I've been waiting to be able to slide this on in since I started the series!
Good Day! We are traveling back up north to the Great White North for this weeks installment of Friday Night Videos. Everyone is aware of the British music invasion of the 1960s, yet little has been said about the Canadian music invasion of the early 1980s lead by bands like Rush, Triumph, Toronto, Loverboy, Saga (Today's band) and Men Without Hats.
Yes, everybody was Safety dancing all over the place thanks to our musically talented northern neighbors.
This northern wave was spawned by the development of the music video which brought Canadian synth driven into the American living room ... and American radio stations soon fell in line.
I have to tell you that I wore out my cassette tap of Saga's 'Worlds Apart' album. If I wanted to rock out all I had to do is pop in the tape, press play, and on came the high energy rock that Saga was cranking out.
So let's pull out our pretend Walkman, pop in a cassette, put on a pair of those orange foam covered headphones and travel back to 1981:
The second track off the album 'Worlds Apart' is equally strong. Here Is 'Wind Him Up."
Saga are a Canadian rock band from Oakville, Ontario, Canada. Jim Crichton and Welsh-born vocalist Michael Sadler were the principal songwriters.
Saga had numerous line-up changes over the years. Ian and Jim Crichton were the only two original members who appeared on every album. Sadler appeared on every release, apart from the 2009 album The Human Condition. Keyboardist Jim Gilmour was with the band from 1979, making his debut on the album Silent Knight. Drummer Steve Negus performed with Saga until 1986. The lineup was supplemented by many session musicians and live performers from the late 1980s to the late 2000s.
Saga have been awarded gold and platinum albums worldwide and have sold more than eight million albums.
In 1981, the band's fourth album Worlds Apart was released. The lead single " On The Loose", finally broke them into the Top 40, peaking at No. 22 on the Canadian Charts in January 1982. A second single, "Wind Him Up", also fared well with the help of its music video receiving heavy rotation on MTV, and in December 1982, proved to be their breakthrough in America where it peaked at No. 26 on the Billboard chart in March 1983. "Wind Him Up" became the second single in America, peaking at No. 64 on Billboard the following month. Eventually, Worlds Apart was certified Gold in the US in 1983. The band opened for Jethro Tull on their North American tour in 1982.
If you grew up in the desert metropolis of Albuquerque, New Mexico in the 60s, 70s or 80s you probably have fond memories of Toys By Roy. This Article Has Moved To Our New Blog At: Toys By Roy - Winrock Center Mall - Albuquerque, New Mexico - A Trip Down Memory Lane
About ten minutes east of the city of Lake Charles are the remains of an abandoned water park . The decaying structures are clearly visible from the busy I-10 freeway and for years drivers have wondered about it's history and why it was left for dead. The Pirate's Cove Water Park actually has a rather interesting story behind it. A story that has been repeated over and over again, unfortunately, here in Louisiana. It's just another example of how government bureaucracy in this state killed an enterprise before it could ever get off the ground. Construction on the park began in 2008 and it was scheduled to open sometime in 2010. The sprawling complex was envisioned as an oasis from the hot summer heat that would feature luxurious amenities like a 900 foot long lazy river, a giant splash pad for the kids and eventually a five star hotel. The Pirate's Cove would have been an obvious tourist destination that could have brought much needed tax dollars and employment oppo...
I have to admit that I have been hanging on to these photos for a couple of months now just looking for the right minute to post them. Back in November I was traveling up to El Dorado, Arkansas and I passed through the small town of Dodson. While driving through town my eyes spotted a very attractive old house up on a hill and I just had to stop and take a few photos of it. I honestly don't know the history of this house, but I'm sure some local will send me message telling me all about it (and someone did see the UPDATE ), and it's not as cool as an abandoned railroad locomotive or old movie house but it really spoke to me. I have to wonder about the people who used to live in it and how it ended up in the state it is now. Anyone can see that it was a beautiful house long ago. What happened? How did such a grand residence end up like this? Those are questions that I can't answer unfortunately. Unfortunately a site like this isn't all that uncommon here in Louisian...
Comments
Post a Comment