Basically, there are only two things you need to know about the making of this segment.
First, our original nomination for Official Smell of the Yukon was “teen spirit,” a choice inspired by an evening stroll past the skateboard park near the Robert Campbell Bridge in Whitehorse. (In case you’re wondering what teen spirit smells like, it smells a lot like pot.) But after some sober second thought, we decided against building an entire Smells Like Yukon segment around this idea. Why? Because we know our listeners. It’s no secret that CBC Radio One’s audience skews a little "old," so we weren't sure everyone would be familiar with the Nirvana song that first brought the smell of teen spirit into public consciousness almost two decades ago. Had we been aware of this cover version by the leathery crooner Paul Anka, we dare say you might have heard a much different piece.
The second thing you need to know about the making of “The Smell of the Yukon” is that the preceding paragraph was complete bull. Really, we were just looking for an excuse to inflict the Paul Anka video on you once again. (We're sorry if you missed it the first time.)
The other second thing you need to know about the making of “The Smell of the Yukon” is that the script originally called for someone to read a salient passage from Marcel Proust’s novel Remembrance of Things Past. We would have had no difficulty finding a bonafide Yukon Francophone to provide this service, but we had even less difficulty finding an Anglophone who was willing to read it in a fake French accent. This passage was recorded in a sunny Riverdale backyard in the summer of 2007. Amazingly, it required only three takes. We’re not sure about the "voice artist," but Mark was definitely been drinking during the process. Sadly, for reasons related to pacing, length and good taste, the clip never made it to air. However, this performance was too good not to share as an outtake on a website where the almost total absence of any audience would limit the repercussions.
Now that we think of it, there’s a third thing you should probably know about this segment: We didn’t overlook the obvious opportunity to have some fun with the Robert Service poem that inspired the segment’s title. We just couldn’t be bothered.
If you’ve ever had a burning desire to hear someone riff hilariously on The Bard of the Yukon (among other things), live on CBC North, you should have been listening to a guy named Meandering Michael last week. Good luck getting a federal tax credit for the film adaptation, Michael.
