April Wine in 1976. I still have the ticket stub, it cost 5.50.
Who is April Wine? Canadian rock, and how cool they started in my home province of Nova Scotia! See APRIL WINE here
So, There they were at the Halifax Forum. Smoke fills the air and 2 huge train signals rise up on either side of the stage. And the place goes nuts.
Their first hit was in 1971 and they are STILL touring! Listen to the song below. I still have the album, though it is scratched all to hell. :)
I've seen other Canadian acts through the years. The Stampeders. Prism. Trooper. Corey Hart, to name a few. In 2009 my hubs indulged me and brought along his earplugs and we saw Nickelback in Winnipeg. Also in Winnipeg two years later, we saw Randy Bachman and Burton Cummings.
Nickelback are much maligned, but they are a mega success worldwide. And I love the way they rock the house, they do put on a hell of a show. Now the hubs really loved the Bachman/Cummings concert.
Both these guys got their start in Winnipeg when they formed The Guess Who. Huge hits in the late sixties, early seventies. The group split, Cummings went solo and had a string of hits, and Bachman formed BTO, Bachman-Turner Overdrive. Both the hubs and I were on our feet pumping our fists in the air singing "Takin' Care of Business" with Randy and Burton.
This is the soundtrack of my youth, and at the forefront—Canadian Rock. Now, radio stations here in Canada are required to have a certain amount of Canadian content, which is restrictive in one way, but I think it's cool in another. Gave us a lot of exposure to some great home-grown talent. Outside of comedy, music is one of Canada's best entertainment exports.
Canadian movies and TV are hit and miss (mostly miss) But music? We rock. Take a look at some of the acts:
80's-now: Loverboy, Saga, Tom Cochrane and Red Rider, Bryan Adams, Gowan, Corey Hart, Aldo Nova, Triumph, Glass Tiger, Honeymoon Suite, Frozen Ghost, Platinum Blonde, Helix, Toronto, Harlequin, Doug and the Slugs, Jeff Healey Band, Alanna Myles, Kim Mitchell, Streetheart, 54-40, The Tea Party, Matthew Good Band, The Tragically Hip, Crash Test Dummies, Blue Rodeo, Barenaked Ladies, Theory of a Deadman, Three Days Grace, Nickelback, Great Big Sea, Finger Eleven, Avril Lavigne, Alannis Moiresette, The Veer Union, Our Lady Peace, My Darkest Days, Monster Truck and so many others.
Rock on Canada! Like Canadian rock? Share your favs!
Neil Young: Still Rockin' in The Free World~
My own rock star book!
HEART OF ROCK by Karyn Gerrard
- File Size: 344 KB
- Print Length: 80 pages
- Publisher: Decadent Publishing Company, LLC (July 9, 2013)
Irishman Brogan Byrne is at the pinnacle of 1974 rock-music success. Handsome, charismatic, with a three-octave voice, you’d think he had it all. But Byrne sinks to new depths of depravity with women, liquor, and drugs.
Carly Montgomery is an ambitious record executive offered an opportunity to be manager for the last leg of Byrne's tour. Though she’s detached and tough as nails, Carly’s cool facade comes under attack. Somehow Byrne manages to slip by her frosty defenses.
Brogan, for his part, is broken inside. A past memory weighs on his soul, affecting his actions. Is Carly the one woman to help him forget his guilt and heal his heart of rock?
Carly Montgomery is an ambitious record executive offered an opportunity to be manager for the last leg of Byrne's tour. Though she’s detached and tough as nails, Carly’s cool facade comes under attack. Somehow Byrne manages to slip by her frosty defenses.
Brogan, for his part, is broken inside. A past memory weighs on his soul, affecting his actions. Is Carly the one woman to help him forget his guilt and heal his heart of rock?
Warning: Light Bondage
Praise for HEART OF ROCK: Karyn Gerrard has a very strong writing voice. She paints a realistic picture of life as a rock star of the seventies and adds some fascinating secondary characters. She also touches on some more sensitive aspects caused by a life of extreme excess. Karyn does not shy away from telling it like it is and does so with skill and sensitivity.
Overall, the path Carly and Brogan travel that leads them through their love story is full of bumps and potholes culminating in a passionate romance. Heart of Rock is vivid, raw and gut-wrenching. A definite must-read! And I must add I LOVED the title - very fitting. ~Amazon review
BUY LINKS FOR HEART OF ROCK
Karyn lives in a small town in the western corner of Ontario, Canada. She whiles away her spare time writing and reading romance while drinking copious amounts of Earl Grey tea. Tortured heroes are a must. A multi-published author with a few bestsellers under her belt, Karyn loves to write in different genres and time periods, though historicals and contemporaries are her favorite.
As long as she can avoid being hit by a runaway moose in her wilderness paradise she assumes everything is golden.
Karyn’s been happily married for a long time to her own hero. His encouragement keeps her moving forward.
Oh gosh! There are too many great artists and bands from Canada to name them all, but I did see Our Lady Peace and The Tea Party, and other Canadian Bands at Edge Fest many year ago in Barrie. They were fabulous! I love Chantal Kreviazuk and Hedley. I've been listening to a lot of Rush on the radio as well.
ReplyDeleteThere are so many! Ooo. I would have loved to see The Tea Party! Rush still sounds great! thanks for commenting Jess!
DeleteI especially love Nickelback, Hedley (they are SENSATIONAL LIVE!), Johnny Reid, George Canyon, Jann Arden, Alannis Morrisette, Alannah Myles. To name a few.
ReplyDeleteI also love Nickelback, the hubs not so much, but he went with me anyway! Canadian ladies also rock! I forgot to mention Sarah McLachlan, and she's from Nova Scotia too! Thanks for commenting, Kacey~
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