O Canada. Our Home and Favourite Bands

This piece is in response to a post from the Facebook group Vocal Writing Prompts, run by Julie Smith. It is a fun group which I highly recommend for anyone who may be suffering from writer’s block, or just simply a lack of inspiration. In the group, prompts are given for group members as an idea to write a story/poem. The current one is for a playlist of your top ten favourite songs from any genre, and the reason why you chose them.

I have decided to centre my piece on celebrating Canadian musicians. Why? Because I am Canadian.

Need I say more?

As I am a classic rock fan, with all due respect to currently popular Canadian artists such as Drake, The Weekend, Justin Bieber, Shawn Mendez, Alessia Cara and others, my list is made up of acts who gained popularity in an earlier time, some of whom you may not have even heard of. So let me take you back to a time when rock was the most listened to genre, and I was much, much younger. So without further adieu, let me shout out or introduce you to some of my favourites.

TRAGICALLY HIP

Were a rock band formed in Kingston, Ontario in 1984. Over a thirty year career, they released thirteen studio albums, one live album, one EP, and over fifty singles. Between 1996 and 2016, the Tragically Hip were the best-selling Canadian band and the fourth best-selling Canadian artist overall in Canada. New Orleans is Sinking, from their first full studio album, was released in 1989 and reached number one on Canadian music charts. It’s still one of my favourites.

APRIL WINE

April Wine is a Canadian rock band formed in 1969 and based in Halifax, Nova Scotia. The band enjoyed international success during the 1970s and 1980s, releasing more than 20 albums since 1971. Bad Side of the Moon, from their second album, got much airplay on Canadian radio and was a minor hit in the U.S. It remains a staple on classic rock radio stations in Canada.

BLUE RODEO

Blue Rodeo, from Toronto, Ontario, has been performing since 1984. Formed by high school buddies Jim Cuddy and Greg Keelor, they have sold over 4 million albums and won eleven JUNO Awards, making them one of the premier groups in Canadian music history. Their song Bad Timing, a country rock ballad, is a favourite of mine. My Canadian bias may be showing here, but I feel Jim Cuddy has one of most beautiful voices I have ever heard in a male singer.

COLIN JAMES

Colin James, who got his start as an opening act for Stevie Ray Vaughan, is a rock/swing/blues musician who enjoyed the majority of his popularity in the nineties. His song Voodoo Thing remains a favourite.

ALANNAH MYLES

Alannah Myles had her biggest hit with Black Velvet in 1990. Written by Canadian songwriters Christopher Ward and David Tyson, it was a tribute to Elvis Presley. Described as “blues verses with a rock chorus,” the song reached number one on the Billboard Hot 100, and won Myles a Grammy award for Best Female Rock Performance.

TOM COCHRANE

If you didn’t think I could do a playlist of Canadian artists without mentioning hockey, you’d be absolutely right. Big League, released in 1988 by Tom Cochrane and Red Rider, was one of the band’s most popular singles. It tells the story of a young aspiring hockey player who was killed in a car accident before he got his big break. The story told is fictional, but was inspired by a man Tom met in a hockey rink who had truly lost his son.

The song regained popularity in 2018 as Canadians mourned the deaths of sixteen members, and the injuries of 13 others of the Humboldt Broncos junior hockey team in a bus crash in Saskatchewan. Mr. Cochrane released a reworked version with lyrics implying those involved were "riding to immortality," as a charity single, with sales proceeds directed to the Humboldt Strong Community Foundation.

JEFF HEALEY

A Canadian blues, rock, and jazz singer/songwriter/guitarist, Jeff was most popular in the 80s and 90s. He had a unique style of playing his guitar flat on his lap, as he had lost his sight at age one due to retinoblastoma, a rare cancer of the eyes. Over the years, Healey toured and sat in with many well-known performers, including The Allman Brothers, Bonnie Raitt, Stevie Ray Vaughan, BB King, ZZ Top, Eric Clapton and many more. His biggest hit, Angel Eyes, released as a single in 1989, reached number five on the Billboard Top 100. Jeff passed away from sarcoma in March, 2008 at the age of 41.

NEIL YOUNG

With far too many accolades to list and way too many great songs to choose from this artist, it was difficult to narrow the choice down to just one. This is a Canadian that I can say with confidence that pretty much everybody has heard of. I decided for this list to go with Cinnamon Girl from the 1969 album Everybody Knows This is Nowhere, his first with the band Crazy Horse. The song features a prominent bass and a “one note guitar solo”. Admittedly, I have no idea what that even means; I just know that I love it.

THE BAND

Formed in Toronto in 1967, The Band combined elements of folk, rock, jazz, country, and R&B. Their album, Music from the Big Pink, released in 1968 to critical and popular acclaim, is said to have been influential to generations of musicians. The Band was inducted into the Canadian Music Hall of Fame in 1989, and the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1994. The Weight, one of their most popular singles from that debut album, remains one of my favourite songs of all time.

The version I have chosen to spotlight is not the original, or even performed by the band. I have instead chosen the collaboration by Robbie Robertson, Ringo Starr, and Playing for Change, featuring musicians and singers from across the globe.

TRAGICALLY HIP

My final choice brings us back to the beginning, The Tragically, the only musical act holding two places on my Canadian play list.

Following singer Gord Downie's diagnosis with terminal brain cancer in 2015, the band undertook a tour of Canada in support of their thirteenth album. The tour's final concert was held in their hometown of Kingston, Ontario on August 20, 2016, and broadcast globally by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation as a cross-platform television, radio and internet streaming special.

The song Fiddlers Green, a haunting melody about a young son lost due to a heart defect was written for Gord’s nephew. As I watched and listened, my tears began to flow when I thought of Mr. Downie’s own impending death. He passed on October 17, 2017. Rest in peace, King. We will never forget you.