School of Hip

In this episode of School of Hip Chaz and Heath welcome – from the Paris of the Prairies – writer, documentarian, film critic, and the director of operations at Saskatoon’s Rawlco Radio, Craig Silliphant. Craig’s latest book is a collection of humourous essays entitled Bunnyhug Cynic which includes a must-read reflection on the final Tragically Hip concert, from their hometown of Kingston, Ontario on Aug. 20, 2016.   Broadcast live on the CBC, the concert was watched by 11.7 million people, roughly a quarter of Canada’s population. This was Canada’s farewell to their beloved icon and poet laureate, Hip frontman Gord Downie, who had been diagnosed with terminal cancer. It was a funeral hosted by the dying man himself, says Silliphant and we talk about his excellent essay, The Man Who Walks Among the Stars (after first schooling Chaz on what the hell is a bunnyhug! Gotta love that Saskie slang!)   Then it’s on to Side A of Phantom Power wherein even Hip cynic Silliphant acknowledges the brilliance and depth of Bobcaygeon. Other phantom powered topics include the influence of producer Steve Berlin (from Los Lobos), the bare-breasted lawnmowing ladies of Poets, the great Quebec ice storm of ’98, which inspires Something On, and is that a flute we hear on Save the Planet? And Gord, is that a nickel stack in your pocket or are you just happy to see that bad ass Thompson Girl?   Whether you’re a lifelong Hip fan or just curious about what makes this band so iconic in Canada, School of Hip is your guide to the sounds and the story of the Tragically Hip, one album side per episode. Episodes drop every two weeks.   For further exploration:   School of Hip is a proud part of the burgeoning empire that is the Boneless Podcasting Network. Listen there, or find us on iTunes, Spotify, Acast and other podcasting platforms. Please subscribe, review and give us five stars reviews to spike those algorithms, helping us grow our beloved show!  Reach out to us on our School of Hip Facebook Group or on our School of Hip Discord and watch for our posts in the awesome Reddit Tragically Hip community.  Also:   The Never-Ending Present: The Story of Gord Downie and the Tragically Hip by Michael Barclay.   https://www.hipmuseum.com/  https://hipbase.com/  https://thehip.com/  Chaz Charles is the founder of the Boneless Podcasting Network, currently hosting five fantastic shows (and appearing in many more!)  Heath McCoy is the author of Pain and Passion: The History of Stampede Wrestling, available on Amazon.ca and at ECW Press. He appears in the award winning documentary Singhs in the Ring on Crave TV.  And once again, to all you rock n’ roll podcast lovers .... GO BONELESS!   Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this episode of School of Hip Chaz and Heath welcome their first ever returning guest, none other than the Podfather of the Boneless Podcasting Network, co-host of the world’s greatest Van Halen podcast And the Podcast Will Rock, and five more equally killer shows which you can learn about by clicking the link on his immortal name. Hello, Corey Morrissette!   In Hip news the boys talk about an upcoming live triple album set to mark the 10th anniversary of the band’s final tour before the death of their iconic frontman Gord Downie. The Tragically Hip Live: July 22-Aug. 20, 2016, will feature recordings from various stops on that historical tour. The day after the album’s release, on Aug. 22, the CBC will be rebroadcasting the band’s final show in the Hip’s hometown of Kingston, ON, a day that united roughly one third of the country! In other news, Corey schools Heath ‘n Chaz on the coming of a Hip approved ice cream flavour, coming in June from Kawartha Dairy (headquartered, quite rightly, in Bobcaygeon, ON!) A delicious blend of maple whiskey flavored ice cream with dark, chocolatey chunks and rich, black cherry ripple. If they sent us some, we wouldn’t be mad!  Then it’s on to Side B of Trouble at the Henhouse, released on this month, 30 years ago! Full of Butts Wigglin’ Kids in the Hall accompaniment, canons shooting Coconut Cream, and an Apartment Song soiree wherein a strange lady shows off her ugly feet, does this side of deep cuts reflect a more playful Hip? And does it live up to the band’s epic previous output? Listen to the buried treasure that is Put It Off and you tell us!   Whether you’re a lifelong Hip fan or just curious about what makes this band so iconic in Canada, School of Hip is your guide to the sounds and the story of the Tragically Hip, one album side per episode. Episodes drop every two weeks.   For further exploration:   School of Hip is a proud part of the burgeoning empire that is the Boneless Podcasting Network. Listen there, or find us on iTunes, Spotify, Acast and other podcasting platforms. Please subscribe, review and give us five stars reviews to spike those algorithms, helping us grow our beloved show!  Reach out to us on our School of Hip Facebook Group or on our School of Hip Discord and watch for our posts in the awesome Reddit Tragically Hip community.  Also:   The Never-Ending Present: The Story of Gord Downie and the Tragically Hip by Michael Barclay.   https://www.hipmuseum.com/  https://hipbase.com/  https://thehip.com/  Chaz Charles is the founder of the Boneless Podcasting Network, currently hosting five fantastic shows (and appearing in many more!)  Heath McCoy is the author of Pain and Passion: The History of Stampede Wrestling, available on Amazon.ca and at ECW Press. He appears in the award winning documentary Singhs in the Ring on Crave TV.  And once again, to all you rock n’ roll podcast lovers .... GO BONELESS!   Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this episode of School of Hip Chaz and Heath are joined by their good friend (and occasional frenemy / nemesis) Kevin Brown, host of topnotch podcasts The Tom Petty Project, The Ultimate Catalogue Clash, Seaside Pod Review: A Queen Podcast, and Rock Court, where he was the formidable thorn in their respective sides!  A spirited chat touchs on Kevin’s discovery of The Tragically Hip as a Brit drawn to the Canadian prairies by the love of his life, and an appraisal of the band’s impeccable, oft overlooked rhythm section, this week’s album Day for Night an absolute tour de force for bassist Gord Sinclair. A consideration of the Hip’s expectation defying turn on the album, away from the arena ready rock on previous releases to the darker, moodier stylings within then leads to the lads’ track by track review of that album’s B Side, chalk full of deep cuts and at least one of the band’s all-time greats.   Could the mysterious, darkly beautiful folk ballad Scared be the Hip’s finest moment? Kevin makes a strong case for it. Other tunes tackled include Thugs, Inevitability of Death and the trippy Titanic Terrarium. But did Day for Night take the Hip to a new level of artistic reverence in Canada while limiting their chances of an international breakthrough?   Whether you’re a lifelong Hip fan or just curious about what makes this band so iconic in Canada, School of Hip is your guide to the sounds and the story of the Tragically Hip, one album side per episode. Episodes drop every two weeks.   For further exploration:   School of Hip is a proud part of the burgeoning empire that is the Boneless Podcasting Network. Listen there, or find us on iTunes, Spotify, Acast and other podcasting platforms. Please subscribe, review and give us five stars reviews to help grow our beloved show!  Reach out to us on our School of Hip Facebook Group, School of Hip Discord and watch for our posts in the awesome Reddit Tragically Hip community.  Also:   The Never-Ending Present: The Story of Gord Downie and the Tragically Hip by Michael Barclay.   https://www.hipmuseum.com/  https://hipbase.com/  https://thehip.com/  Chaz Charles is the founder of the Boneless Podcasting Network, currently hosting five fantastic shows (and appearing in many more!)  Heath McCoy is the author of Pain and Passion: The History of Stampede Wrestling, available on Amazon.ca and at ECW Press. He appears in the award winning documentary Singhs in the Ring on Crave TV.  And once again, to all you rock n’ roll podcast lovers .... GO BONELESS!   Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this episode of School of Hip Chaz and Heath take a detour from their chronological deep dive through the Tragically Hip’s discography to instead explore the newly released live album by Gord Downie & The Sadies, Live at 6 O’Clock. It’s a dynamic snapshot from the short 2014 tour the late Hip frontman embarked on in support of a solo album he released that same year with psychedelic alt-country band The Sadies, entitled And the Conquering Sun, and it finds the pairing exploding in a manner only hinted at on that studio record.   Live at 6 O’Clock burns with garage rock intensity as Downie and The Sadies storm through inspired covers of deep cuts by The Who, Neil Young, and Iggy and the Stooges, along with gems by the underground likes of Roky Erickson, Fucked Up, and The Gun Club. It finds Downie in raw, animated, vulnerable form, in a manner quite distinct from his work with the Hip. It’s a posthumous release not only for Gord, but also from Sadies co-founder Dallas Good, who died in 2022. “If you have ghosts” indeed (to quote the eccentric Roky Erickson).   The co-hosts also address online criticisms about the podcast’s length and their supposed lack of sufficient “deep Hip knowledge,” as they defend their format and explain the concept of schoolin’!   Whether you’re a lifelong Hip fan or just curious about what makes this band so iconic in Canada, School of Hip is your guide to the sounds and the story of the Tragically Hip, one album side per episode (with the odd detour in between!). Episodes drop every two weeks.   For further exploration:   School of Hip is a proud part of the burgeoning empire that is the Boneless Podcasting Network. Listen there, or find us on iTunes, Spotify, Acast and other podcasting platforms. Please subscribe, review and give us five stars reviews to help grow our beloved show!  Reach out to us on our School of Hip Facebook Group, School of Hip Discord and watch for our posts in the awesome Reddit Tragically Hip community.  Also:   If You Have Ghosts: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ueEGIHhcU8c Generation: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UvDHKOyxnY0  Grey Riders: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YTlDniwX53I  The Never-Ending Present: The Story of Gord Downie and the Tragically Hip by Michael Barclay.   https://www.hipmuseum.com/  https://hipbase.com/  https://thehip.com/   Chaz Charles is the founder of the Boneless Podcasting Network, currently hosting seven fantastic shows (and appearing in many more!)  Heath McCoy is the author of Pain and Passion: The History of Stampede Wrestling, available on Amazon.ca and at ECW Press. He appears in the award winning documentary Singhs in the Ring on Crave TV.  And once again, to all you rock n’ roll podcast lovers .... GO BONELESS!   Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this episode of School of Hip Chaz and Heath are joined by special guest Michael Barclay, author of Canadian best seller The Never-Ending Present: The Story of the Tragically Hip – which has been a constant reference point for this show – as well as the book Hearts on Fire: Six Years That Changed Canadian Music 2000-20005.   Michael takes us on his Tragically Hip journey, from falling in love with the band in his teenage years when they were a live sensation on the Ontario indie rock scene to writing the definitive biography of the band, published in 2018, the year after singer Gord Downie’s death.   Hip news includes the upcoming Gord Downie and the Sadies live album, Live at 6 O’Clock, and a new record by guitarist Paul Langois, Smooth Rock Falls.   Then it’s on to Side 1 of the Hip’s third full length release, the diamond certified Fully Completely. We discuss the heavy Canadiana in the lyrics, running through six tracks, including some of the bands’ biggest hits: Courage (for Hugh MacLennan), Looking for a Place to Happen, At the Hundredth Meridian and Locked in the Trunk of a Car. Also, is Pigeon Camera about incest and sexual abuse? Can it be compared to other popular songs of the era that touch on the topic (see Janie’s Got a Gun by Aerosmith and Pearl Jam’s Daughter).     Hot take on this one, Barclay is not a Fully Completely fan, giving a few of these songs the lowest rankings we’ve ever had on the show! That leads to an analysis of the radio ready production techniques of Chris Tsangarides. We compare Tsangarides to Don Smith whose rougher “live off the floor” recording shaped the sonics of Up to Here and Road Apples.   Whether you’re a lifelong Hip fan or just curious about what makes this band so iconic in Canada, School of Hip is your guide to the sounds and the story of the Tragically Hip, one album side per episode. Episodes drop every two weeks.   For further exploration:   School of Hip is hosted on Acast and can be found on iTunes, Spotify and other podcasting platforms. Reach out to us on our School of Hip Facebook Group and our School of Hip Discord.   Also:  Hearts on Fire: Six Years that Changed Canadian Music 2000–2005The Never-Ending Present: The Story of Gord Downie and the Tragically Hip by Michael Barclay.   That Night in Toronto: https://michaelbarclay.substack.com   https://www.hipmuseum.com/  https://hipbase.com/  https://thehip.com/  Chaz Charles is also the co-host of podcasts: RushRash, Regarding… Series, Those Who Are About To Dive: Chronicling Colosseum Track By Bloody Track With Dr. Glund, and he’s a rocktorney on season two of Rock Court.  Heath McCoy is the author of Pain and Passion: The History of Stampede Wrestling, available on Amazon.ca and at ECW Press. He appears in the award winning documentary Singhs in the Ring on Crave TV. He is a rocktorney on season one of Rock Court.  GO BONELESS! Boneless makes a better podcast. Find 20 more like-minded podcast nuggets at The Boneless Podcasting Network. https://goboneless.loveable.app  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this episode of School of Hip: Chaz and Heath are joined by special guest Todd McGinity who co-hosts the SeanGeek and FastFret Podcast with his brother Sean. Yes, the same Sean who joined us a few weeks back. Can’t get enough of those rockin’ rollin’ McGinity Bros! Todd remembers his earliest memories of road apples. No, not the Hip album, but rather the album’s namesake, horse poop, which, when frozen, made for great hockey pucks shot across icy ponds in the McGinity’s youth. (A bit of the Canadian experience for ya,’ Chaz!) Talk also turns fondly to Maritime kitchen parties in the McGinity home and the family band the brothers played in with their dad. Then Heath apologizes to all of Canada for last week’s regrettable fk up regarding Tragically Hip team ups with TV’s Trailer Park Boys and their appearance on CTV’s Corner Gas. It takes a big man to admit to his mistakes, Heath, but don’t let it happen again! Then it’s on to Side 2 of the Tragically Hip’s first number one album in Canada, Road Apples. Tunes include: the Stonesy swagger and spiderweb alphabets of Bring It All Back; the Tom Thomson Canadiana and pistols-at-dawn perfection of Three Pistols; and the deliriously hard-driving On the Verge. During the simmering slow groove of Fight Heath delivers a hot take which he immediately regrets when Chaz zeroes in on those seething, burning pillows. Chaz sees shades of Led Zeppelin III in Fiddler’s Green, a beautifully devastating masterpiece and quite possibly the most heart-wrenching song in the Hip’s canon (which became all the more moving on the Hip’s final tour. Finally, it’s the trippy serenade which drifts this incredible album to a close, Last of the Unplucked Gems. A precursor to Downie’s first solo album, Coke Machine Glow (released 10 years after Road Apples). Whether you’re a lifelong Hip fan or just curious about what makes this band so iconic in Canada, School of Hip is your guide to the sounds and the story of the Tragically Hip, one album side per episode. Episodes drop every two weeks.Reach out to us on our School of Hip Facebook Group, School of Hip Discord and watch for our posts in the awesome Reddit Tragically Hip community.  Also:   The Never-Ending Present: The Story of Gord Downie and the Tragically Hip by Michael Barclay.  https://www.hipmuseum.com/  https://hipbase.com/  https://thehip.com/  Chaz Charles is the founder of the Boneless Podcasting Network, currently hosting five fantastic shows (and appearing in many more!)  Heath McCoy is the author of Pain and Passion: The History of Stampede Wrestling, available on Amazon.ca and at ECW Press. He appears in the award winning documentary Singhs in the Ring on Crave TV.  And once again, to all you rock n’ roll podcast lovers .... GO BONELESS!   Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this episode of School of Hip: Chaz and Heath are joined by special guest Stephen Dame, whose website A Museum After Dark at hipmuseum.com has been an amazing source of information for the illustrious co-hosts as they have set out to explore the Tragically Hip’s entire musical catalogue, one album side at a time. They discuss Dame’s personal connection to the Hip and the origins of the website, which he began compiling 20 years ago, experiencing a huge surge in traffic and media attention with the cancer diagnosis and death of Hip frontman Gord Downie circa 2016-17. After a free-flowing chat touching on the trenches of Canadian journalism and Calgary’s Stampede Wrestling promotion, the trio begin their track-by-track review of side two of the Tragically Hip’s Canadian breakthrough album, Up to Here. Conversation highlights include the politics of lyric writing in the band, with Up to Here featuring excellent contributions by both guitarist Paul Langois and bassist Gord Sinclair, which were to be their last as, after this point, Downie insisted that he be the Hip’s lone lyricist. While he was, unquestionably, the band’s great poet, was something lost in the suppression of the other voices? As well as the considerable artistic merits of Up To Here, the guys also talk about the album’s massive commercial impact in Canada, eventually achieving diamond sales, meaning that on the Homefront the Hip were on par with such music industry chart toppers of the day as Bon Jovi, Whitney Houston, Metallica and Guns N’ Roses. This set the underdog band from Kingston, Ontario, on a new trajectory which would define the rest of its career. Whether you’re a lifelong Hip fan or just curious about what makes this band so iconic in Canada, School of Hip is your guide to the sounds and the story of the Tragically Hip, one album side at per episode. Episodes drop every two weeks. For further exploration: https://www.hipmuseum.com/School of Hip Facebook Grouphttps://hipbase.com/https://thehip.com/The Never-Ending Present: The Story of Gord Downie and the Tragically Hip by Michael Barclay. GO BONELESS!Boneless makes a better podcast. Find 20 more like-minded podcast nuggets at The Boneless Podcasting Network. https://goboneless.loveable.appChaz Charles is also the co-host of podcasts: RushRash, Regarding… Series, Those Who Are About To Dive: Chronicling Colosseum Track By Bloody Track With Dr. Glund, and he’s a rocktorney on season two of Rock Court. Heath McCoy is the author of Pain and Passion: The History of Stampede Wrestling, available on Amazon.ca and at ECW Press. He appears in the award winning documentary Singhs in the Ring on Crave TV. He is a rocktorney on season one of Rock Court.School of Hip is hosted on Acast and can be found on iTunes, Spotify and other podcasting platforms.  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Heath and Chaz settle into a natural groove as they continue their deep dive into The Tragically Hip’s 1987 debut EP. The show opens with their now-familiar intro before jumping into a fast-moving music chat—Sloan, 54-40, The Northern Pikes, Halifax vs. Seattle, and how regional college-rock scenes shaped the late ’80s across North America. They dig into why The Hip ultimately pulled ahead of their peers: Gord Downie’s unpredictable spark, the band’s tight chemistry, and especially the interplay between Rob Baker’s fluid, textural guitar work and Paul Langlois’s grounded rhythmic punch.Discussion slides into a major moment in Hip News: superstar producer Boi-1da being granted full access to The Hip’s catalog for a FIFA World Cup–themed project. The guys explore why it matters—legacy building, cross-genre discovery, and the surprising ways new listeners stumble onto classic bands through global events and cultural remixing.They highlight hipmuseum.com, a massive fan-built archive they’ll be relying on heavily, and extend an open invitation to curator Stephen Dame. The sense of community around the show keeps growing.Then comes the heart of the episode: a track-by-track breakdown of the EP’s final songs, Cemetery Sideroad on through All Canadian Surf Club.Chaz and Heath close with their first scoring tally and talk through production notes, listener interaction, and the road ahead. It’s a freakin lively, witty, music-nerd-friendly episode that deepens their journey into the earliest days of The Tragically Hip. And the evolving format, it's best described as smoove...Reach out to us on our School of Hip Facebook Group, School of Hip Discord and watch for our posts in the awesome Reddit Tragically Hip community.  Also:   The Never-Ending Present: The Story of Gord Downie and the Tragically Hip by Michael Barclay.  https://www.hipmuseum.com/  https://hipbase.com/  https://thehip.com/  Chaz Charles is the founder of the Boneless Podcasting Network, currently hosting five fantastic shows (and appearing in many more!)  Heath McCoy is the author of Pain and Passion: The History of Stampede Wrestling, available on Amazon.ca and at ECW Press. He appears in the award winning documentary Singhs in the Ring on Crave TV.  And once again, to all you rock n’ roll podcast lovers .... GO BONELESS!   Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.