"Too Bad" is a song by the Canadian band Doug and the Slugs that was written by the group's lead vocalist, Doug Bennett.[1] It reached No. 20 on Canada's RPM singles chart on July 26, 1980.[2] The single performed higher on some local charts,[3] including No. 2 on Vancouver's CFUN listing,[4] and No. 1 on Regina's CJME chart.[5] Slugs member John Burton has explained this difference between the national and local charts as being because the national chart was sales-based, while local charts were partly determined by radio requests.[6]
| "Too Bad" | |
|---|---|
| Single by Doug and the Slugs | |
| from the album Cognac and Bologna | |
| B-side | "The Move" |
| Released | December 1979 |
| Songwriter(s) | Doug Bennett |
Burton has recalled an early moment of realization for the band of the single's success: One day during the song's chart run, three members were at an ice cream parlour when the song came on the shop's radio. Two teenage girls working at the parlour "went bananas" shouting "OH MY GOD! OH MY GOD! I LOVE THIS SONG!" and were "almost trampling each other over" to reach the radio and turn up the volume.[7]
The song won the award for the best independent single of 1980 at the West Coast Music Awards,[8] a precursor to the Western Canadian Music Awards,[9] as well as being nominated for Single of the Year and Composer of the Year (Doug Bennett) for the country-wide Juno Awards.[10] It was voted among the best singles in The Province's readers poll for 1980,[11] and the best local single in the Vancouver Sun's readers' poll for the same year;[12] Vancouver Sun critic Fiona McQuarrie likewise named it one of the best local singles of the first half of the year, writing that "Even after hearing it a thousand times on the radio, you still don't hate it—the test of a great song."[13] "Too Bad" was included on The Georgia Straight's 2017 list of the best 50 songs to come out of Vancouver.[14]
The song was released on Doug and the Slugs' 1980 album Cognac and Bologna (1980),[15] as well as their greatest hits albums Ten Big Ones (1984) and Slugcology 101 (1996).[16][17] It also appeared on the multi-artist compilations Hitline (1980, K-Tel Records) and Oh What a Feeling: A Vital Collection of Canadian Music Vol. 2 (2001).[18][19] "Too Bad" was used as the theme song to The Norm Show, which ran from 1999 to 2001.[1]
Footnotes
edit- ^ a b Too Bad: Review (Mason)
- ^ Top Singles - Volume 33, No. 19 - Aug 02, 1980
- ^ Burton 2023, p. 64
- ^ 140 CFUN Weekly Survey—Week of May 10, 1980, p. B4
- ^ Regina's favourite CJME Radio: Hits—Chart No. 810—April 25, 1980, p. 44
- ^ Burton 2023, p. 65
- ^ Burton 2023, pp. 65–66
- ^ McQuarrie 1981, p. C6
- ^ Canadian Music Awards
- ^ Juno Nominees (The Brandon Sun), p. 13
- ^ Harrison 1981, p. 11
- ^ Rock poll: Joel and Benetar top the vote, p. L8
- ^ McQuarrie 1980, p. 5L
- ^ Lucas 2017
- ^ Cognac and Bologna: Review (Mason)
- ^ Ten Big Ones: Review (Kennedy)
- ^ Slugcology 101: Review (Kennedy)
- ^ Hitline
- ^ Oh What a Feeling, Vol. 2: A Vital Collection of Canadian Music—Various Artists
References
edit- Burton, John (2023). Doug and the Slugs: 50,000 Slug Fans Can't Be Wrong. FriesenPress. ISBN 9781039190993.
- "140 CFUN Weekly Survey—Week of May 10, 1980". The Province. May 11, 1980. Retrieved July 14, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.(subscription required)
- "Canadian Music Awards". Canadian Independent Music Association. Archived from the original on February 29, 2024. Retrieved June 4, 2024.
* Harrison, Tom (January 18, 1981). "A taste of imminent pop music awards: Readers pick their favourites for 1980". The Province. Retrieved July 7, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.(subscription required)
- "Hitline" (in Dutch). Dutch Charts. Archived from the original on March 10, 2023. Retrieved June 13, 2024.
- "Juno Nominees". The Brandon Sun. January 9, 1981. Retrieved June 20, 2024 – via NewspaperArchive.com.(subscription required)
- Kennedy, Rudyard. "Slugcology 101: Review". AllMusic. Archived from the original on June 11, 2024. Retrieved June 12, 2024.
- Kennedy, Rudyard. "Ten Big Ones: Review". AllMusic. Archived from the original on December 1, 2021. Retrieved June 12, 2024.
- Lucas, John; Adrian Mack; Mike Usinger; Alexander Varty; Kate Wilson (September 20, 2017). "The Straight's highly subjective list of the 50 best-ever songs to spring from Vancouver". The Georgia Straight. Archived from the original on June 28, 2023. Retrieved June 4, 2024.
{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) - Mason, Stewart. "Cognac and Bologna: Review". AllMusic. Archived from the original on December 8, 2021. Retrieved June 12, 2024.
- Mason, Stewart. "Too Bad: Review". AllMusic. Archived from the original on June 7, 2024. Retrieved June 12, 2024.
- McQuarrie, Fiona (August 1, 1980). "Winners: You don't need a full year to tell which way the music is going". Vancouver Sun. Retrieved July 7, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.(subscription required)
- McQuarrie, Fiona (January 26, 1981). "West Coast Music Awards: Loverboy takes five". Vancouver Sun. Retrieved June 4, 2024.
- "Oh What a Feeling, Vol. 2: A Vital Collection of Canadian Music—Various Artists". AllMusic. Archived from the original on October 9, 2022. Retrieved June 12, 2024.
- "Regina's favourite CJME Radio: Hits—Chart No. 810—April 25, 1980". The Leader-Post. April 25, 1980. Retrieved July 15, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.(subscription required)
- "Rock poll: Joel and Benetar top the vote". Vancouver Sun. January 2, 1981. Retrieved June 22, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.(subscription required)
- "Top Singles - Volume 33, No. 19 - Aug 02, 1980" (Although the chart for July 26, 1980 is not available on the website, this chart of August 2, 1980 shows that the previous week's position of "Too Bad" was No. 20.). Library and Archives Canada. Archived from the original on April 2, 2024. Retrieved June 4, 2024.