Laurie Bower

Laurie (Lawrence Wayne) Bower, arranger, singer, trombonist (born 31 August 1933 in Kirkland Lake, ON; died 19 January 2016 in Toronto, ON). B MUS ED (Toronto) 1957. He studied at the University of Toronto with Charles Peaker (choral technique), Robert Rosevear (music education), and Harry Stevenson (trombone), and played in the dance bands of Benny Louis, Ozzie Williams, and Mart Kenney before pursuing a dual career in Toronto studios as a trombonist and as a singer and choral arranger.

In 1969, after singing with several CBC vocal groups, he formed the Laurie Bower Singers, who recorded many jingles, and performed in concert and on TV accompanying other performers. Original members with Bower were Tommy Ambrose, Kathy Collier, Vern Kennedy and Patty Van Evera. In time, they were succeeded by Cal Dodd, Bill Misener, Colina Phillips, Judy Tate and Stephanie Taylor. Misener aside, this lineup remained constant in 1990. By then the singers had made 12 LPs of pop songs (arranged by Bower) for the CTL. Five were issued commercially: three under the title The Laurie Bower Singers (1969, RCA CTLS-1114; 1973, RCA KXL-10020; 1974, U Artists 391G) and the others as Got a Feelin' for Love (1976, U Artists 640G) and You (1979, New Ventures NV-5006). Three of the group's LPs were issued in the USA under the Excelsior label.

In 1981, Bower was a founder of the Spitfire Band, serving as its vocal arranger and as one of its trombonists. He also began playing during the 1980s with big bands or orchestras led by Peter Appleyard, Guido Basso and Jim Galloway, and with Al Lawrie's Jazz Corporation.