While doing some research for this
article, I came across a Youtube comment that struck home for me.
They said that The Pursuit of Happiness (TPOH) were a band that could
only have become successful in Canada. The USA was deep in hair metal
at the time, and TPOH were a straight ahead rock band with a sardonic
and intelligent take on the music. In the UK, they were awash with
vapid pop and the lingerings of synth-pop. In 1988, TPOH were much to
heavy for a UK audience. But they were perfect for Canada, standing
beside bands like Tragically Hip, Blue Rodeo and the Cowboy Junkies.
TPOH were my soundtrack through the
early years of college. I was fresh into college and my first,
abortive, year of university. I had a tape collection and Love
Junk, their 1988 album, was one of my go to albums, along with
VIVIsect VI by Skinny Puppy and the Midnight Oil back
catalogue, among other albums. It was their earnestness, their sense
of humour and their rock sound that drew me in, and the sound was
almost uniquely Canadian. While I'd say the sound of the music had a
lot in common with my love for Midnight Oil at the time, it was
TPOH's sense of fun that drew me into their music. They're still one of my favourite rock bands of all time.
TPOH are fronted by Edmonton-born singer and guitarist Moe
Berg, but the band started in Toronto. They formed as a three piece
in 1985, then released their first 12” in 1986. The A-Side, “I'm an Adult Now”, became a fairly big hit for them, with the
independent video being played a lot on MuchMusic at the time. What
TPOH did at the time was unusual, since the Canadian music scene was
still really coming into it's own. While most bands waited to get
attention from a major label, TPOH released their 12” independently
with no label behind them. Soon after came another single, 1988's
“Killed by Love”. Both singles displayed Moe Berg's weary take on
daily life, the uncertainty of love and struggles of adulthood,
abandoning the naivete of youthful ideals of the world and love, and
embracing the confusion of adulthood.
Love Junk came out in 1988, on
Chrysalis Records, and was produced by alt-rock legend Todd Rundgren,
who's melodic take on rock was perfect for the band. Chrysalis was a
great label for them to be on too, with artists like Billy Idol, Pat
Benatar, The Art of Noise, Cyndi Lauper and a lot of other hip and
popular bands recording for it. “I'm an Adult Now” and “Killed
by Love” were re-recorded for the album. The re-recordings were
good, but lacked the ramshackle, punk tinge the 12” versions had.
“I'm an Adult Now” was also the only song they recorded that got
much airplay outside of Canada. The album also saw guitarist Kris
Abbott and vocalist Leslie Stanwyck joining the band. “She's So Young” and “Hard to Laugh” were released as singles as well.
“She's So Young” has the same adult-weary vibe that would come to
define Moe Berg's songs, and “Hard to Laugh” taps into Berg's
sexual perversion and insecurity about relationships which he would
plumb over his career.
1990 saw their follow up, One Sided
Story, which spawned the singles “Two Girls in One” and “New Language”, both of which got play on rock radio at the time. “Food”
gets the sexual aspect of the album going right away, along with
“Shave Your Legs” (another song about Berg's uncertainty about
relationships) and “Something Physical”, which is about physical
attraction trumping love, which also comes up often in the band's
songs. “Runs in the Family” is about the innocence of youth and
how it gets crushed by experience and adulthood. Leslie Stanwyck and
bassist Johnny Sinclair left the band after this album, and went on
to form Universal Honey, which had a few big hits in the early 90s in
Canada.
TPOH released The Downward Road
in 1993 on the Mercury record label. This album had “Cigarette Dangles” (another raunchy sex song), and the more innocent
“Pressing Lips” as the singles. This album didn't do as well
commercially, but it's one of my favourite albums from the band. It's
more raw in style than One Sided Story, but also has a
maturity that fits well with the band at this point in their career.
Once again, sex features prominently (“Honeytime”, “Bored of
You”, “Ashamed of Myself”, “Nobody But Me”, “In Her
Dreams”) along with the loss of youthful innocence, (the wonderful
“Heavy Metal Tears”). The best track here, in my opinion, is
“Villa in Portugal”, a snarky tale of lost love framed by a
postcard sent from abroad.
By 1995's Where's the Bone,
TPOH's star had begun to fade. “Gretzky Rocks” and “Kalendar”
were the biggest songs, but were largely underplayed on rock radio.
1996's The Wonderful World of the Pursuit of Happiness, was
the band's last album, and featured “She's the Devil” as the main
single. The band have never officially broken up, and continue to
play shows here and there, and record singles.
In 2000, they released a best of
called Sex and Food, which featured some b-sides, like
“Edmonton Block Heater”, which they recorded for Hard Core Logo.
Another hits collection came in 2005, called When We Ruled,
and included the original demo version of “I'm an Adult Now” and
a version of Prince's “When Doves Cry”. In 2006, the band was
inducted into Toronto's Canadian Indies Hall of Fame.
Moe Berg has recorded as a solo artist
and worked extensively as a producer for many Canadian bands. His
first solo album came out in 1997, called Summer's Over. He
also performs as a member of the Trans-Canada Highwaymen, featuring
Chris Murphy of Sloan, Steven Page of The Barenaked Ladies and Craig
Northey of the Odds.
This year, Artofact Records is
releasing several Brave New Waves sessions (that beloved CBC 2 late
night radio program that featured new and emerging music... how I
miss it!) and TPOH are of the bands to be featured. This is a
live-to-air recording with an interview by Brent Bambury included!
