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In Pursuit of Yesteryear
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by Ric Taylor
December 22 - 28, 2005 |
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It doesn’t seem like that long ago. It wasn’t exactly the era when
dinosaurs roamed the earth, but it was a time when Canadian
rock began its quest to dominate these shores. We’re only talking
the late 1980s—a time we still celebrate, dressed in Azod shirts
and acid–wash jeans at Miami Vice–athons.
The late ’80s saw the birth of a renaissance in Canadian
music, with indie bands following their American counterparts
and actually getting attention on their own merits. It was the birth
of many groups that would colour sounds and sights on radio and
TV for the rest the century—Blue Rodeo, The Tragically Hip,
Cowboy Junkies, The Grapes of Wrath and Crash Vegas all began
their careers during that time, but the band that shot to fame
nearly right out of the box was The Pursuit of Happiness.
Now, 20 years later and after nearly eight years on hiatus,
TPOH continue their quest with a short–lived reunion for their
greatest hits package, When We Ruled.
“I realized we didn’t have a best–of,” muses TPOH founder,
Moe Berg. “There are bands that put out one record that have a
best–of, so I thought maybe we were the only band in the world
that didn’t have a best–of. So I approached my manager and said
maybe we should think about doing this. Maybe it was just that I
never asked anybody—because as soon as I did, it just kind of
happened.”
Berg has kept busy producing new indie bands as well as
fostering a budding career as an author, with a book of short
stories already out and a novel in the works. Back in the day,
however, TPOH were a part of the DIY world that was then called
alternative rock—bands rebuking the music industry of the day
and doing it completely by themselves. American bands like REM
and Black Flag reconstructed punk ideals and created new music
that would resonate even decades later. And while TPOH might
not be remembered as part of the vanguard of new rock, they did
help meld hard rock and pop sensibilities and prove that you
didn’t need a lot of money to become a success.
“Edmonton was a hard place to be in a band, and once I
moved to Toronto in 1986 the band kind of fell together quickly
after that,” remembers Berg on the early days of TPOH. “We may
have had a mindset about the kind of music we wanted to play,
but we didn’t know what we were doing other than that. We put a
band together and a friend had some recording equipment in his
basement, so we went down and recorded some songs to get
some gigs on Queen St. Then another filmmaker friend said
maybe we should make a video.
“We handed the song to some college stations and
submitted the video to MuchMusic, and all of a sudden everyone
started playing the songs,” adds the singer. “It wasn’t part of any
grand plan—we were just doing it. We weren’t going to sit around
and wait for a record company to pick us up—we just did it DIY. It
was pretty much the whole indie thing until everyone else got
involved.
“The best part of that time is that there really wasn’t a
musical movement going on. At the time I was probably listening
to a lot of Replacements, but there wasn’t any real musical trends.
There was a bunch of Canadian bands that all started around that
same time, and it was a good time to be in a band and no one
expected you to sound like anything.
Consequently, all those bands didn’t sound like one another
but they all got attention. All of those bands got American record
deals—it was a transitional time in Canadian music and indie
bands had a chance to get noticed and a lot of bands ended up
getting signed.”
However old you were at the time, if you were a sentient
being in the ‘80s, there was no escaping TPOH. When their debut
single and video “I’m An Adult Now” hit the airwaves everyone
took note. It was quirky and funny but it still rocked, and best of
all, the song’s lyrical perspective was tainted with an irony that
even pleased the intellectuals. It would become TPOH’s calling
card, blending many different types of music fans, hard rock,
college rock, and the mainstream together, affording them a
quick growth from the small clubs to the convention centres.
Even with the all of TPOH’s success, they may have been a
little before their time.
“Either it was the virtue or the problem, we didn’t go one
way or the
other,” offers Berg on the mix of hard–riffery with sweet pop
melody. “I’ve always liked rock—I grew up listening to rock and
heavy metal but I always had a pop sensibility, especially with the
way I wrote a song—so I never thought I had to choose one or the
other so we incorporated both into our music.
“‘I’m An Adult Now’—I had written that song before we even
had the band together, so I was probably in my early 20s. I
probably didn’t have a clue
what I was talking about when I wrote it, but the lyrics have
become more real as time goes by. I guess it was a song I needed
to grow into and maybe,
when I wrote it, it was more of a prophecy than a truism. Maybe
it’s more true now than when I wrote it.
“But we kind of missed the boat on that loser culture,” he
adds. “I don’t think that there are bands that sound like us now,
but I think our lyrical perspective, you hear that all the time now. I
think I may have been one of the original nerds, zeros and losers.
“Bands like Green Day, The Smashing Pumpkins and
Radiohead had songs like ‘Zero’ or ‘Creep.’ Maybe if we had
started two years later, maybe we would have been a part of that.
Again, I was only able to write from the perspective that I knew,
and that was always the way I thought of myself.
“At the time, the hair metal stage was fading then and
everyone was talking about how hot they were and I was coming
out and talking about the
opposite of that. I think for some people it worked and for some
people it
didn’t, but later on that seemed to become a more acceptable
point of view.”
Demand for Berg’s perspective hasn’t waned over the years
(even if Canadian radio seems to not be as supportive). In fact,
American power pop label Razor And Tie commissioned their own
TPOH greatest hits release a few years ago, but Canadians only
now get to revisit the band’s legacy.
The new compilation contains songs from across their career
(although primarily culled from the band’s magnum opus debut,
Love Junk), and even includes two new songs, a Prince cover as
well as some unreleased material. The songs retain a timeless
quality and even the more unfamiliar songs of the latter days
seem fresh, but the best part of it all for Berg and his fans is that
a whole new generation can stake claim to the coming of age
mantra of the band’s debut single as well as a wealth of incredible
power pop.
“I’m grateful that it was as successful as it was,” offers Berg
on the song people fell in love with. “But the reunion is an end in
itself. I wanted to see some sort of document that we were here.
We’re doing some songs, but I don’t see anything past that. We’ve
never tried to close the door on anything but we definitely have
no plans to do anymore.”
With the last incarnation of TPOH including Berg on vocals
and guitars, Dave Gilby (drums) Brad Barker (bass) Chris Abbot
(Guitar, vocals) and Rene Suchy (vocals), the band’s return to the
stage offers a glimpse into a solid Canadian outfit, and fans both
young and old can mark the temporary yet landmark return of
TPOH.
“I’m sure anybody who saw us before and sees us now will
enjoy the
show,” says Berg. “The band still sounds great. We tried to make
the songs sound like they could have been on our other records.
It’ll be a lot of the same of what anyone remembers. The point is
not to have ‘TPOH Mach II’ with some new direction. We’re
basically playing our best songs—we’re having fun. I really
wanted this document and I’m really happy that it’s out.
“You hope that kids will find what you do interesting. Kids
are the people who listen to popular music and rock n’ roll. I
don’t think our music is dated and can still have a certain amount
of relevance to young people now. But it’s just about
documenting what we did. I guess there was a time when we did
rule—when we were a big important band—so the name of the CD
was me just being a smart alec.
“But I have very modest expectations for this. I’ll be happy to
have some fans go to the show and have a good time.”
The Pursuit of Happiness
w/ The Populars
Wednesday, Dec. 28
Starlight
Tix: $12 adv. • 885-4970
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