Doug and the Slugs

Doug and the Slugs
Origin	Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
Genres	Alternative, pop
Years active	1977 – 2004, 2009 – present
Labels	A&M, RCA
Website	http://www.dougandtheslugs.ca/
Members
Ted Okos Rick Baker John Burton Simon Kendall Steve Bosley John "Wally" Watson
Past members
Doug Bennett (deceased)

Doug and the Slugs are a Canadian new-wave/power-pop band based in Vancouver. The group was formed in 1977 and was most active throughout the 1980s. They are best remembered for the Canadian top 40 hits "Too Bad" (1980), "Makin' it Work" (1983) and "Tomcat Prowl" (1988). "Too Bad" was used as the theme song for The Norm Show, a 1999-2001 sitcom starring Norm Macdonald.

Band history

Doug and The Slugs was founded by Toronto-born Doug Bennett, who had been a graphic designer in his home town before moving to Vancouver in the mid-1970s. Bennett would be the band's chief songwriter, frontman and lead singer.

After some turnover amongst Slugs in the early months, the lineup stabilized by 1978, and for the entirety of their recording career (1978–1992), Doug & The Slugs consisted of lead vocalist Doug Bennett, guitarists Richard Baker and John Burton, keyboardist Simon Kendall, bassist Steve Bosley and drummer John "Wally" Watson.

The band built a solid following in the Vancouver area through constant gigging. Determined to exert control over their own music and artwork, the band founded their own record label, Ritdong Records, and worked out a distribution deal with RCA Records for their recordings. Their debut single "Too Bad" was issued on Ritdong in February 1980, and became a substantial hit in Vancouver, rising to #2 on local Top 40 station CKLG. Shortly thereafter, the track entered the Canadian hit parade, peaking at #20. Doug & The Slugs self-produced debut album, Cognac & Bologna was also issued in 1980.

Throughout the 1980s, a string of singles and albums followed. Their biggest success was 1982's Music For The Hard Of Thinking, which in Canada peaked at #22, and spun off two top 40 singles: "Who Knows How To Make Love Stay" and "Making It Work". However, the band didn't break through internationally, and RCA ended their distribution deal with Ritdong in 1984, after the release of the best-of compilation Ten Big Ones.

Ritdong then entered into a distribution deal with A&M Records. Two Doug & The Slugs albums were issued via this deal (1984's Popaganda and 1988's Tomcat Prowl), as well as a Doug Bennett solo album (1986's Animato, on which all the Slugs played.) The 1988 single "Tomcat Prowl" became the band's final top 40 entry, peaking at #23.

Ritdong's deal with A&M expired after Tomcat Prowl, and the group didn't record for several years. Doug & The Slugs' final album (1992's Tales From Terminal City) came out on their own Tomcat Records label. It is the only Doug & The Slugs album not to have hit the Canadian charts.

Most of the Slugs left the band after 1992, although Kendall stayed until 1994. After this time, Bennett toured with an ever-rotating cast of new musicians, still billing the act as Doug & The Slugs. The original Slugs reunited to back Doug for two "25th anniversary" shows in Vancouver in 2003; Bennett continued to perform with other Slugs until his death, in October 2004.

After a gap of several years, the original Slugs (Baker, Bosley, Burton, Kendall and Watson) reunited in 2009 and invited singer Ted Okos to be their new frontman. The group still performs live dates as Doug & The Slugs, although there is now no-one named Doug in the band.

Singles discography

Release date	Title	Chart positions
		Canada RPM TOP 100	Album
1980	"Too Bad"	#20	Cognac and Bologna
1980	"Chinatown Calculation"	#75
1980	"Drifting Away"	-
1981	"Real Enough"	-	Wrap It!
1981	The Slugs: "Running Around"	-	Non-LP single
1983	"Who Knows How to Make Love Stay"	#25	Music for the Hard of Thinking
1983	"Makin' it Work"	#29
1983	"Nobody but Me"	-
1984	"It's Alright Medley"	-	Ten Big Ones
1984	"Day by Day"	#92	Popaganda
1984	"Love Shines"	-
1984	"Waiting for You"	#83
1985	"White Christmas"	-	Non-LP single
1986	Doug Bennett: "It's Got to Be Monday"	#80	Animato
1988	"Tomcat Prowl"	#23	Tomcat Prowl
1989	"(I Don't Want To) Walk Away"	#84
1989	"It's a Powerful Thing"	#64
1992	"Terminal City"	-	Tales from Terminal City

Album Discography

Original studio albums

Release date	Title	Chart positions
		Canada RPM Album charts
1980	Cognac and Bologna	#36
1981	Wrap It!	#28
1983	Music for the Hard of Thinking	#22
1984	Popaganda	#43
1986	Doug Bennett: Animato	#95
1988	Tomcat Prowl	#39
1992	Tales from Terminal City	-

Compilation albums

• 1984: Ten Big Ones
• 1987: Doug and the Slugs (U.S. release only)
• 1993: Slugcology 101

Awards and recognition

• 1981: multiple nominee, Juno Award:
  • Composer of the Year, "Too Bad"
  • Best Album Graphics, Cognac and Bologna
  • Single of the Year, "Too Bad"
• 1983: nominee, Juno Award, Most Promising Group of the Year

Band member timeline

The initial band members were (based on available information):

Dennis Henderson is now a high school electronics teacher at Hugh McRoberts Secondary School in Richmond, British Columbia, Canada.

In Season 3, Episode 11: It's Backwards Day of Da Vinci's Inquest Simon Kendall is heard playing his beautiful composition Hymn For Believers from his CD Sweet Compassion as the episode closes and continuing on in place of the customary Da Vinci ending theme. It is a very moving and very effective use of the piece.

Other performers with the band (timelines unknown):

• drums
  • Vince Ditrich
  • Larry MacGillvary
  • Pat Steward
• guitar
  • John Ellis
  • Elio Martelli
  • Al Rodger
• keyboards
  • Darrell Havers
• saxophone
  • John Doheny