3. Cowboy Junkies: Sweet Jane
Cowboy Junkies blended traditional country, western, and folk with slow, hazy melodies and tempoes that bore some similarities with the Velvet Underground. Guitarist/songwriter Michael Timmins and bassist Alan Anton had played together in a band called the Hunger Project, based in Toronto as well as a U.K. based experimental band called Germinal. Returning to Toronto, they formed Cowboy Junkies in 1985 with Timmins' sister Margo on vocals, and his brother Peter on drums. Their first album was a lo-fi homemade affair; their 1988 album The Trinity Sessions, recorded in a single night inside Holy Trinity Church, cast them into the public eye at large. "Sweet Jane" a Velvet Underground cover with a missing verse restored, was chosen as the single in America, where it reached #5 on the Modern Rock chart; The Trinity Sessions peaked at #26 on the album chart.
4. Barenaked Ladies: One Week
Barenaked Ladies from Toronto are something of a novelty pop act; best known in America for their enormous but atypical #1 hit "One Week" in 1998, the band have been cult favorites since 1994. Formed by childhood friends Ed Robertson and Steven Page in the wake of a Bob Dylan show, in which a line about 'barenaked ladies' cracked them up, they debuted with a home recording in 1991, The Yellow Tape. Written off by critics as a novelty group, the album surprised many by becoming the first indie release to go platinum in Canada. The mayor of Toronto was ired by their name, and prevented them from playing a gig in 1992, but the band's swelling popularity couldn't keep them down; they became college favorites in America through the 90's.
5. Max Webster: Lip Service
Max Webster (a band name, not an individual) is definitely not a household name in America, where they failed to chart a single or album. However, they did maintain a large cult following in Canada throughout the 1970's. Max Webster's sound derived from the hard rock approach of vocalist/guitarist Kim Mitchell and the more melodic style of vocalist/keyboardist Terry Watkinson; the band played a mix of hard rock, prog rock, and metal that is fairly difficult to classify. Mutiny Up My Sleeve is their most successful album, featuring a vaguely Frank Zappa-esque approach to the music; the leadoff cut "Lip Service" is a good stage setter.
Article comments
— go to most recent comments1 - Mary K. Williams
Thanks for sharing the history (and geography!) behind some of the most popular songs and musicians of the last 50 years or so.
2 - Chas
These two came to mind:
Doug and the Slugs - Real Enough
Jane Siberry - Mimi on the Beach
3 - Chas
one more:
Martha and the Muffins - Echo Beach
4 - Paul Roy
Glad to see Rush at the top of this pretty comprehensive list of Cunucks, but you completely forgot Triumph.
5 - Cdn Cowboy
The Rheostatics are sorely missing from this list. They have produced the most "Canadian" music of every band you have listed.
6 - Aaman
What - no Celine Dion? May your iceberg melt!
7 - Victor Plenty
Yeah, no Celine Dion and no William Shatner either.
8 - El Bicho
How can you have no Neil Young on this list??
9 - uao
I left Neil Young off the list because he's been California based since the Buffalo Springfield days; I also left off Joni Mitchell for the same reason.
I also didn't include Alanis Morissette, although I probably should have.
Triumph would have been a good inclusion; I forgot Martha and the Muffins, and never heard any of Jane Siberry and Doug and the Slugs' stuff.
Sorry to the Celine Dion fans. Glad I'm not on an iceberg...
10 - EZ
And Sloan! Where's the Sloan??
11 - yyzyy
Rush is the best pick to be #1. But no Triumph? Or Saga?
But Rush...definetely a #1 in my books!
12 - Mark Saleski
Trooper - Raise A Little Hell
13 - Mark Saleski
Loverboy - Working For The Weekend
(sorry, it needed to be said)
14 - Mark Saleski
Saga - On The Loose
15 - uao
Thanks for the suggestions Mark, and everyone else.
Fact is, this list could be double its length, and I'm sure some deserving artists would be left out. I always cut my lists at twenty; otherwise, I'd never get any sleep at all...
;-)
However, for those who were hoping to find an exhaustively conclusive list of Canadian artists, here it is!
16 - Phil
Wow. Good picks...Rush is perfect at #1 even though i am biased b.c rush is my fav band....but ya arcade fire....i heard of em through my gf and they arent to shabby.. glad to see them up there!
17 - BADfan
how is it possible Bryan Adams is so low on the list? He's one of the (read THE) greatest Canadian musicians!
And where is Shania Twain?
this aint a good list!
18 - eEL
SKINNY PUPPY info is incorrrect ::
"Keyboardist Wilhelm Schroeder joined up in 1985"
it was Dwayne R. Goettel who joined up after the 1985 tour and "added dimension"... Bill Leeb didn't even know how to play a keyboard when he joined PUPPY, let alone "added dimension"...
19 - uao
Sorry, eEl, I morphed Schroeder and Goettel into the same guy--
Schroeder DID join in 85 and appeared on the Bites disc, but then Goettel replaced him.
Goettel is the one who had the impact.
Thanks for the correction.
20 - RockGeezer
Thanks for being one of the few to mention Max Webster.
They remain one of my all-time favorite groups (I'm also a big Rush fan) to this day. Don't think I'll ever get sick of listening to them!
21 - yvonne
Bryan Adams middle name is Guy..not Fawkes.
22 - uao
Thanks yvonne, that was just retarded typing on my part, I fixed it.
RockGeezer: I had never heard of Max Webster until a few years ago when a Canadian turned me on to them. They deserved a bigger audience
23 - Rob
Thanks for including Blue Rodeo on your list. They're one of Canada's gems. It was also nice to see Max Webster on there. I always thought they never got the respect they were due and were always forced to take a back seat to Rush by their record label. Kim Mitchell did go on to have a successful solo career in Canada and is now hosting the afternoon show on Q107 in Toronto.
24 - Gareth edwards
What an eclectic list. Some great sounds.
I also liked the Headpins, Toronto and Boys Brigade.
Gareth
25 - Tube
Uao, great post. No Sarah McLachlan?