Updates: March - November 2005

November 27, 2005 - We finally have our When We Ruled page finished, so take a look for great artwork from the album, a tracklist with links to the lyrics pages, links to features and reviews, and whatever else we feel like fitting in there. If you feel like staying here, well, ChartAttack has their interview with Moe up, NOW Magazine gave the album a good NNN review, and mp3 clips of the complete and slightly cheesy "Entertainment Tonight Canada" series visiting our heroes at their day jobs and hosting a very brief studio performance are now in our MP3 Archive.

November 22, 2005 - Okay, When We Ruled is now in stores! Take a look at today's feature in the Toronto Star (registration is required, so use ours: login tpoh@canada.com and password pursuit). Also, last night marked the debut of a week-long series of features on "Entertainment Tonight Canada" (on Global, weeknights, 7pm eastern) about where the band members are now (the vibe smells of "Bands Reunited," but they were already going to play shows together). If you missed the first edition with Kris, you can get an mp3 version from our MP3 Archive.

November 20, 2005 - As we approach the release of When We Ruled on Tuesday, here's the latest:

• The liner notes contain a long-awaited complete discography, including albums, singles (yes, including the ones for TWA in Australia), and videos.
• Among the stories in the liner notes: Todd Rundgren notes that Love Junk was recorded in about 10 days. Ed Stasium recounts tales of studio ghosts and the LA riots while calling The Downward Road "one of the best records I ever made." Kris recalls Todd calling her and Leslie Stanwyck to record vocals together because he'd heard they'd had a big fight the night before. Renee remembers her introduction to rock stardom was at the CNE when Moe, Gord Downie of the Tragically Hip and the Odds' Craig Northey hoovered her mini-donuts. Brad thinks back to auditioning with "30 or 40" other bassists for the TPOH job. Dave can't narrow down to one story, but suggests he may "(ghost) write a book one day." And Moe assures us all that the band never phoned in a show: "We thought if word got out that we played a crap gig, we'd be kicked out of rock the very next day."
• Both new songs include keyboards by Chris Stringer that may remind some of Moe's solo album Summer's Over.
• "Hey Mary Anne" is indeed very inspired by Moe and Laura's road trips through the U.S. south. Er, and maybe The Hollies.
• The footage filmed by "Entertainment Tonight Canada" (Rick Campanelli following the kids on their day jobs) is supposed to start airing on Global in Canada Monday (the show airs weeknights at 7pm eastern).
• CFNY's (oh, sorry - The Edge's) Dave Bookman says Moe and possibly others will be dropping by for a chat at the storefront studios at 228 Yonge Street this Tuesday at approximately 6:30pm eastern. You can also listen in via their website here by clicking "listen live."
• Moe has recently done interviews with Chart, the Edmonton Sun and the Winnipeg Sun, and an interview for the Toronto Star is supposed to run Tuesday. We'll round them up when we get them.
• When We Ruled is available online from Sam the Record Man, HMV via Amazon, A&B Sound in Western Canada, Screaming CD/DVD in Europe, and plenty of other places we don't know about yet. Of course, if you choose a bricks-and-mortar store, we humbly suggest an independent place in your town.
• Tickets for the December 29 show at Lee's Palace in Toronto are now on sale at Ticketmaster online, and in town at Rotate This, Soundscapes and the Horseshoe Front Bar.
• Stuff like this will soon get compiled on our very own When We Ruled page...uh, when we have time to mess with the artwork and put it together.

November 13, 2005 - The first official announcement of a TPOH show promoting When We Ruled not surprisingly regards Lee's Palace in Toronto. The date is December 29th, and the opening bands are The Populars and Galore. Tickets will go on sale this Thursday...but where? The Lee's Palace website says they'll be available from Ticketmaster, Rotate This, Soundscapes and the Horseshoe Front Bar, but none of those venues list the gig as of this Update. So keep an eye out for the next few days. We do know the prices, though: $20 Cdn in advance and $25 at the door. Also, word is that announcements for Hamilton and Ottawa are close.

November 6, 2005 - Typically, information is dribbling in about the tour. While Moe had said it looked like western Canada dates were unlikely, Edmonton and Winnipeg have resurfaced as possibilities (there are rumblings of a possible December 13 date in the 'peg). So far, Moe finds most likely a Toronto date at Lee's Palace, with others in the east (though how far east, we still don't know).

- A bit more certain is the lineup of writers for the liner notes. Though prospects were dim, it looks like Todd Rundgren has indeed contributed to the liner notes, along with (as previously noted) Downward Road producer Ed Stasium and British music journalist Phil Wilding. Everyone is the band has contributed as well.

October 30, 2005 - And now that the album is all ready to go, Moe has gone back to his usual gig of producing cool bands. He's in the studio with Tacoma Redd, who are opening a big Halloween show for Robin Black tomorrow at the Horseshoe in Toronto.

October 23, 2005 - With a month to go, the tracklist has been confirmed for When We Ruled: I'm An Adult Now (Love Junk version), When Doves Cry (new), Hey Mary Ann (new), She's So Young, Killed By Love, Hard To Laugh, Two Girls In One, New Language, Ten Fingers, Consciousness Raising as a Social Tool, Down On Him, Beautiful White, Let My People Go (b-side of She's So Young, also on Sex & Food), Take You With Me (from Love Junk sessions, also on Sex & Food), Cigarette Dangles, Pressing Lips, Kalendar, Young and In Love, Gretzky Rocks, She's The Devil, I'm An Adult Now (indie version). Thanks, Moe!

October 5, 2005 - In her "Lowdown" column this week on Canoe.ca, Karen Bliss has the complete...well, lowdown on the upcoming best-of album, which will be titled When We Ruled -- the Best of The Pursuit of Happiness. Among the new revelations:

• It's coming out on EMI Music Canada (While the article confirms the release date as November 22nd, the album's listing on the EMI website at last glance listed a week earlier.)
• The original song (which we know was recorded just two weeks ago) is called "Hey Mary Anne," which was one of five songs Moe wrote after coming back from the annual road trip with Laura
• (updated Oct. 7) The cover song, "When Doves Cry," will be released as a single to radio as early as next week (this conflicts with Bliss' report; Moe and the management gave us the correction - thanks!)
• While "Let My People Go" and "Take You With Me" will also be on this one as they were with Sex & Food, there will be more previously available tracks here because they were able to acquire the rights to more original songs (one thing that helped was the fact EMI bought Chrysalis, the label of Love Junk and One-Sided Story)
• Despite Moe saying "don't count on" a national tour a few weeks ago, their booking agency is trying to put one together.

There's even a great story from Jeff Rogers about first getting to be their manager waaaay back in tha' day, and a strange coincidence that had he and Moe crossing paths recently. An excellent article with everything you could possibly want to know thus far, and it's all here.

October 2, 2005 - Your humble webmaster has wandered into the new and wonderous world of podcasting - actually, I'd started before the whole Zaldor thing was going on - but since the podcast isn't directly related to the site, I hadn't mentioned it. So why now? Because of the most recent episode: a Monteforte podcast! It only gives a taste of going to the Horseshoe, hanging out and experiencing that MF magic, but it is a pretty sweet taste. You get "Escape (the Piña Colada Song)," "Somebody's Baby," "You Give Love a Bad Name," "Total Eclipse of the Heart" and "I Want Your Sex." There's also a hilarious conversation in the ladies' restroom. Check it out here. And we'll let you know when we can give you more of the show.

September 18, 2005 - Of course, it was enough of an event for the sickeningly brilliant Monteforte to finally return to the Legendary Horseshoe Tavern Friday night. Eclipsing all the stars in town for the film festival (Brad From Halifax gracefully acknowledged Adrian Zmed and warned fellow patrons to leave Dustin "Screech" Diamond alone to enjoy the music), the foursome were typically stylish in their black suits and ties - Roxy with her black blazer and kicky capris - and entertained the people far more than any Atom Egoyan-directed threesome ever could. The new lights in the setlist galaxy were Peter Frampton's "Show Me the Way" (complete with "wa-wa-wa-wa-wahs") and "I'll Be There For You," surpassing the municipal legal limit of Bon Jovi songs to the possibly unhealthy number of three.

Again, this was enough of an event. But unfortunately, there was some distraction in the form of some whispers regarding the confirmation of an upcoming new best-of album for The Pursuit of Happiness. Why they would be vying for attention on Monteforte's night, we have no idea, but whatever. Here's what we've learned.

• This week, the "most recent" lineup of TPOH (Moe, Dave, Kris, Brad and Renée) will hit a couple studios to record two new songs: an original and a cover of Prince's "When Doves Cry" (which they'd played as an encore back in the day).
• The release date is November 22nd, so far in Canada only, because if you'll recall, the point was to have a best-of with a domestic release.
• The liner notes could well require a spine, since all of the members have written something and other contributors include music journalists Phil Wilding (who has written a few pieces about the band, including this one) and Steve Simels (who wrote reviews of the first two albums for the prestigious Stereo Review, found in the Album Reviews section) and The Downward Road producer Ed Stasium.
• Regarding a tour, Moe says "don't count on it." It does seem likely that there'll be at least one show in Toronto, but when you consider members with day jobs and expanding families (not to mention the possibility of winter weather by that time), the prospect of more shows in many towns is more than a little iffy.

Of course, we'll have plenty more updates on this as they come in...

September 4, 2005 - Jeez, with all the fun announcements lately, we forgot to mention what's usually the funnest announcement we make: a Monteforte show! Get flashbacks of frosh weeks past as the Monts come out of yet another of their long self-imposed exiles to lay waste to the Legendary Horseshoe Tavern on September 16th. Not only that, Gash is opening, so come early and come often.

Oh, and though this is completely off-topic, if you haven't read the Rabbit Blog, do yourself and others a favour and check this out.

August 23, 2005 - And so now to the world of podcasting. Over the weekend, Moe did an extensive interview (as of press time, we haven't heard it yet) with big fan Les of the Detroit-based podcast Zaldor's World, and it's now up on the podcast's site. So download it from there, copy and paste this URL into a fine podcatcher like iPodder to subscribe, or search the title in the podcast section on iTunes version 4.9 and above.

August 21, 2005 - We haven't many details or even an iron-clad confirmation, but we can say that it looks like a new TPOH best-of album will likely be released by a major label in Canada before the end of the year! Moe has always been a little dissatisfied that their only best-of (Sex & Food) was only available in Canada as an import, so when he signed with super-manager (and Canadian Idol judge) Jake Gold recently, the subject came up. Talks started happening, hoops got jumped through, and we find ourselves with a deal almost done...along with plans for a DVD and even - get ready for it - A TOUR. If you wonder just how close things are to being done, Moe has been working on writing at least one new Pursuit song for the project. Other strong possibilities for the tracklist include the original indie "I'm An Adult Now" (never before available on CD except as a bootleg) and a new cover of a song they used to perform live. So watch this space for much more news to come.

August 14, 2005 - We are proud and honoured to announce that our favourite rock chick, Kris Abbott, got married in Cobourg, Ontario a week ago yesterday. While joining the band the Strap-Ons was a great chance for her to finally get back onstage slinging an axe and to write songs with some wonderful people, she also found love with bassist Dee McNeil, who we can now confirm is fabulous lady. While the wedding was a small but beautiful event with just family in Cobourg, the brides celebrated big-time with friends (and bandmates of course) at a reception in Toronto yesterday. And the timing couldn't have been better, with a federal same-sex marriage bill passed in Ottawa just weeks ago, which catches the country up with Ontario. So congratulations to Kris and Dee for finding each other and getting this far, and all the best for the future.

August 1, 2005 - Now the Bergs are back from their annual Deep South road trip (dodging Hurricane Dennis along the way), Moe is preparing to go into the studio with Andy Bopp of the highly-regarded Baltimore band Myracle Brah. While their influences are very similar, Moe admits to being "very excited and nervous" because for once he's not shepherding a young band, and Andy "is actually signed to a label." :-) More on this project as it develops - and we have a feeling there may be more Updates action beyond that in the weeks to come...

June 19, 2005 - Just a note for anyone planning to make the pilgrimage to The Tap, where Moe cranks out the "Guilty Pleasures" every Saturday night in the heart of the Annex section of Toronto. Moe and the glowingly pregnant Laura are about to start their annual road trip, travelling the highways and byways of the USA and ready to gain another 15 pounds gorging on fine southern food. This means you'll not find the man spinning for the next month or so. However, you will find Mr. Dave Gilby moving from his usual Wednesday night new wave slot to drop the rock on y'all.

- Oh, and by the way, the wicked Irish band Large Mound, who get junior Pursuit Pal status for having a song about Moe and linking to us on their excellent double-barrelled site, are in Ontario for a few shows: Wednesday the 22nd at Sneaky Dee's in Toronto, Friday at Van Gogh's Ear in Guelph (which was The New Halifax before Montreal) and back in Toronto Saturday at the Mod Club. So check them out, dig that song and show some love.

May 29, 2005 - The first thing most of us ever heard Moe Berg say was the first couple lines of "I'm An Adult Now": "I don't hate my parents / I don't get drunk just to spite 'em / I got my own reasons to drink now / I think I'll call my dad up and invite him". Sometime this November, Moe will finally have someone to call him. Congratulations to Moe and his fabulous wife Laura on the upcoming birth of their first baby! Both Mom and Dad are thrilled...though Mom is perpetually nauseous as well. So next time you see him at The Tap, shake his hand, maybe buy him a drink, and if you're a parent yourself, please offer any tips you may have for easing morning sickness. :-)

March 27, 2005 - Except for perhaps the odd show, it's been an awfully long time since we've heard any recent version of Kris Abbott's axe-slinging, and despite a couple projects-in-the-making over the years, we've never heard her work as a songwriter. Now you can hear it all--or at least some. Kris is staying with the band she sat in with last year, Jealous Pet, who seem to be going back to their old name of The Strap-Ons; and as the all-female five-piece goes fishing for gigs at festivals and clubs, they've put up a minisite complete with bio, email contact and...mp3 demos! The second track, "Mad Song," is an unfinished song of Kris', while the third one, "The Backseat," is a song she wrote with lead singer Wanda Schneller. So catch up with Kris and her new friends here!

March 20, 2005 - For the first time in quite a while, Moe is taking part in the songwriter funfest Bluebird North, which as always benefits the hard-working, hard-loving boys and girls in the Songwriters Association of Canada. Also sitting on the stools will be Tariq, new next-big-thing Liam Titcomb, Alister Bradley, Eddie G. and the legendary Bob Snider; with your hostess with the mostess, Pursuit Pal Arlene Bishop. At past Bluebird Norths, Moe's pulled out stuff no one's ever heard before. What could he do this time? Probably even he doesn't know yet. So find out at the Rivoli in Toronto March 29th at the special early time of 8pm. Admission is $12, and $10 if you're an SAC member. (Thanks for the tip, Desmond!)

March 8, 2005 - Moe has just sent word there'll be double the DJ fun at The Tap this weekend. He'll be spinning Friday as well as the usual Guilty Pleasures Saturday. Says the man himself, "Friday, the plan is more of a soft rock vibe and Saturday more hard rock." So if you're in the mood for the Smile-era Brian Wilson chillout he drops at last call, come on in for the bonus night. And of course, there's always Dave Gilby's Wave Wednesdays. The DJing usually starts somewhere between 10:30 and 11pm. If you didn't already know how to find Pursuit Pal Central, The Tap is on Bloor at Barton, just east of Bathurst in Toronto.

March 7, 2005 - More fun with lists, and this one still wants the Pursuits as a member. To celebrate their 15th anniversary (damn, we're old...), Chart magazine's current issue has the third edition of the Top 50 Canadian Albums and Songs of All Time. Through an exhaustive survey of more than 400 members of the Canadian music industry/press, "I'm An Adult Now" clocked in at #34 on the song list. In the first survey in 1996, it was #4, dropping to #6 in 2000. While this may seem a big fall, consider the sad fact that the #1 song of all-time from 1996, the Demics' "New York City," is now missing in action. Through all the changes in Canadian music, Adult is one of 18 songs that have been on all three polls. Not bad. For the record, the Top 2 are the same as five years ago, with Sloan's "Underwhelmed" at #2 and "American Woman" by the Guess Who at Numero Uno. The top début was "Left and Leaving" by the Weakerthans at #19. On the album side (Love Junk appeared at #32 in '96, then fell off), Sloan's Twice Removed regained its '96 top spot after losing it to Joni Mitchell's Blue last time. Top début is You Forgot It in People by Broken Social Scene at #4.

Past Updates: 9/04-2/05 / 12/03-8/04 / 5-11/03 / 9/02-4/03 / 6-8/02 / 2-5/02 / 9/01-1/02
4-8/01 / 1-3/01 / 8-12/00 / 4-7/00 / 12/99 - 03/00