Members
Original lineup:
- Mitchell Field aka Mitch Hellfield - Lead Vocals
- Rick Lamb- Keyboards, Vocals
- Jamie Larsen- Bass, Vocals
- Dave Hovey- Guitar, Vocals
- Steve Coombs- Drums
Later additions:
- Paul Royes- Guitar (replacing Dave Hovey)
- Billy Smith- Drums (replacing Steve Coombs)
- Charlie Mitchell- Drums (replacing Billy Smith)
- Rod Blacker- Drums (replacing Charlie Mitchell)
Biography
In early 1977, Mitch Hellfield (real name Mitchell Field), approached CBS Records A & R man, and legendary producer, Bob Gallo with a demo tape of original material. Hellfield himself had once played drums for John Lee Hooker and had since been bouncing around the Montreal and Toronto club scenes with bands such as Next, which featured former members of legendary Canadian band, Crowbar. Gallo was impressed by the demo material, but CBS was not in the market for a new solo artist at that time and advised Hellfield that he would have to put a band together in order to get any interest from CBS. Hellfield quickly recruited Larsen and Hovey from club act Dennison Booth, plus Lamb and Coombs to fill out the roster. The band, now called Hellfield proper, went into the rehearsal studio for 2 months to write more material and produce a second demo tape. Hellfield returned to CBS to see Gallo and the band was immediately signed to the label for a two album deal. In early 1978, Hellfield's self-titled debut was released on Epic Records with Bob Gallo as producer and CBS Canada president Arnold Gosewich as executive producer. The album contained two power-pop singles -- "Too Long" and "Tell Me Are You Listening" -- which both received major airplay on Canadian FM Rock stations as well as some US cities such as St. Louis and San Antonio as an import. The 2 singles lingered on the RPM Top 100 charts for several months in '78 and '79. During the recording of and following the first album, Gallo became concerned about two points he thought were holding the band back. One was the playing abilities of drummer Coombs who was solid live but did not work well under pressure in the studio (Hellfield himself played drums on most of the first album). The second issue concerned Hellfield's management team who insisted on keeping the band in the clubs and smaller venues as a budget saving measure rather than doing low paying, but high profile shows with the likes of Toto, Meatloaf and Santana which CBS had readily offered them. The first problem was soon resolved with Coombs being replaced by Billy Smith from St. Catharines. Still, the band toured extensively to promote the first album opening shows for such acts as Max Webster, Triumph, and The Little River Band. Hellfield also opened for the Cars that summer at Maple Leaf Gardens -- to favourable reviews. Although the first album failed to land in stores in the US, it did sell well in Canada and the UK and garner some attention south of the border, fuelling expectations for the second release. In 1979, Hellfield's second album, "Night Music" was released. It again featured the power pop sensibilities and soaring vocal harmonies which had powered the first album. Again, two singles, "Night Music", a cover version of a Jackson Hawke song, and "Caroline" received major airplay on Canadian FM radio and the album garnered producer, Gallo, a Juno nomination for Best Producer in 1980. However, the label was now very concerned about the band's management and the increased line-up changes. Hellfield had replaced guitarist Hovey with Paul Royes, and drummer Smith with Charlie Mitchell. They would soon fire their management company and head back on the road to promote "Night Music". CBS, meanwhile, had problems of their own. CBS U.S. had been cleaning house in their Canadian headquarters and fired president Arnold Gosewich, Bob Gallo and a select portion of the Canadian office replacing them with a new A & R and promotions team. The "Night Music" album was lost in the shuffle and a much anticipated US release was scuttled. Hellfield returned to Toronto from the road to re-group. By the end of 1980 Mitch Hellfield had grown tired of the keyboard oriented power pop that dominated their two albums and so, Hellfield, Larsen and Royes decided to incorporate a heavier, metal-edged guitar sound. They fired Lamb as keyboardist and replaced Mitchell with hard hitting drummer Rod Blacker. They once again took to the rehearsal room to refine the new, heavier version of Hellfield. For the next couple of years Hellfield played the Canadian bar circuit and were very popular in hard rock venues such as The Gasworks in Toronto. However, their allies at CBS were few and far between and the band's recording contract was not renewed. In 1982, frustrated with their inability to land a new recording contract and return to life on the road, the band went its separate ways. Royes is currently a multi-media consultant in Toronto and is the driving force behind new age artist The Cybertarist; Rick Lamb surfaced in the mid 90s as keyboardist for re-united Canadian classic rockers, A Foot in Cold Water, but, sadly, succumbed to cancer in 2004; Larsen is a Computer Network Engineer in Vancouver and is currently writing and recording with West Coast indie Country Rock duo, The Mustangs, as well as performing with Vancouver classic rock outfit, Airborne; Rod Blacker would go on to play with Eagles tribute act, Desperado as well as Play Doctor and The Hitmen. Mitchell Field is currently pursuing a solo career in Montreal.