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Stamps Honour
Four Music Icons
Four legendary
Canadian entertainers are being honoured this year with postage stamps
bearing their faces.
Paul Anka, Joni
Mitchell, Gordon Lightfoot and Anne Murray are featured on the limited
edition 52-cent stamps.
Canada Post
chose retro images of the stars for the colourful stamps.
Anka, who turns
66 next month, was born and raised in Ottawa. He shot to fame by
writing and performing songs like "Diana," "Put Your Head on My
Shoulders" and "My Way."
Mitchell, now
63, was born in Fort Macleod, Alberta and became one of the most iconic
singer-songwriters in the world. Her hits include "Both Sides Now" and
"Big Yellow Taxi."
Lightfoot, 68,
was born in Orillia, Ontario, and played his folk music in Toronto
before achieving international success with songs like "If You Could
Read My Mind."
Murray, who
turns 62 this month, hails from Springhill, Nova Scotia. She became one
of the country's most recognized performers thanks to songs like
"Snowbird" and "You Needed Me."
Canada.com
Musical Licks:
New Canada Post Series Pays Tribute To Pop Icons
Katherine Monk,
CanWest News Service
Tuesday, June 12, 2007
Canada Post
continues to push the envelope.
Last year, the Crown corporation made the bold leap into celebrity
stamps with an homage to Canadians who made it big in Hollywood. Today,
the national mail service unveils its latest star-studded series
featuring Canadian music icons Joni Mitchell, Gordon Lightfoot, Anne
Murray and Paul Anka.
If you're wondering what happened to Neil Young, don't fret, says
Canada Post's marketing and public relations manager Cindy Daoust.
"These are just the first four, chances are good there will be a
sequel."
As with any decision on subject matter, the corporation looks to an
advisory committee comprised of historians, stamp collectors, educators
and business people in order to make the selections, Daoust says.
"We get thousands of suggestions from Canadians every year and
recording artists have always been one of the more requested themes.
Canadians want to see Canada Post recognize homegrown talent," says
Daoust from her Ottawa office.
"The recording artists who were selected are ones who established
themselves on a world stage before Canadian music was as popular as it
is now -- and when we were still struggling to compete against our
American counterparts," she says.
Considering other countries such as the United States, and even tiny
Russian states such as Ingushia, have been turning celebrity images
into lickable gold for decades, Canada Post's foray into the world of
pop culture is relatively new.
Daoust says the first "celebrity" stamp the corporation ever printed
was two years ago, in recognition of jazz pianist Oscar Peterson.
The Peterson stamp was a significant success and paved the way for last
year's release of a four-part "Canadians in Hollywood" pane, featuring
John Candy, Fay Wray, Lorne Greene and Mary Pickford.
"The Canadians in Hollywood series was extremely popular. It was one of
our bestsellers of the year, and for all time. The John Candy stamp in
particular proved to be a tremendous success," she says.
Daoust says she can't break down the specifics as far as revenue goes
because it's not part of the corporation's accounting procedures, but
she says there are about one million stamp collectors in the world, and
Canada Post issues tend to be popular with everyone who knows stamps
because of their high quality.
"We have very high standards we do not want to waver from," says
Daoust. "We feel we have subject integrity, in that we don't just put
out a stamp because it's profitable. We have more, shall we say,
altruistic aims. We strive to promote Canadian content and Canadian
culture and to recognize, and showcase, the achievements of Canadians."
Daoust says Murray, Mitchell, Lightfoot and Anka were all approached
for their consent to participate, and approval of the final artwork.
"We worked in partnership with the talent and their people. It wouldn't
really behoove the corporation to honour a star with an image they
don't like."
The Canadian Recording Artists stamp series features photographs of
each singer-songwriter screened similar colours to ensure thematic
unity, and was designed by Circle in Winnipeg, and printed by
Lowe-Martin for Canada Post.
The stamps will be available June 29.
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