The Breit Bros. - The Breit Bros.

If memory serves I heard "Wide World" on the radio once or twice ... but when I saw the video for "Slow Train" on MuchMusic that was it (the video wasn't really that good, but the song was). Who were these guys? What was it about this song with the strange riff and the moody vibe that was so infectious?

The album was produced by Tom Treumuth who was also A&R for RCA and was instrumental in signing The Breit Brothers, and by all accounts Bob Buziak the president of RCA was behind the band as well. I know that's an assumption on my part, but he is given a special thank you on the back cover. To top it off the album was mastered by Bob Ludwig, which usually gives an album a little extra shine.

The band was comprised of three brothers, vocalist and keyboard player Gary, whose name I knew from Corey Hart, Kevin on guitar, Garth on drums and Ian de Souza on bass. The album was full of finely crafted pop songs and it's still a bit of a mystery wrapped in bacon as to why this didn't do better.

When it first came out I bought the CD and a number of songs were in heavy rotation on my mix tapes. Chief among them was "Slow Train" a song probably more indicative of the style of music Kevin Breit would later be known for with his stellar slide work with a bluesy folk infused feel. Make no mistake Kevin is a player on another level and while he's more than adept playing the mid '80s rock guitar god, the album doesn't get close to touching on the depth of this guy's talent. However, songs like the album's opener "Going Down" that featured Anton Fig (yes, that Anton Fig, the guy who played drums on KISS' "I Was Made for Lovin' You"), "Wide World" and the album's hardest rocking track "Feel My Body Shaking" were also among my favourite tracks.

It's interesting that the sticker on the cellophane calls out what I consider two of the albums more ordinary tracks in "One Man's Climate" and "Cause We Had it All." Songs that are good but I wouldn't have picked them as singles.

It had been a long time since I've actually sat and listened to this one all the way through. I really didn't need to pick up the record, but dang it - I found it, and it was in pristine condition and by 1988 I was almost exclusively buying CDs so I didn't even know this was on vinyl. So it was kind of hard to pass up.

Listening to this now I'm still struck by the song structure and especially Kevin's chameleon-like guitar playing. There's an intimacy to Gary's voice that really draws you in. Okay, draws me in. Having said that, there was also a certain generic quality to his voice that made it hard to separate him from all the other voices that were competing for attention. I suppose with the passage of time and a little distance I'm more objective now than I was back in the day, and can sort of see now why this wasn't bigger. It's sort of intangible but this was an album that while good, really good it just didn't have that extra level many of the biggest albums at time had. There's a part of me that still thinks this should have been huge, as it was the songs that drew me in and this album has held up incredibly well. As to whether this should have been bigger is a moot point. It wasn't and history is what it is. The album is a hidden gem, and those who know know, and the rest are missing out.  It's an enigma wrapped in bacon for all that.

The boys would regroup in 1997 on Alert records and release one more album as The Breits, which was another great album. Kevin would release a number of solo albums and partner with other artists, and Gary would again be the stalwart journeyman supporting other artists, notably Bryan Adams. Gary did release a solo album in 2021 you can find on bandcamp.

For albums by Gary check out his page: Gary Breit

Same goes for Kevin, send these guys some love. Kevin Breit