50 All-time Canadian Songs....??.....

[audiobill]

Our Canadian Broadcasting Station, CBC, just recently posted results of a Canada-wide contest for Canadians to select their all-time favourite 50 Canadian songs.

I thought I'd post the list for everyone to peruse at RaveRecs.

So............ What has been ignorantly left off of the list?? You do not have to be a Canadian to respond, hey.

Also, What are some surprises??

I'm sure some recently discussed bands from up North are glaringly missing in action.

What DO U Think??


The List

The 50 Tracks' List
1. ‘Four Strong Winds' by Ian and Sylvia (1963)
(3850) 4%


2. ‘If I had $1000000” by the Barenaked Ladies (1992)
(3814) 4%


3. ‘Heart of Gold' by Neil Young (1971)
(3761) 4%


4. ‘Northwest Passage' by Stan Rogers (1981)
(3598) 4%


5. ‘American Woman' by The Guess Who (1970)
(3531) 4%


6. ‘Canadian Railroad Trilogy' by Gordon Lightfoot (1967)
(3397) 3%


7. ‘Both Sides Now' by Joni Mitchell (1969)
(3105) 3%


8. ‘Suzanne' by Leonard Cohen (1967)
(3067) 3%


9. ‘Big Yellow Taxi' by Joni Mitchell (1970)
(2998) 3%


10. ‘Early Morning Rain' by Gordon Lightfoot (1966)
(2798) 3%


11. ‘Lovers in a Dangerous Time' by Bruce Cockburn (1984)
(2782) 3%


12. ‘The Hockey Song' by Stompin' Tom Connors (1973)
(2701) 3%


13. ‘Life is a Highway' by Tom Cochrane (1991)
(2586) 3%


14. ‘Try' by Blue Rodeo (1987)
(2581) 3%


15. ‘The Weight' by The Band (1968)
(2553) 3%


16. ‘New Orleans is Sinking” by The Tragically Hip (1989)
(2534) 3%


17. ‘Summer of '69' by Bryan Adams (1984)
(2509) 3%


18. ‘Takin' Care of Business' by Bachman-Turner Overdrive (1974)
(2251) 2%


19. ‘Snowbird' Anne Murray (1970)
(2234) 2%


20. ‘Angel' by Sarah McLachlan (1997)
(2207) 2%


21. ‘Constant Craving' by k.d. lang (1992)
(2113) 2%


22. ‘Home for a Rest' by Spirit of the West (1990)
(2062) 2%


23. ‘These Eyes' by The Guess Who (1969)
(2054) 2%


24. ‘Rockin' in the Free World' by Neil Young (1989)
(2006) 2%


25. ‘Sundown' by Gordon Lightfoot (1973)
(1929) 2%


26. ‘The Universal Soldier' by Buffy Sainte-Marie (1964)
(1910) 2%


27. ‘Courage' by the Tragically Hip (1992)
(1859) 2%


28. ‘You Oughta Know' by Alanis Morissette (1995)
(1846) 2%


29. ‘Wondering Where The Lions Are” by Bruce Cockburn (1979)
(1659) 2%


30. ‘Mon Pays' by Gilles Vigneault (1965)
(1648) 2%


31. ‘Raise a Little Hell' by Trooper (1978)
(1616) 2%


32. ‘Hasn't Hit Me Yet” Blue Rodeo (1993)
(1569) 2%


33. 'Tom Sawyer' by Rush (1981)
(1424) 1%


34. ‘I'm Movin' On” by Hank Snow (1950)
(1258) 1%


35. ‘Echo Beach' by Martha and the Muffins (1980)
(1166) 1%


36. ‘The Safety Dance' by Men Without Hats (1982)
(1118) 1%


37. ‘Crabbuckit' K-OS (2004)
(1043) 1%


38. ‘High School Confidential' by Rough Trade (1980)
(1055) 1%


39. ‘Brother Down' Sam Roberts (2001)
(1003) 1%


40. ‘Diana' by Paul Anka (1957)
(994) 1%


41. ‘Sonny's Dream' by The Wonderful Grand Band (1981)
(941) 1%


42. ‘Tower of Song' by Leonard Cohen (1988)
(924) 1%


43. ‘Sh-Boom (Life Could Be A Dream)' by the Crew Cuts (1954)
(890) 1%


44. ‘Rise Up' by The Parachute Club (1983)
(874) 1%


45. ‘Coax Me” by Sloan (1994)
(832) 1%


46. ‘Let Your Backbone Slide' Maestro Fresh-Wes (1990)
(809) 1%


47. ‘I'll Never Smile Again' by Ruth Lowe, performed by the Tommy Dorsey Orchestra (1940)
(619) 1%


48. “Fly By Night” by Rush (1975)
(552) 1%


49. ‘Disco Sucks ' by D.O.A. (1978)
(366) 0%


50. ‘My Swiss Moonlight Lullaby' by Wilf Carter (1933)
(250) 0%





50 Tracks Essential Song Criteria:

- Does it woo you with words?
- Does it move you with melody?
- Does it have you from the hook?
- Does it define a generation?
- Did it create a musical revolution?


Visit the CRTC website to find out what qualifies as a Canadian song.




Most of the songs are available for preview on iTunes Canada.
Visit iTunes to hear the best Canada has to offer, as chosen by Jian and his panellists.

Please note: You will need to have iTunes installed on your computer
(Macintosh or Windows) in order to access the content on iTunes. If you
do not have iTunes installed on your computer, you will be walked
through the installation process.

[Duds]

All Rush and Neil Young tunes....

[ForeverAutumn]

This is a pretty narrow list, IMHO. But it's about what I expected it to be. Anne Murray, Gordon Lightfoot, Joni Mitchell, Neil Young, Leonard Cohen, Rush, The Guess Who...all classic Canadian acts well known by the masses. I was a little surprised to see Kim Mitchell and David Wilcox missing from the list. C'mon, Patio Lanterns not a great Canadian Song? Downtown Came Uptown? Bah, humbug! What about April Wine or Loverboy? And Alanis Morissette would never make it onto any list of mine, unless it was "the 10 most annoying voices".

The biggest suprise to me was that there are no Shania Twain or Celine Dion tunes on that list (Celine's tunes may not qualify as "Canadian" but Shania's would).

Martha and the Muffins and Men Without Hats definately don't belong there. I think that the above mentioned Mitchell and Wilcox tunes are far more deserving. And if I were gonna pick a Blue Rodeo song, it probably wouldn't be Hasn't Hit Me Yet (in fact, I can't even think of what that song sounds like). Bulletproof or Diamond Mine were both far more impactful.

I find it interesting that there are only two songs on that list from 2000+. It would be interesting to see the demographics of the people voting. My guess is not to many people under 30.

I'm disappointed in that list. I wish that I had known about this. I would have voted for some much cooler tunes.

[N. Abstentia]

PFHHHTHTHHTHTTT.

Everybody knows the best Canadian song EVER is 'Take Off' by Bob & Doug Mckenzie w/Geddy Lee.

Duhr.

[DarrenH]

I thought they were very popular in Canada.

Rush wasn't mentioned until #33? Aren't they like gods in Canada.

[ForeverAutumn]

I thought they were very popular in Canada.

Rush wasn't mentioned until #33? Aren't they like gods in Canada.

Like Saga, many years ago, The Tea Party have a very loyal following, but I wouldn't call them "popular". Bands like The Tragically Hip and Nickelback are much more mainstream and better known. I would have expected to see Nickelback on that list before I would expect to see The Tea Party (although, Tea Party are far superior IMHO).

Yes, Rush are gods to the many faithful. That's one of the reasons why I wondered about the demographics of the pollees. It's a very Middle of the Road list, eh.

[BarryL]

Our Canadian Broadcasting Station, CBC, just recently posted results of a Canada-wide contest for Canadians to select their all-time favourite 50 Canadian songs.


So............ What has been ignorantly left off of the list??

Where is Terry Jacks? We had joy, we had fun, we had season's in the sun. Geez, that even got mention in a Spock's Beard song (can you name it?).

No diFranco Family or Hudson Brothers?

No Gino Vanelli? Or Skylark?

Who the f's Stan Rogers? Any relation to Kenny?

And what about William Shatner?

Kidding aside, it's not a bad list. Lots of Canadian classics there, but mostly on the folk side. I would have expected something by Murray McLaughlin. And Spinnin' Wheel by BS&T. And One Fine Morning by Lighthouse. How about one of Jann Arden's big hits. That there's no kd lang really suprises me. Where's Amanda Marshall?

And isn't Bryan Adam's considered American by the Canadian recording industry, and Heart Canadian?

Anyway, another waste of taxpayer's money by the money losing CBC. Just another distraction from the complete cesspool of corruption in Canada's parliament that the CBC tries not to pay attention to for fear of losing their funding.

[ForeverAutumn]

Where is Amanda Marshall? I haven't seen or heard of her since 2002's Everybody's Got A Story. Sony released a best of compilation in 2004, but there was no tour to promote it.

Hmmmmmm....

As for kd (as in lang, not kraft dinner ), she did make an appearance at number 21. But I'll give you points for spelling her name in the grammatically incorrect manner that she insists upon.

[N. Abstentia]

Isn't Jann Arden Canadien also?

[BarryL]

Isn't Jann Arden Canadien also?

Yes she is.

[audiobill]

[QUOTE=BarryL]Where is Terry Jacks? QUOTE]

Wow. My mind just froze into grade 7 -- "Goodbye Michelle my little one......." Only a French Canadian would use the name Michelle.

Good call, Barry.

I, too, wonder........... who the F is Stan Rogers?? Got to get my hands on some of his music.


More Neil Young would be in order, imho. Where is Max Webster?? or Blue Peter, for that matter??

Similarly, where is Steppenwolf and where the F is The Loving Spoonful............??

Canadian Lineage, of course, Canpats is Johnny Kay of Steppenwolf via that great Canadian band, Sparrow,..........and Zalman Yanovsky of The Loving Spoonful.......true Canadian may he rest in peace.

Cheers,
Bill

Btw., ForeverA you're absolutely right: I don't know of a song that captures Canadian summer more so, than Kim Mitchell's "Patio Lanterns".

[audiobill]

PFHHHTHTHHTHTTT.

Everybody knows the best Canadian song EVER is 'Take Off' by Bob & Doug Mckenzie w/Geddy Lee.

Duhr.

Good call, eh!! Ya hozer.

[audiobill]

Cowboy Junkies.

Three more words: The Trinity Sessions -- one of the warmest recordings I have in my entire CD collection. Recorded in Trinity Church on Bloor Street, in Toronto. As for one song... take your pick -- they're all good on this one.

Cheers,
Bill

[newtrix1]

Not sure I'm even familiar with the song "Courage".

[Davey]

THE PURSUIT OF HAPPINESS! "I'm An Adult Now" should be on there ... somewhere ... toward the top? Eh? Man, Love Junk is a classic! Something to be proud of if I flew the red maple leaf. Most of that list sucks. Bet an American list would be even worse. Where's the love for "Cinammon Girl"? "Heart of Gold"? Man, that's not even a top ten Neil Young song! "Big Yellow Taxi"? Man, I love Joni with a passion, but "Big Yellow Taxi"? Fun song but I'd pick just about any song on Blue or Court and Spark before that one. I don't get it

[audiobill]

THE PURSUIT OF HAPPINESS! "I'm An Adult Now" should be on there ... somewhere ... toward the top? Eh? Man, Love Junk is a classic!

Good call, Davey, on "I'm An Adult Now". Infectious.

[kexodusc]

Of all the wicked tunes the Tragically Hip have put out, why is Courage the only one there?

And "Tom Sawyer" got the Rush pick?

And where is Gowan's "Strange Animal"?

Pfff...they must have taken this pull in Toronto.

[ForeverAutumn]

Of all the wicked tunes the Tragically Hip have put out, why is Courage the only one there?

And "Tom Sawyer" got the Rush pick?

And where is Gowan's "Strange Animal"?

Pfff...they must have taken this pull in Toronto.

I agree with the Tom Sawyer pick. Just hearing that opening can make my day! But you're right. If we're talking about popular songs that define the band, I would have thought that Closer to the Heart or Limelight would have beat out Tom Sawyer and Fly By Night.

Speaking of flying by night...where is Prism's Spaceship Superstar?

Good call on Gowan too. Criminal Mind should be on that list.

Bill, this is a great thread. Thank for posting the list.

[Slosh]

Alexander, our older brother, set out for a great adventure
he tore our images out of his pictures, he scratched our names out of all his letters
our mother shoulda just named you Laika
come on Alex, you can do it
come on Alex, there's nothing to it
if you want something don't ask for nothing, if you want nothing don't ask for something
our mother shoulda just named you Laika
it's for your own good, it's for the neighborhood
our older brother bit by a vampire
for years we caught his tears in a cup
and now we're gonna make him drink it
come on Alex don't die or dry up
our mother shoulda just named you Laika
it's for your own good, it's for the neighborhood
when daddy comes home you always start a fight, so the neighbors can dance in the police disco lights
the police disco lights
now the neighbors can dance
now the neighbors can dance

[Ex Lion Tamer]

Alexander, our older brother, set out for a great adventure
he tore our images out of his pictures, he scratched our names out of all his letters
our mother shoulda just named you Laika
come on Alex, you can do it
come on Alex, there's nothing to it
if you want something don't ask for nothing, if you want nothing don't ask for something
our mother shoulda just named you Laika
it's for your own good, it's for the neighborhood
our older brother bit by a vampire
for years we caught his tears in a cup
and now we're gonna make him drink it
come on Alex don't die or dry up
our mother shoulda just named you Laika
it's for your own good, it's for the neighborhood
when daddy comes home you always start a fight, so the neighbors can dance in the police disco lights
the police disco lights
now the neighbors can dance
now the neighbors can dance

Great song, great album, though it would make my list, probably a little early to make a "mainstream" list like this one. Maybe if they make a list in five years, assuming the hype-machine, that's underway continues to gain monentum...Arcade Fire on the cover of Time Magazine (Canada).