You Could Get Lost Out Here: the ILM Canadian Pop Music Results Thread

Maybe I should gone for the euphonious pairing of "Kaputt" and Kawhi...I don't know anything about Destroyer. I think I thought they were heavy metal till listening to this. The Kon Kan song is fantastic. That and "Steal My Sunshine" and "Drinking in L.A." go together in my mind because of their famous samples.

The best thing about this poll for me was reminding me that "I Beg Your Pardon" exists, an almost perfect slice of peak new wave, a song I somehow always seem to have in my head even when I'm not consciously thinking about it

When I was at CIUT in the late '80s (the University of Toronto station), I think Barry Harris--Kon Kan, basically--had a show there, although he may have given it up during that window to focus on making music.

https://phildellio.tripod.com/16-craving.jpg

16. "Constant Craving" (1992)
k.d. lang
63 points/6 votes
video

Too low!

*checks ballot*

oops

same

Which one of the Seven is the guy looking down at his cell phone?

really glad to see that track make it.

https://phildellio.tripod.com/15-cortez.jpg

15. "Cortez the Killer" (1975)
Neil Young & Crazy Horse
70 points/5 votes/one #1 vote
video

If you're thinking "nothing but Neil Young and Joni Mitchell the rest of the way," no, not at all. They're there, but I think only three more between the two of them.

this was my number one. favorite neil, who is my favorite songwriter of any nationality

I didn't expect my Joni and Neil votes to find consensus, so I'm just here for anything.

That's the way it worked--they each had a number of songs on one or two ballots. The most surprising omission in the Top 40 also fell prey to that.

I probably should have voted for kd

Going by strict album credits for Neil. "Like a Hurricane," just his name on the cover; "Powderfinger," Neil Young & Crazy Horse on the cover.

Can't remember offhand if my Neil vote went to "Cortez" or "Powderfinger," but happy to see this make it either way.

Oops...I meant "Cortez." (And preemptively jumped the gun...not close to #1, though.)

I voted for the Spoons and "Expecting to Fly", but "Cortez the Killer" probably wouldn't even make my top 40 Neil Young songs.

Didn't that Kon Kan thing originally have a much more extensive sample than what's in the video you posted?

when's this song gonna show up, eh?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Jm4LoOaAWI

(xpost) Possibly, probably. I have the 45, I'll check that if I get ambitious.

https://phildellio.tripod.com/14-summer.jpg

14. "Summer of '69" (1984)
Bryan Adams
71 points/4 votes
video

The photo is probably spring of '69.

Run To You > Summer of 69 in every way

I like "Summer of '69," but I'll quote another Christgau putdown I like: "Maybe I'll let Bruce Springsteen teach me how to hear John Cougar Mellencamp, but damned if I'm going to let John Cougar Mellencamp teach me how to hear Bryan Adams." This and "Boys of Summer" must have come out pretty close to each other--was thinking how similar they are and, ultimately, how they're complete opposites.

I deeply love the Reckless album. It's been in semi-regular rotation since I was 12, but I've never heard what other people hear in Summer of 69. ¯⁠\⁠(⁠ツ⁠)/⁠¯

Put out an album in 2022; I don't know what kind of station would play new music from him now, but I didn't hear anything. I remember he got into a bit of trouble a few years ago for something he said or tweeted.

https://phildellio.tripod.com/13-help.jpg

13. "Help Me" (1974)
Joni Mitchell
71 points/5 votes
video

Oh hey, this was my Joni vote!

xps I think he was an anti-masker

The photo there is of Rochdale College, Toronto's infamous experimental post-secondary institution in the late '60s/early '70s. Ambitious and idealistic start, in the end more or less what you see in the photo. There's a really good documentary, Dream Tower, if you're interested--not on YouTube, maybe on Kanopy.

Checked, and it did have to do with the pandemic, but it was this (he may have been anti-mask too).

https://www.nbcnews.com/pop-culture/pop-culture-news/singer-bryan-adams-slammed-racist-post-blaming-bat-eating-people-n1205166

Oof yeah that's bad

xp On Monday, he wrote: "Thanks to some bat eating, wet market animal selling, virus making greedy expletives, the whole world is now on hold."

lol at his response: "No excuse, I just wanted to have a rant about the horrible animal cruelty in these wet markets being the possible source of the virus, and promote veganism."

https://phildellio.tripod.com/12-dixie.jpg

12. "The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down" (1969)
The Band
73 points/7 votes
video

Nooooo! I was doing so well.

https://phildellio.tripod.com/12-dixie.jpg

12. "The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down" (1969)
The Band
73 points/7 votes
video

I just needed to fix the tag, didn't need to repost...I've used a couple of images from terrible moments in Canadian history, trying to match them up with suitable songs. That would be one.

"Help Me" was my Joni vote too; not quite my favourite, but certainly it or "Free Man in Paris" (and "Both Sides Now" done by Judy Collins) were the first that I heard, and much more present in the culture at the time than her other songs that have increased in popularity more recently.

I think I prefer Judy Collins' hit version (which I would have heard first)--definitely after Mad Men. Corny but true: I played it over the school P.A. once on the last day for a retiring E.A. at our school, and found one of the other E.A.s (who'd had some tragedy in her life) in tears.

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11. "Lunatic Fringe" (1981)
Red Rider
75 points/4 votes/one #1 vote
video

I was right; Moranis is not in that photo. I think he maybe came in second or third season, followed by Martin Short...Only link to the actual Red Rider video; the sound is a little low.

As a US voter I may be part of the problem but "For What It's Worth," "Summer of '69," and "The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down" all feel very American to me as Canadian songs go (though I voted only for the first of these)

Anyway, a placement this high for "Summer of '69" presumably means the far superior "Cuts Like a Knife" isn't making the list

There's my #1!

I keep thinking about this too...The thing is, all I did was make "For What It's Worth" eligible; people still had to vote for it. It's like all the arguments you get on nominating threads for film-genre polls. You can say every film ever is a comedy; it doesn't matter if no one votes for it. I didn't for "For What It's Worth" myself--I voted for a different Buffalo Springfield song that I knew wouldn't get any other votes--but four people did decide the song was both good enough and Canadian enough to list it. I could have said Angel Haze's "Echelon" is Canadian because it mentions Toronto, but it wouldn't have mattered, it's not like anybody would have voted for it. (Does that make sense?)

On to the Top 10.

When I was young and didn't know who anyone was, I got confused when the dj was back naming the tracks in a segment and I thought this was a Pink Floyd song for a long time.

https://phildellio.tripod.com/10-powderfinger.jpg

10. "Powederfinger" (1979)
Neil Young & Crazy Horse
77 points/6 votes
video

Can anyone identify the photo? Another grim one.