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Doug and The Slugs was founded by Toronto-born Doug Bennett, who had been a graphic designer in his home town before moving to Vancouver in
themid-1970s. Bennett would be the band's chief songwriter, frontman and lead singer.After some turnover amongst Slugs in the early months, the
lineup stabilized by 1978, and for the entirety of their recording career (1978–1992), Doug& The Slugs consisted of lead vocalist Doug Bennett,
guitarists Richard Baker and John Burton, keyboardist Simon Kendall, bassist Steve Bosley anddrummer John "Wally" Watson.The band built a solid
following in the V ...read more
Doug and The Slugs was founded by Toronto-born Doug Bennett, who had been a graphic designer in his home town before moving to Vancouver in
themid-1970s. Bennett would be the band's chief songwriter, frontman and lead singer.After some turnover amongst Slugs in the early months, the
lineup stabilized by 1978, and for the entirety of their recording career (1978–1992), Doug& The Slugs consisted of lead vocalist Doug Bennett,
guitarists Richard Baker and John Burton, keyboardist Simon Kendall, bassist Steve Bosley anddrummer John "Wally" Watson.The band built a solid
following in the Vancouver area through constant gigging. Determined to exert control over their own music and artwork, the bandfounded their own
record label, Ritdong Records, and worked out a distribution deal with RCA Records for their recordings. Their debut single "Too Bad"was issued on
Ritdong in February 1980, and became a substantial hit in Vancouver, rising to #2 on local Top 40 station CKLG. Shortly thereafter, thetrack entered
the Canadian hit parade, peaking at #20. Doug & The Slugs self-produced debut album, Cognac & Bologna was also issued in 1980.Throughout the
1980s, a string of singles and albums followed. Their biggest success was 1982's Music For The Hard Of Thinking, which in Canadapeaked at #22, and
spun off two top 40 singles: "Who Knows How To Make Love Stay" and "Making It Work". However, the band didn't break throughinternationally, and
RCA ended their distribution deal with Ritdong in 1984, after the release of the best-of compilation Ten Big Ones.Ritdong then entered into a
distribution deal with A&M Records. Two Doug & The Slugs albums were issued via this deal (1984's Popaganda and 1988'sTomcat Prowl), as well as a
Doug Bennett solo album (1986's Animato, on which all the Slugs played.) The 1988 single "Tomcat Prowl" became the band'sfinal top 40 entry,
peaking at #23.Ritdong's deal with A&M expired after Tomcat Prowl, and the group didn't record for several years. Doug & The Slugs' final album
(1992's Tales FromTerminal City) came out on their own Tomcat Records label. It is the only Doug & The Slugs album not to have hit the Canadian
charts.Most of the Slugs left the band after 1992, although Kendall stayed until 1994. After this time, Bennett toured with an ever-rotating cast of
newmusicians, still billing the act as Doug & The Slugs. He continued to perform with the group until his death in October 2004.After a gap of several
years, the original Slugs (Baker, Bosley, Burton, Kendall and Watson) reunited in 2009 and invited singer Ted Okos to be their newfrontman. The
group still performs live dates as Doug & The Slugs, although there is now no-one named Doug in the band. « hide |
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