{{Infobox musical artist | name = Julie Masi | image = | image_upright = | image_size = | landscape = <!-- yes, if wide image, otherwise leave blank --> | alt = | caption = | background = solo_singer | birth_name = Julie Opocensky | alias = | birth_date = <!-- {{Birth date and age|YYYY|MM|DD}} for living people supply only the year unless the exact date is already WIDELY published, as per WP:DOB --> | birth_place = Manitoba, Canada | origin = | death_date = <!-- {{Death date and age|YYYY|MM|DD|YYYY|MM|DD}} (death date first) --> | death_place = | genre = | occupation = Musician | instrument = Percussion, vocals | years_active = <!-- YYYY–YYYY (or –present) --> | label = | associated_acts = The Parachute Club | website = <!-- {{URL|example.com}} or {{Official URL}} --> }} '''Julie Ann Masi''' is a Canadian musician, principally known as a percussionist and vocalist with The Parachute Club. She was also a co-writer of several of the band's songs. She is notable as being part of a female-driven movement mixing music and political activism, emanating from Toronto in the 1980s. She continues to perform and record on occasion.
== History == Julie Masi was born Julie Opocensky and raised on a farm near Dominion City, Manitoba.<ref>Now part of the Municipality of Emerson – Franklin, as of 2015.</ref> She commenced performing at the age of 11, initially in choirs. Her father then bought her a drum kit and her sister Janet an electronic keyboard. She started performing with her sister and older brother Bobby on guitar at house parties in southern Manitoba.<ref name=Einarson/> Following the death of their brother in 1968,<ref>Robert Opocensky died in 1968, at the age of 18. See [http://geneofun.on.ca/cems/mb/MBFRA0173?page=3&PHPSESSID=a1ad5505f4a44cd00fe50476cd0fe7a7 Particulars of Dominion City Cemetery]; Canada Gen Web. Retrieved 2016-12-12.</ref> Masi, at the age of 14 and her sister joined a band composed of members from the neighbouring communities of Emerson, Letellier, and St. Pierre-Jolys. The group performed regularly throughout southern Manitoba, as ManMaid, between 1968 and early 1970.<ref name=Einarson/><ref>Manitoba Music Museum, [http://www.manitobamusicmuseum.com/manmaid.htm Profile of ManMaid]. Retrieved 2016-12-13.</ref> The band was distinctive at the time in having two female members, both musicians, one of whom (Masi) played drums.<ref>John Einarson, [https://www.winnipegfreepress.com/local/Girl-rockers-were-groundbreaking-352785091.html Girl rockers were groundbreaking]. ''Winnipeg Free Press'', November 21, 2015. Retrieved 2016-12-13.</ref>
Masi moved to Winnipeg in 1970, following high school, and sang various musical genres in local bands for a decade. She also obtained regular work as a session vocalist, including singing jingles and recording sessions with Burton Cummings and Tim Thorney.<ref name=Einarson>John Einarson, [https://www.winnipegfreepress.com/arts-and-life/entertainment/music/soaring-with-parachute-club-279699562.html Soaring with Parachute Club: Singer pulled rip cord on music career after success in the '80s]. ''Winnipeg Free Press'', October 19, 2014. Retrieved 2016-12-08.</ref>
Masi relocated to Toronto and adopted the surname Masi following her marriage to Agostino Masi, a Winnipeg entrepreneur, in the early 1980s.<ref name=Einarson/><ref>She remained married to Masi, with whom she had a son, until Masi's death in 2010, at the age of 62. [https://passages.winnipegfreepress.com/passage-details/id-168307 Agostino Masi Obituary], ''Winnipeg Free Press'', August 28, 2010. Retrieved 2016-12-08.</ref> She joined The Parachute Club in 1983, after its initial founding members, Billy Bryans, Lorraine Segato, and Lauri Conger, had been offered a management and recording contract with Current Records. She was with the band between 1983 and 1986, leaving after the band's Canadian tour in support of its third album.<ref>Canadian Pop Encyclopedia, [http://jam.canoe.com/Music/Pop_Encyclopedia/P/Parachute_Club.html Biography of The Parachute Club]{{dead link|date=April 2026|bot=medic}}{{cbignore|bot=medic}}; www.jam.canoe.ca.</ref> Some of the songs she co-wrote while with the band include "Slip Away" (from ''The Parachute Club''), "At the Feet of the Moon" (title track and lead single from ''At the Feet of the Moon''), and "Secret Heart (Wild Zone)" (from ''Small Victories''). She has contributed to the recordings of Martha and the Muffins<ref>Who shared the same recording label (Current Records) and the same producer (Daniel Lanois).</ref> and Raffi, among others, and has also collaborated with the band Images in Vogue.<ref>[http://espanol.groups.yahoo.com/group/imagesinvogue2002/summary Images in Vogue 2002 Discussion Group]{{dead link|date=December 2023|bot=medic}}{{cbignore|bot=medic}}; www.espanol.groups.yahoo.com.</ref>
Subsequent to her departure from The Parachute Club, Masi was involved in session work for various artists, including Dan Hill, Bruce Cockburn, Shirley Eikhard, Alannah Myles, Leonard Cohen, Ken Whiteley,<ref>Vocals on ''[http://www.kenwhiteley.com/index.php?show=recordings&id=60 Bright Side]'' album (1987).</ref> and David Foster.<ref name=Einarson/> From 1990 to 2005, Masi resided in Temecula, California, where her husband had an interest in a restaurant.<ref name=Einarson/> Based in Kelowna, British Columbia as of 2005, Masi continues to perform,<ref>Amanda Morazain, [http://www.vernonmorningstar.com/entertainment/235298971.html Rise up to the sounds of Julie Masi at Vernon Jazz Club] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161220080917/http://www.vernonmorningstar.com/entertainment/235298971.html |date=2016-12-20 }}. ''Vernon Morning Star'', December 11, 2013. Retrieved 2016-12-08.</ref><ref>Including as Le Mo Nay, a duo with keyboardist [http://www.uptown10.com/steve-soucy/ Steve Soucy]: {{usurped|1=[https://web.archive.org/web/20160119072845/http://schellshockentertainmentagency.com/portfolios/le-mo-nay/ Profile of Le Mo Nay]}}; Schell Shock Entertainment. Retrieved 2016-12-16.</ref> including occasional reunions with the Parachute Club.<ref name=Einarson/> She also continues to contribute to the recordings of others. She is active in supporting those affected by HIV/AIDS,<ref>See Living Positive Resource Centre, [http://livingpositive.ca/media.php "Dining Out for Life" Raises $1,750], News Release, April 4, 2006; www.livingpositive.ca.</ref> and is also a supporter and fundraiser for Bicycles for Humanity, a Kelowna-based charitable organization providing bicycles to impoverished persons in Africa.<ref>Lori-Anne Charlton, [http://www.bicycles-for-humanity.org/Media_KDC04062007.php Profile of Bicycles for Humanity] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090526215414/http://www.bicycles-for-humanity.org/Media_KDC04062007.php |date=2009-05-26 }}, The Kelowna Daily Gleaner, April 6, 2007; www.bicycles-for-humanity.org.</ref>
==Discography== ===Singles=== {| class="wikitable" !rowspan="2" | Release date !rowspan="2" | Title !colspan="1" | Chart peak !rowspan="2" | Album |- ! width="45"| <small>Canada<br>RPM</small> |- | July 1983 | "Rise Up" | align="center"|9 <ref>The song also peaked at No. 26 on the ''Billboard'' Club Play Singles chart. See [{{AllMusic|class=artist|id=p24031|pure_url=yes}} Billboard Singles of Parachute Club]; www.allmusic.com.</ref> | rowspan="3"|''The Parachute Club'' |- | 1983 | "Alienation" | align="center"| |- | 1984 | "Boy's Club" | align="center"| |- | October 1984 | "At the Feet of the Moon" | align="center"|11 | rowspan="3"|''At The Feet of the Moon'' |- | February 1985 | "Act of an Innocent" | align="center"|61 |- | June 1985 | "Sexual Intelligence" | align="center"| |- | October 1986 | "Love Is Fire" | align="center"|24 | rowspan="3"|''Small Victories'' |- | February 1987 | "Love and Compassion" | align="center"|81 |- | May 1987 | "Walk to the Rhythm" | align="center"|90 |}
===Albums=== ====With The Parachute Club====
* 1983 ''The Parachute Club'' Current/RCA * 1984 ''At the Feet of the Moon'' Current/RCA * 1985 ''Moving Thru the Moonlight'' Current/RCA; remixes * 1986 ''Small Victories'' Current/RCA * 1992 ''Wild Zone: The Essential Parachute Club'' BMG; reissued 2006 by EMI International<ref>Particulars via www.amazon.com; accessed 09-02-07.</ref>
====Other====
*1977 Ron Paley,<ref>Winnipeg jazz and big band composer and performer. See [http://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/ron-paley-emc/ Profile of Ron Paley]; Canadian Encyclopedia. Retrieved 2016-12-14.</ref> ''[https://www.discogs.com/Ron-Paley-Boxton/release/3345194 Boxton]'' *1984 Martha and the Muffins, ''Mystery Walk'' *1990 Raffi, ''Evergreen Everblue'' *1997 Al Simmons, ''Celery Stalks at Midnight'' *2008 Lindsay May, ''Bronze and Blue''
== References ==
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Masi, Julie}} Category:Canadian percussionists Category:Canadian women singers Category:Living people Category:Singers from Manitoba Category:Singers from Toronto Category:Musicians from Kelowna Category:Year of birth missing (living people) Category:The Parachute Club members