Fully Completely Turns 25

On October 6, 1992 the Tragically Hip released their third studio album, Fully Completely. The album was a game changer for the band’s career, solidifying themselves as an influential piece in Canadian culture. As the album turns 25, celebrate with these ten facts.

But first, enjoy the album in full here:

1. Meaningful cover art. The band approached Dutch artist Lieve Prins to create an original piece for the album. They gave Prins the idea of a “bacchanalian sort of scene – lots of decadence, decay and rebirth” and left her to work. She was inspired by I Ching, an ancient Chinese divination using numbers and symbols. The final piece consisted of over 30 segmented imaged pasted together using a photocopier. At the time of the release, Prins still retained ownership of the piece but granted the band licensing privelges. Following the release, the band purchased the original piece and hung it in their Kingston, Ontario studio where it still hangs today.

2. Looking for a place to happen. The band had worked with the same producer for their last two albums, Up To Here and Road Apples, but as guitarist Rob Baker pointed out, collaborating with the same producer on multiple projects “becomes troublesome because little politics and intrigues enter into things”. So for Fully Completely, they worked alongside British producer Chris Tsangarides. The Hip’s label brought on Tsangarides in the hopes that his style would “generate an American-friendly sound”. In the spring of 1992, the band moved into Battery Studios in London, England to start recording.

3. Lyrical change. During the recording process, Gord Downie announced that he would no longer sing lyrics written by other members of the band. Their sound changed drastically. They left behind the blue-sy twang they had been known for and adopted a more intricate approach to song writing. The band described the making of the album as being “about us wanting to learn”.

4. Canadian to the core. The album just oozes Canada. The album’s lyrics are heavily centered around the country’s culture, icons and history. Writer Rob Mitchell described the album as “a trippy Canadiana dream/nightmare – like The Odessy [sic] directed by Atom Egoyan”. Six of the fourteen songs make reference to significant people and events in Canadian country:

• “Courage (For Hugh MacLennan)” makes reference to Canadian author Hugh MacLennan and was inspired by his novel “The Watch That Ends the Night”.
• “Looking for a Place to Happen“, deals with the subject of European encroachment and the eventual take over of Indigenous land, making specific reference to Jacques Cartier.
• “At the Hundredth Median” references the line of longitude separating Western Canada from the Central and Atlantic regions.
• “Locked in the Trunk of a Car” was inspired by the 1970 kidnapping of Quebec Cabinet Minister Pierre LaPorte during the FLQ crisis.
• “Fifty Mission Cap” tells the life, career and death of Toronto Maple Leafs player Bill Barilko while referencing fifty mission caps – hats provided to elite bomber pilots of the allied forces during WWII.

5. Late breaking story on the CBC. “Wheat Kings” has become one of the Hip’s most fundamental songs. It tells the true story of David Milgaard, a seventeen year old from Winnipeg who was wrongfully imprisoned for the rape and murder of nursing assistant Gail Miller. He was released after 23 years in prison and later exonerated. The song was rated as the Hip’s best song of all time by CBC listeners in 2016.

6. High expectations for the US. The Hip and their team worked relentlessly to create an album that would appeal to American listeners. Gord Sinclair said that the band was “still holding out for the equivalent American success”. That wish for success never came to be – their label stopped the American promotions for the album after just two weeks. Meanwhile in Canada, the album has sold over 1 million copies, has become certified Diamond and is an essential record for listeners across the country.

7. Made it to Japan! Fully Completely is the only Hip record to be released in Japan. However, they’ve never played a show there.

8.  Not your regular tour. Instead of touring, the band created and headlined Another Roadside Attraction, a travelling music festival that took place across Canada in 1993, 1995 and 1997. The Hip headlined each year, with supporting help from bands like Midnight Oil, Crash Vegas, Hothouse Flowers and more. The band originally wanted to call the festival Heksenketel, which is Dutch for “witches’ cauldron”, but the name was already taken by another festival. The name “Another Roadside Attraction” was taken from the Tom Robbins novel of the same name. While on that tour, the band tested out songs from the upcoming Day for Night. “Nautical Disaster” was often played during “New Orleans is Sinking”.

Enjoy their entire set at the final year of Another Roadside Attraction in 1997.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h8SfNB4MyG4

9. Last of the unplucked gems. In 2014, the band released a remastered deluxe version of Fully Completely for its 22nd anniversary. The release included a previously unreleased track, an unplucked gem if you will, called “Radio Show”. The band toured the re-released album throughout 2014 and 2015, with a stop at Rexall Place in February 2014.

10. Back to where it all began. Not only did the re-release come with a new song, it also came with a an entire second disc featuring a recording of a Hip show from 1992. It’s from a show at the Horseshow Tavern in Toronto, the bar where they were first discovered and offered a record deal in 1986. Watch that entire show below:

Join Brandy Taylor and some of your favourite artists in SONiC’s special “Fully Completely Turns 25” all weekend long:

Friday, October 6th – 10AM, 5PM & 11PM

Saturday, October 7th – 12PM, 7PM

Sunday, October 8th – 10AM

Get more info on the special HERE.