JOE BIZ - BY JOE LEARY

PROCLAIM THIS!
If it’s live music you want, there are a couple of options in town this weekend, offering Vancouverites a couple of acts who have implanted their imprint on radio both here and abroad. Scottish duo The Proclaimers make a return visit to the city Saturday evening at The Commodore Ballroom. It was 1987 when brothers Craig and Charlie Reid took the music world by storm with their landmark album, ‘Sunshine on Leith’, garnering such staples as ‘I’m Gonna Be (500 Miles) and ‘I’m on my Way’. In addition to becoming one the most played songs of the 1980’s as well as a fixture at Scottish events around the world, ‘500 Miles’ has since become, and continues to be among the top music downloads on the ITunes chart for the past four years. I asked Craig Reid if he or his sibling could have ever envisioned the song’s enduring popularity. “No we didn’t,” he tells me. “When we came to record ‘Sunshine on Leith’, we knew we had a good bunch of songs and we definitely knew ‘500 Miles’ was going to be the first single and we thought it would get a bit of radio play and hopefully be a hit, but we never, ever envisaged that record would do so well.”

WHAT KIND OF BAND IS THIS?
Not to be outdone, Canada added its share of iconic rock contributions to our own cultural mosaic as well during the decade. Chief among them, Streetheart, the Regina-based rockers who contributed a string of hit songs, many of which remain staples of modern day rock radio. Their roster included such hits as ‘Under My Thumb’, ‘Hollywood’, ‘What Kind of Love is This’ and the seminal classic, ‘Action’, a vocal workout requiring lead singer Kenny Shields to undertake one of the best screams in Canadian rock history. I asked if his “scream-ability” remains as functional and operative as it did back in the day. “I’ve just got to treat the voice very nicely,” Shields tells me. “I stopped a lot of the old habits many, many years ago and I figured if I’m going to sing these days at my age, then I’ve got to be in better shape than I used to be and that allows for the scream. It’s a very demanding song and you can’t come off kind of flat, you can’t change keys and you can’t pretend – that note is either there or it’s not, but it’s important and it needs to be there.” Judge for yourself as Streetheart plays the Theatre Lounge at Langley’s Cascades Casino on Saturday.

WILL FOX HAVE MORE INTELLIGENCE THAN CBC?
I spoke with Chris Haddock, the creative force behind ‘Da Vinci’s Inquest’ and ‘Intelligence’, two dramatic series many consider to be among the best TV this country has ever produced. While fans were disappointed to learn that the CBC opted to cancel ‘Intelligence’ after just two seasons and despite the fact the show had been picked up in over 150 countries worldwide, Haddock informs me that the show may see new life south of the border. “Between the first and second season when I was getting the cold vibe (from the CBC), I said, I’m going to make sure that this thing doesn’t just completely go down the tubes with the CBC. My agent hooked me up with John Wells, who’s a producer with ‘ER’ and ‘The West Wing’ and he thought that this thing could adapt into an American setting. I went down and pitched it and they bought it in the room at FOX. I’ve done a couple of drafts for them and I expect to get into the next stage of discussions including the budgets and if it’s going to go forward.” CBC’s great loss could and hopefully will become FOX’s gain. In the meantime, Season One of the highly-acclaimed drama is now available on DVD

TIL TUESDAYS
From an acclaimed television series to an equally lauded novel as Mitch Albom’s bestselling book ‘Tuesdays with Morrie’ is the latest production taking place at the Granville Island Stage until the end of the month. The inspirational memoir tells the true story of a series of weekly visits between the author and his favourite college professor Morrie Schwartz. The two develop an endearing bond during the teacher’s decline during his fight with ALS. Warren Kimmel plays Albom and tells me that it’s definitely worth bringing the hankies.

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