Hellfield

The Canadian pop/rock group Hellfield formed in 1977. The driving force behind its creation was lead singer Mitchell Field, who performed under the name Mitch Hellfield. Other original members were guitarist Dave Hovey, keyboardist Rick Lamb, bassist Jamie Larsen, and drummer Steve Coombs. Over the five years that the band survived, Hovey and Coombs were dropped, being replaced by drummer Billy Smith and guitarist Paul Royes. Two other drummers also served time in the lineup, Rob Blacker and Charlie Mitchell. Hellfield managed to complete two albums before splitting up in 1982. Hellfield was born out of necessity when Mitch Hellfield did a pitch to CBS Records only to be informed that they weren't interested in a solo act right then. Unwilling to give up, Mitch simply went about putting together a band and named it Hellfield. The effort paid off, and soon the new group had a two-album contract and was working with producer Bob Gallo. The resulting self-titled debut album was released in 1978 under the Epic label. A few of the tracks from that first offering include "All Night Party," "Magic Mistress," "No Son of Mine," and probably the best-remembered and most popular tunes from the recording, "Tell Me Are You Listening" and "Too Long." In 1979, a second album, Night Music, hit the market. The sophomore album received numerous positive reviews, but had little support from CBS, since it was going through major lineup changes of its own. In one unkind sweep, Hellfield lost both of the producers they had been working with. It wasn't a big surprise when the group's contract wasn't extended afterwards, even though the members of Hellfield had performed heavily through Canada, and even changed its sound from pop/rock to hard in an effort to hold its footing in the music world. Without a label behind the band, they struggled for a couple more years before giving up in 1982. Many of the members moved on to other groups, like Play Doctor, the Mustangs, and Desperado. ~ Charlotte Dillon