Hi Octane Band

The Hi Octane Band was a working show band on the Atlantic Canada circuit in the mid-1970s. The Halifax booking agency Entertainment Contacts had them on its roster by 1974. In October 1975 RPM reported that Tobi Lark, the Detroit-raised, Toronto-based soul singer behind the Northern soul favourite 'Time Will Pass You By', had joined the band for a long run of university and club dates across the Atlantic provinces. That November they played a week at the Loggers Lounge in Newfoundland, and in October 1976 they were booked into the McInnes Room at Dalhousie University in Halifax.

On this single the band takes on two of the biggest songs of 1975, the Temptations' funk hit 'Shakey Ground' and Morris Albert's ballad 'Feelings', with a male singer out front. The plain white labels carry only the band name, the song details and the number WRC 218. The record was made through World Records, Bob Stone's custom pressing company in Oshawa, Ontario, which turned out records to order for independent acts across the country. Stone knew the Maritime scene well and had earlier opened a Halifax studio for his Audat label.

-Robert Williston