The Shirley Years

It took a good deal longer for the new airplane to arrive from Trenton than initially estimated. Soon after we were aboard, I fell asleep and didn’t stir until our final descent into Alert.  It could have been another planet as the bright runway lights revealed nothing but snow and ice on either side.  …

Coughed Up From The Belly Of The Beast Iqaluit is the capital of Nunavut, one of three territories in northern Canada. Prior to 1987, it was called Frobisher Bay. It is situated in the south-eastern section of Baffin Island.This is where our airplane would re-fuel.Even though it is south of the Arctic Circle, it was…

FINALLY, OUR CHARIOT We board the C-130 and find our places in the “slings” arranged in rows facing laterally across the aircraft. Every spot is an aisle seat, and some (not all) are also window seats. I’m thinking these seats will become more and more in demand as the tour progresses. I manage to get…

Breakfast with Shirley In the early spring of 1979, Shirley and I had a meeting with a CBC television producer concerning a show they were planning, a Christmas tour of Canada’s arctic Armed Forces bases.  They were looking to put together a one-hour special with clips from concerts in Alert, Inuvik, and Yellowknife.  We left…

Hi everybody! More people than I thought have been waiting for this next installment of The Shirley Years. I began the series with no other aim than to chronicle and archive the era for Shirley and myself. But I’ve been getting feedback from unexpected sources expressing interest and gently nudging me to quicken the pace.…

In December of 1977, Shirley called me with news of a tour in Atlantic Canada starting the first week of January. Very popular in the Maritimes, she was to headline nine shows. We needed a band. I called a drummer I knew, my old friend Gary Craig and he suggested a bass player, Bob Wilson,…

If you haven’t read parts 1 or 2 the artist is Shirley Eikhard Shirley Years Part 3The third week of February 1977, I got a phone call from Shirley. There were a few gigs booked and she wanted to know if I was interested. She already had a drummer and a bass player, Bill Cymbala…

The Shirley Years Part 2        1976  Continued With the success of “Say You Love Me,” which was a rock tune, we started to feel the need for a bigger sound. We hired a drummer, Marv Kanerek, a guitar player, Lou DeAdder, and a bass player, Lonnie Glass. I dusted off my Hammond…

Shirley Eikhard In September 1975  I joined a band called Atlantis. It was a funky show band that included a James Brown  set, Kung Fu demo with strobe lights, and a Dianna Ross tribute. I suppose it was marginally entertaining but even at the time I wondered why people weren’t asking for their cover charge…