Was reading an article a few months back just after Downie announced his brain cancer prognosis, which made the rather interesting point that the main reason the Hip never really broke through into the international - read American - market was the unfortunate (for them) timing of their initial breakout success, which roughly coincided with the emergence of the seminal Seattle Grunge movement.
Consider when the T-H began to make real headway in this country who the big and emerging big bands of the day were - super-groups U2 and Guns 'n Roses, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Nirvana, Pearl Jam, Soundgarden, Alice in Chains.....some of the biggest rock acts on the planet in the last 40 years. I saw GnR, Nirvana and Pearl Jam in their prime and it is easy in retrospect to see why a band from some place called Kingston singing about hockey, the prairies and long dead Toronto Maple Leaf players named Bill Barilko - subjects which resonated naturally to many Canadians - probably wouldn't make much impact on fans in London, Tokyo, Miami or LA.