Song:Wildflower
Album:Reaching for the Sky: Towering Soul from the 70s
Wildflower was a top ten hit in 1973. It was the only chart single for the Canadian band Skylark. They only released two albums so they didn't last very long. They were from Vancouver but the formation of Skylark came from guys who backed up Ronnie Hawkins when he led the house band at the Le Coq D'or in Toronto. One of those guys was David Foster. He's famous now. Skylark was his first band. Other members were Donny Gerrard and B.J. Cook on vocals, Doug Edwards on guitar, Steve Pugsley on bass, Duris Maxwell on drums and Carl Graves on percussion. Wildflower was a poem written by Dave Richardson who was a friend of Foster. Edwards turned it into a song. Veteran producer Barry De Vorzon really liked Skylark's demo and he helped them get a record deal with Capitol Records. Canadian radio stations were mandated to play Canadian produced records. I think it was 30% at the time. They had to play some really crappy records. Rosalie Trombley was program director at CKLW in Windsor. She played Wildflower incessantly for three months to fill CanCon requirements. CKLW was very popular in Detroit. Capitol decided to release Wildflower in the US and eventually it broke nationally and reached #9 on the Billboard Hot 100. You can get it on this various artists comp. By the time Skylark recorded their second album, Foster, Cook and Gerrard were the only original members remaining. The album bombed and Foster moved to Los Angeles effectively disbanding Skylark. Foster immediately formed Airplay with guitarist Jay Graydon. Everyone knows who he is now. Gerrard and Graves released solo albums. In recent years, Gerrard has toured with Mavis Staples. I saw him in her band a few years ago. Edwards has been in The Hometown Band for years. Here's Skylark performing Wildflower on The Midnight Special 1973.
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