Wonderful Grand Band

{{Infobox musical artist

| name = The Wonderful Grand Band

| image =

| caption =

| image_size =

| background = group_or_band

| alias =

| origin = St. John's, Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada

| genre = Rock
Folk Rock

| label = Grand East Records

| years_active = 1978–1983 (Reunion 1997) 2009–present

| associated_acts = Ron Hynes
Buddy Wasisname and the Other Fellers
Figgy Duff
The Fables

| website =

| current_members =

| past_members =

}}

The Wonderful Grand Band is a Canadian music and comedy group formed in 1978 in St. John's, Newfoundland and Labrador.{{cite book|author=Sandra Clarke|title=Newfoundland and Labrador English|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=WO6qBgAAQBAJ&pg=PA93|date=28 February 2010|publisher=Edinburgh University Press|isbn=978-0-7486-3141-4|pages=93–}}

History

The group was founded in 1978, and included comedians Greg Malone and Tommy Sexton.{{cite book|author=Sean Cadigan|title=Newfoundland and Labrador: A History|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=nUjN5uhVA1UC&pg=PA2047|date=11 April 2009|publisher=University of Toronto Press|isbn=978-1-4426-9059-2|pages=2047–}} They released their first album, The Wonderful Grand Band, in 1979.{{cite magazine|author=Larry LeBlanc|title=Newfoundland's Hynes documents local life|magazine=Billboard|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=dA4EAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA65|date=28 June 2003|publisher=Nielsen Business Media, Inc.|pages=65–|issn=0006-2510}}

The group had an eponymous television musical variety show on CBC Television. This ran for six episodes under the title The Root Seller in 1978, before relaunching in 1980 as The Wonderful Grand Band, which produced 40 more episodes between 1980 and 1983.{{Cite web|url=http://www.heritage.nf.ca/arts/television.html|title = Television}}{{cite book|author=Alan Doyle|title=Where I Belong|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=EjfaCwAAQBAJ&pg=PA80|date=13 October 2015|publisher=Doubleday Canada|isbn=978-0-385-68038-7|pages=80–}} The show starred Ron Hynes,{{cite book|author=Darrell Varga|title=Shooting from the East: Filmmaking on the Canadian Atlantic|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=QSfCDAAAQBAJ&pg=PA32|date=1 November 2015|publisher=MQUP|isbn=978-0-7735-9805-8|pages=32–}} Sandy Morris, Ian Perry, Glenn Simmons (later replaced by Steve Annan, who died in 2010), Kelly Russell (later replaced by Jamie Snider), and Rocky Wiseman (who was later replaced by Paul Stamp), as well as Malone and Sexton, who died in 1993. The show combined original and traditional music{{cite book|author=Bob Mersereau|title=The History of Canadian Rock 'n' Roll|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=M7sVCgAAQBAJ&pg=PT169|date=1 March 2015|publisher=Backbeat Books|isbn=978-1-4950-2890-8|pages=169–}} with topical comedy sketches and satire, some of which was directed at the CBC itself.

The band released a second album, Living in a Fog, in 1981.

The band reunited in 2009 for a series of concerts throughout Newfoundland and Labrador, in conjunction with the release of two DVDs containing 12 episodes of the TV show. A second, one-off reunion was held in August 2012 at a Ron Hynes concert held before Hynes entered treatment for throat cancer.'Magical' Ron Hynes performs before cancer treatment; CBC News; August 11, 2012 https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/newfoundland-labrador/magical-ron-hynes-performs-before-cancer-treatment-1.1238692

On December 7, 2017, The Wonderful Grand Band released a re-recorded version of Babylon Mall for the 50th anniversary of the Avalon Mall, with Mark Critch from CBC's This Hour Has 22 Minutes on vocals.

Members

Current Members

Sandy Morris - acoustic & electric lead guitars, backing vocals (1978 - 1983, 1997, 2009 - present)
Greg Malone - comedian (1978, 1979 - 1983, 1997, 2009 - present)
Glenn Simmons - lead vocals, acoustic & electric guitars, bass, backing vocals (1978 - 1982, 1997, 2009 - present)
Jamie Snider - lead vocals, fiddle, guitars, mandolin (1980 - 1983, 1997, 2009 - present)
Paul "Boomer" Stamp - drums, percussion, backing vocals (1981 - 1982, 1982 - 1983, 1997, 2009–present)
Ian Perry - bass, guitars, backing vocals (1978 - 1982, 1997, 2009 - present)

Past Members

Bryan Hennessey - bass, harmonica (1978) (died 2021)
Bawnie Oulton - backing vocals (1978) (died 2010)
Kelly Russell - fiddle, mandolin, dulcimer, backing vocals (1978 - 1980)
Rocky Wiseman - drums (1978 - 1981) (died 2018)
Steve Annan - guitars (1982 - 1983) (died 2010)
Howie Warden - bass (1982 - 1983)
Kevin McNeil - drums (1982)
Ron Hynes – lead vocals, guitars, mandolin, banjo, backing vocals (1978 - 1983, 1997, 2009 - 2015) (died 2015)
Tommy Sexton – vocals, comedian (1979 - 1983) (died 1993)
Cathy Jones - comedian (1982 - 1983)
Mary Walsh - comedian (1982 - 1983)