Blathr Wayne Lorentz

I got a new record in the mail today. Well, not a “new” record, as itʼs the Bob and Doug McKenzie Great White North album. Itʼs not actually “new to me,” either, since I had it when it came out in 1981. I donʼt know what happened to my records, but lately Iʼve been re-buying my old collection off of fleaBay, when something is available for under $5.00.

I listened to it, and itʼs very… of its time. I looked it up in Wikipedia, and was surprised to see that it was actually a big hit when it was released. Listening to Great White North both then, and now, I thought it was just an obscure novelty record. Nope. Triple-platinum in Canada, and #8 on the U.S. Billboard chart.

Hearing it with modern ears makes me think that Beavis and Butthead may not have been a complete rip-off of Bob and Doug, but it was at least 90% of the way there. Just replace gratuitous references to beer with oblique references to drugs, and both programs are a couple of blotto under-achievers sitting on a couch repeating catch-phrases and giggling to themselves. Except Bob and Doug have Geddy Lee from Rush, so they win.

In 1986, the idea of a television that fit in your hand was so futuristic and dystopian that The Art of Noise used it in the art for an album cover.

Today, we have supercomputers in our pockets and on our wrists that can access video in real-time from any country on the planet.

What happened that itʼs not considered scary anymore?