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I enjoy travel, sports, music and anything else that jumps up at me for the moment, which is why I blog. There will be lots of travel posts, pictures and our videos as well as a smattering of sports and humor. I enjoy promoting Canada and am unabashedly a proud Albertan

Five Man Electrical Band = A Canadian Classic

Cover of "Absolutely Right"
Cover of Absolutely Right

The Five Man Electrical Band (originally known as the Staccatos) are a Canadian band out of Ottawa.  The group enjoyed substantial success in the late 60’s and early 70’s.  They released 7 albums between 1967 and 1975, achieving star status in Canada,  The song that they are best known for was a major hit here in Canada, and it achieved top 10 status in the USA.  This was a rare feat at that time for a Canadian band.  The song is “Signs” and it reached number 3 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart in 1971.  Their follow-up to Signs was a tune called “Absolutely Right” which also achieved some success on both sides of the border.  At the height of their career, they toured extensively across North America with such bands as the Allman Brothers, Edgar Winter and Sly and the Family Stone.  The band is still together and touring, with an album set for release in 2012.

I have attached 2 videos, the first a 2010 live version of Signs and the second, a live version of Absolutely Right from 1972.

Signs

Absolutely Right

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4 responses to “Five Man Electrical Band = A Canadian Classic”

  1. El Guapo Avatar
    El Guapo

    Great sound. Nice to see they’re still on tour.

    I see you your 5 man Electrical Band, and raise you
    Tesla – 5 Man Acoustical Jam
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=COGM7K8I0pU

    Always thought it was a Tesla song. Glad to be corrected.

    Reply
    1. John Phillips Avatar
      John Phillips

      Good one, forgot about that version. Nice catch. I see you added my duet answer to your poll. It needed to be there haha.

      Reply
  2. Matthew Coleman Avatar
    Matthew Coleman

    Thanks for the post John. I haven’t listened to this band in a while and I just had a refreshing youtube session! Great sound.

    Reply
    1. John Phillips Avatar
      John Phillips

      The signs performance was a bit weak, but the contrast was great. I still have their first album, one side was them, the other side was the Guess Who (A Wild Pair was the album name) it was recorded in 1967, great stuff. I now have a digital turntable which I’m going to use one of these days, just for stuff like that. If you have facebook, check out this group page. Winnipeg had a great music scene back in the day and they have a group page at https://www.facebook.com/groups/177889445583606/ If the link doesn’t work, it is MANITOBA MUSIC MUSEUM. The people on it are unbelievable, Fred Turner, Randy Bachman, Burton Cummings etc. They post memories and pictures of old stuff and even some old recordings, or links to. Great page. Let me know if you find it. It is a great read.

      Reply

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