Remembering Doug and the Slugs

It was something I would never expected at a concert. The band came out. Nothing out of the ordinary. Then the lead singer came out – he was wearing a woman’s night gown.

It was already kind of a surreal moment, seeing a band I listened to growing up, and now performing where I lived.

That is exactly what happened in the Fall of 1991. Doug and the Slugs performed at a dance at the Lister Hall cafeteria in the student residence complex I lived in when I was going to the University of Alberta.

Today, I heard Doug and the Slugs is touring again, and it reminded me of that live concert I saw in the ‘90s.

More than that, it reminded me of all the songs by Doug and the Slugs I heard back in the 1980s.

The band
It was the summer of 1984 when I started getting into music, then got more and more interested as the months went along.

One of the things I discovered, was the volume of Canadian music on the radio, due to Canadian Content requirements. That really helped shape my musical taste over the next few years, for the better.

There were a lot of Canadian bands who received a lot of air play. One was Doug and the Slugs. When I started listening to music on LA-107 FM and 1090 CHEC, one of the radio announcers revealed that Doug’s last name was Bennett, like it had been some big secret. I noticed soon after that deejay always called him Doug Bennett. I thought that interesting.

Bennett founded the band in 1977 in Vancouver. They began recording in 1978 and kept going until 1992, with a band that consisted of Bennett, guitar players Richard Baker and John Burton, Simon Kendall on keyboards, and John “Wally” Watson on drums.

The singles
Doug and the Slugs benefitted greatly from Canadian Content regulations because I heard a lot of their music on the radio.

Their first album, “Cognac and Bologna” came out in 1980. The debut single was “Too Bad”, which is an excellent song, peaking at number 20 in Canada. It would be used as the theme song for the sitcom “The Norm Show”, starring Canadian Norm Macdonald, from 1999 to 2001. The song also earned Juno nominations in 1981 for Composer of the Year and Single of the Year.

The follow-up single was “Chinatown Calculation” which went to number 75 in Canada, then “Drifting Away”, which did not chart.

Doug and the Slugs released their next album, “Wrap It!”, in 1981. The only single from the album was “Real Enough” but it did not chart.

Their third album “Music for the Hard of Thinking”, came out in 1983, and was their most successful one. “Who Knows How to Make Love Stay”, another fantastic song, peaked at number 25, followed by their signature song, “Making It Work”, which peaked at number 29. A third single, “Nobody But Me”, did not chart.

In 1984, they released “Popaganda”. The first single, “Day by Day”, is my favourite song by Doug and the Slugs. It peaked at number 92, which surprises me. “Love Shines” followed but did not chart, then “Waiting for You” came out, peaking at number 83.

Doug and the Slugs were also nominated in 1983 for a Juno for Most Promising Group of the Year.

The band’s final studio album of the ‘80s was “Tomcat Prowl” in 1988. The title track “Tomcat Prowl” peaked at number 23. There were two more singles, “(I Don’t Want to) Walk Away”, went to number 84, and “It’s a Powerful Thing”, which peaked at number 64.

The years after
Doug and the Slugs would put out one more album, “Tales from Terminal City” in 1992, but the single “Terminal City” did not chart. It was the only album not to hit the Canadian charts.

Sadly, in 2004, Doug Bennett died.

He was 52.

The rest of the band continues to perform live dates.

Parting thoughts
It really surprises me that Doug and the Slugs did not have a top 10 single in Canada, because they got a lot of radio airplay.

What I love about their music is that it doesn’t really take itself too seriously. It’s catchy, toe tapping, and just kind of makes me feel good. That was also illustrated in that concert at Lister Hall when Doug Bennett really didn’t take himself seriously at all, wearing a woman’s night gown and all.

In fact, over the last few years, “Day by Day” is one of the songs I listen to, to get inspired or uplifted when I am feeling down.

That, I think, says more about Doug and the Slugs than anything else.