Fosterchild
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Fosterchild was a notable Canadian band that existed from 1976 to 1981, releasing three albums.


History


Membership History

Fosterchild was formed in
Calgary Calgary () is a major city in the Canadian province of Alberta. As of 2021, the city proper had a population of 1,306,784 and a metropolitan population of 1,481,806 making it the third-largest city and fifth-largest metropolitan area in C ...
,
Alberta Alberta is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province in Canada. It is a part of Western Canada and is one of the three Canadian Prairies, prairie provinces. Alberta is bordered by British Columbia to its west, Saskatchewan to its east, t ...
,
Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...
in 1976 by Jim Foster and Vern Wills, both of whom had first played together as teenagers.John Bush
Profile of Fosterchild
Allmusic AllMusic (previously known as All-Music Guide and AMG) is an American online database, online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on Musical artist, musicians and Mus ...
. Retrieved 2012-08-02.
In 1976, the band was signed to
CBS Records CBS Records may refer to: * CBS Records, a former name of Sony Music, a global music company * CBS/Sony, a former name of Sony Music Entertainment Japan, a Japanese music company division of Sony * CBS Records International, a label for Columbia Re ...
Canada at the initiative of producer Bob Gallo,Dan Brisebois
Profile of Fosterchild
; CanadianBands.com. Retrieved 2012-08-03.
then head of A&R for CBS Records Canada. The band's music was categorized as rock, with country influences, as opposed to
country rock Country rock is a music genre that fuses rock and country. It was developed by rock musicians who began to record country-flavored records in the late 1960s and early 1970s. These musicians recorded rock records using country themes, vocal sty ...
, with most of their material written or co-written by Foster and Wills. During their first recording contract, Foster and Wills were discouraged by Gallo from writing predominantly
pop song Pop music is a genre of popular music that originated in its modern form during the mid-1950s in the United States and the United Kingdom.S. Frith, W. Straw, and J. Street, eds, '' The Cambridge Companion to Pop and Rock'' (Cambridge: Cambridg ...
s. The core membership of the band was Foster and Wills, on guitars and vocals, initially with Gordon Marr on guitar, Dwight Thompson on bass and Bob "Mickey" Mathews on drums.E-mail correspondence with Gerry Wand, August 8 and August 12, 2012.
Gaye Delorme Gaye James Delorme (March 20, 1947 – June 24, 2011) was a Canadian songwriter, composer and guitar player. Biography :"Although his name is generally first associated as the writer of 'The Rodeo Song', an expletive-filled cowboy anthem made ...
produced the band's first demos, at Edmonton's Sundown Recorders. Prior to recording the band's first album, Peter Sweetzir was added on keyboards, while Barry Boothman replaced Thompson on bass and Gerry Wand replaced Mathews on drums.


Recording and Touring History

The band released three albums and had two nationally charting singles, "Until We Meet Again" and "I Need Somebody Tonight". The band's regular touring base was primarily western Canada. Fosterchild's first two albums, ''Fosterchild'' (1977) and ''Troubled Child'' (1978) were on
Columbia Records Columbia Records is an American reco ...
, both recorded at
Little Mountain Sound Studios Little Mountain Sound Studios was a music recording facility in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. From the 1970s through the 1990s, it was the most successful recording studio in Western Canada and the home for many years to producers Bruce F ...
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 ...
, with Bob Gallo as producer. The ''Fosterchild'' album is notable as featuring renowned session drummer
Larrie Londin Ralph Gallant (October 15, 1943 − August 24, 1992), known professionally as Larrie Londin, was an American drummer and session musician. According to journalist James Byron Fox, "If not the best known, Larrie is one of the most listened to dr ...
, who had previously been a drummer in Elvis Presley's touring band and recordings. Gordon Marr left the band, following the release of their first album. In 1978, following the release of their second album, ''Troubled Child'', Doug Johnson was added on second keyboards for the band's tour in support of the album.E-mail correspondence with Gerry Wand, August 9, 2012. However, record company interest in the band waned, and their cross-Canada tour was cut short. Their relationship with the
CBS CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS (an abbreviation of its original name, Columbia Broadcasting System), is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainme ...
ended thereafter. Barry Boothman left the band at this point.Comments of Peter Sweetzir
2011, refuting a commonly published assertion that it was he who left the band after the second album. Retrieved 2012-08-07.
Doug Johnson also did not continue with the group, beyond touring in support of ''Troubled Child''. In 1979, the band signed with Vera Cruz Records, based in
Edmonton Edmonton is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Alberta. It is situated on the North Saskatchewan River and is the centre of the Edmonton Metropolitan Region, which is surrounded by Central Alberta ...
, Alberta, Canada, and released their third album, ''On The Prowl'' in 1980. The album was recorded by Foster, Wills (replacing Boothman on bass, as well as playing guitar), Sweetzir and Wand, assisted by Mavis McCauley, from One Horse Blue, on background vocals, and John Wesson on saxophone. They commenced touring with One Horse Blue, another Vera Cruz recording artist, but encountered similar tour interruptions due to financial issues with the record label.


Post Band Break-Up

The band continued to perform until 1981. Foster then joined One Horse Blue, and in 1986 released a solo album ''Powerlines'' on
RCA Records RCA Records is an American record label owned by Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Group Corporation. It is one of Sony Music's four flagship labels, alongside Columbia Records (its former longtime rival), Arista Records and Epic R ...
, followed by the independently-released ''Artist's Print'' in 1998. He wrote songs for One Horse Blue,
Doug and the Slugs Doug and the Slugs are a Canadian pop music group formed in 1977 in Vancouver, British Columbia. The band enjoyed a number of Canadian top 40 hits in the 1980s, most notably " Too Bad" (1980), "Who Knows How To Make Love Stay" (1982), "Making It ...
and
Patricia Conroy Patricia Conroy (born January 30, 1964) is a Canadian singer-songwriter. In her career, she has released five studio albums, and one compilation album. She has also released 25 singles, including the ''RPM (magazine), RPM'' Country Tracks number o ...
. He also co-wrote songs with
Murray McLauchlan Murray Edward McLauchlan, (born 30 June 1948) is a Canadian singer, songwriter, guitarist, pianist, and harmonica player. He is best known for his Canadian hits "The Farmer's Song," "Whispering Rain," and "Down by the Henry Moore". Early life ...
, Rocko Vaugeois and
Lynda Scott Lynda Marie Scott is a former New Zealand politician of the National Party. Early life Scott trained as a nurse in Wellington and then became a doctor in Auckland. She worked as a geriatrician. For a time, she also served as a director of Blen ...
. In 2009, he released another solo album, ''Lone Bird'', on Quest Records. followed by releases in 2013 (''A Sailor's Advice'') and 2015 (''6 Foot Ladder''), also on Quest Records. Wills co-wrote with
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 ...
("Lady of the 80's", co-written with Paul Dean,
Mike Reno Mike Reno (born Joseph Michael Rynoski; born January 8, 1955) is a Canadian musician, singer and the lead singer of the rock band Loverboy. He fronted other bands, including Moxy (band), Moxy, before helping form Loverboy. Reno also sang for the ...
and Doug Johnson, from Loverboy's eponymous first album, 1980) and also contributed to the solo work of Jim Foster and Paul Dean. Wills continues to perform in Calgary. Doug Johnson became the keyboardist for Loverboy, as of the band's first album, in 1980. Sweetzir continued in music as the keyboardist for various artists, including
Long John Baldry John William "Long John" Baldry (12 January 1941 – 21 July 2005) was an English musician and actor. In the 1960s, he was one of the first British vocalists to sing the blues in clubs and shared the stage with many British musicians including ...
,
Gaye Delorme Gaye James Delorme (March 20, 1947 – June 24, 2011) was a Canadian songwriter, composer and guitar player. Biography :"Although his name is generally first associated as the writer of 'The Rodeo Song', an expletive-filled cowboy anthem made ...
and
Aaron Pritchett Aaron Pritchett (born August 2, 1970) is a Canadian country music singer. He had a #1 hit on the ''Billboard'' Canada Country chart with " Better When I Do", and has landed gold-certified hits with " Hold My Beer", " Dirt Road in 'Em", " When a ...
. Wand and Boothman later pursued careers apart from music, though Wand returned to performing, on occasion. Boothman died 2015. Control of the band's name appears to have been lost, at least in the United States. The name "Fosterchild" is currently associated with a
Philadelphia Philadelphia ( ), colloquially referred to as Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, most populous city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the List of United States cities by population, sixth-most populous city in the Unit ...
-based heavy metal band, active since 2005, and where the name appears to have been trademarked.Profile of Fosterchild
Spirit of Metal. Retrieved 2012-08-12.


Discography

*1980 ''On The Prowl'' ( Vera Cruz) *1978 ''Troubled Child'' ( Columbia) *1977 ''Fosterchild'' (Columbia)


References

{{Authority control Canadian rock music groups Musical groups from Calgary Musical groups established in 1976 Musical groups disestablished in 1981 1976 establishments in Alberta 1981 disestablishments in Alberta