Crowcuss - Starting To Show (1980)
Canada's Crowcuss have the distinction of being one of the better bands with a relation to the legendary Guess Who. Formed by Guess Who alumni, Bill Wallace and Greg Leskiw in 1976, the quintet landed a deal with Stoney Plain Records and released their self-titled debut the following year. Soon the band was off touring the country with many of the successful canadian acts of the era, bringing them to a wider audience in the process. At the conclusion of a long tour, the band entered the studio (sans Leskiw) and recorded their followup, "Starting To Show", which hit the streets in early 1979. More touring ensued, but it wasn't long before internal conflict, managerial disputes and difficulties with their label forced Wallace to jump ship, effectively grounding the band for good.
"Starting To Show" is an excellent effort with a perfect balance of pop and AOR. With inventive melodies, tight instrumentation and fabulous vocal harmonies, it just doesn't get any better than this. Similar to bands like Mayday, MPG and a lighter Wrabit, Crowcuss displays a knack for infectiously addictive songwriting. With a bloodline like theirs, it's really strange that the band were not able to break internationally. With proper promotion and higher visibility, who knows where this would have taken them. Sadly, we'll never know but we can listen to this in retrospect and marvel at this stellar offering from the great white north. Straight from 'aor66', dig this excellent vinyl rip!
SEE COMMENTS REGARDING THE PENDING REISSUE!
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11 comments:
Thanks! Never heard this one..
And thanks for a GREAT blog.
Hope you don't mind if I put a link to this blog at my site.
Absolutely...we both have a very similar viewpoint on our blogs, eh? I'm a real admirer of your blog, so it's a real pleasure to be linked there :) Thank you sir!
Nice , Your reviews are spot on !
Thanks for a great blog, and introducing me to this band. To me, anything related to The Guess Who is worth checking out.
I`really like some tracks of this album, specially the last one. What a great track. But others don`t make me nothing. Nevertheless, another great post.
Miguel
hmmm,don't get your review of this LP,the first LP self titled crowcuss was head and shoulder's above their second,no comparison really.first album is my fav of all time,just does it for me and i listen to it a least 3x a week,second one does nothing.imo only.loved that you even mention them,so thanks
hmmm,just read on the other page you might be shutting down,hope not,i just found you.keep on fighting them!!!!
Check out www.superoldies.com for info on an upcoming (legit) CROWCUSS CD collection!
http://www.superoldies.com/crowcuss.html
CD information
Hey Ronnie is there a link for this album or this just a review. Do you know where a link for the first album can be found. As a Canadian i need to hear all of these lost obscure classics
anyone interested in the Ltd Edition CD release, give superoldies@hotmail.com a write.
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