Kingsville musician reminisces about the 70s music scene

By Mark Ribble

KINGSVILLE — Over 50 years after his music career began, Bill Loop is still actively involved in the local music scene.

His brush with rock and roll stardom takes him all the way back to the 1972 release of Last Song by Edward Bear, a gold record single that put Edward Bear on the map and a song that Bill Loop played the bass guitar on. The song peaked at number 3 on the Billboard Hot 100 in March of 1973, edged out only by Killing Me Softly and Dueling Banjos.

But prior to that, Bill Loop had already been a successful musician.

He began playing guitar as a young boy and — like most young boys interested in music — dreamed of someday being a rock star.

BILL LOOP

Bill joined his first band, the Livin’ Ends, when he was 13 and they played at all of the high school dances and had gigs at concert venues like Surfside 3 in Kingsville, which is now the Lakeside Park Pavilion.

After a short stint with Ken Cullen’s New Sound Company, Bill Loop, Bob Nixon, John Unger and Mike Betts formed The Dorians, who had some moderate success with airplay on CKLW from their album Rock Concerto.

They recorded Rock Concerto at GM Studios in Detroit after being discovered by famed jazz trumpeter Floyd Jones. One of the singles off the album, Help for My Waiting, climbed the local charts on CKLW and Detroit’s WKNR.

The album did very well in Europe but wasn’t able to crack the charts in the U.S.

Loop then joined up with Leamington-based group The New Potatoes as they made their way into Toronto’s music scene around 1970. The New Potatoes consisted of Tim Wynveen, Randy Gulliver, Dennis Deporter, Carl Pemminger and Bill on bass.

The New Potatoes recorded two albums and had their own brush with fame as the backup band for Edward Bear, and Loop stuck with Edward Bear as their bass player until 1974.

The New Potatoes and Edward Bear on tour in 1972, with a stop in Wheatley at the Gulliver home on Talbot East. From left are John Anderson, Randy Gulliver (sitting), Bill Loop on the back of Bob Kendall, Dennis Deporter (on porch), Larry Evoy, Kevin Dawson, Billy (crew), Carl Pemminger, D.J. (crew) and Mr. and Mrs. Gulliver.

Photo courtesy of Bill Loop

When guitarist Roger Ellis left the group in 1974, Edward Bear disbanded and Loop followed Ellis to California where they soaked up the warm westcoast sunshine and delved into the California mid-seventies music scene.

When he returned to this area, Bill joined up with such local musicians as Alexander Zonjic and Funk E. Fred, playing and recording through the years.

He also revisited his love for painting and has produced numerous works of art over the years.

He’s happy to have that other creative outlet.

“It’s a little more freedom,” he says. “Just you and the canvas, without input from anyone else.”

He has sold quite a few of his paintings and finds enjoyment from putting brush to canvas. If you’re interested in any of Bill’s work, look him up on Facebook.

Meanwhile, the local music scene is always calling and Bill Loop is happy to be doing it full time. He’s currently playing with Windsor-based band, the Soulminors.

Of course, the COVID-19 pandemic has slowed the music business down, but Bill says things are starting to look up.

“The pandemic has had a tremendous negative affect on the local and international music scene,” he says. “Many venues are simply not hiring musicians in the way they used to. When it first hit, everything was at a standstill for months and now slowly things are beginning to pick up.”

He and the rest of The Dorians are working on some new material remotely.

He also recently met up with Roger Ellis and they recorded some of Roger’s new material at Larry Evoy’s horse ranch near Toronto. Evoy is the voice of Edward Bear.

While there, Evoy indicated there may be a reunion tour in the works, along with another Canadian group, The Stampeders.

Bill Loop told Evoy, “I’m in,” so time will tell if it materializes.

Wouldn’t that be cool?