TORONTO was some kind of Canada’s answer to the Wilson sisters Heart, combining the delicious vocal color of singer Holly Woods and female guitarist / songwriter Sheron Alton. Their 1983’s LP “Girls Night Out” delivered very enjoyable radio-friendly set of songs with a deliberate keyboard pounce, boldly dictating the album’s melodic rock sound.
Other key member of Toronto was guitarist Brian Allen who wrote most the songs, an experienced musician previously member of the band Rose who released a string a solid albums in the Seventies. More talented Canadians like Jim Vallance and Stan Meissner were also involved in the creation of “Girls Night Out”
As requested, here’s the remastered reissue of “Girls Night Out” including the bonus track “What About Love” (penned by Alton / Allen / Vallance), the song later a hit for Heart in 1985.
Slick but familiar sounding riffs make “Girls Night Out” and “Ready to Make Up” charged little numbers and are in turn the album’s best, while the synth-infused rhythm of “When Can I See You Again” carries a worthy, arena rock-like beat.
With more of a mainstream angle encroaching their music than what is heard on their last couple of albums, Toronto’s sound on “Girls Night Out” contains some rock&pop flair but with a rockier bottom end, mainly because of the guitar and drum sound like in “Those Eyes” and “Talk to Me”.
Other highlight is of course “What About Love”, which oddly, didn’t make it into the original LP release track list. Written by Sheron Alton, Brian Allen and Jim Vallance (who also played drums), the song was recorded in 1982 by Toronto – however, the other band members elected not to release the song, and the frustration Allen and Alton faced in being unable to convince their bandmates to feature this and other material on Toronto’s albums led to their departure from the group.
Later, Michael McCarty at ATV Music Publishing was reviewing his song catalogue when he came across ‘What About Love’. He offered the song to Heart, who turned it into a worldwide hit. Toronto’s original version remained commercially unreleased until 2002, when it appeared as a bonus cut on the CDs ‘Get It On Credit and Toronto: The Greatest Hits’.
Toronto could have been an ’80s powerhouse female-fronted rock band alongside Pat Benatar, Heart, Quarterflash and Scandal if they’d only been given more airplay. Not to mention, Holly Woods could belt out the rockers with the best of them.
“Girls Night Out” is a really enjoyable product of its time, with some super catchy tunes featuring danceable rock vibes, strong vocals, synthesizers and even electronic drums. Pure ’80s.
Highly Recommended
Tracklist:
1. Girls Night Out
2. All I Need
3. Ready To Make Up
4. Standing In
5. Talk To Me
6. All Night Love Affair
7. When Can I See You Again
8. Don't Give Me the Once Over
9. Those Eyes
10. Who's Your Lover
11. What About Love
Toronto – Girls Night Out (1983) [Solid Gold Records 2004 Remastered]
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