Prism (band)
Encyclopedia
Prism is a Canadian rock
Rock music
Rock music is a genre of popular music that developed during and after the 1960s, particularly in the United Kingdom and the United States. It has its roots in 1940s and 1950s rock and roll, itself heavily influenced by rhythm and blues and country music...

 band originally from Vancouver
Vancouver
Vancouver is a coastal seaport city on the mainland of British Columbia, Canada. It is the hub of Greater Vancouver, which, with over 2.3 million residents, is the third most populous metropolitan area in the country,...

, British Columbia
British Columbia
British Columbia is the westernmost of Canada's provinces and is known for its natural beauty, as reflected in its Latin motto, Splendor sine occasu . Its name was chosen by Queen Victoria in 1858...

, Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...

. They were active from 1977 to 1984 and are active again from 1988 to present. The band's sound is a mix of Album-Oriented Rock (AOR
Album-oriented rock
Album-oriented rock is an American FM radio format focusing on album tracks by rock artists.-Music played:Most radio formats are based on a select, tight rotation of hit singles...

) and pop rock
Pop rock
Pop rock is a music genre which mixes a catchy pop style and light lyrics in its guitar-based rock songs. There are varying definitions of the term, ranging from a slower and mellower form of rock music to a subgenre of pop music...

. They have released a total of 13 albums to date. Their success has been primarily in Canada where they won the Canadian music industry Juno Award
Juno Award
The Juno Awards are presented annually to Canadian musical artists and bands to acknowledge their artistic and technical achievements in all aspects of music...

 for Group of the Year in 1981. Prism is noteworthy for launching the careers of international record producer Bruce Fairbairn
Bruce Fairbairn
Bruce Earl Fairbairn was a Canadian musician and international record producer from Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. He was active as a producer from 1976 to 1999 and is considered one of the best of his era...

 and songwriter Jim Vallance
Jim Vallance
James Douglas "Jim" Vallance, OC is a retired Canadian musician, songwriter, arranger and producer based out of Vancouver, British Columbia. He is best known as the former songwriting partner of Canadian international recording artist Bryan Adams...

.

On Sunday, March 6, 2011, Prism's Spaceship Superstar was chosen as the wakeup song for the Space Shuttle Discovery crew members. This was a significant point in history as it was the last day that the crews of the Space Shuttle Discovery and the International Space Station were together before Discovery returned to earth in the last mission of the shuttle Discovery.

Sunshyne & Seeds of Time

Prism was the brainchild of musician-producer Bruce Fairbairn
Bruce Fairbairn
Bruce Earl Fairbairn was a Canadian musician and international record producer from Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. He was active as a producer from 1976 to 1999 and is considered one of the best of his era...

 and comprised members from two local Vancouver bands, Sunshyne and Seeds of Time. Fairbairn was originally a trumpet player in Sunshyne, a jazz-rock band, in the early 70s. Around 1974, the band switched their format to a blues-rock by recruiting guitarist Lindsay Mitchell
Lindsay Mitchell
Lindsay Mitchell is a guitarist and songwriter from Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada and is best known as an original member and leader of Canadian rock band, Prism....

 from Seeds of Time as their frontman. Fairbairn then decided to pursue a recording contract for the band. After a year of trying he was unsuccessful and in mid-1975, he approached former Sunshyne member Jim Vallance
Jim Vallance
James Douglas "Jim" Vallance, OC is a retired Canadian musician, songwriter, arranger and producer based out of Vancouver, British Columbia. He is best known as the former songwriting partner of Canadian international recording artist Bryan Adams...

 for help in reworking the demos. Some changes were made. First, Vallance helped with new arrangements on two of Mitchell's songs and also began contributing some of his own at Fairbairn's request. Ron Tabak was recruited to replace Mitchell on lead vocals while Mitchell remained as the guitarist and alternate songwriter. A set of five demo songs, two by Mitchell and three by Vallance, were then recorded and sent to record labels across Canada. An executive at GRT liked one of Vallance's songs, "Open Soul Surgery", and offered Fairbairn's project a recording contract in 1976. The Seeds of Time did have 2 songs in the Canadian Top 100 (RPM Magazine
RPM (magazine)
RPM was a Canadian music industry publication that featured song and album charts for Canada. The publication was founded by Walt Grealis in February 1964, supported through its existence by record label owner Stan Klees. RPM ceased publication in November 2000.RPM stood for "Records, Promotion,...

) in 1971. 'My Home Town' reached #76 and 'Crying the Blues' reached #90. http://allmusic.com/artist/seeds-of-time-p371123/biography

Prism debut

Over the next year Fairbairn produced the group's debut album. At the time there was no fixed band line-up for the recording, and Fairbairn employed various musicians from around the local Vancouver music scene. However, the group line-up eventually officially coalesced into Ron Tabak (vocals), John Hall (keyboards), Lindsay Mitchell (guitar), Tom Lavin (guitar, bass), Ab Bryant (bass) and Jim Vallance (drums). Fairbairn and Tom Keenlyside (saxophone) received credit as session musicians on the album, but were not band members.

By the time the album was completed, 7 of its 9 songs were written by Vallance with one by Mitchell and one by Lavin. As the album was about to go into production some changes were made to the credits. The label's management did not like the name "Sunshyne" and after several trying at local gigs ("Under Construction" and "Stanley Screamer"), the members settled on "Prism" as the band's new name. Also, Vallance decided to use a pseudonym, Rodney Higgs. As the principal songwriter, he was afraid that if the album failed he would never land another recording contract. By using the pseudonym, he could get around that problem.

The self-titled Prism album was released in May 1977. At this time, Bryant exited the group, later joining Chilliwack
Chilliwack (band)
Chilliwack are a Canadian rock band that had their heyday during the 1970s and 1980s. Although they are a Canadian band, the members were all born in, as well as reside in, the United States of America. They are perhaps best remembered for their five biggest songs "My Girl ", "I Believe", "Whatcha...

 (and later still, The Headpins). A touring lineup was formed consisting of Ron Tabak (vocals), Lindsay Mitchell (guitar), Tom Lavin (bass), John Hall (keyboards) and Jim Vallance (drums.) After the first leg of touring, Vallance resigned as drummer but remained as principal songwriter. Vallance did not enjoy the lifestyle of touring, preferring instead to write songs in home studio. He was replaced with former Seeds of Time drummer Rocket Norton. "Spaceship Superstar" and "Take Me to the Kaptin" were released as singles and both charted in Canada. The debut album reached platinum status in sales (100,000+ units sold) by the next year.

1978-1981: Fixed lineup

As Prism was preparing to record their follow up album, some changes happened to the lineup that would remain fixed for the next three years. Allen Harlow, another Seeds of Time alumnus, was brought in as bassist to replace Tom Lavin who departed to form his own band. Then Vallance quit the band as principal songwriter. Upon rehearsing song demos with the band, Mitchell and Vallance fell into heated disagreements over the style of songwriting. When it became apparent they were at an impasse, Vallance elected to go. He did leave two songs for the band, "N-N-N-No!" and "You're Like The Wind" (both credited under Rodney Higgs as songwriter.) But his departure left a gaping hole in songwriting for the band to fill. Fortunately, new member Harlow supplied two songs. The remaining members filled out the album. See Forever Eyes was released in 1978 with the title track and Harlow's songs, Flyin and Take Me Away, released as singles. The album reached platinum status by the next year.

During the summer of 1979, the band returned to the studio to record their third and what would be their most commercially successful album. Mitchell was now the principal songwriter and wrote/co-wrote 4 songs for the album. Although it was his largest contribution yet for a single album, it fell short of what was needed. In an effort to help, Vallance became involved again and brought along his new songwriting partner, Bryan Adams
Bryan Adams
Bryan Adams, is a Canadian rock singer-songwriter, guitarist, bassist, producer, actor and photographer. Adams has won dozens of awards and nominations, including 20 Juno Awards among 56 nominations. He has also received 15 Grammy Award nominations including a win for Best Song Written...

, to contribute to the songwriting effort. Adams who at the time was an unsigned recording artist, wrote/co-wrote 3 songs. Armageddon
Armageddon (Prism album)
Armageddon is the third studio album and fourth album overall by Canadian rock band Prism. It was released in 1979 on Canadian record label GRT. It achieved double platinum status in Canada...

 was released in the fall of 1979 to much promotional hype. "Virginia", "Armageddon" and "Night to Remember" were released as singles and charted in Canada. The album reached double platinum status (in excess of 200,000 units sold) by the next year and helped garner the band their lone Canadian music industry Juno award for Group of the Year in 1981. Also, Mitchell received the SOCAN Song of the Year award for "Night to Remember" in 1980. The title track "Armageddon" would become one of the bands most recognizable songs. Despite the album's commercial success, the record label GRT went into receivership. After the greatest hits album All the Best From Prism, the band signed on with Capitol Records
Capitol Records
Capitol Records is a major United States based record label, formerly located in Los Angeles, but operating in New York City as part of Capitol Music Group. Its former headquarters building, the Capitol Tower, is a major landmark near the corner of Hollywood and Vine...

.

The group's next record, Young and Restless, was released in 1980. This was the first Prism album written without any contributions from Vallance: all songs were written by Mitchell, Harlow or Norton. The album spun off Prism's highest charting single, also called "Young and Restless", which peaked at #14 on the Canadian charts.

1981-1984: Henry Small era

As the band was preparing to record their next album in the summer of 1981, Tabak was fired. Various reasons cited were his conflicts with other band members, several run-ins with the law, and/or lack of songwriting ability. Around the same time, keyboardist John Hall left the band. Vocalist Henry Small was brought in, and the new four-piece line-up (Small/Mitchell/Harlow/Norton) recorded the album Small Change, which was released later in 1981. The lead track "Don't Let Him Know", written by Jim Vallance and Bryan Adams, became Prism's first top 40 hit in the US and a #1 single on Billboard's new Rock Tracks chart,. The follow-up single "Turn on Your Radar" also charted, becoming their fifth and final American hit.

By the end of the tour for Small Change, Mitchell, Harlow and Norton had individually left Prism. With Mitchell's departure, Prism now had no original members left.

In 1982, the band's touring line up was Small, guitarist Paul Warren, bassist John Trivers
John Trivers
John Trivers is an American songwriter and musician, the recipient of gold and platinum records for his involvement with Blue Öyster Cult and Tina Turner, and the co-writer with his wife and partner Elizabeth Myers of several popular themes for commercials, television programs, and film scores.-...

, keyboardist Robyn Robbins and Doug Maddick on drums. Although the band had essentially broken up by the end of 1982, Small decided to continue recording as a solo artist but using the Prism name, and assembled a group of session musicians including Bill Champlin
Bill Champlin
William Bradford "Bill" Champlin is an American singer, guitarist, keyboard player, arranger, producer, and songwriter. His performance work is principally associated with the bands Chicago and the Sons of Champlin...

, Richie Zito
Richie Zito
Richie Zito is a session guitarist and record producer from Los Angeles.He has worked with Poison, Neil Sedaka, Yvonne Elliman, Eric Carmen, Art Garfunkel, Leo Sayer, Diana Ross, Marc Tanner, Elton John, the Motels, as well as The Cult, White Lion, Eddie Money, Heart, and Bad English...

, Mike Baird, and backup vocalists Bobby Kimball
Bobby Kimball
Robert Troy "Bobby" Kimball is an American singer, best known as the longtime frontman of the rock band Toto.- Early life:...

 (Toto
Toto (band)
Toto is an American rock band formed in Los Angeles in 1977. The group currently consists of Joseph Williams , David Paich , Steve Porcaro , Steve Lukather , Mike Porcaro , and Simon Phillips . Toto is known for a musical style that combines elements of pop, rock, soul, funk, progressive rock, hard...

) and Alan Pasqua to assist him. Together, this ad hoc line-up released the album Beat Street under the Prism name in 1983. The album was not a commercial success, and failed to spin off any charting singles. Small -- by now the group's only member -- essentially retired from using the Prism name in early 1984, and the 'group' became defunct.

Death of Ron Tabak

Several former members of Prism were in the preliminary discussion stages of a Prism reunion in late 1984. Al Harlow and Ron Tabak had made plans to spend Christmas, 1984 together at Harlow's place. Tabak decided to cycle to Harlow's home on Christmas Eve as a way to get some exercise. This turned out to be poor judgment, as the roads were snow covered and he rode at night without a headlight and helmet. It is believed that on the way, Tabak was struck by a passing vehicle, fell and hit his head on the pavement. He was taken by ambulance to the hospital where doctors did not detect anything wrong with him. Upon being released, Tabak abruptly became abusive, prompting two police officers at the hospital to arrest him on the belief he was drunk. He was later discovered unconscious in his jail cell and was rushed back to the hospital. A second examination discovered a blood clot had developed on the right side of his brain. Tabak died on Christmas Day 1984, before a pending neurosurgical operation could be performed. Previously discussed plans for a Prism reunion were canceled, out of respect for Tabak's passing.

Reunion and Jericho

In 1987, Prism reformed with a revised line-up. Harlow, Mitchell and Norton all returned, and were joined by new lead vocalist Darcy Deutsch, and new keyboardist Andy Lorimer. This line-up recorded one new track for another greatest hits album called Over 60 Minutes with...Prism, released in 1988. The new track, "Good To Be Back", was composed by Allen Harlow, Bryan Adams and Jim Vallance, produced by Vallance, and in a nod to long-time fans, was mixed by "Rodney Higgs".

Five years later, this same line-up released the first new Prism album in 10 years, 1993's Jericho. Guest musicians on the album included Bryan Adams
Bryan Adams
Bryan Adams, is a Canadian rock singer-songwriter, guitarist, bassist, producer, actor and photographer. Adams has won dozens of awards and nominations, including 20 Juno Awards among 56 nominations. He has also received 15 Grammy Award nominations including a win for Best Song Written...

, Paul Janz
Paul Janz
Paul Janz is a Canadian theologian, and formerly a prominent singer-songwriter of pop rock music in the mainstream and contemporary Christian markets...

 and Mark LaFrance, with Rick Springfield
Rick Springfield
Rick Springfield is an Australian-born singer-songwriter, musician, and actor. He was a member of pop rock group Zoot from 1969 to 1971 and then started his solo career with his début single "Speak to the Sky" reaching the top 10 in Australia. In mid-1972, he relocated to the United States...

 doing some of the songwriting.

Present lineup & Big Black Sky

Norton left the band in the 1990s, and Mitchell left in 2005 shortly after Darcy Deutsch's departure. Mitchell's departure left Prism once again with no original members from the first album. The band continues to tour with Harlow playing guitar and performing lead vocals. By 2008, Prism consisted of Harlow, Gary Grace (drums), Steve-O (keyboards, guitars) and Timothy B. Hewitt (bass, guitars, keyboards). This line-up released a new studio album called Big Black Sky in July 2008. It featured mostly compositions by Harlow, with one track written by long-time ally Jim Vallance.

Prism's current line-up is Allen Harlow (vocals, guitar), Gary Grace (drums), Marc Gladstone (keyboards) and Tad Goddard (bass).

Legacy

Although Prism has had only moderate success as a band, their legacy is renowned for some of its former members who went on to have success in the music industry. Prism helped launch the careers of Bruce Fairbairn as an international record producer and Jim Vallance as a music industry wide songwriter. Fairbairn would go on to produce successful albums for international artists such as Loverboy
Loverboy
Loverboy is a Canadian rock group formed in 1980 in Calgary, Alberta. Throughout the 1980s, the band accumulated numerous hit songs in Canada and the United States, earning four multi-platinum albums and selling millions of records...

, Bon Jovi
Bon Jovi
Bon Jovi is an American rock band from Sayreville, New Jersey. Formed in 1983, Bon Jovi consists of lead singer and namesake Jon Bon Jovi , guitarist Richie Sambora, keyboardist David Bryan, drummer Tico Torres, as well as current bassist Hugh McDonald...

, Aerosmith
Aerosmith
Aerosmith is an American rock band, sometimes referred to as "The Bad Boys from Boston" and "America's Greatest Rock and Roll Band". Their style, which is rooted in blues-based hard rock, has come to also incorporate elements of pop, heavy metal, and rhythm and blues, and has inspired many...

, AC/DC
AC/DC
AC/DC are an Australian rock band, formed in 1973 by brothers Malcolm and Angus Young. Commonly classified as hard rock, they are considered pioneers of heavy metal, though they themselves have always classified their music as simply "rock and roll"...

, Kiss
KISS (band)
Kiss is an American rock band formed in New York City in January 1973. Well-known for its members' face paint and flamboyant stage outfits, the group rose to prominence in the mid to late 1970s on the basis of their elaborate live performances, which featured fire breathing, blood spitting,...

 and Yes
Yes (band)
Yes are an English rock band who achieved worldwide success with their progressive, art, and symphonic style of rock music. Regarded as one of the pioneers of the progressive genre, Yes are known for their lengthy songs, mystical lyrics, elaborate album art, and live stage sets...

. Vallance would team up with Bryan Adams
Bryan Adams
Bryan Adams, is a Canadian rock singer-songwriter, guitarist, bassist, producer, actor and photographer. Adams has won dozens of awards and nominations, including 20 Juno Awards among 56 nominations. He has also received 15 Grammy Award nominations including a win for Best Song Written...

 to become Adams-Vallance, one of the most successful song-writing teams in music history. Vallance then continued that success as a music industry "song doctor" for many well known international recording artists.

Albums

Year Title Notes
1977 Prism
1978 See Forever Eyes
See Forever Eyes
See Forever Eyes is the second release by Canadian rock band Prism. It was released in 1978 by Canadian record label GRT. It was produced by Bruce Fairbairn....

1978 Live Tonight
1979 Armageddon
Armageddon (Prism album)
Armageddon is the third studio album and fourth album overall by Canadian rock band Prism. It was released in 1979 on Canadian record label GRT. It achieved double platinum status in Canada...

1980 Young and Restless
1980 All the Best From Prism compilation album
Compilation album
A compilation album is an album featuring tracks from one or more performers, often culled from a variety of sources The tracks are usually collected according to a common characteristic, such as popularity, genre, source or subject matter...

1981 Small Change
1983 Beat Street
1988 Over 60 Minutes with...Prism compilation album
1993 Jericho
1996 Best of Prism compilation album
1997 From the Vaults
2008 Big Black Sky
Big Black Sky (Prism album)
Big Black Sky is the latest album by Canadian rock band Prism, released in 2008.-Track listing:All songs written by Al Harlow unless otherwise noted.# "Rock Overture" – 0:34# "Big Black Sky" – 4:13# "Ya Bother Me" – 4:27...


Singles

Year Title Canada U.S.
1977 Spaceship Superstar |#63 #82
1977 Open Soul Surgery
1977 It's Over
1977 Take Me to the Kaptin #52
1978 Take Me Away #94
1978 Flyin' #41 #53
1978 See Forever Eyes
1978 You're Like the Wind #63
1979 Armageddon #23
1979 Virginia #73
1980 Mirror Man
1980 You Walked Away Again
1980 Night to Remember #33
1980 Young and Restless #14
1980 Cover Girl
1981 Rain
1981 Turn on Your Radar #64
1981 Don't Let Him Know #49 #39
1988 Good to Be Back

(Chart positions from RPM Magazine
RPM (magazine)
RPM was a Canadian music industry publication that featured song and album charts for Canada. The publication was founded by Walt Grealis in February 1964, supported through its existence by record label owner Stan Klees. RPM ceased publication in November 2000.RPM stood for "Records, Promotion,...

)
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