#17: Spaceship Superstar by Prism

City: London, ON
Radio Station: CJBK
Peak Month: December 1977
Peak Position in London ~ #6
Peak position in Vancouver ~ did not chart
Peak Position on Billboard Hot 100 ~ did not chart
YouTube: “Spaceship Superstar”
Lyrics: “Spaceship Superstar”

In 1967 a new rock group appeared on the Vancouver scene called the Seeds of Time. They had several local hits including “My Home Town” and “Crying The Blues”. There were a number of lineup changes, but the bands personnel included drummer Rocket Norton, guitarist Lindsay Mitchell, and bassist Al Harlow. These three reunited after the Seeds of Time disbanded in 1974. After a brief stint as an R&B band called Sunshyne, they became Prism under Lindsay Mitchell’s initiative. In the band were new singer Ron Tabak, bassist Tom Lavin, keyboard player John Hall and drummer Rodney Higgs. Higgs was actually a pseudonym for Jim Vallance, the future songwriting partner of Bryan Adams.

The debut single release in 1977 was “Spaceship Superstar”.

“Spaceship Superstar” was written by Prism bandmate Rodney Higgs (aka Jim Vallance). The song offers up a metaphor for being a guitar player in a rock ‘n roll band with a tour of one-night-stands. “I’m a spaceship superstar, got a solar-powered laser-beam guitar”, he brags. Each concert date in a new town, new venue, is like a trip to a new planet: think Mars, Mercury or Venus.

“Spaceship Superstar” peaked at #5 in Ottawa, #6 in London (ON), #7 in Hamilton (ON), and #15 in Toronto and Sydney (NS).

The band released a self-titled album in 1977 that included two local singles “Take Me To The Kaptin” and “It’s Over”.

As their line-up changed, their second studio album included ex-Seeds of Time drummer Rocket Norton, bassist Al Harlow and guitarist Lindsay Mitchell. “Take Me Away” was the first of two singles released on the band’s second studio album, See Forever Eyes. The second single, “Flyin’”, was the more commercially successful release peaking at #53 on the Billboard Hot 100. The album was produced by Vancouverite Bruce Fairburn who went on to produce successful albums by Loverboy, Strange Advance, Bon Jovi, Aerosmith, Poison, AC/DC, Chicago, Van Halen, Yes, KISS and other recording artists. Fairburn would produce Prism’s first four studio albums.

On Prism’s next album, Armageddon, had the title track climbed to #7 in Vancouver, and #23 on the RPM Canadian Top 100 singles chart.

Local singer-songwriter, Bryan Adams, wrote (or co-wrote) three tracks on the album: “Jealousy”, “You Walked Away Again” and “Take It Or Leave It”. Another hit off the Armageddon album was a song titled “Night To Remember”. In 1980, Prism had another Top Ten hit in Vancouver with “Young And Restless”, which peaked at #9 on CFUN in July of the year.

After “Young And Restless”, Bryan Adams cowrote two songs for Prism’s fifth studio album, Small Change. The album featured their hit singles “Don’t Let Him Know” and “Turn On Your Radar”. The former song climbed to #39 on the Billboard Hot 100, their best chart run south of the border to date. “Turn On Your Radar” climbed to #64 on the Hot 100. The song didn’t chart well across Canada and missed cracking the Canadian RPM Top 100 singles chart. But in Vancouver the song climbed to #11.

Ron Tabak, Prism’s lead vocalist would later die at the age of 31 in a cycling accident on Kingsway. He was hit by a motor vehicle on his way to bandmate Al Harlow’s home for dinner in Kitsilano, on the west side of Vancouver, Christmas Eve, 1984.

The band had a reunion concert in 1987 and included local musician, Paul Janz, offering back-up vocals. In 1993 the band released their first album in ten years, Jericho, that included vocals from Paul Janz and Bryan Adams. A number of studio and compilation albums have been released as well as numerous changes in the band’s lineup.

In 2010 Al Harlow had an interview with musiclegends.ca to discuss Prism being on tour with Doug and the Slugs in Nova Scotia. Harlow reported that Prism had more recently been playing about 50 concerts a year. At the time, Prism was continuing to tour promoting their 2008 album Big Black Sky.

On May 22, 2015 a “Local Legends of Rock” concert featuring Ab Bryant, John Hall, Al Harlow, and Rocket Norton, was held in Lynn Valley, North Vancouver. It was billed as a “Prism / Jet / Seeds of Time Reunion Concert.” At the concert Al Harlow said, “Here’s a disclaimer; this isn’t the reunion of any one band, but it might be the reunion of 3 or 4 bands.” Sunshyne would have been the fourth band implicit in the reunion given Prism’s roots.

February 26, 2025
Ray McGinnis

References:
Xavier Diaz, Al Harlow and Lindsay Mitchell, Prism, Canadian Bands.com
Prism – bios, Prism.ca.
“Tragic Story of Ron Tabak,” Tofinophotography.com.
Jason Saulnier, “Prism Interview – Guitarist Al Harlow talks Touring with the Band,” musiclegends.ca, August 6, 2010.

CJBK 1290-AM London (ON) Top Ten | December 22, 1977