Blair Packham (lead vocals, guitars)
Danny Levy (lead guitar, vocals)
Matthew Greenberg (bass, vocals)
Randy Cooke (drums)
Vic D’Arsie (key, vocals)
David Quinton (drums, vocals) [replaced Cooke in 1986]
Glenn Martin (drums) [replaced Quinton in 1987]
Peter Nunn (keys) [replaced D’Arsie in 1987]
The Jitters were formed in 1981 by principal songwriters Packham, Levy and Greenberg. They spent the next five years playing the bar scene in the Toronto area constantly, firmly establishing themselves as one of the premier club bands of the area. In 1982 they caught the attention of veteran producer Bob Ezrin (Pink Floyd, Alice Cooper, Kiss) and they went into the studio with him, but nothing came of the sessions. They garnered some national attention with their independent video “Take Me As I Am” in 1984, and although they also ended up with 11 or 12 different mixes of the song from various studio sessions, the song never appeared on any full-length release.
In 1986 they got the opportunity to open for Huey Lewis and the News at the Canadian National Exhibition, which won them many new fans and got the attention of the industry and things finally started falling into place. They entered the Q107 Homegrown Contest that year with “Last Of The Red Hot Fools”, tying for third place in the end.
This song convinced Capitol Records that the Jitters really were everything people were saying about them and signed the band. The band handed over a handful of songs that the label were extremely pleased with because they were basically ready to go. A little more time in the studio with producer Paul Gross (Lee Aaron, Saga, Everest) resulted in their eponymous debut in mid 1987, and the first single, “Last Of The Red Hot Fools”, which became a bona fide hit for them nationally. A tour of the UK opening for Heart saw the band garner very favourable attention across the sea.
It took another three years for the second album to be released, and this one saw Packham go south of the border to work with semi-legendary songwriter Jules Shear (Reckless Sleepers). Shear ended up producing ‘Louder Than Words’ which attracted very positive critical acclaim for the more mature songwriting and sparser sound of the material.
Constant touring of Canadian clubs, however, finally took their toll on the 10 year-old band and finally, in 1991 they decided to call it quits.
Packham became a member of Arlene Bishop’s band as well as continuing his own songwriting and production career; Greenberg went to Los Angeles for a couple of years, then formed a country-rock cover band called the Herd with Brent Lee & The Outsiders member Naoise Sheridan that played the Toronto bar circuit regularly. Greenberg has also toured and done session work for the likes of Lori Yates, Jules Shear, George Fox, Murray McLaughlin. Currently Greenberg plays under the alias Matt Chezz with Lost Vegas and as ‘Moon’ in The Brothers Grim.
Singles
1987 Last Of The Red Hot Fools/Hard As Nails (Capitol)
1987 Closer Every Day (Capitol)
1988 That’s When I Need You (Capitol)
1988 Go Ahead N’ Love Me (Capitol)
1990 The Bridge Is Burning (Capitol)
1990 ‘Til The Fever Breaks/The Hard Way (Capitol)
1990 I Love Her Now (Capitol)
Albums
1987 The Jitters (Capitol)
1990 Louder Than Words (Capitol)
Video
1984 Take Me As I Am
1987 Last Of The Red Hot Fools
1987 Closer Every Day
1990 ‘Til The Fever Breaks
1990 Bridge Is Burning
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