New Documentaries Reveal Canadian Pop Music's Past Glories
- Posted on Aug 27th 2009 12:50PM by Jonathan Dekel
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In what will no doubt be a nostalgia-filled trip for some and an educational entry point for most, the CBC is airing a pair of documentaries on the history of modern Canadian pop music entitled 'This Beat Goes On' and 'Rise Up.'
Made as sequels to 2006's 'Shaking All Over' -- the critically acclaimed doc chronicling Canadian music in the '60s -- 'This Beat Goes On' tackles the emergence of the Canadian music industry in the '70s (a subject Spinner touched on in our State of the Confederation series) while 'Rise Up' deals with the transition of vinyl to CD and the impact music videos had on Canadian pop during the '80s.
"For us it's just a celebration of music," director Gary McGroarty tells Spinner. "We worked on this series for six years -- these two follow-ups alone took three."
Written by music journalist Nicholas Jennings and narrated by radio host -- and former Moxy Fruvous member -- Jian Ghomeshi, the docs are filled with compelling stories of an industry going through the birth pangs of independence and finding its own voice in the shadow of America's pop-cultural mountain.
"What really shone though is Canada's unique position in the world," Jennings says. "As observers, we can monitor and comment on what goes on in America or in Europe. In some ways Canada has an advantage, despite our population size, [because] we have that perspective."
Building chronologically, Jennings and McGroarty used interviews with musicians from the '70s and '80s as well as contemporary stars like k-os, Broken Social Scene's Brendan Canning and Sam Roberts to highlight the importance acts such as Neil Young, April Wine and Bryan Adams had on the current music scene. "I see it as an evolutionary process. The very vibrant healthy Canadian music scene we have today is a direct result of the music that's come before," says Jennings.
"'Rise Up' by Parachute Club (pictured above) is my favourite Canadian song," admits old-school rap star Michie Mee. "The video was one of the first to feature breakdancing and they filmed a lot of it in places I grew up, so it was a real revelation. Seeing groups like Parachute Club and Triumph and then starting to write at a young age and going to New York and getting signed -- it just really reminded me of [how much Canadian music in the 80s] influenced me."
Parachute Club singer Lorraine Segato remains proud of her band's lasting pop legacy. "If you look at any of the current groups out there -- Broken Social Scene, Arcade Fire, Metric or even the Hidden Cameras -- they're not necessary inspired by the music that happened in the '80s, but their vision of these large collectives bringing in different influences would never have happened without the scene that came out of that decade," she says. "Canada has a rich cultural history which nobody really knows about. Hopefully with these films the younger generation will see them and say, 'I had no idea!"
'This Beat Goes On' and 'Rise Up' air for the next four Thursdays, 9PM on CBC and will later be released on DVD
