#53: Deep Cuts The Knife by Helix

City: Saskatoon, SK
Radio Station: CKOM
Peak Month: August 1985
Peak Position in Saskatoon ~ #12
Peak Position in Vancouver ~ did not chart
Peak Position on Billboard Hot 100 ~ did not chart
YouTube: “Deep Cuts The Knife”
Lyrics: “Deep Cuts The Knife”

Helix was a heavy metal band formed in Kitchener, Ontario, in 1974. The classic lineup for the band included Brent Doerner and Paul Hackman on guitar, Daryl Gray on bass guitar, Greg “Fritz” Hinz on drums, and Brian Vollmer the lead singer. Vollmer was born in 1955 in Listowel, Ontario. Hackman was born in 1953 in St. Thomas, Ontario. He played in two local bands, Whitehorse and Purple Wedge, and joined Helix in 1976 when there was a lineup change. The band was formed to enter a Battle of the Bands in Kitchener in 1974. At first they were named the Helix Field Band, and later shortened to Helix. A helix is a shape like a cylindrical coil spring, or the thread of a machine screw. Helix released their debut album, Breaking Loose, in 1979. The band released In 1984, they released their fourth studio album titled Walkin’ the Razor’s Edge. A track from the album, “Rock You”, reached the Top 30 on the Canadian RPM Top 100 Singles chart in 1984.  

Another track from the album included a cover of the 1969 hit by Crazy Elephant titled “Gimmie, Gimmie Good Lovin'”. The band also released a music video parody of the Miss Universe Pageant titled “Miss Rock Fantasy” Pageant. It included female porn stars, and a topless 16-year-old Traci Lords as “Miss Georgia” in the video. (Lords had entered the sex industry at the age of 15 with fake identity documents and was the centerfold for Penthouse magazine in September 1984). A censored version of the music video with women with their tops on appeared on MTV.

In 1985, the band released their fifth studio album titled Long Way to Heaven. A track from the album, “Deep Cuts The Knife”, became their second charting single on the RPM Top 100 Singles chart in Canada.

The song was cowritten by Paul Hackman and Bob Halligan Jr.. Robert Halligan Jr. was born in 1953 in Syracuse, New York. He has written songs for Judas Priest, Blue Oyster Cult, metal queen Lee Aaron, Joan Jett and the Blackhearts, Michael Bolton, Cher, Rik Emmett, KISS, Night Ranger, Humble Pie, and others. In 1995, Halligan Jr. founded the Celtic-Christian rock group Ceili Rain. They have released ten albums, with their most recent in 2023 titled Crash this Gate.

The title, “Deep Cuts The Knife”, refers to the pain a guy feels now that a relationship is over. He is haunted by memories of her: “lately, I see your face in everything I do.” It’s clear that she left him: “I can’t pretend that I don’t need you back again. Did you love me? Did you need me? Well alright, but what’s so wrong?”

“Deep Cuts The Knife” reached #12 in Saskatoon (SK), and #19 in Montreal.

Later in 1985, “The Kids Are All Shakin'” reached #75 on the RPM Top 100 Singles in Canada. The classic lineup with Brian Vollmer, Brent Doerner, Paul Hackman, Daryl Gray and Fritz Hinz continued recorded five studio albums between 1984 and 1989. Brent Doerner left the band in 1989. They added Danny Balicki on guitar in 1990. In 1990, “The Storm” stalled at #74 on the RPM Top 100 Singles chart. However, “Good To The Last Drop” climbed to #27 on the RPM Top 100 Singles chart matching the chart success of “Rock You” in 1984.

On July 5, 1992, following a concert in Vancouver, the band’s van veered off and rolled down a 40-foot embankment on the Coquihalla Highway near the town of Merrit. Paul Hackman was asleep in a seat behind the driver. He was thrown from the vehicle and died upon being taken to a hospital in the nearby city of Kamloops. He was 38 years old. At that point Danny Balicki left the band. He was replaced by Brent Doerner and Greg Fraser replaced Paul Hackman. That lineup remained until the summer of 1993 when Doerner left the band again. The core group of Vollmer, Gray, Hinz and Fraser remained through 1996, with part-time musicians added for their tours.

Brian Vollmer and Daryl Gray remain with the current lineup of Helix in 2026. Over the decades there have been forty different bandmates in various lineups with Helix.

May 22, 2026
Ray McGinnis

References:
Sue Sadzak Hebert, “Helix: An Interview with Brian Vollmer,” Music Life Magazine, March 2, 2015.
Paul Hackman R.I.P., “Tour accident: July 5, 1992, Coquihalla Highway,” YouTube.com.

Rockin’ The Universe ! CKOM 650-AM Saskatoon (SK) | August 30, 1985