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Kenneth Wayne Paul Tobias (July 25, 1945 – October 2, 2024) was a Canadian singer-songwriter. He is noted for penning the 1971 chart-topping hit for The Bells, " Stay Awhile", and for several top-selling recordings of his own.


Early career

Born and raised in
Saint John, New Brunswick Saint John () is a port#seaport, seaport city located on the Bay of Fundy in the province of New Brunswick, Canada. It is Canada's oldest Municipal corporation, incorporated city, established by royal charter on May 18, 1785, during the reign ...
, Tobias worked as a
draftsman A drafter (also draughtsman / draughtswoman in British and Commonwealth English, draftsman / draftswoman, drafting technician, or CAD technician in American and Canadian English) is an engineering technician who makes detailed technical drawi ...
in the early 1960s while also appearing as a musician at local venues in Saint John. He joined a folk group named the Ramblers in 1961, playing guitar, and he later played drums in a rock band called the Badd Cedes. He moved to
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 ...
in 1965 and became a cast member for a local
CBC Television CBC Television (also known as CBC TV, or simply CBC) is a Television in Canada, Canadian English-language terrestrial television, broadcast television network owned by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, the national public broadcasting, p ...
show called ''
Music Hop ''Music Hop'' was a Canadian music television series that aired on CBC Television from 1963 to 1967. Premise Pop and rock music was featured in this series for youth, essentially a Canadian version of ''American Bandstand''. Production The fi ...
''. He was a regular performer from 1966 to 1968 on the national variety program called ''
Singalong Jubilee ''Singalong Jubilee'' was a CBC Television programme produced between 1961 and 1974. It featured musical performances by local singers, playing folk, country, and gospel music, in studio on stage and on location. Anne Murray, Catherine McKinnon, ...
'', which was also produced in Halifax. His duets with fellow cast-member and later recording star
Anne Murray Morna Anne Murray (born June 20, 1945) is a retired Canadian country, pop and adult contemporary music singer who has sold over 55 million album copies worldwide during her over 40-year career. Murray has won four Grammys including the Grammy ...
were well regarded. Also appearing on the show were such recognized performers as
Gene MacLellan Gene MacLellan (February 2, 1938 – January 19, 1995) was a Canadian singer-songwriter from Prince Edward Island. Among his compositions were " Snowbird", made famous by Anne Murray, " Put Your Hand in the Hand", " The Call", "Pages of Tim ...
and John Allan Cameron. After three seasons in Halifax and Montreal, in 1968, Tobias met
Bill Medley William Thomas Medley (born September 19, 1940) is an American singer best known as one-half of the Righteous Brothers. He is noted for his bass-baritone voice, exemplified in songs such as "You've Lost That Lovin' Feelin'". Medley produced a n ...
of the Righteous Brothers who invited him to Los Angeles to record and write as a salaried songwriter. Under the management of Medley's company, Tobias recorded his first single "You’re Not Even Going to the Fair" on Bell Records; like many of his early releases it was credited just to "Tobias". The song won him his first Canadian BMI award for airplay. This was the first of many BMI,
Procan This is a list of deities from the Greyhawk campaign setting for the ''Dungeons & Dragons'' fantasy role-playing game. A Al'Akbar Al'Akbar is the Baklunish demigod of dignity, duty, faithfulness, and guardianship. His symbol is a cup and ei ...
and
SOCAN The Society of Composers, Authors and Music Publishers of Canada (SOCAN) is a Canadian performance rights organization that represents the performing rights of more than 175,000 songwriters, composers and music publishers. The organization collect ...
awards. In 1970, he penned "Stay Awhile". Though originally conceived as a country-tinged solo piece, the song would emerge as a sensual duet by The Bells and became a soft rock classic of the early 1970s, peaking in 1971 at No. 1 in Canada and No. 7 on the US Billboard charts. "Stay Awhile" sold more than two million copies worldwide.


Solo artist

After travelling back and forth between Los Angeles and Montreal, in 1972, Tobias settled in Toronto where he played as a backing musician with various bands. With his brother Tony Tobias, he established Glooscap Music and released several solo recordings that enjoyed extensive airplay in Canada, including "Fly Me High", and "Lady Luck". Ken Tobias is one of the few Canadians to receive the Socan Classics Award for 100,000 airplays of a given song, of which he has five awards, for "Stay Awhile", "I Just Want to Make Music", "Every Bit of Love", "Give a Little Love" and "Dream #2". To date, Ken Tobias has released eight albums and one radio sampler on various record labels. He has also released about twenty singles. In 1978, he toured Europe, and while there he collaborated on the soundtrack of the Italian
Spaghetti Western The spaghetti Western is a broad subgenre of Western films produced in Europe. It emerged in the mid-1960s in the wake of Sergio Leone's filmmaking style and international box-office success. The term was used by foreign critics because most o ...
''Sella d'Argento'' (''Silver Saddle/They Died with Their Boots On''), directed by
Lucio Fulci Lucio Fulci (; 17 June 1927 – 13 March 1996) was an Italian film director, screenwriter, and actor. Although he worked in a wide array of genres through a career spanning nearly five decades, including Commedia all'italiana, comedies and spagh ...
.


Later life and death

Tobias lived in Toronto through the 1990s before returning to his native Saint John, where he remained, painting and continuing to write and perform music, and encouraging younger talents through the Songwriters Association of Canada. In 2002, he produced the debut album for Canadian artist Kim Jarrett. He also collaborated with local Saint John artist Jessica Rhaye. In 2008, Tobias released ''From a Distance'', his first new album in 24 years. Tobias died from brain cancer in Saint John, on October 2, 2024, at the age of 79.


Discography


Singles

* "You're Not Even Going to the Fair" (Bell, 1969) (#78 CAN) * "Now I'm in Love" (1971) (#70 CAN) * "I'd Like to Know" (1971) * "Dream #2" (MGM/Verve 1972) (#23 CAN) * "I Just Want to Make Music" (1973) (#9 CAN) * "Fly Me High" (1973) (#24 CAN) * "On the Other Side" (1974) * "Lover Come Quickly" (1974) * "Lady Luck" (1975) (#31 CAN) * "Run Away with Me" (1975) (#52 CAN) * "Every Bit of Love" (1975) (#17 CAN) * "Give a Little Love" (1976) (#21 CAN) * "Oh Lynda" (1976) * "Lovin' Fever" (1976) * "Dancer" (1977) (#53 CAN) * "Lovelight" (1977) (#54 CAN) * "I Don't Want to Be Alone" (1978) (#80 CAN) * "New York City" (1978) (#88 CAN) * "Here You Are Today" (1983)


References


Further reading

*
Dave Bidini Dave Bidini (born September 11, 1963) is a Canadian musician and writer. Originally from Etobicoke, Ontario, he was a founding member of the rock band Rheostatics, and currently performs with Bidiniband. In addition, he has published several bo ...
, ''On a Cold Road: Tales of Adventure in Canadian Rock'' (1998) Toronto: McClelland & Stewart


External links


Official website

''Canadian Encyclopedia''
*
CanConRox bio

CHUM Chart positions

RPM Chart positions
* *
Original version (sample) of "Stay Awhile"

Kim Jarrett
{{DEFAULTSORT:Tobias, Ken 1945 births 2024 deaths Canadian rock singers Canadian male singers Musicians from Saint John, New Brunswick Attic Records (Canada) artists Canadian male singer-songwriters Canadian singer-songwriters Singers from New Brunswick Deaths from brain cancer in Canada Deaths from cancer in New Brunswick