Little Caesar and the Consuls

Little Caesar and the Consuls are a Canadian rock music group, originally active in Toronto from 1956 to 1971, originally as simply The Consuls. In 1959 the five-piece group split in two, with three members (Robbie Robertson, Gene MacLellan and Peter Deremigis) forming The Suedes, and Bruce Morshead and Norm Sherrat, after a time, putting a new band of Consuls together. The new group soon added Little Caesar to their name, supposedly after a number of fans commented that lead singer Bruce Morshead resembled Edward G. Robinson in the film Little Caesar.[1]

The core of the group was pianist Morshead, guitarist Ken Pernokis, bassist Tom Wilson, drummer Gary Wright (who'd replaced Wayne Connors in 1963) and saxophonist Norm Sherratt.

The group recorded several Canadian hits, including "If ... (I Found A New Girl)" and covers of "My Girl Sloopy" and "You Really Got a Hold On Me", which reached #1 on the RPM charts in 1965, making them only the second Canadian group (after Chad Allan and the Expressions) to top that chart.

Morshead and Wilson left the band in 1968. The band continued with new vocalist and keyboard player Steve Macko before breaking up in 1971.

There have been several incarnations of the group; reuniting in 1973, 1976, 1986, 1993 and 2003.

In 1993, Norm Sherratt, Tom Wilson, Steve Macko, Vic Wilson (saxophones), Tony Crivaro (vocals & guitar) and Gary Wright (drums) joined up and recorded a reunion album, Since 1956. Tom Wilson left the band in 2010.

In later years Norm Sherratt, Tony Crivaro, Sam Carothers (bass), Walter Taylor (keyboards) Sonny Milne (drums) and Doug Dixon (vocals & guitar) held forth at shows, adding Russ Strathdee on sax in 2013.

Currently the lineup includes Walter Taylor (keyboards), James Legere (bass), Phil Strong (drums) and Russ Strathdee (sax), with Martin Damsell on Lead vocals and guitar.