Life is a Highway: Canadian Pop Music in the '90s

LIFE IS A HIGHWAY: CANADIAN POP MUSIC IN THE ’90s
TWO-PART SPECIAL AIRS THURSDAY, SEPT. 15 AND 22, AT 8 P.M.

September 8, 2011- Following on the tremendous success of previous series on Canadian music in the 1960s, ’70s and ’80s, CBC Television presents LIFE IS A HIGHWAY: CANADIAN POP MUSIC IN THE ’90s, airing Sept. 15 and 22 at 8 p.m. (8:30 NT).

CBC-TV has been chronicling the musical landmarks of this country—decade by decade, style by style, and groundbreaker by groundbreaker. LIFE IS A HIGHWAY completes the next chapter in Canada’s amazing pop music journey.

The ’90s were marked by hit songs from Canadian performers as diverse as Tom Cochrane, Sloan, Loreena McKennitt, The Tragically Hip, Shania Twain, Blue Rodeo, Céline Dion, Moxy Früvous, Barenaked Ladies, Great Big Sea and Jann Arden. Hosted and narrated once again by Jian Ghomeshi (CBC Radio One’s Q), who also appears in this instalment performing with his own band, Moxy Früvous, LIFE IS A HIGHWAY explores this hit-laden era.

The ’90s were boom years in Canadian music, with record-breaking sales and more international success stories than ever before. LIFE IS A HIGHWAY looks at this explosive period, when Canada’s superstar divas and rock gods shared the charts with DIY indie bands, Celtic virtuosos, worldbeat ensembles and hip-hop heroes. For the sheer variety of different types of pop music exploding onto the music scene from coast to coast to coast, the 1990s was an unparalleled decade.

Featuring thrilling performance footage and candid interviews with such major stars as Sarah McLachlan, Tom Cochrane, kd lang, Barenaked Ladies, Jann Arden and The Tragically Hip, as well as alternative music groups like Rheostatics, Sloan and Dream Warriors, the two-part documentary presents over 40 of the decade’s most unforgettable songs, from Alanis Morissette’s “You Oughta Know” and Shania Twain’s “Any Man of Mine” to Snow’s “Informer” and Bran Van 3000’s “Drinking in L.A.”

Other performers taking a star turn in the specials include Bryan Adams, Crash Test Dummies, Lhasa, Ron Sexsmith, Les Colocs, Jean Leloup, Ashley MacIsaac, Rascalz, Spirit of the West, The Rankin Family, Natalie MacMaster, Jesse Cook, The Doughboys, The Odds, Bass is Base, Choclair, La Bottine Souriante, Big Sugar, The Tea Party and Our Lady Peace.

LIFE IS A HIGHWAY is the latest installment in the critically-acclaimed series from the same team that brought you the specials Shakin’ All Over, This Beat Goes On and Rise Up, chronicling Canadian pop music in, respectively, the 1960s, ’70s and ’80s.

LIFE IS A HIGHWAY: Canadian Pop Music in the ’90s will receive an encore showing on CBC News Network: Part 1 on Saturday, Sept. 17, at 10 p.m. ET/PT, and Part 2 on Saturday, Sept. 24, at 10 p.m. ET/PT.