Aquarius Records was founded during the legendary summer of '69. The first president of Aquarius Records was Terry Flood, other founding owners included Donald Tarlton, Bob Lemm, Dan Lazare and Jack Lazare. Originally the label was distributed by London Records of Canada. The label took the '70s rock scene by storm with celebrated Canadian hard rockers April Wine, who would go on to make 12 studio
albums and 3 live albums for Aquarius between 1970-1985, selling millions of records in the process. During that first decade Aquarius also had Montreal’s 'Walter Rossi' and Windsor rock band, 'Teaze' on it's roster. While still involved with London Records, Aquarius released records by 'Mashmakhan', 'Freedom North', 'Ross Holloway', 'Roger Doucet', 'The Rabble' and many others. In 1978 Aquarius Records changed distribution to Capitol-EMI and it was early in this association that April Wine began achieving serious international success. Then came the '80s and along with it arrived a new breed of music. Aquarius hit a nerve when it signed 'Corey Hart', a young Montrealer who would go on to sell millions of albums and chart singles in the Top Ten in both Canada and the US. Other Aquarius signings in the 80's included 'Sass Jordan', 'Mindstorm', 'Sword' and 'Myles Goodwyn' and the label also released albums by 'The Stampeders' and 'The Guess Who'. Not only did the label sign its next bona fide star, 'Sass Jordan', but it was also instrumental in launching the French-Language label Tacca Musique
which had enormous success almost immediately with artists like 'Kevin Parent' and 'France D’Amour'. On the English side, Aquarius released new artists 'Bif Naked', 'Serial Joe' and also licensed records by Canadian stalwarts 'Men Without Hats', 'The Stampeders' as well as with 'Deep Purple'. In its first twenty years Aquarius sold over 5 million records in Canada and artists affiliate with Aquarius sold a about the same in the rest of the world. By the end of the '90s the ownership of Aquarius Records was entirely acquired by Donald Tarlton of Donald K. Donald. Starting in 2000 Aquarius began expansion through the development of new imprints such as DKD Disques ('La Chicane', 'Danni Bedard') and through joint ventures like Last Gang Records (Metric, Crystal Castles, 'Mother Mother', 'Chromeo'), Arts & Crafts International ('Stars', 'Amy Millan'), Indica Records ('Les Trois Accords', 'Dobacaracol', 'Priestess'), Mensa Music ('Adam Gregory'), Moving Units ('Bless Platinumberg'), Plateau Records. The biggest selling new artist on Aquarius during this period was 'Sum 41', all of their albums have gone Platinum in Canada, having sold in excess of 100,000 copies. Two of Sum 41's records, Does This Look Infected? and Chuck, have reached Double Platinum and All Killer, No Filler achieved Triple Platinum status. Sum 41 is without a doubt one of Canada's most commercially successful bands, garnering attention and acclaim worldwide. Later in the 2000's other artists like 'Danko Jones', 'Jeremy Fisher', 'Gob' and 'Mark Berube' also came to the label. It was during this period, that Aquarius began a distribution deal with Unidisc Music. Aquarius' rich catalogue is a reflection of both classic and current independent Canadian talent. The addition of several Canadian musicians, such as Toronto rockers Danko Jones, Vancouver singer-songwriter Jeremy Fisher and hard-rock quartet Brown Brigade, to the label's roster clearly attest to that. The most recent artists to join the Aquarius family include: 'Hollowick', 'Mark Berube', 'The Tanuki Project', 'Golden Isles', 'Bless', up-and-coming Montreal native 'Lindsay Robins' as well as more established artists 'Jeremy Fisher' and 'Danko Jones'. Aquarius takes great pride in the wonderful and innovative talent it has been associated with over the decades. Here's to many more decades of great music! Artists associated with Aquarius Records:
All Systems Go! April Wine
(The) Awesome Collective
Bobby Azoff
Bif Naked
Bronze
Brown Brigade
Gordie Brose
Cheeque
Corey Hart
Crescent Street Stompers
Crowned King
Deep Purple[citation needed]
Rich Dodson
Roger Doucet
The Dysfunctions
Eleven Thirty (11:30)
Evermore
Fat Man Waving
The Flyers
Freedom North
FUBAR (soundtrack)
Lewis Furey
Fussy Cussy
Gob
Goldenhorse
Good Shirt
Myles Goodwyn
Adam Gregory (Mensa)
The Guess Who
Francois Guy
Helix
Ross Holloway
Hot Springs
Hollowick
Hurricane Jane
Jade (Good Fences)
James, John & Francois
Jeremy Fisher
Jerry Jerry and the Sons of Rhythm Orchestra
Debbie Johnson
Danko Jones
Jorane
Sass Jordan
Keepin’ ‘em off the Street
Paul Leroux
Lindy
Liquid
Marble Hall
Mashmakhan
McAuley
John McDonald
Memphis (Good Fences)
Micro Maureen
Amy Millan (ACI)
Modern Man[disambiguation needed]
Monkey House
Moonquake
Morse Code
Allan Nicholls
The Operation M.D. Michel Pagliaro
Pepper Tree
Pigeon-Hole
Pops Merrily
Peter Pringle
Jodie Resther
Chad Richardson
Hollowick (formerly Rides Again)
Lindsay Robins
Johnny Rodgers
Walter Rossi
Rubberman
Saints and Sinners
Stevie Salas
Serial Joe
Sharp Edges
Silver
The Slip
Soma
Spek
The Stampeders
Stars (ACI)
Judi St. James
Sword
Sum 41
The Tanuki Project
Tchukon
Teaze
Vann
Whindig
Winston
