Born in Ottawa, Canada in 1953, Bernie LaBarge started playing guitar at age 11. During the 1970s he was the front man and/or guitarist for many popular Canadian bands (Bond, Rain, Sweet Blindness, Zwol, Stem, Stingaree.)
Bernie released a single entitled "Dream Away" (WEA) in 1981. It still receives strong AOR airplay to this day. It was produced by budding producer Daniel Lanois, and features Bernie on guitar, vocals, and electric piano, world-renowned producer / songwriter Jim Vallance on drums, and Red Rider / Tom Cochrane bassist Jeff Jones.
Bernie was nominated for Most Promising Male Vocalist at the 1984 Juno Awards for his album entitled "Barging In" (Sony). That album is currently released in Europe by Long Island Records. He has released records on Warner Bros., Sony, BMG, and various independent labels. His first original recording was "Catwalk", recorded by Rain in 1972 and released on Axe Records. Bernie has also been a sideman on over 100 recordings.
He's worked with Kim Mitchell, Long John Baldry, David Clayton-Thomas, The Shakers, Walter Zwol, Cassandra Vasik, The Irish Rovers, Doug Riley, Frank Biner of Tower of Power, John Sebastian, David Cassidy, Joel Feeney, and Sass Jordan, among many others. Bernie and world-renowned producer Jack Richardson have spent many years working together. "Jack is my surrogate father", says Bernie.
Bernie has composed and performed on many North American and Worldwide jingles i.e. Coke, Pepsi, GM, Ford, and Nissan, and he played guitar on Jim Henson's popular Fraggle Rock TV series (1983-87), Smith & Smith (1979-85), Danger Bay (1985 - 1989) on CBC, and Party With The Rovers (1983-86) on Global Television. He won the Canadian Songwriting Contest in 1986 (Best R&B Song category). His single "Dream Away" (produced by Daniel Lanois) was one of the most-played songs of 1981.
Many top Canadian and International performers have covered his songs. Currently Toronto-based, Bernie is the lead guitarist for David Clayton-Thomas, The Dexters and Danny B and the R&B All-Stars . In addition, Bernie plays the guitar on the worldwide distributed Doodlebops children's TV show. In November 2004 The Dexters completed their tenth anniversary at The Orbit Room. Bernie has the distinction of having played at The Orbit Room more times than anyone in its history... more than 1000 appearances.
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BERNIE'S BANDS
If anyone is interested in how I became an "overnight sensation", I thought I'd jot down the bands I played in over the years. These are all full-time bands. I have purposely not included any bands in which I have subbed. I hope I haven't forgotten any, and the years are approximate...
1967 - THE UNDERGROUND TAXI SERVICE
1968 - 1969 THE ROYAL BANKE
1969 - 1972 STEM
1972 - 1973 RAIN
1973 - 1974 THE JAX 'N LYNDA
1974 GEORGE OLLIVER'S BLUE-EYED BROTHERHOOD
1974 - 1975 HOT DOG
1975 - 1976 WHIZZ
1976 - 1977 STINGAREE
1978 - 1979 BOND
1979 SWEET BLINDNESS
1980 ZWOL
1980 - 1981 KEARNEY, KING, McBRIDE & LABARGE
1983 - 1990 THE IRISH ROVERS
1987 MIND OVER MATTER
1989 - 1996 THE DANNY B BLUES BAND
1992 - 1994 CASSANDRA VASIK
1994 - ? THE DEXTERS
1999 - 2002 OFF THE RECORD
2002 - THE INCONTINENTALS
2002 - 2006 THE STICKMEN
2005 - present- DAVID CLAYTON-THOMAS
2009 - present - RHINOCEROS
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THE ORBIT ROOM SAGA
The Dexters opened The Orbit Room in November of 1994. We played Thursday - Saturday from November 1994 until January 1997 (approximately 325 dates). Then we played Friday - Saturday from January 1997 until April 1999 (approximately 232 dates). Then we played Saturdays only from April 1999 - November 2004 (approximately 250 dates).
Stem played four times at The Orbit Room (Dec 31/00, July 29/01, Aug 26/01, and Dec 2/01).
Off The Record played at The Orbit Room from May 21/99 until December 28/01 (approximately 135 dates).
The Incontinentals / The Stickmen played at The Orbit Room from February 1/02 until April 10/04 (approximately 110 dates).
Add 'em up. That's at least 1,056 times I played at The Orbit Room. Those dates don't include special events, either.
And people still ask me what I've been up to!
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BAND MEMBERS
I'll do my best to remember these names.... Please forgive me if I've left anyone out, and let me know if I've messed up.
THE UNDERGROUND TAXI SERVICE- Gary Connors, Gary Goodwin, Dave Street, Herbie Burnside, Carl Noble, Mike Standing, Bernie LaBarge.
THE ROYAL BANKE- Dave Clewer, Roger Gabsewicz, Johnnie Johnson, Dave Thrasher, Chuck Damjanovic, Bernie LaBarge.
STEM- Bernie LaBarge, Johnnie Johnson, Dave Aldham, Phil Greason, Garry Brown.
STEM (Version 2)- Bernie LaBarge, Brian LeBlanc, Bill Dillon, Richard Best.
RAIN- Charlie Hall, Phyllis Boltz, Brian LeBlanc, Chris Woroch, Bernie LaBarge.
THE JAX 'N LYNDA- Lynda Layne, Frank Pollard, Bobby Gray, Bernie LaBarge.
BLUE-EYED BROTHERHOOD- George Olliver, Bernie LaBarge, Sharon Hicks, Butch Walker, Paul Skoreyko, Benoit Perrault, Glenn Higgins, Almeta Latimer, Gail Berry.
HOT DOG- Bernie LaBarge, John Aleksa, Fred Leighton, Dave Aldham, Glenn Higgins, Dave Buckley.
WHIZZ- Bernie LaBarge, Howie McLean, Mark Blacher, Larry Hamel.
STINGAREE- Bernie LaBarge, Jeff Jones, Brian MacLeod, Skip Layton, Larry Hamel, Don Harriss.
BOND- Bernie LaBarge, Bill Dunn, Colin Walker, Ted Trenholm.
SWEET BLINDNESS- Bobby Dupont, Grant Slater, Ed White, Bruce Barrow, Bernie LaBarge, Nat Abraham.
ZWOL- Walter Zwol, Dennis Pinhorn, Bernie LaBarge, Grant Slater, Sonnie Bernardi, Paul Armstrong.
KEARNEY, KING, McBRIDE & LABARGE- Christopher Kearney, Bill King, Danny McBride, Bernie LaBarge, Gene Falbo, Gord Neave, Jim Vallance, Kevan MacKenzie, Paul DeLong.
THE IRISH ROVERS- Will Millar, George Millar, Joe Millar, Wilcil McDowell, Jimmy Ferguson, Bernie LaBarge, Kevin McKeown.
MIND OVER MATTER- Bernie LaBarge, Grant Slater, Paul DeLong, Gene Falbo.
DANNY B BLUES BAND- Danny Balaka, Phil Woodard, Bernie LaBarge, Steve Kennedy, Whitey Glan, Peter Cardinali, Doug Riley.
CASSANDRA VASIK- Gene Falbo, Dan Howlett, Bernie LaBarge, Cassandra Vasik, Stefan Szczesniak, Don Rooke, Randall Coryell.
THE DEXTERS- Lou Pomanti, Bernie LaBarge, Mike Sloski, Peter Cardinali, Greg Critchley, Jorn Andersen.
OFF THE RECORD- Bernie LaBarge, Russ Boswell, Terry Hatty, Greg Critchley, Bill McCauley, Grant Slater, Rob Gusevs, Neil Donell, Charlie Cooley, Mike Pellarin, Paul DeLong.
THE INCONTINENTALS- Katalin Kiss, Brent Barkman, Gene Falbo, Jim Casson, Bernie LaBarge.
THE STICKMEN- Brent Barkman, Gene Falbo, Jim Casson, Bernie LaBarge.
DAVID CLAYTON-THOMAS - Bruce Cassidy, Vern Dorge, Jason Logue, Michael Stuart, Russ Little, Larry Shields, George Koller, Paul DeLong, Bernie LaBarge, Lou Pomanti, Steve Hunter, Grant Slater, Rob Gusevs, Howard Ayee, Doug Gibson, Brigham Phillips.
RHINOCEROS- John Finley, Alan Gerber, Danny Weis, Michael Fonfara, Peter Hodgson, Bernie LaBarge, Mike Sloski.
GONE BUT NOT FORGOTTEN
I've been blessed with wonderful friends throughout my life...most of whom have made an indelible impression on who I am today. This list is by no means complete, in no particular order, and by no means is it over. I miss these people every day.
Danny Hourigan, Father Warren, Bill Anderson, David Lodge, Derek Meredith Sr., Brian MacLeod, Bill McCauley, Donnie Troiano, Terry MacKay, Sean Flood, Mike Konn, Tommy Houston, Jimmy Begg, Bob Aird, my dad, Aunt Rita Mulvihill, Uncle John Mulvihill, Don Gillis, Bert Hermiston, Jim Henson, Tom Campbell, Sheila Henderson, John Hanna, Brian Ayres, Bob McBride, Earl Seymour, Bob Price, Jimmy Ferguson, Karl Riedl, David Pritchard, Dave Killingbeck, George Breithaupt, Jim Ainslie, Long John Baldry, Bobb Dyer, Marilyn Casson, Richard Newell, Father James Mihm, Denny Doherty, David Norris-Elye, Rod Phillips, Richard Bell, Doug Riley, Brian Baird, Jeff Healey, Betsy Millar, Greg Johnston, Greg Adams, Paul Thrasher, my cousin John Mulvihill, Mac MacArthur, Paul Naumann, John Cleveland Hughes, Craig (Cub) Richardson, Hugh Graham, Wade Brown.
Most of these friends were taken away far too early.