Back to 1995, months before my aforementioned unfortunate diversion into “new country”, I was still very much a fan of blues based, guitar driven rock music. The nineties was also a time when we were fascinated by the concept of black musicians being able to play rock ‘n’ roll music. You know, the stuff they invented. Thanks to bands like Living Colour and later Lenny Kravitz, white folks hadn’t been this enamoured with African-American rockers since Jimi Hendrix died. Canada, not to miss a fad, debuted our own “surprise” guitar-playing black rock star.
As is often the case in The Great White North, Cancon rules give our native born artists an artificial push. This push is often unwarranted and ultimately regrettable, but just as often it gives a great artist a chance they otherwise wouldn’t get thanks to the suffocating weight of the giant American culture machine. I’d put this guy in the latter category and while he’s by and large become a one-hit-wonder and forgotten by most, I still recall how much I liked this song. It’s a good one and a real rocker.
I’m kicking off the weekend with the wailing guitar chops of Wild T and The Spirit with “Love Crazy”, the title track from the 1995 album of the same name.
Official Video:
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