Lucasta Ross (lead vocals)
Graham Stairs (drums)
John Percy (keyboards, sax, vocals, guitar)
John McKellar (keyboards)
Gary Hynes (bass)
Tim White (guitar)
Ron Feather (percussion)
Lee Whelan (backing vocals)
Minutes From Downtown the 'band' was a seven member touring ensemble consisting of Lucasta Ross (ex- The B-Girls) and Graham Stairs & John Percy (ex-Popular Spies). Capitol Records signed the act and released the single "Heaven Street" in 1983. The strength of the song lead to a second single, "Wrapped In Velvet" from a 5-song EP called 'Minutes From Downtown'.
Following the demise of the act, Stairs and Percy formed a studio project called Go International , which gigged occasionally with hired musicians and received critical acclaim.
Stairs went on to be A & R Rep for Intrepid Records and Latitude Records through the late '80s/early '90s. He also managed National Velvet and Chalk Circle during this period. Stairs now runs a music management/consulting/promotions firm called Pop Guru; Lucasta Ross inherited her late father Mort Ross's catalogue of master tapes from late '60s record label Revolver Records and now administers; Percy resides in Halifax and runs a company called Forward Digital Media which is an audio/video production company specializing in CD-Rom and web applications, and dabbles in television production; Hynes resides in Victoria, BC and is the founder and editor of EAT Magazine.
with notes from John Percy, Gary Hynes and Graham Stairs.
Singles
1983 Heaven Street/24 Karat Gold (Capitol) 72932
1983 Wrapped In Velvet/I Wish I Had Stayed (Capitol) 72939
Albums
1983 Minutes From Downtown [5 song EP] (Capitol) MLP-3007
Video
1983 Wrapped In Velvet
Compilation Tracks
1999 "Heaven Street" on 'Retro 80's: Purely Canadian' (EMI)
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