Canadian rock
Encyclopedia
Canadian rock describes a wide and diverse variety of music produced
by Canadians, beginning with American
style rock 'n' roll
in the mid-20th century. Since then Canada has had a considerable impact on the development of the modern popular music
called rock
. Canada has produced many of the genre's most significant groups and performers, while contributing substantively to the development of the most popular sub-genres
, which include pop rock
, progressive rock
, country rock
, folk rock
, hard rock
, punk rock
, heavy metal
and indie rock
.
in 1867, the country has produced its own composers, musicians and ensembles. From the 17th century onward Canada has developed a music infrastructure, that includes concert halls, conservatories, academies, performing arts centres, record companies, radio stations and national music video
television channels. The success of the gramophone
at the beginning of the 20th century allowed Canadian songwriters to broaden their potential audiences. Following quickly on the gramophone's spread came World War I
. The war was the catalyst for the writing and recording of large numbers of Canadian-written popular songs, some of which achieved lasting international commercial success. The 1920s saw Canada's first radio stations, this allowed Canadian songwriters to contribute some of the most famous popular music of the early 20th century. Canada has produced a number of notable international recording artists who appeared on the Billboards record sales chart
called Hit parade
first published in 1936. Among them was the World War II era bandleader
, Guy Lombardo
, who with his brother has sold an estimated 250 million phonograph records during their lifetimes. Over the course of his career, which began in 1944, Montreal
's jazz virtuoso
Oscar Peterson
released over 200 recordings, won seven Grammy Award
s, and received many other awards and honors. Oscar Peterson is considered to have been one of the greatest pianists of all time. Nova Scotia
's born and raised Hank Snow
who signed with RCA Victor in 1936 and went on to become one of America's most innovative country music
superstars.
in the late 1940s after World War II
, from a combination of the rhythms of African American
blues
, country and gospel music
. Though elements of rock and roll can be heard in Canadian country records of the 1930s-1940s, and in American blues records from the 1920s, rock and roll did not acquire its name until the 1950s. "Rock"' or its forerunners electric blues
(Chicago blues
) and rhythm and blues
(Jump blues
) was first heard in the late 1940s by Canadians who were living close enough to the American border to tune in to American radio station broadcasts.
In 1951, Cleveland
, Ohio
disc jockey
Alan Freed
began playing rhythm and blues music for a multi-racial audience, and is credited with first using the phrase "rock and roll" to describe the musical sound of the Doo-wop vocal groups
and the rockabilly
singers who emerged in the 1950s. The Four Lads
, from Toronto
, were one of the first groups to capitalize on this sound and become a prominent act in the Canadian rhythm and blues scene, producing their first hit in 1952 called "Mocking Bird
". Their most famous hit was "Moments to Remember
", which first reached the Billboard magazine charts on September 3, 1955. Emerging in the mid 1950s, on near equal-footing to American popular music
, Canadian popular music enjoyed considerable success at home and abroad.
1954 the name "rock and roll" had become the common name of the popular music of the day. Rhythm and blues (R&B coined in 1949) was too broad a term, because R&B was a category that included most forms of race music, which generally had adult-based lyrics. The Crew-Cuts, The Diamonds
and The Four Lads would emerge from this new marketing of rhythm and blues to appeal to a white audience leaving an indelible mark on the Doo-wop days. Often Canadian records of this period were simply covers
of pop hits, and rhythm and blues oldies. 1958 saw Canada produced its first rock and roll teen idol
Paul Anka
, who went to New York City
where he auditioned for ABC
with the song, Diana
. This song brought Anka instant stardom and he became the first Canadian to have a number one on the US Billboard charts in the rock and roll era. "Diana" is one of the best selling 45s in music history. He followed up with four songs that made it into the Top 20 in 1958, making him one of the biggest teen idols of the time.
Most Canadians with successful recording careers in the 1950s had moved to the US, where the population level and media exposure would eclipse that of Canada. Ronnie Hawkins
, an Arkansas
born rockabilly singer, moved to Canada in 1958, becoming a prominent figure in Canadian blues
and rock devoting his life to popularizing Canadian musicians. He formed a backing band called The Hawks, which produced some of the earliest Canadian rock stars. Among them were the members of The Band
, who began touring with Bob Dylan
in 1966, and then struck out on their own in 1968.
and produced rock recording to achieve international popularity was "Clap Your Hands" in 1960 by a Montreal quartet
, The Beaumarks. Shortly thereafter, they appeared on American Bandstand
and a charity concert at Carnegie Hall
. Bobby Curtola
from Port Arthur, Ontario
had several songs on the Canadian music charts beginning with "Hand In Hand With You" in 1960. His biggest chart-topper came in 1962 with the song, "Fortune Teller", which was also successful internationally. In 1966, he won an RPM Gold Leaf Award
(The Gold Leaf Awards, which were in effect the first Juno Awards) for being the first Canadian to have a gold album. The CHUM Chart
debuted on May 27, 1957, under the name CHUM's Weekly Hit Parade, to 1986, and was the longest-running Top 40 chart in Canada.
During the 1960s Canadian music was regarded with indifference and Canadian recording artists were forced to turn toward the United States to establish their careers. In 1960 Walt Grealis
of Toronto started in the music business with Apex Records, the Ontario distributor for Compo Company
(founded in 1918), Canada's first independent record company that today is part of Universal
. He later joined London Records
, where he worked until February 1964, when he then established RPM weekly trade magazine
. From the first issue of RPM Weekly on February 24, 1964 to its final issue on November 13, 2000, RPM was the defining charts in Canada. The popularity of US rock on the two Canadian charts led to many existing groups, especially those devoted to country music, to change styles or to incorporate some rock style hits in their repertoires..jpg)
Country rock and folk rock singers like Gordon Lightfoot
, Joni Mitchell
, Leonard Cohen
, Denny Doherty
(of The Mamas & the Papas
), David Clayton-Thomas
(of Blood, Sweat & Tears
), Andy Kim
, Zal Yanovsky
(of The Lovin' Spoonful
), John Kay
(of Steppenwolf
), and Ian & Sylvia found international audiences. One important example was a Winnipeg
band called Chad Allan
& the Expressions, which had a 1965 hit with a version of Johnny Kidd and the Pirates
' "Shakin' All Over
". They would eventually evolve into The Guess Who
, the first Canadian rock group to have a No.1 hit that reached the top on the Canadian Singles Chart
and the Billboard Hot 100
at the same time, with "American Woman
" in 1970. Their success paved the way for a new wave of Canadian singer-songwriters, including Stan Rogers
, Murray McLauchlan
, Bruce Cockburn
and Willie P. Bennett
.
Unlike the generation before, the late sixties American and British counterculture
and hippie
movements had diverted rock towards psychedelic rock, heavy metal, progressive rock and many other styles, most dominated by socially and politically incisive lyrics. The music was an attempt to reflect upon the events of the time --- civil rights
, the growing unrest in America over the war in Vietnam
, and the rise of feminism
. In many instances, the "message" within the song was simplistic or banal. Although only two of the five original members of Steppenwolf were born in Canada (Jerry Edmonton
and Goldy McJohn
), the band was among the biggest in Canadian music in the 1960s and 1970s. German born frontman, John Kay, would later become a Canadian citizen and was the only member of Steppenwolf to be inducted into the Canadian Music Hall of Fame
and Canada's Walk of Fame
. Steppenwolf is most famous for the songs Born to Be Wild
, Magic Carpet Ride
and The Pusher
. Born to be Wild is the group's biggest hit, making it to #2 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1968, becoming one of the 500 Songs that Shaped Rock and Roll by the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame
, and becoming one of Rolling Stone's 500 Greatest Songs of All Time. Another one of the most prominent players of the late 60s and early 70s rock scene was Neil Young
, who was a member of the folk rock band Buffalo Springfield
, before joining Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young. Young also recorded music with Crazy Horse
throughout his solo career. The song "Ohio
", written by Neil Young and recorded with CSNY, was in response to political events of the time and has since become an America social icon of the period. "Ohio" was written about the death of four students
at Kent State University
. The students were shot by Ohio National Guard
smen during an anti-war protest on the campus in May 1970.
law was passed ensuring Canadian culture and artists weren't overrun by the American media outlets. The Juno Award
s began as a reader poll conducted by Canadian music industry trade magazine RPM Weekly in December 1964. A similar balloting process continued until 1970 when the RPM Gold Leaf Awards, as they were then known, were changed to the Juno Awards. The first Juno Award ceremony was held in 1975 and was closely related to rectifying this same concern about Canadian content. This led to increased production and with the ground-breaking international popularity of The Guess Who and Neil Young at the end of the 1960s, opened markets outside Canada to the country's musicians. Moreover, success abroad usually ensured success in Canada. Led by Anne Murray
and The Poppy Family
, the early 1970s were a golden age for Canadian music. Many performers from the late 1960s came to the forefront in the following years, among them The Bells and Andy Kim
from Montreal, Chilliwack
from Vancouver
, Five Man Electrical Band
from Ottawa
, Lighthouse
from Toronto, Wednesday
from Oshawa, and The Stampeders
from Calgary
.
With the introduction in the mid 70s period of rock music on FM
radio stations, where it was common practice to program extended performances, musicians were no longer limited to songs of three minutes' duration as dictated by AM stations. The Canadian music industry was still nascent, with little independent music media and a limited distribution infrastructure. The two most internationally renowned bands to arise from this industry were Bachman–Turner Overdrive and Rush
, both featuring acclaimed managers. Bachman–Turner Overdrive's manager, Bruce Allen
, went on to produce Loverboy
and eventually manage such major pop stars as Bryan Adams
and Anne Murray. Randy Bachman
(formerly of The Guess Who) released his new band's first album under the name Bachman–Turner Overdrive in spring 1973, which won two Juno Awards despite being largely ignored in the US. Their second album Bachman–Turner Overdrive II hit #4 in the U.S. BTO II was certified gold in eight countries. It also yielded their best-remembered # 1 single, "Takin' Care of Business
" written by Randy Bachman. 1974's album Not Fragile
went straight to the top of the charts, and the single "You Ain't Seen Nothing Yet" hit #1 in the U.S. and #2 in the UK. One of the largest exports to date is Rush, that boasts 25 gold records
and 14 platinum (3 multi-platinum) records, making them one of the best-selling rock bands in history by 2005. Rush currently place third behind The Beatles
and The Rolling Stones
for the most consecutive gold and platinum albums by a rock band.
Following the scene of hard rock a small wave of acts emerged from all across Canada, including Moxy
, A Foot in Coldwater
and Triumph
from Toronto, Trooper
from Vancouver, and April Wine
from Halifax
. Canadian cultural critics have noted, in general, that the late 1970s were a lesser era for Canadian music. Many of the acts who had defined the earlier half of the decade were no longer recording, and the new artists emerging in this era simply didn't seem to be able to capture the Canadian pop zeitgeist
in the same way. Nevertheless, a number of established Canadian acts, including Rush, Bachman–Turner Overdrive, Bruce Cockburn, April Wine, Pat Travers
and Neil Young, remained influential and recorded some of their most popular material of all during this period, and former "The Guess Who" lead singer Burton Cummings
emerged as a popular solo artist in soft rock
. Also notable is folk rocker Gordon Lightfoot's "The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald
" a song written in commemoration of the sinking of the bulk carrier SS Edmund Fitzgerald
on Lake Superior
on 10 November 1975. The incident is the most famous disaster in the history of Great Lakes
shipping. The single reached #2 on the Billboard pop charts in November 1976, making it Lightfoot's second most successful (in terms of chart position) single, with "Sundown" having reached number one in 1974. Another of this period's most influential and popular rock bands, Heart
, resulted from the collaboration of two sisters from Seattle with a supporting band from Vancouver. Some popular francophone bands of the time included the rock group Beau Dommage
from Montreal led by Michel Rivard
and the progressive rock group Harmonium
also of Montreal. Artists like The Kings
, Prism
, Crowbar
, Nick Gilder
, Ian Thomas
, Goddo
, Harlequin
, Mahogany Rush
, Moxy
, Streetheart
, Max Webster
and Ironhorse
saw their greatest success during the late 70s period.
Many acts have had equally vital, if less remunerative careers outside the mainstream in punk rock
and its derivations, generally distinguished by a tendency to extremes of one sort or another. Whether in instrumental intensity, lyric content, or performance style Canadian pop music evolved with the times, reflecting worldwide trends. In the late 1970s, as punk rock, disco
, and the emerging new wave
ruled the landscape, Canadian groups such as D.O.A.
, The Viletones
, The Forgotten Rebels
, Rough Trade
, Diodes, Teenage Head
, The Demics
, The Young Canadians
and Subhumans
emerged and continued in the 1980s with popular bands like SNFU
, Dayglo Abortions
and Nomeansno
. Rough Trade were particularly notable for their 1980 hit "High School Confidential", one of the first explicitly lesbian-themed pop songs to crack the Top 40 anywhere in the world.
, for example, rose dramatically after the band turned from the experimental nature of its first few LPs to a mainstream pop style consistent with the US style. The band first hit the Top 10 charts in Canada with 1973s "Lonesome Mary", but are perhaps best remembered for three America hit songs from the 1980s "My Girl (Gone Gone Gone)", "I Believe" and "Whatcha Gonna Do". Even though those three hits were their only popular singles in the US, the band has releasing over a dozen albums with 23 Canadian hit singles. Bill Henderson, the founder of the band, was musical director for the Canadian edition of Sesame Street
from 1989 to 1995. Henderson also acted as director of the Canadian Association of Recording Arts and Sciences (CARAS
) and as president of the Songwriters Association of Canada (SOCAN).
Music videos assumed a major role in the promotion of pop rock recordings in 1980s for US exposure. Videos produced many mainstream pop-rockers that saw huge success in and outside of Canada. Success in the larger US market remained the major goal of most, if not all, post-1970 Canadian rock acts; a goal in fact reached with some greater or lesser degree of consistency by several, among them Bryan Adams, Aldo Nova
, Loverboy
, Saga
, Red Rider
, Corey Hart, Alannah Myles
, Lee Aaron
, Tom Cochrane
, Honeymoon Suite, Doug and the Slugs
and Glass Tiger
. As well, the era produced the country cowpunk
of k.d. lang
. Bryan Adams would emerge as Canada's superstar
of the 80s having been awarded the Order of Canada
, and the Order of British Columbia
and inducted into Canada's Walk of Fame
in 1998 for his contribution to popular music and his philanthropic work. Also notable is Loverboy who accumulated numerous hit songs in Canada and the United States, making four multi-platinum albums. The band's hit singles, particularly "Lovin' Every Minute of It
" and "Working for the Weekend
" have become hard rock staples, and are still heard on classic rock radio stations across the US and Canada. Loverboy has received five Juno Awards, Canada's highest award for music, in one year, a record that still stands today. The band would later receive an additional three Juno Awards, bringing their total to eight, which is the most received by a single group or individual except Bryan Adams.
Music video
s became more and more important as a marketing tool for Canadian bands by the mid 1980s with the debut of MuchMusic
in 1984 and MusiquePlus
in 1986. Now both English and French Canadian musicians had outlets to promote their music through video in Canada. The networks were not just an opportunity for artists to get their videos played—the networks created VideoFACT
, a fund to help emerging artists produce their videos.
New Wave
, Glam Rock
and heavy metal had become the most popular style of rock in the mid 1980s. Acts such as Platinum Blonde
, Helix
, Toronto
, Parachute Club, The Box
, Strange Advance
, Spoons
, Trans-X
, Rational Youth
, Men Without Hats
, Norman Iceberg
, Images in Vogue
, Headpins
, Sheriff
, Frozen Ghost
, Teenage Head
, Idle Eyes
, Eight Seconds
, The Northern Pikes
, Brighton Rock
and Martha and the Muffins
were along for the new Canadian music video ride. Although many of them, in fact, were only "one-hit wonders
".(see One-hit wonders in Canada
)
In the late 1980s, the Canadian recording industry continued to produce popular acts such as Blue Rodeo
. Alternative rock
also emerged as an influential genre, with independent artists such as The Tragically Hip
, 54-40
, Sarah McLachlan
, Spirit of the West
, The Waltons
, Cowboy Junkies
, The Pursuit of Happiness, and The Grapes of Wrath
all gaining their first widespread attention during this time. Also a new wave of Canadian thrash metal
bands began to rise up and earned a dedicated following like Anvil
, Razor
, Voivod
, Sword
, Exciter
and Annihilator
, Canadian metal's biggest selling artist, with sales of close to 2 million units worldwide, with industrial
bands Skinny Puppy
and Front Line Assembly
in the mix, as well as black/death metal band Blasphemy
.
Canada's most successful rock artists by the late 1980s have worked in a relatively generic, mainstream pop rock style of the day. Some from the 70s, 80s and 90s, may be ascribed to more specific substyles like Colin James
, David Wilcox
and Jeff Healey
to blues-rock (see Canadian blues
). With Stompin' Tom Connors
, Great Big Sea
and Ashley MacIsaac
to folk rock, that saw the start for both styles, a very large following all across Canada. Most notable would be Stompin' Tom Connors who typically writes about Canadian lore and history , some of Connors' better-known songs include Big Joe Mufferaw
, The Black Donnellys
, Reesor Crossing Tragedy
, Sudbury Saturday Night
and The Hockey Song
(aka "The Good Old Hockey Game"), that is frequently played over sound systems at National Hockey League
(NHL) games in both Canada and the United States.
At the start of the 1990s Canadian rock took a distinctive turn. Just as artists from the 1970s competed with disco, artists from the 1990s were competing with Canadian hip hop
and American hip hop on the Video and Radio charts. Glam metal and arena rock
had lost its position as Hip hop, alternative rock and grunge
became the new sound of the next generation. Canadian publications devoted to Canadian rock and pop music, either exclusively or in tandem with more general editorial content directed to young readers, was expanding rapidly in the 90s. It was a decade of incredible nationalism, at least as far as English-Canadian music was concerned. The 1971 CRTC rules (25% Canadian content on Canadian radio, increased to 30 per cent in the 1980s) finally came into full effect and by the end of the decade, radio stations would have to play 35% Canadian content. This led to an explosion of Canadian bands ruling the Canadian airwaves unlike any era before. This includes The Headstones
, The Tea Party
, Matthew Good Band
, Moist, Sloan
, The Gandharvas
, Change of Heart
, Skydiggers
, Eric's Trip
, Limblifter
, salmonblaster
,supergarage, the Doughboys
, Crash Test Dummies
, The Lowest of the Low
, 13 Engines
, Odds
, I Mother Earth
, Big Sugar
, Glueleg, Age of Electric
, Rymes With Orange
, Strapping Young Lad
, Bif Naked
, Rheostatics
, The Watchmen
, Moxy Früvous
, Rusty
, Our Lady Peace
, The Philosopher Kings
, Junkhouse
, Wide Mouth Mason
, Pure
, Thrush Hermit
, cub
, The Killjoys
, Sandbox
, Treble Charger
, Big Wreck
, Propagandhi
, and The Planet Smashers
. Although many of them have not been overly successful in the United States, they remain extremely popular in Canada having much more vitality than their contemporaries from other countries.
The Barenaked Ladies brought a spotlight on to the Canadian indie market when their album sales began to steamroll based simply on word of mouth and their live shows. Yellow Tape released in 1991, became the first indie release by any band to achieve platinum status (100,000 copies) in Canada. The album Stunt
became their greatest success, buoyed by "One Week", which coincidentally spent one week at the number one spot on the storied Billboard Hot 100. Also notable is The Tragically Hip who signed a long-term record deal with MCA
in 1987, but were largely unrecognized until 1989s Up to Here. They went on to establish themselves as one of the most influential bands in Canada. They have never found mainstream success in the United States, but this didn't matter because their Canadian fan base alone was enough to sustain a long and healthy career, with them still playing large stadiums twenty-five years after they started. The band is one of Canada's homegrown heroes — they hold the record for most number one debuts on the Canadian Albums Chart with a total of eight albums. - they have been inducted into the Canadian Music Hall of Fame, Canada's Walk of Fame, Royal Conservatory of Music
, have won over a dozen Juno Awards from more than thirty nominations,
In 1996, VideoFACT launched PromoFACT, a funding program to help new artists produce electronic press kits and websites. This helped Indie rock
, that would see a new dominant phase in the mid 90’s just as rock and roll was starting to be a predominant force in the Canadian charts once again. Indie rock was never supposed to be mainstream, but this is the path it took by the end of the decade. Musically, the late 1990s saw the rock genres of the early 1990s completely grow apart rather than fuse. Each of the genres multiplied and evolved in a fashion largely independent of the others. Perhaps the most dramatic change in lifestyle affected the girls. They were the daughters of the women who had fought for emancipation and equality in the 1960s.
Canadian women by the end of the decade enjoyed greater international commercial success than ever before in the popular music field. As Alannah Myles, Lisa Dalbello
and Lee Aaron had a decade earlier, four women in particular rose out of the 1990s, setting new pinnacles of success in terms financial, critical, and in their immediate and strong influences on their respective genres: Sarah McLachlan
, Céline Dion
, Alanis Morissette
and Shania Twain
. Alanis Morissette kicked off another revolution in Canadian music, launching an era in which Canadian women like Avril Lavigne
would rule the pop charts worldwide. Quebec-born singer, Celine Dion is the best-selling Canadian artist of all time, and when her 1997 album, Let's Talk About Love
was released in Canada, it broke the record for the highest opening weekly sales for any album, selling 230,212 copies, a record which still stands. Alanis Morissette, along with Shania Twain, are the only Canadian artists, male or female to have sold two million units in Canada, receiving the Double diamond award Other female Canadian musicians have achieved international success in the highly competitive world of popular music, including Joni Mitchell, Ginette Reno
, Diane Dufresne
, Diana Krall
, Avril Lavigne
, Loreena McKennitt
, Amanda Marshall
, Holly Cole
, Chantal Kreviazuk
, Diane Tell
, Jann Arden
, Deborah Cox
, Sarah Harmer
, Susan Aglukark
, Melissa Auf der Maur
, Emily Haines
, Kittie
, Bif Naked
, Nelly Furtado
, and Feist.
and continued to see the expansion of alternative rock, pop-punk, hard rock, and indie rock both artistically and commercially. The main musical phenomenon was the emergence of a new generation of singer songwriters that were the direct consequence of the previous generation's intellectual ambitions. The biggest factor that has contributed to the resurgence of rock music in the first decade of the 21st century is the rise of paid digital downloads
. The vast majority of songs bought on paid download sites are singles bought from full albums; songs that are bought on a song-by-song basis off artist's albums are considered sales of singles, even though they have no official single for purchase. The boom of independent music at the turn of the millennium changed the dynamics of the music industry. At about the same time, the CD (cheap to manufacture) replaced the vinyl album and cassette tapes
(expensive to manufacture). Shortly thereafter, the Internet
allowed musicians to directly distribute their music, thus bypassing the selection of the old-fashioned "record label
". Canada's music industry has suffered as a result of the challenging times for the better part of the last decade. The drop in annual sales between 1999 - the year that Napster
's unauthorized peer-to-peer
file sharing service launched - and the end of 2004 was $465 million. Canada in 2008 joined 50 other nations in updating its Copyright Act
, and in doing so aims to allow artists and others to seek compensation for their work, no matter how it is distributed. In 2010 Canada introduced new copyright legislation. The amended law makes hacking digital locks illegal, but enshrine into law the ability of purchasers to record and copy music from a CD to portable devices.
The wide and diverse sound in first decade of the 21st century rock has resulted in such acts as Billy Talent
, Thornley
, Sam Roberts
, Joel Plaskett
, Avril Lavigne
, Finger Eleven
, Simple Plan
, Marianas Trench
, Gob
, Hot Hot Heat
, Sum 41
, Evans Blue
, Parabelle
, The Birthday Massacre
, Thousand Foot Krutch
, Three Days Grace
, The Trews
, Matt Mays & El Torpedo, Alexisonfire
, Theory of a Deadman
, Protest The Hero
, Default
, Bedouin Soundclash
, Hedley
, Tokyo Police Club
, Death From Above 1979
, Age of Daze
, Metric
and Priestess
. Arguably the most successful Canadian group of the decade is Nickelback
, having sold over 35 million albums worldwide. Their album Silver Side Up
has sold over six million copies (6x Platinum) in the United States and 800,000 copies (8x Platinum) in Canada. The band has won multiple Juno Awards, an American Music Award, and a MTV Video Music Award Their hit single "How You Remind Me
" reached the top on the Canadian Singles Chart and the Billboard Hot 100 at the same time, making them the second Canadian band to accomplish this, the first being The Guess Who with "American Woman" in 1970. Also very notable is Avril Lavigne who has sold more than 30 million copies of her albums worldwide. She is currently one of the top-selling artists releasing albums in the United States, with over 10.25 million copies certified by the Recording Industry Association of America. Her 2002 debut album, Let Go
has sold over 16 million copies were sold worldwide by 2008, and certified six times platinum in the United States.
The end of the decade was notable for a surprising number of ambitious indie rock albums. The Canadian indie rock scene has been the focus of national and international attention in many publications, such as Spin, The New York Times Magazine
, Rolling Stone
, Under the Radar
, as well the Canadian edition of Time Magazine. It can be difficult for an indie group to break through in Canada as there is no nationwide rock station. On the other hand, although rock bands may get some exposure from outlets such as MuchMusic and CBC Radio 3
, bands must largely rely on building an audience city by city, as each commercial radio station makes its playlist decisions independently. Similarly, it is more difficult to travel nationwide as well due to the vast size, creating regional communities that revolve around major music scenes in cities like Winnipeg, Vancouver, Toronto, Montreal or Halifax, each with a handful of offshoot suburban town scenes that produce the next wave of fresh bands. Most notable is Arcade Fire, who have won numerous awards, including the 2011 Grammy for Album of the Year
, the 2011 Juno Award for Album of the Year
, and the 2011 Brit Award for Best International Album for their third studio album, The Suburbs
.
. The tensions between Quebec and English Canada have, at times, played out on Quebec's music scene as well. In 1991, Céline Dion
won the Félix
award for Best Anglophone Artist for her English-language debut, Unison, but refused it as she did not view herself as an Anglophone artist. After the controversy caused by this incident, Dion had been careful not to clearly declare herself as either federalist
or sovereignist, but has in recent years made it clear that she is a federalist French-Canadian, after she was inducted to Canada's Walk of Fame and awarded the Order of Canada.
Music of Canada
The music of Canada has influences that have shaped the country. Aboriginals, the British, and the French have all made unique contributions to the musical heritage of Canada. The music has subsequently been heavily influenced by American culture because of its proximity and migration between...
by Canadians, beginning with American
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
style rock 'n' roll
Rock and roll
Rock and roll is a genre of popular music that originated and evolved in the United States during the late 1940s and early 1950s, primarily from a combination of African American blues, country, jazz, and gospel music...
in the mid-20th century. Since then Canada has had a considerable impact on the development of the modern popular music
Popular music
Popular music belongs to any of a number of musical genres "having wide appeal" and is typically distributed to large audiences through the music industry. It stands in contrast to both art music and traditional music, which are typically disseminated academically or orally to smaller, local...
called rock
Rock music
Rock music is a genre of popular music that developed during and after the 1960s, particularly in the United Kingdom and the United States. It has its roots in 1940s and 1950s rock and roll, itself heavily influenced by rhythm and blues and country music...
. Canada has produced many of the genre's most significant groups and performers, while contributing substantively to the development of the most popular sub-genres
Canadian music genres
Canadian music genres identifies musical sounds as belonging to a particular category and type of music that can be distinguished from other types of music made by Canadians. The music of Canada has reflected the multi-cultural influences that have shaped the country...
, which include pop rock
Pop rock
Pop rock is a music genre which mixes a catchy pop style and light lyrics in its guitar-based rock songs. There are varying definitions of the term, ranging from a slower and mellower form of rock music to a subgenre of pop music...
, progressive rock
Progressive rock
Progressive rock is a subgenre of rock music that developed in the late 1960s and early 1970s as part of a "mostly British attempt to elevate rock music to new levels of artistic credibility." John Covach, in Contemporary Music Review, says that many thought it would not just "succeed the pop of...
, country rock
Country rock
Country rock is sub-genre of popular music, formed from the fusion of rock with country. The term is generally used to refer to the wave of rock musicians who began to record country-flavored records in the late 1960s and early 1970s, beginning with Bob Dylan and The Byrds; reaching its greatest...
, folk rock
Folk rock
Folk rock is a musical genre combining elements of folk music and rock music. In its earliest and narrowest sense, the term referred to a genre that arose in the United States and the UK around the mid-1960s...
, hard rock
Hard rock
Hard rock is a loosely defined genre of rock music which has its earliest roots in mid-1960s garage rock, blues rock and psychedelic rock...
, punk rock
Punk rock
Punk rock is a rock music genre that developed between 1974 and 1976 in the United States, the United Kingdom, and Australia. Rooted in garage rock and other forms of what is now known as protopunk music, punk rock bands eschewed perceived excesses of mainstream 1970s rock...
, heavy metal
Heavy metal music
Heavy metal is a genre of rock music that developed in the late 1960s and early 1970s, largely in the Midlands of the United Kingdom and the United States...
and indie rock
Indie rock
Indie rock is a genre of alternative rock that originated in the United Kingdom and the United States in the 1980s. Indie rock is extremely diverse, with sub-genres that include lo-fi, post-rock, math rock, indie pop, dream pop, noise rock, space rock, sadcore, riot grrrl and emo, among others...
.
Pre-history
Since before Canada's emergence as a nationNation
A nation may refer to a community of people who share a common language, culture, ethnicity, descent, and/or history. In this definition, a nation has no physical borders. However, it can also refer to people who share a common territory and government irrespective of their ethnic make-up...
in 1867, the country has produced its own composers, musicians and ensembles. From the 17th century onward Canada has developed a music infrastructure, that includes concert halls, conservatories, academies, performing arts centres, record companies, radio stations and national music video
Music video
A music video or song video is a short film integrating a song and imagery, produced for promotional or artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a marketing device intended to promote the sale of music recordings...
television channels. The success of the gramophone
Gramophone record
A gramophone record, commonly known as a phonograph record , vinyl record , or colloquially, a record, is an analog sound storage medium consisting of a flat disc with an inscribed, modulated spiral groove...
at the beginning of the 20th century allowed Canadian songwriters to broaden their potential audiences. Following quickly on the gramophone's spread came World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
. The war was the catalyst for the writing and recording of large numbers of Canadian-written popular songs, some of which achieved lasting international commercial success. The 1920s saw Canada's first radio stations, this allowed Canadian songwriters to contribute some of the most famous popular music of the early 20th century. Canada has produced a number of notable international recording artists who appeared on the Billboards record sales chart
Billboard charts
The Billboard charts tabulate the relative weekly popularity of songs or albums in the United States. The results are published in Billboard magazine...
called Hit parade
Hit parade
A hit parade is a ranked list of the most popular recordings at a given point in time, usually determined by sales and/or airplay. The term originated in the 1930s; Billboard magazine published its first music hit parade on January 4, 1936...
first published in 1936. Among them was the World War II era bandleader
Bandleader
A bandleader is the leader of a band of musicians. The term is most commonly, though not exclusively, used with a group that plays popular music as a small combo or a big band, such as one which plays jazz, blues, rhythm and blues or rock and roll music....
, Guy Lombardo
Guy Lombardo
Gaetano Alberto "Guy" Lombardo was a Canadian-American bandleader and violinist.Forming "The Royal Canadians" in 1924 with his brothers Carmen, Lebert, and Victor and other musicians from his hometown, Lombardo led the group to international success, billing themselves as creating "The Sweetest...
, who with his brother has sold an estimated 250 million phonograph records during their lifetimes. Over the course of his career, which began in 1944, Montreal
Montreal
Montreal is a city in Canada. It is the largest city in the province of Quebec, the second-largest city in Canada and the seventh largest in North America...
's jazz virtuoso
Virtuoso
A virtuoso is an individual who possesses outstanding technical ability in the fine arts, at singing or playing a musical instrument. The plural form is either virtuosi or the Anglicisation, virtuosos, and the feminine form sometimes used is virtuosa...
Oscar Peterson
Oscar Peterson
Oscar Emmanuel Peterson was a Canadian jazz pianist and composer. He was called the "Maharaja of the keyboard" by Duke Ellington, "O.P." by his friends. He released over 200 recordings, won seven Grammy Awards, and received other numerous awards and honours over the course of his career...
released over 200 recordings, won seven Grammy Award
Grammy Award
A Grammy Award — or Grammy — is an accolade by the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences of the United States to recognize outstanding achievement in the music industry...
s, and received many other awards and honors. Oscar Peterson is considered to have been one of the greatest pianists of all time. Nova Scotia
Nova Scotia
Nova Scotia is one of Canada's three Maritime provinces and is the most populous province in Atlantic Canada. The name of the province is Latin for "New Scotland," but "Nova Scotia" is the recognized, English-language name of the province. The provincial capital is Halifax. Nova Scotia is the...
's born and raised Hank Snow
Hank Snow
Clarence Eugene "Hank" Snow was a Canadian-American country music artist. He charted more than 70 singles on the Billboard country charts from 1950 until 1980...
who signed with RCA Victor in 1936 and went on to become one of America's most innovative country music
Country music
Country music is a popular American musical style that began in the rural Southern United States in the 1920s. It takes its roots from Western cowboy and folk music...
superstars.
The beginning of Canadian rock 1950s
Rock 'n' roll arose in the United StatesUnited States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
in the late 1940s after World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
, from a combination of the rhythms of African American
African American music
African-American music is an umbrella term given to a range of musics and musical genres emerging from or influenced by the culture of African Americans, who have long constituted a large and significant ethnic minority of the population of the United States...
blues
Blues
Blues is the name given to both a musical form and a music genre that originated in African-American communities of primarily the "Deep South" of the United States at the end of the 19th century from spirituals, work songs, field hollers, shouts and chants, and rhymed simple narrative ballads...
, country and gospel music
Gospel music
Gospel music is music that is written to express either personal, spiritual or a communal belief regarding Christian life, as well as to give a Christian alternative to mainstream secular music....
. Though elements of rock and roll can be heard in Canadian country records of the 1930s-1940s, and in American blues records from the 1920s, rock and roll did not acquire its name until the 1950s. "Rock"' or its forerunners electric blues
Electric blues
Electric blues is a type of blues music distinguished by the amplification of the guitar, bass guitar, drums, and often the harmonica. Pioneered in the 1930s, it emerged as a genre in Chicago in the 1940s. It was taken up in many areas of America leading to the development of regional subgenres...
(Chicago blues
Chicago blues
The Chicago blues is a form of blues music that developed in Chicago, Illinois, by taking the basic acoustic guitar and harmonica-based Delta blues, making the harmonica louder with a microphone and an instrument amplifier, and adding electrically amplified guitar, amplified bass guitar, drums,...
) and rhythm and blues
Rhythm and blues
Rhythm and blues, often abbreviated to R&B, is a genre of popular African American music that originated in the 1940s. The term was originally used by record companies to describe recordings marketed predominantly to urban African Americans, at a time when "urbane, rocking, jazz based music with a...
(Jump blues
Jump blues
Jump blues is an up-tempo blues usually played by small groups and featuring horns. It was very popular in the 1940s, and the movement was a precursor to the arrival of rhythm and blues and rock and roll...
) was first heard in the late 1940s by Canadians who were living close enough to the American border to tune in to American radio station broadcasts.
In 1951, Cleveland
Cleveland, Ohio
Cleveland is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and is the county seat of Cuyahoga County, the most populous county in the state. The city is located in northeastern Ohio on the southern shore of Lake Erie, approximately west of the Pennsylvania border...
, Ohio
Ohio
Ohio is a Midwestern state in the United States. The 34th largest state by area in the U.S.,it is the 7th‑most populous with over 11.5 million residents, containing several major American cities and seven metropolitan areas with populations of 500,000 or more.The state's capital is Columbus...
disc jockey
Disc jockey
A disc jockey, also known as DJ, is a person who selects and plays recorded music for an audience. Originally, "disc" referred to phonograph records, not the later Compact Discs. Today, the term includes all forms of music playback, no matter the medium.There are several types of disc jockeys...
Alan Freed
Alan Freed
Albert James "Alan" Freed , also known as Moondog, was an American disc-jockey. He became internationally known for promoting the mix of blues, country and rhythm and blues music on the radio in the United States and Europe under the name of rock and roll...
began playing rhythm and blues music for a multi-racial audience, and is credited with first using the phrase "rock and roll" to describe the musical sound of the Doo-wop vocal groups
Doo-wop
The name Doo-wop is given to a style of vocal-based rhythm and blues music that developed in African American communities in the 1940s and achieved mainstream popularity in the 1950s and early 1960s. It emerged from New York, Philadelphia, Chicago, Baltimore, Newark, Pittsburgh, Cincinnati and...
and the rockabilly
Rockabilly
Rockabilly is one of the earliest styles of rock and roll music, dating to the early 1950s.The term rockabilly is a portmanteau of rock and hillbilly, the latter a reference to the country music that contributed strongly to the style's development...
singers who emerged in the 1950s. The Four Lads
The Four Lads
The Four Lads is a popular Canadian male singing quartet. In the 1950s, 1960s, and 1970s, the group earned many gold singles and albums. Its million-selling signature tunes include "Moments to Remember," "Standin' on the Corner," "No, Not Much," "Who Needs You," and "Istanbul."The Four Lads makes...
, from Toronto
Toronto
Toronto is the provincial capital of Ontario and the largest city in Canada. It is located in Southern Ontario on the northwestern shore of Lake Ontario. A relatively modern city, Toronto's history dates back to the late-18th century, when its land was first purchased by the British monarchy from...
, were one of the first groups to capitalize on this sound and become a prominent act in the Canadian rhythm and blues scene, producing their first hit in 1952 called "Mocking Bird
The Mocking Bird
"The Mocking Bird" is a popular song.It was recorded twice by The Four Lads. The first version, made April 16, 1952, was released on Columbia's Okeh label in 1952 and re-released four years later on Columbia A new recording was made in 1958, entering the Billboard Hot 100 list on November 24,...
". Their most famous hit was "Moments to Remember
Moments to Remember
"Moments to Remember" is a popular song published in 1955, and recorded by The Four Lads. The song was written by Robert Allen and Al Stillman.-History:...
", which first reached the Billboard magazine charts on September 3, 1955. Emerging in the mid 1950s, on near equal-footing to American popular music
American popular music
American popular music had a profound effect on music across the world. The country has seen the rise of popular styles that have had a significant influence on global culture, including ragtime, blues, jazz, swing, rock, R&B, doo wop, gospel, soul, funk, heavy metal, punk, disco, house, techno,...
, Canadian popular music enjoyed considerable success at home and abroad.
1954 the name "rock and roll" had become the common name of the popular music of the day. Rhythm and blues (R&B coined in 1949) was too broad a term, because R&B was a category that included most forms of race music, which generally had adult-based lyrics. The Crew-Cuts, The Diamonds
The Diamonds
The Diamonds are a Canadian vocal quartet who rose to prominence in the 1950s and early 1960s with sixteen Billboard hit records. The original members were Dave Somerville , Ted Kowalski , Phil Levitt , and Bill Reed .-1950s:...
and The Four Lads would emerge from this new marketing of rhythm and blues to appeal to a white audience leaving an indelible mark on the Doo-wop days. Often Canadian records of this period were simply covers
Cover version
In popular music, a cover version or cover song, or simply cover, is a new performance or recording of a contemporary or previously recorded, commercially released song or popular song...
of pop hits, and rhythm and blues oldies. 1958 saw Canada produced its first rock and roll teen idol
Teen idol
A teen idol is a celebrity who is widely idolized by teenagers; he or she is often young but not necessarily teenaged. Often teen idols are actors or pop singers, but some sports figures have an appeal to teenagers. Some teen idols began their careers as child actors...
Paul Anka
Paul Anka
Paul Albert Anka, is a Canadian singer, songwriter, and actor.Anka first became famous as a teen idol in the late 1950s and 1960s with hit songs like "Diana'", "Lonely Boy", and "Put Your Head on My Shoulder"...
, who went to New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
where he auditioned for ABC
American Broadcasting Company
The American Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network. Created in 1943 from the former NBC Blue radio network, ABC is owned by The Walt Disney Company and is part of Disney-ABC Television Group. Its first broadcast on television was in 1948...
with the song, Diana
Diana (song)
"Diana" is a song written and made famous by Paul Anka in 1957. It was inspired by a high school friend named Diana Ayoub. The original Paul Anka 1957 recording reached number one on the Billboard "Best Sellers In Stores" chart and has reportedly sold over 9 million copies...
. This song brought Anka instant stardom and he became the first Canadian to have a number one on the US Billboard charts in the rock and roll era. "Diana" is one of the best selling 45s in music history. He followed up with four songs that made it into the Top 20 in 1958, making him one of the biggest teen idols of the time.
Most Canadians with successful recording careers in the 1950s had moved to the US, where the population level and media exposure would eclipse that of Canada. Ronnie Hawkins
Ronnie Hawkins
Ronald "Ronnie" Hawkins is a Juno Award-winning rockabilly musician whose career has spanned more than half a century. Though his career began in Arkansas, USA, where he'd been born and raised, it was in Ontario, Canada where he found success and settled for most of his life...
, an Arkansas
Arkansas
Arkansas is a state located in the southern region of the United States. Its name is an Algonquian name of the Quapaw Indians. Arkansas shares borders with six states , and its eastern border is largely defined by the Mississippi River...
born rockabilly singer, moved to Canada in 1958, becoming a prominent figure in Canadian blues
Canadian blues
Canadian blues refers to the blues and blues-related music performed by blues bands and performers in Canada. In Canada, there are hundreds of local and regionally-based Canadian blues bands and performers. As well, there is a smaller number of bands or performers that have achieved national or...
and rock devoting his life to popularizing Canadian musicians. He formed a backing band called The Hawks, which produced some of the earliest Canadian rock stars. Among them were the members of The Band
The Band
The Band was an acclaimed and influential roots rock group. The original group consisted of Rick Danko , Garth Hudson , Richard Manuel , and Robbie Robertson , and Levon Helm...
, who began touring with Bob Dylan
Bob Dylan
Bob Dylan is an American singer-songwriter, musician, poet, film director and painter. He has been a major and profoundly influential figure in popular music and culture for five decades. Much of his most celebrated work dates from the 1960s when he was an informal chronicler and a seemingly...
in 1966, and then struck out on their own in 1968.
1960s
As the late fifties gave way to the sixties, stars of the previous decade were still producing hits, but they were quickly losing ground as they struggled to find material that would click with this new and energetic generation. The first Canadian-madeCountry of origin
Country of origin , is the country of manufacture, production, or growth where an article or product comes from...
and produced rock recording to achieve international popularity was "Clap Your Hands" in 1960 by a Montreal quartet
Quartet
In music, a quartet is a method of instrumentation , used to perform a musical composition, and consisting of four parts.-Western art music:...
, The Beaumarks. Shortly thereafter, they appeared on American Bandstand
American Bandstand
American Bandstand is an American music-performance show that aired in various versions from 1952 to 1989 and was hosted from 1956 until its final season by Dick Clark, who also served as producer...
and a charity concert at Carnegie Hall
Carnegie Hall
Carnegie Hall is a concert venue in Midtown Manhattan in New York City, United States, located at 881 Seventh Avenue, occupying the east stretch of Seventh Avenue between West 56th Street and West 57th Street, two blocks south of Central Park....
. Bobby Curtola
Bobby Curtola
Robert Allen "Bobby" Curtola, CM is an early Canadian rock and roll singer and teen idol.-History:Curtola had several songs on the Canadian music charts beginning with "Hand In Hand With You"...
from Port Arthur, Ontario
Port Arthur, Ontario
Port Arthur was a city in Northern Ontario which amalgamated with Fort William and the townships of Neebing and McIntyre to form the city of Thunder Bay in January 1970. Port Arthur was the district seat of Thunder Bay District.- History :...
had several songs on the Canadian music charts beginning with "Hand In Hand With You" in 1960. His biggest chart-topper came in 1962 with the song, "Fortune Teller", which was also successful internationally. In 1966, he won an RPM Gold Leaf Award
Juno Award
The Juno Awards are presented annually to Canadian musical artists and bands to acknowledge their artistic and technical achievements in all aspects of music...
(The Gold Leaf Awards, which were in effect the first Juno Awards) for being the first Canadian to have a gold album. The CHUM Chart
CHUM Chart
The CHUM Chart was a ranking of top 30 songs on Toronto, Ontario radio station CHUM 1050 AM, from 1957 to 1986, and was the longest-running Top 40 chart in the world produced by an individual radio station...
debuted on May 27, 1957, under the name CHUM's Weekly Hit Parade, to 1986, and was the longest-running Top 40 chart in Canada.
During the 1960s Canadian music was regarded with indifference and Canadian recording artists were forced to turn toward the United States to establish their careers. In 1960 Walt Grealis
Walt Grealis
Walter Grealis, OC was a Canadian publisher and music industry leader. With partner Stan Klees, he co-founded Canada's national music honours, the Juno Awards...
of Toronto started in the music business with Apex Records, the Ontario distributor for Compo Company
Compo Company
Compo Company Ltd. was Canada's first independent record company.The Compo Company was founded in 1918 in Lachine, Quebec by Herbert Berliner, an executive of Berliner Gramophone of Canada and the oldest son of disc record inventor Emile Berliner....
(founded in 1918), Canada's first independent record company that today is part of Universal
Universal Music Group
Universal Music Group is an American music group, the largest of the "big four" record companies by its commanding market share and its multitude of global operations...
. He later joined London Records
London Records
London Records, referred to as London Recordings in logo, is a record label headquartered in the United Kingdom, originally marketing records in the United States, Canada and Latin America from 1947 to 1979, then becoming a semi-independent label....
, where he worked until February 1964, when he then established RPM weekly trade magazine
RPM (magazine)
RPM was a Canadian music industry publication that featured song and album charts for Canada. The publication was founded by Walt Grealis in February 1964, supported through its existence by record label owner Stan Klees. RPM ceased publication in November 2000.RPM stood for "Records, Promotion,...
. From the first issue of RPM Weekly on February 24, 1964 to its final issue on November 13, 2000, RPM was the defining charts in Canada. The popularity of US rock on the two Canadian charts led to many existing groups, especially those devoted to country music, to change styles or to incorporate some rock style hits in their repertoires.
Gordon Lightfoot
Gordon Meredith Lightfoot, Jr. is a Canadian singer-songwriter who achieved international success in folk, folk-rock, and country music, and has been credited for helping define the folk-pop sound of the 1960s and 1970s...
, Joni Mitchell
Joni Mitchell
Joni Mitchell, CC is a Canadian musician, singer songwriter, and painter. Mitchell began singing in small nightclubs in her native Saskatchewan and Western Canada and then busking in the streets and dives of Toronto...
, Leonard Cohen
Leonard Cohen
Leonard Norman Cohen, is a Canadian singer-songwriter, musician, poet and novelist. Cohen published his first book of poetry in Montreal in 1956 and his first novel in 1963. His work often explores religion, isolation, sexuality and interpersonal relationships...
, Denny Doherty
Denny Doherty
Dennis Gerrard Stephen Doherty was a Canadian singer and songwriter. He was most widely known as a founding member of the 1960s musical group The Mamas & the Papas.-Early career:...
(of The Mamas & the Papas
The Mamas & the Papas
The Mamas & the Papas were a Canadian/American vocal group of the 1960s . The group recorded and performed from 1965 to 1968 with a short reunion in 1971, releasing five albums and 11 Top 40 hit singles...
), David Clayton-Thomas
David Clayton-Thomas
David Clayton-Thomas is a Canadian musician and singer best known as the lead vocalist for the American band; Blood, Sweat & Tears...
(of Blood, Sweat & Tears
Blood, Sweat & Tears
Blood, Sweat & Tears is an American music group, originally formed in 1967 in New York City. Since its beginnings in 1967, the band has gone through numerous iterations with varying personnel and has encompassed a multitude of musical styles...
), Andy Kim
Andy Kim
Andrew Youakim, performing as Andy Kim, is a Lebanese Canadian pop rock singer and songwriter. He grew up in Montreal, Quebec in Canada. Kim is known for a number of hit singles that he released in the late 1960s and early 1970s such as "Rock Me Gently", which topped the US singles charts. In 1968,...
, Zal Yanovsky
Zal Yanovsky
Zalman "Zal" Yanovsky was a Canadian rock musician. Born in Toronto, he was the son of political cartoonist Avrom Yanovsky. He played lead guitar and sang for the Lovin' Spoonful, a rock band which he founded with John Sebastian in 1964...
(of The Lovin' Spoonful
The Lovin' Spoonful
The Lovin' Spoonful is an American pop rock band of the 1960s, named to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2000. When asked about his band, leader John Sebastian said it sounded like a combination of "Mississippi John Hurt and Chuck Berry," prompting his friend, Fritz Richmond, to suggest the name...
), John Kay
John Kay (musician)
John Kay is a German-Canadian singer, songwriter and guitarist known as the frontman of Steppenwolf...
(of Steppenwolf
Steppenwolf (band)
Steppenwolf are a Canadian-American rock group that was prominent in the late 1960s. The group was formed in 1967 in Los Angeles by vocalist John Kay, guitarist Michael Monarch, bassist Rushton Moreve, keyboardist Goldy McJohn and drummer Jerry Edmonton after the dissolution of Toronto group The...
), and Ian & Sylvia found international audiences. One important example was a Winnipeg
Winnipeg
Winnipeg is the capital and largest city of Manitoba, Canada, and is the primary municipality of the Winnipeg Capital Region, with more than half of Manitoba's population. It is located near the longitudinal centre of North America, at the confluence of the Red and Assiniboine Rivers .The name...
band called Chad Allan
Chad Allan (musician)
Chad Allan is a Canadian musician and founding member of The Guess Who. He was the group's original lead singer and front man, as well as rhythm guitarist, songwriter and occasionally drummer and pianist....
& the Expressions, which had a 1965 hit with a version of Johnny Kidd and the Pirates
Johnny Kidd and the Pirates
Johnny Kidd & The Pirates were an English rock 'n' roll group led by singer/songwriter Johnny Kidd. They scored numerous hit songs from the late 1950s to the early 1960s, including the rock & roll classics 'Shakin' All Over' and 'Please Don't Touch', but their influence far outshines their chart...
' "Shakin' All Over
Shakin' All Over
"Shakin' All Over" is a rock and roll song originally performed by Johnny Kidd and the Pirates. It was written by frontman Johnny Kidd and reached #1 in the United Kingdom in August 1960...
". They would eventually evolve into The Guess Who
The Guess Who
The Guess Who are a Canadian rock band from Winnipeg, Manitoba. Initially gaining recognition in Canada, they also found international success from the late 1960s through the mid-1970s with numerous hit singles, including "American Woman", "These Eyes" and "Share the Land"...
, the first Canadian rock group to have a No.1 hit that reached the top on the Canadian Singles Chart
Canadian Singles Chart
The Canadian Singles Chart is currently compiled by the U.S.-based music sales tracking company, Nielsen SoundScan . The chart is compiled every Wednesday, and is published by Jam! Canoe on Thursdays....
and the Billboard Hot 100
Billboard Hot 100
The Billboard Hot 100 is the United States music industry standard singles popularity chart issued weekly by Billboard magazine. Chart rankings are based on radio play and sales; the tracking-week for sales begins on Monday and ends on Sunday, while the radio play tracking-week runs from Wednesday...
at the same time, with "American Woman
American Woman (song)
"American Woman" is a song by Canadian rock band The Guess Who, first released in January 1970 on the album of the same name and later in March as a single, which reached #1 on the Billboard Hot 100. The song has been covered by many rock artists, including Lenny Kravitz, Krokus, and The Butthole...
" in 1970. Their success paved the way for a new wave of Canadian singer-songwriters, including Stan Rogers
Stan Rogers
Stanley Allison "Stan" Rogers was a Canadian folk musician and songwriter.Rogers was noted for his rich, baritone voice and his finely crafted, traditional-sounding songs which were frequently inspired by Canadian history and the daily lives of working people, especially those from the fishing...
, Murray McLauchlan
Murray McLauchlan
Murray McLauchlan, CM is a Canadian singer, songwriter, guitarist, pianist, and harmonica player.-Biography:Born in Paisley, Renfrewshire, Scotland, he emigrated to Canada with his family when he was five years old...
, Bruce Cockburn
Bruce Cockburn
Bruce Douglas Cockburn OC is a Canadian folk/rock guitarist and singer-songwriter. His most recent album was released in March 2011. He has written songs in styles ranging from folk to jazz-influenced rock to rock and roll.-Biography:...
and Willie P. Bennett
Willie P. Bennett
Willie P. Bennett was a Canadian folk-music singer and song writer.-Life and career:Born William Patrick Bennett in Toronto, Ontario, Bennett was part of the 1970s folk music scene in Canada, alongside such figures as Bruce Cockburn, Stan Rogers and David Wiffen...
.
Unlike the generation before, the late sixties American and British counterculture
Counterculture
Counterculture is a sociological term used to describe the values and norms of behavior of a cultural group, or subculture, that run counter to those of the social mainstream of the day, the cultural equivalent of political opposition. Counterculture can also be described as a group whose behavior...
and hippie
Hippie
The hippie subculture was originally a youth movement that arose in the United States during the mid-1960s and spread to other countries around the world. The etymology of the term 'hippie' is from hipster, and was initially used to describe beatniks who had moved into San Francisco's...
movements had diverted rock towards psychedelic rock, heavy metal, progressive rock and many other styles, most dominated by socially and politically incisive lyrics. The music was an attempt to reflect upon the events of the time --- civil rights
Civil rights
Civil and political rights are a class of rights that protect individuals' freedom from unwarranted infringement by governments and private organizations, and ensure one's ability to participate in the civil and political life of the state without discrimination or repression.Civil rights include...
, the growing unrest in America over the war in Vietnam
Vietnam
Vietnam – sometimes spelled Viet Nam , officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam – is the easternmost country on the Indochina Peninsula in Southeast Asia. It is bordered by China to the north, Laos to the northwest, Cambodia to the southwest, and the South China Sea –...
, and the rise of feminism
Feminism
Feminism is a collection of movements aimed at defining, establishing, and defending equal political, economic, and social rights and equal opportunities for women. Its concepts overlap with those of women's rights...
. In many instances, the "message" within the song was simplistic or banal. Although only two of the five original members of Steppenwolf were born in Canada (Jerry Edmonton
Jerry Edmonton
Jerry Edmonton was the drummer for the rock band, Steppenwolf.He was born Gerald McCrohan in Oshawa, Ontario, Canada. Both he and his brother Dennis, also known as Mars Bonfire, changed their surnames to Edmonton during the 1960s, when they performed in a group called The Sparrows...
and Goldy McJohn
Goldy McJohn
Goldy McJohn is a Canadian keyboard player best known as the original keyboardist for rock group Steppenwolf. Originally a classically trained pianist, he was a pioneer in the early use of the electronic organ in heavy metal...
), the band was among the biggest in Canadian music in the 1960s and 1970s. German born frontman, John Kay, would later become a Canadian citizen and was the only member of Steppenwolf to be inducted into the Canadian Music Hall of Fame
Canadian Music Hall of Fame
The Canadian Music Hall of Fame honors Canadian musicians for their lifetime achievements in music. The ceremony is held each year as part of the Juno Award ceremonies. Members of the Canadian Music Hall of Fame represent many of the world's great talents...
and Canada's Walk of Fame
Canada's Walk of Fame
Canada's Walk of Fame , located in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, is a walk of fame that acknowledges the achievements and accomplishments of successful Canadians...
. Steppenwolf is most famous for the songs Born to Be Wild
Born to Be Wild
"Born to Be Wild" is a rock song written by Mars Bonfire and made famous by the Canadian-American rock band Steppenwolf. It is often used in popular culture to denote a biker appearance or attitude...
, Magic Carpet Ride
Magic Carpet Ride
"Magic Carpet Ride" is a rock song written by John Kay and Rushton Moreve from the Canadian-American band Steppenwolf. The song was initially released in 1968 on the album The Second. It was the lead single from that album, peaking at No. 3 in the US, and becoming the band's second-biggest hit,...
and The Pusher
The Pusher
"The Pusher" is a rock song written by Hoyt Axton, made popular by the 1969 movie Easy Rider which used Steppenwolf's version to accompany the opening scenes of drug trafficking....
. Born to be Wild is the group's biggest hit, making it to #2 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1968, becoming one of the 500 Songs that Shaped Rock and Roll by the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame
Rock and Roll Hall of Fame
The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum is a museum located on the shore of Lake Erie in downtown Cleveland, Ohio, United States. It is dedicated to archiving the history of some of the best-known and most influential artists, producers, engineers and others who have, in some major way,...
, and becoming one of Rolling Stone's 500 Greatest Songs of All Time. Another one of the most prominent players of the late 60s and early 70s rock scene was Neil Young
Neil Young
Neil Percival Young, OC, OM is a Canadian singer-songwriter who is widely regarded as one of the most influential musicians of his generation...
, who was a member of the folk rock band Buffalo Springfield
Buffalo Springfield
Buffalo Springfield is a North American folk rock band renown both for its music and as a springboard for the careers of Neil Young, Stephen Stills, Richie Furay and Jim Messina. Among the first wave of North American bands to become popular in the wake of the British invasion, the group combined...
, before joining Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young. Young also recorded music with Crazy Horse
Crazy Horse
Crazy Horse was a Native American war leader of the Oglala Lakota. He took up arms against the U.S...
throughout his solo career. The song "Ohio
Ohio (Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young song)
"Ohio" is a protest song written and composed by Neil Young in reaction to the Kent State shootings of May 4, 1970, and performed by Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young. It was released as a single, backed with Stephen Stills's "Find the Cost of Freedom," peaking at #14 on the Billboard Hot 100...
", written by Neil Young and recorded with CSNY, was in response to political events of the time and has since become an America social icon of the period. "Ohio" was written about the death of four students
Kent State shootings
The Kent State shootings—also known as the May 4 massacre or the Kent State massacre—occurred at Kent State University in the city of Kent, Ohio, and involved the shooting of unarmed college students by members of the Ohio National Guard on Monday, May 4, 1970...
at Kent State University
Kent State University
Kent State University is a public research university located in Kent, Ohio, United States. The university has eight campuses around the northeast Ohio region with the main campus in Kent being the largest...
. The students were shot by Ohio National Guard
Ohio National Guard
The Ohio National Guard comprises:* Ohio Army National Guard* Ohio Air National Guard-External links:* compiled by the United States Army Center of Military History...
smen during an anti-war protest on the campus in May 1970.
1970s
With the introduction of the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission's (CRTC) broadcast regulations in 1970, the Canadian recording industry made rock a major focus of its activity. In 1971, the Canadian contentCanadian content
Canadian content refers to the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission requirements that radio and television broadcasters must air a certain percentage of content that was at least partly written, produced, presented, or otherwise contributed to by persons from...
law was passed ensuring Canadian culture and artists weren't overrun by the American media outlets. The Juno Award
Juno Award
The Juno Awards are presented annually to Canadian musical artists and bands to acknowledge their artistic and technical achievements in all aspects of music...
s began as a reader poll conducted by Canadian music industry trade magazine RPM Weekly in December 1964. A similar balloting process continued until 1970 when the RPM Gold Leaf Awards, as they were then known, were changed to the Juno Awards. The first Juno Award ceremony was held in 1975 and was closely related to rectifying this same concern about Canadian content. This led to increased production and with the ground-breaking international popularity of The Guess Who and Neil Young at the end of the 1960s, opened markets outside Canada to the country's musicians. Moreover, success abroad usually ensured success in Canada. Led by Anne Murray
Anne Murray
Morna Anne Murray CC, ONS is a Canadian singer in pop, country and adult contemporary styles whose albums have sold over 54 million copies....
and The Poppy Family
The Poppy Family
The Poppy Family was a late 1960s and early 1970s Canadian pop music group, based in Vancouver, British Columbia.-Career:Seventeen year old Susan Pesklevits met Terry Jacks in the middle 1960s while she was a regular performer on a national teen TV show called Music Hop as well as many other...
, the early 1970s were a golden age for Canadian music. Many performers from the late 1960s came to the forefront in the following years, among them The Bells and Andy Kim
Andy Kim
Andrew Youakim, performing as Andy Kim, is a Lebanese Canadian pop rock singer and songwriter. He grew up in Montreal, Quebec in Canada. Kim is known for a number of hit singles that he released in the late 1960s and early 1970s such as "Rock Me Gently", which topped the US singles charts. In 1968,...
from Montreal, Chilliwack
Chilliwack (band)
Chilliwack are a Canadian rock band that had their heyday during the 1970s and 1980s. Although they are a Canadian band, the members were all born in, as well as reside in, the United States of America. They are perhaps best remembered for their five biggest songs "My Girl ", "I Believe", "Whatcha...
from Vancouver
Vancouver
Vancouver is a coastal seaport city on the mainland of British Columbia, Canada. It is the hub of Greater Vancouver, which, with over 2.3 million residents, is the third most populous metropolitan area in the country,...
, Five Man Electrical Band
Five Man Electrical Band
The Five Man Electrical Band was a rock group from Canada's capital city of Ottawa, best known for their 1971 hit single "Signs"....
from Ottawa
Ottawa
Ottawa is the capital of Canada, the second largest city in the Province of Ontario, and the fourth largest city in the country. The city is located on the south bank of the Ottawa River in the eastern portion of Southern Ontario...
, Lighthouse
Lighthouse (band)
Lighthouse is a Canadian rock band formed in 1968 in Toronto which included horns, string instruments, and vibraphone; their music reflected elements of rock music, jazz, classical music and swing...
from Toronto, Wednesday
Wednesday (band)
Wednesday was a pop vocal group from Oshawa, Ontario, Canada. They scored a hit single in the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 chart in 1974 with their cover of the song "Last Kiss", which peaked at #34. That same year, they were nominated for the Canadian Juno Award for Most Promising Group. The single...
from Oshawa, and The Stampeders
The Stampeders
The Stampeders are a Canadian rock trio, consisting of Rich Dodson, Ronnie King, and Kim Berly.-Career:The band formed in Calgary, Alberta in 1964 as The Rebounds....
from Calgary
Calgary
Calgary is a city in the Province of Alberta, Canada. It is located in the south of the province, in an area of foothills and prairie, approximately east of the front ranges of the Canadian Rockies...
.
FM broadcasting
FM broadcasting is a broadcasting technology pioneered by Edwin Howard Armstrong which uses frequency modulation to provide high-fidelity sound over broadcast radio. The term "FM band" describes the "frequency band in which FM is used for broadcasting"...
radio stations, where it was common practice to program extended performances, musicians were no longer limited to songs of three minutes' duration as dictated by AM stations. The Canadian music industry was still nascent, with little independent music media and a limited distribution infrastructure. The two most internationally renowned bands to arise from this industry were Bachman–Turner Overdrive and Rush
Rush (band)
Rush is a Canadian rock band formed in August 1968, in the Willowdale neighbourhood of Toronto, Ontario. The band is composed of bassist, keyboardist, and lead vocalist Geddy Lee, guitarist Alex Lifeson, and drummer and lyricist Neil Peart...
, both featuring acclaimed managers. Bachman–Turner Overdrive's manager, Bruce Allen
Bruce Allen (manager)
Bruce Allen is a Canadian music band manager who represents a number of popular Canadian musicians including Bachman-Turner Overdrive, Bryan Adams and Michael Bublé...
, went on to produce Loverboy
Loverboy
Loverboy is a Canadian rock group formed in 1980 in Calgary, Alberta. Throughout the 1980s, the band accumulated numerous hit songs in Canada and the United States, earning four multi-platinum albums and selling millions of records...
and eventually manage such major pop stars as Bryan Adams
Bryan Adams
Bryan Adams, is a Canadian rock singer-songwriter, guitarist, bassist, producer, actor and photographer. Adams has won dozens of awards and nominations, including 20 Juno Awards among 56 nominations. He has also received 15 Grammy Award nominations including a win for Best Song Written...
and Anne Murray. Randy Bachman
Randy Bachman
Randolph Charles "Randy" Bachman, OC, OM is a Canadian musician best known as lead guitarist, songwriter and a founding member for both the 1960s–70s rock band The Guess Who, and the 1970s rock band Bachman–Turner Overdrive...
(formerly of The Guess Who) released his new band's first album under the name Bachman–Turner Overdrive in spring 1973, which won two Juno Awards despite being largely ignored in the US. Their second album Bachman–Turner Overdrive II hit #4 in the U.S. BTO II was certified gold in eight countries. It also yielded their best-remembered # 1 single, "Takin' Care of Business
Takin' Care of Business
"Takin' Care of Business" is a song written by Randy Bachman and first recorded by Canadian rock group Bachman–Turner Overdrive for their 1973 album Bachman–Turner Overdrive II.-Development:...
" written by Randy Bachman. 1974's album Not Fragile
Not Fragile
Not Fragile is the third album by Canadian rock band Bachman–Turner Overdrive, released in 1974 . The title could be thought of as a response to Yes' Fragile. Some feel that the group achieved a more original sound in this album; it has been described as a cross between Mountain and early ZZ Top...
went straight to the top of the charts, and the single "You Ain't Seen Nothing Yet" hit #1 in the U.S. and #2 in the UK. One of the largest exports to date is Rush, that boasts 25 gold records
Music recording sales certification
Music recording sales certification is a system of certifying that a music recording has shipped or sold a certain number of copies, where the threshold quantity varies by type and by nation or territory .Almost all countries follow variations of the RIAA certification categories,...
and 14 platinum (3 multi-platinum) records, making them one of the best-selling rock bands in history by 2005. Rush currently place third behind The Beatles
The Beatles
The Beatles were an English rock band, active throughout the 1960s and one of the most commercially successful and critically acclaimed acts in the history of popular music. Formed in Liverpool, by 1962 the group consisted of John Lennon , Paul McCartney , George Harrison and Ringo Starr...
and The Rolling Stones
The Rolling Stones
The Rolling Stones are an English rock band, formed in London in April 1962 by Brian Jones , Ian Stewart , Mick Jagger , and Keith Richards . Bassist Bill Wyman and drummer Charlie Watts completed the early line-up...
for the most consecutive gold and platinum albums by a rock band.
Moxy (band)
Moxy was a Canadian hard rock and heavy metal band, formed in Toronto, Ontario in 1974, from previous members of the rock group, Leigh Ashford — which included singer Douglas "Buzz" Shearman Earl Johnson , Bill Wade Moxy was a Canadian hard rock and heavy metal band, formed in Toronto, Ontario in...
, A Foot in Coldwater
A Foot in Coldwater
A Foot in Coldwater is a Canadian rock band initially composed of Alex Machin , Bob Horne , Paul Naumann , Danny Taylor , and Hughie Leggat...
and Triumph
Triumph (band)
Triumph is a Canadian hard rock power trio that was popular in the late 1970s through the 1980s. Eight of the band's albums were certified gold or higher, and Triumph was nominated for multiple Juno Awards, including Group of the Year Award in 1979, 1985, 1986 and 1987.Like their fellow Canadians...
from Toronto, Trooper
Trooper (band)
Trooper is a Juno Award winning Canadian rock band that developed from a group formed by vocalist Ramon McGuire and guitarist Brian Smith in 1975...
from Vancouver, and April Wine
April Wine
April Wine is a Canadian rock band formed in 1969. According to the band, they chose the name 'April Wine' simply because members thought the two words sounded good together...
from Halifax
Halifax, Nova Scotia (former city)
Halifax, Nova Scotia may refer to any of the following:-Municipalities:* Halifax Regional Municipality , a regional municipality and capital of Nova Scotia...
. Canadian cultural critics have noted, in general, that the late 1970s were a lesser era for Canadian music. Many of the acts who had defined the earlier half of the decade were no longer recording, and the new artists emerging in this era simply didn't seem to be able to capture the Canadian pop zeitgeist
Zeitgeist
Zeitgeist is "the spirit of the times" or "the spirit of the age."Zeitgeist is the general cultural, intellectual, ethical, spiritual or political climate within a nation or even specific groups, along with the general ambiance, morals, sociocultural direction, and mood associated with an era.The...
in the same way. Nevertheless, a number of established Canadian acts, including Rush, Bachman–Turner Overdrive, Bruce Cockburn, April Wine, Pat Travers
Pat Travers
Patrick Henry "Pat" Travers is a Canadian rock guitarist, keyboardist and singer who began his recording career with Polydor Records in the mid-1970s...
and Neil Young, remained influential and recorded some of their most popular material of all during this period, and former "The Guess Who" lead singer Burton Cummings
Burton Cummings
Burton L. Cummings, OC, OM is a Canadian musician and songwriter.He was the lead singer and frequent keyboardist for the Canadian rock band The Guess Who...
emerged as a popular solo artist in soft rock
Soft rock
Soft rock is a style of music which uses the techniques of rock music to compose a softer, more toned-down sound. Soft rock songs generally tend to focus on themes like love, everyday life and relationships. The genre tends to make heavy use of acoustic guitars, pianos, synthesizers and sometimes...
. Also notable is folk rocker Gordon Lightfoot's "The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald
The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald
"The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald" is a song written, composed and performed by Canadian Gordon Lightfoot to commemorate the sinking of the bulk carrier SS Edmund Fitzgerald on Lake Superior on November 10, 1975. It was inspired by the Newsweek article on the event, "The Cruelest Month", which...
" a song written in commemoration of the sinking of the bulk carrier SS Edmund Fitzgerald
SS Edmund Fitzgerald
The SS Edmund Fitzgerald was an American Great Lakes freighter that made headlines after sinking in a Lake Superior storm on November 10, 1975, with the loss of the entire crew of 29. When launched on June 8, 1958, she was the largest boat on North America's Great Lakes, and she remains...
on Lake Superior
Lake Superior
Lake Superior is the largest of the five traditionally-demarcated Great Lakes of North America. It is bounded to the north by the Canadian province of Ontario and the U.S. state of Minnesota, and to the south by the U.S. states of Wisconsin and Michigan. It is the largest freshwater lake in the...
on 10 November 1975. The incident is the most famous disaster in the history of Great Lakes
Great Lakes
The Great Lakes are a collection of freshwater lakes located in northeastern North America, on the Canada – United States border. Consisting of Lakes Superior, Michigan, Huron, Erie, and Ontario, they form the largest group of freshwater lakes on Earth by total surface, coming in second by volume...
shipping. The single reached #2 on the Billboard pop charts in November 1976, making it Lightfoot's second most successful (in terms of chart position) single, with "Sundown" having reached number one in 1974. Another of this period's most influential and popular rock bands, Heart
Heart (band)
Heart is an American rock band who first found success in Canada. Throughout several lineup changes, the only two members remaining constant are sisters Ann and Nancy Wilson. The group rose to fame in the 1970s with their music being influenced by hard rock as well as folk music...
, resulted from the collaboration of two sisters from Seattle with a supporting band from Vancouver. Some popular francophone bands of the time included the rock group Beau Dommage
Beau Dommage
Beau Dommage is a Canadian rock band from Montreal, Quebec, who achieved popular success in Quebec and France in the 1970s. The group's style included rich vocal harmonies and elements borrowed from folk and country music.-History:...
from Montreal led by Michel Rivard
Michel Rivard
Michel Rivard , is a singer-songwriter and musician from Quebec. He was born in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. His father was an actor, Robert Rivard...
and the progressive rock group Harmonium
Harmonium (band)
Harmonium was a Canadian progressive rock band from Montreal, Quebec.-History:Lead vocalist and guitarist Serge Fiori met Michel Normandeau in a theatre music meeting on November 1972. Later on in 1973 they met bassist Louis Valois and became Harmonium. In November 1973 the group performed their...
also of Montreal. Artists like The Kings
The Kings
The Kings are a Canadian band formed in the 1970s, best known for their 1980 North American hit "This Beat Goes On/Switchin' To Glide".-Recording history:The Kings were formed in Vancouver, British Columbia, and Oakville, Ontario in the late 1970s...
, Prism
Prism (band)
Prism is a Canadian rock band originally from Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. They were active from 1977 to 1984 and are active again from 1988 to present. The band's sound is a mix of Album-Oriented Rock and pop rock. They have released a total of 13 albums to date...
, Crowbar
Crowbar (Canadian band)
Crowbar was a Canadian rock band based in Hamilton, Ontario, probably best known for their 1971 hit "Oh, What a Feeling".- History :From 1969 to 1970, most of the members of the group had been a backup band for Ronnie Hawkins under the name "And Many Others"...
, Nick Gilder
Nick Gilder
Nicholas George "Nick" Gilder , is an English-Canadian musician who first came to prominence as the frontman for the glam rock band Sweeney Todd. He later had a successful solo career as a singer as well as a songwriter.-Biography:...
, Ian Thomas
Ian Thomas (Canadian musician)
Ian Thomas is a singer, songwriter, actor and author. He is younger brother to famed comedian and actor Dave Thomas.-Career:...
, Goddo
Goddo
Goddo is a Canadian band formed in 1975. Goddo had mixed major label success from the mid-1970s to the early 1980s. After reforming in 1989, they revived their career with several new studio and 'best of' packages...
, Harlequin
Harlequin (band)
Harlequin is a Canadian rock band that formed in Winnipeg, Manitoba in 1975 and lasted until the mid-1980s. The band is best known for their hit singles "I Did It For Love," "Thinking of You," "Superstitious Feeling," and "Innocence."...
, Mahogany Rush
Mahogany Rush
Mahogany Rush is a Canadian rock band led by guitarist Frank Marino. The band had its peak of popularity in the 1970s, playing such venues as California Jam II together with bands such as Aerosmith, Ted Nugent and Heart....
, Moxy
Moxy (band)
Moxy was a Canadian hard rock and heavy metal band, formed in Toronto, Ontario in 1974, from previous members of the rock group, Leigh Ashford — which included singer Douglas "Buzz" Shearman Earl Johnson , Bill Wade Moxy was a Canadian hard rock and heavy metal band, formed in Toronto, Ontario in...
, Streetheart
Streetheart (band)
Streetheart is a Canadian rock band, from Winnipeg, Manitoba that got its start in Regina, Saskatchewan. Their best known songs include "Action", "Hollywood", "Teenage Rage", "One More Time", "Tin Soldier", "What Kind of Love is This", and their disco remake of "Under My Thumb".-Biography:Keyboard...
, Max Webster
Max Webster
Max Webster was a Canadian rock band of the 1970s and early 1980s.-Career:The band was formed in 1973 in Toronto, Ontario and originally consisted of guitarist and vocalist Kim Mitchell, keyboardist Terry Watkinson, bassist Mike Tilka and drummer Paul Kersey. Mitchell and Pye Dubois would write the...
and Ironhorse
Ironhorse
Ironhorse was a Canadian rock band from Vancouver, British Columbia, formed by the former The Guess Who and Bachman-Turner Overdrive member, Randy Bachman along with Tom Sparks , Chris Leighton and Ron Foos ....
saw their greatest success during the late 70s period.
Many acts have had equally vital, if less remunerative careers outside the mainstream in punk rock
Punk rock
Punk rock is a rock music genre that developed between 1974 and 1976 in the United States, the United Kingdom, and Australia. Rooted in garage rock and other forms of what is now known as protopunk music, punk rock bands eschewed perceived excesses of mainstream 1970s rock...
and its derivations, generally distinguished by a tendency to extremes of one sort or another. Whether in instrumental intensity, lyric content, or performance style Canadian pop music evolved with the times, reflecting worldwide trends. In the late 1970s, as punk rock, disco
Disco
Disco is a genre of dance music. Disco acts charted high during the mid-1970s, and the genre's popularity peaked during the late 1970s. It had its roots in clubs that catered to African American, gay, psychedelic, and other communities in New York City and Philadelphia during the late 1960s and...
, and the emerging new wave
New Wave music
New Wave is a subgenre of :rock music that emerged in the mid to late 1970s alongside punk rock. The term at first generally was synonymous with punk rock before being considered a genre in its own right that incorporated aspects of electronic and experimental music, mod subculture, disco and 1960s...
ruled the landscape, Canadian groups such as D.O.A.
D.O.A. (band)
D.O.A. is a hardcore punk band from Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. They are often referred to as the "founders" of hardcore punk, along with Black Flag, Bad Brains, Teen Idles, and Minor Threat. Their second album Hardcore '81 was thought by many to have been the first actual reference to...
, The Viletones
The Viletones
The Viletones were a Canadian punk band from Toronto, led by Steven Leckie, a.k.a. "Nazi Dog" or "Dog" on vocals. Other members from the original line-up were Freddie Pompeii, on guitar/vocals; Chris Paputts, a.k.a. "Chris Hate" on bass guitar/vocals and Mike Anderson, a.k.a. "Motor X" on the...
, The Forgotten Rebels
Forgotten Rebels
The Forgotten Rebels are a punk rock band from Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. With roots dating back to 1977 to the present day, the Forgotten Rebels have left a discography of seven albums and a collection of EPs and singles that have influenced many other Canadian and international bands forming in...
, Rough Trade
Rough Trade (band)
Rough Trade was a Canadian new wave rock band in the 1970s and 1980s, centred on singer Carole Pope and multi-instrumentalist Kevan Staples. The band was noted for their provocative lyrics and stage antics; singer Pope often performed in bondage attire, and their 1981 hit "High School...
, Diodes, Teenage Head
Teenage Head (band)
Teenage Head is a Canadian rock group from Hamilton, Ontario and was one of the most popular Canadian punk rock bands during the early 1980s....
, The Demics
The Demics
The Demics were a Canadian punk rock band, active in the late 1970s.Originally formed in London, Ontario in 1977, the band consisted of vocalist Keith Whittaker, guitarist Rob Brent, bassist Iain Atkinson-Staines and drummer J. D. Weatherstone. Through 1978, the band were rising stars in the...
, The Young Canadians
Art Bergmann
Art Bergmann is a Canadian rock singer-songwriter who was one of the key figures in Canadian punk rock in the late 1970s.-Punk bands:...
and Subhumans
Subhumans (Canadian band)
The Subhumans are a punk band from Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada that formed in 1978.Known by pejorative, punk rock nicknames, original members were known simply as "Useless" , "Dimwit" , "Wimpy" and "Normal" .-History:Dimwit quit the band shortly after their first 7" was released to join...
emerged and continued in the 1980s with popular bands like SNFU
SNFU
SNFU is a Canadian punk rock band formed in 1981 in Edmonton, Alberta and later relocated to Vancouver, British Columbia. They have released nine full-length albums and are cited as a formative influence on the skate punk sub-genre....
, Dayglo Abortions
Dayglo Abortions
The Dayglo Abortions are a Canadian punk band from Victoria, British Columbia. Their lyrics are informed by a complete disregard for societal norms. They formed in 1979 and released their first album in 1981...
and Nomeansno
Nomeansno
NoMeansNo is a Canadian progressive punk rock music group originally from Victoria, British Columbia and now located in Vancouver.The band has never had, nor have they seemed to pursue, strong mainstream success, but they do have a devoted underground following in North America and Europe...
. Rough Trade were particularly notable for their 1980 hit "High School Confidential", one of the first explicitly lesbian-themed pop songs to crack the Top 40 anywhere in the world.
1980s
Things changed course in the 1980s, the changing fast-paced culture was accompanied by an explosion in youth culture. Until the mid-1960s, little attention was paid to rock by Canadian daily newspapers except as news or novelty. With the introduction during the 1970s of the "rock critic", coverage began to rival that of any other music. The 1980s saw Canada support and promote many of its own talent in pursuit of true originality. Canadian rock generally had been discouraged by market forces before the 1980s, in particular the need to conform to the taste of a Canadian audience that has had its standards and expectations formed by constant exposure to US and British acts for the prior three decades. The popularity of ChilliwackChilliwack (band)
Chilliwack are a Canadian rock band that had their heyday during the 1970s and 1980s. Although they are a Canadian band, the members were all born in, as well as reside in, the United States of America. They are perhaps best remembered for their five biggest songs "My Girl ", "I Believe", "Whatcha...
, for example, rose dramatically after the band turned from the experimental nature of its first few LPs to a mainstream pop style consistent with the US style. The band first hit the Top 10 charts in Canada with 1973s "Lonesome Mary", but are perhaps best remembered for three America hit songs from the 1980s "My Girl (Gone Gone Gone)", "I Believe" and "Whatcha Gonna Do". Even though those three hits were their only popular singles in the US, the band has releasing over a dozen albums with 23 Canadian hit singles. Bill Henderson, the founder of the band, was musical director for the Canadian edition of Sesame Street
Sesame Street
Sesame Street has undergone significant changes in its history. According to writer Michael Davis, by the mid-1970s the show had become "an American institution". The cast and crew expanded during this time, including the hiring of women in the crew and additional minorities in the cast. The...
from 1989 to 1995. Henderson also acted as director of the Canadian Association of Recording Arts and Sciences (CARAS
Caras
Caras may refer to:* Caraş River in Europe.* Caras, an indigenous tribe living in coastal Ecuador * Caras, a Brazilian gossip magazine.* Caras, a Portuguese gossip magazine.* Caras, an Argentine gossip magazine....
) and as president of the Songwriters Association of Canada (SOCAN).
Aldo Nova
Aldo Nova is a Canadian guitarist, keyboardist, vocalist and producer, Nova gained fame with his self-titled debut album Aldo Nova in 1981, and its accompanying single "Fantasy", which climbed to #23 on the Billboard Hot 100.-Career:Signing with Portrait Records, Nova released a self-produced...
, Loverboy
Loverboy
Loverboy is a Canadian rock group formed in 1980 in Calgary, Alberta. Throughout the 1980s, the band accumulated numerous hit songs in Canada and the United States, earning four multi-platinum albums and selling millions of records...
, Saga
Saga (band)
Saga is a progressive rock quintet, formed in Oakville, Ontario, Canada. Jim Crichton and Welsh-born vocalist Michael Sadler have been the principal songwriters for Saga. Ian Crichton is the band's guitarist; apart from his work with Saga, he has recorded several solo albums as well as sessions...
, Red Rider
Red Rider
Red Rider are a Canadian rock band popular in the 1980s. While the band achieved great success in Canada, in the US, the band never had a song in the Top 40....
, Corey Hart, Alannah Myles
Alannah Myles
Alannah Myles is a Canadian singer-songwriter, the daughter of Canadian broadcast pioneer William Douglas Byles. In 1989, she released her eponymous debut album...
, Lee Aaron
Lee Aaron
Lee Aaron , is a Canadian rock and jazz singer. She had several hits in the 1980s and early 1990s such as "Metal Queen", "Whatcha Do to My Body", and "Sex with Love".- Background :...
, Tom Cochrane
Tom Cochrane
Tom Cochrane, OC Canadian musician and humanitarian, best known for his hit songs "Life Is a Highway", "Lunatic Fringe", "Human Race" and "I Wish You Well". Cochrane fronted the Canadian rock band Red Rider and has won seven Juno Awards...
, Honeymoon Suite, Doug and the Slugs
Doug and the Slugs
Doug and the Slugs are a Canadian new-wave/power-pop band based in Vancouver. The group was formed in 1977 and was most active throughout the 1980s. They are best remembered for the Canadian top 40 hits "Too Bad" , "Making It Work" and "Tomcat Prowl"...
and Glass Tiger
Glass Tiger
Glass Tiger is a Canadian rock band formed in 1983, in Newmarket, Ontario.-Biography:Originally named 'Tokyo', the band produced several hit singles in Canada and placed two songs on Billboard magazine's top 10: "Don't Forget Me " and "Someday," both of which came from their debut album, The Thin...
. As well, the era produced the country cowpunk
Cowpunk
Cowpunk or Country punk is a subgenre of punk rock and New Wave that began in the UK and California in the late 1970s and early 1980s. It combines punk rock or New Wave with country music, folk music, and blues in sound, subject matter, attitude, and style...
of k.d. lang
K.D. Lang
Kathryn Dawn Lang, OC , known by her stage name k.d. lang, is a Canadian pop and country singer-songwriter and occasional actress...
. Bryan Adams would emerge as Canada's superstar
Superstar
A superstar is a widely acclaimed celebrity.Superstar or superstars may also refer to:-People:* Warhol Superstar, associates of Andy Warhol* WWE Superstar, the term used to refer to entertainers from the WWE...
of the 80s having been awarded the Order of Canada
Order of Canada
The Order of Canada is a Canadian national order, admission into which is, within the system of orders, decorations, and medals of Canada, the second highest honour for merit...
, and the Order of British Columbia
Order of British Columbia
The Order of British Columbia is a civilian honour for merit in the Canadian province of British Columbia. Instituted in 1989 by Lieutenant Governor David Lam, on the advice of the Cabinet under Premier Bill Vander Zalm, the order is administered by the Governor-in-Council and is intended to honour...
and inducted into Canada's Walk of Fame
Canada's Walk of Fame
Canada's Walk of Fame , located in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, is a walk of fame that acknowledges the achievements and accomplishments of successful Canadians...
in 1998 for his contribution to popular music and his philanthropic work. Also notable is Loverboy who accumulated numerous hit songs in Canada and the United States, making four multi-platinum albums. The band's hit singles, particularly "Lovin' Every Minute of It
Lovin' Every Minute of It (song)
"Lovin' Every Minute of It" is a song released in 1985 on the Canadian rock band Loverboy's album of the same title. The song reached #9 on the Billboard Hot 100 when released as a single later that year. It was written by Robert John "Mutt" Lange....
" and "Working for the Weekend
Working for the Weekend
"Working for the Weekend" is a song released in 1981 on the rock band Loverboy's second album Get Lucky. The song contains more of a pop feel than the other songs that the band produced, but this new sound proved to generate a lot of success, as the song reached #29 on the pop singles charts, and...
" have become hard rock staples, and are still heard on classic rock radio stations across the US and Canada. Loverboy has received five Juno Awards, Canada's highest award for music, in one year, a record that still stands today. The band would later receive an additional three Juno Awards, bringing their total to eight, which is the most received by a single group or individual except Bryan Adams.
Music video
Music video
A music video or song video is a short film integrating a song and imagery, produced for promotional or artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a marketing device intended to promote the sale of music recordings...
s became more and more important as a marketing tool for Canadian bands by the mid 1980s with the debut of MuchMusic
MuchMusic
MuchMusic is a Canadian English language Category A specialty channel owned by Bell Media. MuchMusic is dedicated to music-related programs, pop and youth culture.-History:...
in 1984 and MusiquePlus
MusiquePlus
MusiquePlus is a Canadian French language Category A specialty channel owned by Astral Media operating from Montreal, Quebec.MusiquePlus is devoted to music and music related programming from various genres including pop, rock, RnB and focuses on a younger demographic than its sister station, MusiMax...
in 1986. Now both English and French Canadian musicians had outlets to promote their music through video in Canada. The networks were not just an opportunity for artists to get their videos played—the networks created VideoFACT
VideoFACT
MuchFACT is a Canadian fund that provides grants to Canadian recording artists to help them produce music videos. FACT stands for Foundation To Assist Canadian Talent...
, a fund to help emerging artists produce their videos.
New Wave
New Wave music
New Wave is a subgenre of :rock music that emerged in the mid to late 1970s alongside punk rock. The term at first generally was synonymous with punk rock before being considered a genre in its own right that incorporated aspects of electronic and experimental music, mod subculture, disco and 1960s...
, Glam Rock
Glam rock
Glam rock is a style of rock and pop music that developed in the UK in the early 1970s, which was performed by singers and musicians who wore outrageous clothes, makeup and hairstyles, particularly platform-soled boots and glitter...
and heavy metal had become the most popular style of rock in the mid 1980s. Acts such as Platinum Blonde
Platinum Blonde (band)
Platinum Blonde is a Canadian New Wave group in the mid 1980s-early 1990s. The band originally consisted of Mark Holmes from Scarborough on vocals and bass, Sergio Galli on guitar and Chris Steffler on drums. Scottish musician Kenny MacLean later joined the group as the bassist. The name of the...
, Helix
Helix (band)
Helix are a Canadian hard rock/heavy metal band. They formed in 1974, and are best known for their 1984 single "Rock You". The original lineup was formed by drummer Bruce Arnold, and consisted of lead vocalist Brian Vollmer, guitarists Ron Watson and Rick "Minstrel" Trembley, keyboardist Don...
, Toronto
Toronto (band)
Toronto was a Canadian rock band from the late seventies and early eighties who have been compared to Heart and Pat Benatar. They were formed in the late 1970s in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, when singer Annie "Holly" Woods met guitarist Brian Allen...
, Parachute Club, The Box
The Box (band)
The Box is a Canadian New Wave group from Montreal. Founded in 1981, they achieved commercial success in Canada, recording four charting albums and 10 charting singles between 1984 and 1990. The group broke up in 1992, but a new lineup of the band was founded in 2002...
, Strange Advance
Strange Advance
Strange Advance was a Canadian New Wave band formed in 1982 in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. They were nominated for a 1983 Juno Award as Most Promising Group of the Year and again in 1985 as Group of the Year...
, Spoons
Spoons (band)
Spoons are a Canadian New Wave new romantic synth pop music group, formed in 1979 in Burlington, Ontario. They recorded several Canadian chart hits between 1982 and 1989, and in 1983, they won Group of the Year at the U-Know awards...
, Trans-X
Trans-X
Trans-X is a Canadian 1980s synth band formed in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. They are known for their hit song "Living on Video" which charted world wide.-History:...
, Rational Youth
Rational Youth
Rational Youth is a Canadian New Wave band, originally formed in 1981 in Montreal, Quebec, by synthesizer wizards Tracy Howe, former singer and drummer for Montreal punk band "The Normals", and Bill Vorn, both of whom idolized the German synthpop pioneers Kraftwerk.Among the band's notable singles...
, Men Without Hats
Men Without Hats
Men Without Hats is a Canadian New Wave group from Montreal, Quebec. Their music was characterized by the distinctive baritone voice of their lead singer Ivan Doroschuk as well as their elaborate use of synthesizers and electronic processing...
, Norman Iceberg
Norman Iceberg
Norman Joseph Bédard , also known by the former stage names Norman Iceberg and Norman Joseph, is a Canadian singer-songwriter.- Early years: Performing as Norman Iceberg :...
, Images in Vogue
Images in Vogue
Images in Vogue was a Canadian New Wave group in the 1980s.The band was formed in 1981 in Vancouver, and originally consisted of vocalist Dale Martindale, guitarist Don Gordon , synth players Joe Vizvary and Glen Nelson, bassist Gary Smith and percussionist Kevin Crompton...
, Headpins
Headpins
Headpins are a Canadian rock group, founded as a side project in the late 1970s by then Chilliwack members Ab Bryant and Brian MacLeod. Macleod was impressed by the vocal talents of Vancouver rock singer Denise McCann, and asked her to join his new venture...
, Sheriff
Sheriff (band)
Sheriff was a Canadian rock band in the early 1980s, best known for their hit song "When I'm with You".-Biography:The band was formed in 1979 in Toronto, Ontario and consisted of vocalist Freddy Curci, guitarist Steve DeMarchi, keyboardist Arnold Lanni, bassist Wolf Hassel and drummer Rob...
, Frozen Ghost
Frozen Ghost
Frōzen Ghōst was a Canadian rock band formed in 1985 by Arnold Lanni and Wolf Hassel who were previously with the band Sheriff. The band received a Juno Award for "Most Promising Group of the Year" in 1987....
, Teenage Head
Teenage Head (band)
Teenage Head is a Canadian rock group from Hamilton, Ontario and was one of the most popular Canadian punk rock bands during the early 1980s....
, Idle Eyes
Idle Eyes
Idle Eyes is a Canadian band formed in the 1980s by Tad Campbell, Donna McConville, and others. They are best known for their #1 1985 Canadian single "Tokyo Rose"...
, Eight Seconds
Eight Seconds
Eight Seconds was a new wave-pop band formed in 1982 in Ottawa, Canada. They are best known for their 1987 top-30 single "Kiss You " from the full-length album Almacantar...
, The Northern Pikes
The Northern Pikes
The Northern Pikes are a Canadian rock band formed in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan in 1984. The original members were Bryan Potvin, Jay Semko, Merl Bryck and Glen Hollingshead. Hollingshead left the band in 1985, and was replaced by Don Schmid in 1986...
, Brighton Rock
Brighton Rock (band)
Brighton Rock are a Canadian glam metal band who released three albums in their home country during the 1980s and 90s. They broke up in 1991 before reuniting and releasing a live album in 2002.-Biography:...
and Martha and the Muffins
Martha and the Muffins
Martha and the Muffins are a Canadian new wave band, active from 1977 to the present. Although they only had one major international hit single under their original band name, they had a number of hits in their native Canada, and the core members of the band also charted in Canada and...
were along for the new Canadian music video ride. Although many of them, in fact, were only "one-hit wonders
One-hit wonders in Canada
A one-hit wonder is a Top 40 phenomenon: the combination of artist and song that scores big in the music industry with one hit, but is unable to repeat the achievement with another hit. The term can refer to the artist, the song, or both together...
".(see One-hit wonders in Canada
One-hit wonders in Canada
A one-hit wonder is a Top 40 phenomenon: the combination of artist and song that scores big in the music industry with one hit, but is unable to repeat the achievement with another hit. The term can refer to the artist, the song, or both together...
)
Blue Rodeo
Blue Rodeo is a Canadian pop and country rock band, which was formed in 1984 in Toronto, Ontario. They have been signed with Warner Music Group since their debut album Outskirts in March 1987...
. Alternative rock
Alternative rock
Alternative rock is a genre of rock music and a term used to describe a diverse musical movement that emerged from the independent music underground of the 1980s and became widely popular by the 1990s...
also emerged as an influential genre, with independent artists such as The Tragically Hip
The Tragically Hip
The Tragically Hip, often referred to simply as The Hip, is a Canadian rock band from Kingston, Ontario, consisting of Gordon Downie , Paul Langlois , Rob Baker , Gord Sinclair and Johnny Fay . Since their formation in 1983 they have released 12 studio albums, two live albums, and 46 singles...
, 54-40
54-40
54•40 is a Canadian alternative rock group from Tsawwassen, British Columbia.The band takes their name from the slogan "Fifty-Four Forty or Fight!", coined to express the expansionist agenda of James K...
, Sarah McLachlan
Sarah McLachlan
Sarah Ann McLachlan, OC, OBC is a Canadian musician, singer and songwriter. Known for her emotional ballads and mezzo-soprano vocal range, as of 2006, she has sold over 40 million albums worldwide. McLachlan's best-selling album to date is Surfacing, for which she won two Grammy Awards and four...
, Spirit of the West
Spirit of the West
Spirit of the West are a Canadian folk rock band, who were popular on the Canadian folk music scene in the 1980s before evolving a blend of hard rock, Britpop, and Celtic folk influences which made them one of Canada's most successful alternative rock acts in the 1990s.-Early years:The band began...
, The Waltons
The Waltons (Canadian band)
The Waltons were a Canadian alternative rock band in the 1990s. Originally from Regina, Saskatchewan, the band was formed in 1987 by vocalist/guitarist Jason Plumb, Bass guitarist Keith Nakonechny and drummer David Cooney.-History:...
, Cowboy Junkies
Cowboy Junkies
Cowboy Junkies are a Canadian alternative country/blues/folk rock band. The group was formed in Toronto in 1985 by Margo Timmins , Michael Timmins , Peter Timmins and Alan Anton ....
, The Pursuit of Happiness, and The Grapes of Wrath
The Grapes of Wrath (band)
The Grapes of Wrath are a Canadian folk rock band, who were one of Canada's most successful pop bands in the late 1980s and early 1990s before disbanding in 1992. With the band name tied up in litigation, most of the band continued to record through the 1990s as Ginger. The Grapes of Wrath briefly...
all gaining their first widespread attention during this time. Also a new wave of Canadian thrash metal
Thrash metal
Thrash metal is a subgenre of heavy metal that is characterized usually by its fast tempo and aggression. Songs of the genre typically use fast percussive and low-register guitar riffs, overlaid with shredding-style lead work...
bands began to rise up and earned a dedicated following like Anvil
Anvil (band)
Anvil is a Canadian heavy metal band comprising Steve "Lips" Kudlow , Robb Reiner , and Glenn Five...
, Razor
Razor (band)
Razor is a Canadian thrash metal band formed in 1984 at Guelph, Ontario. The group shot music videos for songs such as "Evil Invaders", "Shotgun Justice", "American Luck", and "Sucker for Punishment". The band dissolved in 1992, but reformed in the late 1990s to record another album, titled...
, Voivod
Voivod (band)
Voivod are a Canadian heavy metal band from Jonquière, Quebec, Canada. Their musical style has changed several times since the band's origin in the early 1980s...
, Sword
Sword (band)
Sword is a Canadian heavy metal band that was active in the 1980s and just announced a reunion for 2011.-History:In the early 80's, south of Montréal in Saint Bruno, Quebec, Rick and Dan Hughes formed a heavy metal band called Sword. They were joined by guitarist Mike Plant and bassist Mike...
, Exciter
Exciter (band)
Exciter is a Canadian speed metal band from Ottawa, Ontario. They are widely considered to be one of the first speed metal bands and a seminal influence of the thrash metal genre. Exciter have sold nearly 2.3 million units in the USA and a total sells at 10 million units worldwide...
and Annihilator
Annihilator (band)
Annihilator is a Canadian heavy metal band hailing from Ottawa, Ontario, also from Vancouver, British Columbia between 1987-2002 by founding member, vocalist, guitarist and bassist Jeff Waters. The band has been around since 1984 and is the biggest selling heavy metal artist from Canada in history,...
, Canadian metal's biggest selling artist, with sales of close to 2 million units worldwide, with industrial
Industrial music
Industrial music is a style of experimental music that draws on transgressive and provocative themes. The term was coined in the mid-1970s with the founding of Industrial Records by the band Throbbing Gristle, and the creation of the slogan "industrial music for industrial people". In general, the...
bands Skinny Puppy
Skinny Puppy
Skinny Puppy is a Canadian industrial musical group, formed in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada in 1982. The group is widely considered to be the founders of the electro-industrial genre....
and Front Line Assembly
Front Line Assembly
Front Line Assembly is a Canadian electro-industrial band formed by Bill Leeb in 1986 after leaving Skinny Puppy. Influenced by early Industrial acts such as Cabaret Voltaire, Portion Control, D.A.F., Test Dept, SPK, and Severed Heads, FLA has developed its own unique sound while combining...
in the mix, as well as black/death metal band Blasphemy
Blasphemy (band)
Blasphemy are a black/death metal band formed in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada in 1984. The band released a demo titled Blood Upon the Altar in 1989 and their debut album, Fallen Angel of Doom, the following year through Wild Rags, a record label they had signed to while touring the United...
.
Canada's most successful rock artists by the late 1980s have worked in a relatively generic, mainstream pop rock style of the day. Some from the 70s, 80s and 90s, may be ascribed to more specific substyles like Colin James
Colin James
Colin James is a Canadian singer-songwriter, guitarist, and record producer, who plays in the blues, rock, and neo-swing genres. He grew up as a Quaker.-Early years:...
, David Wilcox
David Wilcox (Canadian musician)
David Wilcox is a Canadian rock musician.-History:Montreal native, David Wilcox drew inspiration from musician Elvis Presley at the early age of six...
and Jeff Healey
Jeff Healey
Norman Jeffrey "Jeff" Healey was a blind Canadian jazz and blues-rock vocalist and guitarist who attained musical and personal popularity, particularly in the 1980s and 1990s.-Early life:...
to blues-rock (see Canadian blues
Canadian blues
Canadian blues refers to the blues and blues-related music performed by blues bands and performers in Canada. In Canada, there are hundreds of local and regionally-based Canadian blues bands and performers. As well, there is a smaller number of bands or performers that have achieved national or...
). With Stompin' Tom Connors
Stompin' Tom Connors
Charles Thomas "Stompin' Tom" Connors, OC is one of Canada's most prolific and well-known country and folk singers.He lives in Wellington County, Ontario.- Early life :...
, Great Big Sea
Great Big Sea
Great Big Sea is a Canadian folk-rock band from Newfoundland and Labrador, best known for performing energetic rock interpretations of traditional Newfoundland folk songs including sea shanties, which draw from the island's 500-year-old Irish, English, and French heritage...
and Ashley MacIsaac
Ashley MacIsaac
Ashley Dwayne MacIsaac is a Canadian professional fiddler from Cape Breton Island.His album Hi™ How Are You Today?, featuring the hit single "Sleepy Maggie", with vocals in Scottish Gaelic by Mary Jane Lamond was released in 1995...
to folk rock, that saw the start for both styles, a very large following all across Canada. Most notable would be Stompin' Tom Connors who typically writes about Canadian lore and history , some of Connors' better-known songs include Big Joe Mufferaw
Big Joe Mufferaw
Big Joe Mufferaw was a French Canadian folk hero from the Ottawa Valley, perhaps best known today as the hero of a song by Stompin' Tom Connors. Like Paul Bunyan, he made his living chopping down trees. The name is also sometimes spelled Muffero, Muffera, and Montferrand...
, The Black Donnellys
Black Donnellys
The Black Donnellys is the common nickname of the Donnelly family who emigrated from County Tipperary, Ireland, to Canada in about 1845–1846, and who participated in a notorious feud in Biddulph Township in Middlesex County, Ontario, which culminated in a massacre in which five family members were...
, Reesor Crossing Tragedy
Reesor Siding Strike of 1963
The Reesor Siding Strike of 1963 was one of the defining labour conflicts in Canadian history, resulting in the shooting of 11 union members, three of whom were killed...
, Sudbury Saturday Night
Sudbury Saturday Night
"Sudbury Saturday Night" is one of the most famous songs by Stompin' Tom Connors, which depicts the hard-drinking, hard-partying social life of hard rock miners in the Northern Ontario mining city of Sudbury....
and The Hockey Song
The Hockey Song
"The Hockey Song" is a song written and originally performed by Canadian folksinger Stompin' Tom Connors.The song first appeared on Connors' 1973 album, Stompin' Tom and the Hockey Song. However, the song did not reach its tremendous popularity until 1997. It was at this time that the song was...
(aka "The Good Old Hockey Game"), that is frequently played over sound systems at National Hockey League
National Hockey League
The National Hockey League is an unincorporated not-for-profit association which operates a major professional ice hockey league of 30 franchised member clubs, of which 7 are currently located in Canada and 23 in the United States...
(NHL) games in both Canada and the United States.
1990s
Canadian hip hop
The Canadian hip hop scene was first established in the 1980s. Through a variety of factors, it developed much more slowly than Canada's popular rock music scene, and apart from a short-lived burst of mainstream popularity from 1989 to 1991, it remained largely an underground phenomenon until the...
and American hip hop on the Video and Radio charts. Glam metal and arena rock
Arena rock
Arena rock is a term used to describe rock music that utilised large arena venues, particularly sports venues, for concerts or series of concerts linked in tours...
had lost its position as Hip hop, alternative rock and grunge
Grunge
Grunge is a subgenre of alternative rock that emerged during the mid-1980s in the American state of Washington, particularly in the Seattle area. Inspired by hardcore punk, heavy metal, and indie rock, grunge is generally characterized by heavily distorted electric guitars, contrasting song...
became the new sound of the next generation. Canadian publications devoted to Canadian rock and pop music, either exclusively or in tandem with more general editorial content directed to young readers, was expanding rapidly in the 90s. It was a decade of incredible nationalism, at least as far as English-Canadian music was concerned. The 1971 CRTC rules (25% Canadian content on Canadian radio, increased to 30 per cent in the 1980s) finally came into full effect and by the end of the decade, radio stations would have to play 35% Canadian content. This led to an explosion of Canadian bands ruling the Canadian airwaves unlike any era before. This includes The Headstones
The Headstones
Headstones are a Canadian hard rock band that began in the late 1980s in Kingston, Ontario and were active until 2003, subsequently reforming in 2011. The band consists of vocalist Hugh Dillon, guitarist Trent Carr, bassist Tim White, and drummer Dale Harrison...
, The Tea Party
The Tea Party
The Tea Party is a Canadian rock band with blues, progressive rock, Indian and Middle Eastern influences, dubbed "Moroccan roll" by the media. Active throughout the 1990s up until 2005 when the band broke up, The Tea Party released eight albums on EMI Music Canada, selling 1.6 million records...
, Matthew Good Band
Matthew Good Band
Matthew Good Band was a Canadian alternative rock band formed by Matthew Good that existed from 1993 to 2002. The band consisted of Good , Dave Genn , Ian Browne and Geoff Lloyd from 1995 to 1999...
, Moist, Sloan
Sloan (band)
Sloan is a Toronto-based alternative rock quartet from Halifax, Nova Scotia. Throughout their 20-year tenure Sloan has released 10 LPs , two EPs, a live album, a "best of" collection and no less than thirty singles...
, The Gandharvas
The Gandharvas
The Gandharvas were a Canadian rock band from London, Ontario, who were active in the 1990s.-History:The band formed in 1989 as The Droogs , and released a self-titled EP in 1991...
, Change of Heart
Change of Heart (band)
Change of Heart was a Canadian alternative rock band. They had one Top 40 hit, "There You Go" in 1992, as well as several hits on Canada's modern rock charts, including "Trigger" and "Little Kingdoms".-History:...
, Skydiggers
Skydiggers
Skydiggers are a Canadian roots rock band from Toronto, Ontario.-Biography:Formed in 1987 by singer Andy Maize and lead guitarist Josh Finlayson, the band soon added rhythm guitarist Peter Cash, drummer Wayne Stokes and bassist Ron Macey to their lineup...
, Eric's Trip
Eric's Trip
Eric's Trip is a Canadian indie rock band from Moncton, New Brunswick. Eric's Trip achieved prominence as the first Canadian band to be signed to Seattle's flagship grunge label Sub Pop in the early 1990s...
, Limblifter
Limblifter
Limblifter is a Canadian alternative rock group from Vancouver, formed in 1996.-History:The group was originally formed by brothers Ryan Dahle and Kurt Dahle, as a side project from their main band, Age of Electric, along with a third member, Ian Somers...
, salmonblaster
Salmonblaster
Salmonblaster was a Canadian alternative rock band from London, Ontario. The bands lineup consisted of guitarist and singer Matt Werm, drummer Brady Parr and bassist Mat Davis. They were best known for their 1996 song "Freeway" from their Salmonblaster self titled album, which received regular play...
,supergarage, the Doughboys
Doughboys (band)
Doughboys were a Canadian alternative rock band that were active in the late 1980s and early/mid 1990s. The band was renowned for its musical blend of punk and pop-style melodies.-Early Years:...
, Crash Test Dummies
Crash Test Dummies
The Crash Test Dummies is a Canadian folk rock/alternative rock band from Winnipeg, Manitoba, widely known for their 1993 single "Mmm Mmm Mmm Mmm".The band is most identifiable through Brad Roberts and his distinctive bass-baritone voice...
, The Lowest of the Low
The Lowest of the Low
The Lowest of the Low is a Canadian alternative rock group formed in 1991 from Toronto, Ontario, Canada. They were one of the most influential bands on the Canadian alternative music scene in the early 1990s, garnering widespread critical acclaim and radio play...
, 13 Engines
13 Engines
13 Engines was a Canadian alternative rock band active in the 1990s.Formed in 1985 as The Ikons, the band consisted of four York University students—vocalist John Critchley, guitarist Mike Robbins, bassist Jim Hughes and drummer Grant Ethier. They released a self-titled independent cassette in 1986...
, Odds
Odds (band)
Odds are a Canadian alternative rock band. The band's power pop style has been frequently compared to that of contemporaries such as Squeeze, Elvis Costello, Weezer, Tom Petty, Sloan, The Clash, XTC, Franz Ferdinand, and The Tubes.-Odds :...
, I Mother Earth
I Mother Earth
I Mother Earth, or IME, was a Canadian alternative rock band. The band was at the peak of its popularity in the mid-to-late 1990s; its members have moved on to other projects.-Early years:...
, Big Sugar
Big Sugar
Big Sugar is a Canadian blues-rock band, they were active from 1991 to 2004 and again since April 2010. The band has sold more than half a million albums in Canada.-History:...
, Glueleg, Age of Electric
Age of Electric
Age of Electric was a Canadian alternative rock band in the 1990s.The band, consisting of two pairs of brothers, formed in Lanigan, Saskatchewan in 1989. The members were guitarists Ryan Dahle and Todd Kerns, bassist John Kerns and drummer Kurt Dahle. Ryan, Todd and Kurt all contributed vocals as...
, Rymes With Orange
Rymes With Orange
Rymes with Orange is a band from Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.-History:RWO formed in Vancouver in the early 1990s. Rob Lulic and Alexander Julien were looking for a fresh new singer to assist them in the upcoming Battle of the bands. After a chance meeting with Manchester born singer Lyndon...
, Strapping Young Lad
Strapping Young Lad
Strapping Young Lad was a Canadian extreme metal band formed by Devin Townsend in Vancouver, British Columbia, in 1994. The band started as a one-man studio project; Townsend played most of the instruments on the 1995 debut album, Heavy as a Really Heavy Thing...
, Bif Naked
Bif Naked
Bif Naked is a Juno Award-winning, Indian-born American-Canadian multi-platinum record selling, rock singer, writer, poet, motivational speaker and actress.-Personal life:...
, Rheostatics
Rheostatics
Rheostatics was a Genie Award-winning Canadian indie rock band, active from 1980 to 2007.Although they had only one Top 40 hit, "Claire" in 1995, they were simultaneously one of Canada's most influential and unconventional rock bands, a band whose eclectic take on pop and rock music has been...
, The Watchmen
The Watchmen
The Watchmen is a Canadian rock band. They were one of the most commercially successful Canadian alternative rock groups of the mid to late 1990s. During their peak years the band had three gold records and one platinum record...
, Moxy Früvous
Moxy Früvous
Moxy Früvous was a politically satirical folk-pop band from Thornhill, Ontario, Canada. The band was founded in 1989, and was active throughout the 1990s...
, Rusty
Rusty (band)
Rusty is a Canadian alternative rock band formed in 1994 in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The band earned a 1996 Juno Award nomination in the category Best Alternative Album for Fluke.-History:...
, Our Lady Peace
Our Lady Peace
Our Lady Peace is a Canadian alternative rock band that formed in Toronto, Ontario in 1992. Headed by lead vocalist Raine Maida since its formation, the band additionally consists of Jeremy Taggart on percussion, Duncan Coutts on bass, and Steve Mazur as lead guitarist...
, The Philosopher Kings
The Philosopher Kings
The Philosopher Kings are a Canadian rhythm and blues band who were most commercially successful in the late 1990s. The name of the band is derived from Plato's Republic, in which he outlines the design of an idealistic government, ruled by philosopher-kings...
, Junkhouse
Junkhouse
-History:Formed in 1989 in Hamilton, Ontario, the band consisted of vocalist and guitarist Tom Wilson, guitarist Dan Achen, bassist Russ Wilson and drummer Ray Farrugia....
, Wide Mouth Mason
Wide Mouth Mason
Wide Mouth Mason is a Canadian blues-based rock band, consisting of Shaun Verreault , Safwan Javed , and Gordie Johnson . Former bassist Earl Pereira was also co-founder of Wide Mouth Mason...
, Pure
Pure (band)
Pure was a Canadian rock band, formed in Vancouver in 1991. Previously, the band was known as After All and Grin Factory. Signed to the Reprise label, the band reached a greater audience once their song "Greedy" was featured on the soundtrack album Songs from the Cool World, and the single "Blast"...
, Thrush Hermit
Thrush Hermit
-History:Thrush Hermit was formed in Halifax, Nova Scotia in 1992 by Joel Plaskett , Rob Benvie , Ian McGettigan , and Michael Catano...
, cub
Cub (band)
Cub was an indie rock band from Vancouver, British Columbia that formed in 1992 and disbanded in 1997. They played a melodic, jangly form of pop punk that was dubbed "cuddlecore" by some music critics...
, The Killjoys
The Killjoys (Canadian band)
The Killjoys were a Canadian alternative rock band formed in 1992.Their first album was Starry, released in 1994, followed by Gimme Five in 1996, and Melos Modos in 1997. In 1998 a live album was released entitled Onenight and a Morningafter...
, Sandbox
Sandbox (band)
Sandbox was a Canadian alternative rock band, originally from Pictou County, Nova Scotia. The band consisted of Paul Murray on vocals, Mike Smith and Jason Archibald on guitar, Scott MacFarlane on bass and Troy Shanks on drums...
, Treble Charger
Treble Charger
Treble Charger was a Canadian rock group, consisting of vocalist Greig Nori, bassist Rosie Martin and drummer Trevor MacGregor. Guitarist Bill Priddle, a founding member of the band, left in 2003. They began with a melodic indie rock style, but evolved into more of a pop punk band after signing to...
, Big Wreck
Big Wreck
Big Wreck is a rock band formed by Ian Thornley in 1994. They disbanded in 2002 and Ian Thornley went onto a successful solo career with his own band Thornley. In 2010, Ian Thornley and Brian Doherty reunited for a cross-Canada tour, playing both Big Wreck and Thornley songs. Doherty then...
, Propagandhi
Propagandhi
Propagandhi is a Canadian punk band formed in Portage la Prairie, Manitoba in 1986 by Chris Hannah and Jord Samolesky. The band is currently located in Winnipeg, Manitoba....
, and The Planet Smashers
The Planet Smashers
The Planet Smashers are a ska punk band from Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Since their formation in 1994, they have been a staple of the Montreal music scene. During the third wave of ska, they quickly rose to national, and eventual international fame, with tours in the United States, Europe, and Japan...
. Although many of them have not been overly successful in the United States, they remain extremely popular in Canada having much more vitality than their contemporaries from other countries.
Stunt (album)
Stunt is the fourth full-length studio album by Barenaked Ladies. By far their most successful album, it entered the US charts at #3 and sold over 4 million units by the end of its chart run. Its first single, "One Week" would become the band's breakthrough single in the U.S. market by hitting #1...
became their greatest success, buoyed by "One Week", which coincidentally spent one week at the number one spot on the storied Billboard Hot 100. Also notable is The Tragically Hip who signed a long-term record deal with MCA
Music Corporation of America
MCA, Inc. was an American talent agency. Initially starting in the music business, they would next become a dominant force in the film business, and later expanded into the television business...
in 1987, but were largely unrecognized until 1989s Up to Here. They went on to establish themselves as one of the most influential bands in Canada. They have never found mainstream success in the United States, but this didn't matter because their Canadian fan base alone was enough to sustain a long and healthy career, with them still playing large stadiums twenty-five years after they started. The band is one of Canada's homegrown heroes — they hold the record for most number one debuts on the Canadian Albums Chart with a total of eight albums. - they have been inducted into the Canadian Music Hall of Fame, Canada's Walk of Fame, Royal Conservatory of Music
Royal Conservatory of Music (Toronto)
The Royal Conservatory of Music, also known as The Royal Conservatory, is one of the largest and most respected music education institutions in the world...
, have won over a dozen Juno Awards from more than thirty nominations,
In 1996, VideoFACT launched PromoFACT, a funding program to help new artists produce electronic press kits and websites. This helped Indie rock
Indie rock
Indie rock is a genre of alternative rock that originated in the United Kingdom and the United States in the 1980s. Indie rock is extremely diverse, with sub-genres that include lo-fi, post-rock, math rock, indie pop, dream pop, noise rock, space rock, sadcore, riot grrrl and emo, among others...
, that would see a new dominant phase in the mid 90’s just as rock and roll was starting to be a predominant force in the Canadian charts once again. Indie rock was never supposed to be mainstream, but this is the path it took by the end of the decade. Musically, the late 1990s saw the rock genres of the early 1990s completely grow apart rather than fuse. Each of the genres multiplied and evolved in a fashion largely independent of the others. Perhaps the most dramatic change in lifestyle affected the girls. They were the daughters of the women who had fought for emancipation and equality in the 1960s.
Canadian women by the end of the decade enjoyed greater international commercial success than ever before in the popular music field. As Alannah Myles, Lisa Dalbello
Lisa Dalbello
Dalbello is a Canadian recording artist, songwriter, and voice actress. She released three albums in the pop and pop/rock genre in her late teens, from 1977 through 1981 under her full name...
and Lee Aaron had a decade earlier, four women in particular rose out of the 1990s, setting new pinnacles of success in terms financial, critical, and in their immediate and strong influences on their respective genres: Sarah McLachlan
Sarah McLachlan
Sarah Ann McLachlan, OC, OBC is a Canadian musician, singer and songwriter. Known for her emotional ballads and mezzo-soprano vocal range, as of 2006, she has sold over 40 million albums worldwide. McLachlan's best-selling album to date is Surfacing, for which she won two Grammy Awards and four...
, Céline Dion
Celine Dion
Céline Marie Claudette Dion, , , is a Canadian singer. Born to a large family from Charlemagne, Quebec, Dion emerged as a teen star in the French-speaking world after her manager and future husband René Angélil mortgaged his home to finance her first record...
, Alanis Morissette
Alanis Morissette
Alanis Nadine Morissette is a Canadian-American singer-songwriter, guitarist, record producer, and actress. She has won 16 Juno Awards and seven Grammy Awards, was nominated for two Golden Globe Awards and also shortlisted for an Academy Award nomination...
and Shania Twain
Shania Twain
Shania Twain, OC is a Canadian country pop singer-songwriter. Her album The Woman in Me , brought her fame and her 1997 album Come On Over, became the best-selling album of all time by a female musician in any genre, and the best-selling country album of all time. It has sold over 40 million...
. Alanis Morissette kicked off another revolution in Canadian music, launching an era in which Canadian women like Avril Lavigne
Avril Lavigne
Avril Ramona Lavigne is a Canadian singer-songwriter. She was born in Belleville, Ontario, but spent most of her youth in the small town of Napanee. By the age of 15, she had appeared on stage with Shania Twain; by 16, she had signed a two-album recording contract with Arista Records worth more...
would rule the pop charts worldwide. Quebec-born singer, Celine Dion is the best-selling Canadian artist of all time, and when her 1997 album, Let's Talk About Love
Let's Talk About Love
Let's Talk About Love is an album by Canadian singer Céline Dion, released on November 18, 1997. It is her fifth English-language album and twenty-third in total. Let's Talk About Love remains one of the best-selling albums in history with over 31 million copies sold worldwide...
was released in Canada, it broke the record for the highest opening weekly sales for any album, selling 230,212 copies, a record which still stands. Alanis Morissette, along with Shania Twain, are the only Canadian artists, male or female to have sold two million units in Canada, receiving the Double diamond award Other female Canadian musicians have achieved international success in the highly competitive world of popular music, including Joni Mitchell, Ginette Reno
Ginette Reno
Ginette Reno, OC, CQ is a French-Canadian author, composer, singer, and actress. She is known by the nickname .Born as Ginette Reynault in Montreal, Quebec, she played the role of Maria Barberini in the independent film Mambo Italiano and played the mother in Léolo.She has recorded in both...
, Diane Dufresne
Diane Dufresne
Diane Dufresne, CQ is a singer and painter, and has sung a number of classics of Quebec repertoire of popular songs....
, Diana Krall
Diana Krall
Diana Jean Krall, OC, OBC is a Canadian jazz pianist and singer, known for her contralto vocals. She has sold more than 6 million albums in the US and over 15 million worldwide; altogether, she has sold more albums than any other female jazz artist during the 1990s and 2000s...
, Avril Lavigne
Avril Lavigne
Avril Ramona Lavigne is a Canadian singer-songwriter. She was born in Belleville, Ontario, but spent most of her youth in the small town of Napanee. By the age of 15, she had appeared on stage with Shania Twain; by 16, she had signed a two-album recording contract with Arista Records worth more...
, Loreena McKennitt
Loreena McKennitt
Loreena Isabel Irene McKennitt, CM, OM, is a Canadian singer, composer, harpist, accordionist and pianist who writes, records and performs world music with Celtic and Middle Eastern themes. McKennitt is known for her refined, clear soprano vocals...
, Amanda Marshall
Amanda Marshall
Amanda Meta Marshall is a Canadian pop-rock singer.She grew up in Toronto in a biracial family to a White Canadian father and a Black Trinidadian mother...
, Holly Cole
Holly Cole
Holly Cole is a Canadian jazz singer, particularly popular in Canada and Japan for both her versatile and distinctive voice, along with her adventurous repertoire, which spans such divergent genres as show tunes, rock, and country music.-Holly Cole Trio:In 1983, Cole travelled to Toronto to seek a...
, Chantal Kreviazuk
Chantal Kreviazuk
Chantal Jennifer Kreviazuk is a Canadian singer-songwriter of the adult contemporary music genre. She is also a classically trained pianist, and can play the guitar.-Albums:...
, Diane Tell
Diane Tell
Diane Tell is a Canadian singer-songwriter. She first studied music at the Conservatoire de musique du Québec à Montréal and the Conservatoire de musique du Québec à Val-d'Or, then studied jazz guitar at Cégep de Saint-Laurent in Montreal...
, Jann Arden
Jann Arden
Jann Arden is a Canadian singer-songwriter.-Life and career:Arden was born and raised near Calgary in Springbank, Alberta and attended Springbank Community High School. Her breakthrough came with her critically acclaimed 1993 debut album Time for Mercy and her first single "I Would Die For You"...
, Deborah Cox
Deborah Cox
Deborah Cox is a Canadian R&B singer-songwriter and actress. Her 1998 song "Nobody's Supposed to Be Here" held the record for longest-running number one single on Billboard's Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Singles & Tracks chart , a record held for nearly eight years. She has achieved ten number-one hits on...
, Sarah Harmer
Sarah Harmer
Sarah Harmer is a Canadian singer-songwriter and activist.-Biography:Born and raised in Burlington, Ontario, Harmer gained her first exposure to the musician's lifestyle as a teenager, when her older sister Mary started taking her to concerts by the well-known Tragically Hip. At the age of 17, she...
, Susan Aglukark
Susan Aglukark
Susan Aglukark, OC , is an Inuk musician whose blend of Inuit folk music traditions with country and pop songwriting has made her a major recording star in Canada. Her most successful single is "O Siem", which reached #1 on the Canadian country and adult contemporary charts in 1995...
, Melissa Auf der Maur
Melissa Auf der Maur
Melissa Auf der Maur is a Canadian rock musician from Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Her career has included 5 years as bassist with the band Hole and she later toured with The Smashing Pumpkins for their 2000 tour. Her second solo album, Out of Our Minds, was released on March 30, 2010. She is also a...
, Emily Haines
Emily Haines
Emily Haines is a Canadian indie rock singer-songwriter. She is the lead singer and keyboardist of the band Metric and a member of Broken Social Scene. As a solo artist, she performed with her own name and under the alias Emily Haines & The Soft Skeleton...
, Kittie
Kittie
Kittie is a Canadian heavy metal band formed in London, Ontario in 1996. A quartet of women, the group rose to success in 1999 when the track "Brackish" from their debut album Spit became a hit single...
, Bif Naked
Bif Naked
Bif Naked is a Juno Award-winning, Indian-born American-Canadian multi-platinum record selling, rock singer, writer, poet, motivational speaker and actress.-Personal life:...
, Nelly Furtado
Nelly Furtado
Nelly Kim Furtado is a Canadian singer-songwriter, record producer and actress. Furtado grew up in Victoria, British Columbia, Canada.Furtado first gained fame with her debut album, Whoa, Nelly!, and its single "I'm Like a Bird", which won a 2001 Juno Award for Single of the Year and a 2002 Grammy...
, and Feist.
2000s
The early first decade of the 21st century were dominated by post-grungePost-grunge
Post-grunge is a subgenre of alternative rock that emerged in the mid-1990s as a derivative of grunge, using the sounds and aesthetic of grunge, but with a more commercially acceptable tone...
and continued to see the expansion of alternative rock, pop-punk, hard rock, and indie rock both artistically and commercially. The main musical phenomenon was the emergence of a new generation of singer songwriters that were the direct consequence of the previous generation's intellectual ambitions. The biggest factor that has contributed to the resurgence of rock music in the first decade of the 21st century is the rise of paid digital downloads
Music download
A music download is the transferral of music from an Internet-facing computer or website to a user's local computer. This term encompasses both legal downloads and downloads of copyright material without permission or payment...
. The vast majority of songs bought on paid download sites are singles bought from full albums; songs that are bought on a song-by-song basis off artist's albums are considered sales of singles, even though they have no official single for purchase. The boom of independent music at the turn of the millennium changed the dynamics of the music industry. At about the same time, the CD (cheap to manufacture) replaced the vinyl album and cassette tapes
Compact Cassette
The Compact Cassette, often referred to as audio cassette, cassette tape, cassette, or simply tape, is a magnetic tape sound recording format. It was designed originally for dictation, but improvements in fidelity led the Compact Cassette to supplant the Stereo 8-track cartridge and reel-to-reel...
(expensive to manufacture). Shortly thereafter, the Internet
Internet
The Internet is a global system of interconnected computer networks that use the standard Internet protocol suite to serve billions of users worldwide...
allowed musicians to directly distribute their music, thus bypassing the selection of the old-fashioned "record label
Record label
In the music industry, a record label is a brand and a trademark associated with the marketing of music recordings and music videos. Most commonly, a record label is the company that manages such brands and trademarks, coordinates the production, manufacture, distribution, marketing and promotion,...
". Canada's music industry has suffered as a result of the challenging times for the better part of the last decade. The drop in annual sales between 1999 - the year that Napster
Napster
Napster is an online music store and a Best Buy company. It was originally founded as a pioneering peer-to-peer file sharing Internet service that emphasized sharing audio files that were typically digitally encoded music as MP3 format files...
's unauthorized peer-to-peer
Peer-to-peer
Peer-to-peer computing or networking is a distributed application architecture that partitions tasks or workloads among peers. Peers are equally privileged, equipotent participants in the application...
file sharing service launched - and the end of 2004 was $465 million. Canada in 2008 joined 50 other nations in updating its Copyright Act
Copyright Act of Canada
Copyright Act of Canada is Canada's federal statute governing copyright law in Canada. The Copyright Act of Canada which was first passed in 1921 and substantially amended in 1988 and 1997. In 2005 an attempt to amend the Canadian Copyright Act was made but Bill C-60 did not pass into law before...
, and in doing so aims to allow artists and others to seek compensation for their work, no matter how it is distributed. In 2010 Canada introduced new copyright legislation. The amended law makes hacking digital locks illegal, but enshrine into law the ability of purchasers to record and copy music from a CD to portable devices.
The wide and diverse sound in first decade of the 21st century rock has resulted in such acts as Billy Talent
Billy Talent
Billy Talent is a Canadian post-hardcore band from Streetsville, Ontario. They formed in 1993 with Ben Kowalewicz as the lead vocalist, Ian D'Sa on lead guitar, bassist Jon Gallant and drummer Aaron Solowoniuk ....
, Thornley
Thornley (band)
Thornley is a Canadian post-grunge/hard rock band formed by Ian Thornley in 2002. The band was started when Ian Thornley returned to Toronto after the breakup of his earlier band, Big Wreck. With the help of Chad Kroeger of Nickelback, Thornley signed on to Kroeger's 604 Records...
, Sam Roberts
Sam Roberts
Sam Roberts is a Juno Award-winning Canadian rock singer-songwriter, whose 2001 debut release, The Inhuman Condition, became one of the bestselling independent releases in Quebec and Canadian music history.-Life and career:...
, Joel Plaskett
Joel Plaskett
Joel Plaskett is a Canadian rock musician originally from Lunenburg, Nova Scotia. He grew up in Halifax, Nova Scotia and now resides across the harbour in Dartmouth, Nova Scotia...
, Avril Lavigne
Avril Lavigne
Avril Ramona Lavigne is a Canadian singer-songwriter. She was born in Belleville, Ontario, but spent most of her youth in the small town of Napanee. By the age of 15, she had appeared on stage with Shania Twain; by 16, she had signed a two-album recording contract with Arista Records worth more...
, Finger Eleven
Finger Eleven
Finger Eleven is a Canadian rock band from Burlington, Ontario, formed in 1989. They have currently released five studio albums, with their album The Greyest of Blue Skies bringing them into the mainstream...
, Simple Plan
Simple Plan
Simple Plan is a Canadian pop punk band from Montréal, Québec. The band has had no line up changes since its inception in 1999. Members are Pierre Bouvier , Jeff Stinco , Sébastien Lefebvre , David Desrosiers and Chuck Comeau...
, Marianas Trench
Marianas Trench (band)
Marianas Trench is a Juno-nominated Canadian pop punk band from Vancouver, British Columbia, formed in 2001. They have released three full length albums, the most recent titled Ever After, released on November 21, 2011...
, Gob
Gob (band)
Gob is a Canadian punk band from Langley, British Columbia formed in 1993, The Band consists of Tom Thacker, Theo Goutzinakis, Gabe Mantle and Steven Fairweather. Gob's most successful album is World According to Gob and their most successful song to date is I Hear You Calling...
, Hot Hot Heat
Hot Hot Heat
Hot Hot Heat is a Canadian indie rock band formed in 1999 from Victoria, British Columbia, Canada.-Career:Dustin Hawthorne and Steve Bays had been in many different bands together since 1995 and met Hawley in 1998. In 1999, Hawley bought a Juno 6 keyboard and asked Bays to try playing it, as no one...
, Sum 41
Sum 41
Sum 41 is a Canadian rock band from Ajax, Ontario. The band was formed in 1996 and currently consists of members Deryck Whibley , Tom Thacker , Jason McCaslin and Steve Jocz .In 1999, the band signed an international record deal with Island Records...
, Evans Blue
Evans Blue
Evans Blue is an alternative rock band from Toronto, Ontario, Canada founded in 2005.- Origins :Evans Blue came together in early 2005. Five musicians, then in three separate bands, met through a local musician's message board...
, Parabelle
Parabelle
Parabelle is a rock band that initially formed in 2007 as a side project by Kevin Matisyn, the former lead singer of Evans Blue, and Kenneth Nixon of Framing Hanley. Since then, the band has undergone numerous line-up changes. The band's first release was a double album entitled A Summit...
, The Birthday Massacre
The Birthday Massacre
The Birthday Massacre is a synthrock band, based in Toronto, Canada. The band formed in 1999, known then as Imagica...
, Thousand Foot Krutch
Thousand Foot Krutch
Thousand Foot Krutch is a Canadian Christian rock band formed in 1995. They have released five major studio albums: Set It Off , Phenomenon , The Art of Breaking , The Flame In All of Us , and Welcome to the Masquerade . They also have one live album, Live at the Masquerade...
, Three Days Grace
Three Days Grace
Three Days Grace is a Canadian rock band, formed in Norwood, Ontario, Canada in 1992, originally under the name Groundswell. After a breakup in late 1997, the band regrouped in the same year under its current name and with a line-up consisting of guitarist and lead vocalist Adam Gontier, drummer...
, The Trews
The Trews
The Trews are a Canadian rock band from Antigonish, Nova Scotia, consisting of vocalist Colin MacDonald, guitarist John-Angus MacDonald, bassist Jack Syperek, and drummer Sean Dalton...
, Matt Mays & El Torpedo, Alexisonfire
Alexisonfire
Alexisonfire was a five-piece, Juno-nominated post-hardcore band that formed in St. Catharines, Ontario, Canada in 2001. The band consisted of George Pettit , Dallas Green , Wade MacNeil , Chris Steele , and Jordan Hastings .They describe their music as "the sound of two Catholic high-school girls...
, Theory of a Deadman
Theory of a Deadman
Theory of a Deadman is a Canadian rock band from Delta, British Columbia, formed in 2001. The band is currently signed to Roadrunner Records as well as Island Records. The band also includes traits of other music styles, such as country and acoustic, as well as their post-grunge and alternative...
, Protest The Hero
Protest the Hero
Protest the Hero is a Canadian progressive metal band from Whitby, Ontario. Originally named Happy Go Lucky, the band line-up has remained the same since their formation in 1999. The band changed their name to Protest the Hero shortly before releasing their debut EP, Search for the Truth, in 2002...
, Default
Default (band)
Default is a Canadian post-grunge/alternative rock band from Vancouver, British Columbia. Since forming in 1999 they have released four albums, and have sold more than a million records...
, Bedouin Soundclash
Bedouin Soundclash
Bedouin Soundclash is a Canadian band currently based in Toronto. Their sound can be described as reggae and ska.-History:The band's current lineup consists of vocalist and guitarist Jay Malinowski, and bassist Eon Sinclair with Sekou Lumumba on drums. Their debut album, Root Fire, released in 2001...
, Hedley
Hedley (band)
Hedley is a Canadian pop rock band comprising lead singer Jacob Hoggard, Tommy Mac on bass, Dave Rosin on lead guitar and Chris Crippin on drums. The current band retains the original name of Hoggard's pre-Canadian Idol group, although the membership has changed. The band originated in Abbotsford,...
, Tokyo Police Club
Tokyo Police Club
Tokyo Police Club is an indie rock band from Newmarket, Ontario, Canada. It consists of vocalist and bassist David Monks , keyboardist Graham Wright, guitarist Josh Hook , and drummer Greg Alsop ....
, Death From Above 1979
Death from Above 1979
Death from Above 1979 are a Toronto-based Canadian dance-punk/noise rock duo. Their album, You're a Woman, I'm a Machine, was released in late 2004. The band broke up in 2006, but announced a reunion in 2011.-History:...
, Age of Daze
Age of Daze
Age of Daze is a Canadian alternative rock band from Fredericton, New Brunswick formed in 2005. They released their debut self-titled independent EP that year. They released their second album "Hollywood Ending" in 2007...
, Metric
Metric (band)
Metric is a Canadian indie rock and New Wave band founded in 1998 in Toronto. The band has also at various times been based in Montreal, London, New York City and Los Angeles...
and Priestess
Priestess (band)
Priestess is a Canadian stoner rock band formed in 2003 by Mikey Heppner , Mike Dyball , Vince Nudo , and Dan Watchorn .-Biography:...
. Arguably the most successful Canadian group of the decade is Nickelback
Nickelback
Nickelback is a Canadian rock band from Hanna, Alberta. Since 1995 the band has included guitarist and lead vocalist Chad Kroeger, guitarist and back-up vocalist Ryan Peake and bassist Mike Kroeger.. The band's current drummer and percussionist is Daniel Adair who has been with the band since 2005....
, having sold over 35 million albums worldwide. Their album Silver Side Up
Silver Side Up
-Personnel:Nickelback*Chad Kroeger – lead vocals, lead guitar*Ryan Peake – guitar, backing vocals*Mike Kroeger – bass*Ryan Vikedal – drums, percussionAdditional personnel*Rick Parashar – production...
has sold over six million copies (6x Platinum) in the United States and 800,000 copies (8x Platinum) in Canada. The band has won multiple Juno Awards, an American Music Award, and a MTV Video Music Award Their hit single "How You Remind Me
How You Remind Me
"How You Remind Me" is a single from rock band Nickelback's 2001 album, Silver Side Up. A "Gold Mix" was made for latter editions of the single with the heavier guitars edited out of the chorus. This single would be the last rock single to be #1 on the Billboard Hot 100 until Maroon 5's song "Makes...
" reached the top on the Canadian Singles Chart and the Billboard Hot 100 at the same time, making them the second Canadian band to accomplish this, the first being The Guess Who with "American Woman" in 1970. Also very notable is Avril Lavigne who has sold more than 30 million copies of her albums worldwide. She is currently one of the top-selling artists releasing albums in the United States, with over 10.25 million copies certified by the Recording Industry Association of America. Her 2002 debut album, Let Go
Let Go (Avril Lavigne album)
Let Go is the debut album by Canadian singer-songwriter Avril Lavigne, released on June 4, 2002. For a year after signing a record deal with Arista, Lavigne struggled due to conflicts in musical direction. Lavigne relocated to Los Angeles, California, and recorded there her earlier materials for...
has sold over 16 million copies were sold worldwide by 2008, and certified six times platinum in the United States.
The New York Times Magazine
The New York Times Magazine is a Sunday magazine supplement included with the Sunday edition of The New York Times. It is host to feature articles longer than those typically in the newspaper and has attracted many notable contributors...
, Rolling Stone
Rolling Stone
Rolling Stone is a US-based magazine devoted to music, liberal politics, and popular culture that is published every two weeks. Rolling Stone was founded in San Francisco in 1967 by Jann Wenner and music critic Ralph J...
, Under the Radar
Under the Radar (magazine)
Under the Radar is an American magazine that bills itself as "The solution to music pollution" and features interviews with accompanying photo-shoots. Each issue includes opinion and commentary of the Indie music scene as well as reviews on books, DVDs and albums.Items are reviewed based on a...
, as well the Canadian edition of Time Magazine. It can be difficult for an indie group to break through in Canada as there is no nationwide rock station. On the other hand, although rock bands may get some exposure from outlets such as MuchMusic and CBC Radio 3
CBC Radio 3
CBC Radio 3 is a radio station that consists of two parts devoted to Canadian arts and music: a radio service which is available on Sirius Satellite Radio and streaming audio, and several daily and weekly podcasts from the CBC Radio 3 website...
, bands must largely rely on building an audience city by city, as each commercial radio station makes its playlist decisions independently. Similarly, it is more difficult to travel nationwide as well due to the vast size, creating regional communities that revolve around major music scenes in cities like Winnipeg, Vancouver, Toronto, Montreal or Halifax, each with a handful of offshoot suburban town scenes that produce the next wave of fresh bands. Most notable is Arcade Fire, who have won numerous awards, including the 2011 Grammy for Album of the Year
Grammy Award for Album of the Year
The Grammy Award for Album of the Year is the most prestigious award category at the Grammys. It has been awarded since 1959 and though it was originally presented to the artist alone, the award is now presented to the artist, the producer, the engineer and/or mixer and the mastering engineer...
, the 2011 Juno Award for Album of the Year
Juno Award for Album of the Year
The Juno Award for "Album of the Year" has been awarded since 1975, as recognition each year for the best album in Canada. It was also known as Best Album , and Best Selling Album .-Best Album :...
, and the 2011 Brit Award for Best International Album for their third studio album, The Suburbs
The Suburbs (Arcade Fire album)
The Suburbs is the third studio album by Canadian indie rock band Arcade Fire, released in August 2010. Coinciding with the announcement the band released a limited edition 12-inch single containing two tracks from the album, “The Suburbs” and “Month of May”. The album debuted at #1 on the Irish...
.
French-Canadian rock
In the 1960s, the French Canadians of Quebec were beginning to self-identify as Québécois (Quebecers). See the Quiet RevolutionQuiet Revolution
The Quiet Revolution was the 1960s period of intense change in Quebec, Canada, characterized by the rapid and effective secularization of society, the creation of a welfare state and a re-alignment of politics into federalist and separatist factions...
. The tensions between Quebec and English Canada have, at times, played out on Quebec's music scene as well. In 1991, Céline Dion
Celine Dion
Céline Marie Claudette Dion, , , is a Canadian singer. Born to a large family from Charlemagne, Quebec, Dion emerged as a teen star in the French-speaking world after her manager and future husband René Angélil mortgaged his home to finance her first record...
won the Félix
Félix Award
The Félix Award is a music award, given on an annual basis to artists in the Canadian province of Quebec.The first Félix awards were presented on September 23, 1979, by the Association du disque, de l'industrie du spectacle québécois...
award for Best Anglophone Artist for her English-language debut, Unison, but refused it as she did not view herself as an Anglophone artist. After the controversy caused by this incident, Dion had been careful not to clearly declare herself as either federalist
Federalist
The term federalist describes several political beliefs around the world. Also, it may refer to the concept of federalism or the type of government called a federation...
or sovereignist, but has in recent years made it clear that she is a federalist French-Canadian, after she was inducted to Canada's Walk of Fame and awarded the Order of Canada.
See also
- Canadian music genresCanadian music genresCanadian music genres identifies musical sounds as belonging to a particular category and type of music that can be distinguished from other types of music made by Canadians. The music of Canada has reflected the multi-cultural influences that have shaped the country...
- Canadian Music Hall of FameCanadian Music Hall of FameThe Canadian Music Hall of Fame honors Canadian musicians for their lifetime achievements in music. The ceremony is held each year as part of the Juno Award ceremonies. Members of the Canadian Music Hall of Fame represent many of the world's great talents...
- Canadian rock/alternative chartCanadian rock/alternative chartThe Canadian rock/alternative chart was first published on June 11, 1995 by RPM magazine under the name Alternative 30. The song which held the number-one spot on this first chart was "More Human than Human" by White Zombie...
- East Coast Music AssociationEast Coast Music AssociationThe East Coast Music Association is a non-profit association that hosts an annual awards ceremony based in Atlantic Canada for music appreciation on the East Coast of Canada...
- List of number-one singles (Canada)
- Music of CanadaMusic of CanadaThe music of Canada has influences that have shaped the country. Aboriginals, the British, and the French have all made unique contributions to the musical heritage of Canada. The music has subsequently been heavily influenced by American culture because of its proximity and migration between...
- Music of Canadian CulturesMusic of Canadian culturesMusic of Canadian Cultures is a wide and divers accumulation of music from many different individual communities all across Canada. With Canada being vast in size, the country throughout its history has had regional music scenes. The music of Canada has reflected the multi-cultural influences...
- One-hit wonders in CanadaOne-hit wonders in CanadaA one-hit wonder is a Top 40 phenomenon: the combination of artist and song that scores big in the music industry with one hit, but is unable to repeat the achievement with another hit. The term can refer to the artist, the song, or both together...
- Polaris Music PrizePolaris Music PrizeThe Polaris Music Prize is a music award annually given to the best full-length Canadian album based on artistic merit, regardless of genre, sales, or record label...
- Western Canadian Music AwardsWestern Canadian Music AwardsThe Western Canadian Music Awards is an annual awards ceremony for music in the western portion of Canada, that originated in its current form in 2003...
Further reading
- Axes, Chops & Hot Licks: the Canadian rock music scene by Ritchie York, (Edmonton AB: HurtigMel HurtigMel Hurtig, is a Canadian publisher, author, political activist and former political candidate.He was born and raised in Edmonton, Alberta. He is the former president of the Edmonton Art Gallery.-Businessman and Publisher:...
, 1971, 1979) (ISBN 0-88830-052-2) - Heart of Gold: 30 years of Canadian pop music by Martin Melhuish, (Toronto ON: CBC EnterprisesCBC RecordsCBC Records is a Canadian record label, owned and operated by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, which distributes CBC programming, including live concert performances in album and digital format....
, 1983) (ISBN 08-87841-125) - Canadian Music Fast Facts: Canadian pop music history by Mark Kearney, Randy Ray, (London, ON: Sparky Productions, 1991) (ISBN 0-9695149-0-5)
- Encyclopedia of Canadian rock, pop and folk music by Rick Jackson, (Kingston, ON: Quarry Press, 1994). (ISBN 1-55082-107-5)
- Oh What a Feeling: a vital history of Canadian music by Martin Melhuish, (Kingston, ON: Quarry Press, 1996) (ISBN 1-55082-164-4)
- Before the gold rush: flashbacks to the dawn of the Canadian sound by Nicholas Jennings, (Yorkville ON: VikingViking PressViking Press is an American publishing company owned by the Penguin Group, which has owned the company since 1975. It was founded in New York City on March 1, 1925, by Harold K. Guinzburg and George S. Oppenheim...
, 1997) (ISBN 0-670-87381-0) - On A Cold Road: tales of adventure in Canadian rock by Dave BidiniDave BidiniDave Bidini is a Canadian musician, journalist and author originating from Etobicoke, Ontario. He is a founding member of the acclaimed rock band Rheostatics, and has published several books about music and sports. He currently performs with his band, aptly named BidiniBand. The group's first...
,(Toronto ON: McClelland & Stewart, 1998) (ISBN 0-7710-1456-2) - Hand Me Down World: the Canadian pop-rock paradox by Greg Potter, (Toronto ON: MacmillanMacmillan PublishersMacmillan Publishers Ltd, also known as The Macmillan Group, is a privately held international publishing company owned by Georg von Holtzbrinck Publishing Group. It has offices in 41 countries worldwide and operates in more than thirty others.-History:...
, 1999) (ISBN 0-7715-7642-0) - The CHUM Story by Allen Farrell, (C.A ON: Stoddart PublishingGould Estate v. Stoddart Publishing Co. Ltd.Gould Estate v. Stoddart Publishing Co. Ltd. 1998 CanLII 5513 , is a Canadian copyright case on the ownership of copyright and requirements of fixation.-Background:...
, 2001) (ISBN 0-7737-6263-9) - Have Not Been the Same: the CanRock renaissance 80s-90s, by Michael Barclay, (Toronto ON: ECW PressECW PressECW Press is a North American small press book publisher located in Toronto, Ontario. It was founded by Jack David and Robert Lecker in 1974 as a Canadian literary magazine named Essays on Canadian Writing. Five years later, ECW published its first books - trade and scholarly titles...
, 2001) (ISBN 1-55022-475-1) - The Top 100 Canadian Albums by Bob MersereauBob MersereauBob Mersereau is a Canadian arts journalist.Mersereau is a music columnist and longtime arts reporter for CBC Television in New Brunswick. Since 1982, he has been a reporter on the East Coast music scene for CBC Radio, CBC Television, and the Telegraph-Journal...
, (Fredericton: Goose Lane EditionsGoose Lane EditionsGoose Lane Editions is a Canadian book publishing company founded in 1954 in Fredericton, New Brunswick as Fiddlehead Poetry Books by Fred Cogswell and a group of students and faculty from the University of New Brunswick. After Cogswell retired in 1981, his successor, Peter Thomas, changed the name...
, 2007) (ISBN 978-0-86492-500-8) - Women Musicians in Canada "on the record" the Music Division of the National Library of Canada / by C. Gillard. Ottawa : NLC, 1995. [6] leaves. (ISBN 0-7759-0517-8)
External links
- Canadian Music Periodical (CMPI) - Library and Archives CanadaLibrary and Archives CanadaLibrary and Archives Canada is a national memory institution dedicated to providing the best possible account of Canadian life through acquiring, preserving and making Canada's documentary heritage accessible for use in the 21st century and beyond...
- Encyclopedia of Music in Canada The Canadian EncyclopediaThe Canadian EncyclopediaThe Canadian Encyclopedia is a source of information on Canada. It is available online, at no cost. The Canadian Encyclopedia is available in both English and French and includes some 14,000 articles in each language on a wide variety of subjects including history, popular culture, events, people,...
- RPM Magazine, 1964-2000 - Library and Archives Canada
- The CMC- Canadian Music CentreCanadian Music CentreThe Canadian Music Centre holds Canada's largest collection of Canadian concert music. The CMC exists to promote the works of its Associate Composers in Canada and around the world....
- Canoe.ca /Jam!—Jam!Jam!Jam! is a Canadian website, which covers entertainment news. It is part of the CANOE online portal, owned and operated by Quebecor through its Sun Media division....
- New Music Canada—By CBC Radio 3CBC Radio 3CBC Radio 3 is a radio station that consists of two parts devoted to Canadian arts and music: a radio service which is available on Sirius Satellite Radio and streaming audio, and several daily and weekly podcasts from the CBC Radio 3 website...
- canuckistanmusic- reviews of lesser-known records