Artist: The Poppy Family, Album: A Good Thing Lost 1968-1973, Song: Where Evil Grows

The Poppy Family were a band from Vancouver, British Columbia, that formed in 1968.  They were the husband and wife team of Terry and Susan Jacks along with Craig McCaw and Satwant Singh.  Many of the band's television performances and promotional spots focused only on the couple and by their second album, only the two of them remained.  Susan actually played in a band with future Chilliwack member, Claire Lawrence, before joining Terry.  The Poppy Family was actually called The Powerline and later, Winkin', Blinkin' And Nob, before they settled on their famous name.  The band had a flowery folk pop appeal and seemed to do quite well in North America despite the popularity of British Invasion rock and roll.  The band's first major label single entitled, Which Way You Goin', Billy?, charted as high as #2 on the US Billboard charts.  Only The Beatles kept them out of the number one spot.  The song also won a Juno award in 1970.  In 1971, the band released their sophomore album, Poppy Seeds, which featured this classic, Where Evil Grows.  Terry did all of the writing and producing and this particular track was written about the abuse of the environment in B.C. by the pulp and paper mills along with the governments that endorsed their actions.  The song was another international hit for the band but apparently, the b-side of the single was played more in some markets rather than the single itself which prevented it from achieving gold status sales.  You can check out the band performing the song live in 1971 on Kenny Rogers' hit TV show (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QfeEcCLMtxk).  Touring would eventually take it's toll on the couple.  They turned down an opportunity to play on the Ed Sullivan Show and in 1973, divorced and dissolved the band.  They did continue to record as solo artists on their jointly owned label, Goldfish Records.  Terry would have a monster hit in 1973 with the song, Seasons In The Sun, and in 1974, recorded under the name, The Hood (see blog 6/25/11).  In 1996, their discography was given the re-mastered treatment and a nice compilation of their work entitled, A Good Thing Lost, was released.  You can find the song, Where Evil Grows, on this compilation and it is available for download from Itunes.  Thanks for reading and enjoy!