Very Few Events But…
There are no record conventions and only one comicon like event in Vancouver, MiniComi, but if you’re in the National Capital and planning to attend the Canada Day celebrations you should note that the Canadian Museum of History in Gatineau is hosting an exhibition celebrating Canadian pop and rock.
Retro – Popular Music in Canada from the ’60s, ’70s and ’80s will be on display until Jan 18th, 2026 every day from 9am to 5pm and with extended hours to 7pm on Thursdays and Canada Day itself.
Admission information can be found by clicking here and admission is free to kids aged 17 and younger but a ticket be claimed in their name via the link provided. And note that holders of the Canada Strong Pass that are aged 18 to 24 are entitled to a 50% discount on admission via this form as well.
It also appears that admission is free on Thursday nights from 6 to 7pm and on Canada Day from 9am to 7pm according to the ticket purchasing site. And when it comes to transit, Route 8 services the venue at bus stop number 1940, operating from Pimisi Station in Ottawa on OC Transpo and multiple bus routes on STO also service the museum in the city of Gatineau itself, via bus stop numbers 2612 and 2618.
Enjoy your weekend and Canada. Stay safe and hydrated.
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World Book Day 2019
It’s World Book Day so I thought i’d write about what books I read the most. And of course these are usually music biographies and books on Canadian music history and the music industry itself.
When it comes to music biographies, my favourites are usually autobiographies or semi-autobiographies like “Freddie Mercury: His Life in His Own Words” by Greg Brooks and Simon Lupton, “My Story, My Dream” by Celine Dion, “U2 by U2” by U2, “Somebody To Love?: A Rock & Roll Memoir” by Grace Slick, “Kicking & Dreaming: A Story of Heart, Soul, and Rock & Roll” by Ann & Nancy Wilson, “Lips Unsealed: A Memoir” by Belinda Carlisle, “Between a Heart and a Rock Place: A Memoir” by Pat Benatar and “I am Ozzy” by Ozzy Osbourne.
The first music biography I had purchased was David Frike’s “Animal Instincts”, the official but unfortunately now out of print Def Leppard biography I had ordered using a coupon from my “Hysteria” cassette in the late 80’s. And although I have bought the odd unofficial Abba, Alanis Morissette and Freddy Mercury biographies, I prefer official releases from the artists themselves.
My very favourite Canadian music related books are usually about its history, like “The History of Canadian Rock ‘n’ Roll” by Bob Mercereau, “Is This Live?: Inside the Wild Early Years of MuchMusic: The Nation’s Music Station” by former Much Music VJ and “Black Velvet” composer Christopher Ward, “Music from Far and Wide: Celebrating 40 Years of the JUNO Awards” by various authors and “Oh Canada What a Feeling: A Musical Odyssey” by Martin Meluish. But unfortunately my favourite Canadian charting reference material from Nanda Lwin, namely “Top 40 hits: The essential chart guide” and “Top Albums: The Essential Chart Guide” can now only be found at certain public libraries, along with Rick Jackson’s “Encyclopedia of Canadian, Rock, Pop and Folk Music”.
Those are great resources if you’re looking for information on the Canadian music scene from the 1960’s to 2000’s and i’m happy to have secured copies of these books before they went out of print.
Another one of my out of print faves is the second edition, second printing of “Some Straight Talk About The Music Business” by Mona Coxson, one of the few books that explained the Canadian music industry’s inner workings before the release of “The Indie Band Bible: The Ultimate Guide to Breaking a Band” by Moist guitarist Mark Makoway in 2001.
“Music, Money, and Success: The Insider’s Guide to the Music Industry” by Jeffrey and Todd Brabec had covered the Canadian industry, in general. But this was a book that concentrated on the American and international music businesses.
I highly recommend the newly released 8th Edition of that book to anyone who wants to know how the industry now works, along with Steve Knopper’s “Appetite for Self-Destruction: The Spectacular Crash of the Record Industry in the Digital Age” to know what went wrong in the 1990’s and 2000’s.
Those are pretty much my very favourite music related books in my personal library.
I hope that you will find these recommendations interesting.
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Canada Day – Recommended Reading
It’s Canada’s 150th and Montreal 375th anniversary this year so I thought I’d recommend some of my favorite Canadian music history books:
– “Oh What A Feeling – The Next Generation” by Martin Melhuish
Originally released in conjunction with a four-CD compilation to commemorate the 25th anniversary of The Juno Awards, “Oh What A Feeling – A Vital History of Canadian Music” featured a year by year chronological account of Canada’s music history as well as information on the Juno Awards from 1971 to 1996.
“The Next Generation” is an updated version that was released in 2014, with additional information relating to upcomming artists, notable births and deaths, Hall Of Fame inductees and Juno Award Winners. Available from Amazon.ca / Amazon.com / Chapters-Indigo
– “Music From Far and Wide” – by multiple authors
This official Canadian Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences book was released in 2010 to celebrate the Juno Award’s 40th Aniversary and provides an in-depth history of the organisation and creation of the Juno Awards, with a list of Juno Award winners up to 2010 as well as a listing of Board of Directors from 1975 to 2010.
This book can be found at some local book stores, at Amazon.ca and Amazon.com.
– “Is This Live?” by Christopher Ward
As the Nation’s music station, Much Music had been the epicenter for music in Canada from the mid-1980’s to mid-1990’s. And this book by VJ and songwriter Christopher Ward not only discusses the history of the station but makes notes of many events that occurred at the infamous 899 Queen Street West.
This is a must for Canadian fans of 80’s music. Available from Amazon.ca / Amazon.com / Chapters-Indigo
– “Canadian Pop Music Encyclopedia” by Jaimie Vernon
Originally released as the “Encyclopedia of Canadian Rock Pop & Folk Music” in 2004 by Rick Jackson, this artist by artist account of Canadian music history has now become a multiple volume compilation, the first two listing artists alphabetically from “A Thru K” and “L thru Z“, respectively, and a recent celebration of the country’s “Vinyl Years“.
Published in 2011, the first two volumes include information on specific artists (brief history and discography) up to 2010 whilst the third volume concentrates on artists whose vinyl releases were popular up to 1996. All three volumes are available from Amazon.ca and Amazon.com.
– “Top 40 Hits” / “Top Albums” by Nanda Lwin
These reference guides list the chart activity of domestic and international artists in Canada up to 1999 for singles and 2003 for albums. These are of course a must for people who are interested in Canadian music history and altough they are out of print, you can still find “Top 40 Hits” at Alibris, Amazon.ca and Amazon.com. And other chart information can be obtained from the RMP database on Library and Archives Canada and from a blog simply entitled “Canadian Music Blog“, which also contains a wealth of chart information including the best selling singles and albums by year and decade.
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Tales From Much Music
From August 31st, 1984 to the late 1990’s, Much Music was truly Canada’s Music Station.
In its heyday this 24 hour television channel featured music videos from both major and independent labels, interviews with both popular and new artists, and live performances from multiple genres. And it introduced Canadians to both domestic and foreign performers and songwriters, causing the relatively new Canadian music industry to flourish and gain international notoriety.
Written by songwriter and former VJ Christopher Ward, “Is This Live ?” chronicles this network’s early history through excerpts of interviews with former Much Music staff members, on air personalities and popular recording artists from that period.
Christopher Ward had been one of the first VJs on Much Music and was a regular host on the channel until the late 80’s, occasionally hosting programs on the channel though-out the early 90’s, so i’d say this book qualifies as being the most definitive account of the stations early history.
As an avid watcher, I had always been curious about some of the finer details that were not included in the newspaper and magazine articles I had read on Much Music and Musique Plus’ history. And I believe this book pretty much covers it all, with a few extras about some of the station’s most popular Canadian music videos.
I highly recommend this book. And yes, it is available in hardcover and in digital format from Amazon.ca, Amazon.com, chapters.indigo.ca and iTunes Canada.
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Oh What A Feeling–The Next Generation
Fans of Canadian music and Canadian History will love this book.
Oh What a Feeling: The Next Generation
Additional events from 1886-1995 were added to this version as well as birth and death information, a chronology of Canadian hit songs since 1900 and profiles of the members of the Canadian Music Hall Of Fame since 1978.
This book is available from Amazon.ca.
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