Do Americans Know These Ubiquitous Canadian Pop Musicians?

Cafe Society
1

I am always surprised at the Canadian bands/artists that citizens of the United States do and don’t know, and I’m curious as to just which bands are actually well-known in the U.S. To this end, I have created what I consider an exhaustive list of Canadian rock/pop bands/artists that most Canadians between 25-65 who listen to rock music will know, and I’m interested in finding out which of these artists people living in the U.S. know.

Anybody want to play? (It’s a loooong list, but we all have time off now :).)

54-40
A Foot In Coldwater
Alanis Morissette
Alannah Myles
Aldo Nova
Amanda Marshall
April Wine
Avril Lavigne
Bachman Turner Overdrive
The Band
Barenaked Ladies
Barney Bentall
Blood, Sweat & Tears
Blue Rodeo
Bruce Cockburn
Bryan Adams
Burton Cummings
Celine Dion
Chalk Circle
Chilliwack
Colin James
Corey Hart
Cowboy Junkies
Crash Test Dummies
Dan Hill
David Wilcox
Doucette
Doug & The Slugs
Five Man Electrical Band
Gino Vannelli
Glass Tiger
Gordon Lightfoot
Gowan
Great Big Sea
Guess Who
Harlequin
Haywire
Helix
Honeymoon Suite
Jann Arden
Jeff Healey
Joni Mitchell
k. d. lang
Kim Mitchell
Klaatu
Lee Aaron
Lighthouse
Loverboy
Luba
Martha & The Muffins
Max Webster
Men Without Hats
Neil Young
Nelly Furtado
Nick Gilder
The Nylons
The Original Caste
Parachute Club
Paul Anka
Paul Janz
Payola$
Platinum Blonde
Prism
The Pursuit of Happiness
Red Rider
Rough Trade
Rush
Sarah McLachlan
Sass Jordan
Shania Twain
Snow
Spoons
The Stampeders
Tom Cochrane
Toronto
Tragically Hip
Triumph
Trooper

2

Probably two-thirds of them, and I don’t listen to all that much pop or country anyway. The others may be beneficiaries of Canadian radio’s MAPL points system?

I hope you’re not surprised. The North American entertainment industry is pretty well consolidated across the border, as I’m sure you know - it seems like more TV shows are shot in Vancouver than Hollywood, for instance.

3

Roughly, I have heard of probably half of those bands and heard their works, and own or once owned about a dozen of the bands’ works. I suspect many Americans would be surprised at which of those bands were Canadian and not American/British/Australian. (For instance, I assumed Men Without Hats were British or Australian.)

4

Upon re-reading the list, I think I’m closer to two-thirds on which bands I recognize and have heard before.

5

Because of the video for “Safety Dance”, I automatically assumed Men Without Hats was British.

6

OK, I’m 20, so I’m a bit young for your sample set. However, I consider myself to be fairly knowledgeable about music. I’ve broken up the artists listed into a few categories:

Musicians Even Most Non-Music People Know
Alanis Morissette
Avril Lavigne
Barenaked Ladies
Celine Dion
Joni Mitchell
k. d. lang
Neil Young
Paul Anka
Shania Twain

Musicians Who Are Known By Slightly More-Than-Casual Listeners (Or People Of A "Certain Age"
Bachman Turner Overdrive
The Band
Blood, Sweat & Tears
Bryan Adams
Crash Test Dummies (though they were a one-hit wonder here, they were one of the more memorable ones)
Gordon Lightfoot
Guess Who
Loverboy
Men Without Hats (see comment about Crash Test Dummies)
Nelly Furtado
Rush
Sarah McLachlan
Musicians Known By More Serious Listeners or Trivia Buffs
Alannah Myles
Bruce Cockburn
Corey Hart
Cowboy Junkies
Jann Arden (wasn’t she at Lillith Fair?)
Klaatu
Martha & The Muffins
Nick Gilder
Snow
Tom Cochrane
Tragically Hip

The rest I either haven’t heard of or wasn’t sure where to group them.

7

I’m Canadian (from NF, live about an hour outside TO now), and I’ve never heard of anyone that I’ve listed here (except Luba and I only know of them from seeing the odd T-Shirt).

Randomly:

My ex (from New York) is a big Great Big Sea fan. Another ex (from Michigan) likes them well enough, too. The NY girl is also fond of the Arrogant Worms. (Although I own a lot of the blame for the latter…)

A friend from Indiana got the joke when I made a reference to Kim Mitchell a while back (quoting Might as Well Go For a Soda when she said she was going to do so). That was a moderate shock.

8

I’ve heard of, and maybe a few songs by:

Alanis Morissette, Avril Lavigne, Bachman Turner Overdrive, The Band, Blood, Sweat & Tears, Bryan Adams, Celine Dion, Corey Hart, Cowboy Junkies, Crash Test Dummies, Gordon Lightfoot, Guess Who, Joni Mitchell, k. d. lang, Loverboy, Men Without Hats, Neil Young, Nelly Furtado, The Nylons, Paul Anka, Rush, Sarah McLachlan, Shania Twain, Tragically Hip

I’m definitely a fan of Barenaked Ladies.

I haven’t heard anything by David Wilcox, but I do have a song that’s about David Wilcox.

Is this the Klaatu that did Sir Bodsworth Rugglesby III. I’m told that song is very different from anything else they ever did, but I like it.

And what kind of list is this without Moxy Früvous?

9

Yeah, you didn’t even list my two favorite Canadian bands: Moxy Fruvous and the New Pornographers! And where the hell is another great musical Canadian, William Shatner?

10

I am either familure or very familure with those in the first and second groups. And I am “Certain Age” and in the southern part of the US.

11

Canadians are more familiar with Canadian artists because of the “can-con” rules: the government mandates that a certain percentage of radio airplay be devoted to Canadian artists. Guess how much? 3%? 10%? Try 35%. American audiences would be a heck of a lot more familiar with Canadian artists if we had to devote 35% of our radio airtime to them.

In any case, the OP’s list is missing some extremely important artists: Jane Siberry, Holly Cole, and Mary Margaret O’Hara, just of the top of my head.

12

We actually joked about putting William Shatner on the list. :smiley:

Moxy Fruvous and the New Pornographers aren’t even close to ubiquitous here. Jim and I know them (being audiophiles), but your average Joe Shmoe wouldn’t have a clue.

lissener, your three artists are arguably important Canadian artists, but again, far from ubiquitous. Any Canadian who wasn’t watching “Friday Night Videos” in the 80’s wouldn’t have a clue who Jane Siberry was, and Holly Cole and Mary Margaret O’Hara are much more specialty acts. And I fully support CanCon - Canadian artists would be lost in a sea of American music if not for it.

13

I have stuff by some of them as well as:

The Killer Dwarfs - haven’t listened to them for years.
The Nylons
Ron Sexsmith - every album I think. Who can resist a guy that Elvis Costello raves about. Surprisingly he is a fairly regular visitor to Australia.

14

Alanis Morissette
Alannah Myles
Avril Lavigne
Bachman Turner Overdrive
Barenaked Ladies
Bryan Adams
Celine Dion
Cowboy Junkies
Crash Test Dummies
Glass Tiger
Gordon Lightfoot
Guess Who
Jeff Healey
Joni Mitchell
k. d. lang
Lighthouse
Loverboy
Men Without Hats
Neil Young
Nelly Furtado
Rush
Sarah McLachlan
Shania Twain
Tom Cochrane
Tragically Hip

15

How did I forget Jane Siberry in my first post? I was not Canadian, or watching Friday Night Videos in the 80’s, but I have a couple of her CDs and they’re excellent.

Going back a few years, there was Cub, from Vancouver.

And are Shadowy Men on a Shadowy Planet Canadian?

16

Actually, the artist doesn’t even have to be Canadian. If the work was written by a Canadian, for instance, it’s technically “Cancon” even if the artist is from somewhere else.

If Green Day were to record a punk cover of the Barenaked Ladies’ “Grade Nine,” that would be Cancon, as both the music and lyrics were written by Canadians.

17

I’ve heard of most of them, but there’s one in particular that I’m quite fond of.
Can you guess which one? :wink:

18

k. d. lang?

19

I kid. 2112 was one of my favorites

20

That dance wasn’t as safe as everyone said.

I’m Canadian. I recognize maybe one name in eight. I guess I’m not cool.