Rise Up
Canadian Pop Music in the 1980s
(CBC , Sept. 10 & Sept. 17 at 9 p.m.)
(CBC Newsworld, Sept. 19 & Sept. 26 at 10 p.m.)
Rise Up looks at the digital age of Canadian music in the 1980s, a visual era of big hair and shoulder pads, when music videos helped homegrown artists to take off internationally. America’s MTV and Canada’s MuchMusic provide launching pads for artists as varied as Triumph, Bruce Cockburn, Chilliwack, Jane Siberry, Men Without Hats and Bryan Adams.
Blending illuminating interviews with thrilling concert footage and videos, including Rush’s “Tom Sawyer,” Triumph’s “Magic Power,” Blue Rodeo’s “Try” and k.d. lang’s “Hanky Panky,” Rise Up takes viewers on a thrilling ride into the decade’s pop stratosphere. Along with such telegenic performers as Gowan and Dalbello, the hit-filled documentary includes cult favorites like Slow, Handsome Ned and Mary Margaret O’Hara. By the end of the Eighties, Canadian music has exploded – both at home and abroad.
From hip-hop pioneers like Maestro and Michie Mee to such pop superstars as Mitsou and Corey Hart, Rise Up charts the global rise of Canadian music with a treasure trove of classic hits and cult classics.
This Beat Goes On
Canadian Pop Music in the 1970s
(CBC main network, Aug. 27 & Sept. 3 at 9 p.m.)
(CBC Newsworld, Sept. 12 & Sept. 18 at 10 p.m.)
This Beat Goes On tells the story of Canadian music in the 1970s, a ground-breaking era of great sounds, from glam and progressive rock to punk and reggae. Set in the formative years of Canada’s music industry, This Beat Goes On offers a jukebox full of chart-topping songs from, from Gordon Lightfoot’s “Sundown” and Nick Gilder’s “Hot Child in the City” to Trooper’s “Raise a Little Hell” and Max Webster’s “Paradise Skies.”
Mixing archival footage with candid interviews, the documentary features proven hitmakers like Anne Murray, Neil Young and The Guess Who as well as a wealth of new folksingers, blues artists and mullet-rockers. Solo artists like Joni Mitchell and progressive rockers Rush still rule, but it’s also a time of shaved heads and skinny ties, as punk and new wave artists push their way into the spotlight. By the end of the decade, the Can-rock revolution has arrived.
From B.T.O. to D.O.A., This Beat Goes On presents the wealth of music that sprang from the Great White North during the explosive Seventies.