A few weeks before his night on the panel, Dave from Montreal texted jD one request: 'Sharks.' Then the wheel picked it on its own.
He had his reasons. On December 29th, 1999, Dave heard about a last-minute show on the radio and drove straight to the Horseshoe Tavern, two days before the New Year's shows, and by setlist.fm's count that was the first night The Tragically Hip ever played 'Sharks' live. It's track nine on "Music @ Work," and it showed up in a set sixteen times in all, the last one in Chicago in October 2004. So the stream skipped the studio cut and played the Horseshoe recording Dave sent over. It changed a mind or two.
The TTHTop40 Countdown had it 123rd of 169. The poll in the Facebook group was kinder: 55% love it, another 20% like it. Kirk from Chino has a theory about why a low ranking is no insult. Dave isn't nearly as forgiving of the ranking (and says so).
Then Tracey from LA, Dave, and Kirk get into a song Kirk says is three chords and a jam: Gord Sinclair's bass line, Rob Baker handed a blank canvas, a firmament, the Marianas Trench, and a shark with opinions. Somebody ends up doing two hours of homework. Somebody else has a crackpot theory.
WHAT ELSE IS IN HERE
- The icebreaker: a song by The Hip that sounds like autumn. Tracey goes gloomy, Dave bookends a record, and Kirk slips over to Gord Downie's solo catalogue.
- The Hip Handbook's On This Day turns up Music Without Borders, a 2001 benefit at the Air Canada Centre. Dave was there, for a night he says has been lost to history.
- Kirk on the House of Blues and Anaheim, and why "Music @ Work" is the record where The Hip became his band in real time.
- Studio or stage: Dave's case that 'Sharks' is a studio recording that comes across live, and Tracey's case that the live cut made it a different song. Plus the Rolling Stones she hears in the jam.
- Two crackpot theories about who's doing the talking in this song. One of them involves a polar bear.
- Gord Sinclair shining brightest on this one, according to Dave.
- A challenge for the Facebook group: somebody has to invent the 'Sharks' dance.
- GEDfest Toronto, looking back, and the soundcheck that told jD Johnny Fay was really coming. It comes back Saturday, October 16, 2027, details to come.
"From the second that I heard this song at the Horseshoe Tavern in December of 1999, I was like, there's something special here." - Dave from Montreal
"And I'm like, whose point of view is that? The shark?" - Tracey from LA
THE PANEL
- Tracey from LA. Used to skip 'Sharks,' and doesn't anymore. Tried playing it the morning of the stream, and on the live cut heard the band out front in a way the studio version never gave her.
- Dave from Montreal. Back on the panel, and the one who asked for 'Sharks' before the wheel did. Was in the room at the Horseshoe in December 1999, and puts this one in his top fifty songs by The Hip, knowing full well he's on an island.
- Kirk from Chino. Back after a short break to pinch-hit, and one of the Discovering Downie panel. Saw The Hip in Hollywood, San Francisco, and Anaheim when "Music @ Work" was new. His plugs this time: GEDfest in every city, Discovering Downie, Gord's "Secret Path" ten years on, and It's A Good Life.
Big thanks to Tracey, Dave, and Kirk, and to a chat that stayed loud the whole hour. Kirk came in liking 'Sharks' and left loving it. Go find the Horseshoe show and hear it for yourself.
THE TRAGICALLY HIP ALBUM COUNTDOWN
A new show for 2027, and you set the order. Rate all fifteen records by The Hip before November 30, and the countdown starts Monday, January 4, at 8pm ET on YouTube. Ballot: forms.gle/KdMfMuApxGb4Nf5w7
IT'S A GOOD LIFE
Kirk's last plug: five episodes on the making of "It's a Good Life If You Don't Weaken," the musical built on the music of The Hip, told by the people who made it. Start at the start: https://www.redcircle.com/shows/a01e8de3-1a04-4a44-ab9c-8fc6e3cb7474/ep/2cb8095f-d6b5-42e2-a555-4f0319735ea9
The musical runs at the Kingston Grand Theatre until November 8: kingstongrand.ca/events/TIP2026
THE HIP HANDBOOK
The free archive of the discography, the lyrics, and the live performances, where every tale of the tape starts: thehiphandbook.tthpods.com
YER LETTER
Once a month, one email with the whole network in it: what went out across all eight shows, what's coming, and the odd thing that never makes it to a microphone. Free: subscribe.tthpods.com
THE TIP JAR
Editing is hard. Help keep the battery charged: buymeacoffee.com/tthtop40
FIND US
Home: home.tthpods.com
Email: tthpodcastseries@gmail.com
Facebook community: community.tthpods.com
Instagram: @tthpods
YouTube: youtube.com/@tthpods
Yer Letter: subscribe.tthpods.com
KEEP LISTENING
Discovering Downie: "Secret Path": https://redcircle.com/shows/a01e8de3-1a04-4a44-ab9c-8fc6e3cb7474/ep/e086ade9-373f-4bd3-9d84-513b2097cac5
'Gus: The Polar Bear From Central Park': https://redcircle.com/shows/a01e8de3-1a04-4a44-ab9c-8fc6e3cb7474/ep/68d2991b-9074-43ef-bd71-aa832c59a787
'The Bastard': https://redcircle.com/shows/a01e8de3-1a04-4a44-ab9c-8fc6e3cb7474/ep/11be433d-56cf-4213-8726-9fc7cec327f2
Live play count, first and last plays, and the date of the 2001 Music Without Borders benefit via setlist.fm. Track number, the countdown rank, and the poll as cited on the stream. Dave's memories of the Horseshoe and the Air Canada Centre are his own, from the stream.
#TheTragicallyHip #MusicAtWork #TTHOnShuffle #GordSinclair #RobbyBaker #HipFans
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