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.
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.
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.
The Tragically Hip never got to be the superstars that they were in Canada south of the border. So, this article is going to hit a certain number of you more in the feels than others.
I grew up in Connecticut - but my extended family lived in the Buffalo, NY area, so I would visit them often. As I visited the area, I became accustomed to Canadian radio - and because of the rules governing Canadian radio that required a certain percentage of Canadian artists to be played, I got to hear a lot of artists that weren't generally played in the States.
One of these bands was The Tragically Hip.
When this song became a minor hit in the US for The 'Hip in the early 1990s, I already knew who this "new" band was, and I was pretty excited.
The Tragically Hip are no more. Their lead vocalist, Gord Downie, was diagnosed with terminal brain cancer in 2016. Their last show, in their hometown of Kingston, Ontario, was broadcast to the entire nation by the CBC in August 2016 - a show that 1/3 of Canadians watched.
This song opened the first of three encores and was the 22nd of 30 songs they would perform.
Downie passed in November 2017. He was so beloved, his death so mourned, that Prime Minister Justin Trudeau addressed it, emotionally.
No matter how you feel about them, the Canadian band does have a few solid tunes. This song, from 2001, TOPPED the POP charts in the United States.
Topped. The. Pop. Charts. With a heavy rock song.
The song is an emotional roller-coaster, written by Chad Kroeger about a dysfunctional relationship he had once had. It remains the signature Nickelback song to this day.
In all seriousness, the one-time 3rd place Canadian Idol finisher really stepped up her game here. This 2019 single, which combined a childlike exuberance with sexual themes, received an abundance of critical acclaim, applauding both the fun sound and maturity of theme, so well-balanced. If you missed this 1980's throwback song in 2019 - the horns! the synth! - I encourage you to check it out now.
As an added bonus, here she is, performing the song in her hometown of Vancouver. Three things of note:
Rush was, of course, a band made up of three of the greatest rock musicians on their respective instruments (yes, I know. Neil Peart joined after the first album. Don't @ me). Sone might call them egotistical, with numerous bass, guitar, and especially drum solos featured on many of their songs.
This song, the big single from their 1980 album Permanent Waves, is a great example of that, where you can hear all three members of the band taking a lead in the music at some point. It remains the band's biggest UK hit, also hitting the charts in the US and their native Canada.
Lyrically, the song is a lament of the loss of radio formats of the 1970's, having been replaced with more commercial formats. The band specifically have cited Toronto radio station CFNY - one of the first stations to play the band - as a catalyst for this song. They also pay tribute to several of their favourite artists in the song - the tribute to Simon and Garfunkel is pretty obvious, but the reggae feeling that portion of the song takes on is a tribute to up-and-coming band The Police.
It's where the song title came from.
The song was featured on the album Permanent Waves, which has a catalogue number of 1021 - in tribute to the CFNY FM frequency - 102.1. This video was commissioned for the 40th anniversary of the song in 2020.
