“Must-Know” Canadian Tunes?

The two weddings that I’ve attended with Wendy have both been for
Canadians of my generation, which meant that the DJ played Spirit of the West’s Home for a Rest (a song where they managed to beat The Pogues on their own turf) and a couple of
big hits that she didn’t recognize. I’ve decided to give her a hand by
making her a mixed CD of the essential Canadian rock and pop tunes for
people out age (specifically people who went to high school in the
mid-to-late eighties and university in the late eighties to
mid-nineties).

So far, I’ve come up with:

I need more songs! If you have any suggestions, please let me know in the comments. Some guidelines:

  • The
    songs should have been hits only within the borders of Canada, or even
    my area of Canada (Ontario/Quebec). There’s no point in putting Tom
    Cochrane’s Life is a Highway or Bryan Adams’ Summer of ’69 on this CD;
    the point is to give her music that’s new to her.
  • The term
    “hit” is relative. It the song had a cult following in my neck of the
    woods (say, a hit in the Ontario/Quebec university zone in the early
    90s but unknown in New England), it counts.
  • More than one song by the same artist is okay.

Oh, and could someone tell me if the Dream WarriorsMy Definition of a Boombastic Jazz Style was or wasn’t a hit in the Excited States? It did well here in Ontario and was also a minor club hit in the UK.

Your suggestions, please…

Joey deVilla

View Comments

  • How about:
    Love Monkey Number 9 - Bootsauce
    Political - Spirit of the West
    Anything that was a hit by Great Big Sea
    I don't know if anything by King Apparatus or Me, Mom, and Morgentaler was a hit in Canada, but those are also good choices.
    I Go Blind - 54/40 (so she can hear it in the original form)
    Alternatively, Baby Ran, or One Gun
    New Orleans is Sinking - Tragically Hip
    -- Lara

  • For a retro-80s element, there's The Spoons (Romantic Traffic, Nova Heart) or Gowan (Criminal Mind). I don't know that either of those bands ever did especially well in the US...
    - Stacy (lj OrKillMe)

  • Teenland or similar by the Northern Pikes.
    I love Me Mom & Morgentaler but I don't think they had that big a following outside Montreal - at least, they never made the radio which I think would be a prerequisite for this list.
    Great Big Sea, definitely.
    Oh, Gowan! Yes! He was amazing live, simply incredible.
    Luba - Everytime I see Your Picture I Cry.

  • Scratch the not-on-the-radio comment, I missed the "cult following" comment in the pre-reqs.
    Heloise and I Don't Want to be Your Friend from MM&M, then.
    I'll have to go home and root through my cassette tapes for more.

  • Ah, I Go Blind. It's very funny how the original version by 54-50 is virtually unknown in the US, and how Hootie and the Blowfish's cover is virtually unplayed here.
    I'm counting Great Big Sea, King Apparatus and the Me Moms as hitmakers. They were hits in the university circuit.

  • Your Friend by the Me Moms! I have a story about that song. When they played at Clark Hall Pub in Crazy Go Nuts University back in 1991, lead vocalist "Nasty Gus" dedicated the song to his true love, Molly Ringwald. We hung out after the show, discussing our obsession with The Molly over several beers.

  • How about 'Beat goes On.. Switchin' to Glide' by the Kings
    'Bump up ahead' by David Wilcox
    'Too Bad' by Doug and the Slugs
    'Go Crazy' by the Villains
    'L' Affaire Dumoutier (Say to Me)' by The Box
    'Echo Beach' by Martha and the Muffins
    'Five Good Reasons' by King Apparatus
    'Mimi on the Beach' by Jane Siberry

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