Minutes From Downtown

Minutes From Downtown formed in Toronto in the early 1980s from musicians already active in the city’s new wave scene. Singer Lucasta Ross, born Lucasta Rochas, had recently left The B-Girls, while drummer Graham Stairs and keyboardist John Percy had been associated with Popular Spies. The three began working together and were joined by keyboardist John McKellar, bassist Gary Hynes and percussionist Ron Feather.

By 1982, the band was recording original material at Sounds Interchange Limited on Adelaide Street East in Toronto. A surviving studio demo documents two songs, ‘Minutes From Downtown’ and ‘Emotion Under Pressure,’ produced and engineered by Kevin Doyle. The cassette is marked ‘Minutes From Downtown ’82’ and includes handwritten contact numbers for Graham and John. Neither song appeared on the band’s later Capitol releases.

After playing the Toronto club circuit, Minutes From Downtown attracted the attention of Capitol Records. Graham Stairs later recalled that the group was signed by Deane Cameron, then head of Canadian A&R at the label. Capitol first released ‘Heaven Street’ backed with ‘24 Karat Gold’ in 1983, followed by the five-song Minutes From Downtown mini-LP and a second single, ‘Wrapped In Velvet’ backed with ‘I Wish I Had Stayed.’

The Capitol recordings were produced by Jon Mathias for Blu Fly Productions. The group’s songwriting centred largely on Stairs, Ross and McKellar, with John Percy contributing to ‘Wrapped In Velvet’ and ‘24 Karat Gold.’ Stairs received a writing credit on all five songs. Tim White contributed electric guitar and Lee Whelan added background vocals to the mini-LP sessions.

‘Wrapped In Velvet’ received Canadian radio airplay into 1984 as Capitol continued promoting the band. Minutes From Downtown also travelled outside Toronto, with the group appearing in Western Canada during this period. The touring lineup also included guitarist Tim White, who had previously played with Popular Spies.

The band continued writing after the Capitol release and returned to the studio to work on new material. The project was never completed. Minutes From Downtown broke up during the sessions, leaving the follow-up recordings unreleased.

The members followed different paths after the breakup. Stairs and Percy went on to work together in Go International. Stairs later moved into the business side of Canadian music, working with Intrepid and Latitude Records, managing National Velvet and Chalk Circle, and producing other artists. Percy relocated to Halifax and established a digital media production company. Gary Hynes moved to British Columbia, where he founded EAT Magazine, before later returning to Newfoundland. Ron Feather continued as a percussionist and was later associated with Cirque du Soleil’s Alegría. Ross continued performing and became involved in administering the recordings associated with her father Mort Ross and Revolver Records.

-Robert Williston