| March 12, 2018 | |||||||||||||||||||
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Lyrics: One day, you feel quite stable No one can stop you now No one can stop you now I see no harm or danger in escaping No one can stop me now No one can stop me now The time we feel most stable No one can stop us now No one can stop us now No one can stop us now |
In 1981, synthesizer-driven music was flooding the airwaves as the second British invasion (this time, new wave instead of rock) swept the planet. However, when most people think of prog and new wave, Canada isn’t often mentioned as having been a hotbed of activity, and that’s a shame because the Canucks enjoyed their synthesizers and unique musical arrangements just as much as the next fella, eh? Rush, Triumph, Men Without Hats, Honeymoon Suite, Corey Hart, and Saga all hailed from the Great White North, and while I wouldn’t dare put those bands into the same category (lest I wanted to be smitten by the rock gods), they all performed various styles of music we often attribute to having roots in the UK. Saga formed in 1977 in Ontario (Oakville, to be exact) and were originally known as The Pockets. By 1978, the band had changed its name to Saga and released its self-titled debut, but no one other than a few Labatts-sodden Canadians—and a few Swedes (where it reached number 33 on the charts)—knew the band even existed. The band’s second release, Images at Twilight, didn’t even make a blip. In fact, it wasn’t until the band’s fourth effort, today’s featured album, Worlds Apart, that the band gained significant international notice. The single, On the Loose, climbed the charts in the U.S., thanks to MTV, which was proving that the biggest radio station in the country was indeed the television. And while the song hasn’t endured as a staple on eighties satellite radio stations and oldies lists, in our opinion, it is one of the better new rock/prog rock tracks from the decade. The video received heavy airplay on MTV, and almost without fail, when this track comes up in my playlists, someone will say, “Who did that? I remember that song!” Unfortunately for Saga, its fame would be short-lived. While Worlds Apart produced a second very minor hit, Wind Him Up, and in 1983, the band scored another even more minor hit with The Flyer, the band never became a going concern and slipped into relative obscurity. Obscurity, however, isn’t one to stop them, as I was thoroughly amazed to learn that the band just retired in February of this year. The band released its final studio record, Sagacity, in 2014, its eighteenth studio album since today’s featured record. Almost all the band’s post-Worlds Apart records have charted in Germany; a few records even have managed to interest the Swedes, too. Video: Here is the official video for Saga’s On the Loose:
Also from Worlds Apart, Saga scored a minor hit with Wind Him Up:
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| Get It:
Your very own copy of Worlds Apart can be had at Amazon: DWB YouTube Channel: Be sure to visit us on YouTube to see all the videos we’ve featured.
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