30 March 2021 - The Weeknd - Save Your Tears

I know many of you were underwhelmed by The Weeknd's Super Bowl performance.

It is difficult, however, to be underwhelmed by the impact this Canadian singer has had on music.  His combination of soul and electronic music is somewhat groundbreaking - and I can understand that not translating well to a weird national broadcast performance.

So we're clear, this was his current single during that Super Bowl, and it is a top 20 hit worldwide, so I think he's doing something right.  The song initially charted in April 2020, a full 8 months before it was released as a single - because it is such an infectious song.

The Weeknd also performed the song during the 2020 iHeartRadio Jingle Ball.  In a few years, we're going to look back upon performances like this, without crowds, and remember our little pandemic.  For now, just enjoy this live performance. 

29 March 2021 - Drake ft. Majid Jordan - Hold On, We’re Going Home

I'm a little surprised it took me this long to post anything by this Degrassi: The Next Generation alum.   That's right.  Aubrey Drake Graham was best known for his role on the Canadian drama before he was a musician.  

Yes.  He was billed as Aubrey Graham.  

On this song, which is more soul and less hip-hop than some of Drake's other tunes, he is joined by R&B duo (singer + producer) and fellow Canadians Majid Jordan - and had a worldwide hit, both commercially and critically.  

 

In case it isn't clear, here are Drake and Majid Jordan on Ellen, with Majid Al Maskati clearly singing significant vocals on this song.  

28 March 2021 - Barenaked Ladies - Be My Yoko Ono

I couldn't in good conscience let Klaatu stand as your Wicked Guilty Pleasure today.

For a good percentage of you, this was your first exposure to BNL.

For me, this was the song, playing on CFNY, a radio station from Toronto.  It's clearly a tongue-in-cheek love song, referring to the romance of John Lennon and Yoko Ono in somewhat amusing terms.  Their debut single, it was a minor Canadian hit and cemented their charm and appeal across the country.  

By the way, Yoko Ono has heard the song, and enjoyed it.

28 March 2021 - Klaatu - Calling Occupants of Interplanetary Craft

The Carpenters did a lot of covers.  This was one of them.

But we're not talking about the cover.  We're talking about the Klaatu original.  You see, Klaatu was a band, formed in 1973, whose style had them dubbed "the Canadian Beatles".  It was even rumoured that they WERE The Beatles for a while.  Clearly, they weren't, but they had a few hits in their own right.  

And they sure did write some offbeat music.  However, the title was lifted from an actual 1950's UFO society who used that phrase to start every transmission.  

27 March 2021 - Stompin' Tom Connors - The Hockey Song

I dare you not to smile during this song. 

A classic played at many many hockey games, especially in Canada (as it references a Canadian win, and I don't think he means the Canadiens), the single, released in 1973, became a posthumous Canadian Top 30 hit for Connors in 2013. 

And me standing in the Saddledome in Calgary at a Flames game in late 2019 singing this song with a lot of Canadians is among my best memories of Canada.  It's truly moving to hear thousands of people singing such a joyous song.

26 March 2021 - Jann Arden - Insensitive

On December 29, 2017, Arden was appointed as a Member of the Order of Canada for her 'achievements as a singer-songwriter and broadcaster, and for her extensive charitable work.

I literally copied that from the Jann Arden Wikipedia page.  I also learned from her Wikipedia page that she was born in Calgary, but at an early age, moved to Springbank, Alberta.  Having spent some significant time in Calgary, I can tell you 1) great city.  Go there when you can. 2) That's barely leaving Calgary.  

This was Arden's only big US hit, reaching #12 on the pop charts, but she's a superstar in Canada. This song might sound like a sweet ballad, but it's actually kind of angry - which is part of the brilliance of Arden's performance.   

The song was released in the mid 1990s, but she still sounded amazing playing the song live in 2018.

25 March 2021 - Neil Young - Helpless

After we posted that brilliant k.d. lang cover of this Neil Young song yesterday, we could not help but post the original performing his own song.

From Farm Aid 1993, the Canadian legend belts his classic song, originally performed with his band Crazy Horse but was more famously recorded by Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young.  Alone, the power and ache of Young's voice shines through.  

24 March 2021 - k.d. lang - Constant Craving

You know, we haven't had anything resembling country yet this month, so let's go with it today.

k.d. lang did start off as a country artist in the late 80's, finding success in both the US and her native Canada.  However, when she embraced a slightly poppier sound in the early 90's, she achieved her biggest hit outside of Canada - today's feature.  By moving away from country, she found a larger audience - and earned a Grammy.

The song itself - which lang co-wrote - is a song about, well, constant craving.  It features both her rich voice alone, and multi-part harmonies.   In kind of a funny coincidence, the Rolling Stones were (perhaps not consciously) inspired by this song when writing their 1997 single "Anyone Seen My Baby" - so much so that they gave lang a co-writing credit.  This was not due to a lawsuit.   This was due to Keith Richards being that big a fan of the song.  

Also, I hear this song on in-store radio literally every time I go to Wegmans.   Not a joke.  

23 March 2021 - The East Pointers - Two Weeks

For me, personally, the greatest musical discovery I made in 2020 is PEI band The East Pointers.  It's not even close.  They are a delight, and everything that trio has done is delightful.  I love their dedication to folk music and to Atlantic Canada.  

For those outside Canada, YYG is the code for Charlottetown Airport, on Prince Edward Island.  And yes, WestJet does fly from YYG to and from YYC - that's the code for Calgary, an airport I know very well - on a seasonal basis.  

22 March 2021 - Gordon Lightfoot - Song For A Winter's Night

Gordon Lighhtfoot is a Canadian treasure.  On this, there can be no debate.

Of course, the song was written on a hot summer's night in Cleveland, Ohio in the mid-1960, as Gordon was missing his wife while on tour.  It is a sweet song that is now a winter staple in my house.  I hope it is in yours as well.  

21 March 2021 - Dream Warriors - My Definition Of A Boombastic Jazz Style

Captial Q and King Lou were just a couple of friends from Toronto who came together to sample an old Quincy Jones song that was a television theme song.  I suspect it is this song that caused "Soul Bossa Nova" to be the theme for the Austin Powers movies, although Mike Myers is Canadian, so he'd probably have seen the Canadian game show Definition.  

And now you know where the chorus for this song comes from.  And why the song has such a long title.  

In case you were wondering about Definition, here's a 1982 episode.  YES, that's the guy from Card Sharks. 

20 March 2021 - Len - Trillion Daze

Every one knows that Len is a one hit wonder.   That doesn't mean they didn't release other music, or even that "Steal My Sunshine" was their first single.  The Canadian band preceded that huge hit with this single, and a video that features some sweet snowboarding.  

"Trillion Daze" is much less hip hop and much more straight-ahead rock with punk sensibilities.  I like this incarnation of the band.

19 March 2021 - The Weakerthans - Sun In An Empty Room

We have featured The Weakerthans before.  "Tournament of Hearts" is absolutely the greatest song ever written about the uniquely Canadian sport of curling.  

The single that followed that great song was this one, a working man's anthem from a working class band.  The band, proud of their hometown of Winnipeg, filmed this video there.  Together, they make a fitting tribute to life in the middle of Canada. 

18 March 2021 - Loreena McKennitt - The Mummers' Dance

Who would have thought that an song that sounds like a traditional Irish folk composition would be a top 20 hit?

And yet, that's exactly what happened to Canadian Celtic singer Loreena McKennitt in 1997.  A tribute to the mummers' plays of spring, it is an odd but sweet song, bolstered by her sharp soprano vocal.  It would be her only hit outside of her native Canada, as she did take a hiatus from music following a deep personal tragedy in 1998 - but she has returned to music and is still releasing new material.  

17 March 2021 - Spirit Of The West - Home For A Rest

Spirit Of The West aren't a band most Americans have heard, but were wildly successful with their Irish-tinged music in their native Canada.  So, this article is going to hit a certain number of you more in the feels than others.

That statement should sound familiar, and yeah, this story doesn't end better.

In 2014, the band's frontman, John Mann, was diagnosed with early onset Alzheimer's disease.  He continued with the band as long as he could, but it clear he was not long for the music industry.  He passed away in 2019, at the age of just 57.  

This song was an anthem of the band from 1990, but wasn't released as a single until 2014, when it was released in a limited manner on Record Store Day.  In the wake of the announcement of Mann's illness, it was quite a bit more poignant than the drinking song it was originally intended to be.  

The first time the band played at the famous Massey Hall was on June 6, 2015 - and it was one of their last shows.  Mann actually forgets the lyrics for a bit during the song - but the audience had his back.  It is one of the greatest moments in Canadian music history.

16 March 2021 - Cowboy Junkies - Misguided Angel

This song was recorded straight to 2-track in a Toronto church, as was the rest of the Trinity Sessions album - although one of the songs was recorded on a 2nd day, despite the mythology of the song.  Famously, they ran out of time during the recording session - which famously featured Margo Timmins singing into a PA - and had to bribe a security guard to let them stay long enough to record this unrehearsed song - which they recorded in ONE TAKE.

This is the DEMO. And it is beautiful.

Of course, the Canadian band is best known for a cover they did, which you can heard today over on Totally Covered.

15 March 2021 - Robbie Robertson - Somewhere Down The Crazy River

When Robbie Robertson of The Band went solo, no one expected such a soulful song like this to come out of him.

And yet, this sultry masterpiece is exactly what he came up with.  But it happened accidentally.  As Robertson was playing with chord progressions, he was telling a story, which producer and fellow Canadian Daniel Lanois secretly recorded.  The chorus and backing vocals by Sam Llanas of The BoDeans were added later.

I would be remiss if I didn't talk about the video.  There's three people in the video - Robertson, Llanas, and Maria McKee, who at the time was wrapping up her time with Lone Justice and embarking on a solo career. McKee herself sings some background vocals on other Robertson songs on his debut album, but her appearance her is solely visual. 

14 March 2021 - Stampeders - Sweet City Woman

The Stampeders had several hits, but this 1971 tune was their biggest hit by far outside of Canada - or even INSIDE Canada.  The Calgary trio - who started as a quintet in the mid-1960 - broke up in the late 1970's, but reformed at the 1992 Calgary Stampede, and has not stopped touring since.

By the way, the Calgary Stampede is something I barely missed in my time in Alberta, and remains on my bucket list.  It probably won't happen for me in 2021, but it will sometime soon.  

13 March 2021 - Moxy Früvous - King of Spain

I recently have been looking into my family tree, and have traced some of my genealogy back to 9th Century Europe.  In fact, I have a branch of my tree that is, indeed, descended from Ferdinand III, king of Castile, Toledo, León and Galicia.... a real life King of Spain, I sincerely doubt that Moxy Früvous had me in mind when they wrote their prince/pauper tale in the 1990's, mostly because I never worked at the Pizza Pizza... but that's the story I'm telling everyone now.

Seriously, Moxy Früvous were a fun and satirical band, frequently poking fun at their native Canada and making a lot of "inside the Queensway" jokes.   This is their biggest hit outside of Canada, which got some radio play in Western New York.

12 March 2021 - Grimes - You'll Miss Me When I'm Not Around

I have been a fan of Canadian electronic artist Grimes for many years now.  She continuously reinvents herself, and yet still sounds fresh and exciting.  

But this video is boring as heck on purpose, and it's because she loves her fans.  

You see, she released this video on April 1, 2020, with a green screen background, alongside the raw audio from the recordings, specifically so fans could remix the song and make their own versions of the video - #GrimesArtKit.  What a terrific pandemic art project!

The song itself is fairly soulful while not forgetting the electronic power Grimes has consistently brought to her music.

Here is the original video, in all its chromakey glory.  I think it's important to note that Grimes was seven months pregnant when she released this.

I wanted to highlight some of my favourite fan versions of this video.  

YouTube user Brent Bonacorso describes this version of the video as "(a) quarantine dream of digital conception and creation, broadcast from the heavens in a gamma-burst of love and code."  I pretty much think that nails it.  Starting with a roar, it builds into the music.

I thought YouTube user Jonathan Hernández made a visually interesting video.   He doubled up on the Grimes and put her in space.  

Rather than use the Grimes video, YouTube user Red Dawn went with footage from a bunch of 1980s movies and a radical electronic remix.  It works, well.  This is the only video on that channel, but I personally hope that changes.