On this Rewind, for no other reason than we feel like it, we present an hour of the singer k.d. lang. Well, maybe there is a reason- it's her birthday tomorrow, November 2. Reason enough? Happy birthday k.d.


Back in 1984, k.d. lang was just another up and comer, intent on making her mark. But it wasn't just her music that set her apart- a mix of country, pop and blues- it was also her eccentric fashion sense that caused a buzz- cowboy shirt, skirt and horn-rimmed glasses. Oh, and the fact that she said she was the reincarnation of country idol Patsy Cline.

Lang got her musical start when she answered a newspaper ad to be part of a western-swing group called Dance Party. It was later renamed the Reclines, which Lang said was inspired by the Patsy Cline. K.D. and the Reclines recorded their first album, called A Truly Western Experience, in 1984 and it didn't take long before k.d. lang became a bona fide star.  

We start with an interview from 1984 just before she was set to go on her first Canadian tour. It's with Vicki Gabereau on the CBC Radio program Variety Tonight. And I must say that you can hear Vicki working a little as she attempts to figure out what k.d. is all about.

In fact, that first tour went so well that Vicki wanted to catch up with her some months later.

In that same year she won a Juno award for Most Promising Female Vocalist. She accepted the award wearing a wedding dress and dancing around the stage. Lang has since won eight Juno Awards.

Just after that, Jack Farr, who hosted The Radio Show, talked to her about that achievement.

The new album that lang talked about in that clip was released in 1987 and called Angel with a Lariat.

In 1987 Lang's career received a huge boost when Roy Orbison chose her to record a duet of his hit song "Crying." That song went on to win a Grammy award, one of four Grammys that k.d. has won.



In 1988 lang worked with Patsy Cline's producer Owen Bradley on her country album Shadowland.

Her 1989 album Absolute Torch and Twang won her a Grammy award for best female country vocal performance.

In the early 1990s k.d. courted controversy and alienated the Alberta beef industry with an anti meat campaign she did with an animal rights group. They called it "Meat Stinks." There was a lot of negative reaction not just in Canada, but in the U.S. and some American radio stations banned her music.

Our next piece is an interview from 1992 when lang talked to Peter Gzowski on the program Morningside. She had just released a new album called Ingenue.

1992, which was also the year she came out as a lesbian. A year later she caused a bit of a stir when she appeared on the cover of the magazine Vanity Fair dressed as a man, while the model Cindy Crawford appeared to be giving her a shave.

Lang's most recent album is called Sing it Loud and on it she's accompanied by her band The Siss Boom Bang.

Songs played in this hour:
Stop, Look, Listen
Bopelena
There You Go
Crying (with Roy Orbison)
Miss Chatelaine
Constant Craving
I Confess
Hallelujah (2010 Olympics version)