Despite being next to the largest exporter of popular culture in the known universe, Canada’s domestic music market is not just thriving but kicking butt on a global scale. Thanks to artists like Drake, The Weeknd, Justin Bieber, Rush, Shania Twain, Celine Dion, Alanis Morissette and so many others, we’ve long punched far above our weight when it comes to exporting music to the rest of the world.
We’re the sixth-largest music market on the planet, behind the U.S., Japan, the U.K., Germany, and France. Not bad for a country with only 35 million people spread out over nearly 10 million square kilometres.
But it wasn’t always this way. Before the 1970s, there really wasn’t much of a music industry in this country at all.
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For the first 70 years of recorded music, Canada was, to put it kindly, a backwater. While there were a few domestic record labels, most of the business when to branch offices of foreign companies. We lacked basic infrastructure and expertise: recording studios, producers, managers, agents, venues, promoters, pressing plants — all those things that underpin a nation’s music to be heard.
That all changed on Jan. 18, 1971, when the new Canadian content laws decreed by the newly-formed CRTC (est. 1967) went into effect. From then on, 30 per cent of music heard on the radio — down from an original proposal of 45 per cent — had to be Canadian in origin using an oddly bureaucratic and idiosyncratic vetting procedure known as the MAPL system. This, the commission said, would ensure that Canadians heard Canadian music and therefore not be swamped by material coming from America and the U.K.
As well as a cultural protectionist strategy, it was also an industrial one. Now that radio needed Canadian music, the new rules spurred the establishment of the necessary infrastructure. We needed to create a music industry out of whole cloth.
Radio types bristled at being told what to play and the notion of having to achieve quotas at the expense of hit songs that audiences craved. Some stations would edit Canadian songs down to 90 seconds or less and then spin them all between 11 p.m. and midnight in what was pejoratively called “beaver hours.” The CRTC soon put a stop to that, adding new regulations that required Canadian music be spun around the clock.
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On the surface, all this seemed like a quick fix to the problem of a lack of domestic product on the radio. But the government was playing the long game. It would take years for us to catch up to the U.S. and Great Britain. And there were plenty of growing pains along the way. That’s a nice way of saying songs of dubious quality received radio airplay, all in the name of hitting that magic and non-negotiable 30 per cent quota.
In honour of Canada Day, I thought we’d go back through the CanCon graveyard to remember 10 songs that were big hits in their day, but have mostly passed into obscurity since.
1. Thor, Keep the Dogs Away
Who? When I was working as a grocery clerk, I always knew when my co-worker Brian pulled up to the back door. He’d equipped his Plymouth Cricket with an insanely expensive sound system — it was worth more than the car — over which he’d constantly blare this song from a Vancouver band called Thor. Led by Jon Miki Thor, a body-building champ (he won both Mr. World Canada and Mr. USA), the group’s second album, Keep the Dogs Away, received substantial radio airplay, resulting in sales of more than 50,000 — good enough for a gold record award.
Where Are They Now? Still around. There was a 2009 re-release of Keep the Dogs Away, followed in 2014 by a documentary entitled I Am Thor. The band’s latest album — their 28th! — was released last year.
2. Leyden Zar, Backstreet Girl
Who? A Canadian band featuring Brian Wilson (no, not that one) and three other Montrealers. Formed in 1976 as a backup band for a Quebec club singer named Robert Leroux, they broke away to do their own thing in 1978 and eventually signed to a record deal two years later. Their 1981 self-titled debut album — recorded at the famous Le Studio in Morin Heights, Quebec — contained a couple of singles, including this one.
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Where Are They Now? No clue. They were dropped from their first label but returned in 1985 with a record entitled LEYDEN ZAR II and released the single “That’s Alright.” The band broke up in 1986, with the only other peep from them being a re-release of those two albums on CD in 1996.
3. Cats Can Fly, Flippin’ to the A Side
Who? A quintessential one-hit wonder. Formed in North York — still a separate city from Toronto — the group, then known as Scamp, won a radio station talent contest and appeared on Global TV before touring with Burton Cummings. A record was made in 1980 with Guess Who producer Jack Richardson but never released. Reorganizing as Cats Can Fly in 1982, they won another talent contest (this time sponsored by Craven A, the cigarette company; imagine that) which led to a deal with CBS records. A self-titled album was released on CBS Records in 1986, driven by the radio success of “Flippin’ to the A Side.” All the attention landed them a Juno nomination for Most Promising Group.
Where Are They Now? Nice effort, but they were dropped by CBS in 1988 after one album. No one wanted to sign them after that, so they broke up.
4. Gerry Cott, Alphabet Town
Who? A guitarist and songwriter with Ireland’s Boomtown Rats who left the group in 1982 and ended up recording a Canadian EP entitled I Left My Hat in Haiti. This track was all over AM radio (it was a Top 40 hit) as well as some AC stations through the summer and fall of 1984.
Where Is He Now? Still performing and occasionally recording.
5. Frank Soda and The Imps, High Times
Who? Frank once had a gig as a guitarist with Thor, but broke away from the band in 1978 to form The Imps. He built a reputation as a crazy live performer, known for wearing strange headgear — like TV sets and a smoking pig — during his sets. The Imps received regional airplay on FM rock stations while also opening for bands like Deep Purple, Triumph, Ian Hunter, and many others. My first exposure to Frank was a performance clip on CBC’s Good Rockin’ Tonight.
Where Are They Now? Still performing. Frank served as the vice president of the Pacific Songwriters Association in the late 1990s.
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6. Wrabit, Anyway Anytime
Who? A melodic hard rock band originally from Ottawa who found purchase on the Toronto club circuit in the early 1980s. After signing with MCA for their second album, Wrough and Wready — the cover featured a logo drawn by Bugs Bunny artist Chuck Jones — they had a couple of FM hits in 1982-83.
Where Are They Now? They broke up in 1983. Guitarist John Albani went to work with metal queen Lee Aaron before heading to Nashville to set up a recording studio.
7. Santers, Shot Down in Flames
Who? Canada’s (temporary) answer to Van Halen. Toronto brothers Rick (guitar) and Mark (drums) Santers have the distinction of the biggest band for which my band (I can’t remember what we were called) opened. I don’t remember much about the gig other than Charlie, our bass player and singer, was so nervous that he knocked back three triple rum-and-cokes before our set. Santers was kind of like the little brothers of Triumph, a band who mentored them and would occasionally lend them PA gear. There were a series of Santers albums from 1981 forward that did well on rock radio in Canada, including this song, written in memory of AC/DC’s Bon Scott.
Where Are They Now? The band broke up — it didn’t help that they were on the unsteady Ready Records label — and Rick returned to session work.
8. Goddo, Sweet Thing
Who? The brainchild of Scarborough native Greg Godovitz, Goddo had a good run through the late 1970s and early 1980s and were once able to easily fill 2,000-seaters across the country. Two albums, If Indeed It’s Lonely at the Top…WHO CARES…It’s Lonely at the Bottom Too! and Pretty Bad Boys went gold. I was a major fan.
Where Are They Now? Still around, sort of. Greg can be found playing on occasion. He also has something to do with the reconstruction of the El Mocambo in Toronto, which is set to reopen later this year. His memoir, Travels with My Amp, is a fun read.
9. Queen City Kids, Follow You There
Who? A four-piece from Regina who was a favourite of the club and university circuit in western Canada in the early 1980s. In addition to radio airplay throughout the prairies, they toured with Ozzy Osbourne, Joan Jett, Blue Öyster Cult and April Wine.
Where Are They Now? After failing to crack the U.S. market with their second album, they broke up. There’s still the occasional reunion gig, although singer Alex Chuaqui has been collaborating with Gene Simmons of KISS over the last few years.
10. Teaze, Sweet Misery
Who? The phrase “Yeah, but they’re big in Japan” was made for Teaze. Coming out of Windsor, Ont., in 1975, they signed to Aquarius records, moved to Montreal and released five albums over four years, including Tour of Japan, a live record that capitalized on their popularity in that country. Their only hit single anywhere was “Sweet Misery,” a track from their second album, On the Loose.
Where Are They Now? After breaking up in 1981, member Mark Bradac opened a very successful pawn shop. If you remember the TV show, Pawnathon Canada, Mark was part of the production.
Alan Cross is a broadcaster with 102.1 the Edge and a commentator for Global News.
Subscribe to Alan’s Ongoing History of New Music Podcast now on Apple Podcast or Google Play
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