By Will McGuirk
I had a customer at the record shop where I work say to me recently he had seen 54-40 a week past at the Casino. His first time he siad and he liked them, a lot - he’s close to my age but somehow his focus on American tunesmithery precluded his further investigation of his fellow countryfolks’ tune making. But he had come around and it reminds me as much as I may know 54-40, whole albums by heart, its not so much for everyone.
The Green album by them was one of the first albums I bought, 1986 - played it so often I almost cut right though to the other side - a couple of lads from B.C. were singing my life - a common bond created and me from the other side of the ocean and they from the other side of the country - and that album I still have in a case separate from the other records I have but in with others I treasure ready to grab in case of emergency - yes that record rides with me.
As my life developed they did too and moved from the fringe, from what my customer pal would call college rock into the mainstream, even charting, songs on the radio - a string of hits!
But there are still those outside of it all however the band is playing the Biltmore Theatre here in the grand old city of Oshawa on July 11 2024.
54-40 are trailblazers, there was no trail west to the East when they started, Vancity was its own scene connecting south into the States, fuelling what would become the Seattle scene, and digging radio waves from California from the Beach Boys and Laurel Canyon, fuelling a heritage of intelligent pop song making - from Destroyer to 54-40, its a strait line - it was all barely above ground when 54-40 vanned it eastward but the trails stuck and when yr fave CDN band the Hip headed out in the opposite direction they drove the grooves and ruts made by 54:40 among others.
I am happy a man at a record shop turned me on to this band back in those days and happy to turn my own customers onto the many fine records and tracks by 54-40, a band from my special case of records.