  lighthouse is a canadian rock band formed in 1968 in toronto which included horns, string instruments, and vibraphone; their music reflected elements of rock music, jazz, classical music, and swing. it won juno awards for best canadian group of the year in 1972, 1973 and 1974. ==band history== lighthouse was formed in 1968 in toronto by vocalist/drummer skip prokop (formerly of the paupers) and keyboardist paul hoffert. the two met by coincidence on a flight from new york city to toronto, and discussed forming a band structured around a rock rhythm section, jazz horn section, and classical string section. prokop had admired ralph cole's playing when they shared the bill at the grande ballroom in detroit, so he brought him to toronto to be the band's guitarist. prokop and hoffert assembled the rest of the group from friends, studio session musicians, and toronto symphony orchestra members, and proceeded to make a demo recording. on the advice of richie havens, prokop and hoffert took the demo to mgm records in new york, who signed the band. two days later they had a manager, vinnie fusco, out of albert grossman's office, who overturned the mgm contract and made a deal with rca victor. lighthouse made its debut on may 14, 1969, at the rock pile in toronto, introduced by duke ellington with the words, "i'm beginning to see the light...house"."lighthouse shines as rock meets the classics," toronto star, may 26, 1969, p.&nbsp;29. the band originally consisted of 13 members: *skip prokop: drums and vocals *paul hoffert: keyboards and vibraphone *ralph cole: guitar and vocals *grant fullerton: bass and vocals *vic "pinky" dauvin: percussion and lead vocals *ian guenther: violin *don dinovo: violin and viola *don whitton: cello *leslie schneider: cello *freddy stone: trumpet and flugelhorn *arnie chycoski: trumpet and flugelhorn *howard shore: alto saxophone *russ little: trombone one of the first lighthouse concerts was at carnegie hall and in its first year, the band also played at [[fillmo
Canadian_progressive_rock_groups Juno_Award_winners Musical_groups_established_in_1969 RCA_Records_artists Vertigo_Records_artists