Tchukon | |
|---|---|
| Origin | Montreal,Quebec, Canada |
| Genres | Funk,R&B |
| Years active | 1978–1990 |
| Labels | Aquarius Records |
| Past members | Warren "Slim" Williams Kat Dyson Harold Fisher Ingrid Stitt Eric Roberts |
Tchukon was aCanadianfunk andR&B band, active from 1978 to 1990.[1] Best known for winningCBC Television's 1985 music competitionRock Wars and being named Best Vocal Group in the 1986 edition ofStar Search,[1] the band ultimately released just oneJuno Award-nominated album before dissolving.
The band consisted of singer and keyboardist Warren "Slim" Williams, singer and guitarist Kat Dyson, bassist Harold Fisher, saxophonist Ingrid Stitt and drummer Eric Roberts,[2] and was formed in 1978 after Williams, Dyson and Roberts all moved toMontreal,Quebec from their original home inNorfolk,Virginia.[3] In Montreal, they added Fisher, also an American immigrant, and Stitt, the band's only Canadian-born member.[4] The band took its name from aRussian language word for the point at which the physical world and the cosmic world merge.[4]
In their early years, the band regularly performed both in Montreal and on tour,[4] recorded the single "Plastic People" b/w "Love's Gonna Get You",[5] and recorded and performed as a backing band for acts such asLouise Portal,Michel Pagliaro,Boule Noire,Freddie James andVéronique Béliveau.[5] Dyson was also simultaneously a performer with theMontreal Jubilation Gospel Choir.[6]
In 1985, they competed onRock Wars,[7] winning the competition over finalistsEye Eye, HB Concept and Peter Mann and the Lonely.[8] Their prize includedCA$100,000 and a half-hour CBC Television special, which they then submitted as their demo for the 1986Star Search.[8] They were named Best Vocal Group in the latter competition, winning a prize ofUS$100,000.[2] They were the first Canadian-based act ever to win aStar Search category.[9]
TheirStar Search win sparked interest from record labels,[10] and the band ultimately signed withAquarius Records.[11]
The band garnered aFélix Award nomination as Anglophone Artist of the Year at the 1986 awards.[12]
During this era, the band was managed for several years by athlete and broadcasterSylvia Sweeney.[13]
They used their prize money fromRock Wars andStar Search to begin the process of writing and recording their first album.[14] The resulting album,Here and Now, recorded atLe Studio inMorin-Heights, was released in June 1987,[15] and garnered aJuno Award nomination forBest R&B/Soul Album at theJuno Awards of 1987.[16]
The band had begun recording songs for its second album[17] when the project was put on a brief hiatus so that several members, including Dyson, could perform inDonald K. Tarlton's production ofDream of a Lifetime, a musical about the life ofMarvin Gaye.[8] This, and the various other projects in which the band members were involved, significantly impacted the band's creative momentum; while they never officially announced a breakup,[17] the second album was never completed or released.
Williams went on to produce an album forLouise Robey, recorded the solo albumPony and took an acting role inAndré Forcier's filmAn Imaginary Tale (Une histoire inventée).[18] In 1993, he won aGemini Award for his work composing the score for Sweeney's television documentary filmIn the Key of Oscar.
Dyson went on to success as a session musician, joiningPrince's bandThe New Power Generation before going on to perform and tour withDonny andMarie,Cyndi Lauper,Pink,Seal,George Clinton,Phoebe Snow andBig Mama Thornton.[19]
Stitt went on to become a music teacher atBurnaby North Secondary inBurnaby, British Columbia.
The band reunited for a one-off concert performance in Montreal in 2013.[19]