Almost too late to the party but at least I can add Bootsauce.
I used to work with one of the guys from Numb but I’m not sure how much mainstream radio play they got. Same with Skinny Puppy.
A few of these rang a bell. Pluto had a couple of tracks that I loved: “Paste” and “When She Was Happy.” I remember the Tea Party, the Gandharvas, and Bif Naked. The earliest Barenaked Ladies I remember is “Old Apartment” and “Brian Wilson.” Crash Test Dummies had that huge hit here in the US, but I don’t think I ever heard another song of theirs. Len’s “Steal My Sunshine” (love that song, btw) was pretty popular here IIRC.
Econoline Crush and Limblifter both sound familiar. What were some of their singles from that time period?
Limblifter’s biggest hit was Tinfoil. The first single off their second album received some radio play, Ariel vs. Lotus.
Econoline Crush had a string of singles off their first album. Surefire, Sparkle & Shine, Home, The Devil You Know, and All That You Are. The only song that I recognize off the second album is You Don’t Know What It’s Like.
The Grapes of Wrath? The Doughboys?
This is a very nostalgia inducing thread!
Somehow I didn’t buy any of their music in the 90s because almost everyone I knew had a CD or a tape. Eventually, though, I started getting nostalgic and tried looking for a CD only to discover that they were impossible to find. Not in new or used record stores, not on iTunes, not on Amazon, not even in auctions… As a matter of fact, when I found the sites I linked to, it was the first time in about 10 years that I’d heard them.
I spent one year in Toronto, 1994-95, and there I somehow discovered the East Coast Sound: Sloan, The Super Friendz (“Karate Man”!), Jale, The Hardship Post, Al Tuck and No Action, and Thrush Hermit. They’re all still in my CD case and I still listen to them a lot. Such good times, such good times.
Nice thread.
Here are a few more bands, along with a link to a video clip that was banned from MuchMusic in 1995.
13 Engines
Rymes With Orange
Armed & Hammered
The Nils - I am the Wolf
Bandito Calling
Ok, this is more like an obscure 1980s Canadian band but they’re awesome.
Heard a lot of Rheostatics and old Honeymoon Suite (“There’s a New Girl Now” still seemed to get a lot of airplay) on radio stations in Buffalo during the 1990s.
ETA: OOPS! Just noticed the Zombie Status of this Thread.
I came in just to see how long it would take someone to mention Our Lady Peace. A friend was a huge OLP fan when he was in high school, they were pretty much his favorite band. Not too long down the line, they had to replace their lead guitarist and my friend went from being an OLP fan to actually being the new OLP lead guitarist. Talk about a high school wet dream come true.
He was a hired gun at first, but now is a full fledged band member.
It really is the kind of thing that does not happen in real life. Yet it happened for him.
I remembered a few more. Good luck finding tracks for some of these artists!
King Cobb Steelie
Jet Set Satellite
SNFU
GrimSkunk
Mudmen
Shadowy Men On A Shadowy Planet
Slowburn
Huevos Rancheros
hHead
The Inbreds
Chunk
Shyne Factory
I used to listen to The Pursuit of Happiness a lot in college. They put out a couple of really good albums back then. I saw Odds when they were Warren Zevon’s backing band in 1991. Shadowy Men On A Shadowy Planet are probably best known for the Kids In The Hall theme song, Having An Average Weekend. Some friends of mine had a surf band and they used to cover that song.
Steal My Sunshine by Len is on my iPod.
Not necessarily ‘good’, and not necessarily ‘mid-90s’, although they were active during that time (and still tour today), but Glass Tiger had a few big years in the late 80s and some top-10 hits in the early 90s.
Although I suspect they only broke through because of the Bryan Adams connection (first album was produced by Jim Vallance, the songwriter partner for Adams).
I didn’t realize this was a zombie at first. I did want to come in and point everyone to the CBC music site. Lots of great Canadian music there.
I’ve never actually heard their music, but I had a Canadian pen pal (pre-internet) who was obsessed with this band.
Colin James is working a lot with some guys from the Odds - Colin James is a great representative of Canadian music from the 90’s (from the 80’s to current, actually).
A few more from that time that I was moderately obsessed with:
Sass Jordan
Artificial Joy Club
Wild Strawberries
Lost & Profound
Wide Mouth Mason
Crash Vegas!
Ashley MacIsaac’s celtic fusion hey day was in the 1990s with Sleepy Maggie.
Besides the Hip, my two favorites have already been mentioned. Matthew Good Band and I Mother Earth.
I guess Matthew Good is still kicking around doing solo records, but it lacks the wonderful bombast of those earlier records.