SONG OF THE DAY
“Everything You’ve Done Wrong” by Sloan (One Chord To Another, Murderecords, Canada, 1996) (The Enclave, U.S., 1997). Written by Chris Murphy, Patrick Pentland, Jay Ferguson, and Andrew Scott.
INTERESTING FACTS (from wikipedia)
– One Chord to Another was the third album by Canadian rock band Sloan.
– In 1994 Geffen (their label at the time) did not promote their second album, Twice Removed, due to artistic disputes, although it sold well in Canada. The label dropped Sloan after this album (Now mind you Spin named it one of the “Best Albums You Didn’t Hear” in 1994. A 1996 reader poll by Canadian music magazine Chart! ranked it as the best Canadian album of all time, only two years after its release. The same poll in 2000 ranked the album third, behind Joni Mitchell’s Blue and Neil Young’s Harvest. However, the 2005 poll once again ranked the album first.)
– After rumours that they had broken up following the problems they faced with Geffen Records when Twice Removed was released, Sloan began touring and writing again in 1995 and released One Chord to Another on Murderecords in 1996.
– Like the previous album it was a catchy, Beatles-influenced pop record. The band also experimented with instruments they had never used before, such as piano, trumpets, and maracas.
– The album won the award for Best Alternative Album at the 1997 Juno Awards.
– One Chord To Another was not released until 1997 in the United States on the independent label, The Enclave. It was originally released in an LP-style cardboard gatefold jacket rather than a traditional plastic jewel box, and included a 10-track bonus CD of material entitled Recorded Live At A Sloan Party! This bonus CD consisted of cover versions and re-recordings of previous Sloan songs; it was recorded in the studio but was overdubbed with miscellaneous party-type sounds to give the impression of being recorded live at an intimate gathering of friends (somewhat akin to the Beach Boys’ Party! album).
– One Chord To Another was Sloan’s first album to be released in Japan. They secured a distribution deal with EMI who released the album with new recordings of Stood Up and Same Old Flame.
– According to Sloan’s official website, the band’s name refers to a friend’s nickname. Their friend Jason Larsen was called “Slow One” by his French-speaking boss, which with the accent sounded more like “Sloan”. The original agreement was that they could name the band after their friend’s nickname as long as he was on the cover of their first album. As a result, it is Larsen who appears on the cover of the Peppermint EP.
– All four members of Sloan write their own songs, and when they play live they switch instruments accordingly. Usually the band performs as follows: Murphy is on lead vocals and plays bass, Pentland is also on lead vocals and plays lead guitar, Ferguson plays rhythm guitar, and Scott plays drums.
MY TAKE
1990’s Week continues with a) one of my favorite bands ever, b) definitely one of my favorite Canadian bands, c) definitely one of my favorite songs ever, and d) one of the best songs I ever discovered through a soundtrack. Whoopee!
VIDEO OF THE DAY
There’s no video of this song on youtube.com. Sadness personified.