(reprinted from Thornhill Times, August 1995)
By Sean B. Pasternak
In 1964, four young men from Liverpool, England got off a plane in America to have thousands upon thousands of screaming fans welcoming them. They knew that they had truly arrived.
Thirty years later (last summer, to be exact), four young men from Thornhill, Ontario wowed some 16,000 fans at Paramount Canada's Wonderland. They, too, knew that they had truly arrived.
While it may considered sacrilege by some to even compare the Fab Four to an Capella combo from Thornhill, there are actually many similarities between The Beatles and Simple Tone members Jonathan Hiltz, Brandon Rozen, Jason Stavroff and Shane Ho.
The first thing one picks up on when chatting with the group is their fantastic sense of humour. Much like John, Paul, George and Ringo before them, The Simple Tones have the ability to make fun of themselves, a sure sign that they're comfortable with their success. To wit:
"When we first sending out demo's to record companies, we thought that companies would come running to sign us on. I guess that point we were young and foolish," Jonathan recalls when asked about the group's early beginnings some three years ago.
"But that's just my opinion. I don't know if you guys believe me on that...."
"No, I believe you when you say you're foolish," Shane cuts in jokingly.
In actuality, the group have already begun the process of making The Simple Tones a household name, and not just in the neighbourhood, either. They can be seen regularly crooning their fifties-esque tunes at SkyDome's Gate 14, and they also have concerts lined up at Ontario Place and the Concerts In The Park series later this August. The group has appeared on the television programs Breakfast Television, Lunch Television and Eye On Toronto, as well as radio stations 640 AM, 1050 CHUM, CHFI, CFRB. Not quite the Ed Sullivan Show, to be sure, but still appearances that would make many local musicians envious.
Despite the group's newfound success, however, they still make themselves available for smaller functions like private parties and high school commencements. It's this 'do anything to get your name out there' attitude that The Simple Tones are hoping will eventually pay off for them.
"I know this sounds like a cliche, but every performance you should treat like it's your best one, like there's a million people in the audience," Jonathan says.
"You never know who's going to be in the audience that night."
One such person who has taken notice of The Simple Tones would be Cut Kreator, a D.J. and protege of internationally-renowned rap artist L.L. Cool J.
"He's been great with the amount of time he's been helping us out," Jason says of Cut Kreator.
"He's taking whatever time he has left on his evenings and weekends and working with us."
In addition to taking the four under his wing, Kreator is working with them on creating a demo CD, which hopefully will be completed by the end of this summer.
While they were impressed with past demos that had been sent out to record companies, they feel that this new project will showcase a more mature effort.
"Last time, we were just young kids looking for a big break, and I think we've matured a little," Jonathan says. "Now we're big kids looking for a big break,"
Another similarity to The Beatles? How about the strong cult following The Simple Tones have been receiving? While it has not yet reached the phenomenon level of Beatlemania, Jason, Shane, Brandon and Jonathan have reported a growing number of fans (Vaughan Secondary School boasts a large number of fanatics, apparently), and not just from Thornhill and Richmond Hill, either.
"I think because of our recent television and radio appearances, it's become more than Toronto," Jonathan says.
"I had someone last week from, like Parry Sound, and tell me that they liked our music. That's just amazing!"
Which, of course, all is part of getting your name out there. One word of advice: if you get a chance in the near future to see or hear anything by The Simple Tones, you may want to check it out. After all, who knows where it may lead?
