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The Beat Goes On/Rise Up

August 27, 2009 9:45 AM

A jukebox full of Canuck Canadian classics from Gordon Lightfoot's "Sundown" to Troopers "Raise a Little Hell".

Tell us what you thought of this series.

Comments

anw wrote:

August 27, 2009 11:45 PM

How come Gerry Boulet and Offenbach were not mentioned?

Keith wrote:

August 28, 2009 1:21 PM

Good show, not great! It was over edited bouncing too quickly between artists. More time could have been spent with the prominent people of the time: Joni, Gordie, Band etc. I think for an English speaking show too much time was devoted to Franco-phonics. There was just so much music in the 70's just in Toronto, Vancouver and Winnepeg that it is difficult to really do it justice, places like Gasworks, Piccadilly Tube and el Mocambo just hummed with talent. Great reflection but needed more music

Diane Allen wrote:

August 28, 2009 1:31 PM

Fascinating program both for me (a baby-boomer) & my young adult son, but we both wonder why Neil Young was not even mentioned?

CSH wrote:

August 28, 2009 3:46 PM

Don't forget these shows have been split into 2 hours instead of a full 2 hour show.

Bill wrote:

August 28, 2009 3:51 PM

Where's Neil Young?!

Irene Gelyk wrote:

August 28, 2009 4:54 PM

Wonderful program. Some many bands that were really good that I totally forgot about. Will there be a complete list of all the bands/performers mentioned during the series? I'd love to track down their music.

marion lewis wrote:

August 29, 2009 11:05 AM

Nick has transited into corporate! What a shame, the whole show was a useless completely self censoring honey trap. I can just see all the lads, josting in the editing room for who knew who when and so on.

No sense of the sweeping cultural effort made in those days by many people in many different media. The shots of MJOE, were edited to the point of being useless- he was hardly allowed to sing one line of a song!! And the words "Shot by Moses Znaimer" over shadowed the images and the words are just untrue. He may have booked the crew, ( no mean feat at TV zero) but a camera person at TVO did the actual shoot. Pandering the rich and famous at its worst!. But that is how it goes in Canada, corporate rules- even our own cultural history is locked up in corporate vaults- aided and abetted by those who like to take credit for being there.

Bardo wrote:

September 1, 2009 12:25 PM

Here's a list of songs featured.

Dancin' Fool - The Guess Who (Top 20 North America, 1975)
Seasons in the Sun - Terry Jacks (#1 Worldwide, 1974)
You Ain't Seen Nothing Yet - BTO (#1 North American, 1974)
Taking Care of Business - BTO (Top 10 North America, 1974)
Brain Damage - McKenna Mendelson Mainline
Caline de blues - Offenbach
Flip Flop & Fly - Downchild Blues Band (#7 Canada, 1973)
Move Up To the Country - Dutch Mason
Hot Hot Papa - David Wilcox & the Teddy Bears
Sundown - Gordon Lightfoot (#1 North America, 1974)
Alberta Bound - The Good Brothers
Cotton Jenny - Anne Murray
Rock & Roll Song - Valdy
White Line - Willie P. Bennett
Heart Like A Wheel - Kate and Anna McGarrigle
Free Man In Paris - Joni Mitchell (Top 20 North America, 1974)
The Frog Song - Robert Charlebois
Le picbois - Beau Dommage
Chanson demondee – Les Seguin
Quelle belle journee – Gilles Valiquette
Spirit of the North - CANO
Comme un fou - Harmonium
Hot Child In the City - Nick Gilder (#1 Worldwide, 1978)
Spaceship Superstar - Prism
Raise a Little Hell - Trooper (Top 5 Canada, 1978)

Paul wrote:

September 7, 2009 12:06 PM

Why is Michel Pagliaro consistently left out of these sorts of things? The second episode paid considerable mention to many obscure, albeit great acts including WGB and Figgy Duff from my native province. While this was obviously gratifying I kept scratching my heqad and wondering why Pag was ignored again just he always seems to be whenever Upper Canadians get together ot discuss "Canadian Music". He also didn't get a mention in the recent "Geatest Canadian Albums of All Time" book. The man was a true pioneer. A French Canadian who recorded hits in English which not only crossed over into the mainstream in their day but can rightly be called essential Canadain rock; timeless classics if you will. On classic rock station all across this country these four or five songs (everyone knows what they are, even people who don't know them by name) are in regular rotation and they NEVER get stale. It's time someone took issue with this appalling, repeated slight of a true Canadian legend

Mark Balon wrote:

September 8, 2009 11:27 PM

As an educator I am always on the look out for Canadian History information. With the arts playing a vital role in our history I am glad another documentary on Canadian Music has emerged. This doc has captured some of the artists of the 70's and 80's, but by no means all of them. I guess time is limited, but there were many artists missed, (I agree with Paul about Pag being missed again) especially from the prairie provinces!

Loved the shows though! Do More! Break it into Canada's geographical areas and focus on more artists!

Now my next questions are:
Will this doc be released on DVD so educators and music lovers can enjoy it some more?
Will DocZone find the documentary "Heart of Gold"? another fine Canadian Music history film and play it for us?
Does anyone know where I can find "Heart of Gold" on DVD? Been looking for years, but no one know what I'm talking about at video or music stores.

Keep Rockin Canada!

Michelle wrote:

September 11, 2009 12:33 AM

Loved part 1 of Rise Up! Brought back so many great memories! Well done! I can't wait for part 2!!

Dee wrote:

September 11, 2009 8:00 AM

I watched the 1st part of "Rise Up' last night and really enjoyed it. Some fun memories.
I did notice some glaring omissions, though. For example: Luba and Honeymoon Suite. Mentioned in passing but deserving of much more focus: Platinum Blonde (who were HUGE mid-80s) and Images in Vogue.
All in all, it was a good program and I am looking forward to watching part 2.

Dave wrote:

September 11, 2009 10:47 AM

What I saw was good. One omission I noted was Blue Peter.

Herbert wrote:

September 13, 2009 3:14 AM

I don't mean to sound unpatriotic but Canadian music history doesn't interest me in terms of genre.

I grew up in Toronto listening to CHUM and watching American Bandstand from the early 60s onwards.

The genres that caught my ears were the vocal groups that came via Motown, Phil Spector, Ellie Greenwich, Cameo-Parkway -- The Supremes, The Temptations, The Marvelettes, The Crystals, The Ronettes, The Shangri-Las, The Orlons, Dee Dee Sharp, The Delfonics.

Outside of The Diamonds (The Stroll) and one-hit wonders Jackie Shane (Any Other Way) and Shirley Matthews (Big Town Boy) and hit writer-singer R. Dean Taylor (Gotta See Jane), there wasn't much for me to groove to.
I wasn't into Rock, Folk, Country and their spin-offs then and now.

The Rise Up episode did feature some of the artists that I liked such as The Parachute Club and The Spoons because they came close to the Dance (Disco) genre I could get into.

The sad spectacle where Disco records were blown up and the riots that followed was tinged with racism and homophobia. In the 50s, Rock 'n' Roll discs were smashed while the music came under fire by the Church and racist monders.

I really wished that Canada had a music scene that came close to Detroit, New York and Philadelphia. The U.K. did via Dusty Springfield.

Today's Canadian music scene is wide open making it possible for Nelly Furtado, Mikey Bustos to be heard.

Brian wrote:

September 14, 2009 6:26 PM

I enjoyed these two documentaries very much. All praise for including Nash the Slash, an important but often forgotten footnote in Canadian music!

Bob wrote:

September 17, 2009 11:33 PM

I missed about half an hour of the show -- did they ever get to Luba???
I can't believe they could have missed her.
She won 3 consecutive Juno's as Best Female Singer in Canada, had countless hit songs, and still is making music and has a large following.

Colin wrote:

September 19, 2009 12:01 AM

While I generally liked the series, I was surprised by some of the choices that seemed pretty obscure, while many commercially successfully acts were missed. But maybe that's not surprising. Moreover, the heavy Toronto bias really came out in the sort of details and interviews that were never offered, for example, about Vancouver's vibrant music scene in the late 70's and early 80's.

In terms of successful bands and songs that were missed, Chilliwack's Fly at Night remains one of the biggest Canadian hits on radio, and should have been included in the 70's documentary. I was also surprised by the omission of Honeymoon Suite as mentioned by others. Though less well-known, bands like Saga, Harlequin, Strange Advance, Platinum Blond and Stonebolt produced some big international hits, and they should have merited some mention, too.

Darren wrote:

October 17, 2009 1:21 PM

In response to the posting about the possibility of the three part Canadian music documentary 'Heart Of Gold' from 1982 to be re-released on DVD.

Insight Production Company Ltd. in Toronto was involved with the creation of the 'Heart Of Gold' documentary with Peter Shatalow as director/co-writer and John Brunton as executive producer. Donald Sutherland was narrator of the show.

I contacted Insight Production Company Ltd. by email from their website and they confirmed that a DVD re-release of the 'Heart Of Gold' documentary will not be occurring anytime in the future.

Darren wrote:

October 19, 2009 12:45 PM

I forgot to add that the three part Canadian music television documentary 'Heart Of Gold' was broadcasted on the CBC Superspecial (aired Dec 12, 13, 14) of 1982.

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