 I guess if you were a Canadian prog rock band in the 1970s, you were limited to four letters when naming your band. Rush--you check out. Saga, of Oakville, Ontario, you're good to go, too; only know this: despite five decades of success, over 8 million in physical album sales, and a fan base in Germany that would make The Scorpions envious, no one in North America is going to remember you. They are only going to remember Rush. It's not your fault. It's just that Rush is better than you at everything you do. You are good at everything you do. Rush is better. Except for your front-man. Your lead singer, Michael Sadler, is world class-cool. Oh man, is he more fun to watch than Geddy Lee! No offense Geddy, but let's look at the facts and let's try and do it impartially. In 1980, Saga's front-man, is so fucking good at what he does that he gets Saga on MTV in the heaviest of rotations at a time when MTV is everything and the whole world wants to watch it. Nobody knows the name of that dude they're watching. But he defines what new wave looks like to millions. People hear "new wave" and/or "prog rock" they think "that guy in those pants." (The image above is a video still of the official "On the Loose" video, the one that everyone saw.) Michael Sadler, in 1980, remains one of the coolest singers ever based in Canada, and probably as close as we've come, albeit briefly, to our own Freddie Mercury. Of course, it couldn't last. Canada, as you can see below, was about to be hit by a devastating plague of mullets and none of us were immune. Comments are closed.
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