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The Tragically Hip Top Forty Countdown: Song Thirty-One – Tracey from Los AngelesHey, it’s jD, and this week I’m joined by a bonafide convert — Tracey from L.A., a former “never-heard-of-’em” rocker whose pandemic-era dive into Long Time Running sent her on a full-blown Tragically Hip tear. And listen, when someone compares Man Machine Poem to a spiritual awakening? You lean in.We talk about the bittersweet reality of falling in love with a band you’ll never get to see live. About hearing New Orleans Is Sinking at a stoplight and locking eyes with a stranger who just gets it. About putting In Between Evolution on at a vintage guitar shop in Silver Lake and watching Canadian expats break into tears.Tracey might’ve entered late, but she’s gone deep. We talk Bob Rock beef, the overlooked genius of Now For Plan A, and the beautiful heartbreak of Introduce Yerself. There’s perspective here that’s not just fresh — it’s vital. Tracey reminds us that fandom isn’t about when you found The Hip. It’s about how the songs found you.🎙️ Next week: We hop across the pond for a transatlantic sit-down with Matt from Portsmouth — whose Hip journey involves LimeWire, mini-discs, and a surprise backstage interview with Gord Downie himself. I shit you not.💬 Pull Quote“I heard New Orleans Is Sinking through someone’s car stereo at a red light and sprinted across the intersection just to say ‘Yes!’ That’s how bad I needed to share it.”👤 About Our GuestTracey from Los Angeles is a writer, musician, and former guitar tech with a passport full of shows but one glaring omission: The Hip. Since lockdown, she’s made it her mission to catch up — ripping through live bootlegs, deep dives, and vinyl sleeves like a one-woman Hip renaissance. You’ll find her in Silver Lake, spinning Now For Plan A, converting skeptics one guitar riff at a time.📬 Get Involved🎙️ Drop your voice at: castfeedback.com/tthtop40📧 Email your Hipstory: tthtop40@gmail.com💸 Join the membersHIP & support ALS Canada: buymeacoffee.com/tthtop40📡 Follow + StreamSpotify | Apple | YouTube | dewvre.com/tthtop40Instagram: @tthtop40Facebook Group: facebook.com/groups/tthtop40🧠 Support the CauseWe’re raising $25K for ALS Canada in honour of our friend Matt Rona — and every stream, share, and coffee helps. This countdown’s got heart, and we’d love yours in the mix.🎧 Transcript follows below.TTHTop40 6102025-05-23, 6:04 PMTTHTop40 610Transcript[0:00] On Friday, May 26th, Podlist 6 is coming to you from the Tragically Hip Top 40 Countdown.Hey, it's JD here, and I am fucking pumped to be filling you in on the latest Podlist. What is aPodlist, you ask? It's a podcast playlist. In this case, it's a playlist full of Tragically Hip cover songsby our talented listeners. Here's the deal this year. You can only choose a song that ranked from169 to 41. To be included in Podlist 6, you'll need to submit your WAV files either by WeTransfer orby emailing JD at tthtop40 at gmail.com with Podlist in the subject line. Are you ready to shoot yourshot and become podcast famous? What are you waiting for then?[0:58] A member of the DATC Media family. Previously on the Tragically Hip Top 40 Countdown. Thefinal song on the Phantom Power long play is Emperor Penguin, coming in at number 32. Mr.Workman, what did you think of this track the first time you heard it? Well, I mean, I was just, Imean, I get chills even thinking about it. I'm warmed by how playful how kooky and howimpressionist the lyrics are i'm just i i love so much about even even gourd sort of like his glibdismissal of the of the we've got a uh a caller here with a bachelor degree talking alien invasion isthe only chance for unity i'm sorry to interrupt you caller but that's a physical impossibility the wayhe he kind of he he it's a clip of of life that you we would hear if we were driving late at night andhearing the am radio you know art bells absolutely.[2:07] Hey, it's JD here, and welcome to the Tragically Hip Top 40 Countdown. It's an absolute thrillto be here with you week over week, where we're going to count down the 40 essential tracks bythe hip that you selected with your very own top 20 ballots. I then tabulated the results using anabacus and Wilford Brimley's broken down pancreas. How will your favorite song fare in therankings? You'll need to tune in every week to find out. So there's that. This week, I'm joined bytragically hip superfan, Tracy from Los Angeles. How the hell are you doing on this hiptastic day,Tracy from LA? I'm doing great. The heat has broken a bit here, and it's beautiful out. Oh, that'swonderful. It's actually here in Toronto. What are we, the 27th? 24. 24th of October. And it's 20, 20degrees out right now here, like Celsius, Celsius. So like 75. Oh, okay. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. So got togo out for a walk and get it while I can.[3:18] Well, let's get right into this. Let's get right into your TTH origin story or your hipstery. Well, it'sfile:///Users/jd/Desktop/TTHTop40%20-%20610.htmlPage 1 of 9TTHTop40 6102025-05-23, 6:04 PMa little late in the game. I was at before lockdown, I was finally able to see my favorite at the timeband in the world broken social scene. They were coming to Hollywood. And.[3:42] It was a great concert. It was a smallish theater, and it was just, you know, Kevin Drew wasphenomenal. Yeah. And he started talking about someone he loved who passed away, and a weekor two before, I don't know, and I kind of heard the name, and he was so empathic with it, and itwas touching, but I didn't put it out of my mind. And a few weeks later or a month, I don't remember,the documentary was on, Long Time Running. Right. And it was sort of getting towards lockdown.And I put it on and I thought it was like a trucker documentary. I don't know what I thought, but if it'sa documentary, I watch it. And it was good. I mean, it was interesting to see the love for this bandfrom Canada. And I was, I found it out that being such a rock and roll fanatic since I was a kid andplaying music since I was a kid, I'd never heard of them. I just never heard of them. I'm from NewYork, so I wasn't living in Omaha, but I was, you know, in LA.[4:52] So I lived down the street from the Troubadour, so I mean, I saw everybody, but who arethey? And I put it out of my mind. And then the documentary was on repeat for some reason whenyou're stuck in the house and can't go out because of the covid and it was as if every song hadbeen in my heart forever i know and it was so i never watched the full thing but the second timeevery song they played just the music and i said this band.[5:27] Is so phenomenal. And I don't know how I could have missed him. You know, I worked at arecording studio in the 80s in Manhattan, and everybody was there, and I never heard of theTragically. So I made it my mission during lockdown to learn everything I could and listen to everylive show I could find on the internet and every record. And I just think that as a band, Not justGord, but as a band, it's my biggest regret that I'll never see them all together live. I think as aband, they were just freaking amazing.[6:08] My heart just sank for you when you said that. Like, I literally could feel like emotion, youknow? It was really, you know, and then learning about Gord after the fact and this tragedy. But Ifelt it was this volume of music that I was gifted to learn and listen to for the first time at, you know,my age, finding them and with a history. And so that was fun. I mean, it still is. I still aminvestigating. This is really cool because so far of all the people I've spoke to, you are definitely thenewest hit band. So it's interesting to hear that story that even through the television, it's palpable.You know TV nothing you know I mean I know that Canadians are very proprietary with this bandand I think and I respect that and I love Canadian singer-songwriters and musicians all my life but Ithink of them as singer-songwriters and from Canada I don't think of that I don't have theconnection except for working up there and I feel like part of that is the reason they never crossedfile:///Users/jd/Desktop/TTHTop40%20-%20610.htmlPage 2 of 9TTHTop40 6102025-05-23, 6:04 PMNot that they wanted to or cared to after a while, but we never got to listen to them. Most of us inrock and roll never heard of them.[7:37] And maybe it's, you know, I feel like it's like you can't say anything about them because you'renot Canadian and there is a proprietary sense about the fans and maybe, I don't think that's right. Ithink they're universal. Yeah.[7:54] I can't, I can't disagree with you, you know, like I clearly I'm a big fan and I think they'reuniversal and I'm standing at the pulpit trying to, you know, get, get that music out there even more.And it's really interesting. I think it was Rolling Stone just released an article a couple of weeks agoabout the taillights being bright for the Tribe of the Hip. Spin, I think it was Spin. Was it Spin? Okay.Yeah. And it was really fascinating that, you know, at this point in their career, they are stillgarnering as much interest. In fact, I'm going to a theater on November the 1st, which is nextFriday, to see the guys, along with their manager, along with Mike Downey. And I think Patrick willbe there. I'm not 100% certain. But you get a copy of the book.[8:51] As part of your admission ticket. And then it's like a presentation, like a Q&A thing. And this islike a pretty prestigious theater in Toronto, the Massey Hall. You probably have heard the NeilYoung album, live from Massey Hall. Yes, Massey Hall and the Rio Statics. That's right. You knowyour Canadian music. Well, yeah. I mean, how did I miss these guys? I just don't understand. Yeah,when you're into broken social scene And you're missing, you know, Broken Social Scene andReostatics and these bands, and you're missing the Tragically Hepped from that. That ismysterious. It is mysterious. That is very mysterious. Maybe it's just, I just don't get it. I still get it.And, you know, I think it's a credit to them that they, you know, broke into my heart, so to speak,you know. Oh, I love the word. I think that's what they want to do. They're rock and roll, and that'sthat. And then of course there was Gord's solo stuff getting to know that and.[9:55] Not relating to the secret path, because we have our own issues around things like that. Butagain, it was on, and I played it the second time, and the music just jumped out at me. And it wasthe most beautiful record. And again, it's like, why aren't people listening to this here? I don't know.And Introduce Yourself, which was heartbreaking and masterful. I just think that stuff is great. TheCoke Machine Glow and blah. I'm just really a big fan now. So take me through the journey of goingthrough the records. What was your pathway? Did you start at the start, or did you cherry-pick acouple records off the top that you were hearing more about? Or what did that look like?[10:48] You know, I love live music, and uh i think the first one i listened to was road apples becausei like the title or a bit and then i realized and then i you know listen to the live music and of coursefile:///Users/jd/Desktop/TTHTop40%20-%20610.htmlPage 3 of 9TTHTop40 6102025-05-23, 6:04 PMwith the access we get now i figured that this band will be i will hear them through the years in theirlive music that's accessible and i play them non-stop in the car um great shows that uh and then iwent back and went through the records um you know day for night in violet light.[11:26] Uh in between evolution and one of my favorites that i think is underappreciated is manmachine poem agreed unfortunate release date but you know i i another one that i walked had it onand walked by and i went the song machine would have been just a killer song in concert the lastsong in the record and it just broke my heart it just was really cool you know so i think and and nowfor plan a is another one i i i listened to and look at this i think it's great uh i was listening to this outthis morning rather i just held up my copy of now for plan a for those who are not on the live pay-per-view feed i i just i think it's a terrific record and a terrific cover Yeah.[12:20] It's a lot of fun. But the subject matter is not fun. You know, the subject matter of that recordis so deeply personal and tragic almost, right? Yes, the lyrics got more personal, I think, as timewent on because you have to, you know. I think if you're a lyricist like Gord was. But I feel like I'mjust as much a fan of somebody, you know, Jack the Ladd and Kingston, who discovered them inhigh school. I really do. And sometimes I don't want to say that because I'm afraid I'll be attackedas, you know, not Canadian enough. Oh, goodness. No, I would hope that's not the case. But goingback to your theory, you know, there's something really to that, that we do cleave to this band sotightly that it can be difficult to access for other people that aren't as familiar with it. Even thoughwe're all evangelists, we're protected at the same time. I never heard them. You know, I mean...[13:30] You just never heard them. So how can you access them if they were sort of hidden, youknow, to their frustration and to people who've lost out and not hearing them? And, I mean, asmuch as Joni Mitchell's from Canada, I never listened to her as, you know, to learn about Canada.Right. But she did sing about Canada and Saskatoon, whatever. You know, and they all sing abouttheir country and the Sex Pistols sang about England, but that didn't make me think of them asEnglish, you know. Right. It was fun, that group. And so the hip, I learned a lot about history,Canadian history, because they were smart. He was smart and he taught people history, not onlyCanadian, but, you know, I learned through him, but as I do many artists through the years. So Idon't think of them as Canadian, except for all the, you know, emotion of the last tour. I just listenedto them as a rock and roll band.[14:33] Well, that's the way to do it, right? Yeah. Like, it always frustrated me to go to shows. I onlywent to one in the U.S., but it was in Buffalo, so it was a stadium show. That's kind of a bordertown. Yeah, so it wasn't like a stadium show, but the stories that I hear about club shows with thehip, usually they were like full of expats, you know, showing off their Canadian-ness. And it wasfile:///Users/jd/Desktop/TTHTop40%20-%20610.htmlPage 4 of 9TTHTop40 6102025-05-23, 6:04 PMlike, that's not, I saw them live on Canada Day one year and Gord was in a really pissy mood thatday. Oh, wow. And he came out at the beginning because they were throwing, people werethrowing bottles at Daniel Lanois. Oh my gosh. As he was performing, like Daniel fucking Lanois.[15:19] Right? And so Gord came out and was basically just venom spitting. And at one point, youknow, somebody... I don't know whether somebody started to sing O Canada or something like that,but he was like, it's not Canada Day, it's Friday. You know, I kind of, I can see his frustration, youknow. And poor Jane Sibbery on a lot of the tours, why they had her opening on some of theirtours, like Daniel Noir is sort of hard for the fans to overcome. And it's, he must have beenfrustrated because they're not nationalistic, I don't think. They were just writers. They were justmusicians and wonderful songwriters as a unit. And I think towards the end, you know, they got theother band members got a little over…
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