Is This Live? ─ Inside the Wild Early Years of Much Music: The Nation's Music Station

From former VJ Christopher Ward, comes Is This Live? a book in the tradition of Mondo Canuck and I Want My MTV, capturing the pure fun and rock 'n' roll rebellion of the early years of MuchMusic, giving readers access to a major nostalgic touchstone of their youth.


This is the story of the first 10 years of the Nation's Music Station. When MuchMusic launched in 1984, it was truly the Wild (Canadian) West of television--live, gloriously unpredictable, seat-of-the-pants TV, delivered fresh daily.
Much was the dream child of TV visionary Moses Znaimer, and John Martin, the maverick creator of The New Music. An entire generation of Canadians lived and breathed TV's new kid in town and because it was live and largely improvised, viewers and VJs both shared the experience and grew up together, embracing the new music that became the video soundtrack of our lives.
The careers of Canadian legends like Glass Tiger, Colin James, the Parachute Club, Honeymoon Suite, Blue Rodeo, Corey Hart, Jane Siberry and Platinum Blonde were launched when Much brought them closer to their fans. Much also brought us international acts, and events like the Bon Jovi BBQ and Iggfest, with Iggy Pop improvising songs in the midst of his fans on the sidewalk on Queen Street. This was also an era in which music found its conscience with events like Live Aid and the Amnesty International Human Rights Now! tour. And Much covered them all.
With stories of the bands, the VJs, the music, the videos, the style and the improvisational approach to daily broadcast life at Much, and told by the people who were there--the colourful cast of on-air VJs, the artists who found their way into the living rooms of the nation as never before, and the people behind the camera--Is This Live? delivers a full-on dose of pop culture from the 1980s and '90s, when the music scene in Canada changed forever.

CHRISTOPHER WARD has written songs for Diana Ross, Hilary Duff, Wynonna Judd, The Backstreet Boys, Tina Arena, Amanda Marshall, Roch Voisine and many others. His best-known song is the worldwide #1 hit for Alannah Myles, "Black Velvet." He received the Juno award for Songwriter of the Year in 1990.
In 1984, after a stint in the Second City Touring Company, Ward helped launch MuchMusic as Canada's first VJ. As a songwriter, Ward contributed twenty songs over four seasons to the soundtrack of the hit CTV series Instant Star, as well as writing songs for both Degrassi feature films, the new Degrassi: The Next Class and Cirque du Soleil's show Banana Shpeel. His songs have been performed on Idol shows around the world. The author lives in Toronto, ON, and Los Angeles, CA.