Try Me On for Size b/w Don't Go Away

Susan Layne was a Canadian pop, soul and rock singer whose career began in childhood and later placed her at the centre of Mama Coco, one of Canada’s busiest theatrical rock bands of the late 1970s and early 1980s.

According to a 1982 profile in the Medicine Hat News, Layne apparently recorded a country album at the age of thirteen. Although the title and label have not been identified, the report establishes that she entered the recording business unusually early. By her teenage years, she was singing with a rock band, with her mother accompanying her as a chaperone during live engagements.

In the mid-1970s, she recorded under the spelling Susan Layen for Toronto’s Periwinkle Records. Her first known single, ‘Try Me On For Size’ backed with ‘Don’t Go Away’, appeared in 1975. Both songs were written by Al Rain and produced, arranged and conducted by Rain and Art Snider at Sound Canada Recording Centre. Periwinkle promoted the release nationally, and ‘Don’t Go Away’ received Canadian radio exposure.

A second Periwinkle single followed in 1976, pairing ‘Who Does He Think He Is?’ with ‘How Am I Gonna Carry On?’. The record reunited her with Rain and Snider and continued the polished mixture of pop and soul heard on her first release. These four songs remain her principal known solo recordings from the period.

Around the same time, Layne joined Mama Coco, a Toronto band formed by brothers Gino and Peter Latini. The lineup was completed by guitarist Preston Wynn and bassist Ray Lowe, with Layne becoming the group’s lead vocalist. Early versions of Mama Coco included two female singers, but the band eventually settled into the five-member configuration that remained together for much of the following decade.

Layne’s voice became one of the defining elements of Mama Coco. Contemporary writers described her singing as strong, supple and adaptable, qualities that allowed her to move easily between rock, pop, dance music and theatrical material. She also handled much of the audience interaction between songs, maintaining the flow of the performance while the other members changed costumes or prepared the next production sequence.

Mama Coco developed far beyond the usual hotel-lounge format. Their shows incorporated choreography, comedy, lighting, smoke effects, rapid costume changes and audience participation. The group’s best-known routine was a condensed interpretation of The Rocky Horror Picture Show, with Layne appearing as Janet, Peter Latini as Brad and Preston Wynn as Dr. Frank-N-Furter.

The Rocky Horror segment became a major audience favourite. Fans brought props associated with the film and threw toast and rice toward the stage. Layne recalled that rice was thrown regularly and that one particularly enthusiastic patron once launched an entire bag. The routine also attracted controversy during a 1982 engagement in Regina, when the Saskatchewan Liquor Licensing Commission asked the venue to remove it from the show.

Layne participated fully in Mama Coco’s theatrical presentation. Beyond her lead vocals, she took part in the choreography, costume changes and character routines that transformed the band’s club appearances into a travelling rock revue. Other sequences drew upon Star Wars, Close Encounters of the Third Kind, Alice Cooper, David Bowie and novelty material such as ‘The Purple People Eater’.

The demands of the band’s schedule were considerable. Mama Coco reportedly spent approximately 280 days a year onstage, rehearsed several days each week and travelled for months at a time in a five-ton truck and van. Layne estimated that the group spent roughly five months of the year working in Ontario and another seven months touring elsewhere. She believed approximately half of their following was concentrated in western Canada, where audiences tended to respond more openly and enthusiastically than those in Ontario.

Layne also received attention outside the music circuit through an appearance as a Toronto newspaper Sunshine Girl. Contemporary coverage later referred to her as a former Sunshine Girl and noted that she had already spent several years performing with Mama Coco.

In 1981, Mama Coco released ‘Long Lonely Heartache’ backed with ‘You Know How Much I Love You’ through Tuesday Records and Axe Records. The title song was written specifically for Layne by Kitchener songwriter David Lodge and produced by Greg Hambleton at the Waxworks studio in St. Jacobs, Ontario. The band had already introduced the song during live performances, where it received a strong response before being issued commercially.

Although ‘Long Lonely Heartache’ did not become a major national hit, it received Canadian radio airplay and sold enough copies for the group to recover its costs. The release represented Mama Coco’s effort to establish an identity beyond the cover-band circuit while preserving the touring operation that remained the foundation of their career.

By 1982, Mama Coco had begun performing in the United States. The band eventually appeared in at least eight states and received press coverage for its combination of musicianship, theatre and high-energy staging. Layne noted that American audiences were often more direct in their reactions, while Canadian crowds could be comparatively reserved.

In early 1984, Layne recorded the six-song Magic Highway mini-album with Mama Coco at United Media in Toronto. Produced by Mel Shaw, with Greg Hambleton as executive producer, the record moved the group toward a more focused pop-rock and power-pop sound. Layne sang lead vocals throughout, backed by Preston Wynn, Peter Latini, Ray Lowe and Gino Latini.

The album included ‘Magic Highway’, written by Wynn, along with ‘Touch Touch’, ‘Midnight Romeo’, ‘Walk Right In (Everybody’s Talking)’, ‘Blame It All on the Night’ and ‘Another Drop in the Ocean’. It was independently manufactured and distributed by Mama Coco, with further American touring, music videos and a possible European release under consideration.

Susan Layne’s career stretched from childhood recording sessions through mid-1970s Toronto pop and soul releases under the name Susan Layen, followed by nearly a decade of demanding theatrical rock performances with Mama Coco. Her surviving records capture only part of her work. Much of her reputation was built in clubs across Canada and the United States, where her voice, stage presence and connection with audiences helped turn Mama Coco into a travelling rock theatre.

-Robert Williston