‘Canada’s music man’ helped launch many stars
He may not have been a musician, but there’s no denying the mark Windsor’s Germain (Gerry) Lacoursiere left on Canadian music.
The former music industry executive — who launched the careers of people like Bryan Adams, Jann Arden, Rita MacNeil, Raffi, and Gino Vannelli — passed away on May 9 at the age of 80.
“He just knew music. He knew when it was going to be a hit. That was his job,” said Lizette Lacoursiere, one of Gerry’s daughters.
“He just had the penchant for it. He’d say, ‘That’s the one.’ They’d take it around to the DJs, and it became so... He was Canada’s music man.”
Lacoursiere’s career in the record business spanned more than 40 years, taking him from the warehouse of Decca Records in Detroit, to the promotion team of Liberty Records in the 1960s, to the presidency of A&M Records in Canada, and finally to the position of chairman of PolyGram Music Group Canada.
Along the way, he played an instrumental role in the fortunes of a long list of internationally known recording artists: Bobby Vee, The Ventures, Styx, Supertramp, Nazareth, Procol Harum, Chilliwack, The Police, The Payolas, and many more. Not bad for a guy who never finished high school.
“He was the smartest man I’ve ever met,” said Larry LeBlanc, a longtime friend of the family.
“The big one that he signed was Bryan Adams. Bryan was signed for four songs for a publishing contract in 1978... Gerry came up in an era where it was about hits. He had a real ear for finding things.”
Lizette said she and her siblings have fond memories of growing up surrounded by musical stars. “We got to go to all the concerts we wanted to,” she said. “My father treated the business just like family. We’d have a big A&M picnic on our property, and all the artists would come out.
“Every big record that came out, we heard it first. It would play all through the house. We knew the hits before they were on the radio stations.”
Lacoursiere retired in 1998 — just before the Internet revolutionized the music industry and rendered physical media obsolete.
“You ask young people now, they don’t even know what a record is,” Lizette said.
“He was in the industry in its prime, and took it all the way to the end.”
Although he was raised in Windsor — one of 16 children — Lacoursiere spent the majority of his working life in Toronto. Lizette said her father and mother moved back to Windsor just last year to be around extended family.
Lacoursiere may have been a big name in pop and rock circles, but he wasn’t one for ostentation. “My dad was a pretty conservative man,” Lizette said. “He was very humble. He wouldn’t go around bragging about his job.”
His wife of 58 years, Gaetane, was his sweetheart since high school. They met on Ouellette Avenue as teenagers. Their love would result in five children, eight grandchildren, and four greatgrandchildren.
“My father was a real family man,” Lizette said. “He had strong Catholic roots. He followed his heart and was very kind — beyond what many people are aware of. He was a very generous man.”
Visitation for Lacoursiere takes place Monday from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. at Anderson Funeral Home (895 Ouellette Ave.). The funeral service will take place Tuesday at 11 a.m. at Our Lady of Guadalupe (834 Raymo Rd.).