Harem Scarem is a Canadian hard rock/melodic hard rock band from Toronto, Ontario. Harem Scarem initially (the early 1990s) achieved popularity in their native Canada and Japan. The band was active from 1987 to 2008, and again from 2013 after reforming. Throughout their career, they have released 15 studio albums (including two releases as Rubber in Canada, but not the vinyl re-issue in 2023 of Mood Swings), plus numerous live and compilation albums, and a re-record of Mood Swings (as Mood Swings II) in 2013. Totals record sales are in excess of one million worldwide. Possibly the only band to name themselves after a Bugs Bunny episode, the story of Harem Scarem began in 1988 when Oshawa, Ont natives Harry Hess and Darren Smith left their previous band Blind Vengeance and moved to Toronto. Hair metal was the rage, and with Hess on vocals and Smith on drums, they teamed up with guitarist Pete Lesperance, (ex-Minotaur), and Mike Gionet on bass, also a former Oshawa resident. Hess and Lesperance became the main writing core, and after a full year of rehearsals and writing together without ever playing a show, they put together an 11-song demo in Hess’s makeshift studio. By 1990 they continued their rounds on the circuit while peddling the demos at their shows, which had now been reworked into an independently produced cassette – their self-titled official debut album. They entered a Homegrown Contest put on by Q107 Radio and placed second overall with “Slowly Slipping Away.” By that summer they were being courted by Warner Music, who reworked the demos with producer Kevin Doyle the following year once the band was signed and re-released the album. Their blend of heavy licks and slick, but stripped down production was heavy yet melodic, starting with the lead off “Hard To Love.” Execs were confident enough in the band that videos supporting the singles “Slowly S Line-up: Harry Hess – Lead & Backing Vocals, Keyboards Pete Lesperance – Guitars and Bass Creighton Doane – Drums Darren Smith – Lead and Backing Vocals