Haha... indeed, JI. I don’t think there’s a lot of overlap in the people we follow on Mixcloud, but the CJ song was quite big in ’81, so I presume it easily finds its way into quite a few mixes. Thanks for reading, Jensen Interceptor. Have a great weekend!
Another great installment in the CanCon series! This is a great song which perfectly illustrates the global crossroads story of Montreal dance music which you’ve been telling. It’s a shame this song didn’t make it much bigger because it’s fantastic!
That's such a great story about you engaging in a sound war with your neighbor across the street, Pe. I could just picture it!
I did not know that masters were sometimes recreated using a vinyl copy. It makes sense when you've got masters getting lost, burned up, etc. And I can understand what you're saying about the remaster not necessarily being up to snuff.
It's a great dance tune and I don't remember it, probably because I was pogo-ing to the Go-Go's that particular year.
That track by Montreal is a an interesting mix of electronic and organic and goes very Trans Europe Express in the middle. No surprise that there was someone else used on the cover. There was such a gulf in the seventies between the vast budgets spent on employing design groups like Hipgnosis to create abstract album covers for priority white rock groups and the cheap and shabby way many black acts were promoted.
Am I the only one who prefers the Moby Dick remix? Reminds me a bit of Telex and the added electronic squiggles are engagingly bizarre. Moby Dick is another of those labels that I remember from the import labels of the early eighties but know little about, although I understand they took a particularly heavy hit from AIDS.
I discovered Lime years after they were at their peak as they didn't exactly set the UK charts alight in the eighties. Weren't they the ones who sent a couple of younger kids out on the road to do their PA's?
Btw, there was no danger ot teenage neighbourhood stereo wars here in the UK when I was growing up as Mrs Thatcher banned the playing of popular music through open windows!
They loved their European music in Montreal, that’s for sure 😁 I even found that Kraftwerk, when touring Canada, were spotted at the Lime Light in Montreal, so the love went both ways.
The cover story of the Montreal album is a curious one. I have the impression they simply thought Carol wasn’t really ideal cover material 😁 Her own album also only had a facial close-up. Anyway, the Montreal album is a bit hit and miss. I completely understand why it didn’t work. What surprised me was that it was licensed by Salsoul. It’s so different from their usual repertoire.
The Moby Dick remix isn’t really bad, but in my opinion it’s one of those remixes that was made for the sake of having a remix. The original already had all the elements to make it work on the US market, so the decision to remix it in SF is a strange one. The song is too slow to be Hi-NRG.
I’ll do more episodes on the SF scene in the future, and there’ll definitely be room to zoom in on Moby Dick. Thanks for reading and taking the time to react, Paul. Have a great weekend!
And I forgot the best bit from your reply. Did she really ban playing music through open windows? 😂 Some of our neighbours back then would surely have voted for her! 😁
Just to be clear, I was joking, although in 1994, in a backlash against rave culture, her party did ban outdoor gatherings of more than 20 people which featured music containing "a succession of repetitive beats"!
A classic case of a record label that was perfect for getting it onto dancefloors internationally, but didn’t have enough power to make it cross over to the rest of Canada. I don’t even know if Matra had a distribution deal outside Quebec/Ontario.
Thanks for reading and taking the time to react, Emm. Always a pleasure to read your reactions. Have a great weekend!
A lot of Quebec releases didn't really go beyond Quebec. There were distributors unique to the province there, but now and then a Canadian label like Quality would handle nationwide distro, or would sign an artist like Harmonium and take them national. Even the Canadian branches of Capitol-EMI would, occasionally, try to make a Quebec band happen, but it was more the rock/prog/folk material. It really is a weird country! And I hope you have a lovely weekend too!
After my months long deep dive I know a lot about it 😁. And you are absolutely right Emm. But this is one of the details/aspects that made this series so fascinating.
The two solitudes is no joke. I am just glad I found a few Jacques Brel albums here. And one by this individual, who I assume you won't be covering... https://youtu.be/C2_EgNciUAQ?si=KsTg7UhGU_284pWv
Omg diva yesssss. I just discovered Hit’n’Run lover like two weeks ago. I wonder if we follow the same people on MixCloud…
Haha... indeed, JI. I don’t think there’s a lot of overlap in the people we follow on Mixcloud, but the CJ song was quite big in ’81, so I presume it easily finds its way into quite a few mixes. Thanks for reading, Jensen Interceptor. Have a great weekend!
Another great installment in the CanCon series! This is a great song which perfectly illustrates the global crossroads story of Montreal dance music which you’ve been telling. It’s a shame this song didn’t make it much bigger because it’s fantastic!
I agree Mark. Still today one of mt favorite songs of that era. Thanks for reading and taking the time to react. Much appreciated
That's such a great story about you engaging in a sound war with your neighbor across the street, Pe. I could just picture it!
I did not know that masters were sometimes recreated using a vinyl copy. It makes sense when you've got masters getting lost, burned up, etc. And I can understand what you're saying about the remaster not necessarily being up to snuff.
It's a great dance tune and I don't remember it, probably because I was pogo-ing to the Go-Go's that particular year.
As a historian it pains my heart that so much is lost from what was recorded in the past. Thanks for reading & reacting Ellen!
Brilliant research as always. And that beat! 🔥
What an epic ride! Thanks so much for this amazing story!
Thanks Tim. Glad you liked it; Thanks for reading and taking the time to react. Have a great weekend!
That track by Montreal is a an interesting mix of electronic and organic and goes very Trans Europe Express in the middle. No surprise that there was someone else used on the cover. There was such a gulf in the seventies between the vast budgets spent on employing design groups like Hipgnosis to create abstract album covers for priority white rock groups and the cheap and shabby way many black acts were promoted.
Am I the only one who prefers the Moby Dick remix? Reminds me a bit of Telex and the added electronic squiggles are engagingly bizarre. Moby Dick is another of those labels that I remember from the import labels of the early eighties but know little about, although I understand they took a particularly heavy hit from AIDS.
I discovered Lime years after they were at their peak as they didn't exactly set the UK charts alight in the eighties. Weren't they the ones who sent a couple of younger kids out on the road to do their PA's?
Btw, there was no danger ot teenage neighbourhood stereo wars here in the UK when I was growing up as Mrs Thatcher banned the playing of popular music through open windows!
They loved their European music in Montreal, that’s for sure 😁 I even found that Kraftwerk, when touring Canada, were spotted at the Lime Light in Montreal, so the love went both ways.
The cover story of the Montreal album is a curious one. I have the impression they simply thought Carol wasn’t really ideal cover material 😁 Her own album also only had a facial close-up. Anyway, the Montreal album is a bit hit and miss. I completely understand why it didn’t work. What surprised me was that it was licensed by Salsoul. It’s so different from their usual repertoire.
The Moby Dick remix isn’t really bad, but in my opinion it’s one of those remixes that was made for the sake of having a remix. The original already had all the elements to make it work on the US market, so the decision to remix it in SF is a strange one. The song is too slow to be Hi-NRG.
I’ll do more episodes on the SF scene in the future, and there’ll definitely be room to zoom in on Moby Dick. Thanks for reading and taking the time to react, Paul. Have a great weekend!
And I forgot the best bit from your reply. Did she really ban playing music through open windows? 😂 Some of our neighbours back then would surely have voted for her! 😁
Just to be clear, I was joking, although in 1994, in a backlash against rave culture, her party did ban outdoor gatherings of more than 20 people which featured music containing "a succession of repetitive beats"!
Another classic record that didn't reach my part of the country. Even with that bass you talked about!
A classic case of a record label that was perfect for getting it onto dancefloors internationally, but didn’t have enough power to make it cross over to the rest of Canada. I don’t even know if Matra had a distribution deal outside Quebec/Ontario.
Thanks for reading and taking the time to react, Emm. Always a pleasure to read your reactions. Have a great weekend!
A lot of Quebec releases didn't really go beyond Quebec. There were distributors unique to the province there, but now and then a Canadian label like Quality would handle nationwide distro, or would sign an artist like Harmonium and take them national. Even the Canadian branches of Capitol-EMI would, occasionally, try to make a Quebec band happen, but it was more the rock/prog/folk material. It really is a weird country! And I hope you have a lovely weekend too!
After my months long deep dive I know a lot about it 😁. And you are absolutely right Emm. But this is one of the details/aspects that made this series so fascinating.
The two solitudes is no joke. I am just glad I found a few Jacques Brel albums here. And one by this individual, who I assume you won't be covering... https://youtu.be/C2_EgNciUAQ?si=KsTg7UhGU_284pWv
👏🏼👏🏼