100 Can-Pop Classics

6. "L'Affaire Dumoutier" - The Box
7. "Bye Bye, Mon Cowboy" - Mitsou
8. "Spadina Bus" - Shuffle Demons

11. "Echo Beach" - Martha and the Muffins
12. "Romantic Traffic" - The Spoons

Is A Foot In Coldwater's "Anything You Want" any better? Or Harlequin's "Innocence"

I'm not going too obscure (obv.), but I'm assuming these need to have charted at least a little though right?

(I'm beginning to think we're gonna need more than a hundred for this)

I know you do, but I cringe everytime I hear him sing the chorus. Its Claire as a sketch. Now if they made an instrumental version then we'd be talking.

79. Wreck of The Friggen Edmund Fitzgerald. The boat went down quicker then it takes him to sing about. But if we pick the Rheo version for 61 then he gets Sundown.

so i guess that's 85.

please replace that 91 with rush - 'closer to the heart.'

Fritz, if Incredible Bongo Band are Canadian (and R. Dean Taylor??) I take back anything bad I've ever said about this country.

(I'll try and put together the list later...)

I offer Stan Rogers song Barret Privateers for one.

I just noticed Harlequin's "Innocence" on the list--amazing track.

Meaning we got the five replacement songs (though the original 5 were all GREBT).
FORWARD, MARCH!
102. Buck65 - The Cenutar

Kim was joking with "Under a Latin Moon," but Candi did have one great pop-dance track, though can't remember which one.

Already had "These Eyes" though Im with you on American Woman.

R. Dean Taylor started his career in his home of Toronto in 1961 playing piano and singing with various groups at all the big Toronto clubs as well as recording several singles for the Audiomaster label that were poor quality and received little if no airplay.

In 1962 he recorded the single/demo "At The High School Dance" for Amy-Mala Records which gained him a bit of attention to which Taylor took the advice of a friend and pursued his dreams in Detroit.

Motown's Brian Holland offered him a position as a ghostwriter for the label and later he would finally be recognized for this talent on such songs as "I'll Turn To Stone" (The Four Tops), "Love Child" and "I'm Livin' In Shame" (The Supremes), and "All I Need" (The Temptations).

While developing his production techniques, Taylor recorded "Gotta See Jane" on his own which hit the Top 20 in England. Motown Records owner Barry Gordy Jr. decided to take a chance with Taylor on his newly established white artist's label Rare Earth from which they released "Indiana Wants Me" in 1970. The song went to No.1 across North America.

Following the release of his debut album, "Gotta See Jane" was re-released and went Top 10 in Canada. R. Dean Taylor continued writing and producing for various artists throughout the '70's.

Taylor made a brief, unsuccessful comeback attempt in 1981/82.

125. "Even Grable" - Treble Charger

(That and "Anna" made my top singles of the '90s list.)

137. "10 Miles to Go"

(Tuuli are great, Scott. I always meant to get that album.)

(also: #24 owns this list. and that list over there, and all lists)

Kim and me in musical agreement shocker! I'm starting to wonder if I actually liked that song. The Rose Chronicles had nothing worthy, though, sorry. And "Dance Desire" is classic.

i'm going to have to step up for tuuli here, kim. jenny used to live down the road from me, here in the mighty oak town - she's an authentic canuk. sorry.

Sundar, Dance Desire? Good grief! I wonder about Downtime too, but if I hear it, I can't help liking it.

I *would* have nominated Anna's a Speed Freak too, but the last Pure album I bought was so traumatising that I couldn't think back without overwhelming pity. The breaking point for me, IIRC was the song about a tennis ball. I haven't heard the album, but I did think Jordy Birch's recent-ish Moola Moola single was kind of cute.

(Did "Rock You" make the list? Or the Killer Dwarfs? Varga?)

(Everything I List Here) I Mean It, I Really Do

Okay, bad example, but someone should start a new thread of songs you'd swear were Cdn but aren't.
And by someone I mean you Fritz.

you just don't want to have to take back everything bad you ever said about canada, woods

Now, I gather from that quote that the musicians are certainly Canadian, but I'm not convinced Viner is. Some other searches on Google don't reveal much, but none associate him with any other Canadian people or organizations (he was heavily involved in the MGM label). (His Nixon connection suggest American as well.) Also, the song "Apache" was wrriten by Jorgen Ingmann, who was European, and many (all?) of their songs are covers of non-Canadian music (i.e., "Let There Be Drums," "Inna Gadda-da-Vida").

Where it gets confusing is in trying to follow the M/A/P/L guide, as there are obviously no lyrics. But from what I gather (and again, I'm not confirmed on Viner) the breakdown is:
Music: not Can-con
Artist: Can-con
Production: not Can-con
Lyrics: n/a

The other possibility is that the records were produced *in* Canada, and maybe that's what matters.

If anyone else has insight here, I'd appreciate it. I really need to know whether or not hip-hop was invented in Canada, along with reggae (cf. Trooper).

Dream Warriors - My Definition (Of A Boombastic Jazz Style)

and KON KAN - I Beg Your Pardon (I Never Promised You A Rose Garden)

Also, either "I'm a Stranger Here" or "Absolutely Right" by Five Man Electrical Band (but not "Signs").

Can someone recommend a particularly good Buck 65 track? I'm serious about compiling and distributing a CD from some of this list but wouldn't know where to begin with him (them?). Also, Voivod???

(in no particular order, no artist duplicated)

1. Rheostatics - I Fab Thee
2. Tragically Hip - Grace, Too
3. BTO - You Ain't Seen Nothing Yet
4. April Wine - Tonight is a Wonderful Night
5. Maestro Fresh Wes - Let Your Backbone Slide
6. Slow - Have Not Been the Same
7. Diodes - Tired of Waking up Tired
8. TPOH - I'm an Adult Now
9. Sloan - Everything You've Done Wrong
10. Grapes of Wrath - All the Things I Wasn't
11. Red Rider - Power
12. Max Webster - Battle Scar
13. Rush - Spirit of Radio
14. Streetheart - Snow White
15. Harlequin - I Did it for Love
16. Northern Pikes - The Things I Do For Money
17. Loverboy - The Kid is Hot Tonight
18. Shadowy Men on a Shadowy Planet - Having an Average Weekend
19. Young Canadians - Hawaii
20. Lydia Taylor Band - Bitch
21. Kilowatt - Lovers on the Run
22. Honeymoon Suite - New Girl Now
23. Platinum Blonde - It Doesn't Really Matter
24. Glass Tiger - Don't Forget Me When I'm Gone
25. Men Without Hats - Where Do the Boys Go?
26. Doughboys - Fix Me
27. Three O'Clock Train - She Said (Be My Baby)
28. Nils - River of Sadness
29. Guess Who - Fiddlin'
30. Rankin Family - Fare Thee Well Love
31. Ian Thomas - Hold On
32. Queen City Kids - Dance
33. Headpins - Turn it Loud
34. Cowboy Junkies - Misguided Angel
35. Dream Warriors - Wash Your Face in My Sink
36. Pukka Orchestra - Listen to the Radio
37. Jane Siberry - One More Colour
38. Toronto - Your Daddy Don't Know
39. Saga - Catwalk
40. Andrew Cash - Boomtown
41. Sweeney Todd - Roxy Roller
42. Payola$ - China Boys
43. SNFU - She's Not on the Menu
44. Crash Test Dummies - Bereft Man's Song
45. Barenaked Ladies - The Old Apartment
46. Aldo Nova - Fantasy
47. Doucette - Mama Let Him Play
48. Box - L'Affaire Dumoutier
49. Coney Hatch - Girl From Last Night's Dream
50. Rational Youth - No More and No Less
51. Klaatu - Calling Occupants
52. Kickaxe - 30 Days in the Hole
53. Helix - Rock You
54. Ron Sexsmith - Strawberry Blonde
55. Bob Snider - A Love to Call My Own
56. Inbreds - You Will Know
57. Great Big Sea - Mari Mac
58. Bryan Adams - Run to You
59. Haywire - Dance Desire
60. Lee Aaron - Whatcha do to My Body
61. Bruce Cockburn - The Trouble With Normal
62. Active Joy - Colourblind
63. Farm Fresh - Space Pts. I and II
64. Deja Voodoo - Monsters in My Garage
65. Dusty Chaps - Yukon Buddy
66. Stan Rogers - Mary Ellen Carter (Rise Again)
67. 54.40 - One Day In Your Life
68. k.d.lang - Turn Me Round
69. Mary Margaret O'Hara - Year in Song
70. Gordon Lightfoot - Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald
71. Leonard Cohen - Dance me to the End of Love
72. Tricy Woo - Fly the Orient
73. Strange Advance - She Controls Me
74. Blue Peter - Don't Walk Past
75. Weakerthans - Watermark
76. DOA - Disco Sucks
77. Odds - Radios of Heaven
78. Martha and the Muffins - Echo Beach
79. Spoons - Arias and Symphonies
80. National Velvet - Flesh Under Skin
81. Eric's Trip - Allergic to Love
82. Spirit of the West - Political
83. Eight Seconds - Where's Beulah?
84. Blue Rodeo - Til I Am Myself Again
85. Daniel Lanois - The Maker
86. Trooper - Three Dressed Up as a Nine
87. Rough Trade - All Touch
88. Sarah Mclachlan - Steaming
89. Skinny Puppy - Assimilate
90. Chilliwack - My Girl
91. Prism - Armageddon
92. FM - Phasors on Stun
93. Shuffle Demons - Out of My House, Roach
94. Triumph - Lay It On the Line
95. Leyden Zar - Backstreet Girl
96. Jeff Healey - See the Light
97. Paul Janz - I Go to Pieces
98. Mystery Machine - Ride
99. Superfriendz - Karate Man
100. Northern Lights - Tears are Not Enough

I'd replace that one with Tristian Psionic's Red Dots.

You know I'm teasing - I agree with most of it, generally. 100 songs really isn't enough to cover everything good.

Question to all - does Steppenwolf count as Canadian?

But it is Cancon if...
It is an instrumental performance of a musical composition written or composed by a Canadian.
or
It is a performance of a musical composition that a Canadian has composed for instruments only.
In which cases MAPL be dammed.

I found a Watchmen album in there too - I don't even remember buying it! I wonder, is "Stereo" as bad as I remember?

I'd like to note here - not everything I've nominated here equates with my favourite songs by said bands. Especially that Blue Rodeo one. I guess I'm trying to interpret 'classics' at least partially in the context of 'had impact and importance', hence why I feel like I can't ignore something as archetypal as "Try".

Incidentally, last night when I said that "The Flag" was my favourite BNL song I actually meant "Wrap Your Arms Around Me" - blame the beer!

Dind't they?

Track Listing:
1 - Intro
2 - New York City (Demics)
3 - From New York to L.A. (Patsy Gallant)
4 - Africa (Thundermug)
5 - Hollywood (Streetheart)
6 - Get Up, Get Out, Move On (Fludd)
7 - Bye Bye Mon Cowboy (Mitsou)
8 - Nyet Nyet Soviet (BB Gabor)
9 - Je Cherche (Les Lutins)
10 - All the Things I Wasn't (Grapes of Wrath)
11 - Beautiful Second Hand Man (Ginette Reno)
12 - Big Town Boy (Shirley Matthews)
13 - Your Daddy Don't Know (Toronto)
14 - Tonite is a Wonderful Time (April Wine)
15 - Some Sing, Some Dance (Pagliaro)
16 - Sweet Thing (Goddo)
17 - Jack Hammer (Odds)
18 - Anna (Pure)
19 - I Beg Your Pardon (Kon-Kan)
20 - Even Grable (Treble Charger)
21 - Roxy Roller (Sweeney Todd)
22 - Rain Dance (Guess Who)
23 - Trees Lounge theme (Hayden)
24 - Surfin' on Heroin (Forgotten Rebels)

(I used a lot of the suggestions so thanks everyone...there's plenty for a part 2 someday.)

hey, and Chilliwack, Doug and the Slugs, DOA, Plumtree, Cowboy Junkies, Subhumans, Holly Cole, Kashtin...

DOA, Junkies and Subhumans I thought were all mentioned.

(sorry - typing lowercase/one-handed because my cat is asleep on my left arm)

The last Crash Vegas album, Aurora, is absolutely fantastic, though their first two were unremarkable. Find Aurora, though, if you can.

When I was a kid my Dad was good friends them, and they were at our house all the time. They were really nice to me, but they (and all my parents friends) had a problem with accidentally passing alcohol/drugs to children. I really thought they'd faded to obscurity. Well, I guess they have, more or less.

And I still like "No such thing" by Annette Ducharme, "Julian" by Alta Moda and "At the feet of the moon" by the Parachute Club (horrible name, though).

I somehow never realised that Trans-X song was CanCon. It's great though.

1. Sloan - Twice Removed = 4.5
2. Neil Young - Harvest = 4.5
3. Joni Mitchell - Blue = 5
4. Tragically Hip - Up To Here = 4.5
5. Rheostatics - Whale Music = 3 [!!!!!!!!!!!!]
6. Tragiaclly Hip - Fully Completely - 4.5
7. Neil Young - After The Goldrush = 5
8. The Band - Music From The Big Pink = 5
9. Cowboy Junkies - Trinty Sessions = 4.5 [!!]
10. Lowest of the Low - Shakespear My Butt = 2.5 [!!!?!!!]
11. SARAH McLachlan - Fumbling Towards Ecstasy = 4.5
12. Neil Young - Rust Never Sleeps = 5
13. KD Lang - Ingenue = 4
14. Neil Young - Tonight's The Night = 5
15. Rush - Moving Pictures = 4.5
16. Rheostatics - Melvile = 4
17. Slow - Against The Glass = 4.5
18. Sloan - Smeared = 3 [!!!]
19. Leonard Cohen - Im Your Man = 4.5
20. Nomeansno - Wrong = 4.5

Other noteables:
21. Teenage Head - Frantic City = Not reviewed.
28. Doughboys - Whatever = 3
35. Eric's Trip - Love Tara = 3
42. Art Bergmann - Sexual Rolette = Not Even Review.
50. 13 Engines - Perpetual Motion Machine = 3
67. Circle C - S/t = 2
77. Art Bergmann - What Fresh Hell Is This = Not Reviewed
80. Hardsip Post - Somebody Spoke = 3
88. Bob Wiseman - In Her Dream: Bob Wiseman Sings Wrench Tuttle = 3
90. Art Bergmann - Crawl With Me = Not reviewed
94. Art Bergmann - S/t = Not Reviewed
98. Pluto - Cool Way to Feel = Not even a release date.

1. Bootsauce "Everyone's A Winner"
It seems a touch disingenuous to declare a Hot Chocolate cover the worst Canadian song ever, but the damn thing won a Best Dance Recording Juno in '92, so if the good Juno folks can honour it, we can surely provide our own special salutation as well.

2. Alannah Myles "Black Velvet"
A favourite amongst women who try too hard to be sexy and ultimately look like twats.

3. Crash Test Dummies "Mmm Mmm Mmm Mmm"
Brad Robert's tale, sung in his obnoxious bass vocals will only get him one thing, a place on this list.

4. Barenaked Ladies "One Week"
The chorus is bad enough, but BNL really embarrass themselves with that stupid rap. "I summon fish to the dish, although I like the Chalet Swiss?" Please.

5. Loverboy "Lovin' Every Minute Of It"
This song was so carefully calculated to appeal to the broadest range of vanilla heshers, its transparency couldn't help but backfire on the band.

Can-Pop classic: The Bells' "Stay Awhile". Dunno if Ned's familiar w/this song (it hit #7 in the U.S. in '71), but I can't describe how madly I would LOVE to hear MBV cover this song! It would shatter the heavens.

This song always reminds me of Twin Peaks.

Also I know it risks disqualification for still getting play on The Edge, but Killjoys "Today I Hate Everyone" is pretty classic pop IMHO.

[That wasn't poetic licence. Those were my actual thought processes as I typed.)

This is a timely revival because just yesterday on the Celine Dion thread I ranked Celine above BNL and Crash Test Dummies.

The moment it reaches her face is the ugliest moment in music video history.

As for the Bootsauce, mercifully I do not remember any of their other songs at all. This means that it was just the ONE horrible song that caused such trauma to my psyche - hence it is deserving.

Re: the Loverboy one also deserving its dishonour, all I'm gonna say is that 2-4 don't have washed up Three's Company actresses tarting themsleves around in their videos, now do they? And don't go trying the "but that's what made it!" line. This isn't 1997 you know.

Keep you language clean eh.

Just one comment for now.

I remember Bootsauce "Every One's A Winner" was not written by them.
It's was done by another artist. So I don't think that should be listed.

Stop The Music - Body Electric
West Coast Woman - Painter
Alaskan Shuffle - Bongo Fury
Dunrobin's Gone - Brave Belt
Peaceman's Farm - Noah

wow... not only had i totally forgotten this song existed (i remember hearing it on the radio a lot?) but i had no idea it was by Christopher Ward.

"So Long Baby Jane"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-A4WOUJs3kY

"I'm AN Adult Now" I mean... gah!

In one of those "we're in Canada now!" moments, this song came on the radio when I was approaching the Canadian border a week ago. It always frustrates me because I feel like it's supposed to say something either funny or insightful about aging and maturing but it never does. I still like "Hard to Laugh", though.

Just In Case You Wonder The Ugly Ducklings
Shadows of Your Mind The Plastic Cloud
Going To the City Bent Wind

Somehow I never knew this was Canadian. I had assumed it was by a California psychedelic band. According to Allmusic, it was a huge hit in Japan!

Yeah, I came across that song via that Oh! What a Feeling Juno compilation from the mid 90s.

tpoh

I played Love Junk on Spotify yesterday, feeling nostalgic for the singles. It has its moments for straight-ahead pop-rock, apparently. Produced by Rundgren! I only just got what the chorus of "Hard to Laugh" was probably describing:

Hard to laugh, when you know that she's been cheating
Had her hands around him and she's been giving it a beating

In my defence, I was 9 when it was released.

Had an urge to hear some Leslie Spit Treeo--a fabulous Toronto folky alt.rock band from the 90s--this afternoon, but my CDs are currently in another city, and I though there was no way I was going to find them streaming anywhere. Surprise, surprise--their debut album, Don't Cry Too Hard (1990), is actually on Apple Music. Not my very favourite album of theirs--that would be 1996's sprawling 2CD masterwork Chocolate Chip Cookies (also their final album)--but they never made a bad record in their brief career. Two album highlights, both on YouTube, are the expansive "UFO" and--sadly, timely--their raucous cover of John Prine's "Angel From Montgomery."

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E3Pb-5dWSn8

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eGbFD5dZbWY

I was going to add Bourben Tabernacle Choir and The Rheostatics cover of Everybody Knows This Is Nowhere but wanted to see how long we could stay Neiless.

Spoon, I'm So Green, Moonshake, I Want More, Half Past One, Mushroom...uhh maybe some others?? love this band but I don't think I could name 100 songs by them period

Didn't realize this thread was started by my friend...So yes, this could be the nominating thread when the time comes for the poll. I'll try to get a mod to modify the title.

i'm already curating a list in my head

I contributed a list to this book a few years ago:

https://i.cbc.ca/1.2070846.1381901652!/httpImage/image.jpg_gen/derivatives/original_1180/top-100-singles-cover.jpg

Here's the full list of 100 songs:

https://www.thestar.com/entertainment/music/2010/10/02/the_whole_100single_list.html

I'm guessing I probably have no use for at least half the list, but it's a starting point.

They really tied themselves in knots making the list "singles only", since the only place "Hallelujah" was released as a single was in France, as a b-side, which is where it made approximately 0% of its impact as a song. The 100 Canadian albums book introduced me to Harmonium at least.

I like that they've got Teenage Head and the Demics and the Ugly Ducklings on there; no Haunted, though.

Wow, 20 years ago ilx (and probably irl) me was annoying. I stand by some of my nominations though.

Kim! Hope you vote.

Motion to have The Kings' "This Beat Goes On / Switchin' to Glide" counted as a single track? The only time I've ever heard them separated is the latter's appearance on Rhino's Just Can't Get Enough series (the Mersereau lists it correctly).

I think they're treated as one song on the radio, no?

Yeah. Only mentioned because I saw "Switchin' to Glide" listed by itself way upthread (actually, it was listed as "slip into glide" but someone immediately corrected that).

In the next few days, I'll start inputting songs mentioned here and songs from the Star list into a spreadsheet. To get a link to the spreadsheet at the top of the thread, though, I'll have to start a new thread.

NOW did a Canadian list 15 years ago or thereabouts, but I can't remember if it was albums or songs--albums, probably.

Another list:

https://indie88.com/the-top-150-canadian-songs-of-all-time/

I hope no one here is Alan Cross, because I want to say "God, I think that's Alan Cross's station."

I hope no one here is Alan Cross either.

I'll outline this later, but the qualifying criterion will be simple: either you were born in Canada or you weren't. Doesn't matter if you moved to L.A. when you were six months old and struck it rich there later in life, or if you were born in New York and left for Nova Scotia to do the same (the story of approximately no one). Neil Young is Canadian, Ronnie Hawkins is not. And it's the performer of the song--no complicated Cancon loopholes for producer/songwriter/whatever.

Bands are trickier. What do prospective voters think? If half or more of the band are Canadian, that counts?

Is half or more of The Band Canadian?

Will it go round in circles...4/5, I think--easy call.

Sorry, I'm being a smartass. I say that rule works.

I'm a lot more likely to vote for Skip Spence than K'naan, but some people might not like to see immigrants sidelined.

Sorry if it sounds like I'm trying to put a stick in the spokes every time you make a decision.

Skip Spence qualifies--born in Windsor (actually didn't know that till right now). So...I'm missing the problem there.

you all remember this, right:

https://www.ajournalofmusicalthings.com/wp-content/uploads/mapl1.png?ezimgfmt=ng%3Awebp%2Fngcb1%2Frs%3Adevice%2Frscb1-1

Isn't it still in effect?

https://crtc.gc.ca/eng/info_sht/r1.htm

It seems antiquated in an internet world, but I don't make music for a living; my friend at SOCAN says it's still necessary.

I was slightly acquainted with your friend, don't know if he would remember me.

There were a few funny stories about the MAPL designation, like Bootsauce pretending they recorded their album at a non-existent Canadian studio rather than one in the States so that their Hot Chocolate cover would qualify.

Send me board email, Halfway, I'll let Howard know.

God, Bootsauce--did I ever loathe them. Our own Red Hot Chili Peppers, but (somehow) exponentially worse.

I thought this thread was going to be about songs that sample the sound of cans being popped opened.

I might open the poll up to that interpretation, just so I can vote for Basehead's "Ode to My Favorite Beer."

Also "The Beer Hunter" by Bob and Doug McKenzie fits both definitions.

I think I just stumbled onto the patron saint of this poll: Dave Madden, who played Ruben Kincaid on The Partridge Family. If I ever did I know he was Canadian--born in Sarnia--I'd completely forgotten.

Will get this up and running in a week or two, once they're counting down the country poll. I thought I was finished working for the year, but at the last minute the union bumped my supply-teaching ceiling to 95 days again. Gifted multi-tasker that I am, I'll still go forward; it may mean, when it comes time for the results, that they won't be posted on consecutive days. Should be okay otherwise.

You're going to have to have the results vetted by one of your classes.

Only if we relocate to whatever social-media site they're using now. (I won't even say TikTok, which I assume is yesterday's news.)

I should mention that I'll be invoking the Mel Brooks Rule for the poll, meaning that everyone from all corners of the world is encouraged to participate, but making fun of Canadians or Canada will only be permitted if you're Canadian yourself and can produce, on request, official documentation. Anyone not in compliance will be expelled.

oh shi

j/k i would never