“Can Con” is a Canadian system of quotas that require radio stations to set aside a percent of airtime towards playing Canadian-created music. If you want to go down the rabbit hole of what qualifies as Can Con, here is a great Can Con writeup from the Frontside Group.(archive link)
Because of this system, you sometimes get exposed to some unexpected acts here in Canada. Musicians that never made it big globally.
CanCon Gems
These are songs that I like. In many cases, I’m surprised that these artists aren’t better known around the world.
Banger of a tune about wave babies (who doesn’t like a good wave baby amirite? you don’t know what a wave baby is?! pffft I’m not going to explain it to you. I totally know what it is.) Check out their whole eponymous album. These songs are still played quite frequently on the radio. Notable mention: the track “New Girl Now” that has the most Canadian stick-the-knife-in-and-twist-it breakup refrain: “I got a new girl now…. And she’s a lot like you.”
If it sounds like a budget Madonna, then it’s… CanCon!
Keep in mind that by the time this track came out, Madonna had already put out 3 Albums.
Candi has another Madonna-like song worth checking out called Under Your Spell. And I totally like this music ironically. It’s not like I would watch an interview of how they made the Latin Moon song and what happened afterwards.
I discovered Martha and the Muffins through this gem of a series from the 1980s profiling Toronto’s neighbourhoods:
I’m sure that Gino Vanelli’s Black Cars inspired the goth band shares a lot of the same inspirations as Sisters of Mercy track Walk Away. (I’m not so sure they were inspired by one another. Walk Away came out in Oct. 1984, Black Cars in Nov. 1984. That’s not enough time for one to influence the other.) Listen for the vocal similarities:
I hate to admit, though… this song has been stuck in my head for months!
I think I might actually love it.
They sound like a budget New Order, the name of the band is very on-the-nose, and “I beg your pardon” must be the most Canadian song title (prior to Justin Bieber’s “Sorry”) – what’s not to love?
That “Move to Move” album cover reminds me of the album art that the artist Haircuts for Men uses:
CanCon Stinkers
These are songs that are quite pungent:
Triumph – Somebody’s Out There was the ultimate nothingburger of a song when I heard it. I heard “pop music” described as music with lyrics that are so non-specific that they apply to a very broad array of people and situations. Somebody’s Out There is as vague as it gets, with a chorus like this:
Somebody's out there, somewhere Waiting for someone to come their way Somebody's out there, somewhere I will somehow be somebody's someone Some day
I’d like to think that, to write this song, Trooper really got into the role of an old suburban lady – to get this outraged about how suspicious it is that a bunch of blue-collar friends are suddenly driving a new sports car.
Modern Gems
And now, for some good Canadian musicians from more recent decades. As time passes, the policy of “Can Con” is losing it’s power (are you going to force Youtube to play a certain percentage of Canadian music to Canadians?). The result is that Canadian musicians are getting better – they must compete globally on the merits of their music.
Hayley Stewart is a real synthwave heavyweight – I feel proud that we have musicians like her in Toronto. If you’re willing to dip your toes into something stranger, with a long buildup, then click here.
Fantastic Toronto goth band. They remind me of the joke about the True Miracle of Jesus: how he kept a group of 12 close friends into his 30s. This prolific 6-member band has been together for 25 years at this point.
