Brian Oliver MacLeod (June 25, 1952 – April 25, 1992), nicknamed "Too Loud" MacLeod, was a

Canadian Canadians () are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of their being ''C ...

musician, songwriter and

music producer A record producer or music producer is a music creating project's overall supervisor whose responsibilities can involve a range of creative and technical leadership roles. Typically the job involves hands-on oversight of recording sessions; ensu ...

, best known as a member of the bands

Chilliwack Chilliwack ( ) is a city of about 100,000 people and in the Canadian province of British Columbia. It is located about east of the City of Vancouver in the Fraser Valley. The enumerated population is 93,203 in the city and 113,767 in the gr ...

and

Headpins The Headpins are a Canadian rock band, founded as a side project in the late 1970s by then Chilliwack members Ab Bryant and Brian MacLeod. Macleod was impressed by the vocal talents of Vancouver rock singer Denise McCann, and asked her to join ...

History

Born in

Halifax, Nova Scotia Halifax is the capital and most populous municipality of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Nova Scotia, and the most populous municipality in Atlantic Canada. As of 2024, it is estimated that the population of the H ...

, MacLeod appeared as a

guitarist A guitarist (or a guitar player) is a person who plays the guitar. Guitarists may play a variety of guitar family instruments such as classical guitars, acoustic guitars, electric guitars, and bass guitars. Some guitarists accompany themselve ...

in the Canadian band Pepper Tree and was a member of Huski and Garrison Hill with best friend Denny Driscoll in St. John's, Newfoundland. While in Garrison Hill, he met Pam Marsh, who was leaving the band Everyday People after a Newfoundland tour. Marsh and MacLeod recorded a demo in St. John's of some original tunes and went off to Toronto and formed the band "Surrender" with Paul "Boomer" Stamp on drums and Ken Morris on bass. In 1975, MacLeod released a solo single "You Know I Can't Do Anymore"/"Come By Chance". In 1978, while working the Ontario bar circuit with Stingaree (which included fellow guitarist Bernie LaBarge) he was invited to join

and first appeared on their album '' Lights from the Valley''. In addition to guitar, MacLeod occasionally contributed on

vocals Singing is the art of creating music with the voice. It is the oldest form of musical expression, and the human voice can be considered the first musical instrument. The definition of singing varies across sources. Some sources define sing ...

drums The drum is a member of the percussion instrument, percussion group of musical instruments. In the Hornbostel–Sachs classification system, it is a membranophones, membranophone. Drums consist of at least one Acoustic membrane, membrane, c ...

, and keyboards—and he eventually co-produced the band's albums, notably '' Opus X'' (1982) for which he received a Best Producer

Juno Award The Juno Awards (stylized as JUNOS), or simply known as the Junos, are awards presented by Canadian Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences, the Canadian Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences to recognize outstanding achievements in Canada's mu ...

. With bassist Ab Bryant, MacLeod initially formed Headpins as a side project to Chilliwack. After ''Opus X'' MacLeod left Chilliwack to focus his efforts on

(featuring Denise McCann and eventually

Darby Mills Darby Phyllis Mills is a Canadian rock vocalist, former figure skater, and the past lead singer of the Headpins. She has embarked on a solo career, having signed a worldwide record contract and released both a remastered solo album and a live C ...

on vocals) released on Solid Gold Records in Canada and

MCA Records MCA Records was an American record label owned by MCA Inc. established in 1972, though MCA had released recordings under that name in the UK from the 1960s. The label achieved success in the 1970s through the 1980s, often by acquiring other ...

in the United States. MacLeod produced other albums for such artists as

Kick Axe Kick Axe is a Canadian heavy metal band from Regina, Saskatchewan. Influenced by rambunctious arena rock from the 1970s and early 1980s, the group is perhaps best known for their 1984 album '' Vices'', praised by publications such as ''AllMusic'' ...

, Pretty Rough, D.O.A., Paul Dean, Holly Woods (Toronto), Tim Feehan, and Chrissy Steele and shares songwriting credits with

Bryan Adams Bryan Guy Adams (born November 5, 1959) is a British and Canadian singer-songwriter, musician, record producer, and photographer. He is estimated to have sold between 75 million and more than 100 million album, records and Single (music), si ...

Loverboy Loverboy is a Canadian Rock music, rock band formed in Calgary, Alberta in 1979. Loverboy's hit singles, particularly "Turn Me Loose (Loverboy song), Turn Me Loose" and "Working for the Weekend", have become arena rock staples and are still hear ...

Chicago Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...

Jermaine Jackson Jermaine LaJuane Jacksun (né Jackson; born December 11, 1954) is an American singer, songwriter and bassist. He is known for being a member of the Jackson family. From 1964 to 1975, Jermaine was second vocalist after his brother Michael of the ...

and Nancy Nash. MacLeod also joined friends Denny Driscoll, Rick Livingstone and Ross Damude as the drummer for their band Montana with their co-written song "Lorelei". Living exclusively on his prized boat Grand Marnier (with full recording studio onboard) with his "first mate" a dog named Sailor, MacLeod was a fixture at both Coal Harbour and Granville Island Marinas in Vancouver. He was also often spotted driving his beloved red and white classic Corvette convertible. MacLeod was also in training for his small aircraft pilot licence. In 1990, MacLeod collapsed onstage and was diagnosed with brain cancerVancouver Province with a tumour in his upper chest cavity which metastasized into

bone cancer A bone tumor is an neoplastic, abnormal growth of tissue in bone, traditionally classified as benign, noncancerous (benign) or malignant, cancerous (malignant). Cancerous bone tumors usually originate from a cancer in another part of the body su ...

. After his death in

Vancouver Vancouver is a major city in Western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the List of cities in British Columbia, most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the cit ...

British Columbia British Columbia is the westernmost Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada. Situated in the Pacific Northwest between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains, the province has a diverse geography, with rugged landscapes that ...

in 1992, several friends organised the Brian MacLeod Benefit Concerts which featured some of the best musicians on the Canadian music scene and continued through 1997.

Discography

with Chilliwack

* '' Lights from the Valley'' (1978) * '' Breakdown in Paradise'' (1979) * '' Wanna Be a Star'' (1981) * '' Opus X'' (1982)

with Headpins

* ''Turn It Loud'' (1982) * ''Line of Fire'' (1983) * ''Head Over Heals'' (1985)

References

External links

CanConRox Memorial
*

Chilliwack page at the Canadian Encyclopedia

Sleazeroxx

NME
*
Exclaim

{{DEFAULTSORT:Macleod, Brian 1952 births 1992 deaths Canadian rock guitarists Canadian male guitarists Canadian male songwriters Canadian record producers Jack Richardson Producer of the Year Award winners Musicians from Halifax, Nova Scotia Deaths from cancer in British Columbia Deaths from lung cancer in Canada Deaths from brain cancer in Canada 20th-century Canadian guitarists Chilliwack (band) members 20th-century Canadian male musicians