Up to this point, most of us either were working or going to school. Seip had us all come to Bruce's for a meeting where we decided that we were all going to "go on the road" and quit all our other pursuits. I was working at Schneider's Meats in Kitchener, so for me it was a huge decision as I was making incredible money for a kid just out of school. We all agreed that our focus was to become "a top international band" at that meeting, an attitude we knew we had to have if we were ever going to "make it". It would be that attitude that would carry us through the toughest of times and stick with me to this present day.

Back then we were signed to the Dram Booking Agency, where Seip was an agent. Dram also handled many other bands such as Ash Mountain, Charity Brown, Major Hoople's Boarding House, Copper Penny, and Yukon, just to mention a few. Major Hooples was probably one of the biggest acts on the roster, and I can remember hearing that they were getting $1000.00 for a Friday night at a high school and thinking to myself, "These guys are HUGE!!!".

It was customary when you were a beginning band to play the "C" circuit first, which was the Northern Ontario (Canada) circuit, which booked the bands into places like Timmons, Kapuskasing, North Bay , Thunder Bay , Waw Waw, etc. If you survived this circuit, your next hurdle to jump would be the Maritimes. When I say survive, I mean just that. These were rough bars where more than once we had to fight our way out. The accommodations were the worst. The rooms were either ice cold or hotter than the tropics. I remember playing once in Hanover, Ontario at the Queen's Hotel. When I opened the door to my room, I was hit in the face by a blast of ice cold air because there was no glass in the window!!! It was the middle of winter! A lot of the accomodations at that time had no bathroom in the room, and you were forced to use a community washroom down the hall with whomever happened to live upstairs in the establishment. These were usually filthy dirty.

Those were the days. We made $40.00/week and I had to sell my new car because I couldn't make the payments anymore. It would be 20 years before I would have a new car again.

Being out there playing these sort of places either makes or breaks a band, and although we didn't break up, more member changes were on the horizon. Bruce Arnold left the band to be replaced by Brent 's identical twin brother, Brian, and Don Simmons left the band to be replaced by guitarist Paul Hackman. With the addition of a second guitarist, our music took on a heavier sound. We were playing cover songs by such acts as Aerosmith, Ted Nugent, and ZZTop.

Clubs we played were The John Scott, St.Thomas, Ontario, The Ridout in London, Ontario, The Elm Haven in Clinton, The Travelhost in Timmons, The Nicklelodian in Toronto, Ontario, The Kap Inn in Kapuskasing, Ontario, The Sherwood Forest Inn in Trenton, Ontario and there were many more. These are just a few.

Mode of transportation: My $25.00 Ford Galaxy + a rent-a-truck.
Bands on the circuit with us: Vehicle, Phase, Mackenzie and the Cheryl Lescom Band.