A man of many varied talents, Joey Cee is noted as one of Canada’s successful entertainment entrepreneurs and a renaissance man. Over the past 59 years, he has earned a reputation for being creative and diversified, managing to handle his projects with attention to detail. His hands-on approach applied to all his productions has earned him accolades from his peers and the press. In 1988, Joey was chosen as one of the Top 50 Men of Influence in Peter Worthington’s “Influence Magazine”. On March 7th,1998, he was inducted into the RPM Canadian Music Industry Hall of Fame. He twice received the Digital Media Award for show production. In September 2014, he was honoured with a star in the Mississauga Walk of Fame, and in May 2015, he was nominated for the Marty Awards’ Laurie Pallet Award by the Mississauga Arts Council.
Joey Cee, for the most part, finds himself comfortable behind the scenes. Even when he was recording as a vocalist with record releases on Capitol-EMI, Quality-Private Stock, and London Records, you would only find his name on the writing credits and not as the performer because of the various pseudonyms he used on more than a dozen single releases. Only once on A&M Records and on his own JCO Records did he reveal his identity.
In the past he has been responsible for many entertainment milestones including: publishing Canada’s “first” all-Canadian music magazine Music Canada Quarterly; producing Music Canada the first all-Canadian radio feature for national syndication on CBC Radio; instrumental in the launch of the careers of such recording artists as The Guess Who, Steppenwolf, Dan Hill and others; publishing the music industry weekly trade newspaper Record Week – the predecessor to The Record and David Farrell’s FYI; first to record and commercially release “Any Dream Will Do”/”Close Every Door” from Webber & Rice’s Joseph & The Technicolor Dreamcoat on Capitol-EMI; co-ordinated the Canadian publicity and promotion for “We Are The World”; produced the city proclaimed Canada Day events in Los Angeles (Hollywood) for two consecutive years; responsible for nominating and orchestrating the star-studded dedication ceremonies on the Hollywood Walk of Fame for film director Norman Jewison; writing, co-ordinating, recording and releasing the Red Cross Tornado Relief recording “Nature’s Eyes” by the Voices of Hope featuring more than 75 Canadian performers, including Helen Reddy and producing the infamous Hot Spots Reports for top radio stations in Los Angeles, New York, Toronto, Buffalo and Montreal.
For 30 years, Joey Cee was the associate producer of the annual Beaches International Jazz Festival, Streetfest, and the former PartiGras Festivals at the Distillery in Toronto, as well as co-producer of the annual Country 95.3 Country Jam on Canada Day (at Sunnyside Beach and Woodbine Parks), and the former CISS-FM new Country Festival (in the Beaches). He also recently produced several instalments of the star-studded International Digital Media Awards in Toronto. Since October 2006 he has produced The Chocolate Ball, The 911 Chocolate Relay Events, and several other chocolate-related events as part of The Toronto Chocolate Festival. In 2011, he launched the annual Toronto Luxury Chocolate Show which was held at Roy Thomson Hall and The Toronto Reference Library. These are also fundraisers for The Prostate and Breast Cancer Initiatives Fund and Heart, Mind and Soul Initiatives, as well as Gilda’s Club Ontario, SickKids Hospital and countless other charities.
Joey Cee is also the publisher and editor-in-chief of the city’s very popular TorontoOnDemand.com which includes HOToronto Magazine (now in its 29th year), WOW Mississauga Magazine, What’s On Where International Destination Magazines, Toronto Vision and is president of JCO Communications Inc., a company that produces and develops new festivals and events.
He is also the owner and in-house producer for Nightflite Records which produced and released the first Christmas album by the world-renowned Famous PEOPLE Players in the fall of 2006.
Currently, Joey Cee is continuing with the Toronto Chocolate Festival as new segments of the Festival are added each year. 2018 marks the 18th year for the Festival. As well as adding the Vaughan Chocolate Ball in 2010, and a one-time Chocolate Ball in Hamilton, plans are well underway to present the 18th CHOCOLATE BALL in Niagara-on-the-Lake on November 4, 2023
Included in his Toronto On Demand publishing roster are GALAvanting Magazine, Shows and Exhibitions Magazine, Curtains Up Magazine, Festivals + Special Events Magazine, and What’s On Where Magazines. Supplements include the Beaches International Jazz Festival Program. In early 2016 he introduced the all-new (International) Chocolate Affairs Magazine. www.ChocolateAffairsMagazine.com
Joey is currently writing his first book based on his life in the Canadian Music Business, which is planned for launch by the end of 2023.