A decade has come and gone since Canada’s The Pursuit of Happiness enjoyed their 15 minutes of fame in the United States. As the eighties drew to a close, TPOH briefly swam upstream in the then burgeoning alternative rock movement alongside the best American bands of the day. Walking the fine line between hard, dual-guitar driven arena rock and melodic, Beatlesque pop, their calling card was the humorous (yet oh, so accurate) hit single "I’m an Adult Now":

  Moe Berg, the singer/songwriter/creative genius behind The Pursuit of Happiness, grew up a fan of pure popsters like the Beatles and the Raspberries, but undoubtedly his biggest influence was 70’s rock icon Todd Rundgren. He moved from Edmonton to Toronto in 1985 and (along with drummer Dave Gilby) formed TPOH by March of 1986. Working by day at a book warehouse and writing music and performing at night, Berg quickly amassed a repertoire of songs, one of which was "I’m an Adult Now". Eager to get exposure for his music, Berg and his band mates decided to film a music video to use as a promotional tool. That they chose "I’m an Adult Now" as the song was more a matter of happenstance than of any intentional design. As luck would have it, Berg had an acquaintance that happened to be a filmmaker. Shot on Toronto's Queen Street West and featuring the band and their friends, the resulting low-budget (around $200) video was completed and the task of getting it airplay began. At a time and in a country with next to no independent alternative rock scene, the odds for success seemed heavily stacked against TPOH. To the band’s amazement, though, MuchMusic, Canada's national video network, gave it a chance and it was soon heavily featured. Audience response to the video was overwhelming, and eventually the band pressed and released the song as a 12" vinyl single on their own TPOH label. With airplay on alternative and commercial rock stations in Toronto following the video’s lead, the single sold 1,500 copies. A distribution deal with WEA Music of Canada followed, and ultimately, by the winter of 1988, New York’s Chrysalis Records had signed the band to a record deal. With enough songs already written to fill an album, Berg’s first choice to produce the band’s debut was his idol, Todd Rundgren. To Berg’s shock and surprise, Rundgren agreed to the project, and the band was soon shacked up in the guesthouse at Todd’s Woodstock, N.Y. studio/home. From indie-label club band without a record, to major-label newcomer working with his rock idol, Moe Berg and TPOH’s star was certainly shining bright.
  With their album completed and with "Adult Now" beginning to make inroads in America, TPOH and Chrysalis turned their full attention to the challenge of the American market. Few Canadian bands to that point (with the exception of arena rock acts like Rush and Triumph) had been able to find success in the U.S., and the chances of a Canadian alternative rock band like TPOH succeeding here seemed unlikely. As it turned out though, it wasn’t as daunting of a task as the band imagined. U.S. audiences were very receptive to the smart wit of Berg’s lyrics and the driving beat that made the single so attractive. College radio was first to embrace the band, and even MTV gave them token play on "120 Minutes". Paired at times as an opening act with bands such as The Replacements, Eurythmics and Duran Duran, TPOH toured the country extensively in support of their major-label debut album, Love Junk. True to his Rundgrenesque leanings, Love Junk was 13 songs of pure power pop in the truest sense. Lyrically, the Berg’s songs revealed his mindset at times as a self-effacing loner—one who safely observed the world around him rather than actively involve himself in its trials and tribulations—but more often than not, as the cynical romantic guy who always seemed to watch helplessly as the good girl got away from him. The music was hard edged, the overall feel was very pop-ish in nature, and Berg’s wry, often humorous lyrics dripped with sexual allusion and innuendo, wrapping the whole package together in a wonderful wall of melodic noise. In what eventually would prove to become a TPOH staple, Leslie Stanwick’s background vocals (harmonies as well as dual-lead at times) were an integral part of each song, making "Love Junk" instantly likeable. Thirteen months of exposure (as well as heaps of critical acclaim for Love Junk) led to respectable record sales here and a Platinum Record in their native Canada. As unlikely as it all seemed only a few short months earlier, all signs now seemed to point to the band’s future as a successful North American act. Invigorated by the success of their debut, TPOH headed back to Rundgren’s Utopia Sound Studios to record their follow-up effort, 1990’s One Sided Story.
  For most of you reading this now, this is probably where The Pursuit of Happiness story ends. The seldom friendly business side of rock and roll inevitably caught up to them --- and for TPOH, like countless other acts who have dared try navigate it’s waters, the tides that initially flowed so favorably for them suddenly reversed, and in an instant, came crashing down upon them. The same luck that led to the deal with Chrysalis now deserted them. On the eve of the release of One Sided Story, Chrysalis underwent wholesale personnel changes, leaving TPOH with very few familiar faces at the label to handle the business of their critical sophomore effort. The album (on it’s own) needed no such assistance. One Sided Story found Berg pushing his lyrical content further into the realm of kinky sex ("Food") and flawed real-world relationships ("Shave Your Legs"). In Moe’s world, everything eventually falls apart, and even the upbeat tunes here ("New Language", "All I Want") rang with a sort of resignation of knowing this. The sound was slightly heavier, the melodies even more likeable, and the lyrics just as brilliant. Yet even as One Sided Story made its debut, the band’s relationship with Chrysalis was souring. The label support-- so crucial to the band’s business success, and so instrumental in the success of "Love Junk"—now dwindled to a trickle. A U.S. single ("Two Girls in One") appeared with little fanfare and then quickly faded. Although the album would eventually go "Gold" in Canada, and despite the fact that One Sided Story was arguably on par with it’s predecessor, it sold roughly half the quantity of Love Junk, and the U.S. market--which seemed so promising only a year earlier--closed it’s collective ears to TPOH. Eventually, TPOH, sensing a lack of commitment on their label’s part, negotiated out of their contract with Chrysalis.
  As difficult as the decision to leave Chrysalis was, it was made easier for TPOH by the fact that former label head Mike Bone had accepted a similar position with Mercury Records. Eventually (and largely due to Bone’s presence there), TPOH signed a contract with the label and began work on their third album, this time in the Hollywood hills surrounding Los Angeles. With producer Ed Stasium (Smithereens, Cavedogs, Living Colour) at the controls, The Downward Road had an even heavier sound, with crisp guitar work and heavy, booming percussion throughout. Lyrically, Berg developed his fascination with the nuances of sex, teetering relationships, and his oft-humorous acceptance of his place in the food chain, to their fullest extent. "Nobody But Me" found Berg willing to do anything and everything to keep his world together. "Cigarette Dangles" plowed forward full-steam, telling the tale of sexual domination and of a willing participant (with a catchy chorus to boot!). "Pressing Lips" and the hushed "But I Do" reminded us (lest we forgot) that Todd Rundgren’s influence on Berg was never but a song away. As if an omen of things to come though, the Rodney King verdict and the devastating riots that followed came down as TPOH was completing the album. To make matters worse, Bone left Mercury, stranding the band on the label without their biggest supporter. And although the album was completed in June 1992, Mercury inexplicably withheld its release eight months, robbing the band of an opportunity to support it leading into the fruitful holiday season. Despite a strong first single and video ("Cigarette Dangles"), The Downward Road was doomed from the start, selling less than 20,000 units in the U.S. and signaling the end of major-label American presence for TPOH. For the second time in three years, bad luck and personnel changes at a label left The Pursuit of Happiness without a record deal.
  Discouraged but certainly not defeated, Berg, along with core members Dave Gilby (drums), Kris Abbott (guitars), and Brad Barker (bass) decided to continue on, and they began the search for a new record label. The band soon regrouped in Toronto and signed a contract with independent Canadian label Iron Records Group. With a smaller budget but with more artistic control over the final product, Berg (along with Iron Records’ Aubrey Winfield) co-produced the bands fourth album Where’s The Bone. Released in 1995, the title announced that a shift in song subject matter had arrived. For the most part, out went songs about sex and relationships; in came Berg’s observations on the changing world around him. The album kicked off with the rollicking "Kalender", a fast-break power rocker with a melodic, undeniably trademark TPOH chorus. "Glamorous Death" found TPOH blending a jazz-like beat with Berg’s smooth vocal lead, building itself to a crescendo until it finally blasted to a finish in a full furry of rocking guitar and background vocals. Berg paid tribute to his all-time favorite sports hero with the sing-along-like foot thumper "Gretzky Rocks", and in "I Should Know", he admitted that losing stature in the rock hierarchy could be a frightening experience. Overall, Where’s the Bone had a much ‘liver’ feel to it than any of the prior TPOH albums, and Berg’s venture off the beaten lyrical track proved to be just as successful as his earlier lyrical efforts. TPOH toured Canada as well as Australia in support of it, and the album was generally well received by fans and press alike.
  After the Australian tour, The Pursuit of Happiness headed back once again to Toronto to record their second album for Iron Records, 1996’s The Wonderful World of the Pursuit of Happiness. In another shift in artistic direction, The Wonderful World of… was intentionally recorded without breaks between songs, with each song flowing seamlessly into the next. Aware of the ever shortening attention spans of the average music fan, Berg decided to revert to the traditional three minute pop music standard. The resulting 14-song, 36-minute ‘concept’ album contained some of TPOH’s finest pure-pop efforts to date.
  From the first song’s ("Tara") giddy opening line ("Lets talk about love, I’m in it") to the closer’s ("The Truth") scorching final salvo ("You say you hate me now, but baby, I hated you first"), the album told the tale of the disintegration of a relationship from beginning to end. The "Wonderful World" was equal parts happy-pop-goop ("Happy to be Here"), melodic metal noise ("She’s the Devil), and traditional TPOH rock ("Hate Engine", "I Like You"). As with TPOH’s entire catalog, the strength of the songs was the interplay between Berg’s dead-on lyrics and his natural gift for melodic power-rock. The single ("She’s the Devil") found itself in heavy rotation on MuchMusic, and once again, The Wonderful World of… met with favorable reviews from fans and critics alike.  

"When I first started writing my lyrics, it seems there wasn't anyone who was writing the same way. Now, everyone's a loser. I have to say that I was a loser before everyone else. And now all these nouveau losers are really big, and I'm fading."

TPOH singer/songwriter/founder Moe Berg,  N.Y. Press, July 16, 1997