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To non-Canadians: Did you watch Stompin' Tom Connors on Conan this past Thursday and think to yourself "what the fuck is this?"

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Stompin' Tom means nothing outside of Canada and I imagine others watching the performance and the crowd reaction and thinking they were peering in on life from another planet.
Thoughts?

― Barry Bruner (Barry Bruner), Saturday, 14 February 2004 19:26 (twenty-two years ago)

To clarify : it wasn't much of an exagerration when Conan said he is a legend in Canada. Everyone between the ages of 15 and 50 knows at least five songs by the Hip, Lightfoot and Stompin' Tom -- whether they realize it or not.

― Barry Bruner (Barry Bruner), Saturday, 14 February 2004 19:28 (twenty-two years ago)

I mean everyone in Canada between the ages of 15 and 50 ...

― Barry Bruner (Barry Bruner), Saturday, 14 February 2004 19:35 (twenty-two years ago)

We didn't much go over the Stompin' Tom performance, but here's the ILE discussion about Conan in Toronto - Canada Lovers Get Ready!

― Kim (Kim), Saturday, 14 February 2004 19:46 (twenty-two years ago)

I love 'Ahead By A Century'. Although when i comes to home country hitmakers, I'm inclined to prefer older Big Sugar and Matthew Good Band. Then again, I was young and impressionable when they came out initially.

― Rollie Pemberton (Rollie Pemberton), Saturday, 14 February 2004 19:51 (twenty-two years ago)

Oh, dude. No.

― Kim (Kim), Saturday, 14 February 2004 20:02 (twenty-two years ago)

I WAS PART OF THE MACHINE

I'm grown up now. Don't judge my youth, sir.

― Rollie Pemberton (Rollie Pemberton), Saturday, 14 February 2004 20:04 (twenty-two years ago)

As a Canadian in my twenties, I can honestly say I don't know one goddamn song by Stompin' Tom. Although I wouldn't entirely rule out the possibility of recognizing one if I heard it. Either way, for people under the age of 40 he is legend only in the sense that he is old and he is supposed to be important.

― Jaromil (Jaromil), Monday, 16 February 2004 02:28 (twenty-two years ago)

I went to hockey camp in PEI when I was 10 and am therfore very familiar with the Stompin' Tom oeuvre. I'm sorry I missed the Conan appearance.

― Colin Beckett (Colin Beckett), Monday, 16 February 2004 02:49 (twenty-two years ago)

nah, he's not supposed to be big and "important". He's quaint, likeable, inherently Canadian (or familiar), which is important in it's own way, but it's not like anyone is saying he's Leonard Cohen - but that maybe most of us like him just as well.

― Kim (Kim), Monday, 16 February 2004 02:51 (twenty-two years ago)

Lady k.d.lang > Suzanne
Bud the Spud > Tower of Song
The Hockey Song > Dance Me to the End of Love
Tilsonburg > First We Take Manhattan

― Sean Carruthers (SeanC), Monday, 16 February 2004 03:28 (twenty-two years ago)

I don't get the whole cult of Stompin' Tom at all. It kind of annoys me to be honest.

― s woods, Monday, 16 February 2004 03:29 (twenty-two years ago)

maybe because it's more of an academic's affectation than a genuine grass roots phenomena? Canadian uni crowds seem to love this shit. still, if the end result is still this general embrace, I'm not certain it matters.

― Kim (Kim), Monday, 16 February 2004 03:46 (twenty-two years ago)

maybe because it's more of an academic's affectation than a genuine grass roots phenomena?

I don't know enough about Tom's history to know exactly how true that is, but it does begin to get at what annoys (or rather, depresses) me. I'm just not sure I'm comfortable in this case with "academic." It seems like it stemmed from the '80s indie rock scene (of which I can be said to have loose connections, actually), which I refuse to equate with "academic" (and that's not a value judgment; both sides can be insufferable). I just don't trust cult fandom in general, don't trust the inevitable process of elevating minor talents to a status way beyond their accomplishments or capabilities.

― s woods, Monday, 16 February 2004 03:56 (twenty-two years ago)

To be honest, I wasn't fully comfortable with using the word academic either. Perhaps privileged is closer to what I'm thinking.

― Kim (Kim), Monday, 16 February 2004 04:09 (twenty-two years ago)

The cult has probably something to do with Junos in the mail incident, but he is no less improtant Woodie Guthrie. Except instead of Wilco he gets The Rheostatics.

― Mr Noodles (Mr Noodles), Monday, 16 February 2004 04:16 (twenty-two years ago)

Ketchup Song never gets the love it deserves.
As for Gordie, I never really liked him TOO much, I mean I still feel sorry for him having someone butcher Sundown a few years ago.

― Mr Noodles (Mr Noodles), Monday, 16 February 2004 04:18 (twenty-two years ago)

Gordon Light Sings Every Song Ever Written for 9.99 < /SCTV>

― Mr Noodles (Mr Noodles), Monday, 16 February 2004 04:19 (twenty-two years ago)

I'm just curious Kim (or anyone) - do you listen to and like Stompin Tom records, or is it purely a social thing? Because I know of people who collect (and presumably listen to) his records, and that just seems odd to me. Every song I've ever heard by him only seems to work (at best) on a sing-along-with-Tom (after a few pints) sort of level, but there's just nothing there I would ever want to take time out of my day to listen to.

― s woods, Monday, 16 February 2004 04:20 (twenty-two years ago)

Not totally buying the Woody Guthrie comparison. For one thing, Woody Guthrie sang these sorts of songs ("troubador" songs, folk songs, whatever you want to call them) when that style was fresh. The whole Tom thing is more like a throwback to that vibe, and on that level, it's okay I guess. I'm thinking Boxcar Willie is more apt.

― s woods, Monday, 16 February 2004 04:24 (twenty-two years ago)

Don't feel sorry for Gordie - he ripped off some trad. melody for Wreck of the Edmund etc. but took credit. Clearly he is a sham and of no importance whatsoever. Yeah.

scott, no. I don't own any Tom records. That's a good point. I do however own Spirit of the West's legendary rouser, Home for a Rest, but again, I don't know why as it's not at all suitable for home listening.

― Kim (Kim), Monday, 16 February 2004 04:27 (twenty-two years ago)

While there may be some cult-qua-academe-qua-indie fandom to Stompin' Tom's audience, at every concert of his I've been to the farmer hats have been on farmers. And generally really old dudes, at that.
Folk music wasn't particularly fresh when Woody Guthrie was making it, but recording techniques were.
By pop standards, STC may be an also-ran or whatever, but that's missing the point entirely. He's a folk musician. His sound is secondary to his message.

And Stompin' Tom does have some renown among Americans in the Northeast. Or did in the 70s.

― Huck, Monday, 16 February 2004 06:11 (twenty-two years ago)

But Huck, such authenticity cliches (" the farmer hats have been on farmers"' "generally really old dudes") don't automatically add any depth to what he does (or to the fact that his cult still exists). And if his sound really is secondary to his "message" (I honestly don't know what that means) that's just another reason for me to be skeptical. I mean, you're making him sound like he's someone whipped up by the NFB.

― s woods, Monday, 16 February 2004 12:07 (twenty-two years ago)

It also ties in with this perhaps that I generally hate hockey songs, particularly of the jokey, punky sort. Not because I hate hockey (though I don't watch it anymore) or because I'm un-patriotic, but I just hate this particular brand of Canadian self-referentialism: ha ha let's play up to our image of being complete doofuses. Which, by the way, was all over the Conan episodes I watched and which really turned me off. I'm not, by the way, attributing some sort of ironic nudge-wink pose to Stompin' Tom, necessarily, but I think it inevitably exists in his cult reception.

― s woods, Monday, 16 February 2004 12:16 (twenty-two years ago)

also, re: Woody Guthrie, well, maybe you know more about the history of those sorts of songs (I'll call them talking-folk songs to simplify), but the fact is, that style HAD to be more fresh in the '40s than it was in the '70s or '80s, etc. (Which isn't to say styles don't refresh themselves or emerge as interesting again in different times, but Tom never took that basic style into a different other area. I mean, compare Woody/Tom and Woody/Dylan. Dylan came directly out of that influence and broke through it entirely. Tom is incapable of any such moves.) (And I know that you, Huck, weren't the person to bring Woody into this in the first place, I'm just saying...)

― s woods, Monday, 16 February 2004 12:36 (twenty-two years ago)

He was what I'd imagine Billy Connoly would be doing if he'd stuck with the Humblebums rather than followed the stand up route.

Obviously not as funny though.

― Billy Dods (Billy Dods), Monday, 16 February 2004 13:11 (twenty-two years ago)

I'm just curious Kim (or anyone) - do you listen to and like Stompin Tom records, or is it purely a social thing?

I've only lived in Canada for the last ten years, so I only have a vague, passing knowlege of him, but a friend of mine tells me when he was in elementary school, in music class they would learn STC songs to sing along to (because they're so simple?), so I guess you get people who don't own/listen to anything by him, but are very aware of his music.

― Vic Funk, Monday, 16 February 2004 13:25 (twenty-two years ago)

i only managed to watch the friday night of the conan shows but i found it absolutely cringeworthy for the reasons scott touches on above. maybe there was another thread on this somewhere else but did anyone feel completely alienated by it? in the twenty minutes i saw there were specific jokes on: beer, how we talk, hockey, beavers, mounties, the cn tower, snow, etc etc etc.

― mark p (Mark P), Monday, 16 February 2004 13:31 (twenty-two years ago)

But Huck, such authenticity cliches (" the farmer hats have been on farmers"' "generally really old dudes") don't automatically add any depth to what he does (or to the fact that his cult still exists).

It has nothing to do with any bourgeois ideals about authenticity, and it's not supposed to add depth, because there is none.

And if his sound really is secondary to his "message" (I honestly don't know what that means) that's just another reason for me to be skeptical. I mean, you're making him sound like he's someone whipped up by the NFB.

What I mean by that is he's part of a folk/troubador tradition, whereby the mode of communicating is well-established and automatically accepted by his primary audience (have you seen the 70s concert film? I can't remember what it's called--and it's probably NFB--but you're not likely to see such unironically ugly people on celluloid anywhere else. Ugly is the new authentic. I'm just rambling.), specifically for the purpose of being beside the point so that the lyrics get across unhampered. That said, STC usually performs with pretty decent country dance bands and there's bound to be a wicked fiddle solo somewhere in the set.

It also ties in with this perhaps that I generally hate hockey songs, particularly of the jokey, punky sort. Not because I hate hockey (though I don't
watch it anymore) or because I'm un-patriotic, but I just hate this particular brand of Canadian self-referentialism: ha ha let's play up to our image of
being complete doofuses. Which, by the way, was all over the Conan episodes I watched and which really turned me off. I'm not, by the way,
attributing some sort of ironic nudge-wink pose to Stompin' Tom, necessarily, but I think it inevitably exists in his cult reception.

Historically, these things were not yet clichés when STC started singing about them. There was a time when, unless you were the Guess Who or Bobby Gimby, you did not acknowledge being Canadian. CanCon, SCTV, Trudeau and even the NFB have since changed all this and the brand of STC "proud canadianism" that spiked around the time of Meech Lake and was as much related to anti-Quebec sentiment as it was to any Rheostatics-influenced hipsterism.
At one point, STC's doggerel really was novel. He helped make the world safe for jingoistic beer commercials.

also, re: Woody Guthrie, well, maybe you know more about the history of those sorts of songs (I'll call them talking-folk songs to simplify), but the fact
is, that style HAD to be more fresh in the '40s than it was in the '70s or '80s, etc. (Which isn't to say styles don't refresh themselves or emerge as
interesting again in different times, but Tom never took that basic style into a different other area. I mean, compare Woody/Tom and Woody/Dylan.
Dylan came directly out of that influence and broke through it entirely. Tom is incapable of any such moves.) (And I know that you, Huck, weren't the
person to bring Woody into this in the first place, I'm just saying...)

I don't know if Tom is incapable of making such moves, but one of his primary motivations seems to be maintaining traditions. So musical innovation probably doesn't even occur to him. It's beside the point he wants to make.

― My Huckleberry Friend (Horace Mann), Monday, 16 February 2004 15:05 (twenty-two years ago)

All or most of which is fine, though I don't get where "bourgeois" comes into play. I'm saying that defenses of anyone's music or art or whatever based on arguments of authenticity (his fans are "real, genuine, beer-drinking old people") don't validate anything in my view (often they serve to do the opposite as there's often a self-righteousness built into that kind of reasoning)--I don't think these ideas are "bourgeois"!

Anyway, some good points there, but I reiterate my original post: the domestic cult of Stompin' Tom completely rankles. It's not the man I hate; it's his fans.

[Well, okay, school children are exempt.]

― s woods, Monday, 16 February 2004 15:40 (twenty-two years ago)

Stompin' Tom is a guy who's always amused me more because he's a colourful character rather than because his music is worthwhile, kinda like Jerry Lee Lewis or solo David Lee Roth. But "Sudbury Saturday Night" is timeless, esp. if you (like me) once lived in that bizarre town. (Birthplace of Alex Trebek, home of the world's tallest smokestack, training ground for Apollo 16 astronauts due to moon-like landscape, etc.)

Huck, I think the concert film you're referring to is "Live At The Horseshoe."

As for the Conan show, I'm glad that many thousands of Americans will learn that that huge erection in the sky is called the CN (not "CNN!") Tower.

― Myonga Von Bontee, Monday, 16 February 2004 15:48 (twenty-two years ago)

The only other comment I have about what you say up there Huck (and I'm talking a lot on this thread because I've had problems with the whole Stompin' Tom thing for about 15 years now) (and I promise to shut up now for awhile) is there seems to be an acceptance on your behalf (and presumably on the audience's) that Tom just is what he is and that innovation is "beside the point." So long as Tom and his music are fully understood to be JUST that and nothing greater than that, I don't necessarily have a problem with him (even if I don't find that type of harmlessness very enthralling personally). Hence me thinking he makes perfect sense as a way to get across some Canadiana to school children. But there's no mystery there.

― s woods, Monday, 16 February 2004 15:57 (twenty-two years ago)

(the bourgeois thing was just sort of a rockism joke) I agree with you about the authenticity part. I mean, David Bowie is probably not an authentic space alien, nor was Lou Reed necessarily an authentic junky. Hank Williams never rode the range and Jim Thompson probably never killed anyone. It's a fallacious conceit.
BUT, in his own context, respecting his fans (aka "the people") is of paramount concern, which leads to said fans TRUSTING Tom in a way they might not, say, Shania Twain, whose music they may equally enjoy.

and I agree with you about his cult. In non-country circles, at least. I don't buy at all the "He's our Johnny Cash" line, but he certainly has bits of Cash in him. He's no Hank Snow either.

For me, what I like about him is a) his corny sense of humour and b) his steadfastness in his (often misguided) beliefs.

On the new BYOP (Bring Your Own Plywood): Calgary Does Connors tribute album, a college radio host tells the story of being called (I think late at night) by a listener requesting a Stompin' Tom song. Turns out it's Tom himself and he's been calling Calgary radio stations all night trying to find a station that has his albums. Whatta kook! Whatta egomaniac! Man of the Land, huh?

Also, the only song of his I've ever heard (and I've heard a lot) that mentions Regina is "Name the Capitals" so screw him.

― My Huckleberry Friend (Horace Mann), Monday, 16 February 2004 15:58 (twenty-two years ago)

xpost btw,

and yes, his songs are perfect for Children. Except the ones that border on fascism. "Believe In Your Country" and "How Do You Like It Now" come to mind.

― My Huckleberry Friend (Horace Mann), Monday, 16 February 2004 15:59 (twenty-two years ago)

Funny how the thread was directed toward non-Canadians, but the responses have come from Canadians! The ensuing discussion about the cult of STC is probably way more interesting anyhow.

― Barry Bruner (Barry Bruner), Monday, 16 February 2004 18:07 (twenty-two years ago)

A non-Canadian response: I thought he was like a Canadian Rolf Harris or something. Granted it was only a one song impression, but he seemed like a novelty singer, more Ray Stevens than Johnny Cash.

― BrianB (BrianB), Monday, 16 February 2004 18:20 (twenty-two years ago)

Stan Rogers >>> Stompin' Tom Connors, sometimes.

― maypang (maypang), Monday, 16 February 2004 18:33 (twenty-two years ago)

(except that Stan Rogers is boring)

― My Huckleberry Friend (Horace Mann), Monday, 16 February 2004 18:34 (twenty-two years ago)

You're a LIAR

― Sean Carruthers (SeanC), Monday, 16 February 2004 18:41 (twenty-two years ago)

Brian, I was also going to mention Rolf Harris as a UK-approximation to STC.
I also felt that anyone seeing him on Conan for the first time would view him as a novelty, but like you said, that's just a one-song impression.
As mentioned upthread, STC sang about Canadian things at a time when it hadn't yet become cool to do so. As a kid, I'd get a kick from hearing his songs on the radio because he'd name drop Yonge Street or Sudbury and you'd never hear something like that from anything on the CHUM charts.
Oddly enough, I think a similar thing is taking place in Canadian hip-hop. After years of Compton, Queens, East Coast - West Coast neighbourhood glorification, I freaked when I first heard Maestro's "Stick to Your Vision" and he dropped the line "Flemington, Don Mills and Eglinton" (close to where I grew up). It was a "holy shit, I've been there!" moment. Talking about Canadian neighbourhoods in hip-hop was once non-existant (on pop radio anyway), but not any more, although this is a very very recent development.

― Barry Bruner (Barry Bruner), Monday, 16 February 2004 18:53 (twenty-two years ago)

Rolf Harris is Australian isn't he? I saw him perform in Ottawa once and I actually did comment to those I was with that, hey this guy must be something like the Aussie Stompin' Tom. Actually, I think I said it again to Zac (Mr Noodles) just before X-mas when we heard "Six White Boomers" on the radio.

― Kim (Kim), Monday, 16 February 2004 23:09 (twenty-two years ago)

Oh and Mark, yes, I agree with you. I saw all four nights of Conan in T.O., and was initially hopeful when it seemed as if he wanted to "get the usual cliches out of the way", but then (like I was starting to say on the other thread) 'we' just acted like dumbass cartoons of ourselves. The number of toques and the Leaf Jerseys in that audience was stupid. Ho hum. I guess it's a start though.

― Kim (Kim), Monday, 16 February 2004 23:17 (twenty-two years ago)

Rolf Harris is Australian? Why did I ... oh yeah, because he was on the "Peace Together" comp, which I thought was done by only English and Irish musicians ... but I guess PWEI were on it too ...
Kim is OTM ... so many assholes yelling "LEAFS!!!!!!!" every five seconds ... what a fucking embarassment.

― Barry Bruner (Barry Bruner), Monday, 16 February 2004 23:35 (twenty-two years ago)

And f'ing Jim Carrey. The US can have him.

― maypang (maypang), Monday, 16 February 2004 23:40 (twenty-two years ago)

And f'ing Jim Carrey. The US can have him.

What happened there? That was the only show I didn't see.

― Vic Funk, Tuesday, 17 February 2004 03:23 (twenty-two years ago)

well, jim carry showed up.

stupidity ensued.

― dyson (dyson), Tuesday, 17 February 2004 03:49 (twenty-two years ago)

ROLLIE PEMB. ARE YOU FROM CANADA

― cloverlandthug, Tuesday, 17 February 2004 03:51 (twenty-two years ago)

Lou Reed was a horribly authentic junkie! Dunno how many horse songs Hank sang, I don't have any anyway.

― Silly Sailor (Andrew Thames), Tuesday, 17 February 2004 04:06 (twenty-two years ago)

Hank Williams, in the early part of his career (the part he was alive for), billed himself as the Lovesick Cowboy. Cowboys ride horses.
What, have you seen Lou Reed shoot up? I'm skeptical of anybody who is quite obvsiously functional and advertises themselves as a user of a drug that makes people unfunctional.
At the very least, Lou Reed's drug use has been wildly exagerated.

Canadians are one of the few groups of people who have self-romanticized their own stereotypes so hardcore that they deserved Geoff Pevere.

― Huck, Tuesday, 17 February 2004 05:06 (twenty-two years ago)

Hey, I like Geoff Pevere.

― maypang (maypang), Tuesday, 17 February 2004 05:10 (twenty-two years ago)

Hey, so do I!

― Geoff Pevere, Tuesday, 17 February 2004 05:14 (twenty-two years ago)

would you let this man near your culture?
http://www.yorku.ca/finearts/fv/newsEvents/events/images/geoff_pevere.jpg

― Huck, Tuesday, 17 February 2004 05:21 (twenty-two years ago)

He used to collect records. Leave him alone.

― maypang (maypang), Tuesday, 17 February 2004 05:23 (twenty-two years ago)

and then he threw them in a dumpster because he couldn't stand the thought of anyone else having them!!!

Actually, I think he's okay. He just seems soooo Toronto.

― My Huckleberry Friend (Horace Mann), Tuesday, 17 February 2004 14:44 (twenty-two years ago)

i think he's one of the best entertainment writers in the city, period. i'd be interested in hearing what specifically you dislike about him, huck.

― mark p (Mark P), Tuesday, 17 February 2004 15:01 (twenty-two years ago)

Mainly, Mondo Canuck and what follows from that. There seems to be (and it's by no means unique to him) a certain eagerness (and this plays into Scott's concerns about STC) to celebrate Canadian Culture simply for the novelty of existing. There seems to be an almost acritical mentality to this that encourages mediocrity.
His film writing that I've read I have no quibble with howev.

― My Huckleberry Friend (Horace Mann), Tuesday, 17 February 2004 15:08 (twenty-two years ago)

I think Pevere's a decent movie critic--he does good retrospective stuff, particularly (theme-based sorts of things). But yeah, some of Mondo Canuck made me sick. This is all a good segue for a shameless plug: I criticize Pevere (not too harshly--tho' maybe I should've) in this piece I wrote last yr (which ties into all this Canadiana anyway):

http://weddingspartieseverything.blogspot.com/2003_12_01_weddingspartieseverything_archive.html

Scroll down to the Loverboy review.

― s woods, Tuesday, 17 February 2004 15:47 (twenty-two years ago)

okay, so glad to have killed the thread with that! anyway, here's something that seems relevant to some of this discussion. (i'll now go kill myself, thanks.)

http://chartattack.com/damn/2004/02/0311.cfm

p.s. I'm not really going to go kill myself though maybe I'll revoke my citizenship.

― s woods, Tuesday, 17 February 2004 16:56 (twenty-two years ago)

no, no this is interesting stuff. i haven't read mondo canuck (to be honest, i always forget to think of pevere as anything BUT a film critic, which i think he's very good at), but maybe now i will..

― mark p (Mark P), Tuesday, 17 February 2004 17:12 (twenty-two years ago)

It’s the most Canadian entertainment event in the
history of Canadiana.

how about I kill you, then you kill me? or vice versa?

― My Huckleberry Friend (Horace Mann), Tuesday, 17 February 2004 17:13 (twenty-two years ago)

that puck rockin' thing seems pretty lame btw, and more than anything, speaks to the difficulty canadians have asserting their own nationality without falling back on tired old cliches.

― mark p (Mark P), Tuesday, 17 February 2004 17:17 (twenty-two years ago)

maybe, at intermission, someone can read Sinclair Ross stories to the dulcet accompaniment of Liona Boyd.

― My Huckleberry Friend (Horace Mann), Tuesday, 17 February 2004 17:18 (twenty-two years ago)

Geoff Pevere is the nerdbomber. Some of Mondo Canuck made the back of my neck hurt. He was good the last time I saw him on Canada AM, though.

― Bryan (Bryan), Tuesday, 17 February 2004 23:04 (twenty-two years ago)

eight months pass...

I got a better coss section of contemporary Canadian juvenile culure's dumbing down on this thread than learning anything about Tom Connor's impact or his cannonization by sophomoric cutism.

Actually, Tom's music is rudimentary and extremely unrefined....the music just sets the stage for the messages, which are; primarily about a Canada that existed in a paralell reality to the Trudeau utopian-national identity mythos being manufacured in central urban Canada.

If you've never been to a Sudbury pub afterputting in a long shift at INCO, you probably will not recognize the people in his universe....or if you never spent time hitching the prairies or time in the sugar camp....you just don't get it...it's not your reality. Tom's world will seem surreal to you. Don't agonize over it. Tom's Canada is truely dead no matter how much his cult wish it wasn't. It was killed by our acceptance of narrow urbancentric experience and ideals as being "Canadian values". Tom's Canada RIP

― William Lyon Mackenazie, Monday, 18 October 2004 14:56 (twenty-one years ago)

you forgot the "King", William

― Thea (Thea), Monday, 18 October 2004 23:08 (twenty-one years ago)

eight years pass...

And now he's dead.
http://www.globaltoronto.com/music+legend+stompin+tom+connors+77+dies/6442822944/story.html

― kate78, Thursday, 7 March 2013 02:04 (thirteen years ago)

You can watch a whole film:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xTLlREVZvQQ

I think he's in Goin' Down the Road, too.

― clemenza, Thursday, 7 March 2013 02:09 (thirteen years ago)

I loved him. Canada will be poorer without him.

― everything, Thursday, 7 March 2013 02:19 (thirteen years ago)

If you're Canadian, your Facebook feed is wall-to-wall STC right now.

― clemenza, Thursday, 7 March 2013 02:48 (thirteen years ago)

or a hockey fan

― mookieproof, Thursday, 7 March 2013 03:01 (thirteen years ago)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sl751CDdRZI

― your fretless ways (Eazy), Thursday, 7 March 2013 03:05 (thirteen years ago)

Jesus. RIP, STC.

Just tweeted about this.

What a strange day. Woke up feeling ill and felt today was a strange day. Then this happens.

I read every single comment on this thread.

Interesting discussion. I feel I have a lot to say, but won't out of respect. Not today.

Canadian identity is complex and its self-romanticisation is definitely not unique. I've lived in a few different countries, and it happens in many other places.

But this is the strange dynamic and complexity of Canadians self-reflecting on their own culture, identity and place on Earth.

RIP, STC.

― kafkaesque (c21m50nh3x460n), Thursday, 7 March 2013 03:07 (thirteen years ago)

loved this guy, but listened to him so much at such a low point in my life that I haven't been able to bring myself to listen to him in years, though I've wanted to. we'll miss you, Tom.

― Poliopolice, Thursday, 7 March 2013 03:31 (thirteen years ago)

http://www2.macleans.ca/2013/03/06/stompin-tom-connors-final-letter-to-his-fans/

― your fretless ways (Eazy), Thursday, 7 March 2013 03:52 (thirteen years ago)

there's something about his music that is so pure and honest. it actually brings tears to my eyes when I think about it. he just loved and celebrated canada in every way, and it comes through either implicitly or explicitly in every song. i'm not sure why, but it feels a lot more heartfelt, innocent, and less gross than when country singers talk about America.

― Poliopolice, Thursday, 7 March 2013 15:39 (thirteen years ago)

Some of his more recent songs like "Believe in your country" may be heartfelt, but they don't do much for me. Too obviously nationalistic? I think he's at his best telling stories about people he's met or heard of along the way. Yer "Sudbury Saturday Night", "Gumboot Clogeroo", "Big Joe Mufferaw", etc.

― pauls00, Thursday, 7 March 2013 15:52 (thirteen years ago)

I think maybe I've only heard his classics, like "Real Canadian Girl" "My Little Eskimo"

― Poliopolice, Thursday, 7 March 2013 16:08 (thirteen years ago)

If you're Canadian, your Facebook feed is wall-to-wall STC right now.

― Porto for Pyros (The Cursed Return of the Dastardly Thermo Thinwall), Thursday, 7 March 2013 17:13 (thirteen years ago)

When I moved to Canada in the mid-90s my (Canadian) wife gave me two things she said I'd need - a pair of mitts and a Stomping Tom cassette. I still have both.

Biggest disappointment today is the CBC. For starters they think that Hugo Chavez is a bigger story today. Then I've been listening for about 90 mins and they have talked about Stomping Tom three times yet still not played a song by him. Each time they just played a 15 second long clip of a song. And always something from "A Proud Canadian" which I have to conclude is the only album they own by him. You'd think they could've dug something out of their archives.

― everything, Thursday, 7 March 2013 17:55 (thirteen years ago)

Feel like every news report is gonna default to playing a bit of "The Good Old Hockey Game" (as The National did last night).

― Public Brooding Closet (cryptosicko), Thursday, 7 March 2013 17:57 (thirteen years ago)

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