Crowcuss

Canadian band from Winnipeg, Manitoba active 1976-1980. Original members included Greg Leskiw and Bill Wallace (2) of The Guess Who. The original lineup emerged from the jazz fusion group Mood Jga Jga. Guitar player Greg Leskiw and keyboard player Hermann Fruhm sought to fill holes in the band, recruiting drummer & lead vocalist Marc LaFrance and keyboardist Larry Pink of the group Musical Odyssey along with bass player/vocalist Bill Wallace (2) from the recently dissolved The Guess Who. Leskiw left before the first album was recorded, guitarist Bob Deutscher joined for the second album. Tenor sax player P.J. Perry performed live with the group as well as guesting on their albums. Stony Plain Records' label boss Holger Petersen (3) financed recording a full-length album at Mushroom Studios in Vancouver. At the time of recording their 1979 debut, the band lineup was Bill Wallace, Larry Pink, Marc La France, and Hermann Fruhm. The appropriately titled lead-off "Running Start" was released as a 7" single and would turn out to be their biggest hit, earning a number one in Guatemala. Crowcuss toured extensively, opening for Burton Cummings, Prism, Goddo, Doucette, and Streetheart, but couldn’t crack the radio charts. Crowcuss recorded and released the follow-up Starting To Show in 1980 in Winnipeg, this time including guitar player Bob Deutscher. With little traction off the second album, the group soon disbanded and went on to other projects. The most notable of these is Marc La France, heard on both Crowcuss albums playing drums with alternating lead and backing vocals, who went on to record with superstars like Carly Simon, David Lee Roth, Cher, Mötley Crüe, Bachman & Turner, Loverboy, Glass Tiger, Scorpions, and Alice Cooper. Pink and Deutscher went on to a short-lived R 'n B band named Brother Rat. Leskiew and Fruehm played together again in Les Q. Leskiew and Wallace played together again in Kilowatt (3), whose two albums were produced by fellow Guess Who alumni Domenic Troiano.