Q&A With Glass Tiger’s Sam Reid

Exclusive Interview by Karen Beishuizen
Photos courtesy of Glass Tiger

Glass Tiger is a Canadian Rock band with international hits like “Don’t Forget Me” and “Somebody”. Their 1986 debut album “The Thin Red Line” was certified quadruple platinum in Canada, and went gold in the United States. At the 1986 Juno Awards the band won three awards: Album of the Year, Single of the Year and Most Promising Group. One year later “Someday” won Single of the Year. In 2025 they were inaugurated in the Canadian Hall of Fame. This year the band is celebrating 40 years since the album was released and in 2027 it will be 40 years since the album “Diamond Sun” was released. Plenty to celebrate here!

KB: When, where and by who was the band founded?

Originally known as Tokyo, the band formed in Newmarket, Ontario in 1981 from two local bands combined. Alan and Wayne from a band called “Onyx”, Sam & Michael from a band called “The End”.

KB: How did you come up with the band’s name Glass Tiger? Does it have a meaning?

Tokyo was a name that we were not overly fond of and when we got signed to a record deal we decided it was time to find a name more connected to our style of music which was a combination of harder rock and UK pop. Our guitar player was reading a book and suggested the term “Paper Tiger” but that means “false strength” and we didn’t want that, Alan, our lead singer, said “lets just change paper to tiger”. We instantly loved it and announced the name change at a New Year’s eve show in 1983/84. At midnight we changed the name to Glass Tiger. Glass can be smooth or jagged, Tigers can be soft and also edgy – the perfect mix of emotions for our music.

KB: Your debut album “The Thin Red Line” was released in 1986. What was it like working with Jim Vallance and Bryan Adams on this album?

Prior to going into the recording studio for our first album “The Thin Red Line”, the record company wanted us to do a writing session with Jim Vallance. He was known for writing mega hits with Bryan Adams and we were looking for “one more song” to complete the list to go into the studio. At the time we had not picked a producer but once we connected with Jim, we immediately hit it off. The chemistry was great, we wrote two of our biggest songs on our first day with Jim: “Don’t Forget Me” and “Someday”. We enjoyed working with Jim and asked if he would consider being our producer. He accepted and ended up producing the “Thin Red Line” and “Diamond Sun” albums.

Bryan Adams lent his voice to two of the songs on our first album, “Don’t Forget Me” and “I Will Be There”. He would often visit us during our writing sessions with Jim and when the record was finished he was in Toronto for the Juno Awards. We were in the studio finishing up the final overdubs and he stopped by. Jim suggested that Bryan and Alan try to sing something together – the rest is history!

KB: “Don’t Forget Me When I’m Gone” became a worldwide hit. Were you expecting this kind of success with your first single?

Prior to the release of our first album and especially the first single “Don’t Forget Me”, we were a working band in the bar circuit for 4 years, we had no idea that our first release would cream up the charts the way it did. We only knew the record company was excited when we returned from writing the song with Jim Vallance and they felt it had a chance. Of course we were delighted when it hit.

KB: You won several awards and toured with Tina Turner: What was that like?

The success of our first album enabled us to to headline tours in Canada and be invited as the opening act on some major tours in the USA and Europe. Our manager at the time loved the idea of getting us in front of as many people as possible, so we spent 17 months on the road supporting our album release. Journey’s “Raised On Radio” tour in 1986 and Tina Turner’s “Break Every Rule” tour in 1987 were two of the biggest acts we worked with. We loved those tours despite the grueling schedule. We still hear from fans all over the world who remember seeing us on the tours and now come out to our headline shows.

KB: Are there artists you would love to collaborate with, or you wished you had?

We have always enjoyed collaborating with other artist who we admire, seems to be something we have done on all of our album releases starting with Bryan Adams on our first album. Other guests have included, The Chieftains, Rod Stewart, Julian Lennon, Johnny Reid, Alan Doyle, Natalie McMaster and others. It’s the ultimate compliment when one artist joins you on your song. We would love to record something with Steve Perry (we spoke about this when we toured with him but it never happened). It’s also fun to pick an artist that is outside of your style of music and see what happens. There are so many new artists, so that would be fun. I’m personally a big fan of “Future Islands” so I’m putting it out there!

KB: I let you make an album with 7 of your most favorite songs (not your own): what songs would you pick?

My top 7 playlist would be:

“Crime of the Century” – Supertramp
“Pulling Muscles from a Shell” – Squeeze
“Solsbury Hill” – Peter Gabriel
“Everybody Wants to Rule The World” – Tears For Fears
“Enjoy The Silence” – Depeche Mode
“The Tower” – Future Islands
“Open Arms” – Journey

Hard to pick only 7 and I feel like my list could change daily depending on my mood. All these songs represent chapters in my life that I can relate to. Many fans mention that when they hear one of their favorite Glass Tiger songs, it instantly transports them back to the time when they first heard it. We are no different. That’s the power of music and it’s wonderful.

KB: You have been making music together now for 38 years. What are the Top 3 highlights of these years?

If we include the years that we performed in the club circuit it’s actually closer to 45 years that we have been together. Too many highlights to mention but certainly it has to be the fact that we have been fortunate to have created some music that has survived the test of time, watching fans sing along today, 40 years later never gets old. Another highlight is the fact that the band has been fortunate enough to be recognized by our peers by winning Junos awards here in Canada and the Grammy nomination, Hall of Fame here in Canada in 2025 – these accolades from the music industry makes us feel like we have contributed something to the music fabric. The ultimate highlight has to be our fans, we look really silly up on stage without them. GT fans are the best!

KB: What are you currently up to? Is there new music coming?

2026 marks the 40th anniversary of our “Thin Red Line” album release so we are enjoying the various shows this year to celebrate that milestone. Next year marks the same anniversary for our “Diamond Sun” album so that’s next on our schedule. There is new music in the works, we will release some tracks as we finish them and also plan to release some favorite live performances. That’s something we haven’t really done before. Some exciting shows in the works in 2027 and beyond. There is a Rhine river cruise where we are going to perform a stripped down version of our songs while cruising through Switzerland, France, Germany and The Netherlands – that will be a fun and unusual trip for us. Hopefully many more to come!

Check out Glass Tiger’s website: HERE

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