• Source: The Northern Pikes

The Northern Pikes are a Canadian rock band formed in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, in 1984. The original members are Jay Semko, Bryan Potvin, Merl Bryck and Glen Hollingshead, who left the band in 1985 and was replaced by Jay Semko in June 1986. Rob Esch left after the second independent EP Scene In North America (1987?)
The band was active until 1993 and toured and recorded again from 1999 through to the present.
The Northern Pikes were inducted into the Western Canadian Music Hall of Fame on Sunday, September 30, 2012, in Regina, Saskatchewan.
The band released its ninth record of original material, Forest of Love, on June 7, 2019.




History


The Northern Pikes released two independent EPs before being signed to Virgin Records in 1986, The Northern Pikes (1984) and Scene in North America (1985). They also recorded a song for Saskatchewan After Dark, a 1985 compilation of Saskatchewan-based artists sponsored by the provincial government. Their first album for Virgin, Big Blue Sky, included the Semko-penned "Teenland", the band's first significant hit. The follow-up album Secrets of the Alibi contained three Canadian hits, "Wait for Me", "Let's Pretend" & "Hopes Go Astray".
Their 1990 album Snow in June became their biggest seller in Canada and the US. That album's lead single, "She Ain't Pretty", was the band's biggest hit, and was written by Potvin. An innovative music video for that song received heavy play on MuchMusic and was nominated for a Juno Award in 1991. Overall, the band has been nominated for five Juno Awards, but have yet to record a win.
In early 1992, the band released the single "Everyone's a Hero" for the Canadian Special Olympics. Later that year, the band released their next album, Neptune. The album's biggest hit, "Believe", was written by Potvin. After touring to support the album, they announced their retirement as a group in July 1993.
In 1999, Virgin Records asked the band members for their input on a "greatest hits" package. The band decided to do a short promotional tour following the release of Hits and Assorted Secrets 1984-1993, but found themselves enjoying the more relaxed independence of making their own schedule that they continued touring. They have since released three independent albums, including Truest Inspiration (2001) and It's a Good Life (2003), as well as the aptly titled Live (2000).
In 2005, the band struck up a musical collaboration with Les Stroud. Throughout 2005 and 2006 they performed together live several times. A six-song EP born from this collaboration entitled Long Walk Home was released in the spring of 2007, and was credited to "Les Stroud & The Pikes".
In 2006, Merl Bryck made the decision to curtail his touring schedule, and left the Northern Pikes. Long-time sideman Ross Nykiforuk joined the band on keyboards as the fourth member onstage from 2006 to 2011. Since then, Semko, Potvin and Schmid have continued touring under the Northern Pikes banner as, in their own words, a "power trio". In 2017, Grapes of Wrath guitarist Kevin Kane joined them for their 30th Anniversary of "Big Blue Sky" Tour, becoming a full-time member of the band in 2018 for the recording of Forest Of Love. The 10-track record is the band's first in 16 years and also features original members Semko, Schmid and Potvin. BlueFrog Studios hosted the band for two official pre-release concerts on June 6, 2019, which were viewed via Facebook Live and YouTube Live. The band began working on a new album in early 2020, which Jay Semko described as a "tribute to Snow in June'" but postponed finishing it due to travel restrictions and difficulty getting together in studio due to the Covid pandemic. They plan to finish it and have it out by 2022.
In 2019, Semko recorded a new version of the band's 1987 single "The Things I Do for Money", in collaboration with cellists Theodor and Maximilian Aoki, for the soundtrack to Warren P. Sonoda's feature film Things I Do for Money.




Discography






= Studio albums

=
1987 – Big Blue Sky
1988 – Secrets of the Alibi
1990 – Snow in June
1992 – Neptune
2001 – Truest Inspiration
2003 – It's a Good Life
2019 – Forest of Love
2023 - Time to Time




= Independently-released EPs

=
1984 – The Northern Pikes
1985 – Scene in North America




= Collaborative EP

=
2007 – Les Stroud & the Pikes: Long Walk Home




= Live albums

=
1993 – Gig
2000 – Live




= Compilations

=
1999 – Hits and Assorted Secrets 1984-1993
2007 – Platinum




= Appearances

=
1985 – Saskatchewan After Dark (track "Working in My Head")




= Singles

=




References


Citations




External links


The Northern Pikes Official Site
Northern Pikes CanConRox entry
The Northern Pikes at MySpace
The Northern Pikes[usurped] entry at JAM! The Canadian Pop Encyclopedia
The Northern Pikes discography at Discogs
The Northern Pikes at IMDb
Jay Semko interview discussing The Northern Pikes

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