Honeymoon Suite
Honeymoon Suite is a Canadian hard rock band formed in 1981 in Niagara Falls. The band's name was a nod to the fact that Niagara Falls is the unofficial honeymoon capital.
The band was originally formed in 1981 by lead vocalist and guitarist Johnnie Dee (of Niagara Falls, Ontario), Keyboardist Brad Bent (of Toronto, Ontario), and original drummer Mike Lengyell, formerly with The Diodes. By 1983, the line-up changed, with Dee (the only original remaining member) now on rhythm guitar and lead vocals, along with new recruits Derry Grehan on lead guitar and Dave Betts on drums. Grehan became the band's primary songwriter, and penned "New Girl Now," which won them an unsigned band contest put on by Toronto radio station Q107.
Various keyboard players and bassists came and left during this time, but on the strength of "New Girl Now," WEA Canada signed the band to the label. Ray Coburn was added as a permanent new member on keyboards as the sessions got underway for the group's debut LP, but the band still had no bass player, so bassist Brian Brackstone was recruited as a session player. Brackstone played on the entire album; bassist Gary Lalonde (formerly with Rose and Toronto) was added to the line-up after the album was completed, and appeared in the album's group photos and played with the band live.
The band's self-titled debut album, produced by Tom Treumuth, was released in June, 1984. The album featured four charting hits in Canada: a completely re-recorded version of "New Girl Now," "Burning In Love," "Wave Babies," and "Stay In the Light." All were written by Grehan. "New Girl Now" was also Honeymoon Suite's first single to reach the top-50 in the United States.
Their follow up album, The Big Prize, produced by Bruce Fairbairn, was equally successful in Canada, with four more hits: "Bad Attitude," "Feel It Again," "What Does It Take," and "All Along You Knew." Grehan still wrote the lion's share of the band's material, but Dee and Coburn also contributed songs to this album; "Feel It Again", a Coburn composition, reached the Top 40 in the US, while Grehan's "What Does It Take" reached no. 52, buoyed by its inclusion on the soundtrack for the John Cusack film One Crazy Summer.
In the spring of 1987, the band performed the title track for the Mel Gibson film Lethal Weapon, which was composed by Michael Kamen. In the winter of 1987, the band started work on their third album in L.A. Unfortunately, Johnnie Dee was hit by a car at LAX airport, breaking his leg in several places, and required surgery to insert a ten inch pin to help the leg heal properly.
In 1988, their third album was finally released: Racing After Midnight, produced by Ted Templeman (of Van Halen fame) and Jeff Hendrickson. That album made the top 10 in Canada, but was not as successful in the U.S. Singles included "Love Changes Everything," "Looking Out for Number One," "Cold Look" (Europe only), and "It's Over Now." By now, while Grehan was still the primary songwriter, Dee and Preuss frequently co-wrote with Grehan.
In 1989, the band released their first greatest hits compilation, The Singles, which included two new charting singles in Canada: "Still Loving You" and "Long Way," both written by Grehan. Preuss left and Coburn rejoined the band in time to embark on "The Singles" tour, which would turn out to be the last tour featuring the band's classic line-up until 2007.