More than once have I cringed when listening to CBC Radio 1 and Nancy White's faux political song, "Stickers On Fruit," destroys an otherwise perfectly good program. It is vanguards of schmaltzy-produced Canadian satire like White and the Arrogant Worms that keep our independent cultural broadcaster in the dark ages of pop culture. Kitschy treatment to otherwise decent repartee has always plagued the Worms and here it is the bane of Stickers on Fruit. The worst is the unlistenable "And I Copied It" with its drum machine and vinyl scratching right out of 1985. And while many of the songs gain merit from their quirky and clever topics ("Jesus at Tims" is based on a well-popularised Nova Scotian miracle) others are downright lame or suffer from derivative songwriting. Stickers On Fruit works better as a kids album or for middle-aged CBC listeners who normally turn off the dial when relevant shows like Definitely Not the Opera or Brave New Waves come on.
(Borealis)Nancy White
Stickers On Fruit
BY Brent HagermanPublished Mar 1, 2003
