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Edmonton, Alberta native Feehan
perfected his musical skills by writing songs and recording
demos while getting his BA in sociology at the University of
Alberta. Feehan began in bands early on but it wasn't until
1979 when of his college bands, Footloose, started making waves
on the Western dance scene that things began to take off. In
1980 their debut album yielded the hit "Leaving For Maui" which
went Top-10 for several weeks in Canada. The band released several
more singles over 1980 and 1981 with Feehan leaving shortly
thereafter to pursue a solo career.
He continued his tenure as a solo artist with Mustard Records
but it wasn't until 1983's duet with Vikki Moss on "Never Say
Die" that he managed a #1 hit single on Adult Contemporary radio.
He also won the Alberta Recording Association Songwriting competition.
The prize was a recording session with producer David Foster.
In 1984, Feehan recorded a single, "Read Between The Lines"
that was recorded by David Foster with Steve Lukather on guitar
and Fee Waybill doing backing vocals. Feehan then went to Los
Angeles hot on the heals of winning the David Foster Songwriting
Competition for the song "Where's The Fire?". Los Angeles music
types seemed unimpressed, but in 1986 he convinced Scotti Bros.
records his value as a songwriter/performer.
Foster produced Feehan's self-titled debut and then decided
to use him as the lead singer for a the David Foster World Tour
'87 because Peter Cetera was unavailable. The tour included
a 5-date tour Japan where Feehan was mobbed by fans because
his solo videos were being aired on Japanese TV as part of the
promotion of Foster's tour and Scotti Bros. push for Feehan's
solo album.
He moved to LA and soon attracted the attention of producers
of the Charlie Sheen movie 'The Wraith' and they loved his song
"Where's The Fire?" so much it became the title theme of the
movie in 1987.
Meanwhile Feehan continued his own tour opening shows for Larry
Gowan and sang in front of 60,000 people in Vancouver during
a celebration for athlete Rick Hanson.
He did the same for the unveiling of a bronze statue in honour
of Wayne Gretzky in 1989 and sang an original song, "The Memories
Will Last Forever", just for the occasion.
By 1990 he had switched to MCA Records and released 'Full Contact'
with producer Brian "Too Loud" McLeod (Headpins, Chilliwack).
With notes from Terry Medd
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