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for that matter, why hasn't Sam Roberts broken through in the US? He is as good as anything out there
as a Detroiter its very disapointing that the groups I love (Hip, Roberts, Rush) get no respect in the US (even though Rush is obviously popular on the touring circuit and has sold albums).
Its like the Hip and Sam Roberts are stuck in the "1980's version of REM"...no airplay, small venues, etc...
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Sorry Jenna; I have American relatives and actually quite enjoy their company, and their take on culture. The question has been brought up here on more than one occasion, and it is annoying. We are two different socities with some tastes that obviously overlap. But, why wouldn't a Canadian find that question offensive? We have supported this band through and through, so why do we need an American stamp on their success to suggest they are a success? Maybe that is not the point of the question, however, it is OK for Canadian and American culture to differ right?
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Rhetorical questions aside, this particular dead horse is an American dead horse. The question is not about Canadians needing Yankee approval. The question is how the hell can our friends and neighbors not know and love this world class band? It's really weird. I think Rednecks would like the country/traditional vibe and I bet The Hip would kill if they played at The Apollo for an African American audience. The fact is The Tragically Hip have never received any major media support in the States. Yes we are a nation of loud, pushy, garish and rude people. But we are a lot of fun to hang out with and we're not a bad bunch when you get to know us. Plus, we invented Rock and Roll. Dismiss it if you will but the question matters to American Hip fans.
The Tragically Hip don't need America.
America needs The Hip.
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I think that the main reason is that individuals in this younger generation of Americans (and this, of course, is going to be an extremely general characterization), doesn't really understand how to form and cultivate their own "tastes" as far as authentic rock and roll bands go, let alone pursue those tastes without some strange sense of risk of being an outcast. And few American teens risk being an outcast.
It seems younger Americans are taking ALL their cues from mass media and pop-culture-at-large, and don't even want to begin to consider that there is an entire musical universe that they won't even DARE to explore. They're hell-bent on being 'tragically hip', if you'll excuse the pun.
There is a subculture, of course, that deviates from the fare of the lemmings, but that subculture thrives on word-of-mouth, and TTH are not in anyone's ears and/or mouths, primarily because there is zero exposure for TTH down here anymore -- even in this Great Lakes region. 1995 saw the largest push TTH has ever made down here, and it didn't even cause a ripple. I used to hear an occasional Hip single from a current album on select college radio stations, but not anymore. They've given up chasing new fans here, which was inevitable.
Though I'm glad they never caught on. Not for the band's sake, but for my own. We hardcore fans only benefit from their relative obscurity here.
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I always enjoy seeing these topics turn into something so utterly senseless. Who give a rats ass; really, It's about the music. I g-rantee you there are enough canucks who enjoy hip hop, gansta rap, and Kenny chesnie as us amerinuks. I don't watch nascar or monster truckin...(although I do own 2 snow mobiles...or as you might know them as Skidoooos, snow-sheeens, or sleds...hmmm?). What does that have to do with anything?
Live and let live...rock and let rock, I'd be canadian in a heart beat...if only for the tylenol with codeine. :mrgreen:
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It's baffling why they've never gotten more attention down south. Most likely it has to do with the piss-poor job of their American labels and the lack of decent promotion over the years. Here in Canada they were able to ride the alt-rock/grunge wave in the early 90s, even though they came from more of a trad-rock background. As Robby once said, "We were too alternative for classic rock, and too classic rock for alternative." But somehow they were able to straddle both genres and get their songs played on alt-rock and classic-rock radio at the same time. People forget how HUGE they were in the mid-90s in Canada. I don't think we'll ever see another Canadian band get as big as they were at that time in this country. You couldn't walk down the hallway at my high school without spotting a dozen Hip t-shirts mixed in with the Nirvana, Soundgarden, and Pearl Jam shirts. The Hip were fuckin' massive.
What's really strange about the whole U.S. thing is that even hardcore music geeks down there don't seem to know much about them. The Hip have been touring the shit out of America since 1989. They've probably toured that country more times than most American bands have, and to this day people still don't know who the hell they are. I remember an interview they did with a Seattle radio station in 1991 or '92 where the DJ informed Johnny & Gord S. that Bridget Fonda, Eric Stoltz, and members of Pearl Jam had all called in trying to get tickets to their show that night...so it's not like they didn't have pockets of fans in the States (and famous ones at that). But for some strange reason the buzz about them never seemed to spread beyond that, and they weren't able to make the jump to playing larger venues. The band obviously came to terms with this a few years ago, and I get the impression that they really don't give a crap about American success anymore. These days they seem to be quite content travelling around the States in a nice comfy bus selling out clubs & theatres everywhere they play. In a lot of ways they're more successful in the U.S. than most American bands are, and they've gained fans simply through word of mouth, one show at a time over a span of 20 years. Now that's a hard workin' band. As a fan, I'm thankful that I get to see them up close and personal in small intimate venues down there, which is the best way to see them in my opinion. It's a shame that they've never gotten the recognition in America that they so richly deserve. But hey, it is what it is.
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Hmmmm....chewin' on this food for thought -- will spit something out brilliant later. All I know is I saw the video for Bobcaygeon years ago here in Cleveland when Much was carried on our cable station for about 3 months and from then on I went back catalog forward....and I am one who truly doesn't give a f*ck about hockey but I love TTH! Oh, and the playing smaller venues here rocks!
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I have been a US citizen for at least as long as I have been a hip fan..... There are strong 'pockets' of fans down here.
I love the band, but the music they make, and what's being marketed to the US public are totally incongruent.
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just to repeat-- <!-- l --><a class="postlink-local" href="http://hipbase.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=2283#p20845">viewtopic.php?f=1&t=2283#p20845</a><!-- l -->
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I always thought it had something to do with the name The Tragically Hip i.e. without context it can come across as a self indulging promotion to "cool". Now, if they had named themselves Jenna and the Horrible Esthete, or Fucking Raccoon Cocksuckers (FRC) we would have a monster American success story on our hands.
"we've only got three hundred feet to go ..."
