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

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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.

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

Can anyone identify the photo? Another grim one.

Typo...

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

Neil seemingly deeply influenced by the Replacements' video artistry.

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9. "Aside" (2000)
Weakerthans
86 points/4 votes/two #1 votes
video

powderfinger was my second neil vote. tried to keep to one song per artist, but for neil, the band, and joni, i just could not.

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9. "Aside" (2000)
Weakerthans
86 points/4 votes/two #1 votes
video

Sigh...will be seeking the help of a benevolent moderator later on.

Love this pic clemenza

I've heard the Weakerthans' name for a number of years, but this is the first time I've actually listened to them. I always read their name as the Weatherkans...That's Toronto's CNE, center of any kids' universe in the '70s. Then Paramount's Wonderland came along in the '80s, and it's been dying ever since (and maybe officially gone after COVID, not sure).

"Aside" was the only song with two (clear, unmistakable) #1 votes.

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8. "Drinking in L.A." (1997)
Bran Van 3000
87 points/8 votes
video

there was a CNE last year

Marshall McLuhan thought that Bran Van 3000 "invested our lives with artificial perceptions and arbitrary values," but they did well anyway.

Good to hear. Think it's been on the brink of folding a couple of times.

I’m happy other people voted for Nova Heart! Arias is exceptional too, but something about Nova is just magic. I gave Bryan Adams a miss, but if I had to pick one it’d be Heaven. Pure cheese, but ballads do have their place and it’s a bit of an epic one. I am also of the age where that song takes me right back to school dances, much music watching, and that’s genuinely affecting.

You're in the J.D./Erica Zone, Kim.

Glad to see "I Beg Your Pardon" (did anyone else think it was New Order when they first heard it?) and "Nova Heart" make it, as I had to cut them from my ballot. I did vote for "Kaputt" though. I still think that whole album is excellent.

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7. "A Case of You" (1971)
Joni Mitchell
100 points/7 votes/one #1 vote
video

I totally thought "I Beg Your Pardon" was New Order till finding out otherwise.

Oh yeah, I can’t deny that! Thank god there was also Brent Bambury.

Answering my own questions: the "Powderfinger" photo is the crime scene from Lynne Harper's murder (the Steven Truscott case); way up above, the Arcade Fire image is from The Ernie Game, a Don Owens film.

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6. "You Oughta Know" (1995)
Alanis Morissette
102 points/8 votes
video

Fingernails on a blackboard for me... (Not all her songs; that one, though.)

"Powderfinger" is my one placement so far from today. It was in the top tier of my votes.

I can understand why Buffalo Springfield and the Band seem American but what is American about "Summer of 69"? Both writers are Canadian and the "five and dime" referenced an Ottawa store. I'd just as soon say it's very Indian for a Canadian song, given that it's practically a second national anthem there.

Unimpeachable, still towers above the landscape of '90s hits

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5. "Steal My Sunshine" (1999)
Len
123 points/11 votes
video

"Steal My Sunshine" holds up so well, I think. Did they ever make another record? They must have.

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4. "Mass Romantic" (2000)
New Pornographers
127 points/10 votes
video

I guess they never made an actual video for this.

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3. "Call Me Maybe" (2011)
Carly Rae Jepsen
133 points/13 votes
video

Three of my votes in a row. I didn't know "Steal my Sunshine" had legs on ILX, I thought it was just me who thought this held up!

xp now four of my votes in a row! I am ILX's most typical Canadian it seems.

I said I'd be Toronto-centric, but that's (arguably) three Montreal images in a row.

You may be eligible for some kind of extended visa or something.

I'm not the biggest poptimist but martial law seems a little excessive for this.

I like "Call Me Maybe"; think I might like Avril Lavigne's "Complicated" more or less as much.

Wasn't thinking of that at all; just used it for the iconic status of the interview.

I voted for "Lunatic Fringe", it can stand as a proxy for the other early 80s minor key "gritty" rockers we won't see, like the Payola$, Saga and the aforementioned Aldo Nova.

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2. "Echo Beach" (1980)
Martha & the Muffins
158 points/14 votes
video

Hi, I’m sure I put Bran Van 3000 at number one. Just checking it wasn’t missed.

"Aside" was the only song with two (clear, unmistakable) #1 votes.

I was one. Anyone want to claim the other?

Not number one, but the only song with 14 votes, almost half...was surprised.

I saw so many key Toronto punk/new-wave bands in and around 1980, but I don't think I saw Martha & the Muffins. Always had a bit of a crush on the Martha who sings "Echo Beach." (Saying "the Martha" reminds me of The Handmaid's Tale.)

(xpost) Right...Your songs were numbered, but no points were assigned. So I gave everything 10 points, but didn't count that as #1 (explained above).

Just like to tell (or remind) everyone who voted for "Echo Beach" that the entire Metro Music album is great, they're far from a one-hit wonder.

I was hoping to get a good Sunnyside photo circa 1980, but I settled for Cherry Beach (which I don't think I ever set foot on in 40 years of living in Toronto).