The Laurie Bower Collection

The Laurie Bower Singers – Canada’s Studio Soundtrack

The story of the Laurie Bower Singers is less about chart hits than it is about presence. For more than two decades, their voices seemed to be everywhere in Canadian life—on radio jingles, television themes, variety shows, commercials, and an unbroken run of albums that defined the sound of smooth, professional harmony. Behind it all was trombonist, arranger, and choral leader Laurie Bower, whose knack for marrying jazz sophistication with pop clarity made his singers indispensable to broadcasters and record producers alike.

Born in Kirkland Lake in 1933, Lawrence “Laurie” Bower studied trombone and choral technique at the University of Toronto and cut his teeth in the dance bands of Benny Louis, Ozzie Williams, and Mart Kenney. He was soon a regular in CBC studios, part of a generation of musicians who moved fluidly between jazz clubs at night and commercial sessions during the day. Bower’s reputation grew not only as a player but also as an arranger with a gift for clarity—he could take any group of singers and give them a polished, unified sound.

The Laurie Bower Singers came together in 1969, first as a compact vocal quintet and then gradually expanding into a rotating ensemble of Toronto’s finest session singers. At a time when the CBC and the Canadian Talent Library were commissioning music to fill airwaves with homegrown content, Bower’s group was perfectly placed. They were versatile, reliable, and fast. The group could cut a full album of covers in a matter of days, record a pair of jingles in the morning, and back a jazz orchestra on television the same evening.

Their albums, issued steadily through the 1970s—often on the Canadian Talent Library imprint—captured their lush, easy-listening style: re-voiced pop and folk hits arranged with orchestral sweep. But their real influence went far beyond LPs. By their own estimate, the singers recorded hundreds, even thousands, of commercials. Cal Dodd, one of the later members, once joked that they were doing “two jingles a day, every day, for 25 years.” If you turned on Canadian radio or television during those decades, chances are you heard the Laurie Bower Singers without knowing it.

What set them apart was Bower’s insistence on precision without losing warmth. His charts gave the singers the silky quality of American groups like the Ray Conniff Singers, but with a flexibility that allowed them to slip into jazz, folk, country, or advertising work without missing a beat. They became the “house sound” of countless CBC productions and a model of professionalism for younger singers breaking into the Toronto studio scene.

By the end of the 1970s the group had even reached the U.S. market, with three albums released stateside, but the tides of popular taste were shifting. While disco and rock dominated commercial radio, the Laurie Bower Singers remained most valuable in the worlds of broadcasting, jingles, and live television. Bower himself branched out in the early 1980s, co-founding the Spitfire Band and continuing to play trombone with big bands led by Guido Basso, Peter Appleyard, and Jim Galloway.

The group wound down its activities in the late 1980s, formally retiring around 1990. Yet their legacy is less about one big hit and more about saturation. They were part of the fabric of Canadian sound during a formative period, when broadcasters and advertisers relied heavily on live studio talent. The Laurie Bower Singers brought polish and consistency, ensuring that Canadian music—whether on a prime-time CBC variety show or in a thirty-second toothpaste jingle—always sounded world-class.

Today their records are prized as artifacts of the Canadian Talent Library era, and Laurie Bower himself is remembered as a linchpin of Toronto’s studio culture: a musician who quietly shaped the way Canada sounded during a quarter century of rapid change.
-Robert Williston

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Mutual Understanding - In Wonderland

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In Wonderland

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Toronto: What Other City Calls its Main Street Yonge?

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Tracks

Artist Track Title
Laurie Bower Singers You Never Done It Like That You
Mutual Understanding San Jose In Wonderland
Laurie Bower Singers Look What They've Done To My Song, Ma Look What They've Done to These Songs, Ma.....
Amaro, Eugene The Shadow Of Your Smile Eugene Amaro
Laurie Bower Singers The Young New Mexican Pupeteer Morning Has Broken
Laurie Bower Singers Boney Fingers Back Home Again
Spitfire Band One Big Band Swing Things
Spitfire Band Frenesi ST
Compilation Season of the Yonge Toronto: What Other City Calls its Main Street Yonge?
Laurie Bower Singers If You Feel Got a Feelin' for Love
Laurie Bower Singers Too Much Is On The Line When You Say Goodbye
Amaro, Eugene Everything Happens To Me Eugene Amaro
Laurie Bower Singers Pretty Lady Look What They've Done to These Songs, Ma.....
Amaro, Eugene Body And Soul Eugene Amaro
Mutual Understanding I'm Old Fashioned In Wonderland
Laurie Bower Singers Me and Julio Down By The Schoolyard Morning Has Broken
Laurie Bower Singers You Decorated My Life When You Say Goodbye
Spitfire Band New York, New York Big Time
Spitfire Band Brazil Big Band Swing Things
Spitfire Band Medley: Here Comes Santa Claus - Sleigh Ride Home for the Holidays
Compilation Episode 7-Oh! Toronto: What Other City Calls its Main Street Yonge?
Van, Billy Singers You Don't Really Know ST
McPeek, Ben Imagine Peace Train
Spitfire Band If I Were A Bell Big Band Swing Things
Laurie Bower Singers Happy Dreamer Wish I Was A Plane
Laurie Bower Singers The Rose Laurie Bower
McPeek, Ben Everything's Alright Peace Train
Spitfire Band Song of India ST
Laurie Bower Singers Brand New Key Morning Has Broken
Laurie Bower Singers Didn't We? Feelin'
Laurie Bower Singers Could I Have This Dance It Goes Like It Goes
Laurie Bower Singers Don't Ask Me Why It Goes Like It Goes
Laurie Bower Singers Looks Like We Made It Looks Like We Made It
Spitfire Band Just In Time Big Time
Spitfire Band Near You ST
Laurie Bower Singers Evergreen Looks Like We Made It
Laurie Bower Singers Penny Lane Feelin'
Spitfire Band Something's Gotta Give Big Band Swing Things
Mutual Understanding When The World Was Young In Wonderland
Compilation Woodland City Toronto: What Other City Calls its Main Street Yonge?
Laurie Bower Singers Got A Feelin' Got a Feelin' for Love
Laurie Bower Singers Rhumba Girl It Goes Like It Goes
Laurie Bower Singers Think Look What They've Done to These Songs, Ma.....
Spitfire Band I've Heard That Song Before Big Time
Laurie Bower Singers Key Largo Laurie Bower
Laurie Bower Singers When I Need You Looks Like We Made It
Spitfire Band Laura 'S Wonderful
Laurie Bower Singers Put Your Hand In The Hand Look What They've Done to These Songs, Ma.....
Laurie Bower Singers When You Say Goodbye When You Say Goodbye
Laurie Bower Singers Feelin' Feelin'
Compilation Hogtown Hoe-Down Toronto: What Other City Calls its Main Street Yonge?
Spitfire Band I Let A Song Go Out Of My Heart 'S Wonderful
Laurie Bower Singers I Go To Rio It Goes Like It Goes
Laurie Bower Singers It Goes Like It Goes It Goes Like It Goes
Amaro, Eugene Grace-Ful Eugene Amaro
Spitfire Band Don't Be That Way 'S Wonderful
Spitfire Band Santa Claus is Coming to Town Home for the Holidays
Laurie Bower Singers Sweet Ginger Bread Man Look What They've Done to These Songs, Ma.....
Mutual Understanding Always True to You, Darling, In My Fashion In Wonderland
Laurie Bower Singers You're The One That I Want You
Mutual Understanding Everybody Loves My Baby In Wonderland
Laurie Bower Singers Don't Blame Me Laurie Bower
Laurie Bower Singers Shadow Song Wish I Was A Plane
Cowell, Johnny with the Laurie Bower Singers Gentle as a Breeze Bridge Over Troubled Waters
Laurie Bower Singers Tell No Lies You
Laurie Bower Singers Daniel Wish I Was A Plane
Spitfire Band Mrs. Robinson 'S Wonderful
Laurie Bower Singers Why Is Forever Taking So Long When You Say Goodbye
Laurie Bower Singers Epilogue Morning Has Broken
Amaro, Eugene Georgia Eugene Amaro
Laurie Bower Singers Ready To Take A Chance You
Laurie Bower Singers El Condor Pasa Look What They've Done to These Songs, Ma.....
Cowell, Johnny with the Laurie Bower Singers The Ways of a Lonely Man Bridge Over Troubled Waters
Laurie Bower Singers I've Found a New Baby Feelin'
Mutual Understanding Pretty People In Wonderland
Laurie Bower Singers Think I'll Write a Song Back Home Again
Laurie Bower Singers Stop And Smell The Roses Back Home Again
Laurie Bower Singers Everybody's Reachin' Out For Someone Take Me Home Country Roads
McPeek, Ben Superstar Peace Train
Spitfire Band Witchcraft Big Time
Spitfire Band Time After Time Big Time
Compilation Teach Me Toronto: What Other City Calls its Main Street Yonge?
Van, Billy Singers Am I a Fool ST
Spitfire Band Hey There Big Time
Laurie Bower Singers Daybreak Looks Like We Made It
Laurie Bower Singers Back Home Again Back Home Again
Van, Billy Singers You're Hanging Me Up ST
Spitfire Band Parade of the Wooden Soldiers Home for the Holidays
Laurie Bower Singers Country Comfort Take Me Home Country Roads
Spitfire Band But Not For Me 'S Wonderful
Laurie Bower Singers Nine to Five It Goes Like It Goes
Laurie Bower Singers Sing Me a Rainbow Feelin'
Laurie Bower Singers Sir Duke Looks Like We Made It
McPeek, Ben Talk It Over In The Morning Peace Train
Laurie Bower Singers Pussywillow Cat-tails Morning Has Broken
Laurie Bower Singers Fool That I Am It Goes Like It Goes
Laurie Bower Singers Song Sung Blue Morning Has Broken
Laurie Bower Singers She's Always A Woman You
Laurie Bower Singers Early Morning Rain Feelin'
Laurie Bower Singers You're Driving Me Crazy Feelin'

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