Musicians weigh in on 'HNIC' anthem
TORONTO - Rock icon Burton Cummings would like to see a hockey anthem that suits the toughness of the game. Members of the Stills and the Arrogant Worms prefer a puck theme with charm. And country star George Canyon wants something with a Celtic flair.
Canadian musicians are weighing in on CBC-TV's "Hockey Night in Canada" anthem challenge as the field of five finalists is set to be whittled down to two on Thursday. The winner, as chosen by the voting public, will be unveiled Saturday.
Cummings, an avid hockey fan, listened to the five tunes during an interview this week and said the high-energy, funky "Ice Warriors" by Gerry Mosby of Toronto "kills the rest of them."
"From what I heard there, I would go hands down with ('Ice Warriors'), I wouldn't even think twice," Cummings - who was in the city promoting his new album, "Above the Ground," set for release Nov. 4 - said after sampling all the tracks on a laptop in his hotel room.
"('Ice Warriors') is miles above the rest as far as being suited for 'Hockey Night in Canada,"' said Cummings, who was playing air guitar and bopping his head while sitting in a chair listening to the song.
"The visual will change from year to year - what shots they use of what players and whatever - but I think that one suits the mood of what's to come: a tough Canadian game. To me, I'd go with ('Ice Warriors')."
"Sticks to the Ice," a brassy tune by 13-year-old Toronto native Robert Fraser Burke, meanwhile, has caught the attention of a few other artists.
Chris Patterson of the Toronto-based farcical musical trio the Arrogant Worms says the song "set itself apart from the other ones."
"I don't think it made much difference that it came from a 13-year-old, to be honest, but it was just different enough from the other ones that it sounded the best," said Patterson, who sings and plays bass in the band which released the album "Torpid" last month.
"It worked with the visuals that they've now provided for it and it just kind of got me excited way more than the other ones did."
David Hamelin of the Stills is also rooting for the teen's track.
"I think it's got the most melody. I think it's the most memorable. I think the other ones just sound like they rely on production tricks too much and they don't really have the essence of that one that the 13-year-old kid made," the singer-guitarist said over the line from Montreal, where the rock outfit is based.
"I really absolutely do not care that he's young. He could be nine years old or he could be 100 years old or he could be a fetus or he could be a corpse or anything - like, it doesn't matter. It's a good song and ... I think that should be the one."
To country star George Canyon, the old "Hockey Night in Canada" theme - which CBC lost the rights to earlier this year - is one of the most recognizable melodies in the world.
"Replacing this is a really big deal. It's a serious venture," he said from his ranch outside Calgary, adding that his future grandchildren might one day be sitting down to watch hockey and listen to the new theme.
He was impressed by Burke's entry, calling the youngster an "incredibly talented young man," but said his favourite was the Celtic-tinged submission from Beaumont, Alta.-based elementary school teacher Colin Oberst.
"Being born and raised in Nova Scotia, all I knew growing up was hockey ... hockey was life," he said.
"And, of course, being of Scottish descent, whenever I hear the bagpipes, or anything that sounds like the bagpipes, I go into what I like to call battle mode. It just makes me stand up and feel alive, and it always has."
Canyon, whose new record, "What I Do," drops Nov. 11, says he thinks producer Bob Rock did a great job finessing the entries, adding that he never could have written anything close to what the five finalists have done.
The other two contenders in the Top 5 are "Let the Game Begin" by Christian St-Roch & Jimmy Tanaka of Chateauguay and Verdun, Que., and "Eleventh Hour" by Graham McRae of Burnaby B.C.
CBC received 14,685 entries for the contest to replace the old theme, which is now the property of TSN and was recently given a new arrangement by the Toronto Symphony Orchestra.
The Top 2 finalists in the CBC contest, as chosen by the voting public, will be unveiled Thursday evening during a double-header NHL broadcast (the Toronto Maple Leafs at the Detroit Red Wings and the Calgary Flames at the Vancouver Canucks).
Viewers can start voting for the final winner - via online, text message or phone - during Thursday night's twin bill until Oct. 10 at 11:59 p.m. ET.
The winning anthem will be unveiled on Saturday during "Hockey Night in Canada."
Late fiddler Oliver Schroer leads Canadian Folk Music nominations
Toronto fiddler Oliver Schroer, who died of leukemia July 3 at the age of 52, leads the lineup for this year's Canadian Folk Music Awards with four nominations.
Schroer, who combined folk music traditions with classical arrangements, received nominations for contemporary album of the year, solo instrumentalist, producer and a category called pushing the boundaries. He'll be honoured in a tribute at the CFMA ceremony next month.
Close behind him are Vancouver signer-songwriter Wyckham Porteous and Nova Scotia fiddler Troy MacGillivray with three nominations each.
With more than 400 submissions from across Canada this year, it has become more difficult to decide on nominations for the awards, notes Jean Hewson, a St. John's singer who is on the organization committee.
Nominees for traditional album are:
Troy MacGillivray & Shane Cook, When Here Meets There (Lanark, N.S.).
Le Vent du Nord, Dans les Airs (Montreal).
Mariam Matossian, In the Light ( Vancouver).
Yves Lambert and Le Brébert Orchestra, Le Monde à Lambert (Montreal).
Genticorum, La Bibournoise (Montreal).
Nominees for contemporary album:
Oliver Schroer, Hymns and Hers (Toronto).
Justin Rutledge, Man Descending (Toronto).
NQ Arbuckle, X O K (Toronto).
Annebelle Chvostek, Resilience (Montreal).
Luke Doucet & The White Falcon, Blood's Too Rich (Toronto).
Nominees for Children's Album of the Year are:
Rik Barron, Shine (St. John's).
Celtic Rathskallions, All Around the Circle (Ottawa).
Funky Mamas, Rollin' Along (Guelph, Ont.).
The Kerplunks, The Kerplunks (Gabriola Island, B.C.).
Art Napoleon, Mocikan: Songs for Learning Cree (Victoria).
Nominees for traditional singer are:
Norah Rendell, Wait There Pretty One (Richmond, B.C.).
Enoch Kent, One More Round (Toronto).
Mary Beth Carty, Voici … Bette et Wallet (Quebec City).
Allison Lupton, Fly Like Swallows (Cambridge, Ont.).
Daniel Payne, Chain (Cow Head, N.L.).
Nomines for contemporary singer are:
Amos Garrett, Get Way Back (Turner Valley, Alta.).
Wyckham Porteous, 3 AM (Vancouver).
Tannis Slimmon, Lucky Blue (Guelph, Ont.).
Dave Carroll, Perfect Blue (Halifax).
Rita Chiarelli, Uptown Goes Downtown (Toronto).
Nominees for instrumental solo artist are:
Oliver Schroer, Hymns and Hers (Toronto).
Pierre Schryer, Melange (Kakabeka Falls, Ont.).
Sarah Burnell for the Sarah Burnell Band, Return Ticket (Ottawa/Montreal).
Craig Korth, Suspicious Minds (Edmonton).
Troy MacGillivray, Live at the Music Room (Lanark, N.S.).
Nominees for instrumental group are:
Marc Atkinson Trio, Vol. IV (Victoria).
Odessa/Havana, Odessa/Havana (Toronto).
Troy MacGillivray & Shane Cook, When Here Meets There (Lanark, N.S.).
Sagapool, Sagapool, Episode Trois (Montreal).
UCalgary String Quartet, Far Behind /Left My Country (Calgary).
Nominees for English songwriter are:
Garnet Rogers, Get a Witness (Brantford, Ont.).
Tim Hus, Bush Pilot Buckaroo (Calgary).
Wyckham Porteous, 3 AM (Vancouver).
Corb Lund, Horse Soldier! Horse Soldier! (Edmonton).
Lindsay Jane, Lovers Find Reasons (Winnipeg).
Nominees for French songwriter are:
David Jalbert, Des Histoires (Mascouche, Que.).
Anique Granger, Pepins (Montreal).
Yves Desrosiers, Chansons indociles (Montreal).
Tomas Jensen, Quelqu'un d'autre (Montreal).
Swing, Tradarnac (Ottawa).
Nominees for vocal group are:
Sisters of Sheynville, Sheynville Express (Toronto).
The Sojourners, Hold On (Vancouver).
Chic Gamine, Chic gamine (Winnipeg).
Dala, Who Do You Think You Are? (Toronto).
Frida's Brow, Frida's Brow (Wakefield, Que.).
Nominees for ensemble of the year are:
Foggy Hogtown Boys, The Golden West (Toronto).
Yves Lambert and Le Brébert Orchestra, Le Monde à Lambert (Montreal).
Rita Chiarelli, Uptown Goes Downtown (Toronto).
Le Vent du Nord, Dans les Airs (Montreal).
Hungry Hill, Ride (Smithers, B.C.).
Nominees for solo artist are:
Wyckham Porteous, 3 AM (Vancouver).
Ken Whiteley, One World Dance (Toronto).
Michael Jerome Browne, Double (Montreal).
Lindsay Jane, Lovers Find Reasons (Winnipeg).
Corb Lund, Horse Soldier! Horse Soldier! (Edmonton).
Nominees for world solo artist are:
Musa Dieng Kala, Exile (Brossard, Que.).
Ines Canepa, Capricho (Montreal).
Celso Machado, Jogo da Vida (Gibsons, B.C.).
Harry Manx, Harry Manx and Friends Live at the Glenn Gould Studio (Saltspring Island, B.C.).
Eliana Cuevas, Vidas (Toronto).
Nominations for world group are:
Compadres, Buddy Where You Been? (Calgary/Winnipeg).
Odessa/Havana, Odessa/Havana (Toronto).
Sagapool, Episode Trois (Montreal).
Constantinople et Françoise Atlan, Ay! Amor (Montreal).
Sisters of Sheynville, Sheynville Express (Toronto).
Nominees for new/emerging artist are:
The Polyjesters, Kitchen Radio (Calgary).
Mariam Matossian, In the Light (Vancouver).
Chic Gamine, Chic Gamine (Winnipeg).
Chloe Albert, Dedicated State (Edmonton).
David Jalbert, Des Histoires (Mascouche, Que.).
Nominees for producer of the year are:
Steve Dawson for Steve Dawson, Waiting for the Lights to Come Up (Vancouver).
Mathieu Dandurand for David Jalbert, Des Histoires (Montreal).
Erik West-Millette for Bia, Nocturno (Montreal).
Oliver Schroer for Oliver Schroer, Hymns and Hers (Toronto).
Othentic for Swing, Tradarnac (Montreal).
Nominees for pushing the boundaries are:
Oliver Schroer, Hymns and Hers (Toronto).
Steve Dawson, Waiting for the Lights to Come Up (Vancouver).
The Marc Atkinson Trio, IV (Victoria).
Harry Manx, Harry Manx and Friends Live at the Glenn Gould Studio (Saltspring Island, B.C.).
Bia, Nocturno (Montreal).
Nominees for young performer are:
Emma Beaton, Pretty Fair Maid (Qualicum Beach, B.C.).
Chrissy Crowley, Demo (Margaree, N.S.).
Kierah, Irish Madness (White Rock, B.C.).
Drumlin, Mackerel Skies (Bridgewater, N.S.).
Paul Cresey, Piece the Picture (Edmonton).
Rik Barron, nominated for children's album of the year, said he is glad to be a part of this year's awards. "Up until three or four years ago, we didn't have an award that was just for children," he said.
The awards ceremony will be held Nov. 23 in St. John's.
Foo Fighters tell McCain to stop using song
NEW YORK - Yet another band is complaining about John McCain's use of their song to promote his campaign. This time, it's the Foo Fighters.
The rockers sent out a missive telling the Republican presidential candidate to stop using "My Hero." They said they learned it was being use through news reports.
"The saddest thing about this is that `My Hero' was written as a celebration of the common man and his extraordinary potential," the band said in a statement. "To have it appropriated without our knowledge and used in a manner that perverts the original sentiment of the lyric just tarnishes the song."
The band noted it's not the first time McCain has been told to stop using a song. John Mellencamp, Heart and Jackson Browne have also complained — Browne even filed a lawsuit.
Soul legend Sam Moore also has asked the campaign of Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama to stop using "Soul Man."
McCain's campaign did not immediately respond to a phone call seeking comment.
A Fey-Palin comedy summit? Stay tuned
NEW YORK - It seems like the inevitable comedic summit of this fall's presidential campaign: the real Sarah Palin coming on "Saturday Night Live" to meet her look-alike impersonator, Tina Fey.
"All in good time," said a cagey Lorne Michaels, longtime executive producer of NBC's "Saturday Night Live," which has been rejuvenated this fall by Fey's three skits as the Republican vice presidential candidate.
Michaels said on Wednesday he wasn't actively seeking Palin, but that the McCain campaign called after the first skit, when Fey's Palin appeared with Amy Poehler's Hillary Clinton on the show's Sept. 13 season premiere, to say they enjoyed it.
"Saturday Night Live" has a long history of political walk-ons. Michaels prefers keeping this sort of news a surprise until it happens, an opinion reinforced when word leaked that Barack Obama would be on that same show and the Democratic presidential candidate had to cancel at the last minute. "I think we looked stupid," he said.
There are three more first-run "Saturday Night Live" episodes before the election. Starting Thursday, NBC is also airing three prime-time editions of the show at 9:30 p.m. EDT.
Palin told reporters on Tuesday she'd love to appear on the show with Fey.
"I love her, she's a hoot and she's so talented," Palin said. "It would be fun to meet her, imitate her and keep on giving her new material."
From the moment Palin was selected as John McCain's running mate, Michaels said he barely had time to consider the idea of Fey impersonating her. Others did it for him.
"The next day the doorman in my building said, `What a gift, you're going to have so much fun with Tina Fey,'" he said.
Fey needed some convincing, primarily because she was busy with her Emmy Award-winning role as harried late-night show producer on "30 Rock." The day of "SNL's" season premiere, she was shooting an episode of "30 Rock" with Oprah Winfrey as guest.
"There are certainly people here who could have played her and played her well," Michaels said. "But the audience would have been disappointed if it had not been Tina. They cast her."
During that first impersonation, Fey got laughs simply by nailing Palin's accent. She described global warming as "just God hugging us closer."
Michaels knew he wanted Fey back for the Oct. 4 show, two days after the vice presidential debate. But Palin's interview with CBS' Katie Couric was so priceless, they had to write a sketch around that, he said.
In one answer to a question by Couric, played by Poehler, Fey gives a circular response of campaign cliches that reaches a dead end. Asked for specifics on how a McCain administration would spread democracy, Fey's Palin said, "Katie, I'd like to use one of my lifelines."
Through the first three weeks of the season, "Saturday Night Live" has averaged 8.3 million viewers, or 49 percent more than last year, according to Nielsen Media Research. The skits have also drawn tremendous Web traffic, with 9.3 million people watching an online clip of the "Clinton-Palin" segment. The "Couric interview" has been seen by nearly 7 million people, NBC said.
"She's made `Saturday Night Live' look, for the first time in a long time, like it's playing in the same satire league as Comedy Central, said Robert Thompson, director of the Bleier Center for Television and Popular Culture at Syracuse University.
Fey has been off "Saturday Night Live" for two years, but was the guest host last winter in the first show back from the writers strike, where she made a vivid defense of Hillary Clinton.
"With all her years on `Weekend Update' and even more as Liz Lemon on `30 Rock,' she's become someone the audience trusts," Michaels said. "She's credible. And I think none of that would have mattered if her take on Sarah Palin hadn't been fresh and funny."
While the comic impersonation is tough, Fey's character is likable, much like Will Ferrell was in his days talking about "strategery" as George W. Bush, he said.
Richard Greene, a public speaking coach and author of "Words That Shook the World: 100 Years of Unforgettable Speeches and Events," said if he were a Democratic official, he'd be pulling any favor he could to keep Palin off "Saturday Night Live."
"She is so charming and so media savvy," Greene said. "When she has a script, she will completely seduce America."
Michaels is enjoying the ride, letting Fey know that she only has to impersonate Palin through Nov. 4.
But what if she is elected the next vice president?
"I think we'll find somebody else to play Sarah Palin," he said. "I don't think she's going to be playing Sarah Palin for the rest of her life."
Stoker descendant resurrects Dracula for sequel
Drawing from handwritten notes by Bram Stoker, the horror author's great-grandnephew is set to pen a Dracula sequel entitled Dracula: The Un-Dead.
The new project is the first story authorized by the Stoker family and estate since the 1931 film starring Bela Lugosi.
The forthcoming Dracula: The Un-Dead — apparently the title Stoker had intended for his original before an editor changed it — is slated for release in October 2009 in the U.S., U.K. and Canada. Film rights to the new story have also been sold, with production tentatively scheduled to begin in June 2009.
Dacre Stoker, a former Canadian Olympic pentathlon coach who is now based in the U.S., will co-write the new novel with Dracula historian and screenwriter Ian Holt.
Not having read his ancestor's 1897 novel until college, Dacre Stoker told the U.K's Guardian newspaper that he decided to prepare a research paper on the original story and his great-grand-uncle's motivation in writing it.
"Because the novel was so good and had stood up so well over the years, I found it exceedingly sad that all of the trash Hollywood had put out monumentally sullied Bram's and my family's literary legacy," he told the paper.
After meeting Holt, the duo decided to work together "to give both Bram and Dracula back their dignity."
The sequel will be set in 1912 and will chronicle trials faced by Quincey, the son of Stoker's original young hero Jonathan Harker.
Metallica To Emphasize 'Magnetic' On Tour
Metallica drummer Lars Ulrich promises that fans will hear "a lot of new songs" from "Death Magnetic" on the group's upcoming tour, which begins production rehearsals Monday in San Francisco and kicks off Oct. 21 in Glendale, Ariz.
"These new songs are a lot of fun to play," Ulrich tells Billboard.com.
"Traditionally I think we've been a little conservative when we've started off with two songs, three songs (from the new album). We're going to hit the ground running here. We're probably gonna learn all of them and play, I hope, at least five a night and probably rotate 'em so we get a lot of new songs in. That's one thing I'm definite about."
Metallica, which has dates booked into August of 2009, will again be playing in the round, though Ulrich says the production will be "a completely different thing than what we've done before." He says that there will be "a big-ass f*ckin' lighting rig above us, and there's some pretty cool stuff up there. There'll be some sh*t that turns on and off and some sh*t that blows up ... the usual stuff.
Ulrich says the group is also similarly enthused about the reception to "Death Magnetic," Metallica's first set of new material since 2003's "St. Anger." The album topped The Billboard 200 for three consecutive weeks and has sold a million copies already in the U.S. and 2.5 million around the world.
"It's just an overwhelming, positive thing," Ulrich notes. "You couldn't have told me a month ago or six months ago that we would have a record that would be this well-received. It seems like it's so universal this time and it's all over the world and everybody's so into it on so many different levels -- the fans, press, the peers ... everybody.
"I'm a little overwhelmed, humbled ... and certainly appreciative. When you put out a record twice a decade, which is kind of what we find ourselves doing these days, you bask in it a little bit."