Shadowy Men on a Shadowy Planet are a

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 ...

-winning

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 ...

instrumental rock Instrumental rock is rock music that emphasizes instrumental performance and features very little or no singing. Examples of instrumental music in rock can be found in practically every subgenre of the style. Instrumental rock was most popular f ...

band, formed in 1984. They remain best known for the track "Having an Average Weekend", of which an alternate version was used as the

theme Theme or themes may refer to: * Theme (Byzantine district), an administrative district in the Byzantine Empire governed by a Strategos * Theme (computing), a custom graphical appearance for certain software. * Theme (linguistics), topic * Theme ( ...

to the Canadian

sketch comedy Sketch comedy comprises a series of short, amusing scenes or vignettes, called "sketches" or, "skits", commonly between one and ten minutes long, performed by a group of comic actors or comedians. While the form developed and became popular in ...

TV show '' The Kids in the Hall''."Shadowy Men offer punk-influenced surf music for the '90s". ''

Montreal Gazette ''The Gazette'', also known as the ''Montreal Gazette'', is a Canadian English-language broadsheet daily newspaper which is owned by Postmedia Network. It is published in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. It is the only English-language daily newspape ...

'', November 2, 1991. Although commonly classified as a

surf rock Surf music (also known as surf rock, surf pop, or surf guitar) is a genre of rock music associated with surf culture, particularly as found in Southern California. It was especially popular from 1958 to 1964 in two major forms. The first is inst ...

band they rejected the label, going so far as to release a track called "We're Not a Fucking Surf Band","Sly Shadowy Men . . . and women in jale". ''

Toronto Star The ''Toronto Star'' is a Canadian English-language broadsheet daily newspaper. It is owned by Toronto Star Newspapers Limited, a subsidiary of Torstar Corporation and part of Torstar's Daily News Brands (Torstar), Daily News Brands division. ...

'', May 6, 1993. although they also later released a compilation

box set A boxed set or (its US name) box set is a set of items (for example, a compilation of books, musical recordings, films or television programs) traditionally packaged in a box, hence 'boxed', and offered for sale as a single unit. Music Artists ...

titled ''Oh, I Guess We Were a Fucking Surf Band After All''."Shadowy Men on a Shadowy Planet get the box set treatment"
''

Now Now most commonly refers to the present time. Now, NOW, or The Now may also refer to: Organizations * Natal Organisation of Women, a South African women's organization * National Organization for Women, an American feminist organization * Na ...

'', April 13, 2016.

History

The band's origins are in Calgary, where founding members Reid Diamond and Brian Connelly were members of the

punk rock Punk rock (also known as simply punk) is a rock music genre that emerged in the mid-1970s. Rooted in 1950s rock and roll and 1960s garage rock, punk bands rejected the corporate nature of mainstream 1970s rock music. They typically produced sh ...

band Buick McKane in the 1970s."Shadowy Men return at Sled Island". ''

Calgary Herald The ''Calgary Herald'' is a daily newspaper published in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. Publication began in 1883 as ''The Calgary Herald, Mining and Ranche Advocate, and General Advertiser''. It is owned by the Postmedia Network. History ''The C ...

'', March 20, 2012. After that band broke up, Diamond, Connelly and drummer Alex Koch moved to

Toronto Toronto ( , locally pronounced or ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most populous city in Canada. It is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a p ...

, where they joined with

Don Pyle Don Pyle is a Canadian record producer and musician, who has also been a member of multiple bands. Pyle is openly gay. Life and career Pyle's first group was a punk band called Crash Kills Five, which was active from 1979 to 1981. Crash Kills F ...

to form a new punk band, Crash Kills Five. That band released one EP, ''What Do You Do At Night?'', in 1980 before breaking up in 1981, and the members briefly pursued other projects before Diamond, Connelly and Pyle reunited in 1984 as Shadowy Men. Signed to Cargo Records, they released a string of

EPs An extended play (EP) is a Sound recording and reproduction, musical recording that contains more tracks than a Single (music), single but fewer than an album. Contemporary EPs generally contain up to eight tracks and have a playing time of 1 ...

and

singles Singles are people not in a committed relationship. Singles may also refer to: Film and television * ''Singles'' (miniseries), a 1984 Australian television series * ''Singles'' (1992 film), written and directed by Cameron Crowe * ''Singles'' ...

throughout the 1980s and early 1990s. The group also appeared on many compilation albums, and played on some tracks of

Fred Schneider Frederick William Schneider III (born July 1, 1951) is an American singer-songwriter and frontman of the rock band the B-52s, of which he is a founding member. Schneider is well known for his '' sprechgesang'', which he developed from reciting ...

's solo album, ''

Just Fred ''Just Fred'' is the second solo album by the American musician Fred Schneider, released in 1996. Its first single was "Bulldozer". Schneider promoted the album by playing shows with his band, the Slobs. Production Produced by Steve Albini, the ...

''."Heatseekers: all action, no talk". ''

'', February 1, 1996. The band won a

for Instrumental Artist of the Year at the

Juno Awards of 1992 The Juno Awards (representing Canadian music industry achievements of the previous year ) from 1992, were awarded on 29th of March in Toronto at a ceremony in the O'Keefe Centre. Rick Moranis was the host for the ceremonies, which were broadcast ...

. Their 1993 album '' Sport Fishin': The Lure of the Bait, The Luck of the Hook'' was engineered by

Steve Albini Steven Frank Albini (; July 22, 1962 – May 7, 2024) was an American musician and audio engineer. He founded and fronted the influential post-hardcore and noise rock bands Big Black (1981–1987), Rapeman (1987–1989) and Shellac (band), ...

, who was such a fan of the band that he offered to work with them for free. The group disbanded in 1996, in part because Pyle and Diamond wanted to record an album with

Jad Fair Jadwin B. Fair (born June 9, 1954) is an American singer, guitarist, graphic artist, and founding member of lo-fi alternative rock group Half Japanese. Biography Fair was born in Coldwater, Michigan. In 1974, he and his brother David formed the ...

while Connelly did not. Pyle and Diamond instead joined with Dallas Good of

The Sadies The Sadies are a Canadian rock and roll / country and western band from Toronto, Ontario. The band consists of Travis Good, Sean Dean and Mike Belitsky. Dallas Good, a founding member, died in 2022. Dallas and Travis are the sons of Margaret a ...

to form

Phono-Comb Phono-Comb was a Canadian instrumental/modern surf rock group that formed in 1993 in Toronto. History Phono-Comb first materialized when Shadowy Men on a Shadowy Planet played with Jad Fair when he was performing in Toronto to promote a film abo ...

, and collaborated with Fair on the 1996 album ''Monsters, Lullabies...and the Occasional Flying Saucer''.

Beverly Breckenridge Beverly Breckenridge is a musician, composer, and actress from Toronto, Ontario. She played bass for the bands Fifth Column and Phono-Comb. In 1986, Beverly Breckenridge joined the post-punk band Fifth Column. Beverly's first appearance on film ...

from

Fifth Column A fifth column is a group of people who undermine a larger group or nation from within, usually in favor of an enemy group or another nation. The activities of a fifth column can be overt or clandestine. Forces gathered in secret can mobilize ...

also later joined the Phono-Comb lineup. After the breakup, Connelly was in a short-lived trio called Heatseekers, and toured and recorded with Neko Case and Her Boyfriends. He currently leads his own instrumental trio, Atomic 7. Diamond later started Danny & Reid's Motion Machine, and Pyle teamed up with Andrew Zealley to form

Greek Buck Greek Buck were a Canadians, Canadian musical duo, consisting of Don Pyle (formerly of Shadowy Men on a Shadowy Planet and Phono-Comb) and Andrew Zealley. They are best known for "Spunk", the theme song to the United States, American television ser ...

. Diamond died of

cancer Cancer is a group of diseases involving Cell growth#Disorders, abnormal cell growth with the potential to Invasion (cancer), invade or Metastasis, spread to other parts of the body. These contrast with benign tumors, which do not spread. Po ...

on February 17, 2001. In March 2012, it was announced that the band would be reuniting for a pair of live performances, in Calgary on June 20 and Toronto on July 14, to mark the beginning of a series of reissues of all of their albums on Mammoth Cave Recording Co.

Dallas Good Dallas Good was a Canadian musician, songwriter, and record producer, best known as the co-founder, guitarist, and vocalist of the alt-country rock band The Sadies. Good was a pivotal figure in the Canadian music scene, contributing to a wide ran ...

replaced Diamond on bass. The reissues included the Crash Kills Five EP. Following Mammoth Cave's closure in 2015, the albums were again reissued on

Yep Roc Records Yep Roc Records is an American independent record label based in Hillsborough, North Carolina, and owned by Redeye Distribution. Since 1997, the label has released albums from North Carolina and international artists, including Fountains of Wayne ...

in 2016 as the box set ''Oh, I Guess We Were a Fucking Surf Band After All''. The band have continued to perform occasional shows since the 2012 reunion, including the 2017 Gateway Festival and the 2018

Northern Lights Festival Boréal Northern Lights Festival Boréal is an annual summer music festival in Greater Sudbury, Sudbury, Ontario. It is one of Canada's oldest continuous music festivals, having been staged every year since 1972 until the COVID-19 pandemic.

. Dallas Good died of natural causes on February 17, 2022."Dallas Good, Co-Founder of Canadian Band the Sadies, Dies at 48"
''

Variety Variety may refer to: Arts and entertainment Entertainment formats * Variety (radio) * Variety show, in theater and television Films * ''Variety'' (1925 film), a German silent film directed by Ewald Andre Dupont * ''Variety'' (1935 film), ...

'', February 18, 2022.

Members

;Present *

–

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 ...

(1984–1996, 2012–present) *Brian Connelly –

guitar The guitar is a stringed musical instrument that is usually fretted (with Fretless guitar, some exceptions) and typically has six or Twelve-string guitar, twelve strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming ...

(1984–1996, 2012–present) ;Former *Reid Diamond (deceased) –

bass Bass or Basses may refer to: Fish * Bass (fish), various saltwater and freshwater species Wood * Bass or basswood, the wood of the tilia americana tree Music * Bass (sound), describing low-frequency sound or one of several instruments in th ...

(1984–1996) *Dallas Good (deceased) –

(2012–2022)

Discography

Albums

*'' Dim the Lights, Chill the Ham'' (1991) *'' Sport Fishin': The Lure of the Bait, The Luck of the Hook'' (1993)

Compilations

*'' Savvy Show Stoppers'' (1988 Glass Records K 1993 Cargo orth America *''Oh, I Guess We Were A Fucking Surf Band After All...'' (2016 Yep Roc Records)

EPs

*''Love Without Words'' (1985) *''Wow Flutter Hiss '86'' (1986) *''Schlagers!'' (1987) *''Live Record with Extra Bread and Cheese'' (1987) *''Explosion of Taste'' (1988) *''Reid Does Neil'' (1988) *''Music for Pets'' (1991) *''Tired of Waking Up Tired'' (1991 split single with Change of Heart) *''Just Married'' (1991) *''Dog & Squeegie'' (1992) *''Sport Fishin' Accessories'' (1993 promo-only CD single) *''Take Outs'' (1993) *''It's a Wonderful Record!'' (1994)

Soundtracks

*'' Double Happiness'' (1995) *'' Kids in the Hall: Brain Candy'' (1996)

Compilation appearances

*'' It Came from Canada, Vol. 2'' (1986) *''

International Pop Underground Convention The International Pop Underground Convention (or IPU) was a 1991 punk and alternative rock music festival in Olympia, Washington. The six-day convention centered on a series of performances at the Capitol Theater. Throughout August 20–25, 1 ...

'' (1992) *''

International Hip Swing ''International Hip Swing'' is a compilation CD released by the label K Records in 1993. It is centered on the alternative rock, indie pop and twee pop genres. ''International Hip Swing'' gathered together a selection of recordings previously rel ...

'' (1993)

References

External links

The Shadowy Site On A Shadowy Web (Unofficial Home Page)
{{Authority control Canadian surf rock music groups Canadian alternative rock groups K Records artists Musical groups established in 1984 Musical groups disestablished in 1996 Musical groups from Toronto Canadian musical trios Juno Award for Instrumental Album of the Year winners Canadian instrumental rock musical groups 1984 establishments in Ontario 1996 disestablishments in Ontario Glass Records artists