By Steve Newton
Back in November of 1995 I did the fifth of my seven interviews with Canadian rock great Tom Cochrane.
At the time he was promoting his new album, Ragged Ass Road, the followup to 1991’s Mad Mad World, which featured the smash hit that broke him in the States, “Life is a Highway”.
At one point in the conversation I mentioned one of the catchier tunes on the CD, “Paper Tigers”, and we got to talking about how it’s often the simple, infectious hook of a tune that can make the big difference in cracking the lucrative—and, for many Canadian bands—elusive U.S. market.
“That’s my theory on bands like the Hip,” Cochrane said, “I think the Hip just need that one accessible ‘Shiny Happy People’ pop song, and that’ll do it for ’em.
“You know, through the early ’80s, when it was a very corporate scene, I was told by management that ‘This is about business, it’s pop music, it’s about America,’ and I fought against a lot of that. I think I helped forge an atmosphere in Canada where now Canadians will embrace a band like the Tragically Hip and make them the heroes that they deserve to be.
“Who cares if they’re not big in the States or Europe or whatever? That’s not important. Canadians will say, ‘We’re proud of this for what it is, we know it’s good, we don’t have to have somebody else put their stamp of approval on it.’
“The same goes for people like Sarah McLachlan,” added Cochrane, “who I think is one of the most gifted artists to come out of this country in a long time. She broke through in the States with really not even a hit single—sold over a million records—and I think it’s remarkable. There’s no sellout factor there; it’s just wonderful music. It’s good to see that stuff happening, and it’s an atmosphere that we need to continue to nurture.”
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