Serial Joe 
Here are some teens who don't buy into the slacker culture: Serial Joe worked hard to get the band's debut CD, KICKeD, onto Canada's musical radar screen last year. An impressive bio package and cool CD design helped land these 13- and 14-year-old Newmarket, ON guys and their butt-kickin', skate-punk rockin' brand of tunes in the May 1998 Showcase. Not bad, considering that Serial Joe's members will still be teens when CM's 25th anniversary rolls around. Cuts from the self-produced effort included skateboarding odes "Velocity" and "Obsession".

Sky 
It's been a big year for Sky, the producers of infectious pop riffs based out of Montreal. The duo's demo tape caught the eye of Showcase back in March 1998, with their music being described as "unapologetic hooky pop just begging to played on American radio." Indeed. A deal with EMI Music Canada helped get their breakout hit, "Some Kind of Wonderful", some serious airplay on Canadian radio last year, with MuchMusic spinning the videos for both "Some Kind of Wonderful" and "Love Song" - their second single released in early February. Their full-length debut album, Piece of Paradise, is just the beginning for 20-something musical partners James and Antoine.

The Miller Stain Limit 
"The mercurial material rummages around in your gut, until it finds the barest emotions. It's raw, cool and intense…" That's how Showcase described the four-song demo submitted by Toronto-area songwriting partners J. Miller and Terry Sawchuk (a.k.a. The Miller Stain Limit) in June 1997. The Canadian public must have agreed, judging from the buzz around the band's A&M debut CD, Radiate. The catchy single "Cellophane" - also included on the demo - has been a video and radio hit in recent months.

Emm Gryner 
She's far too good to be remain indie, opined Showcase of Emm Gryner in the March 1997 issue. Well, she didn't. The Forest, ON native released her major label debut, Public, last summer and inked a US record deal to boot. The 'majors' have taken notice, too - especially after big stops in several US cities and a feature in an American teen magazine's fashion photo spread. Warne Livesey (Midnight Oil, Matthew Good Band) produced Public, which was recorded in London, England and features Gryner on vocals, piano, guitar, organ and other instruments.

Coco Love Alcorn 
With her unique jazz-pop renderings, Coco Love Alcorn has established a niche for herself since her quartet was featured in the July 1996 Showcase. Lead singer Coco (with her "gorgeous, sensuous voice," as Showcase proclaimed) is also the daughter of renowned Canadian jazz musician John Alcorn. She provides a presence for the band, which released the Coco Love Alcorn CD in 1996. Coco took to the stage with 54o40 for their summer and fall tours, loaning her voice to some of the band's classics.

Supergarage 
Supergarage has taken its supercharged pop-rock tunes out of the garage and has eaten up some road since being featured in the December 1995 Showcase. Winners of the 1995 Q107 Homegrown talent search in Toronto, the band later gathered local radio attention with "Post Teen Crisis". Following their Duct Tape EP, the St. Catharines/Thorold-based quartet released a self-titled debut CD in 1997.

Pluto 
Since being featured in the May 1995 Showcase, Pluto has come into the inner reaches of Canada's musical solar system. Describing their style back then as "Space Beatles," the band has honed its pure pop blend and taken the act across the country, while putting out three major label CDs - the latest being 1998's Shake Hands With The Future. The future indeed: the band also appeared in the pilot episode of the TV show The Crow (based on the Brandon Lee movie of the same name).

Moist 
An introduction is barely needed for Moist. The band has gone multi-platinum since its debut CD (the then-indie Silver) was featured in the May 1994 Showcase. The band's brooding brand of music has made them a success story in the Canadian scene over the past five years. As the band currently works on a new album (likely released in the summer of '99), they can look back on a Juno award (for best new group in 1995) as well as smash-hit discs Creature (over three-times platinum) and Silver (over four-times platinum). Lead singer David Usher branched out on his own to release a solo effort, Little Songs, last year, which achieved gold status in Canada, before returning to work with his bandmates.

Our Lady Peace 
Back when the band was a Showcase feature in July 1992, Our Lady Peace was hard at work on solidifying their sound to land a record deal. But since then, OLP has been hanging out with a whole different crowd. Like Van Halen, The Rolling Stones and David Letterman. Now one of Canada's most popular musical artists (half of Canada must own Clumsy by now), Our Lady Peace broke out in a big way with 1994's smash debut Naveed. Success has followed them south of the border, too - 1997's follow-up, Clumsy, has sold well over 1 million copies across North America. The band also took home two Juno awards in 1998, reinforcing their popularity in Canada. OLP also launched last summer's Summersault tour, which featured Garbage, Moist, I Mother Earth, Fuel, Sloan and Hayden.

Ron Sexsmith 
You have to look outside Canada to see how much Ron Sexsmith has achieved since his May 1991 feature in Showcase. Despite public praise from international stars like Paul McCartney, Elvis Costello and Elton John and receptive audiences overseas, the St. Catharines native had sold under 10,000 domestic copies of his two CDs (a self-titled debut in 1995 and Other Songs two years later) as of early '98. Critics however, have lavished praise on his folk-pop mix; he also won a 1998 Juno in the roots/traditional category.

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