Saskadelphia - EP

From their 1984 formation up to frontman Gord Downie’s death in 2017, The Tragically Hip never stopped evolving. But there was arguably no more crucial a turning point in their career than the period between 1989’s full-length debut Up to Here and 1991’s Road Apples. That was the moment when the Kingston, Ontario, quintet first tapped into a more passionate and poetic style of rock ’n’ roll that would catapult them far beyond their bluesy bar-band roots. And in this transition, several songs got lost along the way—tracks that, for a time, were concert staples and seemed like surefire singles once recording for Road Apples commenced in New Orleans.

Those songs would remain largely forgotten until 2019, when the New York Times revealed that the infamous Universal Studios backlot fire of 2008 resulted in the loss of over 100,000 master recordings—including, as reported, those of the Hip. The article was incorrect; the band’s masters had been safely relocated to Canada back in 2001. But the incident inspired the surviving members to dig into the archives, and in the process, they discovered the clutch of pristinely preserved Road Apples extras which now make up Saskadelphia. (The title was Road Apples’ original rejected name, inspired by the city-blurring effect of all the touring the Hip were doing at the time.) “I was hesitant to push ‘play’ on these tapes because I just thought, ‘Well, these songs didn't make the record,’ so I really wasn't expecting much,” guitarist Paul Langlois tells Apple Music. “But the songs literally just jumped out at me—so much so that I was like, ‘Why didn’t these make the record?’”

Given all the mythology that’s built up around the Hip over the years, it’s a real treat to hear them once again in their most primal, unkempt state. But amid Saskadelphia’s Stonesy rockers and cowpunk rave-ups, the forlorn “Montreal”—written in the wake of the 1989 École Polytechnique massacre—points the way forward with an early glimpse of Downie’s gift for weaving historical events into personal and profound storytelling. (Unable to locate the song’s original studio take from the Road Apples sessions, the band opted to include a live version recorded in Montreal in 2000, on the 11th anniversary of the massacre.) Here, Langlois and bassist Gord Sinclair take us back to this pivotal moment in the band’s history with a track-by-track guide to Saskadelphia’s unearthed treasures.

“Ouch”
Paul Langlois: “As [guitarist] Robbie [Baker] has pointed out, ‘Ouch’ kind of treads a little bit where [Road Apples classic] 'Twist My Arm' treads, and, well, we went with 'Twist My Arm.' But this was significantly way better than I was expecting. I was just like, ‘Oh my god, this sounds like a band that's really playing well.’”
Gord Sinclair: “It was a funny time in music where people were transitioning away from the blues. The American alt-rock/alt-country thing was really happening. It was also the start of the Red Hot Chili Peppers getting really popular, along with Fishbone—there was that heavier slappy-bass kind of stuff. We were listening to everything and trying everything and jamming on everything. But when you've got 'Twist My Arm' and 'Ouch,' you know, we didn't want people to think we were a California funk-rock band.”

“Not Necessary”
PL: “I remember playing this one quite a bit at Kingsway Studio—Daniel Lanois' place—where we were recording. We were having fun and living close by, and that's all we were doing: just recording in this old beautiful haunted mansion. And we played this song a lot. It's catchy. The record company always wants a hit, and this one leans that way. But it didn't quite stay on the table for some reason.”

“Montreal”
GS: “Regrettably, we were only able to find about two-thirds of the tapes that we did for Road Apples, so we never were able to hear the original version of 'Montreal' that we laid down, but I'm guessing that, at the time, we just didn't get the version that we wanted to get. This is going back to a time pre-Pro Tools and digital recording—we were using two-inch tape and playing live all at the same time, and we would play version after version after version until we got it. And perhaps in the case of 'Montreal,' maybe we just didn't nail it. But that said, the lyrics had such a resonance, and we were able to find this live version because we wanted to include that particular song in this package.”
PL: “According to Robbie, we didn’t decide to play the song in Montreal [in 2000] until the encore. Gord [Downie] was unsure, but then we just decided to do it. I think someone looked up the lyrics on the internet. But it was always a song that we were all connected to. That particular horrible incident [at École Polytechnique] was really awful and infuriating, and I think we were connected to the song because it felt like we were offering it as some sort of small comfort.”

“Crack My Spine Like a Whip”
PL: “This song was written in fairly early days—like maybe right after Up to Here, because we were playing it on the road. It was a balls-to-the-wall rocker, where it was really leaning forward. We always enjoyed playing songs like that. Again, I'm surprised that it didn't make it onto Road Apples. More than almost any of the others, it was universally accepted that, ‘Oh, this one’s gonna make it for sure.’”
GS: “It was actually our go-to encore tune. But by the time we got to New Orleans, we wrote 'Last of the Unplucked Gems' while we were down there, and 'Little Bones,' and it was just a really creative time. We just kept rolling and rolling and rolling, and some of the mainstays like 'Crack My Spine Like a Whip' and 'Not Necessary' kind of just fell by the wayside.”

“Just As Well”
GS: "This was another song that we wrote pretty soon after we finished Up to Here. We played it a lot live with the idea that we were going to continue to develop it and see how it went over with the crowd. But I guess we got enough other songs together that it kind of slowly but surely got bumped down the list of potential album tracks. This was one where I was really happy to discover how much I actually still liked it. It's got great energy to it. But I think it kind of got out-rocked by a couple other tracks on Road Apples, like 'Born in the Water.' I think we were pretty conscious of not doing a full record of nothing but rock 'n' roll songs.'”
PL: “'Just As Well' always pleased us, because it has this classic '60s riff. It was very—not Chuck Berry, but inspired by that type of playing. But it gradually went down the list, probably because it was so much of a tribute to us being rock 'n' roll fans, coming up with riffs like that. But more than any of these songs, I would say I was most impressed with this one when I first heard it again last summer. I remembered the song somewhat, but when it came on, it was like, ‘Whoa!’ That was the one that bowled me over.”

“Reformed Baptist Blues”
PL: “When I first joined the band [in 1986]—I'm still the new guy—this song was a staple of the set. Gord [Sinclair] wrote it, and it was easy-peasy to play, and it was really catchy. I think it was a staple before we even made our baby record [1987's self-titled EP] that we don't really talk about.”
GS: “I was shocked when [drummer] Johnny [Fay] said he'd found a version of this. I honestly did not remember us recording playing that tune in New Orleans. Maybe the A&R guy was saying, ‘Empty out the cupboards and see if there's a hit in there somewhere.’ By that point, I don't even know that we were playing 'Reformed Baptist Blues' live anymore.”
PL: “But I'm quite thankful Johnny found the tape, because I always loved that song.”