# Do Americans Know These Ubiquitous Canadian Pop Musicians? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [December 24, 2005, 4:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-americans-know-these-ubiquitous-canadian-pop-musicians/337051 "2005-12-24T04:11:53Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 6
**Author:** ![Nutty\_Bunny](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/d07c76/32.png) [@Nutty\_Bunny](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nutty_Bunny)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2005, 7:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-americans-know-these-ubiquitous-canadian-pop-musicians/337051/101 "2005-12-29T19:30:36Z")
I’ll bold the ones I’ve heard of: **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** (my favorite band ever) **Triumph** Trooper I guess there are only 9 that I don’t know, but I don’t know if I should count in your survey. I grew up about 20 minutes from the border. I’d also like to submit **8 Seconds** as another band for your list. I know they were big on the Ottawa rock stations, but I don’t know if it was because they were local or not. Last year for Christmas, my brother burned me about 10 CDs, which he named, “1980s Canadian Top 40 from Eh to Zed”. This year he gave me 4 more, which he named, “Return of the Killer CanCon”. It’s got most of the artists you list above and probably a few more that I’d have to look for. There’s some really obscure stuff on them. ---
**Author:** ![Sam\_Stone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Sam\_Stone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sam_Stone)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2005, 8:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-americans-know-these-ubiquitous-canadian-pop-musicians/337051/102 "2005-12-29T20:36:44Z")
**The Stampeders** were actually a pretty big act for a while, even in the U.S. They had a U.S. top-10 hit in the 70’s with ‘Sweet City Woman’, and charted with “Hit the Road Jack” and “Devil You”. In Canada they were much bigger. Among their hits: \*Carry Me Hit the Road Jack Wild Eyes Oh My Lady Minstrel Gypsy \* There was a time when they were almost as big as the Guess Who, and were playing to arenas of 13,000 people in Canada. Now they’re almost completely forgotten. ---
**Author:** ![Sam\_Stone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Sam\_Stone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sam_Stone)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2005, 8:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-americans-know-these-ubiquitous-canadian-pop-musicians/337051/103 "2005-12-29T20:46:28Z")
**Trooper** was also huge in Canada, and almost unknown in the U.S. in the late 1970’s/early 1980’s you couldn’t turn on a radio in Canada for more than ten minutes without hearing one of the following: \*Raise a Little Hell General Hand Grenade Baby Woncha Please Come Home Two for the Show Santa Maria The Boys in the Bright White Sports Car We’re Here for a Good Time (Not a Long Time) Oh Pretty Lady Round Round We Go 3 Dressed Up as a Nine \* Their greatest hits album, “Hot Shots”, is one of the best selling albums in Canadian history. And apparently they’re almost forgotten now as well. ---
**Author:** ![Sternvogel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bc79bd/32.png) [@Sternvogel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sternvogel)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2005, 9:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-americans-know-these-ubiquitous-canadian-pop-musicians/337051/104 "2005-12-29T21:26:53Z")
> [@Treviathan](#): > > In fact, the pastor in our Catholic high school would occasionally play “One Tin Soldier” over the intercom in place of our morning prayer. I always thought that song was by some American folkie. You may have heard a cover version, such as the one recorded by [Skeeter Davis.](http://72.14.203.104/search?q=cache:0Y3S9-fHdW4J:www.ronstadt-linda.com/skeeterdavis/skeeter7186.htm+Carole+King+recording+%22One+Tin+Soldier%22&hl=en) ---
**Author:** ![Cat\_Whisperer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cat_whisperer/32/4839_2.png) [@Cat\_Whisperer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Whisperer)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2005, 10:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-americans-know-these-ubiquitous-canadian-pop-musicians/337051/105 "2005-12-29T22:32:45Z")
They’re always playing the Stampeders and Trooper on the radio here, **Sam**. The Stampeders may be regional, but Trooper isn’t. They play “General Hand Grenade” pretty much weekly. **Nutty Bunny** , those sound like great cd’s. ---
**Author:** ![stpauler](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9d8465/32.png) [@stpauler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/stpauler)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2006, 8:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-americans-know-these-ubiquitous-canadian-pop-musicians/337051/106 "2006-05-24T20:33:55Z")
I’m bumping this old thread as I was just going to post a thread looking for some canadian music to be hip to. I just got the new **[Hawksley Workman](http://www.hawksleyworkman.com/)** CD _Treeful of Starling_ and saw that he wasn’t listed here. Neither were two of my favorite Canuckistan artists \*\*John Southworth \*\* and **Lava Hay.** ---
**Author:** ![GingerOfTheNorth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/cdc98d/32.png) [@GingerOfTheNorth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GingerOfTheNorth)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2006, 11:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-americans-know-these-ubiquitous-canadian-pop-musicians/337051/107 "2006-05-24T23:16:30Z")
[QUOTE=Crafter\_Man] My all-time favorite Canadian band: [The Dayglo Abortions](http://www.geocities.com/SunsetStrip/Venue/5689/) [/QUOTE] Ahhh yes… “Argh, Fuck, Kill”. Truly inspired. I’ve heard of all of them, featherlou. I don’t imagine you’re surprised. ---
**Author:** ![GingerOfTheNorth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/cdc98d/32.png) [@GingerOfTheNorth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GingerOfTheNorth)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2006, 11:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-americans-know-these-ubiquitous-canadian-pop-musicians/337051/108 "2006-05-24T23:33:54Z")
[QUOTE=Treviathan] Meryn Cadell [/QUOTE] Meryn Cadell’s voice is somewhat different these days. She is now Mr. Meryn Cadell, has transitioned to male. ---
**Author:** ![Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e47c2d/32.png) [@Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biffy_the_Elephant_Shrew)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2006, 11:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-americans-know-these-ubiquitous-canadian-pop-musicians/337051/109 "2006-05-24T23:37:31Z")
A few great Canadian prog bands: Contrevent Harmonium Maneige [Miriodor](http://cuneiformrecords.com/bandshtml/miriodor.html) Pollen ---
**Author:** ![wonky](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wonky/32/393_2.png) [@wonky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wonky)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2006, 11:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-americans-know-these-ubiquitous-canadian-pop-musicians/337051/110 "2006-05-24T23:46:16Z")
Alanis Morissette (HATE!) Alannah Myles April Wine Avril Lavigne Bachman Turner Overdrive The Band Barenaked Ladies Blood, Sweat & Tears Bryan Adams (HATE!) Celine Dion (HAAAATE!) Corey Hart Cowboy Junkies Crash Test Dummies Glass Tiger Gordon Lightfoot (LOVE!) Guess Who Jeff Healey Joni Mitchell k. d. lang Lighthouse Loverboy Men Without Hats Neil Young Nelly Furtado The Nylons Paul Anka Platinum Blonde Rush Sarah McLachlan Shania Twain (A former coworker stalked her and stole her panties) Tom Cochrane Toronto Tragically Hip Strangely enough, I was listening to my Tragically Hip cd as I clicked on Cafe Society. I hadn’t listened to it in months. ---
**Author:** ![threeorange](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b9e5f3/32.png) [@threeorange](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/threeorange)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2006, 12:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-americans-know-these-ubiquitous-canadian-pop-musicians/337051/111 "2006-05-25T00:27:52Z")
I’ve recently become aware of (and quite fond of) [Metric](http://www.ilovemetric.com/news.html). ---
**Author:** ![ultrafilter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/3d9bf3/32.png) [@ultrafilter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ultrafilter)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2006, 12:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-americans-know-these-ubiquitous-canadian-pop-musicians/337051/112 "2006-05-25T00:31:56Z")
Here are the ones I’ve heard of: [QUOTE=featherlou] Alanis Morissette April Wine Avril Lavigne Bachman Turner Overdrive The Band Barenaked Ladies Blood, Sweat & Tears Bryan Adams Celine Dion Cowboy Junkies Crash Test Dummies Five Man Electrical Band Gordon Lightfoot Great Big Sea Guess Who Harlequin Jann Arden Jeff Healey Joni Mitchell k. d. lang Klaatu Lighthouse Loverboy Men Without Hats Neil Young Nelly Furtado Paul Anka Platinum Blonde Red Rider Rush Sarah McLachlan Shania Twain Snow Tom Cochrane Tragically Hip [/QUOTE] ---
**Author:** ![Kent\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kent_clark/32/105_2.png) [@Kent\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kent_Clark)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2006, 1:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-americans-know-these-ubiquitous-canadian-pop-musicians/337051/113 "2006-05-25T01:06:07Z")
I can’t believe no one else has said this, but I have to. I first became aware of **Alanis Morisette** from watching _You Can’t Do That on Television_ on Nickelodeon with my kids. And I’m not ashamed to say I liked **Moose** better. Whatever happened to her? ---
**Author:** ![Green\_Bean](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/green_bean/32/1760_2.png) [@Green\_Bean](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Green_Bean)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2006, 1:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-americans-know-these-ubiquitous-canadian-pop-musicians/337051/114 "2006-05-25T01:38:29Z")
I didn’t know The Zombies were Canadian! ( 😛 ) ---
**Author:** ![alice\_in\_wonderland](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alice_in_wonderland/32/176_2.png) [@alice\_in\_wonderland](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/alice_in_wonderland)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2006, 4:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-americans-know-these-ubiquitous-canadian-pop-musicians/337051/115 "2006-05-25T04:10:56Z")
I’m really surprised that more people haven’t heard of 54-40. Most likely they’ve heard the _Hootie and the Blowfish_ version of one of my favorite songs by 54-40 _I go blind_. It annoys me to no end that now all you’ll hear on the radio here is H&B’s crappy cover, rather than the original. ---
**Author:** ![MoodIndigo1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e8c25b/32.png) [@MoodIndigo1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MoodIndigo1)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2006, 4:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-americans-know-these-ubiquitous-canadian-pop-musicians/337051/116 "2006-05-25T04:24:46Z")
I’ve heard of most of them, but then I’m old. Nobody mentioned Simple Plan: are they only popular in Canada? ---
**Author:** ![fishbicycle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/aeb1de/32.png) [@fishbicycle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fishbicycle)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2006, 5:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-americans-know-these-ubiquitous-canadian-pop-musicians/337051/117 "2006-05-25T05:43:24Z")
[QUOTE=Green Bean] I didn’t know The Zombies were Canadian! ( 😛 ) [/QUOTE] Fresh…poutine! ---
**Author:** ![Sean\_Factotum](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/50afbb/32.png) [@Sean\_Factotum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sean_Factotum)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2006, 2:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-americans-know-these-ubiquitous-canadian-pop-musicians/337051/118 "2006-05-25T14:48:43Z")
[QUOTE=Big Bad Voodoo Lou] 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? [/QUOTE] Preach it, brother! I wanted to name 2 of your 3 (New Pornohgraphers and Shatner.) ---
**Author:** ![notso\_clever](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/f475e1/32.png) [@notso\_clever](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/notso_clever)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2006, 5:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-americans-know-these-ubiquitous-canadian-pop-musicians/337051/119 "2006-05-25T17:20:00Z")
thwartme [/QUOTE] And for the more eclectic, check out the Lowest of the Low. Even here in Canada, these guys have never gotten the recognition or success that they deserve. Although I understand they’re really popular in Buffalo. I once caught a WIVB newscast that referred to them as “Canada’s answer to the Beatles.” I’m sure that was news to most Canadians… thwartme [/QUOTE] Oh my god! Is the Lowest of the Low still around? They are awesome! I had a bootleg tape in highschool and loved it! Alas, it has gone the way of all other cassette tapes and I wore it out. I have been trying to download some of their stuff, but have not had much luck. They defintly have not gotten the recognition they deserve. I would love to get a CD if you know where to hook me up. Please email me with any information! And, as an aside, because they are on the radio right now, Nickelback sucks. They aer the worst band ever. ---
**Author:** ![gonzomax](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e8c25b/32.png) [@gonzomax](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gonzomax)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2006, 6:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-americans-know-these-ubiquitous-canadian-pop-musicians/337051/120 "2006-05-25T18:58:57Z")
Ian Tyson of Speckled Bird and originally ian and Sylvia of folkie times. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-americans-know-these-ubiquitous-canadian-pop-musicians/337051.md?page=5) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-americans-know-these-ubiquitous-canadian-pop-musicians/337051.md?page=7)