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Gord Downie of The Tragically Hip has passed

Ricker

Member
Damn,I was just talking about him yesterday with my sister in the car when CHOM played ''New Orleans Is Sinking''...

RIP :(
 

badblue

Member
I remember back when the internet was new, and the hours it took to find and download a single mp3. My first mp3 that I ever downloaded was Poets

I'm glad I got a chance to see them live once.
 

jstripes

Banned
Part of it is because of Canadian content laws. I stopped listening to the radio on my way to university in the '90s because every second song was from them. If the US had the band rammed its throat, they would be well known there, too.

I'm always going to stand up and defend our cancon laws. They may not be perfect, but they allowed our music industry to flourish.

Know why there's not many well-known Canadian bands from the '50 or '60s? Because Canadian radio station programmers would only play acts that charted in the US or Britain. Outside of Neil Young, Paul Anka, The Band, and The Guess Who, there wasn't all that much. So, there was literally no exposure to be had, outside of word of mouth, unless you were discovered by American A&R.

Cancon laws came into effect in 1971, and even though station programmers still played it safe playing the same bands over and over, musical talent up here exploded in popularity, and we have an actual music industry that competes on the world stage. (TV? Now that's another story...)
 

Atenhaus

Member
I feel so fortunate to have caught them when they played a show in Seattle... I'm so glad they gave (at least) the Northern US a shot at seeing them live.
 

Feeroper

Member
I was at the Leafs game tonight and they did a great tribute to Gord at the game - they lowered the Barilko banner in honor of him too.

Such a sad day today. My favourite Hip song will always be Nautical Disaster.

Like others have said, we were expecting this, but I still cant believe it has happened.

Some above noted their fame as being due to cancon earlier, but I have to disagree. Although cancon has led to some less than great stuff on our radio, the Hip were a band I wanted to hear and I actively sought out.

RIP Gord Downie.
 

Neophant

Member
I remember one of the first albums I ever remembered buying was Phantom Power at a Superstore (back when they had music you could purchase) and since then I fell in love with The Tragically Hip. Their music was a big part of my childhood growing up and like a few people have already said, Nautical Disaster is probably my favourite song from them. R.I.P. Gord, I'm so glad to have seen you and the band at performances over the years and got to see you guys at your final tour last year.

"I, I am of you/
And you are in everything I do..."

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dexvv2xaD-E
 

Kalm

Member
Well, fuck.

Growing up, The Hip were the only band my dad would let me play at any volume without hassle and I did so very often. Without hockey and The Tragically Hip, we would literally have nothing to talk about. I made my best, oldest, and closest friend based solely on our mutual adoration of The Hip and our subsequent (failed) attempts to form a Hip cover band. Up To Here and Road Apples are perfect albums; the only two in my brief history that don't have tracks I skip over and ignore. The only art in my house is framed Hip memorabilia, album covers, and tour posters. I've seen them in stadiums and halls and bars and each time was brilliant and awesome and unique. Fuck.

In a seriously kismet confluence of events, I was able to see them at The Commodore on my 19th birthday and I'll never forget it. Front-row-center because we were dumb kids that didn't know that grabbing a table was the "cool" thing. I ended up fracturing a rib on the wooden divider trying to shake Gord's hand. Worth it.

My favourite version of NOIS: Stick around 'til 4:21 for the early and unrated version of Ahead By A Century. Also, the unreleased Blonde Solid because it was too good to be cut and basically just listen to the entirety of Roxy and Elsewhere.

FUCK.

RIP Gord'y ~ Get Ry Cooder to sing the eulogy.
 
In a seriously kismet confluence of events, I was able to see them at The Commodore on my 19th birthday and I'll never forget it. Front-row-center because we were dumb kids that didn't know that grabbing a table was the "cool" thing. I ended up fracturing a rib on the wooden divider trying to shake Gord's hand. Worth it.

I'm guessing you already feel this way, but in case you don't, let me be the one to say: as someone who doesn't make it out to concerts much anymore and is frankly kind of too old to stand for long periods of time to see a band or two, the front-row-center kids were ALWAYS the cool ones, even if everyone else thought otherwise. Your 19-year-old self totally did the right thing and that's why you get an awesome story about shaking Gord Downie's hand and everyone else gets "well we sat at a table for a bit and it was nice."

I still try to go early and stand up by the front (usually off to the side because I'm taller) whenever I go to shows, even if that's not very often anymore. It's just not the same otherwise.
 
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