Happy Canada Day!
It’s Canada Day, which is a pretty big deal for a half-Canadian like myself. To celebrate, I’m going to put on a toque, drop some loonies and toonies on some back bacon, and compile a list of my favorite Canadians artists. So take a listen, or take off, eh?
Tiny Strings’ Ultimate Canadian Playlist
9. The Guess Who – “No Sugar Tonight/New Mother Nature”
8. Black Mountain – “Bright Lights”
7. Metric – “Monster Hospital”
5. Tegan and Sara – “The Con”
4. The Band – “Up On Cripple Creek”
3. The Tragically Hip – “Grace, Too”
2. Rush – “Limelight”
1. Neil Young – “Helpless”
11 Comments
Nice list. I wonder if this was the first Can-Con hit?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PRffQSTXt34
Wow, awesome, I wouldn’t have guessed you for an Our Lady Peace fan. Their best album (in my opinion) is “Happiness is Not a Fish You Can Catch.” I love “Thief.”
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kg9×1ZCDaWw
wow, good one Brent. to be honest I had no idea that half these bands were canadian. I may never hear their music the same again.
Brent….
…..I know both Rush and The Guess Who benefited from the Canadian Content laws governing radio up north, (and Neil helped Canadian radio by being born in Toronto) but do you know if the other bands you mentioned may have gained some measure of airplay (thus exposure) because they’re Canadian?
To be honest, Doug, I didn’t know anything about the Can-Con laws before you mentioned it. But after reading up on it, I think a few of the artists I listed have benefited from it.
The Tragically Hip is HUGE in Canada and almost completely ignored in America, probably because the States already have R.E.M. and Pearl Jam. When they played Sasquatch a few years ago, I remember being confused as to who they were. But when they came on, a horde of Canadians started freaking out like it was 1970 and the Stones had just showed up.
Sum 41 gained popularity on MuchMusic (Canada’s MTV) during the big pop-punk boom of the late 90s, but they didn’t break in America until an album later. The much-maligned pseudo-grungers Nickelback also broke in Canada an album before they hit it big here.
Our Lady Peace is another MuchMusic darling, as they were basically the country’s main alternative rock band in the mid/late 90s. OLP had some minor hits in the States, but the US treats them like one-hit wonders.
Every time I visit family in Canada I hear bands that never get airplay down here (Billy Talent, Thornley, and the Matthew Good Band to name a few), and now it all makes sense as to why. It’s an interesting law, but I think its intentions are in the right place.
I blogged about it a couple of months ago. There for a while after it first became law, it nearly destroyed a number of Canadian Top-40 radio stations…..
It’s funny, since yesterday I’ve been on a big Bob & Doug McKenzie kick, and it turns out that was created because the CBC needed two more minutes for the Canadian version of SCTV, and they requested decidedly Canadian content. So to make fun of the ridiculous request, Dave Thomas and Rick Moranis parodied Canadians stereotypes. The rest, as they say, is history.
BTW, their Great White North album is definitely my favorite comedy record. Classic stuff. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ot70G4wSQi0
Oh… you make a Canadian mum proud!!
Take off you hoser!!!
No Barenaked Ladies??? Or is it true that they are only popular in Detroit. To me, Rush is just another example of why power trios should be made illegal (see ELP). I related this story to Doug recently about Can-Con laws. This is what made Alice Cooper famous by accident. I’m Eighteen was produced by Bob Ezrin and CKLW (falsely believed) that his being from Toronto would make the song fall into Can-Con compliance. By the time they found out it didn’t, the song was way too popular to pull. I’m not too sure about The Guess Who. I thought they were pre-Can Con. Can-Con laws have resulted in some rather intresting Neil airplay here. I still wonder just how much time got filled when the A3 station here played “Ordinary People.”
I still don’t understand the hate Rush gets. Sure, their music is a tad pretentious (it IS prog rock, after all), but they’re so dorky I find it all endearing. And don’t even try and tell me “YYZ” and “2112 Overture” aren’t totally awesome.
As for the Barenaked Ladies, I really don’t consider them anything more than Top 40 pop nuggets. There’s a reason I didn’t include them, Nickelback, Bryan Adams or *shudder* Shania Twain on the list. Oh, and just in case anyone was curious, Celine Dion wasn’t eligible for the list. She’s French Canadian, not Canadian. Big difference.
you had me at sum 41! tho that is my face tegan and sara song too!