By Steve Newton
If you’ve been watching the NHL playoffs lately you’ve no doubt seen the 30-second Rogers ad that’s been running constantly. It shows footage of the five Canadian teams that were in the race for the Stanley Cup–now whittled down to three–while a snippet of Triumph’s power ballad “Lay It on the Line” is played.
“IT ALL COMES DOWN TO THIS.” reads the message on the screen, followed by: “THIS IS OUR GAME. THIS IS OUR YEAR.” That’s Canuck slang for “ONE OF OUR TEAMS BETTER WIN THE FREAKIN’ CUP THIS TIME OR I’M GONNA LOSE IT!”
When I first saw the ad I thought it was pretty cool. I never minded Triumph back in the day–I actually interviewed guitarist Rik Emmett three times between 1983 and 1990–although “Lay It on the Line” wasn’t my fave tune of theirs. I’ve always had a softer spot for the uplifting “Magic Power”, another track sung by Emmett.
But “Lay It on the Line”, a single off the 1979 Just a Game album that went platinum in Canada and gold in the States, has always been one of Triumph’s most popular songs. It was recently re-recorded for the upcoming album Magic Power: All-Star Tribute to Triumph, featuring Dee Snider from Twisted Sister on vocals and Paul Gilbert from Mr. Big on guitar.
The thing is, the corporate-sponsored rebirth of “Lay It on the Line” comes at a price. That Rogers commercial is getting so overplayed that, by the time the Cup finally gets hoisted by McDavid in June, hockey fans will be totally sick of hearing Emmett croon longingly about wanting to love somebody and wanting to make them his.
Before it gets to that level of Keanu Reeves overkill, the marketing brainiacs at Rogers Communications Inc. should consider quickly whipping up a new song-oriented ad campaign that really hits home with all Canadians, and not just the classic-rock types. As a starting point, might I suggest they take a street-level approach with the Hanson Brothers’ Ramones-style version of Stompin’ Tom Connors’ “The Hockey Song”.
The world needs more road hockey. And maybe Tiger Williams could do a cameo!
To hear the full audio of the interviews I did with Triumph’s Rik Emmett in 1985 and 1990 subscribe to my Patreon page, where you can eavesdrop on over 500 of my uncut, one-on-one conversations with rockers since 1982.
“don’t waste my time”