The Payolas, under a variety of names including Payola$, was a New Wave band active in the Canadian music scene for a decade from the late 1970s.

The band's name was chosen to refer to the payola scandal in the United States in the early 1960s. It was formed in Vancouver, British Columbia and recorded mostly at Little Mountain Sound there. Through many lineup changes, its core members remained Paul Hyde and Bob Rock. Although the band always seemed poised for a big commercial breakthrough, it never quite made a breakout it despite its artistic growth and popular success.

Rise

Hyde, an British emigrant, met Rock while playing in local bars and soon joined with others to form a pop-punk band. At their gigs and in local music stores they sold their singles "Money for Hype" and "China Boys." Spotted by A&M Records, four songs were reissued as Introducing Payola$ in 1980. The major-label EP included their signature “China Boys,” a rough version of “Rose” and the profanity-laden working class anthem “TNT.”

A&M’s gamble paid off, and the full-length follow up album In a Place Like This the following year was a critical success. It included remakes “Jukebox” and “Rose” -- as well as “China Boys” yet again -- as well as more proletarian laments like the title track and “Whiskey Boy.”

The next year began with the successful release of their album No Stranger to Danger. The LP included a bona fide hit in “Eyes of a Stranger,” which later earned the Juno for best single of the year, and other minor hits like “Romance.” Bob Rock’s recording work on the album also won him a Juno. Even the non-album B-side on the singles, “Soldier,” was a minor hit.

However, the high-water mark was reached in 1983. The Payolas released Hammer on a Drum and its associated singles and videos to great commercial and popular acclaim. They seamlessly mixed social conscience, exemplified in the child abuse oriented “Where Is This Love” and nuclear nightmare “No Prisoners,” with socialite navel gazing, exemplified by “I’ll Find Another” and “Wild West.”

Two other landmarks were reached: a respectable duet with Carole Pope of Rough Trade in "Never Said I Loved You" and a rather depressing "Christmas Is Coming" which has since been anthologized on anti-Christmas releases.

Decline and metamorphisis

However, as they tried to break into the U.S. market, they had to deal with Dick Clark, longtime host of American Bandstand and formerly implicated in the 1960 scandal. After being hampered by their name in the American market, they tried to reinvent themselves: they hired David Foster as their producer, softened their formerly hard-edged tunes, and altered their name to Paul Hyde and the Payolas.

Here's the World for Ya was released in 1985, and its singles included “Stuck in the Rain,” “It Must Be Love” and “Here’s the World.” Although richly produced, the album failed to gain many new fans with their syrupy sound and apolitical lyrics. Furthermore, the lost many old who felt the band had turned its back on its hardcore playing and socially relevant writing. Nevertheless, they appeared together with their producer-pianist in the Northern Lights benefit for Ethiopia.

After a combination of events, including being dropped by A&M and artistic difference, the band broke up in 1986. However, the core members continued to work -- with the help of two former bandmates -- and released ‘’Under the Volcano’’ in 1987 with their new label. Including three minor hits and videos in “Dirty Water,” “America Is Sexy” and “I Will” and resembled ‘’Hammer on a Drum’’ in its combination of the social and socialite.

A&M tried to piggyback on this Capitol release by immediately offering a greatest hits package called ‘’Between A Rock & A Hyde Place’’, which despite its name only included songs they produced under the name Payolas. Another compilation was released in 2000 in Capitol's 20th Century Master Series, which also featured the Rock & Hyde track “Dirty Water.”

But even as the last gasp of the Payolas was heard, Rock and Hyde were pursuing other projects. The former produced heavy metal bands like Mötley Crüe and Metallica while running his eponymous band Rockhead.

Paul Hyde returned to his working class roots and kept releasing music as a side career. His softer, folk-tinged solo efforts, such as Turtle Island in 1989 and The Big Book of Sad Songs, Vol. 1 in 2002 were artistically but not commercially successful. Some of his former bandmates and his own rapping son have appeared on various solo tracks. He promises a new Payola$ release in 2005 with his regular collaborator Bob Rock.

Discography

Since the band was most active in the mid-1980s as the change from LPs to CDs was occurring, most of its songs are unavailable on CD. “Eyes of a Stranger” and “Christmas Is Coming” appear on various CD anthologies, usually with an ‘80s, punk and/or holiday theme.

Most album covers

• "Money for Hype" (single only), Payola$, N B Records, 1978
• "China Boys/Make Some Noise" (single only), Payola$, Slophouse Records, 1979
• Introducing Payola$, A&M, 1980
• In a Place Like This, Payola$, A&M, 1981
• No Stranger to Danger, Payola$, A&M, 1982
• Hammer on a Drum, Payola$, A&M, 1983
• Here's the World for Ya, Paul Hyde and the Payolas, A&M, 1985
• Between a Rock and a Hyde Place, most names greatest hits, A&M, 1987 (reissued 1993)
• Under the Volcano, Rock and Hyde, Capitol, 1987
• 20th Century Masters: The Payolas, all names greatest hits, Capitol, 2000.

External links

• Payolas at The Canadian Encyclopedia
• Payola$ at Canadian Bands
• Payola$ at Canoe
• Payolas at Launchcast
• Paul Hyde
• Bob Rock