“Seems Like Yesterday” – An Interview With Sam Reid From Glass Tiger

(Toronto, ON) – Glass Tiger, a “pop rock” group, originally from Newmarket Ontario, graced the airwaves with a fury back in 1986. This previously unheard of band suddenly started charting hit songs left, right and center within Canada and the US. Their smash hit “Don’t Forget Me” charted #1 on the Canadian airwaves, while in the US topped out at #2. They’ve received numerous Juno awards as well as a Grammy nomination in 1997 for Best New Artist.

Thin Red Line set a record for being the fastest selling debut recording in Canadian history, going gold within weeks of its release. Diamond Sun, their sophomore release received double platinum status, with their most lucrative single being “I’m Still Searching”.

Glass Tiger have toured the world, sold millions of albums and have rubbed elbows with the likes of Bryan Adams and Rod Stewart.

Today you can still find them doing a few select dates here and there, that is of course, when they can find time from their busy schedules.

Alan Frew (singer) continues to write and record. He has written the 2010 Olympic Broadcast Theme called “I Believe” and the Toronto Maple Leafs theme called “Free to Be (This is Canada’s Song)”. He has also penned a motivational book called “Action Sandwich“. Sam Reid (keyboards) founded his own production company Willow Music, and now, also owns/manages a state-of-the-art recording studio in Newmarket, Ontario called SlipOne Digital. Al Connelly (guitarist) produces, writes his own material, and continues to perform, while Wayne Parker (bass) is looking up to the stars, literally! He has launched his own company called SkyShed Observatories, which designs and builds telescope observatories for astronomers. Chris McNeil is considered one of the most sought out drummers in Toronto, playing with artist such as Amanda Marshall, Randy Bachman, Honeymoon Suite and Platinum Blonde just to name a few. But it’s not all about the drums. He’s also emerging as a top producer.

I’ve had the opportunity to interview Sam Reid. Here’s what we spoke about.

Sue – Lets start from the beginning. Glass Tiger was originally known as Tokyo. Why the change in name? And how did it become Glass Tiger?

Sam – When we first formed in 1981 we were in a hurry to find a name to print on a concert ticket for our first show. At the time Asian fashion was very popular. That may have influenced our choice of name as Tokyo. We shot our first band promo photo in Chinatown in Toronto. We became popular within the local club scene and caught the eye of Capitol Records. They offered us a record deal when they saw us open up for Culture Club at Maple Leaf Gardens Toronto. We didn’t want to continue into our professional career as Tokyo so we decided to find a new name. Al Connelly had suggested “Paper Tiger” which was ok, but then Alan Frew suggested switching to “Glass Tiger” and we all loved that name.

Sue – During the 80’s the record companies had a lot of impact regarding how albums where going to sound. Creatively speaking, was there any pressure by the record company to make the album Thin Red Line more commercial?

Sam – Many of the band’s songs like “Thin Red Line” existed before we got involved with Capitol Records so our style was firmly established. They did feel we needed a couple of “radio friendly” songs to drive the album so they sent us out to Vancouver to write with Jim Vallance, who was a major part of the success of Bryan Adams. Jim was knows as the “hit maker” at the time and we ended up writing 2 of our most popular songs on our first visit with him. Don’t Forget Me and Someday were created on the first day we arrived in Vancouver. Capitol Records were thrilled when we brought those 2 songs home and they became the major hit singles from that album. Jim Vallance was impressed with the band’s songs and offered to produce the album. We had a good idea of what we wanted but it was the choice of Jim Vallance as our producer that created the sound for that album.

Sue – You were together for 3 years when national and international fame struck. Did you expect the overwhelming success of the band and where you prepared for all the attention that ensued?

Sam – Prior to our first album release we were essentially a bar band so our world changed radically once we finished the first record and the first single started to gain momentum. Don’t Forget Me raced up the charts so fast that things changed quickly for us. We were presented with a flood of media work and also an opportunity to tour across Canada, the US and in Europe. At 20 years of age it was exciting but strange to be away from our friends and family for an extended period of time. We toured almost non stop for 17 months following the release of Thin Red Line. It was difficult to stay in touch with our families as there was no email or internet etc. Now there’s WIFI in all of our tour buses and every hotel so you can “facetime” your family while traveling.

Sue – In 2005 GT recorded “Give it away” and “No turning back” for their 20th year anniversary DVD entitled “No turning Back”. Glass Tiger 1985 – ­2005. Where these newly written songs, or where they a part of your repertoire that never saw the light of day?

Sam – “Give it Away” And “No Turning Back” were written specifically for that release. Alan and I went out to Vancouver to write them with Jim Vallance like the old days. We even brought in the mixing engineer that did the original masters. Fun to get the old team back together.

Sue – To what do you attribute your longevity in the music scene?

Sam – We have been lucky that all the band members still enjoy being together on the road and enjoy performing for fans. Without good songs that would not be possible. It all starts with a song and the rest is history. I still enjoy hearing our music on the radio after all these years.