Jeanne Beker - Talks about her life and living in Warkworth Ontario

Jeanne Beker

Been there, done that, wrote the book!

By Jay Cooper Contributor / Musican

I had the chance to talk to the incredible Jeanne Beker. Jeanne is an icon in the music and fashion industries. She is also an author. Here is our conversation.

ATOTK (A Taste of the Kawarthas): So very excited to have this chat with you. JB: Oh that’s so Nice!

ATOTK: Okay, Actress, New Music, Fashion Television, Editor in Chief, Author, Order of Canada, Walk of Fame to name a few. JB (Jeanne Beker): Yeah, my Mom use to say if you live long enough, you get to see and do everything. Yeah, I’ve been around (she laughs).

ATOTK: I am just curious if you ever slept? JB: Not very much in those early years (she laughs). I use to pride myself on getting by with 3 hours, 4 hours of sleep for years. Can’t believe I did that. I’m making up for lost time now. A little more, anyway (she laughs).

ATOTK: Now you’re living in Warkworth, Ontario. JB: Not full time. Half the time we’re back and forth from the City. Northumberland has been a big part of my life since 2000. I bought my farm in Roseneath and just really fell in love with the hills and with that whole pastoral setting. The first place I looked at was this 1842 stone house in the middle of 123 acres. I just fell in love with it, bought it. The property had a pond on it. It was just magical; absolutely fell in love with this neck of the woods.

ATOTK: Warkworth truly is an amazing, unique little town. JB: I would say it is charming and has a lot of heart, and obviously it’s the people that make it so great. There are a lot of creative people, a lot of artists, a lot of people that think outside the box. I have traveled all over the world and never found a place quite like this. The fact that it’s only like an hour and a half from Toronto, it’s really ideal for us.

ATOTK: It’s a wonderful place, I totally agree. JB: It just seems to be getting better all the time, and now that my daughter is putting down her roots, she moved to the farm house with her husband, and decided to open an animation studio there and become organic farmers. They just opened a store in Cobourg. It’s a studio shop where they can do their thing but also sell stuff that comes off of the farm. She’s a great illustrator; it’s quite the artful little store.

ATOTK: Wow that’s incredible to come from a creative mother and I guess it stuck with your daughter. JB: Yeah, you know, it’s a mixed blessing to be creative. It’s wonderful to be creative and I always hoped that my children would be creative, but then I think sometimes, do you really have to be that creative (laughs). And I have another daughter who is a singer songwriter, who lives in the Yukon. Off the grid in a little log cabin. I’m very proud of them.

ATOTK: My first knowledge of you was on The NewMusic. You and JD Roberts - would you have ever thought both of you would have that success?

JB: We were both driven in different ways, and we were both hard workers. But we were both, in many ways, flying by the seat of our pants. I had been working professionally as an actress since I was 16. JD and I started working together at Chum radio back in 1978. I always aspired to get into the TV end of things, it was serendipitous because that was the year the Chum Radio bought City TV. I had been hired as the Good News girl at Chum Radio after having come from Newfoundland working at CBC. I went to Newfoundland as a Mime artist and came back as a radio personality. Go figure (she laughs). When I did land the job at Chum, there was excitement in the air. And I thought, wow, this could be an interesting company to get with. Within a year of me working there in radio, Jay Levine came to JD and me and said we want to do a music show, and we want you to co-host it. And, I mean, I knew as much about music as the average kid that grew up in the sixties and loved Rock and Roll. I certainly wasn’t a music journalist at that point. But I think that’s what made the show more appealing, because there wasn’t that kind of esoteric approach. Obviously, we learned a lot by osmosis as the years went by, but at the beginning I was more of the Fan Girl. Just turning everyone onto the music that I was discovering. Late 70’s, early 80’s, Second British invasion, Punk, New Wave.

ATOTK: I loved that era. So many choices. JB: I got to meet so many of my idols from Paul McCartney to Keith Richards, Robert Plant. I mean, it just went on and on. It was incredible the people I had the chance to get up close and personal with. And then, you think of all the great bands to come

out of that era, like The Police, and I got to go on tour with Sting and the band (laughs). That’s when you got to see what the band was made of, and no one else was doing it, which was a very good thing. When we started, we were Pre-MTV, because we started that show in 1979. Then we launched MuchMusic in 1983. It was just a ride of a lifetime. It was absolutely phenomenal. I always felt you can only do something for so long. The music started to change by the mid 1980’s. It wasn’t turning my crank and I wanted to find something I could grow older a little more gracefully in (she laughs). Then I thought Fashion is cool. The only constant in fashion is change so that will keep me young (laughs). And I loved (fashion) as any young girl that grew up in the 60’s. So I started doing Fashion Television. There was a guy at the station started the idea of putting together Fashion Videos on TV. But they wanted to hire a young model type chick that would be a Fashion DJ. When I heard about that, I said “Hold On! I know a lot about fashion, I paid my dues, and you should let me do it”. So I hissed and screamed, and they said “OK, OK! You can host the Pilot”. I urged them to do more than Fashion Videos. Let’s interview the Designers like we did with the Rockstars. Lets go behind the scenes, go to the studios, go back stage, find out who these personalities are behind the labels. So we started profiling designers and photographers and models. We were really the first to look at fashion as entertainment and I think that’s why the show really worked.

ATOTK: Was Fashion a field you ever dreamed would take you on a nearly 30 year adventure? JB: I remember the show took off and started selling all around the world. They said to me, “Well this will be fun for a couple of years”, and I thought, yeah, a couple of years, then off to the next big thing. But it lasted 27 years (laughs).

ATOTK: Congrats on an unbelievable run for that many years. Most don’t have a gift like that. JB: You know, I was in that world but I was not of that world, and because of that, I sort of got turned on to things as I went, and then to take people across the nation, literally around the world, and show them this - Gee Golly look at this. Can you believe what we’re seeing here? Fashion was just such a brilliant, theatrical arena back in the day. I think it has changed a lot of the artistry. It’s become common in ways. But back in the day, you just felt so privileged to have this back stage pass. And

it inspired a whole generation for people to get into the business, for better or worse (she laughs).

ATOTK: What’s your take on affordable fashion choices as the go to places now that Eaton’s and Sears are no longer available? JB: We have a beautiful Boutique here in Warkworth called Trentmendous. You know, fashion is everywhere now, and if you don’t have it right there, you can order it from The Shopping Channel. I know I work (at The Shopping Channel), but there’s so many ways to get fashion these days.

ATOTK: Now the success of The Shopping Channel is well known but do you yourself prefer shopping online or getting out there on the front lines, so to speak? JB: Well, I’m old fashioned so most of my shopping is not online. I guess I’m just a bit of a creature of habit. Stores that are interesting, that’s more like experiences I really appreciate. I like to go in and experience it. Touch it and feel it. That, to me, is more appealing than shopping online. That being said, well, if you’re super busy and you know exactly what you want, (The Shopping Channel) is the most wonderful, convenient way to shop. I see the ease of it, and yes, I just bought a bunch of Christmas presents online. Wow, it’s so easy, and did that ever save me time.

ATOTK: Fashion culture seems like it could be very challenging to cover - much like music. Which do you feel presented to be the most difficult at times? JB: (laughs) Well, looking back at it, I’m surprised I handled myself so well. I mean each presents it’s own challenges. But what became harder in the Fashion industry as we started the show, was a popularity of covering fashion in the media. More and more people that we had to compete and fight with to keep our position at the front of the line. And sometimes it wasn’t the Designers themselves, it was their PR people. They were the gatekeepers. The actual Designers themselves were lovely, but that was frustrating at times. Dealing with temperamental genius artists, well, that’s to no end and with music, too. I always thought I covered the biggest egos with the Rockstars and then I met the Designers (laughs). We wanted to get something special and we did - unprecedented access. Now-a-days, it’s just so common. The business just became such a Monster that it actually managed to

burn its people out. Just chew them out and spat them out. Fashion is merciless. You’re in one minute, out the next.

ATOTK: So what are your winter activities? JB: Well, when I was on the Farm, I used to go snowshoeing and cross country skiing, but going for long walks with the dogs is really what we do now.

My partner and I are intent on picking up cross country skiing again this winter, and maybe we can rustle up my snow shoes again, because there are so many beautiful trails here. We love antiquing and flea markets, that kind of thing, so we’ve got all these great little places, whether we go to Peterborough or Belleville or Brighton. We discovered Stirling not long ago. We spend a lot of time indoors too, being cozy, reading, I do a little bit of painting, I took up pottery. My partner plays guitar, we love old movies, I still do quite a bit of writing, baking. I bake a lot of cookies (laughs). We entertain a lot, because there is a big, big social scene here. It’s just so much fun, never a dull moment.

Jeanne and her daughters, Bekky & Joey O’Neil

ATOTK: Well, I will never have such an honour as a Star on the Walk of Fame. But don’t you ever just want to lay down beside it and take a Selfie? JB: (laughs) Lick the sidewalk. Not really (laughs). It’s a very strange thing to see yourself objectified, in a way, but it represents a career milestone. It’s not something I ever aspired to. I just worked as hard as I could, loved what I did, put myself out there for good, using my personal platform to make to world a bit of a better place. A more loving, compassionate kind of place. Then you get a call one day and your jaw just drops. It’s just quite heart swelling, really. I thank God everyday.

ATOTK: There are so many talented amazing people that came from this area and relocated here in the area and the trend continues. Wonderful neck of the woods, as you say. JB: Yes, and it’s how I discovered the area. I discovered Warkworth and there’s something very mystical and magical about this place. It almost draws you to it. It’s a very special place, a happy, accidental meeting so to speak. We pinch ourselves ten times a day, we are so lucky.

ATOTK: You have been more than kind to take all this time with me today and I thank you for that. JB: You are very welcome Jay. And you’re not far from us, please come visit sometime.

To see other interviews done by Jay Cooper, go to slitherproductions.com/Musicmag

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