Article by: Nick Faris – Published Aug 18, 2016

The Tragically Hip’s final tour has taken them across the country they have crooned about for decades, from Victoria through the Prairies to the final stop in Kingston on Saturday. But long before the band gained national acclaim, they were unable to secure a major record deal. That changed one weekend in November 1988, when Bruce Dickinson, a newly hired vice-president at MCA Records, flew over the U.S. border to see his first Hip show. Dickinson told the National Post about that night in Toronto.

“I’m cooking breakfast at home in New York City, and I have one of those multi-artist CDs — a compilation of a variety of artists. Usually, that stuff plays in the background and nothing perks up your ears. This song comes through, and it’s the voice of Gord Downie. It could have been ‘Highway Girl,’ but I think it was ‘Small Town Bring-Down.’ I stopped what I was doing and went to the living room to see who that was. It was the Tragically Hip.

“After breakfast, I tracked down their managers, Jake Gold and Allan Gregg. I introduced myself to Jake on the phone, and told him I was about to start at MCA. I said, ‘Jake, tell me about the Tragically Hip. I’d like to come see them.’ There’s a silence on the other end of the phone. He goes, ‘Well, I’ve only really got one gig for them. It’s Saturday.’ I said, ‘OK, I’ll be there!’ He’s hemming and hawing. I said, ‘Jake, you do want me to see your band, right?’ He laughs and he goes, ‘Well, it’s an industry gig. It’s the Toronto Music Awards, and the band comes out and does two songs. It’s kind of reserved and staid and stuffy.’ I said, ‘Yeah, OK, I’ll be there.’

“He meets me at the airport. He plays me a demo tape that’s got five or six more songs, most of which ended up on the first album, Up to Here. All the songs were different, but they were clearly the same artist, and they were all great — songs like Blow at High Dough. Jake and Allan take me to the show. It was at Massey Hall.

“I guess it was during the first song: Gord drops the mic on the floor inadvertently. It comes unattached from the cord, and the top of the mic comes off. I remember distinctly, Bobby Baker and Gord Sinclair just looked at each other like, ‘Oh, crap. What are we going to do?’ Downie, as you know, is a great improviser. He just picks up the mic, puts it back together and tells a whole story in the middle of the song that involves the mic. I thought that was really cool.

“Meanwhile, Jake and Allan are like, ‘Oh, no’ — they had the same reaction I think Sinclair and Baker had. They do the two songs, and Jake and Allan are just sitting there, a little quiet. I go, ‘So, I’d like to sign your band. I just want to take them to lunch tomorrow to make sure their heads are screwed on right.’

“At that point, Allan almost jumps around in front of Jake and says, ‘Oh, their heads are screwed on right! They’re great guys, they’re really intelligent, they’re hard workers.’ Jake is like, ‘Uh, well you have to stay for a show tomorrow.’

“I said, ‘You told me there was only this show, and I have a plane ticket for tomorrow. I just want to take them for lunch. I want to sign the band.’ He goes, ‘No, I really do have a show tomorrow. You see, I went to the Horseshoe Tavern, and I bumped another band out of there.’ He was so convinced I wouldn’t like them from just seeing the two songs in the music industry scenario that he did this. He’d really put some stuff on the line to do that, so I said, ‘OK, I’ll stay.’

“Needless to say, the show at the Horseshoe was amazing. It didn’t change my mind at all — I wanted to sign them. What was really funny was that night at the Horseshoe, basically the entire Canadian music industry showed up backstage, some of which were trying to offer deals. The band basically said, ‘Look, none of you offered us a deal. The only reason you’re here is this guy came up from New York and offered us a deal last night.’ That was it.

“They were clearly great musicians. Gord Downie had a charisma, and he was a riveting performer. What got my attention at first was hearing that one song on the CD. His voice, and the music behind it, really cut through. Those CDs usually have 25 songs, and theirs was the only one that mattered. As a jaded A&R person, you hear thousands and thousands and thousands of tapes and CDs and demos. But there was something about Gord’s voice that got your attention.

“I think Gord Downie is definitely in the tradition of great Canadian poets. There can be a certain darkness in the lyrics, in some ways that reminded me of reading and listening to Leonard Cohen or Robertson Davies. I think that’s all part of what appeals to Canadian fans. They’re five Canadian guys who go up on stage and they look like their audience. I think that everyman quality matters.”

This has been edited and condensed for clarity.