The Titanic of Winnipeg
By northvancoveman on Dec 15, 2008
Having crossed Canada several times and lived in half our provinces, I can tell the mostly American patrons of Rock Town Hall one thing for sure about rock and roll in Canada. While Ottawa may be our capital, we have a hands-down, undisputed capital of rock and roll: Winnipeg.
In Winnipeg you either play hockey, play in a band, or both. Neil Young grew up there, The Guess Who (also known in Canada as "The Prairie Beatles") were all from The Peg, and more recent artists like Chantal Kreviazuk, Remy Shand, and Bif Naked all picked up and instrument and headed to the basement on cold winter nights.
Whatever you think of Winnipeg, and the reports are not all good, Peggers are extremely proud of their hometown and their is a bit of an island mentality to the place. The best way to illustrate this phenomenon, and the point of this post, is a movie called The Phantom of the Paradise.
The Phantom of the Paradise is a 1974 "comedy-horror-musical tragedy" from a young director named Brian de Palma. The movie is generally regarded (when it is regarded at all) as a precursor to The Rocky Horror Picture Show. The movie flopped across the world and even in the rest of Canada. In Vancouver, Edmonton, and Calgary the film lasted a week and never returned. In Winnipeg, well...
Phantom is the biggest movie ever in Winnipeg. I first learned of this after three rocker friends of mine of a certain age referenced the movie constantly, as though it were The Godfather or Star Wars. They did not know that us non-Winnipegers did not know what the H-E-double hockey sticks they were talking about. I was sat down and forced to watch it. Better than I imagined, with a great soundtrack by Paul Williams. Of course, I didn't like it enough to put on a massive party called "Phantompalooza," like they do in Winnipeg every year. Oh yeah, pretty much the whole cast, including Paul Williams, attends this event. In case you're wondering, this is not "hipper than though" digging on this movie; this is genuine love from people who were 8 to 12 years old when the movie hit.
I wonder, could this phenomenon happen in today's Internet world? Probably not. Did it happen with another movie or record in your town? I am interested to hear...
17 comments
One of my favorite new-ish bands is from Winnipeg, The Weakerthans. TheGreat48 and I have both rhapsodized about them here from time to time.
The movie could have benefitted from being less claustrophobic, if my hazy, late-night memories are intact. Philly homeboy and fellow Friends school graduate DePalma is one lousy director, for the most part. Buskirk, would you agree he's a poor man's Paul Schrader in the repressed perv-director department?
That Phantompalooza link is worth the price of admission, Northvancoveman. Thanks. Now let me think about your question regarding such instances of regional phenomena...
I've not seen this, although I need to. I'm no fan of DePalma. We always called him "the poor man's Hitchcock."
TB
But the real question is who is creepier Nathan Katruud or De Palma?
I remember not thinking much of SCAREFACE when it came out, comparing it unfavorably to something like THE GODFATHER. I saw it again in a theater a few years ago and it was a revelation. Extremely elegant and visually rich in comparison to the action films that followed. It really uses eighties fashions well, not that they don't look dated, but they're really evocative of the essence of eighties. Coke and disco Debbie Harry!
Even his recent Iraq War film REDACTED is kind of a mess, it is the kind of interesting and exploratory mess filmmakers at his late stage of the game seldom make.
And I love PHANTOM OF THE PARADISE! It's like Sid and Marty Kroft's version of the music industry. Paul Williams' creepiness is fully unleashed and Gerritt Graham (from USED CARS) gets to die on-stage! I'd think anyone who liked glammy 70's rock would at least be intrigued, its way better than ROCKY HORROR (which I always thought was kind of unwatchable except for a couple of those catchy, way over-played tunes).
I could go on; I especially like SISTERS, CARRIE, MURDER ALA MOD, BLOW OUT and the recent FEMME FATALE (with Rebecca Stamos-Whatever).
There was a time in the early-'70s when Philly was THE place for singer-songwriters on the verge of breaking through: The Boss, Billy Joel, Jackson Browne, and others who'd rule the roost in a couple of years were much bigger here than anywhere, perhaps, but their home turf. That may be the closest I can think of along these lines. But none of these artists was a Paul Williams.
Among DePalma movies, I like Blow Out, Carrie, and The Untouchables. That was him, right? You're right, db, that Craig Wasson guy was the pits. I walked out of Scarface when it came out, and I've hated it every time I've tried to revisit it. Pacino jumped the shark bigtime on that film.
Did DePalma do that other coke movie, with Sean Penn and Pacino? That's a masterpiece of bad coke movie making. I bet Shawnkilroy digs that one too.
The Roxie procured distribution rights (they'd done a small but good Nicholas Cage film called RED ROCK WEST before) and distributed it in a handful of cities. It got horrible reviews and tanked in each town but it stretched out to six theaters in the Bay Area and played for over six months.
Maybe it was the riot girl thing. She really gives it to the Big Bad Wolf at the end and Brooke Shields' brains get splattered.
My little suburb had a theater downtown. It played The Sting for three years. I don't think I'm exaggerating on that time frame, either. It was a very, very long time.
I thought the best rock town in Canada these days was Vancouver. Black Mountain, Ladyhawk, Hot Hot Heat - there's some fun stuff coming out of there lately.
Jungleland: I'm not from Winnipeg and I'm not making this up.
2000 Man: I have lived in Vancouver since '91. What you are saying is partially true. The music scene has had its moments, but no one here is FROM here. They all hone their chops somewhere else then move here. I guess it's like a rainy LA in that respect.
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