Norman & Josie Beilstein in the backyard of their house on 5th Ave. in Kitchener, Ontario: My grandparents on my mother’s side. It was my grandfather who instilled the love of music in me. It was my grandmother who helped to finance Helix’s first album “Breaking Loose.”

From my high school year book. I sucked at sports but somehow ended up on Listowel’s high school football team for several years.

HOMEGROWN: This was my high school band. Taken at Listowel high school. From left to right: Larry Schneider, Bill Bailey, Kevin Weeks, me, (can’t remember), & Don Simmons. We entered the band in The Battle of the Bands at the Central Ontario Exhibition in Kitchener which led to us meeting the guys who would eventually form Helix-Bruce Arnold & Ron Watson.

Our set list at the C.O.E. 1973 (Central Ontario Exhibition in Kitchener, Ontario)

The Ontario Youth Choir: At the end of Grade 13 I auditioned for the Ontario Youth Choir. 500 kids auditioned from across Ontario and they picked 60. This picture was taken at the private school we practiced at near Peterborough to prepare us for our tour through southern Ontario. It was this choir that opened Hamilton Place with a piece of music called “A Mass in Our Time”, written by Galt McDermott, the guy who wrote HAIR.

My Dad and my daughter Jasmine. Taken in the kitchen of my parent’s farm house.

My graduation picture from Listowel District Secondary School, Grade 13. Unfortunately, I had already been bit by the rock and roll bug and that was the end of my formal schooling.

. With my siblings waiting for the school bus. From left to right: Charin, myself, Mike, Donna, and Bill. My grandfather used to cut our hair; my mother paid me to get a brush cut.

Sitting on the back step of my parents’ farm house with my brother Mike and my sister Donna. Those steps faced west and I watched many wonderful sunsets sitting there long ago on warm summer nights.

My Grade 9 Year Book picture.

My Great Grandfather William La Main (William Beilstein). He had the center ring at Barnum Bailey Circus. His act was building a pyramid with beer glasses & trays and then doing acrobatics. Rumor had it that the two side rings were occupied by Annie Oakly and Buffalo Bill.

My Great Grandfather, the Great William LaMain.

My parents wedding: My mom was 15, my dad 17 when they married. From left to right: My Uncle George Graff, my Uncle Elgin Vollmer, my dad Lorne Vollmer, my mother Beverly, my Aunt Beattie Vollmer, and my Aunt Rita Graff. Flower girl: Karen Stemler. Taken on the steps of Hesson Church.

. We had only been together for less than a year when our manager William Seip and our agency DRAM recruited us to be Del Shannon’s band when he came to Canada. We were his band for two weeks: at the Coronet Motor Hotel in Kitchener the first week and at The Jockey Club in Hamilton the second. I believe this picture was shot at The Jockey Club. From right to left: Myself/Del Shannon/Bruce Arnold

Ken Heague: Ken was our soundman, who eventually became our road manager. After Helix he went on to work for LIVE, Mellissa Etheridge, and Fleetwood Mac. Ken had a different colored DISCO SUCKS shirt for every day of the week. At the time our Disco Sucks cheer/beer drinking contest made us one of the biggest drawing bands on the Canadian bar circuit.

Ontario Place 1977. From left to right: Brent Doerner/Brian Doerner/myself/Paul Hackman/Bert Zurbrigg

1977: Brian and Brent Doerner: Brian and Brent were identical twins, born on Christmas Eve. Although Brian would leave the band in 1979, he would continue to play on Helix albums for years to come. He also went on to play for Refugee and Saga. Brent would be with the band until 1989, but he would return periodically right up until 2012, when he retired for good. He still works for the band, creating the band’s posters and videos.

How I saw the band in 1981: Our manager William Seip had everyone in the band write down how they envisioned the band-sound & touring wise. This is what I wrote down at the time. Pretty prophetic, eh?

1976: This was my first real stage costume. My mother made it for me. I left it behind at the Travelhost in Timmins. Although I phoned the hotel when I realized I left it behind, they couldn’t find it. A year later when we returned to play the club I found it on my bed when I went to my room!

1975: Keith Zurbrigg: Keith, or “Bert” as everyone called him, was popular with the fans and had his own unique look-top hat & tails. When we first played Texas it was 100 degrees outside and Bert still wore that outfit.

1978: One of the first promo shots of the band. This photo session was done in downtown Kitchener about a block off King Street. From left to right: Myself/Brian Doerner/Paul Hackman/Keith Zurbrigg/Brent Doerner

. 1979: Shot outside the Sherwood Forest Inn in Trenton, Ontario. This club was one of the frequent places we played in the early days of the band. From left to right: Ken Heague (soundman)/Brian Doerner/Paul Hackman/myself/Keith Zurbrigg/Brent Doerner.

1975: Our first sound and light board! The light board was home made from light switches and frequently caught fire. That’s why Kenny always kept a fire extinguisher handy.

The Heliograph/1977: Helix has always had a grass roots connection with our fans. One of the ways we kept in touch in the early days was our own newsletter called “The Heliograph” which fans paid $1 for to receive in the mail. It had the latest on what the band was doing, where we were playing, and upcoming dates.

1979: Brent & Bob Macadory of Global News. This was our first TV interview, done shortly after returning from out first tour of Texas. Brent froze during the interview and swore he’d never do another one again. He kept his word for about 20 years.

1974: Bruce Arnold. Bruce was the founder of Helix and our first drummer.

1972: Three of the original Helix members came from the Kitchener band CLAW. From left to right: Ron Watson/guitar, Bruce Arnold/drums, and Rick Trembly (nic-named “Minstrel”) guitar.

Dale Wright: The original light man of the band was Dale Wright, aka “Dale the Pale”. He got his nic name from getting drunk on his very first gig in Millford Bay, passing out in a flower bed, and getting alcohol poisoning.

The earliest shot of the band: From left to right: Ron Watson/Bruce Arnold/ Don Simmons/me/Keith Zurbrigg. Taken at Waterloo Park.

Don Simmons: An original member of the band who played keyboards. He was from Listowel, Ontario and went to high school with me.

Myself and Long John Baldry: Taken in Oakville, Ontario around 1979. We were playing in Seaforth at the Queens Hotel and drove all the way to Oakville for this afternoon gig. A huge storm hit and blew away the stage, so we never played.

WITH STYX IN HALIFAX: On our first tour of the Canadian Maritimes (1978) we played Zapatas in Halifax. The restaurant was half club, half restaurant. Styx was playing in town at the Metro Center, and we found out they were eating in the restaurant. They snuck through the kitchen to watch Brent sing & play Madam Blue, the song we ended our first set with. The owner got pissed and threw them out of the bar!

. Picture taken in Bruce Arnold’s parent’s driveway on Weber Street in Waterloo, Ontario, 1976. From left to right (leaning on the first HELIX truck): Bruce Arnold, me, William Seip, Don Simmons. Bottom row: Keith Zurbrigg, Brent Doerner

Ken Heague: Our first sound man/road manager, he was from Liverpool, England. Kenny stayed with us until 1990, his last major tour with us being in Europe with Ian Gillan. Ken would go on to work for LIVE, Bett Midler, Fleetwood Mac, and finally for Jim Irsay of the Indianapolis Colts.

William Seip: Our manager from 1975 until 2005. Bill was instrumental in the success of the band.

The Great Rufus Road Machine: Our manager was a guy named Bill Seip, who played drums The Great Rufus Road Machine, a “show” band. He also played drums for a rock band named Poverty Train. He would mold Helix into a hybrid of the two: A rock show band. (Bill Seip is second from right)

Rick Trembley: Helix’s 6th member. Known as “Minstrel”, Ron & Bruce ended up pushing him out of the band.

Paul Hackman/Brent Doerner: At the Coronet, Victoria Street, Kitchener, Ontario. 1977

Bruce Arnold/1974: Bruce was the founder and first drummer of Helix. He was known for his long hair.

The earliest shot of the band: From left to right: Ron Watson/Bruce Arnold/ Don Simmons/me/Keith Zurbrigg. Taken at Waterloo Park.

Early promo shot, 1979. We were starting to develop a heavier image by this time, evident in our clothes. From left to right: Brian Doerner/Paul Hackman/me/Brent Doerner/Keith Zurbrigg. Taken in downtown Kitchener.

KISS TOUR: This picture was taken somewhere in Europe on our 1983 tour with KISS on the LICK IT UP tour. We were the first act ever to play with them sans make-up-in Lisbon, Portugal-where the tour kicked off. The bass player for that tour was Marc Rector, who wanted to quit the band as soon as he got to Europe. He had replaced Mike Uzilac (who had become a born again Christian and quit the band-I can’t make this shit up). From left to right: Brent Doerner/Marc Rector/Paul Hackman.

An excerpt from Music Express, written by Keith Sharpe. Keith came to Europe with the band and travelled with us in our tiny English van under the worst conditions imaginable. Keith Sharp was instrumental in breaking the band in Canada & beyond.

1983: On the KISS tour: Myself/Gene Simmons/Brent.

From Music Express/1983: Upon returning from Europe & the Lick It Up Tour we barely had time to catch our breath before heading to western Canada to play with Streetheart and The Headpins. This would establish a long friendship between the three bands and we would play many dates together in the following 30 years.

1984: We ended off our 3 dates with Streetheart and The Headpins playing together on New Year’s Eve. Here’s the shirt to prove it!

Fritz’s famous cod piece. Many bands would copy him in the future, but no one wore it as well as Fritz.

Another band we have a long relationship with-KICKAXE. This is the ticket from our show in our hometown of Kitchener, Ontario at Centre in the Square. We did several dates together on this tour.

One of our most favourite U.S. venues to play was HARPOS in Detroit. We were so overwhelmed that our London, Ontario fans drove 3 hours to see us there that we took out an ad in the paper to say thanks.

Lee Arnold-the “Cat in the Hat”. Lee was the program director at WLLZ in Detroit and also QFM in Milwaukee. Lee was a big supporter of the band and pushed the shit out of us in those markets when he was there.

Myself and Andy Secher of HIT PARADER magazine-another big supporter of the band during the 80’s.

1984: At the filming of the Gimme Gimme Good Lovin’ video in Hollywood. Rip Taylor, Richard Pryor, and Robin Williams were in the studio next to ours. Rip Taylor appears at the end of the Gimme video. From left to right: Paul Hackman/Rip Taylor/Fritz

1984. At the filming of the Gimme Gimme Good Lovin’ video in Hollywood. Rip Taylor, Richard Pryor, and Robin Williams were in the studio next to ours. Richard Pryor had us go to a local record store, buy one of our own albums, and sign it for him. From left to right: Paul Hackman, Greg “Fritz” Hinz, Richard Pryor, Brent Doerner

13. 1984. At the filming of the Gimme Gimme Good Lovin’ video in Hollywood. Rip Taylor, Richard Pryor, and Robin Williams were in the studio next to ours. Both Robin Williams and Rip Taylor allowed me to film them with my sound Super 8 camera. From left to right: Greg “Fritz” Hinz/Paul Hackman/Robin Williams/myself

Planet Helix: In 1992 Brian and Lynda bought a 1930’s house for $92,000. Over the next 25 years they would completely renovate the house with architectural antiques from the London, Ontario area. The house was dubbed “Planet Helix”, the same name as the first Helix website set up some years before by Ron Kingyens, a friend of Brian’s since high school. The house would become famous in the London area. MTV Cribs would come to film an episode there. Much Music came to the house for a segment, and many newspapers and magazines would come to the house for interviews as well. Even Danko Jones would come to do a podcast with Brian. He said, “You’re the only muther fucker I leave town to do a podcast with.” You don’t get many compliments bigger than that! The house was the location for numerous HELIX release parties, Christmas parties, and summer barbecues, with sometimes over a 100 people showing up. The first person to stay in our guest room downstairs was Russ Graham of The Killer Dwarfs. Many other musicians ie. Doug Weir of Syre, The Mudmen, Tim Hicks, Sarah Smith, Morgan & Mercedes Lander of KITTIE and more at one time or another crossed it’s threshold. The house was sold in 2018.

Jerry Finn/Brian Vollmer: Shot taken in Mattawa, around 1997. Jerry Finn played for us for several years in the 90’s. He presently plays for The Killer Dwarfs.

My voice teacher Edward Johnson, at his studio in Fergus, Ontario. Ed taught me the old Italian method of singing called “Bel Canto”. I studied over 35 years with him until he died at age 82.

Brian Vollmer/Rick Mead: A great guitarist/singer who played several dates with us was Rick Mead of Syre.

Heavy Metal Tim Henderson: I met Tim through his magazine “BRAVE WORDS & BLOODY KNUCKLES” and we became life long friends. He’s been a big supporter and a part of our success. Taken at Planet Helix/London, Ontario.

Denny Blake, who replaced Brent Doerner in 1989. Denny was the only American ever to play for Helix. We met him when we toured New England. He was in the opening act MANIACS.

: 1999: Denny Ballicki Blake. Denny was the only American ever to be in the band. He replaced longtime member Brent Doerner in the band. He lasted about a year, touring across North America with us and also playing in Europe on the Ian Gillan Tour. He was an amazing guitarist, easy and fun to work with.

Denny Blake with Alberta webmaster Carol Carlgren: Carol ran our Alberta fan club in the years preceding the launch of our first website on the internet. Whenever we would play Alberta she’d be there supporting the band.

MUCH MUSIC COME TO PLANET HELIX: Much Music came to Planet Helix to film and interview us. Sorry, but can’t remember what their names were….Anyone? From left to right: ? Me ? Archie Glen Gamble (drummer for the band from the middle 90’s until 2002)

Bill Pulley aka. “Snake”. Snake appeared in the video “Running Wild in the 21st Century” from the Back for Another Taste album. Phil Kates directed the video, which won “Metal Video of the Year” on the MUCH MUSIC video awards.

. 1993: At Lynda and my wedding: (from left to right): Paul Hackman/Razor Ray Beudoin/Bill “Snake” Pulley.

From left to right: Tom Mathers/myself/Tazz Bangz: In 1999 I sang lead vocals for the band Cherry St. The album was called Buster Cherry. The album was recorded in Austin, Texas. Today Tom has his own record company: Perris Records, on which Helix has released many albums.

With the Trailer Park Boys at Sunnyvale Trailer Park in Dartmouth, Nova Scotia: This was the first time meeting the boys, on the set of the episode “I Think You Pissed Yourself Mr. Layhee” and led to a long relationship. Since then I’ve appeared In their movie “Countdown to Liquor Day” (a small bit part at the end of the movie) and I’ve also appeared in their cartoon show (Episode 10). Helix also toured western Canada with the TPB. From left to right: Mike Smith (Bubbles), myself, Jean Paul Trembley (Julien) and Ricky (Rob Wells).

7 Year Itch: This was a weekend cover band I was in that played the Southern Ontario circuit. We started writing originals that eventually became my first solo album “When Pigs Fly” and the 2000 Helix album ROCKIN’ IN MY OUTER SPACE. From left to right: Bill Gadd/Rob Long/myself/Tony Paleschi

Glen Gamble, aka “Archie”: Drummer for Helix from Aprox. 1997-2002.

. With Orchestra London for “Jeans & Classics”.

Feb 22/2003: On the set of the Mike Bullard Show.

With Dan McCafferty of Nazareth, Belleville/Yardman Arena. Over the years we played several dates with Nazareth. Dan was one of my favorite singers and a big influence. A real honor.

With David Coverdale: In 1983 we toured all of the U.S. with Whitesnake, but I don’t think I ever got a picture with David. This was actually shot at the JLC in London, when Archie and I went to see the band.

With Morgan & Mercedes Landers of KITTIE: Both girls were vocal students of mine.

Mike Bullard and myself.

Peter Frampton & myself/Menendosa 2003. While standing for this picture Paul Rodgers suddenly showed up, elbowed his way between myself and Frampton and took a picture. When I asked Rogers for a pic (I was a big fan) he put his hands in front of his face and said as he ran away, “Sorry! No Time!”

Prism & myself. (picture taken in Esterhazy, Saskatchewan)

Russ Graham of THE KILLER DWARFS and myself. Russ and I share the same birthday (June 30th) and have been close friends for years. Russ was the first person to sleep in the guest room at Planet Helix.

Vince Neil/myself: Taken in Montreal on Vince’s tour bus. Over the years we’ve played several gigs with Vince. Always a pleasure.

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