"I used to believe in being tough. To be tough was it for sure. But somewhere along the line I stopped. I don't believe in tough no more." The Bel-Vistas were a four piece band from Toronto. They released their first independent cassette in 1990 and created enough buzz to attract Eureka Records. In 1992, they released their first album for Eureka, entitled, Somewhere Along The Line. The members were Mark Ripp, Bob Hamlyn, John Toffoli and Micheal Baxter. Their sound was roots rock, perhaps, country even. I find they remind me a bit of Blue Rodeo and early Steve Earle (Exit 0). They toured with Blue Rodeo in support of this release and a few songs made it to radio. There are some great tunes on this album and I really enjoy the title track, Somewhere Along The Line. It's no wonder the band was able to land a publishing deal with Sony around the same time with lyrics like this. Unfortunately, the band's label went bankrupt and they released one more album independently in 1995 before calling it quits. You can still see and hear three of the members play in a new band called Mark Ripp and the Confessors. You can follow them at
http://markripp.com/home.html. The album, Somewhere Along The Line, is a difficult find nowadays. At the time of this blog, there were copies selling on Ebay and Amazon between $2 and $10. You can hear the song, Somewhere Along The Line, on You Tube (
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8lJlIcBCidk). As always, you can hear this song as well as others that I blog about each day on Live 365 (
http://www.live365.com/stations/raisedoncndnradio). Thanks for reading and enjoy!
Message from Mark Ripp & The Confessors
Bumped into Bel-Vistas
To:raisedoncanadianradi
Hello Raised On Canadian Radio,
Just wanted to say thanks for including us among so many cool Canadian artists, a real treat exploring your blog, take care.
Mark Ripp
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