Al Connelly

Al Connelly
Connelly in 2013 Connelly in 2013
Background information
Birth name	Alan Connelly
Born	(1960-10-02) October 2, 1960 Montreal, Quebec, Canada
Genres	Rock, Roots music, Reggae
Occupation(s)	Songwriter, guitarist, vocalist
Years active	1983–present
Website	www.glasstiger.ca/the-band/

Alan Connelly (born October 2, 1960) is a Canadian guitarist and songwriter. He is a founding member of the rock band Glass Tiger. He and his band received five Canadian music industry JUNO Awards and multiple Canadian songwriter SOCAN Awards, as well as being nominated Best New Artist at the 1986 Grammy Awards. Connelly has been part of all GT's major album releases as well as numerous solo recordings.

Early life

Al Connelly (Alan J Connelly), lives in Toronto Canada and was born in 1960 at Hopital du Sacre-Couer-de- Montreal in Montreal, Quebec, Canada to Edward Connelly and Dorothy Dempsey. His parents moved from Glasgow Scotland to Canada in the 1950's. His father Edward and sister Aileen both trajically died in a canoe accident when he was 6 months old. His father had started a career in Computer Engineering, at the beginning of the Technology era. His mother remarried Frank Seeley, an educator 2 years later. Alan has a brother and 3 sisters, also three sons. In his younger years his family moved many times; from Montreal, to Chambly (PQ) and then Pembroke ON and eventually Newmarket On where he met his Glass Tiger bandmates years later. "Listening to music and Playing guitar always brought solace to me when moving and having to meet new friends. It also opened doors to creative and like-minded people" He attended Huron Heights Secondary School in Newmarket, Ontario. He later earned Studio engineering diplomas both through Seneca College and Humber College in Toronto.

Career

At the age of 18, Al Connelly was asked to play with (future Glass Tiger bandmates) singer Alan Frew and bassist Wayne Parker in their late seventies rock band Onyx. The group disbanded after two years and Connelly formed a punk band briefly called The Untouchable Lowlifes,recording some of Connelly's (and singer Roland Merkle's) songs. In Toronto, Alan Frew and Wayne Parker joined forces with keyboardist Sam Reid and drummer Michael Hanson, to form the band Tokyo, which later developed into Glass Tiger. Connelly was asked to join the new band in 1983, and he performed with the band at first mainly in the Toronto area. The band signed a recording contract in 1985 with Capitol Records, resulting in Glass Tiger's debut and multi-platinum album, The Thin Red Line in 1986. While on a writing trip to Vancouver, British Columbia, Connelly joined bandmates Sam Reid and Alan Frew to contribute to the songs "Don't Forget Me (When I'm Gone)" and "Someday". The two singles topped the American Billboard charts in 1986. Glass Tiger received three Juno Awards that year: Album of the Year, The Thin Red Line, Single of the Year, "Don't Forget Me (When I'm Gone)", and Most Promising Group of the Year. The band was also nominated for a Grammy Award for Best New Artist in 1987. Connelly toured with Glass Tiger in the United States as part of the Raised on Radio Tour and on Tina Turner's European Break Every Rule Tour. Connelly recorded in Los Angeles for Glass Tiger's third album, Simple Mission, which was released by Capitol Records in 1991. The album received radio play in Europe and Canada, and the single "My Town" reached No. 1 in Germany and #33 in the UK. The album went platinum in Canada, and the single "Animal Heart" reached No. 2 on Canadian rock charts. That year Connelly toured with Glass Tiger, first in Canada and later in Europe with the Swedish band Roxette. In 2009 Glass Tiger, including Connelly, played to the Canadian Armed Forces stationed in Kandahar, Afghanistan, and at Camp Mirage. They went into dangerous areas at Forward Operating Bases (FOBs) to bring acoustic versions of their songs to front line soldiers. Connelly toured across Canada in 2012 as part of Glass Tiger, along with Roxette, with whom they had toured Europe in 1992. This brought out a few new songs on the then released Greatest Hits album Then Now Next, with one new song introduced by Connelly, entitled "Stand Up (Give Yourself A Hand)". In the spring of 2019 Glass Tiger joined Corey Heart for a Nation wide tour with the then release of 33 Glass Tiger's album that featured new songs including ('This Is Your Life') The 'Grand ole Dame' Massey Hall Toronto, was home for many Glass Tiger shows where they had the honour of performing their own shows - In JUNE 2018 'An Evening With Glass Tiger' lit up Massey Hall featuring new rendiitions from 'Glass Tiger 31' and featuring special guest artists Susan Aglukark & David Maracle. A few years later, after the COVID stretch, Glass Tiger (Dec 2022) returned to perform at the 'new' Massey hall (renovated during COVID),for a special Christmas show with Lorraine Segato and Parachute Club joining the show. In September of 2023 the band was honoured again to play Massey Hall with a special night where Glass Tiger was awarded with a special Rock -'Walk of Fame'gala ceromony. Other bands inaugarated (Trooper, Chilliwack, Max Webster, Parachute Club, April Win,e Lover Boy, Lee Aaron, Rough Trade and Platinum Blonde ) Connelly continues to write and produce solo work or with various musicians and performers, in world music, reggae, R&B, blues, rock and pop. He submitted and performed the song "I Am That Strong" to live audiences during the 2015 Pan Am Games in Toronto. York Region Arts & Culture picked it up and had Connelly perform it for their 2015 gala theme song. In addition to songwriting, Connelly has spent many years being involved with behaviorally and developmentally challenged as well as autistic youth.

Awards, nominations and chart success

• Juno Awards, to Glass Tiger:
  • 1989 Canadian Entertainer of the Year
  • 1987 Single of the Year - "Someday" (co-writer)
  • 1986 Album of the Year - The Thin Red Line
  • 1986 Single of the Year - "Don't Forget Me (When I'm Gone)"
  • 1986 Most Promising Group of the Year
• Grammy Nomination, for Glass Tiger:
  • 1987 Nomination: Best New Artist.
• SOCAN awards to Glass Tiger songs:
  • "My Town" (co-writer)
    • 1992 - Pop/Rock Music
    • 2009 - SOCAN Classic
  • "Someday" (co-writer)
    • 1996 - SOCAN Classic
  • "Animal Heart" (co-writer)
    • 1991 - 2nd runner-up, SOCAN Rock Song of the Year
• Other success for "Someday":
  • 1986 - Gold Single Award for 50,000 sales of the 45 RPM single in Canada
  • 1988 - ASCAP Pop Award - Among the Most Performed Songs of the 1987 Survey Year
  • No 7 - Billboard Hot 100 Singles Chart / January 1987 (21 weeks on the chart)
  • No 11 - The Record (Canada) / November 24, 1986 (20 weeks on the chart)

Discography

Studio albums

• In Another Life (2004)

with Glass Tiger

• The Thin Red Line (1986)
• Diamond Sun (1988)
• Simple Mission (1991)
• 31 (2018)

External links

• [1], Al Connelly Official Site
• Glass Tiger Homepage
• Bio at CanadianBands.com Archived 2006-10-20 at the Wayback Machine CanConRox entry
• "Glass Tiger"^[usurped], Canadian Pop Music Encyclopedia.
• "Glass Tiger". The Canadian Encyclopedia.