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The Looking Glass
Get It Down / Waterfall - 7"
Polydor - 1969
Michael Panontin
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The Looking Glass formed in the Niagara Peninsula in the spring of 1968, and it certainly didn't take long for their riveting live sets to get noticed.
"The Looking Glass, from St. Catharines, are probably the most stimulating and animated rock-a-blues revue-type shows on the continent," RPM magazine raved in its 26 Aug 1968 issue. "It's obvious, from their delivery and tightness, that they've spent many hours together. Their act is well calculated to excite. They tend to build a frenzy pitch with each of their uptempo numbers. Their lighting system is superb. Their set (stage) is completely portable and includes a curtained-off area from where the group makes its entry."
At the time, the Looking Glass were fronted by lead vocalist Alex Purcell (ne Piccirillo) "a natural for an up-front man", wrote RPM, adding that "his movements, like the lights and instrumental offering, are equally exciting". But there was also talent galore behind Purcell in ex-Scarlet Wizard guitarists Dave VanDuzen (lead) and Steve Hogg (rhythm, replacing original member Terry Walsh), keyboardist/clarinetist Stew Farago, and a backfield of former British Modbeat bassist Joe Colonna and drummer Dave Papernick.
The Looking Glass appeared on CBC-TV's Where It's At in October '68. From there, they went on to sign with Polydor, who promptly whisked the guys off to the big city. "We recorded an album in New York in the winter of 1968 that was produced by Jack Richardson," Hogg told CM. In March '69, they again entered the studio, this time in Quebec and without Purcell. By the early fall, the Looking Glass had issued what would be their only record, a cracking soul/funk single called 'Get It Down' with Hogg's baroque 'Waterfall' on the flipside.
"'Get It Down' was recorded in Montreal where the Polydor reps were," VanDuzen recalled. "Dave Papernick drums, Steve Hogg rhythm guitar and vocals, Stuart Farago lead vocals, Joe Colonna bass and vocals, and me on lead guitar and vocals." The song was written and produced by Neil Sheppard, a.k.a. Neil Ship, who was enjoying a bit of a high on the modest success of his Life project and their 'Hands of the Clock' single, a #19 hit nationally that summer.
'Get It Down' is a heavily rhythmic affair, laced with percussion and bass and punctuated with blasts of brass horns and funky guitar. But it seems to have been mostly ignored in Ontario in favour of the backside. "'Waterfall' got some airplay in Ontario," Hogg remembered, "[but] we weren't very happy with the production of 'Get it Down', as it didn't compare to Jack Richardson's." Curiously, though, 'Get It Down' did manage to get a few spins in the far-off Alberta town of Edson, about a couple of hours west of Edmonton.
The Looking Glass were unfortunately not long for this world. "The band broke up when I had a serious motorcycle accident," VanDuzen explained. "I spent a year recovering and during that time Steve hooked up with Ian Thomas." Though Hogg was the only member to taste real fame, plucking bass strings for Thomas on his hugely popular 1973 hit 'Painted Ladies', the others, as VanDuzen is quick to point out, also found their own niches in the music biz.
"Farago hosted a weekly C&W Television show out of Hamilton [and] Alex went on to the live stage production Spring Thaw, singing and dancing up a storm. I went on to play lead guitar for Ronnie Hawkins and the Hawks as house band at the Nickelodeon in Toronto and the odd TV performance. I then moved on to Seadog doing live performances and recording. I later hooked up with Ronnie again in 1992 to play a Caribbean cruise, the Country Music Awards and the Cannes Music Festival as well as some TV spots."
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