Friday, August 18, 2006

The Tragically Hip

I would like to introduce my American friends to The Tragically Hip. (And we Canadians can enjoy a backtrax video) In my opinion they are the best Canadian band ever! The Hip released their first album, an EP, in 1987, but really made it big with their second album release in 1989, which included the huge hit New Orleans Is Sinking.

An excerpt from Wikipedia says " The band is immensely popular in Canada. They have never found great success in the United States, but have never specifically sought it. Their most-seen appearance in the United States was on March 20, 1995, when they appeared on Saturday Night Live with fellow Canadian and friend Dan Aykroyd guest starring, and with John Goodman hosting. In 1999, The Hip were also one of the featured bands at Woodstock '99 held in Rome, New York. When touring in Canada they typically play to sold-out arenas; when touring in the United States they will play smaller venues and clubs, or festivals where they aren't the headliner. Performances abroad are usually attended by Canadian expatriates. The band permit recordings of their performances, so an active trading community thrives. The tone and content of much of their music is a paean to the Canadian experience and touches on such themes as small-town life, geography, and hockey. The historical, geographical and individual references in many of the lyrics are a source of much internet discussion." To read all of it, click here. I've been lucky enough to see them live and it is always an event to say the least.

The video is for their song Poets off of the 1998 album Phantom Power. This is Gordie (who bears an uncanny resemblance to a friend of mine) at his quirky best.




8 comments:

Carrie™ said...

Melody, I'm not sure what happened here. The original post I had up magically disappeared. I did get to read your comment though. I'm glad I made your day.
My favorite albums of The Hip's are 'Up To Here' and 'Fully Completely'. If you go to their website, you can listen to little snippets of the songs from all of the albums. Let me know how you like the CD.

urban vegan said...

Welcome back, Carrie!

I feel tragically unhip b/c I never listened to the Hip, until now. Better late than never, though, huh?

theONLYtania said...

I like the video, these guys are pretty good! That singer kind of reminds me of the guy from R.E.M.

funwithyourfood said...

well that was awesome! Thanks for sharing. I've never heard of them either

Teddy

madeinalaska said...

Funny.. i vaguely remember them.. from the early 90's.. the long haired fellow looks a lot like my boyfriend best friend from back then..eekk.. funny though my boyfriends best friends girlfriend and i remained very good friends to this day... even though those boys are long gone..

Thanks for stopping by my blog so often! yes, regional food is quite a phenomenon isn't it? I was driving through Canada many moons ago (pre-vegan days) and had fries w/ chili and cheese.. ohh baby.. or the ever popular Canadian fav.. the fries w/ gravy!! Thought i had died and gone to heaven!!

Anonymous said...

Interesting group. They sorta remind me of a cross between "R.E.M" and "They Might Be Giants." I must admit I've never heard of them before.

On another note, Dan Aykroyd's white hair makes *ME* feel old...

Oh, and thanks for being a faithful visitor to my blog! It's amazing how a comment can make a person's day!

karen said...

Hi Carrie! Thanks for sharing one of your fav bands withus. I've heard of them, but never really listened to their music. I enjoyed this...

Dori said...

I can't get it to play :(
It says loading, but it has said this for about 10 minutes. Oh well, I came to say hi to you anyways. Hi!