49- Friday, September 6, 1985 - North Shore News “London | shows worth it PAGE 50 Trees sprout from Pris IN THE SHIFTING tides of rock and roli, to- day’s superstar is tomorrow’s lounge act. Al Harlow, North Van- couver's original hometown rock and roll ‘boy makes good’, has travelled round trip aboard the rock and roiler coaster, and has arriv- ed again at the beginning with sanity, talent, and wit intact. His musical sensibilities bear a tempering edge gained through experience. His sense of humor — always a bubbling, unbending force — now wields the slice and slash of an entertainer who has viewed the whole glitter- .ing rock business from the revealing perspective of the scrap heap’s peak. In 1978, Harlow took off with the other four members of the Vancouver-based rock band Prism for a four-year By TIMOTHY RENSHAW tour of world-wide rock and roll stardom. On September 19, Harlow, former Prism rhythm and bass guitarist will join forces with former Prism drummer Rocket Nor- ton and former Prism syn- thesizer wizard John Hall for a four-day stand at Holidays nightclub in North Vancouver. NEW BAND The trio will perform at Holidays as the Trees, a band moniker that will twig the memories of most veteran North Shere folk familiar with the varied in- carnations of Harlow’s work in former North Shore bands. As to whether the musical reunion of he, Norton, and Hall is the first concrete at- tempt by the three to rinse the bad taste of Prism col- lapse from their collective mouths, Hariow will only say the gig is a tentative testing of the waters. “Obviously, in putting this dangerous combination together people will im- mediately recognize that the band is three-fifths of Prism which will naturally give rise to rumors of a Prism reu- nion,’? says Harlow, ‘*but there are no such plans as yet. We are just slowly whipping ourselves back into shape.”’ From 1978 to 1981, Prism was one of Canada’s biggest bands, a five-man contingent of some of Vancouver's best musical talent that grew from a four-song demo or- ganized by record prvsiucer Bruce Fairbairn. One of what would soon be a fleet of Bruce Allen-managed rock and roll successes, the band toured relentlessly in the U.S. before returning home aboard triumphant shoulders of U.S. popularity and record sales. BEST GROUP In 1981 Prism received a Juno Award for Best Cana- dian Group of 1980, after racking up five consecutive double platinum albums. The band would eventually sell approximately two mil- Sion albums worldwide. The voracious nature of the music business and the animosity of conflicting ego and musical direction it so often inspires amongst its musicians brought Prism to an eventual collapse in 1982. The band’s various “holo submitted members subsequently took extended vacations from each other and experimented in various low-profile musical projects. Prism lead singer Ron Tabak died on Christmas Day, 1984. Though post-Prism suc- cess on the scale they had enjoyed eluded each member, Harlow, who now teaches songwriting and popular musical history classes at Capilano College, says ‘‘none of us made any overt desperate attempts to get back to the top.”’ Both desire and energy to remount that particularly long and slippery ladder back had evaporated, he ex- plains. CONTINUATION Norton sees Trees #5 more the continuation of a long and fruitful musical partner- ship than any belated outgrowth of Prism: “John and [ have played together for 20 years, and we’ve both played off and on with Al for 18 years. So our working together again is anything but surprising. Norton, who has recently been hired as music director for CKVU and who, along with Hall, is the station’s house band, says the Trees will present a musical collage of material from its members past bands: Harlow, The Seeds of Time, and Prism, along with the classic rock and roll from the ’60s and '70s that origi- nally inspired all three to become musicians. COMMITMENT The Trees, says Harlow, will be epproaching its four nights at Helidays with the production and technical commitment of a large scale concert rather than. just another week’s gig at a nightclub. He promises flashing lights, surprise guests, and a depth of veteran musical dexterity culled from de- cades of experience that will be matched with the elec- tronic musical technology unleashed by the computer revolution of the "80s. - Revival of past glories, renditions of all your old favorites, a showcase of focal talent, call it what you may, the Trees’ perfor- mance, Harlow says, will entertain. FORMER NUCLEUS of the Juno-award-winning rock band Prism, (left to right) Al Harlow, Rocket Norton, and John Hall reunite creative forces as the Trees. The trio will per- form at Holidays September 10 to 14. O PTI M I ST C L U B ” = of the NORTH SHORE (Men's Service Club dedic:: | to the Community and You.) New mernbers welcome! ‘NOW' Dinner Meeting - Tues., Sept. 10, 7:00 p.m. alt Yic’s - 127 E. 3rd St., N.V. (Orientation - puilosophy, scope, activities). Regular meetings 2nd and 4th Tuesdays. ‘i.ook on the sunny side of everything and make your optimism come true.’ ‘Friend