Monday, April 21 will mark the 40th anniversary of a popular rock and roll concert held in Leamington featuring platinum-selling Canadian glam rock band Honeymoon Suite.
Sunday, April 21, 1985 was the show’s date at the former Roller Alley (soon-to-become the Portuguese Community Club) and due to fire regulations, the pre-sold 1,500 tickets presented a problem for organizer Jim Cauchon, so he and the organizing committee met with Honeymoon Suite’s representatives and the band agreed to do two shows in one day — one at 4 pm and one at 8 pm.
Cauchon — who was a DJ at the time at CHYR radio under the stage name Jeff Parker — organized the concert with his wife Denise, brother-in-law Gilbert Michaud and several members of the family. His employer — CHYR — jumped in as a supporting sponsor and tickets were sold at outlets throughout Windsor-Essex.
Tickets were $9 in advance and anyone who bought their tickets by April 15 was entered into a grand prize draw to receive a limo ride to the show and meet the band.
The band was just taking off and their new single ‘New Girl Now’ was getting major airplay on Detroit radio stations.
“It was the dawning of the music video era and their famous bed of nails album cover was huge for anyone born around 1970,” says Cauchon.
Cauchon also recalls some controversial happenings surrounding the show.
“It was originally scheduled to be one show with 1,500 tickets sold, but Leamington/Mersea police and fire department imposed fire code regulations, forcing us into two shows with a 932-person capacity,” Cauchon remembers. “Despite a late ‘burning the midnight oil meeting’ between us and the new Portuguese Club owners, they wouldn’t budge.”
Cauchon said that Leamington police pulled their support for security and they were able to get six OPP officers to come in on short notice.
“The band’s management was more than glad to do two shows,” he says. “They’d done it several times. But the cost more than doubled.”
With two shows instead of one, any profits they hoped to realize went down the drain.
“It cost us all our profits, but it went great,” he adds.
Cauchon says the sight of 932 teenagers lined up and snaking into the venue was a sight to behold, especially in the 85-degree heat.
“It looked like Cobo Hall in there,” he says.
The Hitmen opened the show to a raucous crowd and the eight French-Canadian teenage farm workers hired in from Highline Produce to provide front-of-stage security were delighted to be entrusted to hold off the crowd of screaming teenage girls.
“They thanked me after,” he laughed.
Cauchon says they had one major problem once they decided on two shows. They were faced with the dilemma of contacting the ticket buyers to split them up — and this was years before cell phones or social media.
“We were real fortunate, because we had collected about 1,250 phone numbers through the grand prize draw,” he said. “My very patient wife and in-laws called 932 kids Friday night from the CHYR phone banks and told them all that showtime was moved to 4 pm.”
The grand prize winner was Chris (Tiesler) Youssef, who won a limo ride and a chance to meet the band backstage.
She and her future husband Joe had a memorable time.“My dad entered the contest and won it for me,” she says. “It was a lot of fun, a great concert and we were in the front row.”
She says it was topped off with an opportunity to meet the band backstage.
“How do I put it?”, she says. “They were crazy and a lot of fun.”
Lisa (Frayne) Scratch also remembers that day very well. It was her first concert ever and she and six of her friends were lucky enough to have limousine transportation to the concert too.
“I was the babysitter for John Moran, who was a great friend of my dad,” she told the Sun last week. “He rented the limo for my friends and I to ride in.”
“The limo toured us around town,” she said. “When we pulled up to the front doors, everybody thought we were Honeymoon Suite and they rushed the car, looking in the windows. It was really cool!”
As for Jim Cauchon , he left Leamington later that summer, moving into talk radio as that phenomenon took off in the Toronto area.
His memories of April 1985 are still vivd though and he’s quick to come up with a story or two. He retired in 2016 and now lives in Scarborough. But his good memories of our area remain.
“Lou Tomasi was a father figure for us,” he says. “That CHYR family holds a special place in my memories.”
Jim Cauchon — aka Jeff Parker — on the air at CHYR in Leamington during his tenure here from 1979-85.
Photo courtesy of Jim Cauchon
The famous album cover from Honeymoon Suite’s debut album featuring the bed of nails.
Photo courtesy of Jim Cauchon
One of the original tickets to the concert. Note that the time had been changed to 4 pm by marker. Fire and police officials deemed the venue too small to hold all 1,500 ticket holders, so they split into two (4 pm and 7 pm) concerts.
Photo courtesy of Jim Cauchon
Lisa (Frayne) Scratch, right, with her six friends as they get ready to see Honeymoon Suite. From left are Jenn (Dutot) Renaud, Deana (Cherneski) Voakes, Carla King, Judy (Goerzen) Ferrari, Tammy (Allain) Pasek and Shelley Lane.
Photo courtesy of Lisa Scratch
A shot of Honeymoon Suite performing on April 21, 1985 at the Portuguese Club in Leamington. Local photgrapher Judy Tiessen was asked to photograph the concert through CHYR radio. Honeymoon Suite returned to the area occasionally, with the last time being the 2023 Hogs for Hospice concert.
Judy Tiessen photo
Chris Tiesler and her then-fiance Joe Youssef jump into their limousine ride as part of Chris’s grand prize on April 21, 1985.
Photo courtesy of
Chris (Tiesler) Youssef
