The 500-seat Imperial Room is a major events venue at the Royal York Hotel in Toronto , Ontario , Canada. The hall is located on the lobby level of the hotel and has hosted major events, such as addresses to the Empire Club of Canada , but was more important historically a famous nightclub-dinner club.
24-669: It became famous due to Canadian impresario and orchestra leader, Moxie Whitney. The Moxie Whitney Orchestra played in the Imperial Room continuously from 1948 to 1972, with the exception of 12 months during a Royal York Hotel strike, in 1960/61, when he and his orchestra played the Royal Hawaiian Hotel in Honolulu. Moxie Whitney also booked all talent for Canadian Pacific Hotels during most of that period. Welsh bandleader and pianist Allan Singleton-Wood , who had in
48-549: A London University Matriculation. He studied law at London University but discontinued an LLB degree to become a professional musician. Singleton-Wood, who used the stage name Allan Wood, was a professional pianist, bandleader, and composer when, in 1960, he was named music director of the BBC Welsh Dance Orchestra, broadcasting on the BBC Radio Wales series "Swing For Your Supper" and then on
72-562: A famous Vegas producer, along with Broadway-style musicals, and attendance declined. Eventually the Imperial Room closed as a showroom, and today it is used for functions and has been restored to its former glory. Prior to renovations in the 1990s, and from its opening date, the Imperial Room was a famous nightclub in Canada. Situated on a north-south axis, visitors were welcomed into the room by showbusiness maitre'd Louis Jannetta , famous for refusing Bob Dylan entrance because he wasn't wearing
96-561: A member of all-girl singing trio the Lana Sisters , joined her brother Dion O'Brien and Tim Feild, who had been working as a duo, the Kensington Squares. Dion became Tom Springfield, and Mary became Dusty Springfield. Tom Springfield was a songwriter and arranger with a wide knowledge of folk music and the group had strong vocal harmonies as well as Dusty's powerful lead. Occupying a musical sphere comparable with that of
120-423: A tie; and booking agent, Gino Empry , manager of Tony Bennett for 12 years. Descending a small flight of stairs into a large rectangular sunken area, round tables were waited upon by dozens of waiters and serving staff. Behind brass rails tables viewed the shows. An overly small rectangular stage to the north, with scarce elevation, hosted the grandest international and Hollywood stars, as well as big bands before
144-633: A tiny pine-wood dancefloor. Famous legendary performances by popular entertainers included: Marlene Dietrich on her farewell tour, the last performances of Johnny Hodges with the Duke Ellington Orchestra... Count Basie , Woody Herman , Pearl Bailey , Eartha Kitt , Peggy Lee and Ella Fitzgerald , and the first appearances doing comedic impressions in 1982 of future Canadian star, Jim Carrey . The circuit of grand nightclubs in Canada also included those at railway hotels such as: Chateau Lake Louise, Hotel Saskatchewan, Banff Springs,
168-694: The BBC Welsh Dance Orchestra, the featured orchestra on the BBC national television series "Swing High." In 1965, he started a second career in publishing, eventually becoming publisher of a number of Canadian national newspapers and magazines, including the Financial Post , Canadian Business , and Small Business . Singleton-Wood was born in Newport, Monmouthshire , Wales. He attended St. Julian's High School, where he graduated with
192-627: The Financial Post , Canadian Business , and Small Business . He was appointed Senior Corporate Publisher for Rogers Business Publishing in 1991, a position he kept until his retirement in 1994. Singleton-Wood was founder in 1995 of the Canadian Information Productivity Awards (CIPA), which, during its run from 1995 to 2007, became the preeminent information technology awards show in the world. Singleton-Wood came out of retirement in 1995 to take over
216-734: The Ken Mackintosh Orchestra in a tour of Scotland . In 1968, Singleton-Wood moved to Canada and joined Moxie Whitney's orchestra at the Imperial Room at the Royal York Hotel , Toronto . On Whitney's retirement in 1971, Singleton-Wood took over the contract for the provision of music at the Hotel including the Black Knight and Imperial Rooms. The Allan Singleton-Wood Orchestra, meanwhile, became one of
240-605: The UK Singles Chart , where it remained for 26 weeks. It peaked at No. 5 in its 16th week on the chart, in early April 1963, five weeks before the Springfields' follow-up hit "Say I Won't Be There" would also peak at No. 5. By this time, the Springfields were one of the most popular groups in the UK. The group had several chart hits and had recorded several foreign language records. However, Dusty Springfield felt limited by
264-726: The Brant Inn in Burlington, Ont., the Savarin Tavern, and the Elmwood Casino in Windsor Ontario. The Imperial Room was always seen as the premiere of these. 43°38′45″N 79°22′55″W / 43.64593°N 79.38184°W / 43.64593; -79.38184 Allan Singleton-Wood Allan Singleton-Wood (born February 13, 1933) is a Canadian former professional pianist and music director of
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#1732786776247288-621: The Congress of Traditional Anglicans. He is co-founder of the Traditional Anglican Church of Canada. The Springfields The Springfields were a British folk-pop vocal trio who had success in the early 1960s in the UK, Australia, US and Ireland. They included singer Dusty Springfield and her brother, songwriter Tom Springfield , along with Tim Feild , who was later replaced by Mike Hurst . The trio formed in 1960, when Mary "Dusty" O'Brien, who had been
312-567: The Oscar-nominated " Georgy Girl ", which he wrote with actor-singer Jim Dale and which hit big on both sides of the Atlantic. Mike Hurst found himself at a loose end after the breakup, but was not surprised by it: "I always recognised Dusty's power on stage. It was obvious to me she was destined for greater things. She was an iconic figure even then." Hurst achieved success as a producer, working with Marc Bolan and Cat Stevens . In
336-500: The best-known dance orchestras in Canada. In the 1970s, while continuing to lead the Allan Singleton-Wood Orchestra and booking other musical acts at the Royal York Hotel, Singleton-Wood pursued a second career, in publishing. In 1971, he became research director of the Financial Post . In 1973, he was appointed general manager of Maclean-Hunter's Media Research Evaluation Group, overseeing research for
360-482: The contemporary Peter, Paul and Mary , they were signed to Philips Records in London by producer Johnny Franz . In 1961, they released their first single, "Dear John" which failed to chart. They achieved UK success with the two follow-up releases, "Breakaway" (No. 31) and their Christmas hit "Bambino" (No. 16), also produced by Franz. With the success of "Breakaway" and "Bambino" and numerous television appearances,
384-493: The early 1970s, he teamed up with former Seeker Keith Potger to launch Springfield Revival , a more contemporary version of the Springfields. The line-up consisted of Australian singer-songwriter Mick Flinn (vocals, guitar, kazoo), formerly of the Mixtures , plus two Britons: Donna Jones (vocals), from Manchester, and former stage musical actor Ray Hoskins, alias Ray Martin (vocals, guitar), from London. This group supported
408-673: The group's folk act and Tom's lead role within the trio, and she decided to leave for a solo career. She and Tom announced that the group was to be disbanded on the TV variety show Sunday Night at the London Palladium in October 1963. Tom Springfield subsequently wrote a number of songs for Australian pop-folk band the Seekers , including the two UK number-one hits " I'll Never Find Another You " and " The Carnival Is Over ", as well as
432-416: The late 1960s moved to Canada and joined Whitney’s orchestra, took over in 1971 the contract for the provision of music at the hotel including the Black Knight and Imperial Rooms. In the following years, the Allan Singleton-Wood Orchestra would become one of the best-known dance orchestras in Canada. Gino Empry took over the booking of acts in the room in 1972. Vegas style shows were brought in by Tibor Rudas,
456-481: The national BBC TV series "Swing High." This was the last big band series ever to appear on BBC TV. Singleton-Wood also composed songs for the orchestra, including its signature tune, "Swing High." As Music Director of the BBC Welsh Dance Orchestra, Singleton-Wood gave The Springfields vocal group featuring Dusty Springfield its first radio broadcast in Wales. In 1963, he was pianist for Shirley Bassey with
480-596: The position of president and CEO of the award show's parent company, CIPA Ltd., owned by Rogers Communications Inc. and Ernst and Young . Singleton-Wood retired again, at the age of 71, in 2004. Since his retirement, he has held a number of positions in Victoria, including communications director for the Conservative Party and public relations director for the Rotary Club . In 2011, he was Chairman of
504-423: The publications Maclean's , Chatelaine , Flare , and the Financial Post . In this capacity he pioneered the development of the first media computer evaluation program in Canada, which gave birth to the national Print Measurement Bureau . In 1978, he became Director of Advertising Sales for the Financial Post . Beginning in 1988, he became publisher of a number of national newspapers and magazines, including
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#1732786776247528-512: The trio quickly became very popular in the UK. In 1961, they starred in their own 15-minute music TV series on the BBC , The Springfields . In late 1961, Feild's wife fell ill, and he left the group to look after her. Following an audition at Quaglino's restaurant in London in February 1962, Mike Hurst was taken on to replace him. Hurst later reflected on the dynamics within the group: "We worked incredibly hard, rehearsing constantly. Dusty
552-480: Was the creative force and Tom had the business skills and wrote great songs. ...Tom sorted out with the manager what gigs we would do but it was Dusty who worked on the performance." She made the three of them stand in front of a mirror for hours with herself in the middle, rehearsing every on-stage move. "Everything was worked out to the nth degree." In September 1962, their version of " Silver Threads and Golden Needles " reached No. 20 on Billboard 's Hot 100 . It
576-813: Was the first single by a British group to reach the top 20 of the Hot 100, predating the Tornados ' number one " Telstar " by two months (and the Beatles ' US chart entry by 16 months). The record peaked at No. 23 on the Cash Box chart and reached number one in Australia. It featured lead guitar by Judd Proctor . "Silver Threads and Golden Needles" sold more than one million copies and was RIAA -certified gold . In December 1962, Tom's composition " Island of Dreams ", his first recording made with Mike Hurst, debuted on
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