Canadian Music News
CANADIAN SONGWRITERS HALL OF FAME INDUCTEES 2010
TORONTO — Progressive rock legends Rush and Quebecois singer Robert Charlebois etched their names into the nation’s cultural history on Sunday night as they were inducted into the Canadian Songwriters Hall of Fame.
Rush and Charlebois, as well as a host of lyricists and composers, joined a vanguard of Canadian songwriters already enshrined in the hall, including Joni Mitchell, Gordon Lightfoot and Leonard Cohen.
Sixteen songs — including Rush’s Tom Sawyer, Limelight, The Spirit of Radio, Subdivisions and Closer to the Heart — were inducted to the hall on Sunday.
Of all the songs added, though, few resonate with Canadians as much as Vancouver native Dolores Claman’s Hockey Night in Canada theme song, which has heralded the beginning of hockey games for nearly as long as they’ve been on television.
The stars were feted at a gala at the Toronto Centre for the Arts, where their music was performed by everyone from screamo stalwarts Alexisonfire and bass guitar virtuoso Les Claypool to the acoustic folk duo Dala and multi-instrumentalist DJ Champion.
Geddy Lee, Rush’s singer and bass player, called it “the ultimate compliment” to be included with such luminaries, one made doubly sweet by the fact that he, guitarist Alex Lifeson, and drummer/lyricist Neil Peart were being recognized in their hometown for their songwriting talents and not just their considerable musicianship.
“Songwriting’s not really something we’ve ever been celebrated for,” said Peart ahead of the gala.
Despite never being that popular with critics, Rush has ridden a nearly four-decade career to more than 40 million records sold worldwide and a place in the hearts of air guitarists everywhere and anyone with a slightly dorky inner 15-year-old.
As Lee put it before the gala: “nerds like us.”
Peart said that being the first band inducted into the hall was something they were particularly proud of.
“The fact is, of course, is that we do all write together, which is one of the unique things about us,” he said. And seeing a host of younger acts paying tribute to their careers made the night for the trio.
“Bob Dylan once said ‘what else can you do for someone with your music but inspire them,’” said Peart. “There really is nothing else you can do, so if you manage that, you’ve done your job.”
Charlebois, the francophone selection this year, boasts a career that began as a folksinger before evolving into a psychedelic rocker, author, and television star. Few people figure as prominently into Quebec’s musical fabric as Charlebois, whose songs Ordinaire, Fu Man Chu, and Lindberg gave a voice to generations of young Quebecers liberated from the conservative atmosphere of the early 1960s.
High school classmates Lifeson and Lee first started jamming in 1968 as teenagers in the suburban Toronto neighbourhood of Willowdale. After a couple of lineup changes, the group released their self-titled debut album in 1974. Peart joined the band on drums that summer ahead of their first U.S. tour, and as he assumed songwriting duties, Rush grew from the fringes of a nascent heavy metal movement into a leading voice of progressive rock in the late 1970s.
Lee’s sinewy basslines and distinctive upper-register wail, Lifeson’s intriguing chord selections and mind-melting solos, and Peart’s complex, sprawling compositions and technically astounding drumming secured their names in any “all-time best” discussions of their respective instruments.
Peart, as the band’s principal lyricist, eschewed typical hard-rock fare about girls, booze, and the intersection of the two in favour of a more literary approach steeped in science fiction and Ayn Randian philosophy.
The gala paid tribute to Canadian artists who died in the last year, in a film montage showcasing highlights that included folksinger Kate McGarrigle and world music artist Lhasa.
Montreal’s DJ Champion, backed by enough guitars to nearly reduce the theatre to the smouldering ruins of a full-fledged arockalypse, delivered one of the night’s most scintillating performances with his cover of Michel Pagliaro’s 1973 anthem, J’entends frapper.
After a rambunctious introduction from an old friend, actor Marcel Sabourin, Charlebois reflected on the names he’d be joining in the hall and thanked his family, friends, and colleagues for enriching his singular journey.
“Whether you make beer, or fashion, or music, a career is the encounters (with) different people who bring you magic,” said Charlebois, who in addition to his artistic exploits owned a microbrewery. He then sat at a grand piano to perform his most famous song, Ordinaire, to which the audience responded with a standing ovation.
After being introduced by Rheostatics guitarist and lifetime Rush fan Dave Bidini, the besuited trio took the stage upon which Peart delivered a speech recounting the band’s development as songwriters in the back of tour buses, in studios, and hotel rooms the world around.
"If it’s true that every song is a story," said Peart. "Every song has a story, too."
The gala has been held since 1998, but 2010 marks the first time the awards will find a permanent home, as the Toronto Centre for the Arts will soon play host to the growing canon of Canadian songwriting excellence.
Submitted by: admin | Mon April 05, 10 9:29AM