[1] Bentall's first group was Brandon Wolf, a pseudonym he also used, which formed in 1978[2] with the original line-up consisting of: Bentall (lead vocals, keyboards, rhythm guitar), Doug McFetridge (guitar), Kevin Swain (bass) and Derek Morrison (drums) and which later changed to: Brad Kilburn (bass), Wilf Froese (keyboards) and Jack Guppy (drums).
With songs written by Bentall and long-time childhood friend and songwriting partner Gary Fraser (who sometimes wrote using the pseudonym Robert Arrow[2]), as well as McFetridge and Swain, they self-released "Excerpt from the Montmartre Letters", a 4-track 45 rpm EP in 1979.
The self-titled debut album, which featured three hit Canadian singles including "Something to Live For", "House of Love (is Haunted)" and "Come Back to Me", reached platinum status in Canada (100,000 records sold).
In 1990, Bentall, Fraser and Nairne were nominated for a Genie Award for "Restless Dreamer", a song they wrote which appeared on the soundtrack to the Sandy Wilson film American Boyfriends.
The band would release four more albums on Epic and later Sony Records, achieving more hits with "Crime Against Love", "Life Could Be Worse", "Livin' in the 90s", "Doin' Fine", "Do Ya", and "Shattered".