Who would have ever thought that Premier Ed Stelmach is a hip, with-it alt-rock sort of guy who listens to Hamilton's punk pioneering band, Simply Saucer?
Premier Ed looks like his name sounds. He's the quintessential Alberta Tory. He doesn't make waves, unless it's to defend the oilpatch. So imagine my surprise when I started thumbing through my Juno press package and found a page welcoming statement entitled "Message from Honourable Ed Stelmach Premier of Alberta."
These statements are the sort of things that kill too many trees. Nobody actually reads them. They tend to go straight to the little blue box under the desk, which is exactly where mine was headed when I suddenly gasped at two words that stood out from the rest -- "Simply Saucer."
I grabbed the page in mid-air and went straight to paragraph 3 ... "A paramount belief of mine is the importance of grassroots support," the statement stated (honestly it said, "paramount").
And now for the uber-cool quote which followed: "Where is the next Neil Young or Guess Who or Simply Saucer?"
WOW! Premier Ed just put our little Hamilton band, which couldn't get any record label to even listen to its demo back in the '70s, in the same category as Neil Young and Guess Who? For those who don't know, Simply Saucer was a revolutionary little band of East Hamilton rockers who couldn't get a record label to even listen to their demos. They folded in 1979 without anyone knowing who they were. In recent years, a demo tape from 1974 started to make the rounds and they've since become a cult phenomena. Obviously, Premier Ed "Saucer" Stelmach is part of the cult. Maybe he'll even be at the Saucer's reunion show tonight at the Westside Theatre in Hamilton? Or maybe he didn't really write the statement. Maybe someone in his media office did on his behalf. I've put in a call to the Office of the Premier in Edmonton asking about his love of Simply Saucer. What's his favourite song -- She's A Dog or Clearly Invisible? I wonder if they'll get back to me. I'll keep you posted.
Gotta run ... CTV is trotting out host Russell Peters for a media thingee at the Saddledome. Cheers, Graham
Coincidence? Did the Culture department read your Simply Saucer piece? Maybe attach it in the next e-mail!
Posted by: Erika | April 05, 2008 at 10:39 AM