Livin' in the Past

I recently started reading Before the Gold Rush: Flashbacks to the Dawn of the Canadian Sound by Nicholas Jennings. I finally dove into it after owning it for years because...

a) I've been gravitating towards the sounds of the '60s for the past while
b) I should have a lot of background knowledge/context if I want to be a half-decent music writer and
c) Greg recommended I read it. I listen to Greg.

It's a really engrossing read, so far. But it depresses me just a little bit.

Here's why:

Yesterday, Lindsay W. and I went on one of those touristy bus tours. The Yorkville neighbourhood was among the stops. I love looking around Yorkville every now and again (hello, Betsey Johnson!), but this time I had a different perspective. Once upon a time, it was the breeding ground for bohemian culture and for the budding Canadian folk/blues/rock/garage scenes. It has since become an obscenely affluent commercial area where most normal people can't afford to shop.

I was struck with an enormous sense of loss for something I never got to experience.

I talked to my dad about this later, and he told me that he and his buddies used to hang around Yorkville in the '60s all the time. The Purple Onion? The Mynah Bird? He was there, checking out bands and drinking two dollar coffees (unheard of, at the time).

Holy shit! My dad is so cool!

Arguably, Toronto's music scene is thriving these days. But I seriously doubt that my unborn children will say to me, "Hey, you used to hang out at the Horseshoe and the 360 (R.I.P.) and the Rivoli in the '90s and '00s? Holy shit! You are so cool!"

In conclusion, the 1960s were better in pretty much every way.

Also: I kind of want to be a young Sylvia Fricker. (Ian Tyson was a babe.)



(Now playing: "Where Money Rules Everything", The West Coast Pop Art Experimental Band)