Bands that (probably) didn't record CIA Part 3 - Tribute Band Edition
The first 2-parter post from couple months ago (Part 1 / Part 2) was originally intended to be a one-off post. However, since that post, the list of bands on the Masterlist has ballooned to over 1,200! (mostly bands that played Toronto area clubs around 1984) Consequently, this is likely to be an ongoing, semi-regular, series of posts.
The main goal is to post screenshots from Newspapers.com that contain pertinent band info, since that is a paid source which isn't accessible to everyone. Most everything else can be linked to directly from the Masterlist.
I'm not sure if future editions will the themed, but this one is and it's dedicated to tribute bands.
Evening Tribune (Welland, ON) - Nov 29, 1985
- Just Alice is listed in the article above as an Alice Cooper tribute band.
- Serious Moonlight is listed in the article above as a tribute to David Bowie.
- Green River is listed in the article above as a Creedence Clearwater Revival Band, confirming what was previously learned in Part 1 of this series.
- Moonlight Drive is listed in the article above as a Doors tribute band.
- Dirty White Boys is listed in the article above as a Foreigner tribute band.
- Purple Haze Experience is listed in the article above as a tribute to Jimi Hendrix.
- Power Slave is listed in the article above as an Iron Maiden tribute band.
- Izod (Discogs) is listed in the article above as Judas Priest cover band. According to Eve of Darkness: Toronto Metal in the 1980's: "Put simply, Izod became two different bands. Booking club dates, the original group would play an Izod set, then leave the stage and, having completely changed their clothes, return after the intermission to perform again, now as a Judas Priest tribute act. Effectively opening for themselves, the band could bring in audiences to see the Priest set and expose them to a new group in the process." Examples of Izod's music - Heavy Metal Madman (from Q-107 Homegrown Volume 6) and their 1987 EP, Overdrive.
- Clearlight is listed in the article above as a Pink Floyd cover band. This article from Kent State University's newspaper details a 1987 concert. Similar to Izod's method of performing, Clearlight did two sets, with the second second entirely Pink Floyd material. An example of Clearlight's music: a live performance of 'Pigs on the Wing' from 2011
- Universal Juveniles is listed in the article above as a tribute to Kim Mitchell.
- Glory is listed in the article above as a tribute to Bruce Springsteen.
- River Street Band is listed in the article above as another tribute to Bruce Springsteen.
- Rob Hanna is listed in the article above as a tribute to Rod Stewart.
- Blushing Brides is listed in the article above as a tribute to The Rolling Stones. Examples of their music are available here.
- Midnight Rambler is listed in the article above as another tribute to The Rolling Stones.
- Hooligans is listed in the article above as a tribute to The Who. Wholigans
- Jump is listed in the article above as a Van Halen tribute band.
- The White is listed in the article above as a Led Zeppelin tribute band.
- Presence is listed in the article above as another Led Zeppelin tribute band.
- Screamer is listed in the article above as yet another tribute to Led Zeppelin.
- Afterburner is listed in the article above as a ZZ Top tribute band.
- Ozone Rangers is listed in the article above as another tribute to ZZ Top.
- Tres Hombres is listed in the article above as yet another ZZ Top tribute band. Amazingly, they're still going strong. Here's an example of Tres Hombres performing 'Gimme All Your Lovin' in 2009
- Backdoors is described above as "a Doors sound-alike group"
- Centryx is described in the listing above as "Tribute to Pink Floyd and Yes"
- Eliminator is described above as "ZZ Top specialists". For anyone keeping score, that makes 4! ZZ Top cover bands active in Toronto at the same time. I honestly didn't know ZZ Top were that popular.
- Myth is described in the El Mocambo ad above as a "Tribute to Genesis".
Hamilton Spectator - May 31, 1985
- Panama is described in the ad above as "a nite with Van Halen".
- Revolver is described above as "A Tribute To The Beatles".
Waterloo Region Record - Aug 3, 1984
- Twin Bullet Band is described above as a "Tribute to Bob Seger".
Posted Mar 4, 2026, 7:11 AM UTC
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