Throughout the annals of history there have been many intelligent, witty, and horribly misunderstood artists. These artists are usually written off as novelty acts and not taken seriously until long after they’ve fulfilled their artistic urges. The five grown men of the Canadian band Barenaked Ladies are such artists. Many compare them to other “geek rock” acts such as They Might Be Giants and Elvis Costello. It’s been an odd journey for the boys from Scarborough. Formed in 1988, they’ve been touring several countries for decades to get where they are. Where they started, however…
Like many tales of triumph, this one starts in a hospital and involves two seemingly unrelated incidents. The year was 1970. On June 22nd of that year the world was introduced to Steven Jay Page (the “John). The following October Edward Lloyd Elwyn Robertson was born (the “Paul”). Both sets of parents (including a father, Gordon) took their new babies home to the suburban province of Scarborough, home to such legends as Mike Myers and Dan Akroyd. Things progressed as they normally do for infants and the two grew up. By the time they reached Grade 5 both were in the dreaded accelerated program at Churchill Heights Public School.
It was in these accelerated classes that Robertson found his passion. His teacher’s husband was the leader of a Canadian rock act called The Madcats. When he came to speak with Ed’s class, it so affected Ed that he went out and bought a guitar and electric keyboard.
Page was a seasoned performer, having taken part in choirs and plays since he was a toddler. His dad, a music buff, purchased a guitar for him when he was twelve years old.
Both on their separate paths, Ed and Steve didn’t connect until they went to band camp in the summer of 1988. Ed approached Steve to show his appreciation of Steve’s first band (Scary Movie Breakfast) by performing several of their songs. They quickly bonded and found their voices in harmony were a perfect match. They immediately became inseparable. The duo started writing songs together inspired by bands such as The Kinks, The Proclaimers, The Smiths, and a dash of the Violent Femmes. All that was left to find was a name.
Illumination struck at a Bob Dylan concert. While waiting for Dylan to come on stage Ed & Steve played a word game where they’d create a real-sounding band name and stick them into the historical context of Woodstock. The first name they came up with? Barenaked Ladies. They played the game a while longer and forgot about it. About a week later Ed received a call from a charity organization confirming a gig Ed had set with his no-longer-existent cover band. Ed told them he could still play, but needed a new name to give them. He chose Barenaked Ladies. He quickly called Page and talked him into doing the gig with him. They rehearsed under the stage during acts and played in between them. The show was such a success that they decided to keep using the unusual band name so the people who were at that initial gig could find them.
The duo was a local hit, and Page dropped out of college so they could tour Canada with a musical comedy troupe called Corky & the Juicepigs. The boys had varying success on the road, but quickly realized that they needed a little punch behind their guitar playing. For a Christmas show in 1989 Jim (upright bass) and Andy (bongos, keyboards) Creegan joined them. When Andy left on a foreign exchange program drummer Tyler Stewart joined the band, leaving Andy on keyboards when he returned. The missing elements found, Barenaked Ladies got serious.
Playing countless paid and un-paid shows in the Toronto area amassed the band with a cult following, and these fans cried out for a record. Setting up a home recording studio, the band performed five songs on a four track recorder and dubbed it “The Yellow Tape.” It sold well at shows, but Page’s father was having a hard time getting the record shops to stock it. The stores thought the band’s name objectified women, and they weren’t the only ones that had a problem.
BNL (as they are known by their fans) were asked by the city of Toronto to play on New Year’s Eve in Nathan Phillips Square. Then-mayor Judy Rowland saw their name on the line-up and stormed a city council meeting demanding they be taken off. The council relented, and in doing so created a huge public controversy over the name. The mayor’s office was forced to issue a public apology to the band. The silver lining to this cloud was the massive amount of public exposure this gave the band. People had to hear what all the fuss was about. This allowed The Yellow Tape to make Canadian music history as the first independent release to go Gold, eventually selling 75,000 copies.
The band’s indie roots made them nervous to jump into bed with a record company. They needed money to fund a full-on studio album. They entered a talent contest at radio station CFNY and walked away with $100,000, easily enough to finance the new disc. The disc was called Gordon, and featured such early hits as “Brian Wilson,” “Be My Yoko Ono,” and “If I Had $1,000,000.
After heavy airplay and a ninety-two city Canadian tour Gordon sold more than one-million copies. They also received Group of the Year at the Juno awards (the Canadian Grammy’s). When the band first ventured into the U.S., however, it didn’t go nearly as well. Nirvana was the biggest band and grunge ruled the radio. Defeated, the band tucked tail and ran back to Canada to record their next album.
Maybe You Should Drive, their second studio release, was a dark affair made darker by the band’s failure in penetrating the American market coupled with the sudden death of Robertson’s brother. This album also produced a writing relationship between Page and Stephan “Tin Tin” Duffy, a founding member of Duran Duran, including the single “Jane.” This relationship would continue, and they would go on to write at least one track for every BNL album. “Drive” only did moderately well, and the critics cried “sophomore slump.” It didn’t help matters that when the “Drive” tour ended, Andy Creegan left the band to pursue higher education. This along with several other missteps caused them to fire their manager and sign with Nettwerk Management via Terry McBride.
The band went into the studio for their third album in 1995. The album almost didn’t get done due to inter-band hostilities. The band credits Jim Creegan with holding the band together. When they toured in support of Born on a Pirate Ship Stewart’s keyboardist friend Kevin Hearn joined them on a number of dates, and was quickly accepted into the fold. The new management micro-managed the tour, and quickly started building a fan-base in America. The Ladies were even seen on hit TV-show Beverly Hills, 90210. Actor Jason Priestly directed a music video, “The Old Apartment,” for them on got them on MTV. They started touring the states in earnest and released a very impressive live disc that hit the Top 40 in America.
The band was primed to break in the states and went in to record what would be there best selling album Stunt. Recorded at Willie Nelson studios, it was a mature album with some very catchy songs. The song eventually chosen for the first single was a fluke. “One Week” was free styled over a beat in about five minutes by Robertson. When “One Week” hit the airwaves in 1998, ten years after that first gig, it blew up. Quickly entering the top five songs in the nation One Week was everywhere. BNL became the act to see that summer.
Unfortunately, as success was breaking Hearn found out he had Leukemia. He was hospitalized as they were finalizing the album and remained bed writing through most of the Stunt tour. Hearn eventually recovered and rejoined the band for 2000’s Maroon.
Maroon was produced by Don Was (Was, Not Was). The band tried very hard not to repeat the Stunt formula, but the record company still picked a more-serious acoustic rap song called “Pinch Me” as the first single. It was successful and launched the band into a four leg tour in support of the album.
Over the next several years the Barenaked Ladies became known for their indie sensibilities. In 2005 they parted ways with their record company and launched their own label. A Holiday album was quickly followed by a double-disc release Barenaked Ladies Are Me and Barenaked Ladies Are Men. Featuring over thirty songs it was a monumental achievement in itself. Breaking indie ground yet again, it was also one of the first major released available for download with no digital-rights management. For their tour they also adopted many “green” accommodations such as recycling the used guitar strings and running their busses on Ethanol. They also broke new ground in 2007 by releasing over sixty of their songs performed acoustically on Youtube. Dubbed “The Bathroom Sessions,” some segments even featured guitar lessons from Robertson himself. The Ladies are now very respected in America, and have had two Grammy nominations and two American Music Awards.
Throughout much hardship, some member changes, and several trials the Barenaked Ladies have endured. When their own countrymen rejected them and their neighbors to the south spat upon them they kept going. Showing no signs of slowing as they get older technology is a focus of the band and they continue to release massive amounts of free online content for their fans. Staying on the cutting edge ensures BNL will be entertaining for years to come.
