Bill Amesbury

b: 1948 in Toronto as William Amesbury. Born in Toronto, Amesbury first emerged as a singer songwriter in several unsuccessful area bands before landing a deal with Columbia Records in 1968 as a member of The Five Shy. After two low-charting singles the band split. Amesbury quickly landed a solo deal in the early '70s on the Yorkville label where he had a hit a with novelty song called "Frogman Bradley". As the first signing to Neil Bogart's Casablanca Records in the US (and on Warner Music in Canada), Amesbury set about recording his debut album 'Jus'a Taste Of The Kid' with Mel O'Brien (bass) and Wally Cameron (drums). The lead-off single was a moderate radio-friendly tune called "I Won't Let No One Get That Close To Me" in 1974. Though this first single failed to hit pay dirt, the self-penned follow-up, "Virginia (Touch Me Like You Do)", scored a Top-10 hit in Canada and has gone on to be a classic AM staple on radio to this day. In 1976 Amesbury moved on to Capitol Records for his sophomore release, 'Can You Feel It', which was recorded at Phase One Studios and utilized a cast of seasoned studio players like Barry Keene, Doug Riley, Shawne Jackson, Colina Philips, and Wally Cameron among others. The album's title track spawned a minor Top-40 hit in Canada in 1977. His biggest success came through England with singles released on the Power Exchange Records label in the UK like "Every Girl In The World, Tonight", "Saturday Night (I'll Be Waiting)" and "I Remember" throughout 1976-1977. By the 1980's Amesbury's song began to get discovered by other artists including Natalie Cole ("Nothin' But A Fool"), and Mitch Ryder ("A Thrill's A Thrill") among others. He soon quit the music business and is currently a social activist. In November 1999 "Virginia (Touch Me Like You Do)" was awarded a SOCAN "Classics" designation for having reached 100,000 airplays on Canadian radio.