Crash Vegas

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Crash Vegas
Michelle McAdorey and Colin Cripps
Background information
Origin	Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Genres	Folk rock
Years active	1988–1996
Labels	Risque Disque London/Polygram Sony Records
Associated acts	Blue Rodeo, Junkhouse

Crash Vegas was a Canadian folk rock band which formed in 1988,^[1] and achieved moderate success in the early 1990s.

The band was formed by Michelle McAdorey and Greg Keelor of Blue Rodeo in 1988. With Keelor's commitments to Blue Rodeo taking precedence, he had Colin Cripps replace him in time for the release of their first album. The band also included Jocelyne Lanois and Ambrose Pottie.

The band released its debut album, Red Earth, on the Risque Disque label in 1989. They had several notable hits on Canadian radio ("Inside Out", "Sky" and "Smoke"), and seemed poised for success. However, Risque Disque soon went bankrupt, leaving the band in limbo. In 1992, they signed a new deal with London/Polygram.

Lanois left the band, and was replaced by Darren Watson for the band's second album. That album, Stone, also included contributions from John Porter and Butch Vig. However, Crash Vegas had a rocky relationship with Polygram, and they subsequently moved to Sony Records after contributing a cover of "Pocahontas" to that label's Neil Young tribute album Borrowed Tunes.

The band performed at Edgefest on Canada Day in 1990 and 1993. In 1993, the band participated in the Another Roadside Attraction tour, and collaborated with The Tragically Hip, Midnight Oil, Hothouse Flowers and Daniel Lanois on the one-off single "Land" to protest forest clearcutting in British Columbia.

In 1995, the band, now down to the core duo of Cripps and McAdorey, released their third and final album, Aurora. They were supported by John Borra and Mike Sloski on the album, and by Gavin Brown and Eric Chenaux on tour. The single "On and On (Lodestar)" garnered significant radio airplay in Canada, becoming the second highest-charting single of their career, but the band broke up the following year.

McAdorey pursued a solo career, and Cripps went on to join Junkhouse, which received their first widespread exposure when they opened for Crash Vegas during the Red Earth tour. After the disbanding of Junkhouse, Cripps has collaborated with several artists as a co-writer, producer and supporting musician, including Tom Wilson, Jim Cuddy, Stephen Fearing and Kathleen Edwards, who is now his wife.

Contents 1 Discography 1.1 Hit singles 1.2 Original studio albums 2 References

[edit] Discography

[edit] Hit singles

Chart peak date	Title	Chart positions
		Canada RPM TOP 100	Album
March 1990	"Inside Out"	#18	Red Earth
June 1990	"Sky"	#69
September 1990	"Smoke"	#82
May 1993	"You and Me"	#67	Stone
August 1994	"Pocahontas"	#62	Aurora
June 1995	"On and On (Lodestar)"	#24

[edit] Original studio albums

Release date	Title	Chart positions
		Canada RPM Album charts
February 1990	Red Earth	#51
March 1993	Stone	#50
May 1995	Aurora	#31

[edit] References