April Wine--Just Between You and Me (1981)

     Listening to this song, I'm wondering where the genesis of the"power ballad" developed? From about this period until the early 90's, many a hard rock band grasped at the golden ring (i.e. hit single) for a nice payday while attempting to keeping their fans by rocking out on albums. Hair metal band made this into a bit of an art form in the late 80's. Of course, there was a danger in doing this as many a group found themselves typecast and would eventually lose fan base attempting that trick.

       April Wine was smart (or lucky) in the fact that their base had long been established in Canada, with some varied success in the US since 1971. "Just Between You and Me" is a great song by the way (I do have a thing for power ballads despite of what you read above) and was their biggest single in the states. The US popularity was short lived, but they still continue to record and tour. April Wine along with Rush are Canada's most popular hard rock export.