Harlequin

In 2006 Harlequin was inducted into the Western Canadian Hall of Fame.
Unlike many bands of their era, Harlequin is still a staple of rock radio in Canada and many parts of the world, where the band's hits still receive remarkable amounts of airplay. Fueled by this continued success the band still tours, playing arenas, festivals, theatres and other venues gaining new fans all the time.
Harlequin was initially discovered playing in a tiny bar in Toronto by representatives of Jack Douglas, legendary producer of Aerosmith, Patti Smith and John Lennon. Ironically, the scouts for Douglas' company had actually intended to see the band playing downstairs, but were turned away due to a sold old show. Instead they retired upstairs to a much smaller bar - only to be blown away by the band, playing a high-energy set of strong original songs for only a handful of people. This chance meeting led to a production deal with Douglas.
With Douglas’ help, Harlequin signed a deal with CBS/Epic (home to Cheap Trick and Eddie Money) in 1979. The band proceeded to amaze everyone at the label by pushing the first release "Victim of a Song"(1979) to gold status through sheer hard-work, incessant touring, word of mouth and solid songwriting. Songs like “Sweet Things in Life”, “You are the Light” and “Survive” introduced the band to radio.
The second release, Love Crimes (1980), came with a bigger push from the label, and went on to go Platinum, powered in part by Harlequin's biggest hit to date 'Innocence." Another track, "Thinking of You" became a staple of rock radio, and a highlight of the live show.
One False Move (1982) cemented the band's radio success with tunes like "I Did it for Love,” “Superstitious Feeling” and "Heart Gone Cold." The fourth and final album, eponymously titled, featured a change of direction as well as producer - Alfie Agius, former bassist with The Fixx, replaced Jack Douglas. This album produced one single "Take this Heart" and the band's only video, filmed at the abandoned Don Jail in Toronto, by Juno-winning Champagne Productions.
Harlequin was always something of a work-horse, soldiering through multiple grueling Cross-Canada and US tours, and even to Puerto Rico, where Innocence had been a huge hit single. To capitalize on the song's success, the band played in Caracas Venezuela, headlining two nights at the city's biggest arena. The Radio Romances greatest hits package, which also featured a new tune (written by Tom Cochrane) entitled "No Mystery."
Early in the new millennium Derrick Gottfried and Darren Moore joined Harlequin, supported by long time bass player Nick Rivers with George Belanger. Prompted by the resurgence of Classic Rock radio, Darren and Derrick began writing classic rock songs for several classic artists. George quickly jumped on the bandwagon as a writing partner and it was not long until the trio focused on writing the “Waking The Jester” CD. Darren and Derrick also stepped out on the album, sharing the vocal spotlight with George, each performing a track adding their distinct flavor to the CD.