A
couple of years ago, I got an e-mail from a guy named Bob Mersereau soliciting
a list of my favorite Canadian albums for a book he was putting together. I'm
pretty much the last person you'd want such a list from--I'm a song guy with a
long-standing antipathy towards my home country's pop music--but I submitted
one anyway, the book came out, and Bob was nice enough to list me as one of the
many voters. (I recall that I went with five or six Neil Young LPs and an Andy
Kim compilation.) He's doing a follow-up volume on Canadian singles, and while
the antipathy remains, it was a lot easier for me to come up with something
this time. I sent him two lists: my Top 10, and a chronological Top 25.
1. "Cinnamon Girl," Neil Young
(1969)
2. "How'd We Ever Get This Way,"
Andy Kim (1968)
3. "Get Down To," Mainline (1971)
4. "Rain Dance," Guess Who (1971)
5. "Beautiful Second Hand Man,"
Ginette Reno (1970)
6. "Talk It Over in the Morning,"
Anne Murray (1971)
7. "Africa," Thundermug (1972)
8. "Big-Town Boy," Shirley Matthews
& the Big Town Girls (1964)
9. "Even Grable," Treble Charger
(1996)
10.
"Get Up, Get Out and Move On," Fludd (1972)
-------------------
"The
Stroll," Diamonds (1957)
"Big-Town
Boy," Shirley Matthews & the Big Town Girls (1964)
"1-2-5,"
Haunted (1966)
"She
Ain't No Use to Me," Ugly Ducklings (1966)
"How'd
We Ever Get This Way," Andy Kim (1968)
"Cinnamon
Girl," Neil Young (1969)
"If
You Could Read My Mind," Gordon Lightfoot (1970)
"Beautiful
Second Hand Man," Ginette Reno (1970)
"Talk
It Over in the Morning," Anne Murray (1971)
"Rain
Dance," Guess Who (1971)
"Get
Down To," Mainline (1971)
"Carey,"
Joni Mitchell (1971)
"Some
Sing, Some Dance," Pagliaro (1971)
"Africa,"
Thundermug (1972)
"Get
Up, Get Out and Move On," Fludd (1972)
"Sweet
Thing," Goddo (1978)
"Don't
You Lie," Viletones (1978)
"Tired
of Waking Up Tired," Diodes (1978)
"Ain't
Got No Sense," Teenage Head (1979)
"Apologies,"
Pointed Sticks (1980)
"Nothing
on TV," Dundrells (1986)
"Out
of My Head," Junkhouse (1993)
"Even
Grable," Treble Charger (1996)
"Attack
of the 50-Ft. Teletubbies," D.J. Shoe (1996)
"Fireworks,"
Tragically Hip (1998)
Same
old story--wildly disproportionate emphasis on the early '70s, a decent sampling
of punk, and virtually nothing from the past two decades. Kon Kan's "I Beg
Your Pardon" and the New Pornographers' "Mass Romantic" came
close; Broken Social Scene, the Arcade Fire, Buck 65, and some other things
that have attracted significant critical attention beyond our borders did not.
And I have to issue my standard Tragically Hip disclaimer: I recoil from just
about everything they did on their first few records.
The
rule was to stick to actual singles, and on my Top 10, I did. I cheated twice
on the expanded list: I don't believe either "Ain't Got No Sense" or
"Sweet Thing" were ever released as singles, although the latter
essentially functions as one on hard-rock stations. Just to be completley
inconsistent, I ruled out Leonard
Cohen's "Winter Lady" (which might have made the Top 10) and Bruce
Cockburn's title song for Goin' Down the Road on the basis of the singles-only
rule. As I've indicated elsewhere, the Cockburn song doesn't exist on vinyl of
any kind, only in the film.
I'll
provide a download link for "Attack of the 50-Ft. Teletubbies," thus
sparing you the whole eBay/Sotheby's route.
(Earth-shattering
update: Broken Social Scene's "Anthems for a Seventeen Year-Old Girl"
would now make the list. Not the Top 10, but pencil it in where the Pointed
Sticks used to be.)
-------------------
As
the economy plummets, the world consoles itself by making lists of favorite
Canadian singles. Here are a couple more from Scott Woods and Tim Powis,
friends from Nerve days, that are also earmarked for Bob Mersereau's upcoming
book.
Scott:
1. "Some Sing, Some Dance," Pagliaro
(1972)
2. "Africa," Thundermug (1972)
3. "Raised on Robbery," Joni
Mitchell (1974)
4. "If You're Looking," Tranquility
Base (1970)
5. "Rain Dance," Guess Who (1971)
6. "Even Grable," Treble Charger
(1996)
7. "Heartbeat (It's a Lovebeat),"
DeFranco Family (1973)
8. "Savin' Myself," Eria Fachin
(1988)
9. "Little Darlin'," Diamonds (1957)
10.
"I Beg Your Pardon," Kon Kan (1988)
-------------------
Tim:
1. "(Isn’t Love Unkind) In My Life,"
A Foot in Coldwater (1972)
2. "Intervention," Arcade Fire
(2007)
3. "Unless You Care," Terry Black
(1964)
4. "Albert Flasher," Guess Who
(1971)
5. "She Ain’t No Use to Me," Ugly
Ducklings (1966)
6. "Picture My Face," Teenage Head
(1978)
7. "New York City," Demics (1979)
8. "You Turn Me On I'm a Radio,"
Joni Mitchell (1972)
9. "Lovin’ You Ain’t Easy," Pagliaro
(1971)
10.
"Wicked and Weird," Buck 65 (2003)
11.
"Charlena," Richie Knight and the Mid-Knights (1963)
12.
"Shoot 'Em Up Baby," Andy Kim (1968)
13.
"Feel It," It's All Meat (1969)
14.
"Africa," Thundermug (1972)
15.
"You Ain’t Seen Nothing Yet," Bachman Turner Overdrive (1974)
16.
"The Way I Walk," Jack Scott (1959)
17.
"Big-Town Boy," Shirley Matthews & the Big Town Girls (1964)
18.
"Don’t Walk Away Eileen," Sam Roberts (2002)
19.
"Broken Hearted Me," Anne Murray (1979)
20.
"Oh What a Feeling," Crowbar (1971)
-------------------
Based
on us three, Thundermug's got this thing wrapped up. I imagine the Guess Who,
Joni Mitchell, and Pagliaro will spread their votes around much as they have on
our lists. (The Demics and the DeFranco Family will not.) Scott has duplicated what
I now think is an error on my own list: I checked around, and Treble Charger's "Even
Grable" appears never to have been released as a single. I'm pretty sure
I've never heard It's All Meat from Tim's list (ditto the Arcade Fire track,
but that has to do with my liking their first LP so little); I have heard
Tranquility Base and Eria Fachin from Scott's, but I have no memory of how
either one goes at the moment. M.I.A.: Mitsou, Candi & the Backbeat,
Zappacosta, the Tiger, Moxy Fruvus, Gowan, the Hats (even though they
technically were without them), and Wild T & the Spirit. Not fair, but
there just wasn't enough space.
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