 the watchmen are a canadian rock band. they were one of the most commercially successful canadian alternative rock groups of the mid to late 1990s. during their peak years the band had three gold records (mclaren furnace room, silent radar, and slomotion) and one platinum record (in the trees). in addition, they have toured canada numerous times, were the opening act for the tragically hip, and co-headlined a national tour with big wreck. ==history==  the group was formed in 1988 in winnipeg, manitoba by vocalist daniel greaves, guitarist joey serlin, bassist pete loewen and greaves' first cousin, drummer sammy kohn. serlin was a comic fan and named the group after the 1986-87 dc comic book series watchmen. the band toured canada extensively and became a popular live act, largely on the strength of its energetic shows, which invariably featured an a cappella performance by greaves at some point in the set. greaves often covered songs by billy bragg, simon and garfunkel, lyle lovett, the la's, tom waits and others during these solo spots, and fans came to look forward to them as a highlight of each show. on rare occasions, greaves performed more than one a cappella song in a set: at one 1998 performance broadcast live on radio, greaves entertained the in-person audience during commercial breaks by singing nicaraguan folk songs in addition to performing billy bragg's "between the wars." the band was discovered by producer chris wardman while playing at toronto's horseshoe tavern. wardman offered to produce the band, and they released their debut album, mclaren furnace room, in 1992. (the album was named for one of the band's rehearsal spaces, the furnace room of the mclaren hotel in winnipeg.) the album was released by wardman's sumo productions and distributed by mca records. the single "cracked" garnered the band significant airplay on rock stations, but was quickly eclipsed by the anti-spousal abuse anthem "run and hide", which became the band's breakthrough hit. in 1993, loewen left the band amicably to spend more time with his family. at the urging of watchmen manager jake gold, newfoundlan
1988_establishments_in_Manitoba 2008_establishments_in_Manitoba Canadian_alternative_rock_groups Musical_groups_disestablished_in_2003 Musical_groups_established_in_1988 Musical_groups_from_Winnipeg Musical_groups_reestablished_in_2008