It’s not often I can recall the exact event in my memory when I
discovered a new band. But in the case of the Tragically Hip I’ve remembered this
event for more than 25 years. It was a news report at the tail end of a late
night newscast. I don’t remember which network however so I’ve been having
difficulty in my Youtube searches. All I really remember is that the band was
thrashing it out onstage, probably to “New Orleans Is Sinking”. To be honest,
perhaps I wouldn’t even be able to identify the exact video footage if I saw
it. But the band has definitely remained in my consciousness all these years.
But you’d think by now (over the last few weeks) I‘d have run across
the footage. The news clip I was searching for occurred in the late 80s (maybe even
as recently as ’91) about a great new upstart band in Toronto known as The
Tragically Hip. Way back then I had finished high school and I remember I’d
stay up to watch the late news with my dad sometimes. The event I’m trying to
recall may have even been before the dawn of the TV remote control because if I
remember correctly, if my dad had had a remote control he’d have changed
channels pretty quickly once the clip of the band’s live performance started.
It was one of those moments where I was witnessing what I thought was one of
the best bands I’d ever seen, and all my dad could do was utter his somewhat
classic expression, “It’s a sickness!” And I don’t mean “sick” in the modern
slang sense.
Admittedly Dad was ESL, having emigrated from Germany in his formative
20s. Descriptive English wasn’t always his strong suit. But he had certain
catch phrases that inevitably popped up when he experienced something that
clashed with his German post-war upbringing. Back then I hated that saying of
his, but of course since his passing in 1991 I’ve come to use it now and again,
mostly in teasing my wife after she’s asked my opinion about something, like a
performance for instance (she of course is in on my humour).
