January 16th, 2004

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Media
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Can Con Can’t

Craptastic brings us the excellent Can Con Hall of Shame:

Here are some “artistes” that benifited from having a Canadian passport and little else. I’m tempted to give everyone on this page off the scale ratings but I’ve tried to assess their lack of talent honestly so some rankings might seem a little generous.

It’s hard to argue with most of this list. I’d say the Barenaked Ladies shouldn’t count, only because they’ve enjoyed considerable success in the States, where, obviously, the laws of Canadian Content don’t apply. He’s dead-right about many artists–one-dimensional Northern Pikes (though I used to like them, and played ‘She Ain’t Pretty’ in a high school), Alannah Myles (though I had a crush on her–loved that ‘Black Velvet’ video’), and Gowan (I never liked him)–but others deserve better. The Grapes of Wrath and the Crash Test Dummies had redeeming features, and I still really like Spirtit of the West.

Still, the whole list was a trip down the 80s Can Con memory lane. Where are Sue Medley and Bootsauce these days?

Hmmm…this guy’s lost all credibility. While briefly surfing around his site, I found this page, where he actually defends Rush. Rush, of course, is indefensable.

Comments: 7 Responses so far

alan
January 16th, 2004
10:42 am

lol! what a hilarious and complete list! I object to Luba and Tu, though. They rocked my world! Men Without Hats were Canadian?? Why did I always peg them as British?

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Kyle
January 16th, 2004
10:45 am

If by indefensible you mean not in need of defending, I agree.

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Darren
January 16th, 2004
12:14 pm

Hah…actually, that should be ‘indefensable’, which I fixed. Yeah, I figured I’d catch some flak for my anti-Rush sentiment. I imagine there’s a big convergence between Rush fans and heavily-online-people.

I recognize that Neil Peart is a very talented drummer, but I could never get past Geddy Lee’s voice and their lyrics, which seemed either intentionally obtuse or overly cloying. An example of the latter:

You can be the captain
I will draw the chart
Sailing into destiny
Closer to the heart

Because of Canadian content rules, I’m more familiar than I want to be with the Rush oeuvre.

But, each to his or her own. If they weren’t played on radio stations where I like most of the other content, I wouldn’t be complaining at all.

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Rob
January 16th, 2004
1:05 pm

Gowan. You’re a Strange Animal.

Come on!! That song ROCKS!! As does Criminal Mind. The sad thing here is that I truly like those songs. Call me what you want.

I also thought Men Without Hats were from Europe somewhere. Sweden was actually my guess.

Nice list… I miss a lot of those folks… sniff.

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Anonymous
January 16th, 2004
1:28 pm

flipping through radio stations and accidentally hearing Rush is like that high pitched scrape of fork against plate …. makes me cringe, makes my hair stand on end, and for a split second I’m torn between smashing the radio or bashing my own brain in to make it stop!

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Rog
January 17th, 2004
4:40 am

Rush, like many bands which have lasted longer than redarned socks, have both good and bad songs, good and bad albums. I’m a fan regardless because as a stadium filling band they still put on a great show. That and nothing is quite as good loud in a small vehicle like 2112.

And whoa, yes Men Without Hats are Canadian. How can you confuse a band that oft sang in french with being British?

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Rog
January 17th, 2004
4:54 am

Okay I just have to comment twice, because that list is just too subjective and lacks ground in anything like record sales/contracts/etc.. You already pointed out that the Bare Naked Ladies are plenty successful south of the border, here are a few others on that list:

NickelBack. Though I last saw them when they played at the HMV downtown, are downright enormous in the U.S. due to tracks on movie soundtracks. I still think they’re a pothead copycat band, but hey.

Aldo Nova. Though his solo career stopped in the 80’s is a talented session musician who records with Bon Jovi (ugh, I’m not a fan there tho) for example.

Terry David Mulligan (also not a fan) is the voice for a bunch of “classic rockumentary” shows in sindication across the U.S.. It’s kind of disturbing to be in L.A. and hear his voice on the radio.

And the funny part is the real Can Con bands that have no success elsewhere? Some of them I absolutely adore. Cub? Oh c’mon, who wants to pick on Cub? They’re pals with The Smugglers. Do you seriously want Nardwar pissed off at you? =)

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