Jaimoe Posted October 3, 2010 Report Share Posted October 3, 2010 There's a new book by Bob Mersereau (CBC producer and music writer) that's causing a minor stir where he ranks The Great White North's Top 100 singles. I love lists and his a pretty good one. I have issues with omissions and order (just as we all do with every list). For example, I think "Four Strong Winds" is Canada's greatest folk song and comparable to Woody Guthrie's "This Land is Your Land", thus it should rank at #1 or #2. I also think Sloan's "Money City Maniacs" is the best fucking power-pop tune of the last 20 years and should be higher than #69. Also, Bruce Cockburn's anti-war masterpiece, "If I Had a Rocket Launcher", should be on the list, especially in place of "Everything I Do, I Do it For You", which is one of the worst singles of all time. Winterleep making it on the list is awesome.I would have included more from April Wine and perhaps would have thrown in a jazz tune from Oscar Peterson or added Stompin' Tom's "Sudbury Saturday Night" on the list (the latter is more revered by folkies). Also, another amazing Canuck folk song, "Barrett's Privateers", made famous by folk legend Stan Rogers, deserves to be on the list. I must say that I love anything that doesn't include Nickelback, Our Lady Peace, The Tea Party and Nelly Furtado... or Justin Bieber.The Top 100 Canadian Singles, acccording to Bob Mersereau’s new book:1. The Guess Who — “American Womanâ€2. Neil Young — “Heart of Goldâ€3. The Band — “The Weightâ€4. Bryan Adams — “Summer of ’69â€5. Leonard Cohen — “Hallelujahâ€6. Steppenwolf — “Born to Be Wildâ€7. Gordon Lightfoot — “If You Could Read My Mindâ€8. Bachman Turner Overdrive — “Takin' Care of Businessâ€9. Ian and Sylvia — “Four Strong Windsâ€10. Anne Murray — “Snowbirdâ€11. Joni Mitchell — “Big Yellow Taxi†/ “Woodstockâ€12. Rush — “Tom Sawyerâ€13. Blue Rodeo — “Tryâ€14. Tragically Hip — “New Orleans is Sinkingâ€15. Gordon Lightfoot — “The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgeraldâ€16. Leonard Cohen — “Suzanneâ€17. Tom Cochrane — “Life is a Highwayâ€18. The Guess Who — “These Eyesâ€19. Gordon Lightfoot — “Sundownâ€20. Sloan — “Underwhelmedâ€21. The Band — “Up on Cripple Creek†/ “The Night They Drove Old Dixie Downâ€22. Maestro Fresh Wes — “Let Your Backbone Slideâ€23. The Diodes — “Tired of Waking Up Tiredâ€25. Rush — “The Spirit of Radioâ€25. Crowbar — “Oh What a Feelingâ€26. Rough Trade — “High School Confidentialâ€27. Martha and the Muffins — “Echo Beachâ€28. Stampeders — “Sweet City Womanâ€29. Arcade Fire — “Wake Upâ€30. Barenaked Ladies — “If I Had $1,000,000â€31. Robert Charlebois — “Lindbergâ€32. The Pursuit Of Happiness — “I'm an Adult Nowâ€33. Ugly Ducklings — “Nothin’ “34. Sloan — “Coax Meâ€35. Rush — “Closer to the Heartâ€36. Teenage Head — “Picture My Faceâ€37. Guess Who — “Shakin' All Overâ€38. Five Man Electrical Band — “Signsâ€39. Blue Rodeo — “Lost Togetherâ€40. Ron Hynes — “Sonny's Dreamâ€41. Men Without Hats — “The Safety Danceâ€42. Rheostatics — “Claireâ€43. Lighthouse — “One Fine Morningâ€44. A Foot In Coldwater — “(Make Me Do) Anything You Wantâ€45. Corey Hart — “Sunglasses At Nightâ€46. Loverboy — “Working For The Weekendâ€47. Trooper — “Raise A Little Hellâ€48. Parachute Club — “Rise Upâ€49. Alannah Myles — “Black Velvetâ€50. Terry Jacks — “Seasons in the Sunâ€51. Malajube — “Montreal -40Câ€52. Neil Young — “Cinnamon Girlâ€53. Alanis Morissette — “You Oughta Knowâ€54. Feist — “1234â€55. Arcade Fire — “Rebellion (Lies)â€56. k.d. lang — “Constant Cravingâ€57. Neil Young — “Rockin' in the Free Worldâ€58. Michel Pagliaro — “Lovin' You Ain't Easyâ€59. Bruce Cockburn — “Lovers in a Dangerous Timeâ€60. Tragically Hip — “Bobcaygeonâ€61. Joni Mitchell — “A Case of You†/ “Californiaâ€62. The Demics — “New York Cityâ€63. Bryan Adams — “(Everything I Do) I Do It For Youâ€64. Tragically Hip — “Ahead by a Centuryâ€65. Blue Rodeo — “Five Days in Mayâ€66. Hank Snow — “I'm Moving Onâ€67. Harmonium — “Pour un instantâ€68. Steppenwolf — “Magic Carpet Rideâ€69. Sloan — “Money City Maniacsâ€70. Celine Dion — “My Heart Will Go Onâ€71. k-os — “Crabbuckitâ€72. The Kings —“This Beat Goes on/Switchin' to Glideâ€73. Neil Young — “Old Man†/ “Needle and the Damage Doneâ€74. Jean Leloup — “1990â€75. Payola$ — “Eyes of a Strangerâ€76. Blue Rodeo — “Hasn't Hit Me Yetâ€77. Bachman Turner Overdrive — “You Ain't Seen Nothing Yetâ€78. Bruce Cockburn — “Wondering Where the Lions Areâ€79. April Wine — “You Could Have Been a Ladyâ€80. Teenage Head — “Let's Shakeâ€/ “Somethin' On My Mindâ€81. Joni Mitchell — “Help Meâ€82. Trooper — “We're Here For A Good Timeâ€83. Lighthouse — “Sunny Daysâ€84. Jean-Pierre Ferland — “Le petit roiâ€85. Bryan Adams — “Cuts Like A Knifeâ€86. Stompin' Tom Connors — “The Hockey Songâ€87. Tragically Hip — “Wheat Kingsâ€88. Gilles Vigneault — “Mon paysâ€89. Spirit of The West — “Home For a Restâ€90. New Pornographers — “Letter from an Occupantâ€91. Guess Who — “No Timeâ€92. Mashmakhan — “As the Years Go Byâ€93. Neil Young — “Hey Hey My Myâ€94. Paul Anka — “Dianaâ€95. Daniel Lanois — “The Makerâ€96. The Spoons — “Nova Heartâ€97. Beau Dommage — “La complainte du phoque en Alaskaâ€98. Ron Sexsmith — “Secret Heartâ€99. Bryan Adams — “Run to Youâ€100. Wintersleep — “Weighty Ghost†Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
phishtaper Posted October 3, 2010 Report Share Posted October 3, 2010 pretty decent list. lots of good tunes. thanks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
afro poppa Posted October 3, 2010 Report Share Posted October 3, 2010 no arcadian driftwood??? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hal Johnson Posted October 4, 2010 Report Share Posted October 4, 2010 You have a problem with "Everything I do" being on the list, but no problem with "Life is a highway" cracking the top 20?!I hate most of those songs, to be honest. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hamilton Posted October 4, 2010 Report Share Posted October 4, 2010 no arcadian driftwood??? I don't think such a song exists. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StoneMtn Posted October 4, 2010 Report Share Posted October 4, 2010 New York City by The Demics is one of my favourite songs. I'm glad it still makes the list. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
YearsAlongTheSea Posted October 4, 2010 Report Share Posted October 4, 2010 Kind of weak that there are so many repeats of the different songs by the same artist... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
timouse Posted October 4, 2010 Report Share Posted October 4, 2010 any list that puts blue rodeo ahead of the band needs some sort of qualifier - maybe 100 great canadian singles in no particular order. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hartamophone Posted October 4, 2010 Report Share Posted October 4, 2010 any list that puts blue rodeo ahead of the band needs some sort of qualifier - maybe 100 great canadian singles in no particular order.Huh?1. The Guess Who — “American Womanâ€2. Neil Young — “Heart of Goldâ€3. The Band — “The Weightâ€4. Bryan Adams — “Summer of ’69â€5. Leonard Cohen — “Hallelujahâ€6. Steppenwolf — “Born to Be Wildâ€7. Gordon Lightfoot — “If You Could Read My Mindâ€8. Bachman Turner Overdrive — “Takin' Care of Businessâ€9. Ian and Sylvia — “Four Strong Windsâ€10. Anne Murray — “Snowbirdâ€11. Joni Mitchell — “Big Yellow Taxi†/ “Woodstockâ€12. Rush — “Tom Sawyerâ€13. Blue Rodeo — “Try†Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
afro poppa Posted October 4, 2010 Report Share Posted October 4, 2010 no arcadian driftwood??? I don't think such a song exists.?? thats what she said Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
phishtaper Posted October 4, 2010 Report Share Posted October 4, 2010 I hate most of those songs, to be honest.LOL. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DevO Posted October 4, 2010 Report Share Posted October 4, 2010 Any detail on the criteria used for this list? Hard to criticize anything on it without knowing what he means by "top"! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Davey Boy 2.0 Posted October 4, 2010 Report Share Posted October 4, 2010 what, no Avril Lavigne? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
timouse Posted October 4, 2010 Report Share Posted October 4, 2010 any list that puts blue rodeo ahead of the band needs some sort of qualifier - maybe 100 great canadian singles in no particular order.Huh?1. The Guess Who — “American Womanâ€2. Neil Young — “Heart of Goldâ€3. The Band — “The Weightâ€4. Bryan Adams — “Summer of ’69â€5. Leonard Cohen — “Hallelujahâ€6. Steppenwolf — “Born to Be Wildâ€7. Gordon Lightfoot — “If You Could Read My Mindâ€8. Bachman Turner Overdrive — “Takin' Care of Businessâ€9. Ian and Sylvia — “Four Strong Windsâ€10. Anne Murray — “Snowbirdâ€11. Joni Mitchell — “Big Yellow Taxi†/ “Woodstockâ€12. Rush — “Tom Sawyerâ€13. Blue Rodeo — “Tryâ€sorry' date=' should have been clearer. i was referring to [b']21. The Band — “Up on Cripple Creek†/ “The Night They Drove Old Dixie Downâ€as being more worthy of a higher ranking than 13. Blue Rodeo — “Tryâ€carry on. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jaimoe Posted October 4, 2010 Author Report Share Posted October 4, 2010 Any detail on the criteria used for this list? Hard to criticize anything on it without knowing what he means by "top"!Here's the original Toronto Star story, which includes criteria etc... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Northern Wish Posted October 4, 2010 Report Share Posted October 4, 2010 Did those two songs tie?That makes this list the top 101 Canuck singles of all time....Wintersleep makes it, but not the Rheostatics (Claire and Bad Time to be Poor both deserve mention here)?That makes this list a steaming pile of shit. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jaimoe Posted October 4, 2010 Author Report Share Posted October 4, 2010 Did those two songs tie?That makes this list the top 101 Canuck singles of all time....Wintersleep makes it, but not the Rheostatics (Claire and Bad Time to be Poor both deserve mention here)?That makes this list a steaming pile of shit.Were "Claire" and "Bad Time to Be Poor" released as official singles? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Northern Wish Posted October 4, 2010 Report Share Posted October 4, 2010 Yes they were:Claire was officially released in 1994 and hit the Top 40. It is still the top ranking single of their career. Funny enough despite the success of the single Sire Records still dropped them!"Bad Time to Be Poor", a protest song about life in Ontario during the government of Mike Harris, was the first single off of 'Blue Hysteria'- released in late 1996."In Bob Mersereau's 2007 book The Top 100 Canadian Albums, Whale Music ranked nineteenth and Melville was ranked 38th."So Bob likes Rheos music, but not their singles apparently..... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
edger Posted October 4, 2010 Report Share Posted October 4, 2010 Check out #42 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Northern Wish Posted October 4, 2010 Report Share Posted October 4, 2010 OMFG- ha ha ha ha. Ctrl F failed me on that one.....Paging Booche. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
phorbesie Posted October 4, 2010 Report Share Posted October 4, 2010 why are there 2 songs by the same artist listed in one ranking at times? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Northern Wish Posted October 4, 2010 Report Share Posted October 4, 2010 That makes this list the top 104 Canuck singles of all time.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Freak By Night Posted October 4, 2010 Report Share Posted October 4, 2010 why are there 2 songs by the same artist listed in one ranking at times?I can answer that! Back in the day, singles were released on a 45 rpm 7-inch record. The song considered the single was on the "A" side of the record. Typically, another song from the LP was cut onto the "B" side of the record. Sometimes, the "B" side song became as popular or even more popular than the single. Since both songs contributed to the sales figures of the single, both songs are listed as the single. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
phorbesie Posted October 4, 2010 Report Share Posted October 4, 2010 thanks! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Northern Wish Posted October 4, 2010 Report Share Posted October 4, 2010 Yes, thanks that was news to me too...... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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