Ron Haywood and Stripes bring the funk–and a Vegas-style showband vibe–to Vancouver

ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED ON MARCH 9, 1984

By Steve Newton

What do you get when you combine a singer from Nashville, a saxman from New Orleans, a drummer from Montreal, a bassist from Comox, and a guitarist and keyboardist from San Francisco?

Well, in the case of Ron Haywood and Stripes, you get a tight and funky showband that looks and sounds as smooth as silk.

Tennessee-born Haywood is the voice of Stripes, a band he put together after his previous group, Freshwood, broke up. That band had developed quite a following around town since coming to Vancouver in 1977, and had done a three-month tour of Germany, Switzerland, and Norway before disbanding. (Henry Brown, leader of the Fame Game-winning H.B. Concept, was also a member of Freshwood.)

Although the musicians have changed, Haywood’s current band is similar to Freshwood in that it is a “showband”–a group that tries to entertain visually as well as aurally. While the players move in syncopation to the groove of today’s most popular R&B-flavoured tunes, Haywood twirls and gestures soulfully, becoming a focus for the audience.

“I worked Vegas for about a year,” he says, “and also worked Reno and Tahoe and Harrah’s. And basically for that lounge format you have to be visual because there’s no dancing. I guess a lot of what I do comes from working in that area.

“And I think the people enjoy it more. They can watch and listen. It gives them a lot more to take in.”

Local crowds have packed such venues as the Savoy and Richard’s on Richards to take in Stripes, and the band has also played at the Bombay Bicycle Club and the Coachhouse. The response to the band is good and getting better, and Haywood feels that current musical trends have helped make Vancouver more receptive to Black music.

“At one time I used to think it was just basically rock and roll, but now the industry has developed a lot of other stars like Michael Jackson and Lionel Richie. The music that’s been playing on the radio now, like Michael McDonald and James Ingram, it has style now–that Motown, R&B feel. Even Boy George’s tune had that Motown feel.

“The public is accepting a lot of other kinds of music, and now I think Vancouver is a good place to be for Black artists. I like the scene here.”

As well as living in Las Vegas and Nashville, Haywood spent a couple of years in Hawaii, and opened for Kool & the Gang here when they were on their way to the Far East. And the keyboard player in Stripes, Kenny Wayne, has backed up Billy Preston and Sylvester.

The other members of the band are guitarist Clifford Dunn, bassist Alan Slater, drummer Richard Gittens, and saxman J.T. Platt. They were all present when Stripes performed in the wee hours of the morning on the Variety Club Telethon, which Haywood himself cohosted afterwards He’d also worked on the telethon the year before, doing a duet with Cécile Frenette.

“I was pretty involved with it last year,” says the charitable singer, “and I kind of feel that I’ll be into it from here on. I’m hooked now.”

Ron Haywood and Stripes will be at the Savoy this weekend, and Nite Lites (formerly the Rock Palace) next week.

To read over 100 of my other interviews with local Vancouver musicians since 1983, go here.