Canadian classic rock band Lighthouse are all set to light up Whoop-Up Days, Aug. 23, with beaming smiles and ’70s hits like “One Fine Morning,” “Sunny Days,” “Pretty Lady,” “Hats Off To The Stranger” and “1849.”
“We’ll be playing a good portion of our songs that people will remember. We don’t have the time to play all 42 of our songs,” said drummer Skip Prokop. Each of the band members will also get a chance to show what they can do in solo spots.
The band, who formed in 1969, as a conglomeration of top session cats, film score composers, jazz musicians
and members of the Toronto Symphony Orchestra, started as a 15 piece band including a classical strings section and jazz horn section backed by a crack rock rhythm section, which gave them the flexibility to perform everything from jazz jams, classical music and the upbeat pop-rock that has kept them going strong ever since.
“When we started, bands had a lot of horns and strings they recorded in the studio, but when you’d go to see them live, it would only be three or four guys and you’d wonder what happened to the other 22,” he said.
“ So the idea was one, we could perform all kinds of different kinds of music. And two, we wanted to reproduce on stage what you heard on our records. And nobody had seen a 13-piece rock orchestra before,” he recalled.
“So people would be turned on by it and tell their friends, and the next time there would be twice as many there,” he continued.
They’ve since trimmed down to a 10 piece band including two keyboardists, which allow them to replace the strings and some of the horns, but they still have four founding members — guitarist Ralph Cole, keyboardist Paul Hoffert, drummer Skip Prokop and trombonist Russ Little.
Unfortunately Little won’t be able to make it to Whoop-Up Days, Aug. 23 — the band’s first visit to Lethbridge since 1974 due to accidentally falling down some stairs. Prokop said he’s all right, and underwent surgery for it, but will miss some shows as a result.
The band still enjoys putting on a great show, which has timeless appeal because Prokop always considered Lighthouse to be a very optimistic sounding band, which appeals to the fans.
“We’re a pretty positive sounding band. That isn’t to say we don’t write deeper songs. ‘1849’ is a pretty tragic story about a family that moves west. The one brother kills the other and the daughter dies,” Prokop said.
. While they began as a freewheeling, experimental jazz/ classical/ pop band, Prokop met producer Jimmy Ienner who convinced him that the only way they would get played on AM radio of the time was to have a catchy hook.
“He said ‘You’re not writing material that would ever be heard on AM radio format. You have to craft it so there is a hook people can identify with,’” he said.
The biggest thing they are promoting now is a massive, re-recorded set of their 16 most popular songs, “ 40 Years of Sunny Days,” CD/ DVD set which features re-recorded versions of their favourite hits in 5.1 Surround-sound.
“ These aren’t just remastered versions of the songs. We re-recorded them all top to bottom 16 of our most popular songs. And we have a tight horn section. It’s great. When you listen to it, it feels like you’re sitting on my drum set,” he said.
He never gets tired of playing the old hits or being classified as a classic rock band.
“I love it and love these songs. Those songs are the reason why we all get to get together and play music for a living. They are why people come out to see the band. I have a lot of affection for them,” he said.
“I guess, I enjoy just getting together with these guys and playing on stage. We’ve been together for 19 years,” Prokop said.
They also enjoy meeting the fans after the show, which contributes to their continued popularity.
“Whenever we can we’ll set up a table and people can bring their old posters, albums and sometimes even old 45s, for us to sign,” he said.
“I don’t enjoy getting on a plane and having to be at the airport two and a half hours for a 10 a.m. flight, now. You used to just be able to go to the airport and catch your flight, I don’t enjoy that part of it. But it’s fun being on stage with these guys, I love it,” he said.
He has been busy working smooth jazz projects when Lighthouse isn’t on tour.
“This year has been slow. We played a lot of festivals last year and they don’t usually book the same band two years on a row,” he said.
“I still write a lot of material,” he said adding occasionally some of it ends up in Lighthouse’s set.
The band hasn’t been to Lethbridge since 1974, so they are looking forward to it.
“ I don’t remember Lethbridge, but I remember that tour. Lethbridge was on it because we got corporate sponsorship from Labatts and were able to get to a lot of out of the way places. We were the first Canadian band to get corporate sponsorship. We were the first Canadian band to do a lot of things,” Prokop said.
“But we’re really excited about it. We’re looking forward to it, so if you have got any old albums or posters, bring them and we’ll sign them,” he said.
— By Richard Amery, L.A. Beat Editor
