The Lowest of the Low
|
|
The Lowest of the Low were a Canadian alternative rock group in the early 1990s. Although they never broke through to the mainstream, they were one of the most influential bands on the Canadian alternative music scene.
Formed by Ron Hawkins, Steve Stanley, Dave Alexander and John Arnott in 1991, the Low's punk-inspired folk pop quickly became a popular draw on the Queen Street West club circuit in Toronto.
Also in 1991, they released their debut album, Shakespeare My Butt, which was actively supported by Toronto radio station CFNY, and quickly made the band a popular name across southern Ontario and western New York. The album became one of the best-selling independent releases in Canadian history (although it was eclipsed in the same year by Barenaked Ladies' Yellow Tape), and was later named one of the ten greatest albums in Canadian music history by the music magazine Chart.
In 1993, the band signed a distribution deal with A&M Records, and released Hallucigenia in 1994. Unfortunately, the band was riven with tensions, and broke up later the same year.
Hawkins released a solo album, The Secret of My Excess, in 1996, and then formed Ron Hawkins and the Rusty Nails.
In 2000, The Lowest of the Low set aside their differences for a five-show reunion tour, which saw the band playing to sold-out venues in Toronto and Buffalo, New York. In 2001, the live album Nothing Short of a Bullet was released. The album also featured a second disc with three new studio songs.
Sordid Fiction, the band's first new studio album since 1994, was released in 2004.
External links
- The Lowest of the Low (http://www.lowestofthelow.com)