Saturday, August 28, 2010

Artist: Glen Stace, Album: Buddha Hotel, Song: Runaround

"It's a runaround world that you're livin' in little girl.  Ya, you know.  In a runaround world ain't no givin' in little girl.  There you go."  This is a true lost Canadian classic.  Glen Stace was from the West and released the album, Buddha Hotel, in 1991.  His label at the time was Bumstead Records and he self produced the album.  I grew up in the Toronto area and remember hearing it on the radio from time to time but never knew who the artist was.  I hummed this chorus for a great many years.  It was my ear worm (a song that sticks in your head).  A friend I met while living in Calgary many years later informed me that the artist was indeed, Glen Stace.  This is Americana before they coined the term or created the genre.  Country, roots rock at it's best by a musician who seems to have gone underground.  There isn't much I know about him.  There are some sites that mention his name as a credit to his musicianship or production skills yet he has no official web page that I am aware of.  Bumstead Records is still in business.  One of the guest vocalists on this album was Billy Cowsill of the Blue Shadows which is another cool Canadian band that is still affiliated with the label.  Glen Stace appears to have at least one other album that was released after this called Road to Damascus.  Copies of that album are trading for $140!  At the time of this blog, there were copies of Buddha Hotel on Ebay and Amazon trading between $9 and $100.  You can watch the video for the song on You Tube (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bunFHCHMXlc).  Thanks for reading and enjoy!