Artist: Hugh Dillon And Swamp Baby, Album: Hard Core Logo Soundtrack, Song: China White (Ten Buck F**k)

Hard Core Logo was a movie about a fictional punk band and their attempt to reunite and tour Canada one last time.  It was based on a novel by Michael Turner and was directed by Canadian filmmaker, Bruce McDonald.  Bruce had already begun making a name for himself on the indie film circuit with some earlier works like Highway 61 and Dance Me Outside.  He is also a strong supporter and fan of Canadian music and as a result, a number of his films have excellent soundtracks.  Hard Core Logo captured that aspect on a completely different level though.  A lot of it had to do with the actor playing the lead singer in the band which was Hugh Dillon.  Hugh was already well known to Canadians as the front man for the Headstones, a platinum selling band in their own right.  He was edgy, gritty and punk rock to the core.  A perfect fit for the leading role.  He not only acted in the film but recorded most of the songs on the soundtrack as well.  His backing musicians were a punk band called, Swamp Baby, from Ontario.  The song, China White (Ten Buck F**k), was written by the soundtrack's producer Peter J. Moore and Swamp Baby vocalist, Steven Cowal.  Steven relegated himself to backup singer for this recording.  You can hear the song on You Tube (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8QmJkwJahjk).  Hugh Dillon has moved more permanently into acting these days but recently released a solo album.  You can follow him at http://www.hughdillon.com/.  Bruce McDonald has been very busy as well.  He continues to make movies with musical themes.  He recently produced a movie about the Broken Social Scene as well as a Hard Core Logo sequel involving Die Mannequin and lastly, Trigger, a movie about two female friends who start a band.  I don't think you could call Hard Core Logo a box office smash but for an independent film it had quite an impact at home and abroad.  Quentin Tarantino bought the U.S. distribution rights for the movie and it is often cited as one of the top five Canadian movies of all time.  The movie also spawned a tribute disc that was released around the same time and featured bands like 54-40, The Odds and The Pursuit Of Happiness.  Sadly though, both the soundtrack and the tribute disc are difficult to acquire today.  At the time of this blog, there were copies trading on Amazon between $15 and $175.  Thanks for reading and enjoy!