Hold On
No, Santana didn't write it. Ian Thomas did.
This gem popped into my head a while back, so I added it to my drafts because I needed to do some research. I was thinking of the Santana version, but Canadian Ian Thomas actually wrote and recorded it the year before.
Thomas was born in Hamilton, Ontario and is the brother of SCTV fave Dave Thomas (of Bob and Doug fame). He started recording in the 70s and thanks to CanCon he had a relatively successful career inside Canada. Touring was hard though and he let go of his band in 1980 after racking up a lot of debt. He then went into the studio1 to record a solo album, The Runner.
He nearly threw out Hold On, feeling it was too poppy, but his wife said, “Keep it. It’s the only one that makes me feel good.” The song was the second single off the album and reached #20 on the Canadian charts in 1981.
I couldn’t find out how Carlos Santana got a hold on the song. My best guess is that it was sent by Thomas’ manager Ray Danniels (who also managed Rush) to Santana’s management. In any case, Santana recorded the track for his 1982 album Shangó, produced by Bill Szymczyk and featuring Alex Ligertwood on lead vocal. It was released as the first single off the album and made it to #15 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1982.
The video was directed by John Mark Robinson2, who had founded Modern Productions in 1980. While he had studied in New York and was working out of LA, he had been born in Toronto, just down the road from where Thomas had recorded the original. The action takes place at a masquerade ball. Santana is trying to interact with his then-wife Deborah King. Percussionist Orestes Vilató is his friend, and the legendary Latino actor Henry Darrow is the prize wheel spinner. Don’t know what the deal with the snake in the beginning is, though.
Enjoy your song of the day! It’s been a while.
It was the Grant Avenue Studio in Hamilton, founded by brothers Daniel and Bob Lanois along with their friend Bob Doidge. Doige became sole owner in 1985.
The following year he would direct his first film, Roadhouse 66. He had been a working actor for a decade before that and started his directing career working on the video for Bob Marley’s Redemption Song.
Welcome back! People assume Santana wrote it because it just sounds so Santana. The big one that he didn't write, but which I think ended up defining his sound forever, was of course "Black Magic Woman", which was written by Peter Green. Santana long recognized Green as his greatest influence, and in many ways Santana' whole sound is a tribute to Green's playing. Thanks for posting this!