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Jane Siberry - No Borders Here

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. 

Jane Siberry - CD copy

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

Back cover - insert

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.


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