Bachman and Turner return without Overdrive
Matthew Kruk
2 former members of 1970s rock group BTO back in business
Last Updated: Monday, November 30, 2009 | 3:18 PM ET
CBC News
Half of the members of Winnipeg-based rock group Bachman-Turner
Overdrive are reuniting for an album and world tour.
Agency Paquin Entertainment announced Monday that Randy Bachman and Fred
Turner are back together, confirming what has been rumoured for months.
The pair will play an international tour, billing themselves as Bachman
& Turner, Paquin said.
The revival will include a featured a concert at next year's Manitoba
Homecoming 2010, a celebration of the province's 140th year in
Confederation.
A news conference providing tour details, information about an album and
the launch of a website is scheduled for Dec. 8 at Paquin's headquarters
in Winnipeg.
Churned out hits
During a four-year run in the mid-'70s, Bachman-Turner Overdrive was one
of the biggest bands in the world, earning a staggering 120 platinum,
gold and silver records, based on a string of hits in more than 20
countries.
The rock quartet reached No. 1 on the Billboard singles and album charts
as well as placing a half-dozen more songs in the Top 50, including
Takin' Care of Business, You Ain't Seen Nothin' Yet, Let It Ride, Roll
On Down the Highway, and Hey You.
Bachman, the lead singer and guitarist, had formed BTO after leaving
another hugely successful Winnipeg band, the Guess Who.
BTO split up in the mid-'80s, a few years after Bachman left in 1977.
Through the years, he kept busy on a solo career, a reunion with the
Guess Who, a tour with Guess Who frontman Burton Cummings, a shift into
jazz, and hosting Vinyl Tap on CBC Radio.
Turner, meanwhile, carried on with the other members of BTO before
retiring from music at the end of the '90s.
The pair rekindled their relationship a few years ago and Turner sang
the title track, Rock 'n Roll Is the Only Way Out, on an album that
Bachman recorded with various vocalists.
That recent collaboration evolved into something more.
"Reunited, Randy Bachman and Fred Turner are offering their legion of
fans something new and taking care of some 'unfinished' business,"
Paquin Entertainment stated in a news release.
Court rumble over BTO
They also are in a legal dispute with the other BTO members. Bachman's
younger brother, Robin, and Blair Thornton have sued over the rights to
the BTO name. The litigation was launched in late October in B.C.
Supreme Court in Vancouver.
The suit claims Randy Bachman and Turner signed away their rights to the
name and any similar brands when Randy Bachman left BTO. Thornton and
Robin Bachman claim Randy Bachman's company trademarked the name
Bachman-Turner and Bachman-Turner Union in Canada and the United States
earlier this year.
The pair claim those names could be confused with the BTO identity.
Their statement of claim asks for an injunction, saying Randy Bachman
and Turner are confusing the public and businesses.
USENET
Good news for rock and roll fans.
Sharx35
"Matthew Kruk" <nob...@home.com> wrote in message
news:6LZQm.47820$mn3....@en-nntp-03.dc1.easynews.com...
I have NEVER had any use for any of them--isn't Bachman the asshole with the
giant ego and shitty attitude?
richardblisters
>> Supreme Court in Vancouver.
>>
>> The suit claims Randy Bachman and Turner signed away their rights to the
>> name and any similar brands when Randy Bachman left BTO. Thornton and
>> Robin Bachman claim Randy Bachman's company trademarked the name
>> Bachman-Turner and Bachman-Turner Union in Canada and the United States
>> earlier this year.
>>
>> The pair claim those names could be confused with the BTO identity.
>>
>> Their statement of claim asks for an injunction, saying Randy Bachman
>> and Turner are confusing the public and businesses.
>>
>
> I have NEVER had any use for any of them--isn't Bachman the asshole with
> the giant ego and shitty attitude?
>
I can understand your confusion considering you've had no "use for any of
them" as you say.
Sharx35
"richardblisters" <dickbl...@gmail.com> wrote in message
news:hfmraa$9nh$1...@news.eternal-september.org...
Yes, it is Burton Cummings with the ego that ate Winnipeg.