Canadian Post: Arts and letters – and stamps

Arts and letters – and stamps


Stompin' Tom says he's overwhelmed by the ‘stamp of approval,' Jennifer Yang writes. Robert Charlebois just wishes his parents were alive to see it. Rock on, Canada Post

Jennifer Yang

Last updated on Tuesday, Jun. 30, 2009 04:48PM EDT

The honorees
Jennifer Yang

Last updated on Tuesday, Jun. 30, 2009


Bryan Adams
The dirty blond rocker catapulted to international superstardom with his hit single Summer of '69 and has sold over 65 million albums worldwide. Lately, Adams has stepped back from music and gained prominence for his photography.

Stompin' Tom Connors
As Canada's best-selling country artist, Connors has composed more than 300 songs. He courted controversy in 1979, when he returned all six of his Juno Awards to protest the Americanization of Canada's music industry. (His moniker comes from a habit developed during his early years performing in rowdy Ontario bars: He would stomp his left foot to be heard over the din.)

Robert Charlebois
Known for high-octane shows and satirical lyrics, the French-Canadian rocker managed to successively transcend the Quebec music scene to become a bona-fide international superstar. The 65-year-old was made an officer of the National Order of Quebec in 2008.

Édith Butler
The folk singer was born in the small Acadian village of Paquetville, N.B. Sometimes referred to as the “mother of Acadian music,” she once refused an American record deal when it meant having to sing only in English.

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Jennifer Yang

From Wednesday's Globe and Mail Last updated on Wednesday, Jul. 01, 2009

This summer, don't be surprised if you open your mailbox and find Bryan Adams gazing out at you.

Starting tomorrow, the Vancouver rocker will appear on a special set of postage stamps celebrating four musicians who have made an impact on the Canadian music industry.

Joining Adams on the tiny 32-millimetre-by-32-millimetre stage will be singer-songwriter Stompin' Tom Connors, French-Canadian rocker Robert Charlebois and Acadian songstress Édith Butler.




Edith Butler, July 2009. Canada Post has issued four stamps honoring music artists Robert Charlebois, Stompin' Tom Connors, Bryan Adams and Edith Butler.


Connors said in a statement he was “delighted, humbled and overwhelmed” by this “stamp of approval” and Butler, whose great-grandfather was a postmaster, gleefully called the honour “the biggest thing that ever happened to me.”




Stompin' Tom Connors, July 2009. Canada Post has issued four stamps honoring music artists Robert Charlebois, Stompin' Tom Connors, Bryan Adams and Edith Butler.


As for Charlebois, the Quebec chanteur who turns 65 tomorrow, the postal homage makes for a wonderful birthday present. “I [wish] my parents would be alive to see that because when I started 40 years ago, I never thought I would land on a stamp,” he said in an interview The 54-cent stamps will be printed using lithography in nine colours and issued in booklets of eight or sheets of four, with the latter sold in CD-shaped packages. The images will feature monochrome photographs of the singers illuminated by spotlights, Canada Post said in a press release, in order to “reflect the stardom of these ‘living legends.'”




Robert Charlebois, July 2009. Canada Post has issued four stamps honoring music artists Robert Charlebois, Stompin' Tom Connors, Bryan Adams and Edith Butler.




A special “cancel” has been issued for the commemorative stamps in the shape of a microphone (a cancel is the postal marking that defaces a stamp to prevent its re-use).

“[We] chose artists that really paved the way and set their foot on the path of where Canadian artists are today,” said Canada Post spokeswoman Nicole Lemire. “This stamp issue is really being released to draw attention to the great Canadian recording artists who haven't just had impact on Canadians, but individuals around the world.”

This year's stamps will be available at post offices across Canada, as well as through direct order from the National Philatelic Centre. This is the second time Canada Post has issued a set of recording-artist stamps; in June, 2007, a collection was released featuring Joni Mitchell, Gordon Lightfoot, Paul Anka and Anne Murray. Lemire said the 2007 issue proved immensely popular, with six million printed and several products selling out.

This year's print run will only have four-million stamps however, partly because Canada Post chose not to issue permanent-rate stamps this time around. Permanent rate stamps are always worth the current rate, regardless of their initial retail rate.

It's also no secret that people are using the post office less and less these days, and Canada Post reported a 2 per cent decline in letter mail for 2008. Stamp sales make up about 1 per cent of total revenue for the Crown corporation, Lemire says. (Stamp prices increased to 54 cents from 52 cents in January of this year. Each one-cent increase brings in $30-million a year, according to a panel report released by the government earlier this year).

Landing a gig on a postage stamp might even be harder than winning a Juno. Canada Post receives hundreds of stamp suggestions every year, with only about 20 to 25 themes chosen annually, Lemire says. A 13-person committee then sifts through the options, meeting three times a year before making a final decision. For this collection, only musicians who were officers or members of the Order of Canada were considered (their insignias will also be featured on the stamps). The current stamp advisory committee, appointed by Canada Post's board of directors for a three-year term, includes author/illustrator Nick Bantock and Lilly Koltun, the curator of the Canadian Portrait Gallery.

Once selections are finalized, the stamp committee approaches a few graphic-design companies to cram a picture, text, stamp denomination and other visual elements onto the tiny paper canvases, before settling on an image. In total, the process takes about two years from when a stamp is suggested to the time it rolls of the presses, Lemire says.

Charlebois hopes the commemorative stamps will encourage people to send more letters. He'll be stocking up on his stamps and using them for future correspondence.

“I probably will send all my postcards with my own face on it, especially to my friends in Belgium and Switzerland,” he says with a boisterous laugh. “They're going to faint, they won't believe their eyes”

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/arts/arts-and-letters-and-stamps/article1202400/