Poles
Websites:
https://citizenfreak.com/artists/97346-jordana-michaele, https://michaelejordana.com/
Origin:
Winnipeg, Manitoba - Toronto, Ontario, 🇨🇦
Biography:
Formed in Toronto in ’77 at the peak of the punk revolution, The Poles were founded by vocalist Michaele Jordana, Douglas Pringle (ex of Syrinx) on keyboards. The band’s name stems from an Arctic Pole trip the two had just returned from, and the original lineup was rounded out by Michael McLuhan on bass, and drummer Calvin Greenwood (aka Luce Wildesbeest). They began playing around the local art galleries, universities, and other similar venues in Toronto.
But it wasn’t long before personnel changes saw a revised lineup, McLuhan was out, and Ricky Swede was in, and Steve Goode joined on bass. They worked their own mix of punk and new wave into their acts, and in the fall of ’77 caught the attention of famed producer Jack Richardson (Guess Who, among many others). Recognizing the band’s commercial appeal, he signed them to his Nimbus 9 Records. Whisking them off to the studio with producers Keith Elshaw (later a Tango dancing instructor in Montreal) and Jim Frank (Record Plant alumni), the band’s live raw energy was captured in the single “CN Tower.” A tribute to Toronto’s landmark, it was backed with “Prime Time,” and became a mainstay on local airwaves that summer, a top 20 hit throughout Toronto’s radio stations’ lists, and one of the top 50 all time classic songs coming out of Toronto, according to one writer.
With Jordana’s futuristic lyrics, accompanied by Pringle’s synthesizer behind her intense vocals, The Poles soon became trail-blazers of the new wave sound, getting critical acclaim for their anthem-like material including "CN Tower,” "XRay Robot,” and "Cannibal Kids,” which they performed at venues including A SPACE, The Isaacs Gallery, CEAC (Centre For Experimental Art And Communication), OCAD (Ontario College of Art and Design), The Robert McLaughlin Gallery, The Music Gallery, Innis College, and Toronto Workshop Productions. Club and concert dates soon followed with the likes of Teenage Head, Diodes, and Viletones, at Crash ‘n Burn, CBGB’s, Max’s, The Music Hall, and The DuMaurier Theater, and then rapidly multiplied.
After The Poles ran their course, Pringle and Jordana continued working together, including him producing and co-writing her 1980 Juno-nominated album ROMANCE AT THE ROXY. The Attic Records album debuted at a packed and notoriously raucous live release concert at the top of The CN Tower where Jordana was later presented with the first CASBY Award (then called the "You Knows") for Best New Female Singer.
Jordana and Pringle have collaboborated on several significant multimedia projects, including television documentaries, installations and electro pop operas, such as “The Rites of Nuliajuk,” a critically acclaimed theatrical performance based on the time they spent in the High Arctic with the indigenous people. Their rock opera, "Storming Heaven” teamed them up again with Ricky Swede. In it, Jordana’s evocative vocals blend cyberpunk science fiction lyrics and dystopian imagery with Pringle’s drivng synthesizers and Swede’s powerful guitars. This multimedia performance art work – which explores man’s desire to conquer a world that does not belong to him alone – was produced for The Power Plant in Toronto and The University of North Carolina in Raleigh.
-Michaele Jordana and Douglas Pringle
"CN Tower", Michaele Jordana's acclaimed single produced by Jimmy Frank at Nimbus9 Studios in Canada, led the band to perform in venues including Crash & Burn in Toronto, and CBGB's and Max's in N.Y. with acts like Devo, the Ramones & Patti Smith.
In Paris, "Liberation" called their music "urgent rock and roll, hypnotic like Kraftwerk" and in New York City, John Cale produced and recoded their music.
Hailed as the "It Girl" by Peter Goddard in the Toronto Star, Michaele Jordana won the first CASBY award & a JUNO nomination for her album "Romance at the Roxy", produced at Nimbus 9 Studio in Toronto.
Variety Magazine called her "a choice lead singer, placing the Poles above other New Wave punk outfits." The Montreal Star proclaimed Michaele Jordana "a chanteuse of star magnitude."
Shades Magazine called her guerrilla-girl image "little girl tough, riveting all eyes on stage." Today Magazine dubbed Michaele Jordana "a New Wave Edith Piaf", & The Ottawa Citizen wrote: "She radiates excitement like a high tension wire!" Michaele's sound, blending cyberpunk science fiction lyrics with hard driving guitars & synthesizers continues in her more recent work with Pringle.
"Storming Heaven", a multimedia stage performance commissioned by The Power Plant Art Gallery in Toronto, & performed at theatres in Canada & USA, explores man's desire to conquer a world that does not belong to him alone. In the show, we storm the gates of heaven to bring back what we've lost.
Michaele Jordana pioneered the New Wave punk sound, attitude and style and was the true forerunner of future generations of female artists and musicians. The unique sound of her band's music makes Michaele Jordana's songs as current today as when they were first released. In fact, in The Toronto Star, March 30, 2003, writer/film maker David Bedini hails "CN Tower" by Michaele Jordana & The Poles as one of the top 50 all time classic songs coming out of Toronto.
Jordana next produced a series of moving television documentaries. In "Face to Face", Michaele forms a video crew with disabled teenagers who are on the threshold of integration, who rise above obstacles as they meet and interview the public. "Face to Face" won a silver medal at The New York Film and Television Festival and has been broadcast around the globe.
Michaele has worked extensively in the field of education in University and public school environments, developing innovative progams in visual arts, video and multimedia. Commissioned by Industry Canada for Canada's SchoolNet, Michaele pioneered interactive online learning with "AIERbrush" - the Artists in Electronic Residence web site.
Michaele's work has been critically acclaimed in countless periodicals and books, including Art in America, Variety, Arts Canada, Macleans, Chatelaine and Liberation amongst others;
Her work has been included in several publications, dailies & books including Robert Belton's "Sights of Resistance"- Approaches to Canadian Visual Culture.
Michaele Jordana Berman has been the recipient of several Canada Council arts awards. She has also won several Ontario Arts Council awards. She was the recipient of the award for International Achievement from The Culture & Animals Foundation in North Carolina. Michaele sat on the advisory committee of The Bell Center of Communications - Visual/Multimedia and is a member of the Institute for International Affairs. In 2000, Michaele co-founded OneSoul Productions. She has taught classes in Game Worlds, Drawing for Animators, and The Social History of Design at UOIT and at Centennial College.
Michaele has a Bachelor of Fine Arts Honors Degree. Her daughter, Ramona Pringle, is an interactive media producer, reporter and actress.
Michaele Jordana: vocals
Doug Pringle: keyboards
Ricky Swede: guitar
Stevie Goode: bass
