Personalities of the Year

Rock and roll is about spirit as much as music. Not all the people we haved named as 1997's Personalities of the Year are musicians, but they have all contributed in their own ways to instilling our everyday lives with the sex, soul and boundless energy which is rock and roll.

1. Bran Van 3000

Premature rumors of signing to Capitol records. Best dance Video at the MuchMusic Video Awards. A Top 10 hit with 'Drinking in LA.' American Recordings svengali Rick Rubin checking them out in concert - and all the while signed to Quebec indie Audiogram. It's unlikely James 'Bran Man' DiSalvio envisioned garnering such attention when he threw together Bran Van 3000's wise-ass debut album, Glee, with his amis in Montreal. Nevertheless, the loose collective's happy mix of hiphop, rock, country, rap and funk has proven that topquality Canuck rock doesn't have to be earnest white guys with guitars. Finally, canadian musicx gest a groove on.

2. Jakob Dylan/Wallflowers

Living in the shadow of a legendary father (Bob Dylan) is never an easy challenge, but the success of Jakob Dylan and his Wallflower cohorts may have indirectly sparked new intrest in the old man. Certainly, the band's Bringing Down the Horse album clung to the charts like a zebra mussel with 'One Headlight' and 'Sixth Avenue Heartache' dominating the airwaves this year.

3. Hanson

Three tweenies from Tulsa, Oklahoma - Isaac, Taylor and Zac Hanson - led a rebirth of kiddie rock in '97 which also saw the likes of Backstreet Boys, Spice Girls, silverchair and Aqua take aim at the prepubescent set. The infectious appeal of 'Mmmbop' notwithstanding, it was the maturity of their songwriting and a top-notch production job by The Dust Brothers on Middle of Nowhere which gave the album deserved credibility. KS

4. I Mother Earth

When I Mother Earth announced the imminent departure of lead singer Edwin this past spring, the reaction of the band's legions of Canadian fans ranged from dissapointment to outright shock. However, the band ended this paticular chapter on a high note, delivering some of their best-ever performances from the main stage of the Edgefest tour. JM

5. Elton John

Falls out with Princess Diana, makes up again and then emotionally conveys a nation's grief with his poingnant performance of a re-worked 'Candle In The Wind' at her funeral service; a song that would within weeks become the world's biggest selling single. Elton's follow-up tribute to Mother Teresa, 'Sandals In The Bin', was less successful. KS

6. Marilyn Manson

Calling Marilyn Manson a martyr to free speach might be a tad overblown, but fuck it. Whether you like his music or not, you have to -or you should- admire the man for standing up to the self-appointed forces of good who tried to shut down the Antichrist Superstar this year. if parents, community activists and religious spent as much time and money bettling real youth problems like poverty, unemployment and sexual abuse as they did trying to cancel Marilyn Manson concerts, the world would be a far better place - and Manson, the nicest Satanist you'll ever meet, would be considerably less influencial than he obviously is amongst the nation's kids. Now I finally understand the antiauthority catch phrase I see on Manson Tshirts: 'This is the world in which we grow. And we will grow to hate you.' Parents, you just don't understand. SP

7. Sarah McLachlan

1997 proved to be the breakthrough year for Vancouver-based singer-songwriter Sarah Mclachlan. Both the multi-platinum Canadian success of her newest album, Surfacing, and the high profiled (and massive ticket sales) of her all-female Lillith fair tour raised her profile to unprecedented heights south of the border. Meanwhile, the raptuous review for her more-recent fall tour of Canada indicates that our honeymoon with the recently-married McLachlan has only just begun. JM

8. Mike Myers

After Wayne's World, Scarborough, ON native Mike Myers was the toast of Tinseltown, until the the soft ticket sales of So I Married An Axe Murderer and Wayne's World 2 brought the party to a screeching halt. But with thsi year's Austin Powers, Myers once again leads the Canuckcomedy pack and returned such shopworn phrases as "Let's Shag!," "Groovy, baby!" and "Behave!" to the lexicon. JM

9. The Notorious B.I.G.

When Christopher Wallace - a.k.a Biggie Smalls, a.k.a the Notorious B.I.G. - was shot to death in a drive-by attack outside a Soul Train Awards celebration this spring, it was to most observers just another escalation in the east-west gangtsa rap conflict that had already claimed the life of Tupac Shakur. Then something amazing happened - the war of words and the hail of realy bullets...stopped. Maybe it'a because Death Row Records honcho Suge Knight (Shakur's mentor) is in prison, or because Bad Boy Entertainment's Sean "Puffy" Combs has lost the taste for conflict after his own protege's violent end, but whatever the cause, the rap wars seem to be over for the moment. JM

10. Floria Sigismodi

Floria Sigismodi directed dozens of videos for Canadian bans, including the Tea Party and Pure, before fully realizing her creative vision with her acclaimed - and reviled - clip for American shock-rocker Marilyn Manson's song 'The Beautiful People.' Filled to the brim with bizzare and menacing imagery,