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The RIP 2023 Thread


TrueBlue4ever

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had a complicated history within the Winnipeg music scene. He just wasn't cut out for life on the road, though they tried a couple times. Originally a Guess Who member (there was short overlap with both he and Burt in the band together) and he did sing leads on their first national single, a cover of "Shakin' All Over". He eventually quit because life on the road just wasn't for him... stayed around Winnipeg teaching music instead. Later, when Randy was regrouping after leaving TGW, and was working on early versions of BTO (Brave Belt, etc) Chad was one of the first to come on board with him... but unfortunately that didn't last either. Regardless, you talk to anyone who was a part of the scene back then (certainly not me... this is a good 15-20 years before I was born, but I've read all the books...) and he was as talented as anyone going at that time. Winnipeg was just a HOT BED of musical talent back in those days...

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2 minutes ago, SpeedFlex27 said:

I was a big April Wine fan. This is such a huge loss. The guy was a Canadian Icon. Whenever we talk about the 70's rock music, April Wine was front & center. Myles Goodwin had such a distinct voice. Rest in Peace., Myles Goodwyn.

 

 

He stopped touring with the band but was still part of the band in other capacities as April Wine continues to tour.

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3 minutes ago, SpeedFlex27 said:

Yeah, he retired a number of years ago. I'm glad he did. He was able to enjoy the fruits of his labour until he died today. Sad day. 

Somehow even though they were very popular in Canada I feel the band should of bigger worldwide than they were.

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1 hour ago, bustamente said:

Somehow even though they were very popular in Canada I feel the band should of bigger worldwide than they were.

Kind of suffered from Tragically Hip syndrome.  Huge in Canada, never really broke through elsewhere, though the band creating songs like "Running back to Saskatoon" may have guaranteed it tough to break out of Canada...like the Hip singing about Bobcaygeon and having lyrics like "Jacques Cartier, right this...way"....lol...

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1 hour ago, bustamente said:

Somehow even though they were very popular in Canada I feel the band should of bigger worldwide than they were.

I agree but that should have been up to their record label to promote them.

Just now, kelownabomberfan said:

Kind of suffered from Tragically Hip syndrome.  Huge in Canada, never really broke through elsewhere, though the band creating songs like "Running back to Saskatoon" may have guaranteed it tough to break out of Canada...like the Hip singing about Bobcaygeon and having lyrics like "Jacques Cartier, right this...way"....lol...

I didn't know what Bobcaygeon was until I googled it a few years ago. A lot of great Canadian bands flew under the radar & never got a lot of air time on American radio. 

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On 2023-12-02 at 11:06 AM, Noeller said:

had a complicated history within the Winnipeg music scene. He just wasn't cut out for life on the road, though they tried a couple times. Originally a Guess Who member (there was short overlap with both he and Burt in the band together) and he did sing leads on their first national single, a cover of "Shakin' All Over". He eventually quit because life on the road just wasn't for him... stayed around Winnipeg teaching music instead. Later, when Randy was regrouping after leaving TGW, and was working on early versions of BTO (Brave Belt, etc) Chad was one of the first to come on board with him... but unfortunately that didn't last either. Regardless, you talk to anyone who was a part of the scene back then (certainly not me... this is a good 15-20 years before I was born, but I've read all the books...) and he was as talented as anyone going at that time. Winnipeg was just a HOT BED of musical talent back in those days...

So what happened that made the boom go bust?

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3 minutes ago, SpeedFlex27 said:

I agree but that should have been up to their record label to promote them.

I didn't know what Bobcaygeon was until I googled it a few years ago. A lot of great Canadian bands flew under the radar & never got a lot of air time on American radio. 

We of course love the TH but you have to admit putting out songs like Wheat Kings about David Milgaard and "38 Years Old" about a prison break in Kingston Ontario isn't going to make many Americans run out to buy the CD (as we used to do in the 1990's)....

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On 2023-12-02 at 10:06 AM, Noeller said:

had a complicated history within the Winnipeg music scene. He just wasn't cut out for life on the road, though they tried a couple times. Originally a Guess Who member (there was short overlap with both he and Burt in the band together) and he did sing leads on their first national single, a cover of "Shakin' All Over". He eventually quit because life on the road just wasn't for him... stayed around Winnipeg teaching music instead. Later, when Randy was regrouping after leaving TGW, and was working on early versions of BTO (Brave Belt, etc) Chad was one of the first to come on board with him... but unfortunately that didn't last either. Regardless, you talk to anyone who was a part of the scene back then (certainly not me... this is a good 15-20 years before I was born, but I've read all the books...) and he was as talented as anyone going at that time. Winnipeg was just a HOT BED of musical talent back in those days...

Chad Allen & The Reflections wioth Bachman & Cummings would play school dances in Winnipeg. As well as community clubs around town. Neil Young was also part of the music scene when Chad Allen was as well. Different band but very popular. I also remember going to the Norwood Hotel & watched a young Harlequin band play in the mid 70's. There were always lineups wherever Harlequin played. 

5 minutes ago, iHeart said:

So what happened that made the boom go bust?

Liquor laws changed in & around 1977 to allow recorded music & dancing. That killed the local music scene as recorded music was cheaper than paying bands.

Edited by SpeedFlex27
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26 minutes ago, iHeart said:

So what happened that made the boom go bust?

The music industry has changed. Manitoba still pumps out a ton of talent (I would argue it's more in the "Country" music world these days, with about 75% of that being indigenous artists) but Manitoba has a ton of music and musicians. For my money, William Prince is one of the most talented artists Manitoba has ever produced. He's Canada's version of Chris Stapleton.

Also, The Tragically Hip never gave one single solitary **** about breaking into the US. Downie, the primary songwriter, was as proud a Canadian as you will ever find. They had their following in the US (mostly along the eastern seaboard) but they were perfectly content being Canada's answer to REM....

Edited by Noeller
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31 minutes ago, SpeedFlex27 said:

Chad Allen & The Reflections wioth Bachman & Cummings would play school dances in Winnipeg. As well as community clubs around town. Neil Young was also part of the music scene when Chad Allen was as well. Different band but very popular. I also remember going to the Norwood Hotel & watched a young Harlequin band play in the mid 70's. There were always lineups wherever Harlequin played. 

Liquor laws changed in & around 1977 to allow recorded music & dancing. That killed the local music scene as recorded music was cheaper than paying bands.

Neil Young played my mom's prom at Kelvin in the early 1960's.  Pretty cool stuff.  I remember being at U of M at B52's (I think that's what it was called, I didn't go to U of M but I would visit my buddies when back in town) and they were pumped to see some new band called the Crash Test Dummies perform.  That was like late 80's or early 90's I think?  What's come out of Winnipeg since the CTD?  

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16 minutes ago, kelownabomberfan said:

Neil Young played my mom's prom at Kelvin in the early 1960's.  Pretty cool stuff.  I remember being at U of M at B52's (I think that's what it was called, I didn't go to U of M but I would visit my buddies when back in town) and they were pumped to see some new band called the Crash Test Dummies perform.  That was like late 80's or early 90's I think?  What's come out of Winnipeg since the CTD?  

Speaking of Winnipeg bands, there was a band that used to play the A in the 90s, I believe the were called Howling Now.

Anyways, they always played this one song called "Do you **** on first dates?" It was always a crowd favorite.

I was always impressed that they came up with that song. Well.... that was until recently when I discovered an Australian singer/comedian wrote and performed it well before they did. LOL 

 

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I don't even think they were CTDs at that point. When they were coming out of UofM ( they were THE campus band at the time), they were Bad Brad Roberts and the St James Rhythm Pigs (one of the all time great band names) before changing to CTDs sometime around 1991 maybe?? Somewhere around there.

After them, in terms of that sort of Pop Rock world, it was The Weakerthans. There's been some others, but that genre of music has little to no financial success so most who are starting up now, go the "Country" route because it's slightly more profitable. Even CTDs member Murray Pulver joined Doc Walker to do the country thing for awhile before retiring from road life. 

I think there's still a decent indie rock scene in the city, but I don't know a lot about that world. I know that Don Amero, David James, and the Petric brothers (Tom and Jay), have all had a lot of national success on the country charts. Desiree Dorion, Jade Turner, Sean Taylor, Kendra Kvemshagen (understandably, she just goes by Kendra Kay), and Quentin Blair have all been relatively successful regionally. 

Personally, I'm a massive fan of Foster Martin Band, who have just recently reunited with lead singer and primary songwriter Ray Martin, and are booking gigs again. I haven't seen them live in nearly 20 years and I swear when I finally move home, one of the first things I do will be to check out their show.

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2 hours ago, WinnipegGordo said:

Speaking of Winnipeg bands, there was a band that used to play the A in the 90s, I believe the were called Howling Now.

Anyways, they always played this one song called "Do you **** on first dates?" It was always a crowd favorite.

I was always impressed that they came up with that song. Well.... that was until recently when I discovered an Australian singer/comedian wrote and performed it well before they did. LOL 

 

Sang this a lot with my mates when I lived in Perth....

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2 hours ago, Noeller said:

The music industry has changed. Manitoba still pumps out a ton of talent (I would argue it's more in the "Country" music world these days, with about 75% of that being indigenous artists) but Manitoba has a ton of music and musicians. For my money, William Prince is one of the most talented artists Manitoba has ever produced. He's Canada's version of Chris Stapleton.

Also, The Tragically Hip never gave one single solitary **** about breaking into the US. Downie, the primary songwriter, was as proud a Canadian as you will ever find. They had their following in the US (mostly along the eastern seaboard) but they were perfectly content being Canada's answer to REM....

It was the liquor laws that changed everything. The MLCC allowed hotel pubs to have recorded music. That change was made between 1975-77, not sure what year. Before, hotel pubs only could have live music (bands). I know, my friends & I used to go out Fridays & Saturday nights to listen to bands before the laws changed. Once the liquor laws changed, very few bands had venues to play & that is what killed the band scene in Winnipeg, All kinds of bars sprang up around Winnipeg as the recorded music didn't just have to be in hotels anymore. It had nothing to do with the music industry in Manitoba. 

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