Of the 10 best-selling artists in Canada, only five are Canadian, and all five are women.
For Vancouver-based music journalist Andrea Warner, it was a revelation, coupled with the fact that the top four female artists 鈥� Celine Dion, Alanis Morissette, Shania Twain and Sarah McLachlan 鈥� came to prominence during a five-year window from 1993 to 1997. In fact, according to the Nielsen SoundScan list, they鈥檝e sold more records in Canada than U2 or the Beatles. Diana Krall ranks 10th.聽 聽
鈥淪uddenly an impressive statistic becomes a 鈥榟oly s***鈥� one,鈥� writes Warner in the introduction of her forthcoming book, We Oughta Know: How Four Women Ruled the 鈥�90s and Changed Canadian Music.
鈥淭hey all became super powerful when I was a teen and it resonated with me that I was, unknowingly, witness to this time of this huge movement in Canada that was unprecedented and hasn鈥檛 come again,鈥� Warner told the Courier over coffee last Friday.
With the title a riff on of one of Morissette鈥檚 biggest hits, Warner, an associate producer for CBC Music, 2013 Polaris Prize Jury member and freelance writer, has penned a provocative book that鈥檚 part music criticism, part cultural analysis and part candid, witty and wrenching feminist coming-of-age memoir.
As a teenager growing up on Fraser Street in Vancouver鈥檚 Sunset neighbourhood, Warner loved Morissette and McLachlan and abhorred Dion and Twain. But opinions formed in adolescence often deserve a second look, so Warner spent countless hours listening to songs, some of which she鈥檇 previously loathed, examining what had been written about the four artists and reconsidering her 鈥渁**hole thoughts鈥� in the writing of her first book.
In the essay 鈥淢aking Peace with Celine Dion: Mockery, Manipulation, and Matters of the Heart,鈥� peace isn鈥檛 reached easily.
鈥淭here鈥檚 a passion in Dion鈥檚 songs, but it鈥檚 a sexless passion, like a Ken doll鈥檚 beige genital wasteland,鈥� Warner writes.
She discredits the notion that Dion and Twain would have been nothing without the music industry men who became their husbands.
鈥淚t鈥檚 sexist and demeaning, but it鈥檚 also an affront to intelligence, much the same as people still believing that the Earth is flat or that Stephen Harper is a decent guy or that there鈥檚 no such thing as evolution,鈥� Warner penned.
If you鈥檝e ever blasted Morissette for her questionable understanding of irony in her hit song 鈥淚ronic,鈥� Warner might persuade you to reassess your ire.
鈥淚鈥檓 a stickler for definitions, too, but the number of people who jumped down Morissette鈥檚 throat for 鈥業ronic鈥� far outweighed the number of people who actually care about linguistics,鈥� Warner notes in her essay about 1995 and Morissette鈥檚 album Jagged Little Pill.
Warner muses about her own slut shaming of Twain, Dion鈥檚 glorification of 鈥渇orever love,鈥� and the anguish that overwhelmed her when she pressed play on McLachlan鈥檚 1996 album Rarities, B-Sides and Other Stuff in the writing of this book. 鈥淚n fact this is where I started crying in public in a coffee shop and hid behind a curtain of my hair so my friend working beside me wouldn鈥檛 notice,鈥� Warner writes.
She didn鈥檛 allow the flow of tears to hold back her writing, so the essay 鈥淭he Myth and Magic of Sarah McLachlan鈥� includes an epically poignant reflection on the loss of a parent, coping and grief.
We Oughta Know includes an appendix of Canadian acts in the 鈥�90s (solo women musicians and women-fronted bands) and name checks Tegan and Sara, Grimes, the Pack A.D. and Tanya Tagaq.
鈥淗ow far we haven鈥檛 come is a bit surprising, and yet we have come very far,鈥� Warner said.
She maintains popular culture warrants attention because chart toppers trickle down to independent acts who create music in reaction and response.
鈥淭heir influence is really everywhere and even if you don鈥檛 like them, what they did is bring attention to Canada and Canada鈥檚 music machine,鈥� Warner said. 鈥淭hey don鈥檛 even get that credit, which his crazy to me. If four dudes had done that, they鈥檇 be on our f***ing dollar bills 鈥� if we had dollar bills.鈥�
Kathryn Calder and Louise Burns Music will play Warner鈥檚 book launch April 25 at The Lido, 518 East Broadway, from 6 to 8 p.m.
