12. Gordon Lightfoot: Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald
Singer/Songwriter Lightfoot's career stretches back to 1966, when he gained his first recognition for writing "For Lovin' Me" and "Early Morning Rain", both hits for Peter, Paul, and Mary, and "Ribbon of Darkness", a country hit for Marty Robbins. His own career took off in 1970 with the mega hit "If You Could Read My Mind", and he continued to strike gold through the late 70's, but his star faded quickly, hastened by a drinking problem that curtailed his 1980's output. "Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald" stands as his greatest hit; a spine chilling story-song based upon the true sinking of a freighter in Lake Superior. Lightfoot's career resurrected somewhat in the late 90's; his most recent album came out in 2004.
13. Bryan Adams: Run To You
Bryan Adams was one of the best selling names in pop/AOR in the 1980's, reaching an enormous audience with his #1 album Reckless in 1984, and subsequent releases. From Kingston, Ontario, he was the son of British parents; his middle name is "Guy" after Guy Fawkes. His career began at the age of 17 as vocalist in a band called Sweeney Todd and actually entered the U.S. charts at #99 with "Roxy Roller" in 1976, he remained for one more album in 1977, before quitting. He made the charts again in 1979 with a song written with his songwriting partner Jim Vallance, a disco track called "Let Me take You Dancing", which peaked at #22; he has disowned the song, which was released without his permission. His rock breakthrough came with his second solo album proper, Cuts Like A Knife in 1983. Never a critics' favorite, "Run To You" was one of his biggest and best hits.
14. Blue Rodeo: Til I Am Myself Again
Blue Rodeo is Canada's greatest roots-rock band, mixing up a convincing brew of The Band, Bob Dylan, and Gram Parsons, and filtering it through a late-period Beatles sensibility. Formed in Toronto by high school friends Jim Cuddy and Greg Keelor, the band debuted in 1987 with Outskirts, which was a smash hit in Canada. The band has never managed to break through in America, although their 1991 release, Casino, came closest, garnering considerable critical notice. The band remains popular in Canada to this day; their most recent album was released in 2005.
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?