Shakin' All Over: Canadian Pop Music in the 1960s
Directed by Gary McGroarty
By Alex Molotkow

The remarkable thing about Shakin’ All Over — a 2006 CBC doc, recently released on DVD — is how obvious the message is. For all the iconic stars and international anthems our country has spawned, we humble Canadians tend to shrug off our contributions to the rock pantheon as stale fodder for Boomer car radio. Director Gary McGroarty, writer Nicholas Jennings (upon whose book, After the Gold Rush, the film is based) and narrator Jian Ghomeshi demonstrate in a clear and thoroughly entertaining manner the irrefutable claims Canada has to musical merit. Balancing the obscurities and the crucial mentions with impressive stamina, Shakin’ All Over covers everyone from the Classics (later the Collectors, then Chilliwack) to the house band for Let’s Go! (Canadian TV’s answer to Hullabaloo) to the Band. Mixing little-known facts with long-forgotten context, the film makes ubiquitous and hitherto untouchable dollar records seem like essential listening, and turns old classics into sacred cows. Viewers learn that the Paupers (later Lighthouse) once upstaged Jefferson Airplane, and remember that the performers of so many bastardised hits were — oh, that’s right! — Canadian. McGroarty and Jennings represent the past very nicely, but they make some depressing choices when it comes to the present. Hawksley Workman, wearing indoor sunglasses, looks even more obnoxious cut between clips of Ian and Sylvia Tyson. Footage of Burton Cummings singing “These Eyes” runs into Maestro’s video for “Stick to Your Vision,” which drags the still-resonating refrain down to late ’90s cornball hell. Somehow, Matt Good and the guy from Wide Mouth Mason don’t inspire feelings of intense national pride — a different batch of scions might have better highlighted the featured artists’ enduring legacies. Still, witnessing Crowbar tear down the house with “Oh What a Feeling,” complete with a full-fledged burlesque act, makes you regret you ever turned off the oldies station or walked out on the in-house dad band after hearing the tune for the 40,000th time. (EMI)
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