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

Tracks

Artist Track Title
Laurie Bower Singers Do You Think I'd Call It Love When You Say Goodbye
Mutual Understanding Little Girl Blue In Wonderland
Cowell, Johnny with the Laurie Bower Singers The Ways of a Lonely Man Bridge Over Troubled Waters
Mutual Understanding Rain Rain Go Away In Wonderland
Laurie Bower Singers Just a Little Song Back Home Again
Amaro, Eugene Laura Eugene Amaro
Spitfire Band The More I See You Big Time
Cowell, Johnny with the Laurie Bower Singers Here Comes Another Day Bridge Over Troubled Waters
Spitfire Band Santa Claus is Coming to Town Home for the Holidays
Spitfire Band The Tender Trap 'S Wonderful
Spitfire Band What Kind Of Fool Am I Big Time
Van, Billy Singers I'm Laughin ST
Laurie Bower Singers It Takes Time Take Me Home Country Roads
Laurie Bower Singers Rita, Put Your Black Shoes On Take Me Home Country Roads
Laurie Bower Singers Silver Bird Look What They've Done to My Song, Ma
Van, Billy Singers You're Hanging Me Up ST
Mutual Understanding I'm Old Fashioned In Wonderland
Amaro, Eugene Body And Soul Eugene Amaro
Laurie Bower Singers If You Feel The Way I Do The Rose And The Rain
McPeek, Ben Gypsies, Tramps And Thieves Peace Train
Spitfire Band As Time Goes By Big Time
Laurie Bower Singers Just To Be Alone With You You
Laurie Bower Singers Hey Look Got a Feelin' for Love
Spitfire Band 'S Wonderful 'S Wonderful
Laurie Bower Singers Didn't We The Rose And The Rain
Spitfire Band There I've Said It Again 'S Wonderful
Amaro, Eugene Georgia Eugene Amaro
Compilation Laurie Bower Singers - Sometime Girl 1967 CBC Song Market featuring Kiss The Wind
Laurie Bower Singers Papa Joe Wish I Was A Plane
Laurie Bower Singers Stop And Smell The Roses Back Home Again
Spitfire Band It's Been A Long, Ling Time Big Time
Spitfire Band Marie ST
Van, Billy Singers You've Got the World by the Tail ST
Laurie Bower Singers Daniel Wish I Was A Plane
McPeek, Ben He's So Fine Peace Train
Amaro, Eugene Lucia Eugene Amaro
Laurie Bower Singers It Goes Like It Goes It Goes Like It Goes
Laurie Bower Singers Didn't We? Feelin'
Mutual Understanding Everybody Loves My Baby In Wonderland
Spitfire Band Strike Up The Band 'S Wonderful
Laurie Bower Singers Think I'll Write a Song Back Home Again
Spitfire Band Skyliner Big Band Swing Things
Compilation Hogtown Hoe-Down Toronto: What Other City Calls its Main Street Yonge?
Laurie Bower Singers You're Driving Me Crazy Feelin'
Laurie Bower Singers The Importance of the Rose Feelin'
Laurie Bower Singers Sundown Back Home Again
Laurie Bower Singers Happy Dreamer Wish I Was A Plane
Laurie Bower Singers Back Home Again Back Home Again
McPeek, Ben One Less Bell To Answer Peace Train
Laurie Bower Singers Morning Has Broken Morning Has Broken
Laurie Bower Singers You Are What I Am Wish I Was A Plane
Cowell, Johnny with the Laurie Bower Singers Bridge Over Troubled Waters Bridge Over Troubled Waters
Spitfire Band Something's Gotta Give Big Band Swing Things
Laurie Bower Singers The Young New Mexican Pupeteer Morning Has Broken
Van, Billy Singers Tammy's Gone ST
Laurie Bower Singers Crooked Mile Wish I Was A Plane
Laurie Bower Singers I Think It's Gonna Rain on Me Today Take Me Home Country Roads
Laurie Bower Singers Rainy Day People Got a Feelin' for Love
Van, Billy Singers Why Oh Why ST
Laurie Bower Singers Rock With You When You Say Goodbye
Amaro, Eugene Niños Del Sol Eugene Amaro
Spitfire Band Brazil Big Band Swing Things
Amaro, Eugene Jade Eyes Eugene Amaro
Laurie Bower Singers Minute To Minute When You Say Goodbye
Laurie Bower Singers Could I Have This Dance It Goes Like It Goes
Laurie Bower Singers Hold On to a Little Bit of Love Morning Has Broken
Laurie Bower Singers Epilogue Morning Has Broken
Laurie Bower Singers Kiss Me in the Rain It Goes Like It Goes
Laurie Bower Singers Ready To Take A Chance You
Laurie Bower Singers A Love Song Laurie Bower
Mutual Understanding You Fascinate Me In Wonderland
Spitfire Band Song of India ST
Spitfire Band New York, New York Big Time
Laurie Bower Singers Sir Duke Looks Like We Made It
Compilation Woodland City Toronto: What Other City Calls its Main Street Yonge?
Laurie Bower Singers Circle Round The Sky Back Home Again
Cowell, Johnny with the Laurie Bower Singers Honeybee Bridge Over Troubled Waters
Laurie Bower Singers When You Find a Sad Song Back Home Again
Laurie Bower Singers Daybreak Looks Like We Made It
Mutual Understanding Always True to You, Darling, In My Fashion In Wonderland
Laurie Bower Singers I Wish That I Was Making Love (To You Tonight) Laurie Bower
Cowell, Johnny with the Laurie Bower Singers Remember, Remember Bridge Over Troubled Waters
McPeek, Ben Everything's Alright Peace Train
Laurie Bower Singers Look and See Take Me Home Country Roads
Laurie Bower Singers Why Is Forever Taking So Long When You Say Goodbye
Van, Billy Singers Four Seasons ST
Laurie Bower Singers Key Largo Laurie Bower
Laurie Bower Singers Lotta Love When You Say Goodbye
Amaro, Eugene Grace-Ful Eugene Amaro
Spitfire Band Just In Time Big Time
Spitfire Band Time After Time Big Time
Laurie Bower Singers I've Found a New Baby Feelin'
Spitfire Band If I Were A Bell Big Band Swing Things
Laurie Bower Singers Think Look What They've Done to My Song, Ma
Laurie Bower Singers Love and Maple Syrup Take Me Home Country Roads
Spitfire Band Reprise Radio And Fan Salute 'S Wonderful
Spitfire Band Don't Be That Way 'S Wonderful
Laurie Bower Singers Wedding Cake Feelin'
Laurie Bower Singers Out Here On My Own It Goes Like It Goes
Laurie Bower Singers Song Sung Blue Morning Has Broken

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