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The Tragically Hip


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#61 VicHockeyFan

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Posted 23 August 2016 - 10:54 AM

I think there are a lot of factors playing in to their failure to break worldwide and why they are only a Canadian phenomenon. One is the lack of an infectious, massive US #1 hit like the Barenaked Ladies or Nelly Furtado had. 

 

Right.  Barenaked Ladies lucked out with knowing and being Canadian with Michael J. Fox, and their song being used for the theme song to Spin City.

 

Then again, who the hell does the Friends theme song, and why are they not huge?


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#62 jonny

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Posted 23 August 2016 - 11:28 AM

Good to see that fanboys in 2016 are just as sensitive as when I was in high school.

 

I actually like the Hip, but calling them Canada’s Shakespeare is over the top.


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#63 Jables

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Posted 23 August 2016 - 11:41 AM

Good to see that fanboys in 2016 are just as sensitive as when I was in high school.

 

There's no need to be so immature.  If you think Ron MacLean went a little over the top when he called them Canada's Shakespeare (and, for the record, I do think he did) then that's all you need to say.


Edited by Jables, 23 August 2016 - 12:03 PM.


#64 Rob Randall

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Posted 23 August 2016 - 11:42 AM

 

I actually like the Hip, but calling them Canada’s Shakespeare is over the top.

 

I agree with that. More like Canada's Dylan. Only Leonard Cohen is comparable. 


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#65 jeffifah

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Posted 23 August 2016 - 02:29 PM

Wow I just need to say that even if you were deaf and couldn't hear a note of their music, their lyrics alone are exceptional.  Throw in a charismatic frontman and you have two reasons right there for their success. As I've told my son (a musician), quite frequently it's not about the talent.  It's about performance,  charisma, street smarts, connecting.... and having something special that the possibly more talented artist just doesn't have. There are plenty of hugely talented musicians playing alone in their basements to an audience of one.  Watch Twenty Feet From Stardom on Netflix and it will clarify it even better than I ever could.

 

Here's an example in my opinion,  of brilliant lyrics: 

About a breakup. Boots and Hearts.  I mean who compares hearts coming apart to boots coming apart?  But it works....it's a great image.

 

I feel I've stepped out of the wilderness
All squint-eyed and confused
But even babies raised by wolves
They know exactly when they've been used
See when it starts to fall apart
Man, it really falls apart
Like boots or hearts, oh when they start
They really fall apart
Ooo fingers and toes, fingers and toes
Forty things we share
Forty one if you include
The fact that we don't care

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#66 LeoVictoria

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Posted 23 August 2016 - 05:41 PM

While we're making comparisons I'd say the Hip are very much like Midnight Oil in Australia (who I'm also a fan of).   Sure Midnight Oil had a bit more international success but for the most part it was a decades long australian phenomenon.

Both are also more interesting lyrically than musically which makes them have staying power and broader appeal.  



#67 VicHockeyFan

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Posted 23 August 2016 - 05:56 PM

 

Wow I just need to say that even if you were deaf and couldn't hear a note of their music, their lyrics alone are exceptional.  Throw in a charismatic frontman and you have two reasons right there for their success. As I've told my son (a musician), quite frequently it's not about the talent.  It's about performance,  charisma, street smarts, connecting.... and having something special that the possibly more talented artist just doesn't have. There are plenty of hugely talented musicians playing alone in their basements to an audience of one.  Watch Twenty Feet From Stardom on Netflix and it will clarify it even better than I ever could.

 

Here's an example in my opinion,  of brilliant lyrics: 

About a breakup. Boots and Hearts.  I mean who compares hearts coming apart to boots coming apart?  But it works....it's a great image.

 

I feel I've stepped out of the wilderness
All squint-eyed and confused
But even babies raised by wolves
They know exactly when they've been used
See when it starts to fall apart
Man, it really falls apart
Like boots or hearts, oh when they start
They really fall apart
Ooo fingers and toes, fingers and toes
Forty things we share
Forty one if you include
The fact that we don't care

 

 

Those are good lyrics.  But what about Bon Jovi's Bad Medicine?  From the album that sold 9,000,000 records, from a band that sold 130M records.

 

 
Your love is like bad medicine
Bad medicine is what I need, whoa
Shake it up just like bad medicine
There ain't no doctor that can cure my disease
Bad medicine
I ain't got a fever, got a permanent disease
And it'll take more than a doctor to prescribe a remedy
I got lots of money but it isn't what I need
Gonna take more than a shot to get this poison out of me
And I got all the symptoms count 'em 1, 2,3
First you need, then you bleed, and when you're on your knees
(That's what you get for falling in love
You get a little but it's never enough
That what you get for falling in love)
Now, this boy's addicted 'cause your kiss is the drug, whoa
Your love is like bad medicine, bad medicine is what I need, whoa
Shake it up just like bad medicine

 


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<p><span style="font-size:12px;"><em><span style="color:rgb(40,40,40);font-family:helvetica, arial, sans-serif;">"I don’t need a middle person in my pizza slice transaction" <strong>- zoomer, April 17, 2018</strong></span></em></span>

#68 dasmo

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Posted 23 August 2016 - 05:57 PM

Dude, that’s deep.

The story is certainly very sad and caught a lot of people’s attention.

Sure, the Hip have a very devoted following in Canada, but are more of a cult act elsewhere. They're probably more of a “B” act. They are certainly nowhere near the level of Celine, Shania, Drake, Bieber, etc. They are more of a Nelly Furtado.

Oh my....

#69 LJ

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Posted 23 August 2016 - 07:37 PM

Those are good lyrics.  But what about Bon Jovi's Bad Medicine?  From the album that sold 9,000,000 records, from a band that sold 130M records.

 

Most song lyrics are kind of strange anyway aren't they. It's like in English Lit where you have to try and figure out what the author meant by something, waste of time to me. 


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#70 VicHockeyFan

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Posted 23 August 2016 - 07:44 PM

Most song lyrics are kind of strange anyway aren't they. It's like in English Lit where you have to try and figure out what the author meant by something, waste of time to me. 

 

I agree, I said earlier I do not pay much attention, except to the chorus, that's driven into you.  I'm a Barbie Girl, in a Barbie world etc.


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<p><span style="font-size:12px;"><em><span style="color:rgb(40,40,40);font-family:helvetica, arial, sans-serif;">"I don’t need a middle person in my pizza slice transaction" <strong>- zoomer, April 17, 2018</strong></span></em></span>

#71 Jables

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Posted 23 August 2016 - 07:47 PM

Those are good lyrics.  But what about Bon Jovi's Bad Medicine?  From the album that sold 9,000,000 records, from a band that sold 130M records.

 

 

Alright VHF, i see your Bon Jovi and raise you another Bon. Feast your eyes!

 

 

Poker face was her name

Poker face was her nature
Poker straight was a game
If she knew she could get you
She played 'em fast
And she played 'em hard
She could close her eyes
And feel every card


But how was I to know
That she'd been shuffled before
Said she'd never had a royal flush
But I should have known
That all the cards were comin'
From the bottom of the pack
And if I'd known what she was dealin' out
I'd have dealt it back

 

She's got the jack, she's got the jack
She's got the jack, and who knows what else?
She's got the jack, yeah, yeah
She's got the jack, she's got the jack
She's got the jack, she's got the jack
She's got the jack, jack, jack, jack, jack, jack, jack, jack
She's got the jack

 

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Edited by Jables, 23 August 2016 - 07:49 PM.

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#72 jeffifah

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Posted 24 August 2016 - 01:08 PM

well that's the great thing about music. It's layered and different people hear different things.  Some people are attracted to the beat, some to the tune, some to the lyrics, some to all of it at once.  Some to none of it.  And you know that feeling where you've heard a song a thousand times, but for the first time ever you hear the amazing horn in the background, or the bass you'd never really noticed before.  It's the best art form there is!!  (just my opinion as a life-long music lover of all kinds. Yes even Bon Jovi). 


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#73 VicHockeyFan

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Posted 30 August 2016 - 04:50 PM

Canada’s love affair with The Tragically Hip continued this week as all 17 albums from the band’s illustrious career landed spots on the Billboard Canadian Albumschart this week.

 

The band’s work has perhaps unsurprisingly leapt back into the limelight following the much publicized Man Machine Poem Tour, the band’s final series of shows following lead singer Gordon Downie’s terminal brain cancer diagnosis.

 

http://dailyhive.com...rting-in-canada


<p><span style="font-size:12px;"><em><span style="color:rgb(40,40,40);font-family:helvetica, arial, sans-serif;">"I don’t need a middle person in my pizza slice transaction" <strong>- zoomer, April 17, 2018</strong></span></em></span>

#74 Bingo

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Posted 21 October 2016 - 04:48 AM

Two-thirds of the tickets for the band's landmark tour were snapped up by brokers and automated software, known as bots, CBC Marketplace has learned.

As a result, actual fans were able to buy less than a third of tickets at face value from Ticketmaster when they went on sale to the general public.

This doesn't take into account other tickets that were set aside for VIPs, such as the band, promoters, venues and other insiders.

Berchtold estimates resellers made an estimated $25 to $30 million in markups on the Hip's tour.

more;  http://www.cbc.ca/ne...place-1.3811658

 



#75 VicHockeyFan

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Posted 21 October 2016 - 05:50 AM

I estimate the band lost $25 to $30M by pricing their tickets so low. Airlines never make that mistake.
<p><span style="font-size:12px;"><em><span style="color:rgb(40,40,40);font-family:helvetica, arial, sans-serif;">"I don’t need a middle person in my pizza slice transaction" <strong>- zoomer, April 17, 2018</strong></span></em></span>

#76 http

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Posted 21 October 2016 - 08:15 AM

Mistake? That's cold.

 

Maybe, just maybe, they had something other in mind than maximizing profit.


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#77 VicHockeyFan

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Posted 21 October 2016 - 08:19 AM

Hey, the way it went, "fans" still saw the concerts.  Make no mistake, the promoters have ways to defeat bots, they just choose not to employ them.


<p><span style="font-size:12px;"><em><span style="color:rgb(40,40,40);font-family:helvetica, arial, sans-serif;">"I don’t need a middle person in my pizza slice transaction" <strong>- zoomer, April 17, 2018</strong></span></em></span>

#78 Mike K.

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Posted 21 October 2016 - 12:04 PM

Mistake? That's cold.

 

Maybe, just maybe, they had something other in mind than maximizing profit.

 

Which was to pass on that profit to somebody else.


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