FOG BLOG ENTERTAINMENT LOG: LES EMMERSON , LEAD FOR 5 MAN ELECTRICAL BAND DEAD AT 77!

Five Man Electrical Band's Les Emmerson, writer of rock hit 'Signs,' dead at 77.....Ottawa singer-songwriter contracted COVID-19, died in hospital Friday.....Ottawa singer-songwriter Les Emmerson, whose anti-establishment anthem "Signs" became a staple of 1970s rock radio, has died at 77.

The leader of Five Man Electrical Band contracted COVID-19 last month and died Friday at a local hospital, said his wife Monik Emmerson.

She said her husband was double vaccinated but had underlying health issues.

"Music was his life up until the very end," she added. "He lived and breathed music."

The way Emmerson used his musical talents changed over the years, his friends say. After chasing popularity in his youth, he found greater rewards later in life by using the popularity of "Signs" to support causes that mattered to him, including children's hospitals and climate change awareness.

Emmerson began his music career in 1965 when he joined the Staccatos after the departure of their guitarist. The act secured a few Canadian pop rock hits, including dreamy "Small Town Girl" and melodic "Half Past Midnight," but never broke through at the level their record label wanted.

It wasn't without trying. In 1968, the band was enlisted by Coca-Cola to split an album called "A Wild Pair" with hopeful young Winnipeggers The Guess Who. It was mailed free to any customers who sent in enough proof of purchases and paid for shipping.