Victoria Windsor

Today is Victoria Day in Canada, a statutory holiday to celebrate the long reign of Queen Vicotria and the current reigning monarch's official birthday. Since the current reigning monarch, Queen Elizabeth II, is of the House of Windsor, I thought today would be a perfect day to link to a great post I read last week on the music scene of Windsor, Ontario. This link is from a new music blog called North by East West, a blog about all things music-related in Canada, to which I very occasionally contribute. This post is a fascinating look at the history of and current musical scene in Windsor, which often stands in the shadow of its larger cousin across the river, Detroit. Enjoy.

So Who Does Windsor, Ontario, Think They Are?

Jack Scott - My True Love.mp3
Originally released in 1962
Buy: Jack Scott's Greatest Hits (1991)

The Band (multi-instrumentalist Garth Hudson was born in Windsor) - Ophelia.mp3
Originally released in 1975
Buy: The Band - Greatest Hits (2000)

Jefferson Airplane (Windsor's Alexander 'Skip' Spence was their first drummer and co-wrote parts of their first album) - Don't Slip Away.mp3
Buy: Jefferson Airplane Takes Off (1966, reissued 2003)

Moby Grape (Spence founded Moby Grape and wrote their biggest hit) - Omaha.mp3
Originally released in 1967
Buy: Listen My Friends! The Best of Moby Grape (2007)

Alexander 'Skip' Spence - Broken Heart.mp3
Buy: Oar (1969, reissued 1999)

The Tea Party - Stargazer.mp3
From: Seven Circles (2004, out of print)

Elliott Brood - Twill.mp3
Buy: Ambassador (2006)

Windsor

I am in Windsor, Ontario, this week for the 4th Canadian Transplant Games, an Olympic-style athletic competition for people who have had life saving organ transplants. Tomorrow I compete in cycling (5K Time Trial, and 20K road race). The weather is supposed to be hot and humid, so there is a good possibility that I will vomit after the race. Windsor is the only spot in Canada where you can look north and see the United States - across the Detroit River into downtown Detroit. While Detroit has churned out so many musical artists that it would take months to blog about all of them, the only musical act that I can come up with from Windsor is The Tea Party. I am sure that there are others, but I don't know them. The Tea Party was very active in the late 1990s, and most of my friends in Canada are huge fans. This song was number one on Canadian radio in 1999.

Heaven Coming Down.mp3
Buy (out of print in the US but available on Amazon.ca): Triptych (1999)