The best Canadian single ever.
I love Top Ten lists, and Top One Hundred lists are even better.
This list is pretty good, but I have edited it, because – well – I know better. The numbers you see refer to are Bob Mesereau’s original ranking. The ones that are absolutely brilliant picks, in my opinion, are 1, 5, 23, 32 (yay, Moe!), 36, 55, 62 (in particular), 80 and 90. Putting The Demics on there is a stroke of genius, but it should’ve been number one, of course. (Here it is, if you want to hear it again, which you do.) Missing: DOA (“Disco Sucks”), Young Canadians (“Hawaii”), Modernettes (“Barbara”), Viletones (“Possibilities”), the Forgotten Rebels (“Surfin’ On Heroin”), and – if you ask my daughter – maybe even these teenage jerks.
On the stinker list, anything by Bryan Adams, Bruce Cockburn or Celine Dion is a source of enduring national shame. We should revoke their citizenship. Better yet, throw them in Millhaven.
Anyway. The ones where I agree with their inclusion – that is, The Good List – although not always their ranking:
1. The Guess Who — “American Woman”
2. Neil Young — “Heart of Gold”
3. The Band — “The Weight”
5. Leonard Cohen — “Hallelujah”
6. Steppenwolf — “Born to Be Wild”
7. Gordon Lightfoot — “If You Could Read My Mind”
8. Bachman Turner Overdrive — “Takin’ Care of Business”
9. Ian and Sylvia — “Four Strong Winds”
11. Joni Mitchell — “Big Yellow Taxi” / “Woodstock”
12. Rush — “Tom Sawyer”
13. Blue Rodeo — “Try”
14. Tragically Hip — “New Orleans is Sinking”
15. Gordon Lightfoot — “The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald”
16. Leonard Cohen — “Suzanne”
18. The Guess Who — “These Eyes”
19. Gordon Lightfoot — “Sundown”
20. Sloan — “Underwhelmed”
21. The Band — “Up on Cripple Creek” / “The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down”
22. Maestro Fresh Wes — “Let Your Backbone Slide”
23. The Diodes — “Tired of Waking Up Tired”
25. Rush — “The Spirit of Radio”
26. Rough Trade — “High School Confidential”
27. Martha and the Muffins — “Echo Beach”
28. Stampeders — “Sweet City Woman”
29. Arcade Fire — “Wake Up”
32. The Pursuit Of Happiness — “I’m an Adult Now”
33. Ugly Ducklings — “Nothin’ “
34. Sloan — “Coax Me”
35. Rush — “Closer to the Heart”
36. Teenage Head — “Picture My Face”
37. Guess Who — “Shakin’ All Over”
38. Five Man Electrical Band — “Signs”
39. Blue Rodeo — “Lost Together”
50. Terry Jacks — “Seasons in the Sun”
52. Neil Young — “Cinnamon Girl”
53. Alanis Morissette — “You Oughta Know”
54. Feist — “1234”
55. Arcade Fire — “Rebellion (Lies)”
56. k.d. lang — “Constant Craving”
57. Neil Young — “Rockin’ in the Free World”
60. Tragically Hip — “Bobcaygeon”
62. The Demics — “New York City”
64. Tragically Hip — “Ahead by a Century”
65. Blue Rodeo — “Five Days in May”
66. Hank Snow — “I’m Moving On”
72. The Kings —“This Beat Goes on/Switchin’ to Glide”
73. Neil Young — “Old Man” / “Needle and the Damage Done”
80. Teenage Head — “Let’s Shake”/ “Somethin’ On My Mind”
86. Stompin’ Tom Connors — “The Hockey Song”
87. Tragically Hip — “Wheat Kings”
90. New Pornographers — “Letter from an Occupant”
91. Guess Who — “No Time”
93. Neil Young — “Hey Hey My My”
94. Paul Anka — “Diana”
95. Daniel Lanois — “The Maker”
96. The Spoons — “Nova Heart”
The Stinker List, the things that make us ashamed that these people are in some way Canadian and/or only got airplay because of CanCon, and we don’t know who they are and don’t really care to:
4. Bryan Adams — “Summer of ’69”
10. Anne Murray — “Snowbird”
17. Tom Cochrane — “Life is a Highway”
25. Crowbar — “Oh What a Feeling”
30. Barenaked Ladies — “If I Had $1,000,000”
31. Robert Charlebois — “Lindberg”
40. Ron Hynes — “Sonny’s Dream”
41. Men Without Hats — “The Safety Dance”
42. Rheostatics — “Claire”
43. Lighthouse — “One Fine Morning”
44. A Foot In Coldwater — “(Make Me Do) Anything You Want”
45. Corey Hart — “Sunglasses At Night”
46. Loverboy — “Working For The Weekend”
47. Trooper — “Raise A Little Hell”
48. Parachute Club — “Rise Up”
49. Alannah Myles — “Black Velvet”
51. Malajube — “Montreal -40C”
58. Michel Pagliaro — “Lovin’ You Ain’t Easy”
59. Bruce Cockburn — “Lovers in a Dangerous Time”
61. Joni Mitchell — “A Case of You” / “California”
63. Bryan Adams — “(Everything I Do) I Do It For You”
67. Harmonium — “Pour un instant”
70. Celine Dion — “My Heart Will Go On”
71. k-os — “Crabbuckit”
74. Jean Leloup — “1990”
78. Bruce Cockburn — “Wondering Where the Lions Are”
79. April Wine — “You Could Have Been a Lady”
81. Joni Mitchell — “Help Me”
82. Trooper — “We’re Here For A Good Time”
83. Lighthouse — “Sunny Days”
84. Jean-Pierre Ferland — “Le petit roi”
85. Bryan Adams — “Cuts Like A Knife”
88. Gilles Vigneault — “Mon pays”
89. Spirit of The West — “Home For a Rest”
92. Mashmakhan — “As the Years Go By”
97. Beau Dommage — “La complainte du phoque en Alaska”
98. Ron Sexsmith — “Secret Heart”
99. Bryan Adams — “Run to You”
100. Wintersleep — “Weighty Ghost”
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