Whenever Canadians hear the tune "Lovers in a Dangerous Time" they think of Bruce Cockburn, the artist who turned that tune into a Top 40 hit in 1984.
They may also remember Bernie Finkelstein, the influential music exec and manager who discovered Cockburn and other stars as the head of True North Records, Canada's oldest and longest running indie record label.
Now, some 43 years after launching that label and the careers of Cockburn, Murray McLauchlan, Dan Hill and others, Finkelstein recounts his life and times in the new memoir, "True North: A Life Inside the Music Business."
"Those were great days. We had a lot of fun," said Finkelstein, 67, said on Wednesday on CTV's Canada AM.
That buoyant spirit is unmistakable in Finkelstein's book, which begins with a foreword written by long-time friend McLauchlan.
Finkelstein takes readers on a fascinating tour inside his career and his professional relationships with McLauchlan, Cockburn, Hill and other influential solo artists and bands.
From True North's launch in 1969 until 2007, when the company was acquired by an investment group led by Linus Entertainment, Finkelstein looks back on the past with wit and candour.
The memoir also reveals, quite remarkably, that Finkelstein had no contract with Cockburn.
"That's why we lasted so long," said Finkelstein.
Their working relationship began in 1969.
That relationship and the length of Cockburn's career is an "amazing statistic," according to Finkelstein.
"Bruce won his first Juno in 1971 and his last just two weeks ago at the 2012 Junos," said Finkelstein.
"To put that into perspective, anyone who won their first Juno this year would have to come back in 2053 and it would be the same thing," he said.
Flipping through its pages, readers will also learn about Finkelstein's youth and the years spent living in England with his parents.
Finkelstein's father was in the Air Force. As a result, the family travelled extensively when Finkelstein was a boy.
Those early years launched Finkelstein's love of music.
From seeing Buddy Holly perform live on stage to developing an appetite for old rock ‘n' roll, Finkelstein's passion for music grew even as he worked as a bouncer years later in the clubs in Toronto's trendy Yorkville area.
However, Finkelstein would never have shared these details and others if he had not sold his company, True North, in 2007.
Since its inception, the lindie label has sold more than 40 gold and platinum records and received more than 40 Junos. Achieving such success was all-consuming for Finkelstein.
Finkelstein remained as chairman and a long-term consultant to True North. He also continued as Cockburn's manager and managed the Toronto pop-rock band, The Golden Dogs. But the lighter schedule finally gave Finkelstein the time to write.
"There are some people who can be really busy and write a book. I'm not one of them," said Finkelstein.
"I was working 24/7 right up to the day I sold True North. I had to get away from it and then look back to put it to paper," he said.
