Vancouver Says Goodbye to Musical Icon Rocket Norton
On April 5, 2024, Vancouver said goodbye to one of its favourite musical sons, Gary Wanstall, professionally known as Rocket Norton, after a two-year war against cancer.
After being diagnosed with terminal cancer in 2022, he was determined not to be a mere victim or statistic, Rocket took up a rallying cry from former manager Bruce Allen and created the F*** Cancer concerts in 2022 and 2023 featuring the best of West Coast classic rock and filling the Hard Rock Casino Theatre in Coquitlam and the Centre for the Performing Arts in Vancouver while raising over $600,000 for cancer research and care.
Rocket had a long musical career. In 1975, Rocket formed the ROCKET NORTON BAND with the late Jerry Doucette. As the top band in Vancouver’s thriving nightclub scene, the ROCKET NORTON BAND had a hit single with ‘Summer In the City’ (the first record release by budding producer, the late Bruce Fairbairn).
Later, Rocket joined former SEEDS OF TIME alumni in the band PRISM in 1977. Managed by Bruce Allen, PRISM became the No.1 group in Canada, selling 2 million records and filling arenas coast to coast. Owing to the band’s tremendous success, August 18, 1979, was dubbed PRISM DAY in Vancouver by Mayor Jack Volrich and, in 1982, Rocket was voted by the public to be one of Music Express Magazine’s ‘Top Ten Sexiest Rock Stars”.
Rocket held a beat for almost six decades in the entertainment business and his philanthropic and creative influence will be felt forever and celebrated for years to come. In addition to his myriad professional accolades and awards, Rocket was honoured with a star on Granville Street by the BC Entertainment Hall of Fame in 2023 and, later that same year along with the rest of PRISM, with a star in Toronto on Canada’s Walk of Fame.
Rocket leaves behind his wife Brenda “Bee”, stepson Cale (partner Samantha), beloved granddaughter Brooklyn, and grandson Nathan along with legions of grateful fans. Please honour Rocket’s life and work by donating to the BC Cancer Foundation: – www.bccancerfoundation.com/RocketNorton
About Rocket Norton
Born in Chilliwack in 1950, Rocket grew up in Kitsilano and then Kerrisdale attending Sir William Osler Elementary and then Sir Winston Churchill High School. Rocket lived most of his adult life in West Point Grey and Kitsilano, marrying Bee Wanstall in 1984 and becoming stepdad to her son Cale before becoming grandpa to Brooklyn and, later, Nathan.
Taking up the drums as a teenager Rocket Norton took his now-famous stage name as a founding member of the SEEDS OF TIME, beginning in 1965. The SEEDS OF TIME toured extensively and contributed to the developing recording industry in Vancouver. Now commemorated in the sixties exhibit at the Vancouver Museum, the SEEDS OF TIME enjoyed two national hit records, ‘My Home Town’ and ‘Crying the Blues’ making a huge impact on the City of Vancouver culturally and becoming one of the most memorable bands of that era.
After PRISM, Rocket co-wrote and produced an innovative musical entitled, VISIONS: MISSSION ANDROMEDA. It was the first musical production in the world ever to perform live in synch with the computer laser light show. VISIONS played 27 sold-out performances at the Vancouver Planetarium. Rocket then produced an album of VISIONS with the Vancouver Symphony and played live with the VSO in a sold-out concert at the Queen Elizabeth Theatre in 1987.
That same year Rocket organized a super-star band to back Michael J. Fox in a rock & roll performance with the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra at the Orpheum Theatre.
Rocket soon became the music director at CKVU-TV and led the studio band, ROCKY & THE JETS for two complete seasons of the VANCOUVER SHOW. This band also backed many international music stars at EXPO 86.
During EXPO 86, Rocket was commissioned to create a Beatles show for 86th Street Show Theatre & Cabaret. The show became known as REVOLVER: THE WORLD’S BEST BEATLES BAND. The band thrived for almost 30 years and on August 22nd, 2014, was brought onstage by Vancouver’s favourite DJ, Red Robinson. The PNE grandstand show by REVOLVER, in proper costume complete with 60s vintage Vancouver Police behind the barricades was staged to commemorate the 50th Anniversary of the Beatles’ performance at Empire Stadium on August 22, 1964. He has also written and produced several music shows for television including VANCOUVER ROCK CLASSICS – two one-hour music special documentaries for CBC-TV.
In 1994, Rocket became the General Manager of the Vogue Theatre on Granville Street and transformed it from a dark movie theatre into a viable concert hall for music and theatrical plays, a role that the grand old dame of Theatre Row continues to this day.
Subsequent to his years at the Vogue, Rocket created ROCKET NORTON THEATRICALS and started producing and presenting live shows. Most notably, many of history’s greatest big bands including the GLENN MILLER ORCHESTRA, the DUKE ELLINGTON ORCHESTRA, the COUNT BASIE ORCHESTRA, the TOMMY DORSEY ORCHESTRA and more. Upon reopening the renovated Commodore in 2000, Rocket was the producer for the DAL RICHARDS ORCHESTRA for a wildly popular return of their “tea dance” event.
Rocket went on to work with directorial genius, Dean Regan to present, FOREVER SWING (featuring up and comer Michael Bublé) and then produced, RED ROCK DINER (based on the early career of Red Robinson). ROCKET NORTON THEATRICALS also produced a theatrical show titled, DENZAL SINCLAIRE: A TRIBUTE TO NAT KING COLE for a run at the Stanley Theatre and then again at the Centre For the Performing Arts in Vancouver.
More recently, Rocket chronicled his adventures in a book titled, ROCKET NORTON: LOST IN SPACE. The story takes place in Vancouver between 1964 and 1982 and recounts the history of the city itself with a focus on entertainment. While concurrently running a successful limousine business, Rocket set himself on course as an author and his prodigious output now includes four additional novels and a ground-breaking play DRUMMERS DON’T DANCE built around two Sonatinas for drums co-composed with “maestro” Craig Zurba.
