[Stephen Dame]

Just wondering if anybody can connect the dots to Gord's reference to London as "Our first home away from home," his "We used to come here a lot" line and Paul or Bobby playing the intro to "Higher Ground" (I forget who did the original, but the Chili Peppers version is pretty well known... and now that I hear it again it might be an old ZZ Top song or something: "I'm on the road again" I duuno, can't place it at the moment) at the tail end of New O.

Could that have been a reference to their cover-band days?

Does anybody have the scoop on any time the boys may have spent in London or if the town has any significance (Other than being a major University town: which may have been a hotbed for them when they were the "it" band at Queens in 85/86) to the bands history?

[prz]

SD, there was a thread awhile back discussing that London was special to them. I cant remember when or what its called, but its worth the search.

[Stephen Dame]

Yeah... I figured, search didn't turn up anything though... and now it's driving me crazy trying to put a song title to that damn melody they play!

[chris]

Just wondering if anybody can connect the dots to Gord's reference to London as "Our first home away from home," his "We used to come here a lot" line and Paul or Bobby playing the intro to "Higher Ground" (I forget who did the original, but the Chili Peppers version is pretty well known... and now that I hear it again it might be an old ZZ Top song or something: "I'm on the road again" I duuno, can't place it at the moment) at the tail end of New O.

Could that have been a reference to their cover-band days?

Does anybody have the scoop on any time the boys may have spent in London or if the town has any significance (Other than being a major University town: which may have been a hotbed for them when they were the "it" band at Queens in 85/86) to the bands history?

From this thread here's a partial answer: <!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="http://www.canoe.ca/NewsStand/LondonFreePress/Today/2004/11/25/729776.html">http://www.canoe.ca/NewsStand/LondonFre ... 29776.html</a><!-- m -->

[Stephen Dame]

Just wondering if anybody can connect the dots to Gord's reference to London as "Our first home away from home," his "We used to come here a lot" line and Paul or Bobby playing the intro to "Higher Ground" (I forget who did the original, but the Chili Peppers version is pretty well known... and now that I hear it again it might be an old ZZ Top song or something: "I'm on the road again" I duuno, can't place it at the moment) at the tail end of New O.

Could that have been a reference to their cover-band days?

Does anybody have the scoop on any time the boys may have spent in London or if the town has any significance (Other than being a major University town: which may have been a hotbed for them when they were the "it" band at Queens in 85/86) to the bands history?

From this thread here's a partial answer: <!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="http://www.canoe.ca/NewsStand/LondonFreePress/Today/2004/11/25/729776.html">http://www.canoe.ca/NewsStand/LondonFre ... 29776.html</a><!-- m -->

Thanks. Although it would appear those Scrooge-like rat Bastards over at Quebecor's online division have decided I'll have to pay $10 to read the thing! Do they know what else I could get for $10 online... geez, who pays $10 to see something they don't have to clean-up from afterwards?

[LoftyPines]

Just wondering if anybody can connect the dots to Gord's reference to London as "Our first home away from home," his "We used to come here a lot" line and Paul or Bobby playing the intro to "Higher Ground" (I forget who did the original, but the Chili Peppers version is pretty well known... and now that I hear it again it might be an old ZZ Top song or something: "I'm on the road again" I duuno, can't place it at the moment) at the tail end of New O.

Could that have been a reference to their cover-band days?

Does anybody have the scoop on any time the boys may have spent in London or if the town has any significance (Other than being a major University town: which may have been a hotbed for them when they were the "it" band at Queens in 85/86) to the bands history?

From this thread here's a partial answer: <!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="http://www.canoe.ca/NewsStand/LondonFreePress/Today/2004/11/25/729776.html">http://www.canoe.ca/NewsStand/LondonFre ... 29776.html</a><!-- m -->

Thanks. Although it would appear those Scrooge-like rat Bastards over at Quebecor's online division have decided I'll have to pay $10 to read the thing! Do they know what else I could get for $10 online... geez, who pays $10 to see something they don't have to clean-up from afterwards?

Well, Dame, your lucky i have an exam tommorow. If it wasnt for that I wouldnt be so focused on procratinating, I have the hard copy of the Free Press so I will type up a couple of the paragraphs that alude to this:

"The Tragically Hip have never been able to get enough London-- and the flip side is also true.

Back in the late 1980s, London was a second home to the Hip, who still hadn't made their first record.

In those days, th eband members jumped out of bed in Kingston at 10a.m. and then hit the road for a one-off gig at a London club, recalls Hip drummer Johnny Fay. Three sets ans an encore later, the guys would tear down their equipment, hang out with London friends for a while and then drive right back to Kingston. This happened 10 or 15 times, Fay says, a sign of true rock love.

Such Canadian rock road stories never really change. So it is with the Hip and London.

"Our management in Vancouver gleefully said, 'London sold out in seconds,' " Fay says of Saturday night's show at the JLC. It is the Hip's first visit to the downtown London arena...

"Well, that made us feel great... we're stoked to play. We've had friends who've played there and said it sounds great. We're going to put a show on," Fay says.



-Thats pretty much all of relevance.

In the future, to any of you who are in University, you will likely have access to Factiva, a great database that will allow you to see these articles. I just realised I could have went and just copied this article. Oh well!

Hope this helps clear things up a bit!

[cferneyh]

Just wondering if anybody can connect the dots to Gord's reference to London as "Our first home away from home," his "We used to come here a lot" line and Paul or Bobby playing the intro to "Higher Ground" (I forget who did the original, but the Chili Peppers version is pretty well known... and now that I hear it again it might be an old ZZ Top song or something: "I'm on the road again" I duuno, can't place it at the moment) at the tail end of New O.

Shame shame Stephen. Shame! :lol:

Higher Ground is a Stevie Wonder song. The Peppers even mention Stevie in their version:

an’ stevie knows that, uh, no-body’s gonna bring me down.
Till I reach the highest ground.
’cause me ’n’ stevie, see, we’re gonna be a sailin’ on the funky sound
Till I reach the highest ground.

On The Road Again was a Floyd Jones tune (a Chicago bluesman in the 50s) that Canned Heat added a droning tambura to give the arrangement a contemporary feel and flavor.

And no, I didn't write that last paragraph on my own. I knew it was a Canned Heat song, but wasn't entirely sure it was just theirs.

[Stephen Dame]

Just wondering if anybody can connect the dots to Gord's reference to London as "Our first home away from home," his "We used to come here a lot" line and Paul or Bobby playing the intro to "Higher Ground" (I forget who did the original, but the Chili Peppers version is pretty well known... and now that I hear it again it might be an old ZZ Top song or something: "I'm on the road again" I duuno, can't place it at the moment) at the tail end of New O.

Could that have been a reference to their cover-band days?

Does anybody have the scoop on any time the boys may have spent in London or if the town has any significance (Other than being a major University town: which may have been a hotbed for them when they were the "it" band at Queens in 85/86) to the bands history?

From this thread here's a partial answer: <!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="http://www.canoe.ca/NewsStand/LondonFreePress/Today/2004/11/25/729776.html">http://www.canoe.ca/NewsStand/LondonFre ... 29776.html</a><!-- m -->

Thanks. Although it would appear those Scrooge-like rat Bastards over at Quebecor's online division have decided I'll have to pay $10 to read the thing! Do they know what else I could get for $10 online... geez, who pays $10 to see something they don't have to clean-up from afterwards?

Well, Dame, your lucky i have an exam tommorow. If it wasnt for that I wouldnt be so focused on procratinating, I have the hard copy of the Free Press so I will type up a couple of the paragraphs that alude to this:

"The Tragically Hip have never been able to get enough London-- and the flip side is also true.

Back in the late 1980s, London was a second home to the Hip, who still hadn't made their first record.

In those days, th eband members jumped out of bed in Kingston at 10a.m. and then hit the road for a one-off gig at a London club, recalls Hip drummer Johnny Fay. Three sets ans an encore later, the guys would tear down their equipment, hang out with London friends for a while and then drive right back to Kingston. This happened 10 or 15 times, Fay says, a sign of true rock love.

Such Canadian rock road stories never really change. So it is with the Hip and London.

"Our management in Vancouver gleefully said, 'London sold out in seconds,' " Fay says of Saturday night's show at the JLC. It is the Hip's first visit to the downtown London arena...

"Well, that made us feel great... we're stoked to play. We've had friends who've played there and said it sounds great. We're going to put a show on," Fay says.



-Thats pretty much all of relevance.

In the future, to any of you who are in University, you will likely have access to Factiva, a great database that will allow you to see these articles. I just realised I could have went and just copied this article. Oh well!

Hope this helps clear things up a bit!

Great, thanks so much LP... I've got an exam today too... but we're allowed a cheat sheet... ah, rookie teachers, gotta love 'em.

[Stephen Dame]

an’ stevie knows that, uh, no-body’s gonna bring me down.
Till I reach the highest ground.
’cause me ’n’ stevie, see, we’re gonna be a sailin’ on the funky sound
Till I reach the highest ground.

On The Road Again was a Floyd Jones tune (a Chicago bluesman in the 50s) that Canned Heat added a droning tambura to give the arrangement a contemporary feel and flavor.

And no, I didn't write that last paragraph on my own. I knew it was a Canned Heat song, but wasn't entirely sure it was just theirs.

Cool, I didn't know that... but the more I hear the tune, I'm thinking it's some other song that I should probably know.

[HipTrip]

I've wrote about this topic on here but I can't find the thread. That article that Lofty Pines quoted pretty much sums it up. I spoke with RB about this topic when I met them in Cinci. He said that london had a similar feel to Kingston being an old town, a university town etc. My mom remembers free Hip concerts in the park in London back in the day. Imagine that! I did see them for free once on Canada Day in Central Park.

[clarke]

im not quite sure that is higher ground, just sounds like a standard blues riff, anywho the clapton cover of higher ground from last year is absolutely kick ass

[jgardz]

Ah, free hip shows in the park...I too remember attending one with my older sister in the late 80's/early 90's sometime here in London...just before the release of up to here if my memory serves me...the only reason I went was cause my sister's friend was in the opening band...the worst part is, he tried to introduce me to The Hip after the show, and I said "no thanks"... luckily, I had a couple opportunities to introduce MYSELF to the boys a few years ago, which I did not turn down....although Paul wouldn't let me buy him a beer before the show (Mulcahy's in Wantaugh, NY, AUG 2000)...though you can see his McDonald's take out bag hiding behind me in the pics we took...sweet, sweet memories...

[Stephen Dame]

I believe I got it. Paul plays a standard Blues riff from "Aw Mercy" by Booker T and the MG's at the end of New O... it's used in "Get Shorty" as, fittingly enough, Travolta walks across a checker-board floor.