Blue Rodeo Organ For Sale in Kids Help Phone/Have Not Been the Same Auction

The organ used by former Blue Rodeo member Bob Wiseman is up for auction with the proceeds going to a worthy cause.

Alongside the release of Have Not Been the Same, a 21-track compilation of previously unreleased Canadian indie rock gems to benefit Kids Help Phone, an eBay auction of items donated by the album's artists will take place until Dec. 3, with proceeds also going to Kids Help Phone.

The big-ticket item is Wiseman's iconic Ace Tone organ (bidding of which is at $234.50 Cdn/$235.61 US right now). Owning this instrument would mean owning a one-of-a-kind piece of Can-Rock history; the Model Top-5 -- painted in insane colors by Wiseman himself and lovingly held together with duct tape -- was a key element in early Blue Rodeo's sound.
Wiseman's description: "I can carry it myself but it's awkward. There is no case for it. One note has been broken in half since 1988 and I continued to play it that way. I liked the danger."

"This is the ultimate piece of memorabilia for any Blue Rodeo fan," says Have Not Been the Same's auction organizer Jason Schneider. "If I were to build a Canadian rock 'n' roll hall of fame, this organ would have to be in it."

Other items up for grabs include a collection of rare vinyl, posters and T-shirts donated by Ian Blurton of Change of Heart; hard-to-find Cowboy Junkies LPs donated by Michael Timmins, and a pair of Diodes promo posters circa 1977. There's also a "The Grunge That Stole Christmas" T-shirt that looks pretty sweet.

Have Not Been The Same: The Compilation is a companion album to the best-selling 2001 book of the same name by Schneider, Michael Barclay and Ian Jack. The definitive 780-page tome documented the rise of Canadian underground rock between the years 1985 and 1995 and was recently re-published in a 10th anniversary revised edition by ECW Press.

The tracklist for the compilation includes rare and previously unreleased music from the likes of Sloan, Doughboys, NoMeansNo and Sarah Harmer's old band Weeping Tile.