Music community mourning death of beloved Vancouver rock critic
Vancouver music critic Tom Harrison spent a lifetime covering some of the world's biggest rock stars at sold-out stadiums, but it was the hometown acts trying to make a name for themselves in venues like The Town Pump and The Commodore Ballroom that truly fuelled his passion for music.
“As it turns out, I think I came along at the right time,” Harrison said in the 2010 punk documentary “Bloodied but Unbowed.”
Harrison died suddenly on Christmas Day at age 70 – but not before leaving an indelible mark on Vancouver’s music industry.
"He made sure that up and coming local acts, and even more established ones, got their mention in the paper,” said friend Jim Davidson, who worked with Harrison at The Province newspaper.
Harrison covered music for the publication for 37 years, and over that time some of the young musicians he wrote about would go on to become international superstars.
Those acts include Loverboy, Sarah McLachlan and Bryan Adams.
"Tom was from Vancouver and was one of the very first critics and supporters of my work at @theprovince back when I was starting out,” Adams wrote on Twitter.
Along the way, Harrison became close with some of the musicians he covered, including Trooper singer Ra McGuire, who also left a tribute on Twitter.
“RIP Tom. Gonna Miss you,” he wrote.
Fittingly, Rob Frith, owner of Neptune Records, first met Harrison by chance as the pair flipped through crates at a different record shop in the 1970’s.
"When I eventually opened a store, he would come in and we'd always talk music,” said Frith. “And eventually we became friends where we would go to lunch and dinner and go to shows together."
He fondly recalls that one of those shows at BC Place featured an epic lineup that included Van Morrison, Joni Mitchell and Bob Dylan – but says he will always remember his dear friend as a champion of local musicians.
"He had a big heart and he really did help the music scene in Vancouver a lot,” Frith said.
In 2009, in honour of his lifetime of dedication to the music business, Harrison was inducted into the B.C. Entertainment Hall of Fame.
"The music scene was starting to grow and starting to change,” he said in 2010 about his storied career. “And lo and behold, I was right there with it and so as it grew, I grew."
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Quebec nurse had to clean up after husband's death in Montreal hospital
On a night she should have been mourning, a nurse from Quebec's Laurentians region says she was forced to clean up her husband after he died at a hospital in Montreal.
Northern Ont. lawyer who abandoned clients in child protection cases disbarred
A North Bay, Ont., lawyer who abandoned 15 clients – many of them child protection cases – has lost his licence to practise law.
Bank of Canada officials split on when to start cutting interest rates
Members of the Bank of Canada's governing council were split on how long the central bank should wait before it starts cutting interest rates when they met earlier this month.
Maple Leafs fall to Bruins in Game 3, trail series 2-1
Brad Marchand scored twice, including the winner in the third period, and added an assist as the Boston Bruins downed the Toronto Maple Leafs 4-2 to take a 2-1 lead in their first-round playoff series Wednesday
Cuban government apologizes to Montreal-area family after delivering wrong body
Cuba's foreign affairs minister has apologized to a Montreal-area family after they were sent the wrong body following the death of a loved one.
'It was instant karma': Viral video captures failed theft attempt in Nanaimo, B.C.
Mounties in Nanaimo, B.C., say two late-night revellers are lucky their allegedly drunken antics weren't reported to police after security cameras captured the men trying to steal a heavy sign from a downtown business.
What is changing about Canada's capital gains tax and how does it impact me?
The federal government's proposed change to capital gains taxation is expected to increase taxes on investments and mainly affect wealthy Canadians and businesses. Here's what you need to know about the move.
New Indigenous loan guarantee program a 'really big deal,' Freeland says at Toronto conference
Canada's Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland was among the 1,700 delegates attending the two-day First Nations Major Projects Coalition (FNMPC) conference that concluded Tuesday in Toronto.
'Life was not fair to him': Daughter of N.B. man exonerated of murder remembers him as a kind soul
The daughter of a New Brunswick man recently exonerated from murder, is remembering her father as somebody who, despite a wrongful conviction, never became bitter or angry.