Suzanne Palmer (vocals)
Aaron Allan (guitar)
Ray Walsh (keyboards)
Paul Caspar (bass)
Larry Bodner (sax)
In mid-1984, a demo tape by Toronto-based independent band Figures At Dawn made the rounds to the local and national media of the time. Instant praise from national magazines like the trade magazine The Record and Music Express, as well as the Toronto Sun and the alternative weekly magazine NOW, prompted guitarist/songwriter Aaron Allan and Classically trained vocalist Suzanne Palmer to record a full vinyl album's worth of songs.
Enter Paul Caspar (bass), Larry Bodner (sax) and Allan's former Rave Revue's bandmate Ray Walsh (keyboards) in 1985 and a full-fledged Figures At Dawn band and album was born.
FAD toured their self-titled record in the Toronto area for the next year or so, and CSCR at the University Of Toronto Scarborough campus endorsed the record with a lot of airplay support. Initial support from modern rock radio station CFNY-FM (now Edge 102) through regular play on Liz Janik and Peter Goodwin's show "The Independent Network" brought national attention to Figures At Dawn, and particularly to Palmer. By then CFNY had begun an annual "anti-awards" show in the early 80's called the U-KNOWS which evolved into the CASBYs (Canadian Artists Selected By You) by 1985. Phenomenally, Palmer was nominated for a CASBY for Most Promising Female Vocalist on the basis of the independent album and a single not included on the album called "My Summer Love" (featuring Allan, Palmer and keyboardist Gerald O'Brien only). Videos for "My Summer Love" and "Falling" aired nationally.
Figures At Dawn ultimately ran out of time, money, and eventually the initial support they received from the music industry, which made it impossible to release a full-fledged follow up to their album. The band faded into the background as the members focused on working at "real" jobs, starting families, and developing other interests.
Figures At Dawn's "In From The Cold" from that 1985 debut album was featured on a 1997 episode of Beverly Hills 90210 called "My Funny Valentine". Guitarist/songwriter Aaron Allan, married with two children, subsequently co-wrote several songs with Toronto R & B singer and Juno double nominee George St. Kitts. He has continued to produce instrumental and film music, independent music videos, and has written several novels including two first round book contest finalists.
Suzanne Palmer, a married mother, has never been too far away from singing and performing and listening to new songs; Keyboardist Ray Walsh was also in the Toronto indie band Rave Revues at the same time as Figures At Dawn, and is now a member of the Zydeco band The Crocodiles; Bassist Paul Caspar has also been busy raising a family and has recently returned to the music industry, with a futuristic project called Sonic Assault Orchestra; Saxophonist Larry Bodner continues to enjoy lots of session work.
The best material from Figures At Dawn's short-lived indie career was released on Bullseye Records in 2000. The band briefly reunited in 2003 to record a version of "A Day In The Life" for Bullseye's 'It Was 40 Years Ago Today: A Tribute To The Beatles' 3CD set but failed to make the final cut.
With notes from William C. Smith and Aaron Allan.
Singles
1986 My Summer Love/Falling (FAD)
Albums
1985 Figures At Dawn (FAD)
2000 In From The Cold: The Best Of Figures At Dawn (Bullseye)
Video
1986 My Summer Love
1986 Falling
Compilation Tracks
Figures At Dawn Link
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