Formation Lighthouse was formed in 1969 in
Toronto by vocalist/drummer
Skip Prokop, previously of
the Paupers, and keyboardist
Paul Hoffert. The two met on a flight from
New York City to Toronto, and discussed forming a band structured around a rock rhythm section, jazz horn section, and classical string section. Prokop had admired Ralph Cole's playing when they shared the bill at the
Grande Ballroom in
Detroit, so he invited him to Toronto to be the band's guitarist. Prokop and Hoffert assembled the rest of the group from friends, studio session musicians, and
Toronto Symphony Orchestra members, and proceeded to make a demo recording. Prokop and Hoffert took the demo to
MGM Records in New York, who signed the band. Two days later they had a manager, Vinnie Fusco, from
Albert Grossman's office, who overturned the MGM contract and made a deal with
RCA Victor. Lighthouse made its performing debut on May 14, 1969, at
The Rock Pile in Toronto, introduced by
Duke Ellington with the words, "I'm beginning to see the Light...house". The band originally consisted of 13 members: •
Skip Prokop:
drums and
vocals •
Paul Hoffert:
keyboards and
vibraphone • Ralph Cole:
guitar and vocals • Grant Fullerton:
bass and vocals • Vic "Pinky" Dauvin:
percussion and lead vocals • Ian Guenther:
violin • Don Dinovo: violin and
viola •
Don Whitton:
cello • Leslie Schneider: cello • Freddy Stone:
trumpet and
flugelhorn • Arnie Chycoski: trumpet and flugelhorn •
Howard Shore:
alto saxophone • Russ Little:
trombone One of the first Lighthouse concerts was at
Carnegie Hall, and in its first year the band also played at
Fillmore East,
Fillmore West, Toronto, Boston, the
Atlantic City Pop Festival, and the Monterey and Newport Jazz Festivals. A free concert at
Toronto City Hall in the summer of 1969 drew a reported crowd of 25,000.. Their next album,
Suite Feeling, was released in November 1969, recorded at Toronto Eastern Sound Studio. It features two cover songs:
The Band's "
Chest Fever" and
The Beatles' "
A Day In The Life". The single "Feel So Good" was a hit, peaking at #5 on the
Canadian Content chart and #55 on the
Canadian Top 100. Lighthouse was invited to perform at
Woodstock that year, but turned it down. Their third and final album for RCA was also the last for original lead singer Pinky Dauvin.
Peacing It All Together was recorded in RCA's Music Centre of the World Hollywood Studios. It includes the
Top 40 hit, "The Chant". In the summer of 1970, Lighthouse represented Canada and
Ontario at
Expo '70 in
Japan. The band appeared at the
Strawberry Fields Festival in August 1970, followed by the
Isle of Wight Festival where they performed two nights, along with
The Doors,
Joni Mitchell,
Chicago,
Miles Davis, and
The Who.
New record label At the end of 1970, due to less than expected sales, Lighthouse was dropped from RCA and moved to
Evolution in the
US and
GRT in
Canada, recording at Toronto's Thunder Sound Studios. There were some lineup changes; the band dropped from thirteen musicians to eleven, including five original members (Prokop, Hoffert, Cole, Dinovo, and Shore), and
Bob McBride became the band's new lead singer. The song was also an international and American hit, peaking at #24 on the
Billboard Hot 100 chart, going
gold, and the 'bubbling under' chart in the
Netherlands. It was preceded on the Canadian charts by "Hats Off to the Stranger" (#9), yet another
gold single. That year the band performed at the anniversary celebration concert in the city of
Hamilton. In between recording albums and touring 300 days a year, the band was involved in the first performances by a rock band with symphony orchestras, a collaboration with the Royal Winnipeg Ballet company,
Ballet High, which toured across Canada, and a
CBC production of
Prometheus Bound with actress
Irene Worth.
''Thoughts of Movin' On'' ''Thoughts of Movin' On'' was released on December 8, 1971. The lead single "Take It Slow (Out In The Country)" went to #12 on the Canadian Top 100, going
gold. The album also features the hits "I Just Wanna Be Your Friend" (#54) and "I'd Be So Happy" (#32), the latter covered by
Three Dog Night on their 1974 album
Hard Labor. Both ''Thoughts of Movin' On
and One Fine Morning'' eventually went
platinum in Canada.
Lighthouse Live! and Sunny Days Lighthouse Live! was recorded live at
Carnegie Hall in February 1972 and released on Evolution/GRT. This was the first time a
Canadian album went
platinum. The band returned to the studio later that year releasing another
gold album,
Sunny Days, on Evolution/GRT. The title track became the band's second Top 5 Canadian hit single and second to go
platinum. It was also a Top 40 hit on the
Billboard Hot 100, peaking at #34 on December 9, 1972. Hoffert, tired of life on the road, left the band shortly after but continued as the band's
executive producer. During this period of recording from 1970 to 1972 with Evolution/GRT, RCA Records released a
double album best-of in 1972 consisting of selections from the first three albums recorded with RCA entitled
One Fine Light.
Can You Feel It Bob McBride failed to appear at
The Record Plant in
New York City for the recording of their next album,
Can You Feel It, and was fired. Prokop and Cole wanted to scrap the sessions but producer
Jimmy Ienner insisted they continue. He decided that whoever wrote the song would sing it. Evolution sold the band's recording contract to
Polydor in the US, which reportedly cost the label "six figures". With the exception of "No More Searching", written and sung by new
sax player Dale Hillary, Prokop and Cole sang all the vocals and harmonies on the album. The result was one of the band's biggest single releases, "
Pretty Lady", which was a Top 10 Canadian hit, and was their final Hot 100 hit in the US, reaching #53. It did better in
Hawaii however, where it reached #1 for six consecutive weeks. Both the album and the single went gold in Canada.
Good Day and dissolution Good Day, also on Polydor, was released in mid-September 1974. As with the previous album, the lead vocals were divided between Skip Prokop and Ralph Cole, but Prokop switched to
guitar full-time and the
drummer was Billy King. The album went
gold and produced a minor hit with the title track. It also contains "Wide-Eyed Lady", a song co-written by Bob McBride. At Thunder Sounds Recording Studios, the band began work on the next album, and had recorded several tracks when Prokop called it quits and left the band. The album was never completed.
Janus/GRT released
Best of Lighthouse in January 1975 to capitalize on their past success. The album went
gold in Canada. Paul Hoffert recruited new members and Ralph Cole took the band out for another couple of tours with Doug Billard (formerly a member of Pepper Tree, Central Nervous System, and Five Sounds) as lead vocalist but in 1976 Lighthouse disbanded. Cole toured as Lighthouse once again from 1978 to 1980 with a nearly completely new lineup consisting of only one other previous Lighthouse member, Dale Hillary.
Reunion Prokop, Hoffert, Cole, and McBride reunited along with many of the Lighthouse alumni in September 1982 for a weekend of four large concerts at
Ontario Place. Afterwards the members went their separate ways and made no future plans. In 1989,
Denon Records bought the rights to the Evolution/GRT recordings and released a greatest hits collection in Canada,
The Best of Lighthouse - Sunny Days Again. The re-mix of the album was produced by Hoffert, Cole, Prokop, and McBride. In 1992, the band reunited with a ten-member line-up which included founders Prokop, Hoffert, and Cole with McBride on vocals. McBride was dismissed several months later. He was replaced by Dan Clancy. Three years later
Song of the Ages, the band's first new studio album in 22 years, was released by Breaking Records. The single, "Remember the Times", was a top-thirty hit in Canada. In 1998, the original
master tapes of
The Best of Lighthouse - Sunny Days Again were
digitally re-mastered and released on
CD by
True North Records who also re-released
Song of the Ages in 1999. ==After disbandment==