitting their stride in the advertising world and as record producers. SaxophonistHoward Shore became the music director forSaturday Night Live and began a career in film composition, emerging as one of Hollywood's most sought after composers. Shore won three Academy Awards forThe Lord of the Rings film trilogy. Don DiNovo bought a church in Arthur, Ontario, and turned it into a recording studio. Dick Armin continued his work as a creator of electronic string instruments.

Russ Little has continued as a musician and composer. He can be heard on numerous releases including his own albums, Snapshot, Footwork, and On the Shoulders of Giants. He was voted Best Trombonist of 2007 by Canada's National Jazz Awards. John Naslen became a recording engineer (he engineered the 1994 Lighthouse "Song of the Ages" release). Grant Fullerton continues to perform with his own band.

Louie Yacknin opted out of music altogether and bought a tire installation company. Larry Smith moved to Israel and created a software company for language translation.Bob McBride became a top studio session singer and was heard on numerous commercials but he suffered from drug abuse and serious illness, and died February 20, 1998, of heart failure in Toronto.

Arnie Chycoski, Don DiNovo, Keith Jollimore, Alan Wilmot, Dale Hillary, Freddy Stone, Pinky Dauvin, Joe Ambrosia, and Skip Prokop are all deceased.

Lighthouse has remained together since they reunited in 1992. Since that time they have recorded one new studio album,Song of the Ages, released in 1996. The rhythm section for the ten-member group features the original founders, Prokop (drums), Hoffert (keyboards and vibraphone), and Cole (guitar) with Don Paulton (keyboard), Doug Moore (bass), and Dan Clancy (vocals). The horn section is made up of original member, trombonist Russ Little, Simon Wallis (saxophones and flute), Chris Howells (trumpet), and saxophonistSteve Kennedy who performed with the band at Ontario Place in 1982. Lighthouse continues to perform and create innovative works including a reunion concert with theEdmonton Symphony Orchestra that was broadcast nationally, a tour of Brazil with an original multimedia stage show in collaboration with the Desrosiers Dance Theatre, and a series of concerts in which sections of the band performed in different locations across Toronto linked together by broadband cable. In 1995 Lighthouse was inducted into the Q107 Canadian Rock 'n' Roll Hall of Fame.

Lighthouse songs have been used in films and covered by other artists includingThree Dog Night,Shobha, andCarlos Santana. Rap artistAkon has sampled "I'd Be So Happy" and Japanese rock starsTheatre Brook perform "One Fine Morning" in their stage show.

For Lighthouse's 40th anniversary, Ole/Universal Records released40 Years of Sunny Days, a retrospective of their biggest hits, featuring digitally remastered tracks, and aDVD of new performances recorded at Q Music in 5.1Surround Sound.

On July 19, 2013, it was announced that the band would be appearing on the second annual Moody Blues Cruise in April 2014, on thecruise shipMSC Divina.

In April 2013, Skip Prokop suffered fromventricular tachycardia. A device was implanted to regulate hisheart. Prokop toured with Lighthouse throughout 2013 but was diagnosed withType 2 Diabetes, then suffered more heart trouble requiringbypass surgery. He officially retired from music in 2016 and died at the age of 73 on August 30, 2017, from heartcomplications. He was replaced by his son, Jamie Prokop.^[11]

The band's most recent compilation album,Icon, was released on August 10, 2018.

They continue to perform and tour extensively across Canada.

• Gary Starling
• Paul DeLong

• David A Wilson

• Ralph Cole
• Trevor Veitch
• Fred Mandel
• Skip Prokop (onGood Day)

• Awards and nominations

• Official Website
• "Lighthouse",Encyclopedia of Music in Canada as hosted onThe Canadian Encyclopedia
• Lighthouse discography atDiscogs
• Entry at canadianbands.com
• Jam! - The Canadian Pop Encyclopedia: Lighthouse
• Lighthouse atIMDb

• Musical groups established in 1969
• Canadian progressive rock groups
• Canadian jazz-rock groups
• Juno Award for Group of the Year winners
• RCA Records artists
• Vertigo Records artists
• Rock music groups from Toronto

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• Short description is different from Wikidata
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• Articles with unsourced statements from November 2019