Helix singer wants new classics heard on radio
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Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 15/07/2010 (5930 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.
Brian Vollmer is on a mission to get new work by classic rock bands on Canadian radio.
Vollmer is the co-founder and lead singer of Helix, a rock institution since 1974.
Over its long career, Helix has released more than a dozen albums that have spawned numerous hits that once were staples of radio — Rock You, Gimme Gimme Good Lovin and (Make Me Do) Anything You Want, just to name a few of the biggest.
While other popular acts of the 1970s have long since gone the way of eight-track tapes, Helix has soldiered on with Vollmer leading the way. While he has a full-time gig teaching voice, he’s managed to keep Helix touring and selling records, including the band’s latest, Vagabond Bones.
But getting that album heard on radio is the mission of this mid-50s singer.
While Canadian rock radio certainly has no problem playing old tunes by veteran bands — Prism and Trooper, to name a couple — those same outfits struggle to get their new material heard, says Vollmer, who has mounted a campaign to get his band’s new music airplay in London, Ont., the band’s home turf since it was founded.
"What’s really frustrating for us is we go to classic rock stations and consultants are telling them to cut the chatter, don’t bring bands in…
"Part of it is systemic age-ism. New music by older acts isn’t getting heard."
What really bothers Vollmer is the patronizing he will endure when stations offer to do a couple of spins of older Helix material.
"I’m not a confrontational guy, but enough is enough!" Vollmer says.
He has particular wrath for the CRTC, which he feels needs to do more to advance the cause of Canadian music in general. "How does it advance Canadian music when radio is playing Here for a Good Time for the millionth time? Trooper can release a new album and radio won’t play it."
Canadian content regulations, Vollmer feels, aren’t meant to have the same songs "played over and over."
— The Canadian Press
