A lifetime of travel, music and memories inform a new book, art exhibit and tour by one of Canada’s most successful singer-songwriters.
By Carter Hammett
Back in February of this year, I found myself sitting in the nose bleed section of TD Coliseum in Hamilton O.N. enjoying a concert by pop legend Rod Stewart. Although Stewart, 81, had more costume changes than Cher, a remarkable moment occurred at one point. The stadium went dark and the cell phones lit up as Stewart launched into “Rhythm of My Heart,” a top 5 hit from 1991 that got the whole stadium singing along with him. For a moment it almost felt like something holy.
I relay this story to the song’s co-writer, Marc Jordan, 78, who just happens to be facing me via Zoom on a balmy April evening. He smiles and nods in acknowledgment of the song’s enduring power.
“Music is such a primal thing in so many visceral ways,” he says. “I don’t take it for granted.”
It’s a busy time for Jordan, who’s the subject of a new book, Rhythm of My Heart, by Don Breithaupt, and the artist behind a new exhibit, Flattmuzik, at Toronto’s Rosedale Centre. As if that weren’t enough Jordan hits the road later this year with a new tour, which includes a number of dates with his partner in life and music, singer-songwriter Amy Sky.
Jordan, whose written songs recorded by everyone from Cher to no stranger to touring of course, with a substantial portion of his life spent on the road on both personal and professional adventures. And he’s generous with the stories he shares.
“Back in 1978 we were opening for Jimmy Buffett (of “Margaritaville” fame)
And we were travelling in Texas. We had just finished a concert and didn’t even bother changing our stage clothes. We just had to jump on the bus and head for Austin. This was a bare bones bus: no curtains and the lights were on so you could see in. You have to understand the outfits back then…I was wearing a pink satin shirt and powder blue pants. All of a sudden there’s a truck in front of us, another beside us and one behind, I got worried they were gonna drive us off the road.
“Our driver Lance had a CB radio and turned it on and heard the drivers talking to each other. One of them said, ‘Fellas, I think we have a busload of queers here.’ Lance spoke into his CB radio in a Texas accent and said, ‘Boys y’all have it all wrong. We’re musicians and we’re Dolly Parton’s back up band!
“The trucks dispersed like that,” says Jordan, smiling at the memory.
That same year, 1978, Jordan moved to Hollywood to try and make it as a songwriter and managed to buy him self a then 10-year-old Olds Cutlass convertible.
“The paint was messed up on it,” and it would have been very expensive to get it treated so a friend said to take it to Tijuana and have it done there. I did that and as I drove down a lane with lots of garages, people came out of their houses with offers to paint the car! I wound up leaving the car with one of them and he said to come back later that night, which I did and drove home. One month later the car got chalky and I couldn’t understand what had happened. Then I realized the guy had used house paint on my car!”
When asked about his greatest learning after decades on the road, Jordan pauses and reflects.
“One time I was out in the middle of nowhere and I saw a barn with paint peeling on it. You could see the barn had writing on one side of it, and when I passed by the writing said ‘No (racist remark and anti-semitic slur)allowed.’ The sign had never been painted over and I thought ‘good thing this area is isolated.’ That is, until the internet came along. Now all of a sudden people are no longer isolated. That’s not really a lesson but it is insight into culture and how things change with the advent of technology.
“Empathy is the building block of a culture,” says Jordan. “I can’t believe the number of people who lack it. There’s lots of them. But if you don’t care about others it’s easy to get where you want to be. But if you do care and have empathy, the journey may be longer but it’s also a lot more rich and rewarding.”
More info about Jordan’s tour dates and new book can be found on his website: https://www.marcjordan.com/