Genre Parody Country Canada Syndicates None Initial release 2006 Language English | Running time 112 minutes Home station CHEC TV adaptations None Director Nilesh Patel | |
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Similar Hitler's Children, Continuous Journey, Hairspray, Guess Who's Coming t, The Bank Job | ||
Brocket 99 rockin the country relevancy today
Brocket 99 is the name of an underground comedy audio tape that parodies aboriginal people in Canada and the name of two documentary films about the tape (one produced in 2005, and the other in production).
Contents
Brocket 99 rcmps always chasing me
1986 tape
The parody played on numerous aboriginal stereotypes and has been characterized as racist. The tape included names of real people, stores and towns and is an "international underground phenomenon".
The tape was created in 1986 by radio DJs in Lethbridge, Alberta, purportedly inspired by a clip of a parody of gay men running a radio station called "AIDS Radio". The "Brocket 99" tape was never made to be marketed and was meant as a parody.
Brocket 99 Part 2 was recorded in 1986 but was released in 1989.
The premise of the tape was a fictitious radio station broadcasting from Brocket, Alberta, on the Northern Peigan reserve (a real reservation 70 km west of Lethbridge), hosted by a character named "Ernie Scar". It stereotypes natives as drunken bums, welfare recipients and drug addicts and uses pejorative terms to describe native men as "bucks" and native women as "squaws". Songs played on the tape included complete versions of multiple hits by artists such as AC/DC and Dwight Yoakam, often in a row. Between the songs and the DJ segments are fake ads for real products such as Dr. Scholl's foot powder and Lysol spray.
The tape was created by Tim Hitchner, who worked as a radio DJ at CHEC, CKTA, and CKIZ-FM from 1985 to 1992.
On February 6, 1989, the Court of Appeal of Alberta The crown submitted an appeal for the earlier acquittal of Hitchner by the honorable Mr. Justice Waite of the Court of Queen's Bench of Alberta the 5th Day of April, 1988.
On October 26, 1989, the Lethbridge Herald reported that Hitchner was sentenced to 15 months in jail after being found guilty of dangerous driving causing death.
On October 14, 1995, the Herald first reported that the creator of Brocket 99 was Hitchner, the play's technical director.
On February 12, 2011, a fan site reported the then anonymous actor who played Ernie Scar had died at age 49, of a heart attack due to clogged arteries. CKIZ's list of past employees on its website currently identifies Hitchner as the voice of Ernie Scar.
On February 14, 2011, McInnis & Holloway Funeral Homes posted the obituary of Hitchner, who died February 12, 2011.
On April 28, 2012, the Lethbridge Herald reported the founder of Brocket 99 was Hitchner, who died February 2011.
In 2005, filmmaker Nilesh Patel produced and directed a documentary called Brocket 99 — Rockin' the Country, which examined the ongoing popularity of the tape. Prior to the release of the documentary, Global TV interviewed Nilesh Patel in 2004 regarding the documentary and its purpose. In this interview, Nilesh Patel discussed the creation of the documentary and accused Mark Campbell of being the creator of Brocket 99. This was subsequently confirmed to be false due to the revelation of Tim Hitchner as the creator of Brocket 99 in 2011.