From former VJ Christopher Ward, comes Is This Live? a book in the tradition of Mondo Canuck and I Want My MTV, capturing the pure fun and rock
’n’ roll rebellion of the early years of MuchMusic, giving readers access to a major nostalgic touchstone of their youth.
This is the story of the first 10 years of the Nation’s Music Station. When MuchMusic launched in 1984, it was truly the Wild (Canadian) West of television--live, gloriously unpredictable,
seat-of-the-pants TV, delivered fresh daily.
Much was the dream child of TV visionary Moses Znaimer, and John Martin, the maverick creator of The New Music. An entire generation of Canadians lived and breathed
TV’s new kid in town and because it was live and largely improvised, viewers and VJs both shared the experience and grew up together, embracing the new music that became the video soundtrack of
our lives.
The careers of Canadian legends like Glass Tiger, Colin James, the Parachute Club, Honeymoon Suite, Blue Rodeo, Corey Hart, Jane Siberry and Platinum Blonde were
launched when Much brought them closer to their fans. Much also brought us international acts, and events like the Bon Jovi BBQ and Iggfest, with Iggy Pop improvising songs in the midst of his
fans on the sidewalk on Queen Street. This was also an era in which music found its conscience with events like Live Aid and the Amnesty International Human Rights Now! tour. And Much covered
them all.
With stories of the bands, the VJs, the music, the videos, the style and the improvisational approach to daily broadcast life at Much, and told by the people who were
there--the colourful cast of on-air VJs, the artists who found their way into the living rooms of the nation as never before, and the people behind the camera--Is This Live? delivers a
full-on dose of pop culture from the 1980s and ’90s, when the music scene in Canada changed forever.
