3/27: Take Off (Bob & Doug McKenzie, feat. Geddy Lee)
Today's song has a fun bit of trivia to it.
Take off!
To the great white north.
It’s a beauty way to go.
Take off!
To the great white north.
Here’s a fun bit of trivia for you: What’s the highest charting single featuring any member of Rush? “The Spirit of Radio”? “Freewill”? “Tom Sawyer”?
None of the above. It’s actually “Take Off,” from Great White North, the album from comedy duo Bob & Doug McKenzie. The song rose as high as #16 on the Billboard 100 this week in 1982.
It’s not so much a song as an improv bit set to keyboard, with Geddy underscoring the humor at key moments with a chorus that’s catchier than it should be.
Bob and Doug MacKenzie are SCTV characters, played by Dave Thomas and Rick Moranis, the latter of whom went to lower school with Geddy for years. They were even in the same class! The two weren’t close, however, and this collaboration seems to be the extent of their interaction over the years.
So put on a toque, turn up the volume, and take off to the great white north!
(PS: Apologies for not having a Spotify link today. It doesn’t look like the song is available for me in the US? Thank goodness for YouTube, though!)
And that video isn't available in Canada either. Seems like there's some legal things with Anthem going on.
I was discussing this song with someone over the holidays (Steve, maybe?). This album was a Canadian sensation when it was released. SCTV was one of the hottest things going.
If memory serves, this song was my introduction to Bob and Doug. Many years later, I was happy to see that my kids enjoyed their humor as much as I did. Take off, eh!