The Pursuit of Happiness
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The Pursuit of Happiness are a Canadian college rock group, who were one of Canada's most successful independent bands in the 1980s.
Led by Edmonton, Alberta singer/songwriter Moe Berg, The Pursuit of Happiness were launched in 1985 when Berg and drummer Dave Gilby moved to Toronto, Ontario. They soon met bassist Johnny Sinclair and formed the band, adding twins Tam Amabile and Tasha Amabile as backing vocalists.
Their debut single, "I'm an Adult Now", quickly became a smash hit across Canada in 1986, sparked by a low-budget video which made it onto the Canadian music video channel MuchMusic. However, the band did not immediately sign to a record label, and released another independent single, "Killed by Love", in 1988. The Amabile twins left the band that year, and were replaced by Kris Abbott and Leslie Stanwyck.
Also in 1988, they signed to Chrysalis Records. Their debut album, Love Junk, was produced by Todd Rundgren and released that year. "I'm an Adult Now" was re-recorded and released as a single again, making it to the charts a second time. It was followed by "She's So Young" and "Hard To Laugh". The album sold over 100,000 copies in Canada, and was certified platinum, and is considered one of the classics of Canadian rock.
Stanwyck and Sinclair left, going on to form Universal Honey, after completing the band's follow-up with Rundgren, 1990's One Sided Story. That album, led by the hit singles "New Language" and "Two Girls in One", did not sell as well as Love Junk, but was still a significant hit for the band. Starting with the tour for the album, Brad Barker and Susan Murumets joined the lineup. Rachel Oldfield replaced Murumets in 1992.
The band then went through difficulties with their record label, but signed to Mercury Records for 1993's The Downward Road. Despite some success with the single "Cigarette Dangles" (the video appeared on Beavis and Butt-head), label troubles continued, and the band recorded their next two albums for the now-defunct Canadian label Iron Music. Oldfield left the band in 1995, and was replaced by Jennifer Foster, who in turn left the following year and was replaced by Renee Suchy.
Although the group never officially disbanded, after 1996 they did not record as a unit until 2005, when they recorded two new tracks for a greatest hits compilation. The most recent lineup has played a few concerts over the last few years, culminating in a series of shows over the last week of 2005 which ended with a New Year's Eve concert in London, Ontario. In March of 2006, they were inducted into the Canadian Indies Hall of Fame.
[edit] Discography
- Love Junk (1988)
- One Sided Story (1990)
- The Downward Road (1993)
- Where's the Bone? (1995)
- The Wonderful World of the Pursuit of Happiness (1996)
- Sex and Food: The Best of TPOH (2000)
- When We Ruled: The Best of The Pursuit of Happiness (2005)
[edit] Singles
| Year | Title | Chart positions | Album | |||
| US Hot 100 | US Modern Rock | US Mainstream Rock | UK | |||
| 1988 | "I'm an Adult Now" | - | #6 | - | - | Love Junk |
