As came up the other day in another thread, Michael Buble should also be added to the list.
Are you all too young to remember Anne Murray?
I’ve really been enjoying the Wailin Jennies appearances on Prairie Home Companion.
Or Gordon Lightfoot.
Canadian here. I am familiar with pretty much all those bands… and dislike most of them. Then again, I’v never been a big classic rock fan.
I’m glad at least a couple of people here mentioned some bands that non-Canadians should know, like Carolyn Mark, The Dayglo Abortions, Arcade Fire and Death From Above 1979
I would also add to the list of Canadian bands already mentioned:
Nomeansno
Old Reliable
Herald Nix
You Say Party! We Say Die!
Teenage Head
Frog Eyes
Black Mountain
Larry Gowan has been the lead singer of Styx since about 1998. Yes, Styx. From Chicago. I’m sure he has never had to play a strip mall or a wedding. One of the most riveting performances I have ever witnessed was him singing “Good Golly Miss Molly” alone at the piano, at The Diamond Club, Toronto, 1987. The guy could flatten you, just with his voice!
Having spent the 1980s as a snarky used-record store drone, I recognise those bands all too well…(used to have a lot of dealings with Jesus Bonebreak of the Dayglos, and John Wright of NoMeansNo/Hanson Brothers used to serve me lunch all the time [he waited at the cafe next to the record store])
What, no love for Tegan and Sara?
Did we mention early 80’s wannabe Joy Division dirgemeisters Skinny Puppy? And university radio faves I, Braineater? (Great because their songs were 25 seconds long–we could play 4 of them on my radio show, and have the whole hour’s worth of CanCon done!)
64 Funny Cars? Pointed Sticks? DOA? k-os? Buck 65?
Oh, yeah. We got “Limelight” a little while ago, and have been playing it relentlessly ever since. I think my favourite older album of his would probably have to be “Sudden Stop.” We’ve got tickets to see him in February, too, in a smaller venue - I’m really looking forward to the show.
Maybe “ubiquitous” was the wrong word - these aren’t Canadian artists that are necessarily still producing albums and charting, but if you play a trademark song by any of them at a Canadian wedding across Canada (offer void in Quebec), everyone will be singing along and dancing. That’s the reason that I left artists like Sloan and (regrettably) k-os off the list. Even though I am totally grooving to “Joyful Rebellion,” most rockers my age aren’t.
Larry Gowan was one of the first bands I saw live (the first was Red Rider), and he is a fantastic musician. I can only imagine he’s gotten better with age.
Red Rider was the opening act for REO Speedwagon when I saw them in the early 80s. I wasn’t that impressed with REO but I loved Red Rider. I would just like to hear something other than “Lunatic Fringe” on the radio.
I have heard of these bands, but I don’t necessarily know their music.
Alannah Myles
Aldo Nova
April Wine
Avril Lavigne
Bachman Turner Overdrive
The Band
Barenaked Ladies
Blood, Sweat & Tears
Blue Rodeo
Bryan Adams
Burton Cummings
Celine Dion
Corey Hart
Cowboy Junkies
Crash Test Dummies
Dan Hill
Five Man Electrical Band
Gino Vannelli
Glass Tiger
Gordon Lightfoot
Guess Who
Harlequin
Jann Arden
Jeff Healey
Joni Mitchell
k. d. lang
Lighthouse
Loverboy
Men Without Hats
Neil Young
Nelly Furtado
Nick Gilder
Paul Anka
Red Rider
Rush
Sarah McLachlan
Shania Twain
Tom Cochrane
Tragically Hip
Triumph
April Wine is an interesting case. I’ve heard of them, certainly, and have actually seen them in concert three times (not by conscious choice)… but I’ll be darned if I can name anyone in the band or think of a single one of their songs.
April Wine were a perennial opening act for every hard rock/heavy metal band that toured the U.S. They probably played EVERY big arena in the U.S., invariably as the warmup band for the headliner everyone actually wanted to see. I saw them as the opening act for three different more popular artists, over the years.
If you read Circus or Creem back in Seventies or early Eighties, you’d regularly see little stories suggesting that April Wine were the Next Big Thing… but somehow, it just never quite happened.
Still, they managed to survive a very long time, no small acomplishment in itself.
After deleting the names of the artists I’ve never heard of, I’m left with 41 of the original 78 acts:
Alanis Morissette
Alannah Myles
Aldo Nova
April Wine
Avril Lavigne
Bachman Turner Overdrive
The Band
Barenaked Ladies
Blood, Sweat & Tears
Bruce Cockburn
Bryan Adams
Burton Cummings
Celine Dion
Chilliwack
Corey Hart
Cowboy Junkies
Crash Test Dummies
Dan Hill
Five Man Electrical Band
Gino Vannelli
Gordon Lightfoot (one of my two favorite singer-songwriters)
Great Big Sea
Guess Who
Jann Arden
Joni Mitchell
k. d. lang
Klaatu
Lighthouse
Loverboy
Men Without Hats
Neil Young
Nelly Furtado
Nick Gilder
Paul Anka
Rush
Sarah McLachlan
Shania Twain
Tom Cochrane
Tragically Hip
Triumph
Trooper
I’ve also heard of these performers mentioned in later posts: Moxy Fruvous, Jane Siberry, William “Rocket Man” Shatner, Ron Sexsmith, Lorena McKennitt, McGarrigle Sisters, Rufus Wainwright, Leonard Cohen, and Anne Murray (amazing she took so long to crack this thread!) I’d add Buffy Sainte-Marie, Ashley MacIsaac, and Carolyn Dawn Johnson to the pool of names recognized by at least this USA citizen.
Avril’s gonna be upset that none of the Canadians remembered her boyfriend’s band, Sum 41.
I’m Canadian, I consider myself to have audiophilic tendencies, and I’ve heard of most of the artists on featherlou’s list. Yet I have to admit I’m completely stymied by the following bands:
A Foot In Coldwater
Aldo Nova
Chalk Circle
Max Webster
Nick Gilder
The Original Caste
Payola$
Rough Trade
Spoons
I’m guessing most of these were one-hit wonders from the early 80s. Am I right?
Just a quick hijack–
I recall at least three of the artists mentioned referenced on SCTV :[ul]
[li]** Ian Thomas** (Dave Thomas’ brother, BTW) appeared as a musical guest on an episode of the show[/li][li]Eugene Levy portrayed Gino Vannelli on a promo for one of their rock show parodies. IIRC, his hair and sideburns kept growing until he resembled a werewolf.[/li][li]On their "Pre-Teen World " sketch, a kids’ band (including John Candy) performed a version of Chilliwack’s “My Girl”[/li][/ul]
I don’t think they were included because the answer to “do you know this band?” is probably yes for most (at least younger) people. Which is the reason I didn’t include Bif Naked, Simple Plan, Thornley, Nickelback, Fefe Dobson, Tal Bachman, Our Lady Peace or Neil Young on my own list. 
Max Webster is what Kim Mitchell did for most of the 1970s. They were an amazing band, with a completely off-the-wall approach. The band consisted of Kim Mitchell, guitars, vocals; Terry Watkinson, keyboards, vocals; Mike Tilka, bass, vocals - replaced by Dave Myles (from 3rd album); Paul Kersey, drums (1st album only), replaced by Gary McCracken, and non-performing lyricist Pye Dubois. They made six albums before it all went south, and Kim started his solo career.
If you like Mitchell at all, I urge you to get all the Max Webster albums. They are all worth repeated listens.
I think he had “The Future” on the Natural Born Killers soundtrack.
If you haven’t listened to Cowboy Junkies, you should grab a copy of The Trinity Session, which I think is one of the best live albums ever. They basically took a digital recorder and a microphone into the Holy Trinity church in Toronto and played a set of just incredibly haunting music.
You can read a review of it here.
Absolutely fantastic disc for a rainy afternoon.
What about Anvil? They made a huge point out of being Canadian hockey fans.
I cannot believe that Toronto is still clinging to life. They are one of the bands that proves that bands that name themselves after cities-states-nations-rivers-continents-whatever are born to suck.
Anyway I 'm familiar with most of the bands on the OP’s list, but I hate most of them. Rather surprised by the omission of Arcade Fire, Broken Social Scene, Jane Siberry, The Stars and The New Pornographers.
I was in a Toronto record store several years ago and observed that they put maple leaves next to the names of all the Canadian artists as if purchasing their records would cause some sort of surge of patriotic pride that would enhance the listening enjoyment. They didn’t know Jane Siberry was Canadian either apparently because they left her name in an un-leafed state. And she’s from Toronto too.
I don’t get the whole point of the list. I don’t care what Minnesota artisits are well-known outside of gopherland.
Actually, he had three on that soundtrack: “The Future”, “Waiting for the Miracle” and “Anthem”.
And “Everybody Knows” was used on two different movies, Pump up the Volume and Exotica.
But I don’t think the songs themselves ever made it big.
Let’s see -
A Foot In Coldwater - Make Me Do Anything You Want
Aldo Nova - Fantasy
Chalk Circle - April Fool, This Mourning, 20th Century Boy
Max Webster - Let Go the Line
Nick Gilder - Hot Child in the City
The Original Caste - One Tin Soldier
Payola$ - Eyes of a Stranger, Hammer on a Drum, Where is This Love, Never Said I Loved You (duet with Carole Pope of Rough Trade), It Must Be Love, You’re The Only Love
Rough Trade - High School Confidential, All Touch
Spoons - Romantic Traffic, Old Emotions, Nova Heart, Tell No Lies, Arias and Symphonies
I’m guessing you might not recognize all the songs from the titles, but you would have to have never listened to Canadian pop music to have never heard any of these songs. Some were one-hit wonders, but their hit was monster (like “Hot Child in the City”) and are still played today.