I’m a little surprised you know about them as they were a bit under the radar even here in Canada. We got almost no Australian music here until Men at Work. Maybe you could recommend some good Aussie bands from the 70’s and 80’s for me.
@@trappenweisseguy27~ ~The Seekers, Little River Band, Air Supply, Helen Reddy ~These people immigrated from the UK (Great Britain) to Australia:: Olivia Newton-John, BeeGees, AC/DC
Love hearing this! I'm a Vancouverite now living Down Under. Had the opportunity to meet Doug and his family one time, he was as real in person as he came across in his videos. Zero pretension, think his wife and their three daughters kept him grounded. May he RIP.
Another great Canadian 🇨🇦 Band from Vancouver formed in 1977. Definitely worth cranking on the stereo to get the magic effects from this hit. Great instruments and of course a cow bell. Trippy lyrics for a interesting ride. Definitely shades of The Who, Styx and a lot of other great bands. Great reaction Harri. Hopefully you can get to hear to true greatness. Thanks Harri and Louis. Great classic. Cheers from Canada 🇨🇦
Prism were a great band! If you really want to hear some great Canadian rock, I suggest the band Triumph’s song Lay It On The Line! No sound quality problems there
Thank you Harry for being amongst the first reactors to check out some of the great Canadian music. Requested this record album for Christmas and my parents were wise, they also have me my own record player to play it on, I'm sure I still drive them crazy!
Thank you, Harri, for reacting to another of my favourite bands. Spaceship Superstar is from the band's first album (1977) from before the true Prism actually formed. This first album is more of a studio group, and most members except lead singer Ron Tabak were gone before the second album was recorded. With Tabak, Prism became a reforming of a previous great Vancouver group called The Seeds Of Time. Like most Canadian acts, they never really cracked the US market, but were huge here. Spaceship Superstar was written by Jim Vallance, who also wrote or co-wrote almost all of Bryan Adams songs for his first several years - Adams best years, in my opinion. Other members of this first version of Prism also include Tom Lavin, who would soon have success with his Jazz Rock band, Powder Blues. Original bassist, Ab Bryant, went on to join Chilliwack, another top Vancouver-based band that played with various lineups for many years and long string of hits. You're right about Ron Tabak's vocals. The man had power and presence and a natural instinct to entertain. Sadly, Ron left us far too early. Bass player Al Harlow continues to lead Prism to this day, taking lead guitar duties several years ago. Al is a really nice guy and a good friend. While he's a few years older than I, we shared the same elementary and high schools. He's invited me to sing with the band, but I've not had the chance to take him up on his offer as of yet. Great songs for you to check out, if I may : Prism - Take Me To The Kaptin Julie Flyin' Take Me Away Jealousy Virginia Armageddon Young And Restless Party Line The Seeds Of Time - My Hometown The Powder Blues Band - Doin' It Right What Have I Been Drinkin' Thirsty Ears
Well, PRiSM was a band that always seemed to be in progress, at the beginning, anyways. But, Lindsay Mitchell and Bruce Fairbairn, along with Ron Tabak, were still there for the second album and beyond! As for the rest of the classic and definitive lineup, John Hall on keys and synth, Rocket Norton on drums and Al Harlow on bass (replacing Tom Lavin) were all in the band BEFORE the second album!
Thanks for listening to Spaceship Superstar! So happy you liked it. Sorry about the audio. You'll have to get your hands on the album itself! On March 6, 2011, the final day of the final mission of Space Shuttle Discovery to the International Space Station, at 3:23 EST, the crew were woken up to the sound of Spaceship Superstaaaaaaar, probably not from the beginning to end of the song but, still pretty amazing. This song is the first track on PRiSM's debut album released on August 22, 1977 and was the first debut album by a Canadian artist to achieve platinum status in Canada in less than a year from its release date. Spaceship Superstar was written by Jim Vallance (aka Rodney Higgs, at the time), PRiSM's original drummer and principal songwriter on that debut album, also penning the other-worldly Take Me To The Kaptin, the first climate apocalypse song, as I like to refer to it! Vallance began writing the song in 1975 and completed it in 1977. As told by Vallance, sometime during the evolution of the song, the classic film Star Wars was released. With sci-fi being all the rage he wrote the lyrics in that vein. See Jim Vallance's website for more on the musical inspirations.
@@williamanderson5437 Thank-you! Well, when it comes to PRiSM, I can tend towards getting a bit carried away and this guy's reaction was pretty cool. :)
Hello again Harri: Al Harlow here again, member of the band Prism. Thanks for listening to our first hit, "Spaceship Superstar." Written by founding member "Rodney Higgs" aka Jim Vallance, who went on to write & produce with Bryan Adams, Aerosmith, and many others. This song was released during the era of the first Star Wars film, with Bowie & Elton having likewise alluded to space themes. Kraftwerk were an early influence also. The release date was 1977, when recording techniques, especially drum sounds were per what we hear here. A re-mastering could, as you suggest, update it, but here it's in original form. It became the official final-day wake-up song for the crew of the NASA Space Shuttle in 2011, on it's historic final flight. As Mr Vallance noted, "we finally hit the top of the charts on Mars!" Thanks, Harri -- Al H
I must report that I have never heard of Prism or this song. Mary B comments fill in the essence of this submission by Louis. Within the first minute of this song, I thought that this sounded like a hybrid of Styx, The Who, and perhaps a dash of Supertramp. Yet there is a uniqueness that comes through and was most enjoyable. Great reaction and submission....and then there was the cowbell and trippy lyrics observations by Mary. There was a depth of talent up there in Canada; I never knew too much about it until I arrived here at Harri's International Music Emporium😁!
Re: Usage in Space - "On Sunday March 6, 2011 Prism's "Spaceship Superstar" was chosen as the wake up song for the Space Shuttle Discovery crew members. This was a significant point in history as it was the last day that the crews of Discovery and the International Space Station were together before Discovery returned to Earth in the last mission of Discovery" - Wikipedia
PRiSM produced 100 tracks + and Al Harlow released NOW in 2022 (another ten tracks), Al is the lead singer these days, PRiSM are still going as of 2024.
Great reactions to Canadian rock from 70,s 80’s. There was definitely a Canada sound then! Check out Gino Vannelli’s “Brother to Brother” from 1978. There will be no problem with sound quality this one, production is incredible
You are right Harri, the song does not sound as good on headphones. Never listened to it like that, always had the stereo cranked lol. The song was used as the wake up song for the Space Shuttle Discovery crew members in 2011. The song was written by Jim Vallance under the pseudonym "Rodney Higgs". He first worked on the song in 1975, but finished in 1977. By the time the song became a hit, Vallance had already left Prism. According to Vallance, the influence on the lyrics of the song came from the George Lucas film Star Wars, which was released as he was writing the song
This recording is weak/flat headphones or not. Never was a headphone/earbud fan. Only use them when I have to. I have a friend who can bring some life to this track. I'll ask if they can work on it and add it to their channel but no promises. If it's a go I'll report back. 🤘
Head phones will never do these songs justice they were meant to be played on actually sound systems where you are pumping a few thousand watts as it should be 🙂
They probably didn’t have access to the best of recording studios as they were under the radar even in Canada. Certainly many other bigger attractions here.
Don’t you just love the old-school synthesizer sounds from the 70s? Not a techie, but they called it analog I guess. Also the Hammond organ was great in some music. The newer keyboard sounds, while great, just don’t elicit the same feeling for me in rock.
You have a "restricted" headphone source. A newer (B.S.) industry standard to help save people's hearing. Get a headphone amp. They are very cheap and will make a HUGE sound difference, with LOTS more volume. If you're using a PC, try a free online in-line EQ.
Prism was a local band from Vancouver BC (I’m from the island) and they were a huge hit way back in the day. Sadly, on Christmas Day in 1984 the singer Ron Tabak was hit by a car while riding his bike and he died of a brain bleed. These days the guitar player Al Harlow sings but to put it in the kindest word’s possible……he’s dreadful! He tortures this song and all the old Prism songs. Luckily for those of us that want to re-live our junior high school (or high school) days we have vinyl!
I wasent alive when this was released but I saw them live last year along with Tom Cochrane, April wine, helix, Kim Mitchell, headpins, lee Aaron, headpins, streetheart, and honeymoon suite. Prism and April wine both killed it. Great performances.
I stumble across your stuff every now and then... and I love your style Bud... will say I don't subscribe just 'cause a tuber tells me to... my vote matters!... but I'm just a hair's width away from hitting that subscribe.... finally gonna click your channel button, and, if I can see what I hope to, I will subscribe...if ya haven't guessed yet, I'm a Canuck🇨🇦 you've worked hard, and supplied me with fun stuff to watch... I'll be back to let ya know if I hit the button. But for now....👍🏼✌🏼🇨🇦
Interesting, what you say about the quality of the audio. I’ve seen them live three times; in venues with top notch sound guys. And they sounded like shit. I don’t know what it is about their arrangement, but they must be a nightmare to mix!
How this gem of a song is not a staple on classic rock radio all over the USA, I will never know!!
One of the best 'Music to Drive to' Bands in the World.........
I still love this song 40 years later………….Crank it up……
A big fan of Canadian music, from down under. My favourite is still Doug and the Slugs
I’m a little surprised you know about them as they were a bit under the radar even here in Canada. We got almost no Australian music here until Men at Work. Maybe you could recommend some good Aussie bands from the 70’s and 80’s for me.
@@trappenweisseguy27~ ~The Seekers, Little River Band, Air Supply, Helen Reddy
~These people immigrated from the UK (Great Britain) to Australia:: Olivia Newton-John, BeeGees, AC/DC
You probably remember the song Could You Ever Love Me Again by Gary and Dave. They were Canadians that had success in Canada in the 70s.
Love hearing this! I'm a Vancouverite now living Down Under.
Had the opportunity to meet Doug and his family one time, he was as real in person as he came across in his videos. Zero pretension, think his wife and their three daughters kept him grounded. May he RIP.
They are awesome. Some them in concert one time and they were GREAT!! Doug Bennett (RIP) was hilarious. Really great sound!!
Great share , being from canada , we pretended to play the solar powered lazer beam guitar lol
Another great Canadian 🇨🇦 Band from
Vancouver formed in 1977.
Definitely worth cranking on the stereo to get the magic effects from this hit.
Great instruments and of course a cow bell. Trippy lyrics for a interesting ride.
Definitely shades of The Who, Styx and a lot of other great bands.
Great reaction Harri. Hopefully you can get to hear to true greatness. Thanks Harri and Louis. Great classic. Cheers from Canada 🇨🇦
Harri, You should listen to another great Canadian band Trooper.
3 Dressed up as a 9!
Wow, the first concert I ever went to was these guys in Grand Prairie, Alberta.
Can't believe that someone reacted to this, awesome! Use to catch them opening for so many bands. Great memories. Try: Harlequin - "Innocence"
You must check out Fly at Night by Chilliwack. That song rocks!
Prism were a great band! If you really want to hear some great Canadian rock, I suggest the band Triumph’s song Lay It On The Line! No sound quality problems there
Thank You Harri! To see the band's versatility try "Your Like The Wind" by Prizm.
Loved Prism. Young and Restless (title song from album of the same name, Ron's last) is my favorite from them.
Me too.
Thank you Harry for being amongst the first reactors to check out some of the great Canadian music. Requested this record album for Christmas and my parents were wise, they also have me my own record player to play it on, I'm sure I still drive them crazy!
As a kid growing up in Western Canada I was so impressed by their synth pop I was certain they couldn't be Canadian lol.
Man we used to Rock this! Thanks for reminding me of Prism Harri
I love Prism!! Check out another Canadian band called Streetheart
Streetheart, my first favourite band and first concert in Jr High - 1982 maybe? Loved that album :)
So nice to find a few more Streetheart fans, gotta have some Kim Mitchell too.🇨🇦🇨🇦
Lol, Queen City Kids gotta get some love too.
Thank you, Harri, for reacting to another of my favourite bands. Spaceship Superstar is from the band's first album (1977) from before the true Prism actually formed. This first album is more of a studio group, and most members except lead singer Ron Tabak were gone before the second album was recorded. With Tabak, Prism became a reforming of a previous great Vancouver group called The Seeds Of Time. Like most Canadian acts, they never really cracked the US market, but were huge here.
Spaceship Superstar was written by Jim Vallance, who also wrote or co-wrote almost all of Bryan Adams songs for his first several years - Adams best years, in my opinion. Other members of this first version of Prism also include Tom Lavin, who would soon have success with his Jazz Rock band, Powder Blues. Original bassist, Ab Bryant, went on to join Chilliwack, another top Vancouver-based band that played with various lineups for many years and long string of hits.
You're right about Ron Tabak's vocals. The man had power and presence and a natural instinct to entertain. Sadly, Ron left us far too early.
Bass player Al Harlow continues to lead Prism to this day, taking lead guitar duties several years ago. Al is a really nice guy and a good friend. While he's a few years older than I, we shared the same elementary and high schools. He's invited me to sing with the band, but I've not had the chance to take him up on his offer as of yet.
Great songs for you to check out, if I may :
Prism - Take Me To The Kaptin
Julie
Flyin'
Take Me Away
Jealousy
Virginia
Armageddon
Young And Restless
Party Line
The Seeds Of Time - My Hometown
The Powder Blues Band - Doin' It Right
What Have I Been Drinkin'
Thirsty Ears
Well, PRiSM was a band that always seemed to be in progress, at the beginning, anyways. But, Lindsay Mitchell and Bruce Fairbairn, along with Ron Tabak, were still there for the second album and beyond! As for the rest of the classic and definitive lineup, John Hall on keys and synth, Rocket Norton on drums and Al Harlow on bass (replacing Tom Lavin) were all in the band BEFORE the second album!
Been hoping someone would react to this, such a cool song.
Thanks for listening to Spaceship Superstar! So happy you liked it. Sorry about the audio. You'll have to get your hands on the album itself!
On March 6, 2011, the final day of the final mission of Space Shuttle Discovery to the International Space Station, at 3:23 EST, the crew were woken up to the sound of Spaceship Superstaaaaaaar, probably not from the beginning to end of the song but, still pretty amazing. This song is the first track on PRiSM's debut album released on August 22, 1977 and was the first debut album by a Canadian artist to achieve platinum status in Canada in less than a year from its release date.
Spaceship Superstar was written by Jim Vallance (aka Rodney Higgs, at the time), PRiSM's original drummer and principal songwriter on that debut album, also penning the other-worldly Take Me To The Kaptin, the first climate apocalypse song, as I like to refer to it!
Vallance began writing the song in 1975 and completed it in 1977. As told by Vallance, sometime during the evolution of the song, the classic film Star Wars was released. With sci-fi being all the rage he wrote the lyrics in that vein. See Jim Vallance's website for more on the musical inspirations.
Decent Tribute Elizabeth
@@williamanderson5437 Thank-you! Well, when it comes to PRiSM, I can tend towards getting a bit carried away and this guy's reaction was pretty cool. :)
My favourite workout song!
Please play Prism Armageddon. The song received a lot of air play in Canada 🇨🇦
Hello again Harri: Al Harlow here again, member of the band Prism. Thanks for listening to our first hit, "Spaceship Superstar." Written by founding member "Rodney Higgs" aka Jim Vallance, who went on to write & produce with Bryan Adams, Aerosmith, and many others. This song was released during the era of the first Star Wars film, with Bowie & Elton having likewise alluded to space themes. Kraftwerk were an early influence also. The release date was 1977, when recording techniques, especially drum sounds were per what we hear here. A re-mastering could, as you suggest, update it, but here it's in original form. It became the official final-day wake-up song for the crew of the NASA Space Shuttle in 2011, on it's historic final flight. As Mr Vallance noted, "we finally hit the top of the charts on Mars!" Thanks, Harri -- Al H
Thanks for hitting Prism, one of my favorites from way back! Keep up the great work!
RIP Ron Tabak
I must report that I have never heard of Prism or this song. Mary B comments fill in the essence of this submission by Louis. Within the first minute of this song, I thought that this sounded like a hybrid of Styx, The Who, and perhaps a dash of Supertramp. Yet there is a uniqueness that comes through and was most enjoyable. Great reaction and submission....and then there was the cowbell and trippy lyrics observations by Mary. There was a depth of talent up there in Canada; I never knew too much about it until I arrived here at Harri's International Music Emporium😁!
The Who's Who's Next is one of the musical inspirations for this song!
Re: Usage in Space - "On Sunday March 6, 2011 Prism's "Spaceship Superstar" was chosen as the wake up song for the Space Shuttle Discovery crew members. This was a significant point in history as it was the last day that the crews of Discovery and the International Space Station were together before Discovery returned to Earth in the last mission of Discovery" - Wikipedia
LOVE this BAND its an 8o's time capsule :P
Search for "Prism Greatest Hits" on TH-cam and have a listen. Tons of great songs, you'll keep it in your favourites!
PRiSM produced 100 tracks + and Al Harlow released NOW in 2022 (another ten tracks), Al is the lead singer these days, PRiSM are still going as of 2024.
Great reactions to Canadian rock from 70,s 80’s. There was definitely a Canada sound then!
Check out Gino Vannelli’s
“Brother to Brother” from 1978. There will be no problem with sound quality this one, production is incredible
Armageddon!! Must listen with great quality!
Nice live version available with video as well.
Memories of Jr High… :)
These guys have a lot of great songs
You are right Harri, the song does not sound as good on headphones. Never listened to it like that, always had the stereo cranked lol. The song was used as the wake up song for the Space Shuttle Discovery crew members in 2011. The song was written by Jim Vallance under the pseudonym "Rodney Higgs". He first worked on the song in 1975, but finished in 1977. By the time the song became a hit, Vallance had already left Prism. According to Vallance, the influence on the lyrics of the song came from the George Lucas film Star Wars, which was released as he was writing the song
This recording is weak/flat headphones or not. Never was a headphone/earbud fan. Only use them when I have to. I have a friend who can bring some life to this track. I'll ask if they can work on it and add it to their channel but no promises. If it's a go I'll report back. 🤘
💥🤘🏼🇨🇦🤘🏼💥
Head phones will never do these songs justice they were meant to be played on actually sound systems where you are pumping a few thousand watts as it should be 🙂
They probably didn’t have access to the best of recording studios as they were under the radar even in Canada. Certainly many other bigger attractions here.
You can add, "Take Me to the Kaptain" and "Flyin" to your PRISM song list.
Don’t you just love the old-school synthesizer sounds from the 70s? Not a techie, but they called it analog I guess. Also the Hammond organ was great in some music. The newer keyboard sounds, while great, just don’t elicit the same feeling for me in rock.
Yeah, get some good headphones. Top-of-the-line Sennheisers or SONY MDR-V900 will do this stellar tune more justice.
You have a "restricted" headphone source. A newer (B.S.) industry standard to help save people's hearing. Get a headphone amp. They are very cheap and will make a HUGE sound difference, with LOTS more volume. If you're using a PC, try a free online in-line EQ.
A whole lot of The Who in there.
Foreigner/STYX for me.
@@Roof_Pizza Yes, I always felt they were more like Styx. But Jim Vallance says Kraftwerk, The who, and Edgar Winter were the influences on this song.
@@Louis5900 I hear Styx big time in this song
@@Louis5900 I don't see the Who or Kraftwerk and I'm not familiar enough with Edgar Winter.
@@Roof_Pizza I agree, but those were the influences quoted by Jim Vallance LOL. I think the Swinging Arm guitar sound is a little like The Who.
I swear I thought I was the only person who thought this was a great song.
Stream from TH-cam Music. It's official audio.
Prism album Over 60 Minutes With is stellar.... loaded with great songs
Highly recommend this one - I'm on the way to wearing it out! :)
a lot of recordings from back then were so compressed that they lost all dynamics and restricted the frequencies.
Prism was a local band from Vancouver BC (I’m from the island) and they were a huge hit way back in the day. Sadly, on Christmas Day in 1984 the singer Ron Tabak was hit by a car while riding his bike and he died of a brain bleed. These days the guitar player Al Harlow sings but to put it in the kindest word’s possible……he’s dreadful! He tortures this song and all the old Prism songs. Luckily for those of us that want to re-live our junior high school (or high school) days we have vinyl!
I wasent alive when this was released but I saw them live last year along with Tom Cochrane, April wine, helix, Kim Mitchell, headpins, lee Aaron, headpins, streetheart, and honeymoon suite. Prism and April wine both killed it. Great performances.
I stumble across your stuff every now and then... and I love your style Bud... will say I don't subscribe just 'cause a tuber tells me to... my vote matters!... but I'm just a hair's width away from hitting that subscribe.... finally gonna click your channel button, and, if I can see what I hope to, I will subscribe...if ya haven't guessed yet, I'm a Canuck🇨🇦
you've worked hard, and supplied me with fun stuff to watch... I'll be back to let ya know if I hit the button. But for now....👍🏼✌🏼🇨🇦
PLEASE ANALYZE THE SONG CALLED MY SAD CAPTAIN BY ELBOW THANK YOU
Interesting, what you say about the quality of the audio. I’ve seen them live three times; in venues with top notch sound guys. And they sounded like shit. I don’t know what it is about their arrangement, but they must be a nightmare to mix!