厂迟谤别别迟丑别补谤迟鈥檚 was no stranger to 性视界传媒.
The rock singer died Friday (July 21) at a Winnipeg hospital following cardiac surgery, . He was 69.
Several memorable, riffy hits kept Shields and band on stage since the 1970s.
In 2013, Shields spoke to the Now in a phone interview prior to a Streetheart concert at 性视界传媒鈥檚 Bell Performing Arts Centre, in December of that year.
Winnipeg is where Shields made his home for nearly half of his music-filled life.
Memorable rock hits, including 鈥淎ction,鈥� 鈥淗ollywood,鈥� 鈥淗ere Comes the Night鈥� and 鈥淲hat Kind of Love is This,鈥� kept the band working over the years.
In conversation with the Now, Shields talked about some of those songs.
鈥淲e do get that sometimes 鈥� 鈥極h, that song! That was you guys?!鈥欌�� he told me. 鈥淚t does happen, although not that often, I guess, where people come up to me and say, 鈥業 didn鈥檛 know you did 鈥楾in Soldier,鈥欌�� Shields noted. 鈥淭hat one surprises a lot of people when they鈥檙e told it was ours.鈥�
In 性视界传媒, one of the band鈥檚 most memorable gigs was during the 2010 Winter Olympics at the city鈥檚 鈥淐elebration Site鈥� at Holland Park, in the big indoor bar set up for the occasion.
to see fan-shot video at Holland Park in 2010.
鈥淭hat was a great gig there, I recall,鈥� Shields said three years later. 鈥淚t was a great moment, a great time 鈥� there wasn鈥檛 really a bad vibe around, just a pretty simple, straight-ahead gig. Everybody was there to have fun.鈥�
Back before Streetheart was formed, Shields sang in Witness Incorporated, a Saskatoon-based band that had a few regional hits and the good fortune to land some plum opening slots.
鈥淚n Edmonton one night,鈥� Shields recalled, 鈥渨e get a knock on the door and it鈥檚 Eric Clapton (then with Cream), standing there with snakeskin boots, and he wants to know if our guitar player has a wah-wah pedal he could borrow. Well, our guitar player carried that little wah-wah pedal around in his hands for weeks after that, cherishing it.鈥�
The song of another British band, the Rolling Stones, had been a must-play song in Streetheart sets since 1979.
鈥淲e originally played 鈥楿nder My Thumb鈥� live because we didn鈥檛 have enough originals to fill our set,鈥� Shields revealed. 鈥淚t turned out that we could play that song at the beginning, in the middle of the set or as the encore, and it always seemed to get the same kind of buzz.鈥�
The recorded, slightly disco-ized version of the song became a significant hit for Streetheart, and it served to ignite the band鈥檚 career.
鈥淎nd the longevity 鈥� we still get an incredible reaction when we start playing the first couple of bars of it, you know,鈥� said Shields, a big Stones fan who recorded a version of 鈥淎ngie鈥� for Letting Go, a solo record of cover songs. The album, which can be found on iTunes, also included remakes of Brenda Lee鈥檚 鈥淚鈥檓 Sorry鈥� and The Eagles鈥� 鈥淭he Best of My Love.鈥�
Shields鈥� high, soaring voice stood out on Streetheart songs.
鈥淚n those smoke-filled rooms back in the day, doing six nights a week, I used to drink tea and honey just to get through and keep my voice good enough,鈥� he told the Now. 鈥淏ut I don鈥檛 do that anymore. I do have a Korean herbal cough syrup that looks like molasses, and I use that as a remedy before and after (performances). Things really have changed with the no-smoking laws now; it used to be that you鈥檇 come out of a bar looking like an ashtray, you know, and it was rough on the voice sometimes. It鈥檚 a nice change for a guy like me, but it probably does piss off all the smokers, for sure.鈥�
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