Information/Write-up
With The Whole World’s Goin’ Crazy, April Wine entered 1976 not as a promising Canadian act but as one of the country’s dominant rock groups, capable of generating a level of anticipation no domestic band had commanded before. The album became the first in Canadian history to achieve platinum status on advance orders alone — a remarkable sign of how firmly April Wine had taken hold of the national imagination. When it reached No. 1 on the RPM album chart in May 1976, and stayed there for two weeks, it confirmed what was already obvious in the pre-release buzz: the band had crossed into a new tier of popularity.
A major part of that renewal came with the arrival of Steve Lang, making his debut here after replacing Jim Clench. Lang’s tone, precision, and unshakeable sense of groove fit seamlessly into the rhythm section alongside Jerry Mercer, whose drumming had become increasingly central to the band’s live and studio identity. With Gary Moffet providing steady, disciplined guitar firepower and Myles Goodwyn expanding his role as songwriter, producer, and conceptual lead, April Wine entered the sessions with a clarity of vision the earlier lineup only hinted at.
The opening run of songs captures a band fully aware of its moment. “Gimmie Love” throws the first punch — all taut riffs and confident swagger — while “So Bad” taps into the harder blues-rock edge that April Wine had been sharpening on stage. Frank Marino’s guest guitar on the track reflects the friendly cross-pollination happening in Montréal’s mid-’70s rock scene, where April Wine, Mahogany Rush, and others were simultaneously building national profiles.
“Wings of Love,” one of the album’s most ambitious pieces, stands out for its sweeping arrangement and an unexpected sonic texture: Marie Bernard’s ondes Martenot, an ethereal electronic instrument more commonly found in avant-garde classical works. Paired with Dwayne Ford’s piano and Mary Lou Gauthier’s backing vocals, the song shows how comfortable the band had become blending rock muscle with atmospheric ornamentation.
The radio story of the record belongs to “Like a Lover, Like a Song,” Goodwyn’s elegant, slow-burning ballad that became one of April Wine’s signature pieces. Released as a single, it cracked the national charts and has retained its resonance across decades, often singled out as one of Goodwyn’s finest melodic achievements. Its emotional reach is balanced by the title track’s punchy immediacy, a brisk, hook-laden rocker that also charted well and became a staple of the band’s mid-’70s live shows.
Elsewhere, “We Can Be More Than We Are,” “Rock N’ Roll Woman,” and “Shotdown” carry the sturdy, hard-edged confidence of a group operating with complete command of its strengths. By this point Goodwyn had grown into the role of producer as naturally as he had grown into frontman, guiding the sessions with an ear for clarity, dynamics, and song-first arrangements. The decision to self-produce (with Goodwyn officially credited) is one of the reasons the album feels so unified; despite the stylistic variety, the through-line is unmistakable.
The Whole World’s Goin’ Crazy marked a turning point not only for April Wine but for Canadian rock as a whole. A homegrown band achieving platinum sales before release, topping national charts, and doing it with a distinctly Canadian rock sound helped demonstrate that the country’s music industry was capable of supporting domestic stars at an international level. For April Wine, it was the album that solidified their stature just as they were heading into their most commercially and creatively successful stretch. The title may have suggested a world in chaos, but inside the grooves the message was clearer: this was a band in full control, riding momentum they had earned, and stepping confidently into the second half of the decade.
-Robert Williston
Musicians
Myles Goodwyn: lead vocals, guitar, piano, organ (Moog), cover concept
Gary Moffet: guitar, backing vocals
Steve Lang: bass, backing vocals
Jerry Mercer: drums, percussion, backing vocals
Franke Marino: lead guitar on ‘So Bad’
Dwayne Ford: piano on ‘Wings of Love’
Marie Bernard: ondes Martenot on ‘Wings of Love’
Mary Lou Gauthier: backing vocals on ‘Wings of Love’
Billy Szawlowski: backing vocals on ‘Like a Lover, Like a Song’
Frank Ludwig: piano on ‘Kick Willy Rd.’
Songwriting
‘Gimmie Love’ written by Hagopian
‘So Bad’ written by Myles Goodwyn
‘Wings of Love’ written by Myles Goodwyn
‘We Can Be More Than We Are’ written by Myles Goodwyn
‘Rock N’ Roll Woman’ written by Myles Goodwyn
‘Shotdown’ written by Myles Goodwyn
‘Like a Lover, Like a Song’ written by Myles Goodwyn
‘Kick Willy Rd.’ written by Myles Goodwyn
‘The Whole World’s Goin’ Crazy’ written by J. Henman
Published by Slalom Music
Production
Produced by Myles Goodwyn
Engineered by Billy Szawlowski and Ian Terry
Recorded at Tempo Studios, Montréal
Lacquer cut at Disques SNB Ltée
Mastered by Sabin Nelson Brunet
Manufactured by Aquarius Records Ltd.
Produced for Aquarius Records Production
Personal management by Terry Flood Management Ltd.
Artwork
Design and illustration by Bob Lemm
Photography by Graham Fowler and Pat Miller
Notes
Embossed artwork on front cover
Issued with cardboard inner photo/credit sleeve and separate lyric/discography insert
First pressing features custom Aquarius “tophat” labels
Bio
April Wine emerged at the end of the 1960s out of the fertile east-coast music community that stretched between Halifax and St. John’s. Brothers David and Ritchie Henman had played together since their teens in Newfoundland, eventually regrouping in Nova Scotia with their cousin Jim Henman in various lineups. Around the same time, Myles Goodwyn — born in Woodstock, New Brunswick and raised in a tough working-class household — was working through his own bands in the Halifax scene, including Woody’s Termites, Squirrel, and East Gate Sanctuary. When those projects dissolved in late 1969, the four musicians brought their strengths together under a new name that simply sounded right: April Wine.
Real opportunity lay outside the Maritimes. The group made a demo and sent it to Montréal’s fast-rising Aquarius Records; a polite rejection was misread as an invitation. On April 1, 1970, with little money and plenty of nerve, April Wine arrived unannounced in Montréal. Aquarius partners Donald K. Tarlton and Terry Flood heard something promising and signed them, putting the young band up in a rural chalet to write and rehearse while touring the region opening for Mashmakhan.
Their debut album April Wine (1971) introduced Goodwyn’s songwriting voice, and its standout track “Fast Train” became a Canadian Top 40 hit. With momentum building, April Wine returned to the studio with a new bassist — Montréal musician Jim Clench, who had replaced the departing Jim Henman — and English-born producer Ralph Murphy to craft On Record (1972). It became their first breakthrough: a muscular reworking of Hot Chocolate’s “You Could Have Been a Lady” shot to No. 2 in Canada and cracked the U.S. charts, while their cover of Elton John’s “Bad Side of the Moon” became a fixture at rock radio. The band quickly graduated from bars to theatres and arenas, opening for The Guess Who, Jethro Tull, Badfinger, Stevie Wonder, and Ike & Tina Turner, gaining the road experience that would define their next decade.
During the making of their third album Electric Jewels (1973), the Henman brothers exited the group; Goodwyn and Clench rebuilt the lineup with two crucial arrivals: drummer Jerry Mercer, already nationally known from Mashmakhan, and guitarist Gary Moffet. The chemistry was immediate. Electric Jewels became a formative record, showcasing songwriting depth in tracks such as “Weeping Widow,” “Just Like That,” and “Lady Run, Lady Hide,” and solidifying the band’s dramatic stage show, complete with lights and pyrotechnics, on their ambitious Electric Adventure tour.
Through the mid-1970s, April Wine became one of Canada’s most reliable and inventive rock bands. Stand Back (1975) pushed them into double-platinum territory with “Tonight Is a Wonderful Time to Fall in Love” and “I Wouldn’t Want to Lose Your Love,” while harder-edged tracks like “Oowatanite” turned into signature concert moments. When bassist Steve Lang replaced Jim Clench in 1976, the band entered its most commercially dominant phase. The Whole World’s Goin’ Crazy arrived with unprecedented platinum advance orders, followed in 1977 by the ballad-driven Forever for Now, whose single “You Won’t Dance with Me” became their best-selling Canadian record of the era.
In March 1977, April Wine unwittingly stepped into one of the most famous episodes in Canadian rock. Booked as headliners for a pair of Toronto charity concerts at the El Mocambo, they discovered that their “opening act,” listed as The Cockroaches, was in fact The Rolling Stones, secretly recording material for Love You Live. April Wine’s own set was captured and released as Live at the El Mocambo, a raw snapshot of a band hitting its stride just as guitarist-vocalist Brian Greenway joined the lineup. With Goodwyn, Moffet, and Greenway, April Wine became a formidable three-guitar outfit; Goodwyn could now move between guitar, keys, and vocals without leaving gaps in the band’s sound.
Their U.S. breakthrough came with First Glance (1978), recorded at Montréal’s Studio Tempo and Québec’s famed Le Studio in Morin-Heights. “Roller” unexpectedly surged on FM rock stations in Michigan, spreading across the U.S. and giving April Wine their first gold album outside Canada. The band was soon touring American arenas with Rush, Journey, Styx, and other major acts, no longer an opening act from the north but a rising international name.
They entered the 1980s at full strength. April Wine performed at the inaugural Monsters of Rock festival at Castle Donington in August 1980 before tens of thousands of fans, signalling their arrival onto the global hard-rock stage. Their next studio album, The Nature of the Beast (1981), recorded partly again at Le Studio, became the pinnacle of their international success. The soaring ballad “Just Between You and Me” broke the U.S. Top 20, while their explosive reimagining of Lorence Hud’s “Sign of the Gypsy Queen” became a defining FM rock staple. The album went multi-platinum in Canada, platinum abroad, and spent months on the Billboard 200, cementing April Wine’s presence across North America and Europe.
The follow-up, Power Play (1982), produced additional airplay with “Enough Is Enough” and “If You See Kay,” but the workload of back-to-back touring and recording cycles took its toll. Animal Grace (1984) and the more fragmented Walking Through Fire (1985) revealed a band under strain, and by the mid-1980s April Wine quietly dissolved. Goodwyn released a solo album on Aquarius and Atlantic; Greenway issued Serious Business; Mercer moved into session work and new collaborations.
By the end of the decade, however, classic-rock radio had revived interest. Goodwyn returned to Montréal in 1988 and began discussing a reunion with Greenway, Mercer, and Jim Clench. A renewed April Wine debuted live in 1992, playing to sold-out crowds across Canada and the United States. Their 1993 studio return, Attitude, went gold in Canada with the single “If You Believe in Me,” followed by Frigate (1994). The band spent much of the 1990s and early 2000s touring widely, sharing stages with Def Leppard, Foreigner, Meat Loaf, Nazareth, Blue Öyster Cult, and other cornerstone classic-rock acts.
Goodwyn brought the group back to its roots for Back to the Mansion (2001) and later the analog-leaning Roughly Speaking (2006). Lineups shifted as the years passed: Clench left and later passed away in 2010; beloved long-time bassist Steve Lang died in 2017; drummer Jerry Mercer retired after more than three decades. Their successors — notably bassist Richard Lanthier and drummer Roy “Nip” Nichol — kept the group’s live power intact alongside Greenway’s enduring presence.
Goodwyn’s 2016 memoir Just Between You and Me shed new light on his early life and the band’s long arc, and in 2018 he was inducted into the Canadian Songwriters Hall of Fame. April Wine themselves received the Canadian Music Industry Hall of Fame’s Lifetime Achievement Award in 2009 and entered the Canadian Music Hall of Fame at the 2010 Juno Awards.
In late 2022, facing ongoing health issues, Goodwyn announced his retirement from touring, but remained involved in writing and guiding the band. He performed one final live concert with April Wine in March 2023, joined by original bassist Jim Henman for a poignant reunion. Myles Goodwyn died in Halifax on December 3, 2023, at the age of 75.
April Wine continues to tour into the present with Brian Greenway, Richard Lanthier, Roy Nichol, and Marc Parent, carrying a legacy built on powerhouse guitars, durable songwriting, and more than fifty years of Canadian rock history — a catalogue that never left the airwaves, and a name that remains synonymous with the rise of Canadian rock on the international stage.
-Robert Williston
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