Works, The

Websites:  No
Origin: Toronto, Ontario
Biography:

The Works is an AOR/Hard Rock band from Toronto, Ontario, Canada, that was formed in 1989. Not to be confused with The Works from the San Fernando Valley.

After bouncing around the Toronto market for a few years, the demise of Mannequin after one album left singer Brian Maloney and guitarist Jim Huff looking for a new project.

After Huff was done filling in with Teenage Head for a few months, Mannequin was briefly reformed, but eventually called it quits for good. One of the songs they'd recorded, "What Rules My Heart" was used by Triumph for their SPORT OF KINGS album in '88.

"It was released as a B-side of their first single ("Take A Stand"), the album went gold as was usual with everything they did at at the time," Huff laughed. "This resulted in Brian and I getting a call from John Redmond who was head of publishing at A&M/Rondor Music, thats what got the A&M ball rolling so to speak."

They hooked up with keyboardist Stuart Zaltz and began writing some material while shopping for a record deal, and caught the attention of reps at A&M, who subsequently shipped them off to Miami in the spring of 1989 to work with producer Tom Allom (Judas Priest, Def Leppard, Black Sabbath). They hired session musicians bassist Klyph Black, drummer Paul Marangoni, and Ed Calle on saxophone. Once recording was done, the three actual band members flew back to Toronto and began auditioning players to round out a touring group.

By the time their debut album, FROM OUT OF NOWHERE, was in the stores a few months later, bassist Tim Harrington and drummer Scott Lucas had been added to the lineup. They made their rounds around the Toronto circuit, including The Diamond Club while "Dancing On A Wing" was released as a single and a video was shot to support it. Although the single got fairly good airplay in pockets across the country and the video got some airplay on MuchMusic, the label wasn't doing much to help out. Other noteable cuts included the single's b-side "Miss Perfection," the harder edged "Wild Reaction," "Slave To The Thrill," and "Love Is A Dangerous Weapon."

They returned in 1992 on Island Records under the new name of Wall of Silence