The Five Man Electrical Band

The Five Man Electrical band formed in the early sixties in Ottawa, Cananda as the Staccatos by Dean Hagopian, Rick Belanger, Les Emmerson, Brian Rading and Vern Craig. Their first album had a few songs that made the charts in Canada and their second album, "A Wild Pair", was shared with The Guess Who. In 1967 they had a single called "Half Past Midnight", which rose to #8 on the Canadian charts. By their third album, "Five Man Electrical Band", Dean and Vern had left the band and were replaced by Ted Gerow and Rick Belangers brother, Mark Belanger. The album had modest success so they went to Los Angeles to try to crack the American market. They were ignored because they sounded too much like the Beach Boys and their songs went nowhere so they headed back to Canada. From there they decided to change their style, direction and changed their name to, The Five Man Electrical Band. They went back to Los Angeles and recorded three songs that were released by MGM. One track, ""Moonshine (Friend of Mine)" was used in the movie, "The Moonshine War" but the film went nowhere. The other songs, "Hello Melinda, Goodbye" and "Signs" were released as a single but sales were low so MGM dropped them. Dallas Smith was the producer that recorded those songs for MGM and was starting Lionel Records. He liked the sound of the band so he recorded their album, "Goodbye and Butterflies" which included the single, "Signs". The song started getting airplay and soon they were on a US tour playing with Jefferson Airplane, Sly And The Family Stone, Bachman-Turner Overdrive, The Allman Brothers Band and others. "Signs" became a hit, reaching #3 on the Billboard charts #4 in Canada and #1 in Australia. It sold over a million copies and was awarded a gold disc in 1971. Their next two albums both had minor hits but by 1974 only two of the original members remained. They could not agree on what direction the band should go and they finally disbanded in 1975.
Les Emmerson reformed the band in 1986 for a series of shows and they would continue to play a few shows every year for several decades. He has released several solo singles and his song, "Control Of Me" peaked at #5. Les died in 2021 from Covid at age 77. Brian Rading went on to play with many different bands in the Ottawa area and to supplement his income he painted, hung drywall and became a landlord. In 2016 he died at home from throat cancer at the age of 69. Ted Gerow returned to Ottawa and became a producer and keyboardist for recording sessions and television productions all across Canada. Rick Belanger moved to Toronto and is a computer cable installer.