Jane Siberry - No Borders Here

When MuchMusic launched in 1984 it was a weird and wonderful time. More often than not you just got to see what you were hearing on the radio, and the videos would run the gamut from rock to pop and then that first odd bunch of video jockeys would share some banter and introduce the next song with more witty banter. Every so often though there'd be something weird and wonderful you didn't get to hear on the radio. "Fish Heads" was one of those. Dang, I didn't mean to open that can of worms ... now I'm singing it in my head, "Fish heads, fish heads roly-poly fish heads, eat them up, yum." If you know what I'm talking about, good luck getting that out of your head.

You're welcome.

Fudge, this has messed with my continuity ...

Where was I before I went off into the weeds? Right, videos that weren't on the radio. Aside from the unnamed song about the aquatic swimmy thing's eyeball holder there was a strange and quirky song called "Mimi on the Beach" by Jane Siberry. It was long, and it was mesmerizing and it was on. All.The.Time. This was kind of heavy rotation you don't get anymore.

It broke Jane Siberry into the Canadian market and even my friends were talking about her. I liked the song for all that, although there were times I thought it was stupid, but then it would be on again and all was forgiven. She was laying the ground work for what would be a series of albums that would each have some awe inspiring moments. I'd follow her pretty closely from this album through to 1995's Maria, and then I sort of lost the thread. I still think of her contribution to The Crow soundtrack "It Can't Rain All the Time" as one of the most poignant pop songs ever.

I saw her in concert once, a largely acoustic affair that was riveting.

Still going back to where it all started for me has been a lot of fun. I'd not listened to this for a long time and it still holds up as a wonderful marrying of pop with an artistic flair that had a sound and feel that unique to Jane Siberry. When she goes off on a tangent where it gets a little too much for me to the point where it borders on being pretentious (which is not the right word, but her artistic integrity would likely be a little intense and perhaps come across that way) I can only listen for little while. But it's all part of the package. I am still drawn to her voice. When she's good she's amazing.

"Mini on the Beach" is still a jaw dropping display of new wave and art, and "You Don't Need" is heart breaking. The rest of the songs are a quirky combination of '80s pop with a penchant for the off kilter - in a good way.

The album was produced by Jane Siberry / John Switzer and Jon Goldsmith /Kerry Crawford

Jane in additional to vocals played guitar, and provided some misc. keyboards

The core band on the album

John Switzer - bass, percussion
Ken Myhr - guitar, percussion
Al Cross - drums, percussion, Linndrum
Doug Wilde - keyboards
Jon Goldsmith - keyboards
Rob Yale - Fairlight programming

Strange when I first found the album I didn't recognize the cover as the CD I have as well as the original album I remember had the plain pink cover that looked like a map. This one with the beach painting is so much better.

6 Cylinder

As a kid we had one radio station, not counting CBC, and generally there was very little that was worth listening to, although there were times something would come on that would make you pay attention. It was 1979 and on a couple of occasions I heard "There Ain't Nobody Here But Us Chickens" and it cracked me up, and I always wanted to get a copy for myself. A few years ago when my niece was dancing, they did a performance to this song, and now I can't separate my niece from a bunch of dancing chicks in chicken suits. Such is life. When I found this in the dollar bin I actually let out a little chirp, my goodness could it be? It was, and it was in great shape - including the inner sleeve. Score. I had no idea what to expect, for all I knew there was only one song worth listening to, and if that was the case it was still a dollar well spent. If I could buy an album by Showdown and enjoy it, odds are I'll find something to enjoy here to. Before I put this on I...

Garfield - Strange Streets

I'd seen this before in the bin, but kept flipping through the stacks. I'd see it a few more times, each time stopping to look at it a little more. There was something kind of cool about the cover where the stylized Celtic knot had the dotted yellow line - it was a strange street for sure. I pulled the record out of the jacket and I was struck by the centre image. There was the familiar Mercury label, the same one I'd seen a thousand times on BTOs Head On album. Well, I'd bought things based on odd associations before - like when I had to buy anything that Solid Rock Records released (this was generally a good thing) who knows maybe this was a hidden gem. There weren't any real scratches or rash, just a lot of dirt and dust - it seemed to clean up okay, but we'll see how it goes. The album opens with the title track, and this wasn't straight ahead pop, or rock. It was leaning to the progressive, but with a pop bent. Oddly enough the vocals reminded me of Mi...

Hoodoo Gurus - Mars Needs Guitars!

The first time I got this album it was a gift from my old roommate Otto. For a goofy little nebbish he would occasionally surprise me with some left of field musical treasures. Although, I still think he was reaching a little when he brought home the new "Led Zeppelin" album by Kingdom Come and forced me to listen to "Get it On" over and over again. I'd not listened to Mars Needs Guitars in a long, long, long time. The first thing that I jumped out at me was how David Faulkner's vocals reminded me of his fellow countryman Peter Garrett from Midnight Oil. I think the reason this never occurred to me was at the time I didn't have any Midnight Oil until Diesel and Dust in 1987. I'm not saying it was all the time, but there were a couple of songs where it stood out. Not a bad thing, just a thing. Even at the time this felt slightly out of step with what was going on in 1985. It seemed like everyone was using drum machines and synthesizers and having t...

Old Enough to Forget

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