I was saddened to learn yesterday that CTVglobemedia's cuts announced last week included the demise of the venerable NewMusic. The music and pop culture show had its start in 1979 on CityTV and was a legend in broadcast circles around the world for its part in launching new bands and the careers of a score of TV hosts and presenters.
The show was an incredibly influential vehicle for Canadians, (myself proudly included) with its mix of straight up rock journalism and new artist profiles. I will never forget Jeanne Beker’s coverage of the 1979 Clash show at the O’Keefe Centre in Toronto. Or her interview with a quite inebriated Iggy Pop that quite literally disintegrated almost immediately. It was one of the reasons I fell in love with music and the business and stories around it.
Alumni of the NewMusic, include the aforementioned Jeanne Beker, now the host of Fashion Television, John (J.D.) Roberts, who is now an anchor at CNN, Denise Donlon, executive director of CBC Radio and George Stroumboulopoulos, host of CBC’s The Hour.
Always ahead of its time the NewMusic raised the bar for music journalism around the world. The show oozed of credibility and was always thrilling to watch. This highly influential show will be missed. Let’s just hope they don’t replace the time slot with some Paris Hilton reality shite.
3 comments:
Although I hadn't watched it in a while, I used to quite regularly and was saddened too. It's always strange to see JD without his leather jacket looking all dignified and American on CNN.
Such a shame. I really loved the new music. I always learned something on that show.
I heard about this on the weekend, and starting writing a post about it. I was very saddened. I plan to tie it into my top songs of the year post.
Without The New Music, The Wedge and even The Punk Show, I think my musical education would have been very different.
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