I think we could all do with some old Newfie Fun!!
The Wonderful Grand Band is iconic here in Newfoundland and Labrador. I was very lucky in that I got to meet them all in the 80s, as Ron Hynes was my Uncle and he came to the West Coast often when I was growing up, always with his guitar. I would spend hours listening to him talk and sing.
My Grandmother, Stella, the one I am named after, loved their music, and Ron would come with me at times to visit her in the hospital and play for her. I cherish my memories of Ron Hynes; he had his issues, but he was a great man in my eyes.
He went on to a solo career, and I watched him many times as an adult at his favorite Bar on Water St., where he would play. I was texting with him not long before he passed away in November 2015, and he is greatly missed.
I hope you have a laugh and if you are interested, some of their shows are also on YouTube. WGB- Open Line Show
The Wonderful Grand Band – Living In A Fog
The Wonderful Grand Band – Babylon Mall
“Living in a Fog” from The Wonderful Grand Band’s 1981 album “Living in a Fog”.
Wonderful Grand Band – Wikipedia
The Wonderful Grand Band is a Canadian music and comedy group formed in 1978 in St. John’s, Newfoundland and Labrador
The group was founded in 1978, and included comedians Greg Malone and Tommy Sexton. They released their first album, The Wonderful Grand Band, in 1979.
The group had an eponymous television musical variety show on CBC Television. This ran for six episodes under the title The Root Seller in 1978, before relaunching in 1980 as The Wonderful Grand Band, which produced 40 more episodes between 1980 and 1983. The show starred Ron Hynes, Sandy Morris, Ian Perry, Glenn Simmons (later replaced by Steve Annan, who died in 2010), Kelly Russell (later replaced by Jamie Snider), and Rocky Wiseman (who was later replaced by Paul Stamp), as well as Malone and Sexton, who died in 1993. The show combined original and traditional music with topical comedy sketches and satire, some of which was directed at the CBC itself.