Artist: Lexington Avenue, Album: The Gaiety Records Story II, Song: Farmer John

Lexington Avenue were a band from Thunder Bay, Ontario.  I discovered them on a Gaiety Records compilation that was released by Pacemaker Entertainment.  It is a two volume set that  chronicles the releases of a small independent label formed in Thunder Bay during the sixties.  Winnipeg is likely more well known for it's rich rock and roll history, yet due to geographic proximity, Thunder Bay was producing a lot of great artists that were heavily influenced by what was going on in Britain and linked to the scene in Winnipeg.  Lexington Avenue was one such band.  There isn't a lot written in the liner notes about them but it appears that they recorded under the name The Plague initially and then with a few line up changes, became Lexington Avenue.  The label didn't release many recordings themselves but rather leased the artist's music out to other labels like RCA, Quality, Epic and Decca.  The owners of the label actually operated from California for a while despite having an artist roster entirely from the Canadian prairies.  They would eventually relocate to Thunder Bay and set up a recording studio there.  One notable artist on this label was a man named Dan Lowe and his band 49th Parallel.  He would go on to form bands like Painter (see blog 4/13/11), Hammersmith and Prototype (see blog 8/11/10).  As for Lexington Avenue, they have a few singles that are covered in this two volume set but none better than this trippy tune called, Farmer John.  You can hear the song on You Tube (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9l6PkaGNUao).  You can purchase the Gaiety Record compilations from Pacemaker Entertainment (http://www.pacemaker.cd/).  Thanks for reading and enjoy!