#38: Go For Soda by Kim Mitchell

City: Regina, SK
Radio Station: CJME
Peak Month: September 1984
Peak Position in Regina ~ #8
Peak position in Vancouver ~ did not chart
Peak Position on Billboard Hot 100 ~ #86
YouTube: “Go For Soda”
Lyrics: “Go For Soda”

Joseph Kim Mitchell was born in Sarnia, Ontario, in 1952. In his teen years Mitchell learned to play guitar. When he was 14 he joined a band called Grass Company. After high school, by 1970 he was playing in a number of bands in Sarnia. He was in a band called Zooom for a few years. Then in 1973 he formed the Max Webster, a progressive rock and heavy metal band. Max Webster released six studio albums. Though it didn’t get a following in the USA, by the early 1980s the band had Top 20 hits in Hamilton, Toronto, Regina, Victoria, Quebec City, and Top 30 hits in Ottawa and Halifax. Kim Mitchell toured with Max Webster until it dissolved in 1982. Kim Mitchell tested a new sound in the club circuit in southwestern Ontario and formed the Kim Mitchell band.

The band consisted with Mitchell on lead vocals and guitar, Pye Dubois doing storytelling and reading lyrics, drummer Paul DeLong, bass player Robert Sinclair Wilson, and Peter Fredette on backing vocals and guitar. In 1982 Kim Mitchell released his debut self-titled album. It was followed in 1984 with Akimbo Alogo. That album featured the single “Go For Soda”.

Kim Mitchell and Pye Dubois cowrote “Go For Soda”. Pye Dubois was born in Sarnia, Ontario. His given name was Paul Woods. From 1973 to 1981 Dubois was part of the rock band Max Webster. He wrote/cowrote the words Kim Mitchell’s hit singles,  “All We Are”, “Go for Soda”, “Patio Lanterns”, “Easy to Tame”, “Rock n Roll Duty” and “Rocklandwonderland”. Dubois was also involved with Rush.

“Go For Soda” became the theme song for Mothers Against  Drunk Drivers (MADD). The refrain underscored this sober advice:
Might as well go for soda,
nobody hurts and nobody cries.
Might as well go for soda,
nobody drowns and nobody dies.

“Go For Soda” ended up being Kim Mitchell’s only single to appear on the Billboard Hot 100, peaking at #86. The song was also featured in a Mr. Pibb soft drink commercial in 1985.

“Go For Soda” reached #8 in Regina (SK), #10 in Buffalo, #12 in Hamilton (ON), #14 in Toronto, and #18 in Ottawa.

The following year Kim Mitchell released Shakin’ Like A Human Being. The album featured his strongest charting single to date, “Patio Lanterns”, with a recording evoking Jackson Browne.

In 1989 he released his fourth studio album, Rockland. It featured a Top Ten hit on the Canadian RPM singles chart titled “Rock N’ Roll Duty”. The next single from the album was “Rocklandwonderland”.

In 1992 Kim Mitchell had his highest chart run on the Canadian RPM singles chart with “America”, which peaked at #3. In 1995, Mitchell participated in the Kumbaya Festival to raise money for AIDS research. He has appeared on television sitcom episodes for Kids In The Hall, Puppets Who Kill, and Trailer Park Boys.

In 2004 Kim Mitchell became host of an afternoon show on Toronto classic rock radio station Q107 from until August 2015.  In 2007 he released his eighth studio album, Ain’t Life Amazing. Over the years Kim Mitchell has shared the same billing with Aerosmith, Def Leopard, Sammy Hagar and Van Halen. Mitchell suffered a heart attack in 2016, which he survived. Mitchell told CTV news as he was recovering that he “writes when he’s inspired, tries to play guitar every day, and ensures he’s staying physically active.”

Over the years Mitchell has been nominated for three Juno Awards. In 1983 he won a Juno in the category of Most Promising Male Vocalist of the Year. In 1987 he won a Juno for Album of the Year: Shakin’ Like A Human Being. And in 1990 Mitchell won a Juno for Male Vocalist of the Year. This last award was in recognition of his Rockland album and the singles “Rock ‘N” Roll Duty” and “Rocklandwonderland”.

Between February 27, 2019 and March 13, 2020, Kim Mitchell has been on a touring schedule of 21 concert dates. These include appearances in Alberta, Saskatchewan, Nova Scotia, Ontario, New York, New Brunswick, Newfoundland and British Columbia. He appeared in concert in Langley (BC) on August 31, 2019.

January 16, 2025
Ray McGinnis

References:
“Kim Mitchell becomes DJ“, CBC, July 27, 2004.
“Rocker Kim Mitchell Recovering After Heart Attack,” Toronto Star, January 13, 2016.
“Kim Mitchell talks recovery and touring after suffering a major heart attack,” CTV, 2016.
Paul Rellinger, “Rocker Kim Mitchell Quite Happy to Deliver what the People Want, Kawartha Now, June 28, 2017.
Kevin Adshade, “Kim Mitchell Shares the Stories Behind his Biggest Hits” Truro Daily, Truro, Nova Scotia, July 31, 2019.
Paul Morden, “New Book Released About Rock Band,” The Observer, Toronto, September 5, 2014.
“A witness to a creative spark,” Beach Metro, March 10, 2015.

Top 30 CJME 1300-AM Regina (SK) September 8, 1984