Luba

Luba — aka Luba Kowalchyk — is a Ukrainian-Québécois singer who first sang with Зоря (Star) and made a 1977 solo folk album for Sage Records. She then formed the rock band Luba for the 1980 Parlophone release Chain Reaction and three subsequent albums on Capitol Records. 

Background

Luba was born Lubomyra Kowalchyk on April 24, 1958, in Montreal, Quebec, to Ukrainian immigrant parents. She studied piano, guitar, flute, and voice as a youth. Teenage appearances took her through the Ukrainian-Canadian community, where she sang traditional material at youth camps, weddings, and festivals across Canada.

Kowalchyk first sang publicly at Ukrainian youth-camp fires. At fifteen, she recorded the 45 “Kazka” after Montreal producer Bohdan Tymyc heard her at a youth camp. Tymyc, who was developing the Yevshan record label, enlisted the Montreal Ukrainian dance band Syny Stepiv for the session. Kowalchyk subsequently appeared with Syny Stepiv and became the vocalist in the five-member Zoria ensemble.

Zoria paired Kowalchyk on vocals and piano with guitarist Jaroslaw Gudzio, multi-instrumentalist Kevin Connolly, drummer-percussionist Peter Marunczak Jr., and percussionist Lesia Zinko. The musicians recast traditional Ukrainian songs and contemporary material from Ukraine with electric instrumentation and North American arrangements. Tymyc produced the group at RCA Studio C in Montreal, with Gudzio as musical director and Ivan Haydamak-Curl as engineer. Yevshan prepared the resulting Zoria LP for release in 1975.

Second Coming

Kowalchyk shifted from Ukrainian-language material toward an English-language rock format while she studied fine arts at Concordia University in Montreal. In 1978, she formed a band under the name Luba, retaining drummer Peter Marunzak from the earlier Ukrainian recordings. The lineup established by the end of the decade paired Kowalchyk and Marunzak with bassist Mike Zwonok, keyboardist Doug Short, and guitarists Mark Lyman and John Nestorowich.

Bobinason issued the 1978 French-language single “Le Doux Rendez-vous” backed with an instrumental version. The song entered the Quebec francophone chart in September 1979 and reached No. 23 across six weeks. Luba then concentrated on English-language originals co-written by Kowalchyk and Marunzak. Producer Tony Green recorded the group for his TGO label with Parlophone/Capitol-EMI distribution attached to the resulting Chain Reaction album.

Discography:

• Зоря (1975)
• Lubomyra (1977)
• Chain Reaction (1980)
• Luba (EP, 1982)
• Secrets and Sins (1984)
• Between the Earth and Sky (1986)
• All or Nothing (1989)

Research notes

• The Ukrainian Weekly, March 13, 1976 — “At 17, She Has First LP Album.” The strongest contemporary source for the pre-LP sequence. Kowalchyk describes singing at youth-camp fires, recording “Kazka” at fifteen, and subsequently appearing with Syny Stepiv. The article identifies Zoria as a five-member vocal-instrumental ensemble and discusses the preparation of the first LP. (Ukrainian Weekly Archive)
• Brian A. Cherwick, Polkas on the Prairies: Ukrainian Music and the Construction of Identity, University of Alberta. Cherwick traces Yevshan founder Bohdan Tymyc to Kowalchyk, states that he heard her at a youth camp, and identifies Syny Stepiv as the musicians recruited for the “Kazka” session. (Library and Archives Canada)
• The Ukrainian Weekly, January 15, 1978 — profile of Bohdan Tymyc. Tymyc identifies his early single with Kowalchyk and places his production of the Zoria LP in 1975. The profile also establishes his role with Yevshan. (Ukrainian Weekly Archive)
• Museum of Canadian Music — Zorya. The release archive supplies the album personnel, RCA Studio C location, Tymyc production credit, Jaroslaw Gudzio musical-direction credit, and Ivan Haydamak-Curl engineering credit. (Museum of Canadian Music)
• The Link — “Luba From Classical to Rock,” by Kenny King. A later Kowalchyk interview documents six years of classical piano study, five years of classical voice training, and subsequent study at Concordia University. I used only the early-training information because the Concordia degree falls beyond the debut cutoff. (The Link)
• Xtra — “The return of Luba.” Places Kowalchyk in fine-arts studies when she formed the band Luba under her first name in 1978. It also dates the death of her father and composition of “Everytime I See Your Picture” to 1979. (Xtra Magazine)
• The Canadian Pop Music Encyclopedia. Gives the subsequent lineup as Peter Marunzak, Mark Lyman, Mike Zwonok, John Nestorowich, and Doug Short; identifies Tony Green as producer; and lists Parlophone/Capitol-EMI distribution. Its discography dates “Le Doux Rendez-vous” b/w the instrumental version to 1978 on Bobinason. (The Canadian Pop Music Encyclopedia)
• Quebec francophone chart compilation. Lists “Le Doux Rendez-vous” from September 22, 1979, with a No. 23 peak and six weeks on the chart. This supports 1978 as the release year while explaining the 1979 date found in several later biographies. (Yumpu)
• U.S. copyright registrations for Chain Reaction. Identify Kowalchyk–Marunzak authorship on “Runaround,” “Stay,” “Have a Heart,” “Lovers in the Night,” “Heaven in Your Eyes,” “I Stand Alone,” and “Black & White”; Kowalchyk alone on “Seems Like a Dream”; and Kowalchyk–Lyman on “Chain Reaction.” (Copyright Encyclopedia)
• Museum of Canadian Music — Chain Reaction. Confirms the Luba band personnel, Tony Green production, TGO/Parlophone issue, and Montreal origin. (Museum of Canadian Music)