The Parachute Club

The Parachute Club came together in Toronto in 1982, and their self-titled debut the following year announced them with "Rise Up", a joyous, drum-driven shout of a song that sounded like a street parade had somehow wandered onto the radio. It was a big band in every sense: Lorraine Segato and Dave Gray on guitars, Steve Webster on bass, Billy Bryans on drums, Lauri Conger on keyboards, Margo Davidson on saxophone and Julie Masi on percussion, all pulling in the same sunny direction.

What set "the Chutes" apart was the beat. They were among the first Canadian pop acts to bend world music into the mainstream, Caribbean rhythms above all, reggae and soca pulsing under the hooks. The Juno Awards took note: Breakthrough Group of the Year and Single of the Year in 1984, Group of the Year in 1985 and Video of the Year in 1987. Between 1983 and 1987 they put three songs into the Canadian top 40, "Rise Up", "At the Feet of the Moon" and "Love Is Fire", the last with John Oates trading vocals.

After the tour behind their third and final album they called it a day, playing one last show in the summer of 1988. A version of the band with four of the old members hit the stage again between 2005 and 2008, and they regrouped in 2011, carrying on in fits and starts through 2014.

Written with AI assistance from RockLists chart data, MusicBrainz and Wikipedia.