Lots is being made about Steven Page and Tuesday's news that he's admitted to his wrongdoing after getting hit with drug charges stemming from an incident in which he was spotted snorting cocaine with his "girlfriend" in New York State.
I feel for the guy — we all have our issues, and my hunch is that a guy like Page has loads of pressure, not the least of which he puts on himself as the leader of one of Canada's best and most clean cut musical acts. I also have a hunch he was "suffering" through some issues at home — separating from his wife and handling all of what goes with that with regard to his three kids is a pressure all on its own. (Moving out of your family home while your kids still need you is a greater error than snorting cocaine, but that's a debate for another day.)
The thing with drugs and harmful behaviour is that it's a slippery slope — one night you're out with the boys, next you're guzzling whiskey alone in your car, then you're breaking apart your family, smoking hash with people with questionable backgrounds and then all of a sudden you're arrested doing cocaine in New York State with some single ladies. The little steps toward Page's proverbial bottom aren't that big a deal — but it's how they're all added up here is where it hurts. And nobody is naive enough to wonder whether this is Page's first experiment with a nefarious substance.
An interesting thing here is that he's done a fine PR job — I'm glad he's apologized, admitted to his misdeeds and plans to move on. Making denials and waging a battle in the courts would only keep the story in the news longer and affect him and his bandmates even more. Learning from it and avoiding a similar arrest is now an important goal indeed. He's lucky his lawyers were able to settle it in the way they have — there's no jail time and Page can still be a "Lady" and travel the U.S. as a member of the Barenakeds.
Obviously, Page's brush with the law has made headlines all over the place because of his clean-cut, playful image. None of the members of this smarmy, short pants-wearing sometimes comedy troupe that recorded an album just for kids wouldn't dare jaywalk, would they?
Who are they going to arrest next, Pee Wee Herman? (Never mind)
At any rate, Page's image is tarnished — but I suspect that things will return to normal in the Barenaked camp over time. And I hope this is the last arrest of a Barenaked Lady.
While not all of us have snorted cocaine or fell to a bottom as low as Page's, I think that every person can relate, and that celebrity is the only difference between Page's story and our own.
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CD releases for the week of Oct. 28:
50 Cent - "This is 50 Cent"
Ryan Adams and The Cardinals - "Cardinology"
Eva Avila - "Give Me the Music"
Bloc Party - "Intimacy"
Blue Rodeo - "Blue Road"
Stompin' Tom Connors - "The Ballad of Stompin' Tom"
Cradle of Filth - "Godspeed on the Devil's Thunder"
The Cure - "4:13 Dream"
Cynic - "Traced in Air" (Limited Edition)
Celine Dion - "My Love: Essential Collection"
Dragonforce - "Ultra Beatdown"
E-40 - "Ball Street Journal"
Eagles of Death Metal - "Heart On"
Exodus - "Let There Be Blood"
K.Maro - "Perfect Strangers"
The Kaiser Chiefs - "Off with Their Heads"
Toby Keith - "That Don't Make Me a Bad Guy"
John Legend - "Evolver"
Lenka - "Lenka"
Lil Wayne - "Young Money Millionaire Part 4"
Lordi - "Deadache"
Reba McEntire - "50 Greatest Hits"
Loreena McKennitt - "A Midwinter Night's Dream"
Moka Only - "Carrots and Eggs"
Newsboys - "Live: Houston We Are Go"
Pink - "Funhouse"
Queen + Paul Rodgers - "The Cosmos Rocks"
Rush of Fools - "Wonder of the World"
Buffy Sainte-Marie - "Running for the Drum"
Boz Scaggs - "Speak Low"
Michael W. Smith - "A New Hallelujah"
Snow Patrol - "A Hundred Million Suns"
Squarepusher - "Just a Souvenir"
Susan Tedeschi - "Back to the River"
Trick Trick - "The Villain"
Various Artists - "Big Shiny Tunes 13"
Various Artists - "Celtic Women: Essential Collection"
Various Artists - "James Bond 007: The Best of Bond"
Various Artists - "Quantum of Solace" Soundtrack
Hank Wimmiams - "The Unreleased Recordings"
TOP CDS SOLD IN REGINA
1 KICKING STONES JOHNNY REID ( MMR )
2 DEATH MAGNETIC METALLICA ( WBR )
3 APPEAL TO REASON RISE AGAINST ( GEF )
4 PAPER TRAIL T.I. ( ATL )
5 CLOSER: BEST SARAH SARAH MCLACHLAN ( NTW )
6 TREES & SHADE ARE OUR ONLY FE, SYLVIE ( SMR )
7 LITTLE HONEY LUCINDA WILLIAMS ( LOS )
8 DOLL DOMINATION PUSSYCAT DOLLS ( INT )
9 ROCK N ROLL JESUS KID ROCK ( ATL )
10 SCARS AND SOUVENIRS THEORY OF A DEADMAN ( 604 )
11 NOW! 13 VARIOUS ARTISTS ( N13 )
12 LAX (DELUXE EDITION) THE GAME ( GEF )
13 LOVE ON THE INSIDE SUGARLAND ( MER )
14 BLACK BUTTERFLY BUCKCHERRY ( ESR )
15 NEVER ODD OR EVEN THESET ( UMR )
16 SOUNDTRACK MAMMA MIA ( POL )
17 RED, WHITE AND BROWN (CD/DVD) RUSSELL PETERS ( RWB )
18 ALL HOPE IS GONE SLIPKNOT ( RDN )
19 FAME, THE LADY GAGA ( INT )
20 PERFECT SYMMETRY KEANE ( INT )
** Thanks to Nielson
