I know that I'm in the minority among Canadians in feeling this way, but I've never understood the appeal of this band.

I always found (and still do) their music to be very tedious.

"like kicking a puppy" is a good analogy here. His vocals never appealed to me, but a lot of people found something there.

I suppose this question could be asked of many Canadian artists, but how big would they have become here without Cancon regulations? 

RadioActive wrote:

OK, I also have a confession to make. And it's like kicking a puppy. But I never liked Downie's voice and didn't think he was a very good singer. So you're not alone. 

I was never a fan either. I couldn't name one song. They weren't popular south of the border. Of the 8 LP's to chart on the Billboard 200, seven of them only spent one week on the chart, none peaking higher than #129. Up To Here lasted 6 weeks but never got any higher than #170. As for singles, none ever made it as far the Bubbling Under Chart. However, Courage reached #16 on the Billboard Mainstream Rock Chart.

RonaldS wrote:

I suppose this question could be asked of many Canadian artists, but how big would they have become here without Cancon regulations?

Without the regs, we'd likely never would've had to hear acts like Doug & The Slugs, The Kings, or Trooper.
Would Bryan Adams, Leonard Cohen, Alanis Morisette, or Rush have cut through and achieved international success without the regs perhaps giving them an initial boost?

The argument goes both ways but that question really is impossible to answer.

On topic - I love The Hip but feel there is a marked distinction between the front and back halves of their catalogue. I love the back half - it felt like they were maturing and aging right alongside me. They were very much a frat-boy beer-drinking type of act for their first decade or so. I just happened to be the right age at the right time for all of it, I guess.

I used to hang out with a bunch of Buffalonians who absolutely adored the band, which I found somewhat fascinating. There was no way they could "get" Gord's Canadiana references.

I saw them twice on the farewell tour. The setlist from that final show in Kingston just didn't feel like a "final setlist" to me as it replicated the format used throughout the whole tour and didn't contain anything special tune-wise.

Tangentially I wish the remianing four would get together and put out a "groove album". They are so good at creating a good groove with a lot of mood.

Last edited by Binson Echorec (April 19, 2024 5:53 pm)

Tragically Hip was one of those bands that you either liked them or couldn't really understand their appeal.  They connected with a lot of people and their album sales certainly confirm that.

Success didn't happen for them anywhere else but in Canada. I am not sure if their singles and albums were widely released outside of North America.   But they were popular in cities that could get Canadian radio like Detroit, Buffalo, Washington State/Seattle. In these cities they could sell out arenas.

A few weeks ago while listening to the WGRF Rock 97 morning show, a listener from Lancaster NY was listing his favourite bands that he liked to hear on the station.  His favourite band was Tragically Hip and he went on how many times he saw them in concert in Buffalo and across the border. 

The WNED program must be part of a fund raiser for the station.  Obviously appealing to their many Canadian viewers, but the band certainly was somewhat well known and reasonable popular in WNY. 

 

RadioActive wrote:

OK, I also have a confession to make. And it's like kicking a puppy. But I never liked Downie's voice and didn't think he was a very good singer. So you're not alone. 

A college classmate of mine, almost a lifelong Kingston resident (born and raised there), also wasn't much of a Downie fan, but liked Rob Baker and I believe knew him personally.