Biography
Kenny Shields, best known as 'the voice' of Canadian band Streetheart released its first album, Meanwhile Back in Paris, in 1978, which included the hit Action. Mandshein says it's "one for the ages."
"Meanwhile Back in Paris was the best debut record I'd ever heard," Mandshein says. "Action sounds as good today as it did back in the day. They were such a good unit."
The group's second album, Under Heaven Over Hell, included their hits Hollywood and their version of Van Morrison's Here Comes the Night. Another cover, the Rolling Stones' Under My Thumb, reached gold status in 1979.
"Kenny was a performer. Kenny owned the stage. He could give lessons on how to work the stage. Just flawless."
-Howard Mandshein
Shields was born and raised in the small farming community of Nokomis, Sask., where his knack for playing music started taking shape around the time he enrolled in an amateur talent show at six years old. He moved to Saskatoon to attend university where he joined local band Witness Incorporated.
Shields began travelling Canada with the band, touring with legendary acts like Roy Orbison and Cream; but his career was sidetracked in 1970 following an automobile accident that left him critically injured.
After the dissolution of his first band, Shields moved to Winnipeg in 1975 to return his focus to music. He teamed up with another group from his home province, and in the years that followed, they would shuffle band members to eventually become Streetheart.
The band would record six studio albums and a double-disc live album, garnering six gold albums, four platinum albums, a gold single among its achievements.
Streetheart also brought home a Juno Award for most promising group of the year in 1980.
The band was inducted into the Western Canadian Music Association Hall of Fame in 2003.
''I never really ever aspired to be in anything like this," Shields said during the ceremony. "I never would have planned it.''
JULY 21, 2017
Kenny Shields, who led the Winnipeg rock group Streetheart for four decades, died Friday morning after undergoing cardiac surgery.
Streetheart bandmate Jeff Neill announced the news early Friday with a post on his Facebook account.
"It is with deep sadness and regret that I announce that our dear friend and bandmate Kenny Shields has passed away quietly and peacefully early this morning at the St. Boniface General Hospital in Winnipeg," Neill wrote, adding that Shields' wife Elena, daughter Julia and sister Sharlene were by his side.
"I loved him as a friend and as a special performer," says Howard Mandshein, a friend and fan of Shields who works at CITI-FM in Winnipeg. "Kenny was a performer. Kenny owned the stage. He could give lessons on how to work the stage. Just flawless."
winnipegfreepress.com With files from The Canadian Press
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