Pop Goes the World

History

According to the press release for the album, bandleader Ivan Doroschuk was influenced by the work of black lesbian feminist poet Audrey Lorde, having attended a lecture of hers in New York in 1985. According to an interview with MuchMusic in 1987, Doroschuk had been a staunch Quebec nationalist prior to attending Lorde's lecture.

Track listing

All songs written by Ivan Doroschuk and Stefan Doroschuk.

1. "Intro" (1:49)
2. "Pop Goes the World" (3:43)
3. "On Tuesday" (4:08)
4. "Bright Side of the Sun" (0:42)
5. "O Sole Mio" (3:57)
6. "Lose My Way" (3:10)
7. "The Real World" (4:24)
8. "Moonbeam" (3:37)
9. "In the Name of Angels" (3:49)
10. "La Valse d'Eugénie" (1:28)
11. "Jenny Wore Black" (2:57)
12. "Intro/Walk on Water" (5:43)
13. "The End (Of the World)" (3:23)

Personnel

The album artwork, however, lists the following:

Johnny, Jenny, J. Bonhomme and the baby were actually characters from the opening song "Pop Goes The World"—the album graphics were designed to reference their roles in the song, which opens with the line "Johnny played gee-tar, Jenny played bass." The album follows a loose conceptual thread, and Johnny and Jenny go on to appear as characters in numerous other songs on the disc, being mentioned by name in "Jenny Wore Black" and "The End (Of The World)". The role of "Johnny" on the album cover (and in videos) was played by Stefan Doroschuk, the band's actual guitarist. The actress who played Jenny is unknown. Bonhomme is also referenced in the song "Pop Goes The World" (as "a big bonhomme"). A Bonhomme de neige is a snowman; a character known as "Bonhomme" (a man in a stylized snowman costume with a top hat) is a common mascot at Quebec winter carnivals. The album cover shows the character Bonhomme as the band's drummer. The initial J. would seem to be a multi-lingual pun, referencing both the French phrase "Joyeux bonhomme", as well as the English rock drummer John Bonham.

The only credited musician aside from the Doroschuks and Pinkas is Ian Anderson of the rock group Jethro Tull. Anderson plays flute on track 3, "On Tuesday".

The Pop Goes the World touring band between 1987 and 1988 consisted of:

Other songs

Early in recording sessions, a song called "The Same Halo" was recorded by the band for the album but was ultimately replaced by "Lose My Way" on the album. "Jenny Wore Black" was first performed live in 1985 during the "Freeways" tour. Another song left over from these sessions was "A Funny Place (The World Is)", which was given to Mitsou who recorded and released it in 1991. A French-language demo called "Pyjamarama" was recorded the following year. A song called "Everybody Wants to Know" was written in 1985 and considered for the album, but was replaced by "Jenny Wore Black" and would surface four years later on Sideways.

Singles

Along with the title track, two other singles from this album were released, but neither got much notice. These singles were "Moonbeam", which featured a complementing music video, and "O Solo Mio" that was backed by "Lose My Way" as a promo single.

Uses

The title track was used by Tide in TV advertisements for their "Pods" in 2012.