Childhood friends Alan Hawirko and Lindsay Mitchell formed their first group, Seeds Of Time in the latter part of 1969. Still attending high school in Vancouver, their band also consisted of Geoff Edington on vocals, John Hall on keyboards, drummer Rocket Norton and Steve Walley on bass. With Hawirko going by the stage name 'Al Harlow', they recorded a bunch of tracks at various Vancouver and Washington State venues over the course of the early seventies and released several self-financed demo singles in '74, including the moderately succesful single "My Home Town".

The band broke up and Mitchell formed Stanley Screamer in 1976. In the band were new singer Ron Tabak, guitarist Tom Lavin, Ab Bryant on bass and drummer Rodney Higgs (Jim Vallance, Bryan Adams' songwriting partner, under a pseudonym) , the group developed a tight friendly pop sound while doing the bar circuit in BC and the prairies. After deciding a keyboardist was needed, Mitchell looked up John Hall and after changing their name to Prism later that year, and were signed to the now dead and buried GRT Records.

The group's self-titled debut came out in the spring of '77 and the instant reaction given to "Spaceship Superstar", "Open Soul Surgery" and "Take Me To The Kaptin", a loose commentary on the state of the ecology in the mid 70's, let Canada know this was a tightly knit group of musicians capable of clever pop/rock as well as the well thought-out political commentary of "Vladivastok". "It's Over" also displayed their ability to cross over and deliver the stinging power ballad. The record also marked a four-album relationship with producer Bruce Fairbairn, (who'd later go on to produce such meaga-acts as Heart, Aerosmith and the VERY disappointing KISS - PSYCHO CIRCUS album).

Now on Capitol Records, their second effort came in '78 in the form of SEE FOREVER EYES. The record featured a reunion with drummer Rocket Norton, when Vallance decided to finsih his studies at UBC. Alan Harlow, another Seeds Of Time alumni was the new bassist, following Bryant's leaving to join Chilliwack, and later co-found The Headpins. Harlow's impact on the writing was instantly felt by contributing on four of the ten tracks. The title track was the lead off single and was certified gold (50,000 copies) in Canada. With a supporting cast of anything but filler "Take Me Away", "Hello", and "Nickels & Dimes", which they'd first done on the Seeds Of Time album, SFE again showed great dexterity, covering all spectrums of the rock prism (... pun intended ...) , including horn arrangements, spear-headed by Fairbairn. The band's only live recording was issued later in the year. Recorded in Chicago, it LIVE TONIGHT was a radio-only release, and is highly sought-after in collectors' circles.

ARMAGEDDON was next on the list and was certified gold almost immediately upon its release in '79. "Night To Remember" remains one of the most powerful "I love you - the sky is blue" ballads ever written and is a staple at weddings to this day. The band now had more room to stretch his arms on stage as Lavin was gone, leaving the guitar chores solely to Mitchell. Backed by the single "Virginia" penned by Vancouver's Bruce Miller, Bryan Adams' "You Walked Away Again", and title- track, which featured the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra, the record was certified double platinum.

They followed it up in early 1980 with YOUNG AND RESTLESS. In an attempt to gain more success in the US, "American Music" was the first single. Though still Prism, the new record possessed a slicker feel to it, showing a definite maturity. The title track and "Satellite" helped push it gold at home, but failed to make much of an impression south of the Coutts/Sweet Grass border. Radio stations were playing the new single "Cover Girl" to death when it appeared on ALL THE BEST FROM PRISM that same year.

The first change in vocalists came in late 1980 when Tabak was replaced with Henry Small . SMALL CHANGE was released in '81 and the group was caught still trying to meld their new singer's style into an already established sound. "Rain" and the success of "Don't Let Him Know", penned by Vallance with Bryan Adams, helped push the album gold. When Mitchell left the group in '82, the band's future seemed uncertain, but Small carried the name with BEAT STREET, released in 1983. The lineup was really a different group than what people knew as 'Prism'. Despite cameos by the likes of Timothy B Schmidt (Eagles), Toto's Bobby Kimball and Richie Zito, an LA session player that earned his stripes with the likes of Neil Sedaka, Diana Ross, Art Garfunkel and Leo Sayer, the record was doomed to fail when the label put no effort into supporting it.

After Small went in a solo direction shortly after the record's release, the rumour mills were buzzing with a projected reuniting of the original Prism. Unfortunately though, that would never be. Canada mourned the loss of one of rock's most dominating voices when Ron Tabak succumbed to a brain hemhorrage caused by a bicycle accident on Boxing Day, 1984.

The group's future stayed a question mark for the next couple of years, but Mitchell decided to regroup in '87 and recruited new singer Darcy Deutsch whose previous band Simon Kaos was regarded as one of the top unsigned groups from the West Coast. The first recordings with the new lineup came the following year when they released the single "Good To Be Back", written by Harlow with Adams & Vallance.

Capitol released a compilation in their OVER SIXTY MINUTES series in 1988. Three years later, the old Seeds Of Time recordings re-surfaced on Eternal Enterprises Music, on an album called IMMORTAL. Though still active on the touring scene, the group wasn't heard from again until 1993, when they released JERICHO. Regarded by many as one of the most under-rated albums that year, "Speed Of Light", the title track and "Good To Be Back" blended classic Mitchell hooks with a strong melody base.

Deutsch's Renaissance Records in the States released a modified version of OVER SIXTY MINUTES WITH PRISM in '98, along with FROM THE VAULTS. More than simply another 'best of' package, the record also contains outtakes from the BEAT STREET and SMALL CHANGES albums. In '94 Deutsch also released an album overseas called WHITE VISION, and is currently contributing to a Foreigner-tribute project.

The band continued to tour throughout the 90s, until Mitchell quit the group to pursue other projects. Persevering, Harlow continued on, switching from bass to lead guitar and assuming the vocal duties, fronting various ensembles. In 2007, with a cast that included Gary Grace on drums, Steve-O on keyboards and guitar, and bassist Tad Goddard, they released BIG BLACK SKY, the band's first record of new material in a decade. It featured 11 new recordings, including the title track, "Tangiers," "Hundred Years," "Across The Border" and "Say You Want Me."