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THE PURSUIT OF HAPPINESS
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by
Ric Taylor
December 22 - 28, 2005 |
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It doesn’t seem like that long ago. It wasn’t when the
dinosaurs roamed the earth, but it was when Canadian
rock began its quest to dominate the homeland. It was
only the late ’80s—a time we still celebrate now dressed
in Azod shirts and acid–wash jeans at Miami Vice–
athons.
The late ’80s saw the birth of a renaissance in
Canadian music, with indie bands following their
American counterparts and actually getting attention on
their own merits. It was the birth of many groups that
would colour sounds and sights on radio and TV for the
rest of the century—Blue Rodeo, The Tragically Hip,
Cowboy Junkies, The Grapes of Wrath and Crash Vegas
all began their careers during that time, but the band that
shot to fame nearly right out of the box was The Pursuit
of Happiness.
Now, 20 years later and after nearly eight years on
hiatus, The Pursuit of Happiness continue their quest
with a short–lived reunion for a greatest hits package,
When We Ruled.
“I realized we didn’t have a best–of,” muses founder,
Moe Berg. “There are bands that put out one record that
have a best–of, so I thought maybe we were the only
band in the world that didn’t have a best–of. So I
approached my manager and said maybe we should
think about doing this. Maybe it was just that I never
asked anybody—because as soon as I did, it just kind of
happened.”
Berg has kept busy producing new indie bands as well
as fostering a budding career as an author, with a book
of short stories already out and a novel in the works.
Back in the day, however, TPOH were a part of the DIY
world that was then called alternative rock—bands
rebuking the current state of the music industry and
doing it completely by themselves. American bands like
REM and Black Flag reconstructed punk ideals and
created new music that would resonate even decades
later, and while TPOH might not be remembered as part
of the vanguard of new rock, they did help meld hard
rock and pop sensibilities and prove that you didn’t need
a lot of money to become a success.
“Edmonton was a hard place to be in a band, and once I
moved to Toronto in 1986 the band kind of fell together
quickly after that,” remembers Berg on the early days of
TPOH. “We may have had a mindset about the kind of
music we wanted to play, but we didn’t know what we
were doing other than that. We put a band together and
a friend had some recording equipment in his basement,
so we went down and recorded some songs to get some
gigs on Queen St. Then another filmmaker friend said
maybe we should make a video.
“We handed the song to some college stations and
submitted the video to MuchMusic, and all of a sudden
everyone started playing the songs,” adds the singer. “It
wasn’t part of any grand plan—we were just doing it.
We’re not going to sit around and wait for a record
company to pick us up—we just did it DIY. It was pretty
much the whole indie thing until everyone else got
involved.
“The best part of that time is that there really wasn’t a
musical movement going on. At the time I was probably
listening to a lot of Replacements, but there wasn’t any
real musical trends. There was a bunch of Canadian
bands that all started around that same time. It was a
good time to be in a band, and no one expected you to
sound like anything. Consequently, all those bands
didn’t sound like one another but they all got attention.
All of those bands got American record deals—it was a
transitional time in Canadian music and indie bands had
a chance to get noticed, and a lot of bands ended up
getting signed.”
However old you were at the time, if you were a sentient
being in the ’80s, there was no escaping TPOH. When
their debut single and video “I’m An Adult Now” hit the
airwaves, everyone took note. It was quirky and funny
but it still rocked, and best of all the lyrical perspective
was tainted with an irony that even pleased the
intellectuals. It would be TPOH’s calling card, blending
many different types of music fans, hard rock, college
rock, and the mainstream together, affording them a
quick growth from the small clubs to the convention
centres.
But even with the all of TPOH’s success, they may have
been a little before their time.
“Either it was the virtue or the problem, we didn’t go one
way or the other,” offers Berg on the mix of hard–riffery
with sweet pop melody. “I’ve always liked rock—I grew
up listening to rock and heavy metal but I always had a
pop sensibility, especially with the way I wrote a song—
so I never thought I had to choose one or the other so we
incorporated both into our music.
“‘I’m An Adult Now’—I had written that song before we
even had the band together, so I was probably in my
early 20s. I probably didn’t have a clue what I was
talking about when I wrote it, but the lyrics have become
more real as time goes by. I guess it was a song I
needed to grow into and maybe, when I wrote it, it was
more of a prophecy than a truism. Maybe it’s more true
now than when I wrote it.
“But we kind of missed the boat on that loser culture,” he
adds. “I don’t think that there are bands that sound like
us now, but I think our lyrical perspective, you hear that
all the time now. I think I may have been one of the
original nerds, zeros and losers.
“Bands like Green Day, The Smashing Pumpkins and
Radiohead had songs like ‘Zero’ or ‘Creep.’ Maybe if we
had started two years later, maybe we would have been
a part of that. Again, I was only able to write from the
perspective that I knew, and that was always the way I
thought of myself.
“At the time, the hair metal stage was fading then and
everyone was talking about how hot they were and I was
coming out and talking about the opposite of that. I think
for some people it worked and for some people it didn’t
but later on that seemed to become a more acceptable
point of view.”
Demand for Berg’s perspective hasn’t waned over the
years (even if Canadian radio seems to not be as
supportive). In fact, American power pop label Razor
And Tie commissioned their own TPOH greatest hits
release a few years ago, but Canadians only now get to
revisit the band’s legacy.
The new compilation contains songs from across their
career (although primarily culled from the band’s
magnum opus debut, Love Junk), and even includes two
new songs, a Prince cover as well as some unreleased
songs. The songs retain a timeless quality and even the
more unfamiliar songs of the latter days seem fresh, but
the best part of it all for Berg and his fans is that a whole
new generation can stake claim to the coming of age
mantra of the band’s debut single as well as a wealth of
incredible power pop.
“I’m grateful that it was as successful as it was,” offers
Berg on the song people fell in love with. “But the
reunion is an end of itself. I wanted to see some sort of
document that we were here. We’ve done some new
songs, but I don’t see anything past that. We’ve never
tried to close the door on anything but we definitely have
no plans to do anymore.”
With the last incarnation of TPOH including Berg on
vocals and guitars, Dave Gilby (drums) Brad Barker
(bass) Chris Abbot (guitar, vocals) and Renee Suchy
(vocals), the band’s return to the stage offers a glimpse
into a solid Canadian outfit, and fans both young and old
can mark the temporary yet landmark return of TPOH.
“I’m sure anybody who saw us before and sees us now
will enjoy the show,” says Berg. “The band still sounds
great. We tried to make the songs sound like they could
have been on our other records. It’ll be a lot of the same
of what anyone remembers. The point is not to have
TPOH Mach II with some new direction. We’re basically
playing our best songs—we’re having fun. I really
wanted this document and I’m really happy that it’s out.
“You hope that kids will find what you do interesting.
Kids are the people who listen to popular music and rock
and roll. I don’t think our music is dated and can still
have a certain amount of relevance to young people
now. But it’s just about documenting what we did. I
guess there was a time when we did rule—when we
were a big important band—so the name of the CD was
me just being a smart alec. But I have very modest
expectations for this. I’ll be happy to have some fans go
to the show and have a good time.” V
THE PURSUIT OF
HAPPINESS
w/The Populars
Tuesday, December 27
THE UNDERGROUND
41 Catharine St. N.
905.741.7625
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