Style at Home Canada — June 2017

At the height of a commercial teen pop explosion in the late '90s, the Backstreet Boys emerged at the top of the boy band pack alongside friendly rivals *NSYNC, quickly trailed by a crop of imitators. Their hybrid of R&B balladry, hip-hop, and dance pop initially found its greatest audience in Canada and Europe, while success in their native land didn't follow until mainstream pop hit it big on radio and MTV in America.

A bit fiery for most in the new romantic camp during the early '80s, China Crisis were inspired by similar sources but injected their pop songs with occasional political commentary and bluesy reggae rhythms. Comprising the core duo of vocalist/keyboard player Gary Daly and guitarist Eddie Lundon, the group formed in 1979 near Liverpool, England. The first China Crisis single, "African and White," didn't appear until 1982, but it was quickly picked up by Virgin Records and made the U.K. charts.

An iconoclast with a large, loyal audience and a long, very successful career, Neil Young has explored a impressive range of styles – from acoustic introspection and wistful country rock to blistering hard rock, electronic experimentation, blues, rockabilly, and heartfelt polemics – while sounding entirely like Neil Young at all times, with his engagingly craggy voice, his flinty sincerity, and unique gifts as a songwriter. Young's creative restlessness is a comfortable match for his prolific nature, and he's not averse to dropping his current fascinations for something else on the drop of a dime, which frustrates some fans but also helps keep his music fresh and full of ideas. Even when he's in relatively familiar musical territory (his electric music with Crazy Horse, his rootsy semi-acoustic work, the intimacy of his solo performances, his thematic albums focusing on life experiences and his take on the world around him), there's a spark of unpredictability that fuels his muse and keeps him in the present day despite a career spanning over seven decades.

An iconoclast with a large, loyal audience and a long, very successful career, Neil Young has explored a impressive range of styles – from acoustic introspection and wistful country rock to blistering hard rock, electronic experimentation, blues, rockabilly, and heartfelt polemics – while sounding entirely like Neil Young at all times, with his engagingly craggy voice, his flinty sincerity, and unique gifts as a songwriter. Young's creative restlessness is a comfortable match for his prolific nature, and he's not averse to dropping his current fascinations for something else on the drop of a dime, which frustrates some fans but also helps keep his music fresh and full of ideas. Even when he's in relatively familiar musical territory (his electric music with Crazy Horse, his rootsy semi-acoustic work, the intimacy of his solo performances, his thematic albums focusing on life experiences and his take on the world around him), there's a spark of unpredictability that fuels his muse and keeps him in the present day despite a career spanning over seven decades.

A talented singer-songwriter, guitarist, and blues-rocker, Scott Ellison was born on June13, 1954, in Tulsa, OK. By the '70s, Tulsa had become an unexpected hotbed of blues-based rock bands as proven by both Eric Clapton and Freddie King's backing bands hailing from the area. It was the perfect match for Ellison with his heavy guitar shredding blues style. It was around that same time that Ellison began playing with legends in the business, such as country singer Jesseca James (Conway Twitty's daughter) in 1977 and renowned bluesman Clarence "Gatemouth" Brown in 1981.