Honeymoon Suite

Honeymoon Suite specializes in a forceful strain of album-focused rock that built them a substantial following throughout Canada as well as modest recognition south of the border. Their commercial high point occurred in 1986, when the single “Feel It Again” climbed to number 16 on Canadian charts and number 34 on Billboard, yet they sustained domestic success into the early 1990s before reuniting at the start of the 2010s and establishing themselves as a consistent heritage act throughout that decade. Recording resumed with the 2017 album Heads Up, which was followed seven years later by Alive.

When the musicians first assembled in Niagara Falls in 1981, such achievements remained distant prospects. Recognizing that the city functioned as a favored wedding locale, they chose the name Honeymoon Suite; the initial lineup featured guitarist Johnnie Dee, keyboardist Brad Bent, and drummer Mike Lengyell. By 1983 Bent and Lengyell had departed, prompting Dee to recruit drummer Dave Betts and guitarist Derry Grehan. Although keyboardists and bassists continued to rotate, the band secured a deal with WEA Canada after Grehan’s original composition “New Girl Now” attracted attention. Keyboardist Ray Coburn came aboard before the debut album was tracked, while bassist Gary Lalonde joined once the sessions concluded.

Issued in summer 1984, the self-titled Honeymoon Suite yielded the single “New Girl Now,” which reached number 23 in Canada and number 57 in the United States, followed by “Stay in the Light” that nearly entered the Canadian Top 40 in 1985. The Big Prize appeared later that year and became their most successful release, climbing to number six on Canadian charts largely through the number-16 hit “Feel It Again,” which also marked their strongest U.S. showing at number 34 on the Billboard Hot 100. Coburn soon exited and was replaced by Rob Preuss. Racing After Midnight reached number eight on Canadian charts in 1988, buoyed by the Top Ten single “Love Changes Everything,” after which the group’s hit-making phase ended. Lalonde and Betts departed, replaced by Steve Webster and Jorn Anderson respectively, allowing the band to issue Monsters Under the Bed in 1991 before activity ceased.

Throughout the 1990s Johnnie Dee and Derry Grehan maintained various touring versions of Honeymoon Suite and finally returned to the studio in 2002 for Lemon Tongue, their first album in eleven years. Dreamland arrived shortly afterward, and these later lineups toured steadily during the 2000s. The original members reconvened in 2007 for Canadian dates, resulting in the 2008 studio album Clifton Hill. After Coburn left in 2009, Peter Nunn took over on keyboards; this configuration toured through the 2010s and released the EP Hands Up in 2016. The full-length Heads Up followed in 2017. Occasional singles appeared in subsequent years—“Tell Me What You Want” in 2019 and “Sittin’ in the Garden” in 2023—before the band issued Alive early in 2024.