It was back in "65, The Beatles, Rolling Stones and Dick Clark Five, amongst so many others that Mike, Tom and Ted began playing together. At that point it was just an accordian, drums and vocals. That became stale in a hurry! "Satisfaction" on a accordian just didn't cut it!!! Time For Guitar!! It wasn't long before the accordian was traded in for the obvious. The search began for expansion! After trying our neighborhood buddies who tried hard to be budding rock'n roll stars, and a few gigs here and there at local CYO's, it still wasn't happening. Names such as "The Fifth Dimension" and "The Chase" were used, although picked later by more influential rock greats! Oh well!!
Then, the summer of '67. A whole new member change occured! Thanks to a drummer recently released by "COPPERPENNY". His name was Gino, R&B was the rage and that suited Mike well. The group consisted of Gino Wojek(drums), Ed Miller(drums), Mike Lehman(vocals), Wayne Dietrich(bass), Bob Becker(keyboards), and Ted Zawadski(guitars). That lasted a number of months before both drummers were replaced and Tom Hishon was back.
Enter Dram Agency and the name "YOUR FAVORITE THING"!!! More and more gigs started coming our way at University pubs, High Schools, and small clubs in the K-W area and beyond. Enter Bill Mononen as an extra guitar player!! The line-up now included Mike Lehman, Tom Hishon, Ted Zawadzki, Wayne Dietrich, Bob Becker, and Bill Mononen. Material began to change, gigs kept getting better and we were getting into the States. Original material began to invade into the repertoire. As rock increasingly became harder,so did we! Again a name change was in order! We wanted to sound more rugged!! Our first choice was "ALASKA",but it was agreed that "YUKON" was a better choice.
Then the most unlikely thing began to happen! We began to back up other rock stars, such as Freddie Cannon, Del Shannon and others. These guys were already legends from the late fifties and early sixties and extremely a ball to be with! If these guys couldn't limber up a guitar players wrist quick, then you weren't to be a guitar player!!! They knew everybody from the "Everly Brothers" to "Elvis"! We especially grew fond of Freddie, and he of us!! He liked our originals and asked if he could take a tape back with him to L.A. We expectantly accepted! Thanks Freddie!!! He hooked us up with a company "Sussex Records" which included Bill Withers" Ain't No Sunshine" and Gallery" It's so Nice To Be With You".
We became the first band out of this area and almost anyone out of Toronto, to be given a chance with an American Label. For the time that was HUGE!!! Our first release was "UNDERSTANDING IS SORROW". A decent first attempt that got us exposure across Canada. It was distributed on the Ampex Label, in Canada(GOLD), and in the States(RED,WHITE,and BLUE), go figure!!
The following releases we're "A MESSAGE",(flip side "SAVE MY WORLD"), "FLYIN MACHINE",(flip side "LADY LUCK") and "ANGEL",("LADY LUCK AGAIN")!!! End of our 4 single contract!!! Our problems became two fold! We couldn't get across Canada to promote our first single, and our Agency couldn't get us, or "COPPERPENNY", or "HOOPLES" there either!!! What a difference that could have made for all of us!!!
The band went on a little bit longer, playing with the likes of "APRIL WINE"(in our youth in Stratford), "CROWBAR" and our favorite "LIGHTHOUSE" a couple of times, "UNIVERSITY of MONTREAL" and the first "ROCKTOBERFEST" ever in Kitchener!!! it was GREAT!!! The band was representing what was being represented on record! Our records were directed very commercial!!~re that mentally!!! We loved "YES", "DEEP PURPLE", "URIAH HEEP", "HUMPLE PIE", "THREE DOG NIGHT",and "THE BAND", And of couse, always "THE BEATLES".
It was an amazing time for all of us! Thank you for visiting our website.