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Neo A4
Neo A4
Origin	Edmonton, Alberta, Canada
Genres	Alternative rock; new wave; progressive pop;
Years active	1981–1990
Labels	Duke Street Records
Past members	Ric Johnston; Joel Anderson; John Tidswell; Doug Ranford;

Neo A4 (stylized as NEO a4) was a Canadian rock band that formed in Edmonton, Alberta that was active from 1981 to 1990.

The band consisted of Ric Johnston (lead vocals, guitar), Joel Anderson (percussion, vocals) and John Tidswell (bass, keyboards), with bassist and keyboardist Doug Ranford joining the band after their relocation to Toronto in 1987.

History

Neo A4 was established in 1981 in Edmonton as a trio, featuring Ric Johnston as the band's lead vocalist and guitarist, Joel Anderson on drums and backing vocals, and John Tidswell on bass and keyboards.^[1]^[2]^[3]^[4] The band took its name from philosopher P. D. Ouspensky's theories on the fourth dimension.^[1]

The band independently released the EP What's Up in 1983, and their first full-length album, The Warmer Side Of You in 1985.^[1]^[5]^[6] The band won an Alberta Recording Industry Association award for best group of the year in 1986 and were nominated as Best Independent Artist at the CASBY Awards that same year.^[1]

In 1987 Neo A4 relocated to Toronto, signed with the Duke Street Records, and released the album Desire that same year.^[3]^[7] Bassist and keyboardist Doug Ranford joined the band in 1988 for their follow-up, self-titled album, NEO a4, allowing Tidswell to move from playing bass to guitar. The album was produced by English recording engineer and record producer Colin Thurston, known for his work on David Bowie's "Heroes", Iggy Pop's Lust for Life and Duran Duran's debut album.^[3] The album marked the band's transition to a less-experimental and more pop-oriented sound.^[1]^[3]^[4] The tracks "One's Enough", "Say This to Me" and "Only A fool", all charted in Canada.

In 1989 they released The Hardway, whose singles "That's the Way" and "Calling You" made the top 100 Canadian singles and top CanCon singles charts respectively, but the band did not find the level of success that they had hoped for, and found the cost of living in Toronto to be too expensive.^[8]^[9] The band dissolved in 1990, with Tidswell returning to Alberta, Johnston relocating to Penticton, British Columbia and Anderson remaining in Toronto and joining the Leslie Spit Treeo.^[9]^[10]

Discography

What's Up EP (1983)
The Warmer Side Of You (1985)
Desire (1987)
NEO a4 (1988)
The Hard Way (1989)

Singles

Year	Title	Peak chart positions		Album
Year	Title	CAN ^[11]	CAN Content (CanCon) ^[12]	Album
1987	"Desire"	—	—	Desire
1988	"If It Was You"	—	—	NEO a4
	"One's Enough"	—	23
	"Say This to Me"	54	8
	"Only A Fool"	91	21
1989	"Calling You"	—	2	The Hard Way
1989	"That's The Way"	53	—	The Hard Way
"—" denotes a recording that did not chart.

References

^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e Burliuk, Greg (May 4, 1988). "Band's Determination To Stick To Its Own Sound Finally Paid Off". The Kingston Whig-Standard. p. 1. ProQuest 353389712. Retrieved October 27, 2024. The name was taken from philosopher P.D. Ouspensky's discussion of the fourth dimension. . . While in Edmonton, the trio refused to play any material by other artists, which meant that engagements were far and few between for a little-known band. But their perseverance finally paid off in the shape of a recording contract with the alternative-minded Duke Street label and their eponymous debut album has just been released. . . Ric Johnston, Joel Anderson and John Tidswell had all got fed up playing in cover bands when they came together in 1981. . . NEO a4 snared the recording contract after a couple of independently-released records, a CASBY nomination for best new group in the independent label category and an Alberta Recording Industry Association award for best group of the year in 1986. . . Gradually the band moved towards the mainstream: NEO a4's debut album is not at all weird but rather a solid grab bag of rock and pop. The songs are sturdy and with no hint of the wispiness that one might expect of a band once so committed to experimental music.
^ Muretich, James (January 14, 1986). "Band confident it'll bridge gap". Calgary Herald. p. D3. Retrieved October 27, 2024 – via Newspapers.com. NEO-A4 is caught in the no man's land of the music wars. The Alberta rock group still is considered too much of an underground band for major record companies, yet also is considered "too commercial" for alternate campus radio in its home town of Edmonton. . . The band's new album, The Warmer Side of You, is it'\s second independent release and shows a gradual maturing of its rock style. The music is original yet accessible. . . If anything, NEO-A4 is somewhat reminiscent of The Police. It doesn't mimic the popular blond trio, but its use of the guitar, bass and drum sound does conjure up a similar feel to the music. "It is probably the closest comparison you can make," says bassist John Tidswell, who, like drummer Joel Anderson, is originally from Calgary. NEO-A4's other member is guitarist Ric Johnston.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d Campbell, Rod (November 2, 1989). "Edmonton rockers stagger back from poshy Hogtown; Neo A4 bring free-wheeling sound to U of A". Edmonton Journal. p. C6. ProQuest 251556003. Retrieved October 27, 2024. Neo A4 moved to Toronto in 1987 seeking fame and wealth. . . "It's been hard on us to tell you the honest truth," says keyboard player John Tidswell. . .Neo A4 -- the name's inspired by philosopher P. D. Ouspensky's theories on the fourth dimension -- recorded its debut album for Duke Street with Colin Thurston (David Bowie, Iggy Pop, Duran Duran) producing. "The first record was more of a pop effort. We were kind of thinking we were going to have some singles."
^ ^a ^b Quill, Greg (March 31, 1988). "Brainy Heads keep witty edge". Toronto Star. p. B17. ProQuest 435727500. Retrieved October 27, 2024. NEO a4 NEO a4 (Duke Street): Second album by former Prairie synth/rock trio contains confident and colorful dance pop that makes no great claims for itself yet manages to please both musically and conceptually. Produced by veteran British studio master Colin Thurston, NEO a4 is clean and powerful and, despite a tendency to rely heavily on formula sounds and song styles, will likely make this band's name, at least as a radio commodity. Most appealing attribute is singer/guitarist Ric Johnston's convincing, often gritty vocals.
^ What's Up at Discogs
^ The Warmer Side Of You at Discogs
^ Dafoe, Chris (June 4, 1987). "Spoons dish out great hooks and looks, but no personality". The Globe and Mail. p. C7. ProQuest 386202301. Retrieved October 27, 2024. Openers Neo A4 trod a line between the English psychedelic revival and the arena rock of the late seventies, early eighties. It's a strange line to walk, but when the group steers clear of bombast, as it does in Desire, the title track of the band's latest album, it can be pleasant enough.
^ MacInnis, Craig (January 13, 1990). "Toronto eats up and spits out new acts". Toronto Star. p. G1. ProQuest 436116609. Retrieved October 27, 2024. Under his breath, Neo-A4's John Tidswell admits he may soon hightail it back to Edmonton, after three years of toughing it out in the local trenches. "What I found really hard here is to create a buzz because there are so many other bands trying to create a buzz," says the 27-year- old bassist. . . "As soon as you start playing here - just because of the rent and stuff - you've got to get a job. "It's kind of up in the air at this point, but we're thinking about moving back. Financially and in terms of our personal lives, Toronto just hasn't added up."
^ ^a ^b Kellogg, Alan (July 15, 1990). "A lot of things dull the bright lights of the big city...". Edmonton Journal. p. D1. ProQuest 251713165. Retrieved October 27, 2024. Loading girlfriends and gear into a Ryder truck, they took off for Hogtown, eager to fulfill the classic rock 'n' roll destiny they then saw as finally within reach. . . Things, as things have a tendency to do, didn't quite work out. . . Tidswell, now married with year-old babe Diana, worried about his wife walking alone at night in their downtown district. Paying $850 for a modest one-bedroom flat, the Grant MacEwan grad found it necessary to augment thin band income (ranging from nil to $400/wk.) with a variety of jobs, from a dreadful mail-room clerk experience to a not bad stint as an antique-bathtub refinisher. He's not complaining, but. . . By winter, 1990 and the latest album languishing, he -- and the rest of the band -- had had enough. "I love Toronto, but I did get disillusioned and wasn't about to make my family suffer. But I'll tell ya, it was an existential experience, all of us sitting in (another) Ryder truck, driving back to Alberta." Johnston has settled in Pentiction, while Anderson has stayed behind.
^ Levesque, Roger (November 9, 1990). "EdJE bids farewell, but it's here to stay - somehow". Edmonton Journal. p. D2. ProQuest 251701011. Retrieved October 27, 2024. The stimulating new Toronto folk-rock act, The Leslie Spit Treeo (named for a wonderful natural wildlife preserve which juts into Toronto harbor) plays The Power Plant Nov. 15 through 17. Although it was once a trio of buskers, it's a foursome with drums now that ex-NEO A4 member and ex-patriate Edmontonian Joel Anderson has joined up.
^
Peak positions for NEO-A4's singles on Singles Chart:
- For "Say This To Me" "RPM 100 Singles". RPM. Vol. 48 (4 ed.). May 14, 1988. Retrieved October 27, 2024.
- For "Only a Fool" "RPM 100 Singles". RPM. Vol. 48 (24 ed.). October 1, 1988. Retrieved October 27, 2024.
- For "That's the way" "RPM 100 Singles". RPM. Vol. 50 (23 ed.). October 2, 1989. Retrieved October 27, 2024.
^
Peak positions for NEO-A4's singles on Canadian Content (Cancon) Chart:
- For "Say This to Me" "Top Cancon Singles". RPM. Vol. 48 (6 ed.). May 28, 1988. Retrieved October 27, 2024.
- For "One's Enough" "Top Cancon Singles". RPM. Vol. 48 (16 ed.). August 6, 1988. Retrieved October 27, 2024.
- For "Only a Fool" "Top Cancon Singles". RPM. Vol. 48 (24 ed.). October 1, 1988. Retrieved October 27, 2024.
- For "Calling You" "Top Cancon Singles". RPM. Vol. 51 (4 ed.). November 25, 1989. Retrieved October 27, 2024.