Reviews

"...the songs by guitarist Howard Forman are bright and blustery (oh how I
wish a big up tempo song like Never Gonna Give Myself Away could get played
on the radio so I could crank up the volume in my car) ..."
-The Kingston Whig-Standard, ONT.

"I can listen to the Groove Kings until I die"
-The News at 6, CBC-TV Toronto

'It's wonderful music...if we could have a house band, we decided we'd
like to have The Groove Kings"
-The Dini Petty Show -CTV, National

"Them's whatchtya call great pipes...She has got a beautiful voice...Boy
can she sing..."
-MIX 96, Montreal, QC

"What a voice, wonderful, you guys are soooo good...buy it (CD Into The
Groove Age) you'll play it over and over, you'll wear it out"
-Entertainment Desk Global-TV, Toronto, ONT.

"Forman has a feel for classic soul and R&B forms and some of the stronger
songs here,...funky Burn It Down or Moon To Moon, Sun To Sun, wouldn't sound
out of place on a Stax or Atlantic album from the late 1960s"
-The Globe and Mail newspaper

"Forman has cooked up a stew of rock, soul, big band; served with Marc's
gutsy singing, it's a meal that'll have you calling out for seconds and (the
heck with the diet) even thirds."
-The Hour magazine, Montreal, QC

"Montreal's Groove Kings have found a deep groove in this country that
runs from one coast to the other"
-The Edmonton Sun

"Amid the post-Nirvanic squalor (comes) The Groove Kings' polished R&B
groove, highlighted by singer Irene Marc's powerful, soulful voice...avid
listener response from across the country is undeniable. . ."
-Montreal Mirror, QC

"This (Everybody Knows) is so cool, man. It's like, amazing. Does the
bitch really look good in real life?"
-Grainstore Tavern, Melbourne, Australia

"Cordes vocales sablees avec soin par la vie, eraillements signifiants,
puissance et maturite remarquables. Irene Marc est certes une chanteuse de
premier ordre"
-La Presse, Montreal, QC

"...une voix de blueswoman comme celle-la (Irene Marc) ne s'oublie pas..."
-Le Devoir, Montreal, QC

"...your Hot' CD...yes!!, I liked it very much... Your playing and
producing has surely arrived!!! I have nothin' but praise as well for
Irene's incredible vocal performance..."
-Jimmy Johnson, legendary studio guitarist for Aretha Franklin, Paul Simon
and many others

The Groove Kings - Into the Groove Age (Visual Music G.K.I.)
This is The Groove Kings' second indie CD, and if there is a god in the
music industry then this Montreal outfit will have the record companies
lining up around the block to sign them. Though The Groove Kings are only
vocalist Irene Marc and multi-instrumentalist/composer Howard Forman, you
wouldn't guess it from listening to the album. Forman has cooked up a stew
of rock, soul, big band; served with Marc's gutsy singing, it's a meal
that'll have you calling out for seconds and (the heck with the diet) even
thirds. Listen for them on the radio, because that's where they belong, out
where everyone can enjoy the experience; if you must listen to it at home,
invite your friends and neighbours over. If they want to make a copy, point
out that The Groove kings are indie and direct them to the closest record
store. (Mo Elnuaimy) Hour Magazine *****

ALBUMS THE GROOVE KINGS - Into The Groove Age
This Montreal-based act first hit the Canadian airwaves back in the spring
of 93 with a very cool R&B number called Everybody Knows, off a three-song
self-produced EP. That three-song EP turned into a full album, featuring a
five-piece band leg by guitarist/songwriter Howard Forman and singer Irene
Marc. Since then, Forman and Marc have decided to do things on their own,
leaving the three other band members behind, and the results are quite
effective. Forman is a good writer, an experienced player who has worked
with some of the best in the business, and his professionalism shows off in
this new 10-track CD, which he also produced. The songs are strong pop tunes
in an R&B vein, with many of them radio-friendly. Tell Me, the lead single,
has already made a bit of noise on the RPM Hit Tracks chart , and one or two
more charted songs isn't out of the question. Marc is a tremendous singer,
sort of a cross between Annie Lennox and Janis Joplin, and her rough-edged
tone gives the songs just that right amount of character needed to separate
the music from so many bar bands. Fully Cancon. --RR
RPM CHART WEEKLY -Monday November 14, 1994

GROOVE KINGS -INTO THE GROOVE AGE
Having enjoyed substantial radio play with their first indie effort,
Montreal's Groove Kings take another shot at the airwaves with this even
more accomplished and sophisticated slice of adult contemporary R&B. The
group is now pared to a duo consisting of songwriter/multi-instrumentalist
Howard Forman and gutsy vocalist Irene Marc.

WORDS & MUSIC/ DECEMBER 1994

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MEDIA APPEARANCES

Television
CFCF-TV:"In Concert" Groove Kings, Live at the Montreal Spectrum, Aug. 21st/95
CBC National:"CITY BEAT" September '95 + July 17th/95
CTV National:"MONTREAL AM-LIVE" April 27th/95
CBC National:"CITY BEAT" January 30/95
CBC National: Newsworld "PETRIE IN PRIME" December 21/94 + December 22/92
CTV National:"Dini" December 5/94, June 28/94
Global Ntwrk:"Entertainment Desk": Interview + Live Performance, Dec. 5/94,
October 13/93
CITY-TV:"LUNCH-TV" Live Performance November 30/94
MusiquePlus:Interview + Premiere of new video "TELL ME", October 12/94
CTV Montreal:"Pulse News", What's On", October 7/94
CBC Montreal:"CITY BEAT", October 4/94
Australian TV:"Hey Hey It's Saturday", Video prgm, "Everybody Knows", July
9/94
Australian TV:"Big Music Soup", TAS-TV's, "Everybody Knows", Tasmania, July
2/94
Australian TV:"Video Hits", "Everybody Knows", June 11/94
CTV Montreal:"Q-Clips" Videos 'Everybody Knows' + 'If I Can't Turn To You',
May 14/94
CTV Montreal:"Q-Clips" Video 'Everybody Knows', April 2/94
CBC Toronto:"The News at 6" November 11/93
CTV National:"Showbuz": Interview, October 31/93
CTV National:"The Best of The Dini Petty Show", December 30/93
CTV National:"The Dini Petty Show", July'93 + August'93
CTV National:"The Dini Petty Show", October 18/93 + March 29/93
MuchMusic:"Walk On": Interview + "If I Can't Turn To You" video, October
14/93
MusiquePlus:"Rock Velours": Groove Kings Feature, July 5/93
MuchMusic:Interview + Live Performance, June 25/93
MusiquePlus:"Rock Velours": Interview + Live Performance, May 10/93
CTV Montreal:"Pulse News", What's On", May 14, April 9, January 22/93
CTV Montreal:"Pulse News" Feature on Groove Kings, January 21/93
CBC Montreal:"CITY BEAT; Hot Ticket", January 21/93
CBC Montreal:"The Best of City Beat", January 16/93
CBC National:"Midday": Feature on Groove Kings, December 22/92
CBC Montreal:"CITY BEAT, Newswatch": Feature on Groove Kings, December 18/92
RadioQuebec:"Beau et Chaud": Performances August 5/94, August 18/93 + August
4/92

Newspapers & Magazines
Cover STORY, Wednesday 12th April '95
GLOBE & MAIL, Saturday 7th January '95
LA PRESSE, Samedi 26 Novembre '94
Musicien Quebecois, Nov.-Dec.'94
The Montreal Gazette, Saturday 19th November '94
The Hour, October 27-November 2, '94
The Montreal Mirror, October 13-20 '94, January 21-28, '93
The Nanaimo Times (B.C.), November 12th '94, March 11, '93
Network Magazine (National), Julys93
Canadian Composer (National), Spring'93
Le Devoir ( Montreal) , Saturday 27/ Sunday 28 , February'93
RPM (National), Week Ending February 20, '93
The Record (National), February 15 + November 16, '92
The Edmonton Sun, January 15, '93

Radio Interviews
InterFM 76.1: Tokyo, Japan, Groove Kings' Christmas Special Dec. 96
CJFM MIX96: Montreal, Live Performance, October 95
CJAD: Montreal, April '95
CFQR (Q92): Montreal, March '95
CKOI: Montreal, January '95
CBC-Radio Canada International: "Canadian Forces Show", October'94,
November'93
CJAY92FM: Calgary, ALTA, September'93
CJFM MIX96: Montreal, QC, December'93 (Live X-Mas Performance) + April'93
The Mix99.9: Toronto, Ont., October'93 + March'93
CKBW: Bridgewater, N.S., 1Hr G.K.'s Special, February'93
CBC Morningside: National, January '93

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Articles

Kings fitting into groove of mainstream pop success
The Montreal Gazette
Brendan Kelley
Nov. 19, 1994

The Groove Kings' success story is the sort of thing that's not supposed to
happen in a music business dominated by huge, international corporations,
flavour-of-the-month pop trends and rigid radio programmers.
Here is a Montreal band that specializes in unabashedly radio-friendly
mainstream pop, was playing Top-40 covers in local bars not so long ago, and
doesn't have a major label behind it. In the norma l course of things, this
is a band that should be languishing in low-paying obscurity.
Instead, Groove Kings guitarist-songwriter Howard Forman and smoky-voiced
singer Irene Marc are sitting in the living room of Forman's apartment -
what he refers to as "the sumptuous officies of Visual Music" - showing off
a radio tracking update that lists 106 radio stations across Canada playing
the latest Groove Kings single, Tell Me. The soulful ballad is the first
track on the band's second album, Into the Groove Age, once again released
on Forman's Visual Music label and distributed by Montreal-based indie Sound
Solutions.

Everybody Knows got airplay
Widespread radio support is nothing new for the Groove Kings. In the summer
of 1992, the band mailed copies of a three-song CD sampler to stations right
across the country in an attempt to generate some major-label interest in
the band. A few months later, one of the songs, Everybody Knows, was playing
on 150 Canadian radio stations. This was before the group had even recorded
a full-length album, and it raised more than a few eyebrows among Canadian
music-industry executives.

Someone from E.M.I. Music Canada called head Groove King Forman to ask if
the band was really on 150 stations. "He called a few stations and checked
because he was skeptical." Forman recalled. "And it all checked out. Then he
said to me: 'We can't get Tom Cochrane on150 stations at the same time in
Canada.' We didn't understand that it was so difficult to do. We went into
it somewhat innocently."

That innocent approach included the band members themselves "tracking" the
record. They would call up the radio stations each week to try to convince
the programmers to add the Groove Kings to the playlist. It's a job usually
handled by the record labels. They figured they could save the expense and
maybe help the record's chances by adding a personal touch to the hard-sell.
After the first album, the group was whittled down to the core members of
Forman and Marc, and they still do nearly everything themselves. They
recently did a national mailing of the new album over the course of a couple
of days in Forman's living room, and they spend long hours on the phone
chatting up radio music directors from coast to coast.

The way Forman and Marc tell it, their radio conquest was not part of any
grand master plan on their part. Two years ago, Forman was making the rent
by playing cover tunes on the club scene and wondering what he was still
doing in the music biz. The 37-year-old Montrealer had spent extended
periods as a session guitarist at the renowned Muscle Shoals studios in
Alabama, had recorded one solo album for RCA in the '80's, and had written a
number of film scores for Quebec movies.

Before a chance meeting with Marc, Forman was playing in an early version of
the Groove Kings fronted by a temperamental lead singer, and Forman was
seriously questioning whether he was too old for all this.
"It was just a natural decline." Forman said. "The recession had hit, my
film work was down, my studio work was down. I just wasn't playing as much
as I used to. I'd been turned off. I wasn't even writing tunes any more.The
record experience wasn't that great. It seemed so hard. I found you were
judged so harshly. I wasn't groovy, Tom Cruise solo-artist material. I
wasn't going to be a pretty boy, and I wasn't unusual enough to be quirky
and weird.

"I'd been in the clubs for years. Frankly it was slightly humiliating - I
didn't want to go back. But things were not good financially. Then I really
started to enjoy it. I started to get a lot of my guitar chops back, which
had been slumbering since I left the studio scene full time."
Then in a club one night the owner suggested he let Marc belt out a couple
of tunes with the band. Within days, Forman was back writing songs for his
new lead singer, a former civil engineer who'd never sung professionally
before.

Roots in church, beer bashes
"I'd always liked singing, but I'd never dreamed I'd do it for a living," Marc said.
Her previous singing career consisted of a talent-night appearance during a
McGill Engineering Week beer-bash, with Marc leading a pick-up band through
a comic version of Venus and a Robert Palmer spoof called Addicted to Beer.
But Marc, who grew up in Greenfield Park, had been singing in her church
choir for years and she had always been a major fan of great soul vocalists
like Aretha Franklin.

Months after Marc joined the band, a friend of Forman's offered them some
cheap studio time and they went in and cut the three-track sampler.
Everybody Knows, the ballad that ended up on 150 stations, was recorded in
an afternoon for $400. They decided to call the record-label Visual Music
since that was the name of Forman's film-music company -""we already had the
stationery, so there was no reason to change anything," Forman quipped.
The first album was largely self-financed, but the group did receive a loan
from industry funder Factor to record Into the Groove Age. It still cost
only $28,000 to make, which is peanuts compared with most major-label
releases.

"Our stuff is up beside albums that cost a minimum of $100,000," Forman
said. "We're standing toe-to-toe on radio with Whitney stuff and Mariah
stuff. I had spent long enough in studio that I knew how to make records. So
the technical part was not a problem. But the bottom line is: if the tune
isn't there, they're not going to play it."
One reason the Groove Kings have been able to garner so much airplay is
because their mix of adult ballads and Motown rockers is just the sort of
mature fare that most radio programmers are looking for. The airwaves
success had led to charges that the band panders to commercial radio
formats, a criticism Forman tackles on the song Raised on Radio, from the
new album.

"When you talk about the music we play, it's the horrible, forbidden word,
'mainstream.'" Forman said. "Don't get nauseous or anything. I'm 37, Irene's
29. We have more to express than anger exclusively. It doesn't mean we're
doing tunes about puppy dogs and butterflies. But we don't have teenage
angst because we're not teenagers. If we're going to express ourselves, both
of us take a lot of pleasure in doing it by showing some skill."
Forman and Marc figured other music fans were out there who felt the same
way they did. Two years and hundreds of phone calls to radio stations later,
the two Groove Kings are pretty confident their hunch was right.

Marc dropped engineering for singing
The Montreal Gazette
March 3, 1994

ST. LAMBERT - For years, Irene Marc would satisfy her desire to sing by
hanging out in nightclubs and jamming with local bands.
Although Marc loved singing, she never entertained thoughts of making it a
career.

After all, she was a civil-engineering graduate from McGill and chances were
slim that singing would be a lucrative choice.
"I took piano lessons when I was 7 years old and I always loved choir
practice," said Marc, 28. "But it's a long shot. You have to know the right
people and I didn't write songs - I only sang."

Now, a few years later, Marc has dumped the engineering stuff and spends her
time belting out rhythm and blues at a recording studio.
The big change came one night in 1991 at her local pub when she asked to
sing a song with a band called the Groove Kings. The members were so
impressed, they asked her to become the lead singer. "I just happened to be
at the right place at the right time."

The band put together a three-song compact disc and pushed radio stations
play their tunes.
More than 150 stations played their songs, one of which hit the charts.
Media attention followed and Marc said she found it exciting. "One of the
highlights was singing on the Dini Petty show," she said.

The five-member band is temporarily a duo because three members quit to
pursue other interests. Marc and the guitarist are working on their second CD,
which she hopes will be out early this summer.

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