History & Biography The band was named after an English sanatorium. Colney Hatch, with an ‘l,’ is just north of London and was visited by Curran when his English parents took him for a visit on a tourist trip in England. The band was formed in Toronto by Curran, Shelski (a jazz program graduate) and Ketchum in 1980 and saw a few guitarists come and go. A singer was found through a classified advertisement in the Toronto Star. The debut featured the single Hey Operator, which was only recorded and added to the debut later and as an afterthought! This song charted in Canada. Kim Mitchell produced that debut. The band supported Judas Priest on 27 shows on the Screaming For Vengeance tour at this time. Coney Hatch's most successful album was Outa Hand, which managed to crack the charts in several countries. The band opened for Iron Maiden for 40 shows on the Piece Of Mind tour. Ketchum was asked to leave and was replaced by Connors. Friction was more radio friendly and had more keyboards. It failed and the band was dropped. Dixon was dropped and briefly replaced by future Dream Theatre man Kevin James LaBrie in 1986. Phil Naro replaced LaBrie. The band threw in the towel when no record deal arrived. The band and its earlier line-up briefly reformed in 1992 on the occasion of the release of a Coney Hatch compilation.
Carl Dixon sustained massive injuries in Australia in 2008 following a car collision. He spent three days in a coma, but was said to be recovering thereafter.
Following the band's reunion shows at the Phoenix in Toronto and at UK’s Firefest 2011, Frontiers Records signed Canada’s Coney Hatch to a worldwide deal. The band's reformation studio album would be released in 2013. Frontiers Records would release Four, the return album from Canada’s Coney Hatch, on September 24th. British Lion and openers Coney Hatch were conducting a Canadian mini-tour in November 2018. British Lion featured Iron Maiden’s Steve Harris. Lee Aaron/Crash Kelly guitarist Sean Kelly was touring with Coney Hatch. Naro died in 2021 due to cancer. The band was selling an independent Live release recorded in Toronto called Live At The El Mocambo.
Air Force, Coney Hatch and British Lion announced a tour of the UK for January 2023. The two last bands had toured Canada together in 2018. Hatch subsequently backed out without explanation. The band played a 40th anniversary of its debut record concert in Toronto and announced Postcard From Germany, which was a live release containing two new tracks. The band had an album release concert in Toronto on the same day and returned for another concert on November 11th. Postcard From Germany was released through Anthem Records on 22.09.2023. It was issued as vinyl for record store day in Canada in 2024.
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