Happy Canada (or Dominion) Day to all my friends north of the 49th parallel

[thatcrazycajun]

Since blueeyedtigress has posted a delightful music video to celebrate today being Canada's equivalent of our own Independence Day (which is this Saturday), I thought I'd toss in my own favorite Canadian anthem (by The Arrogant Worms) as a tribute to the surprisingly large number of people on my friends list who were born and/or reside in the nation with which we share the world's longest undefended border. (You do need a passport to get across now where you didn't before, but nobody's talking about building a wall or armed defenses along it like they are about the other border down south.) Since I can never remember all the folks on my massive list who are Canucks, howzabout y'all give me a shout here? And a very happy national day to the lot of you. (Personally, I don't think you need to apologize for Céline Dion at all, but then we all know my musical taste is hopelessly sentimental and skewed towards the ladies.)

And for the rest of you: Who are your favorite Canadians, famous or not? My list would have to include Ms. Dion, plus Dan Ackroyd and all the folks from SCTV, William Shatner, the ladies of Urban Tapestry, the late Peter Jennings, Gordon Lightfoot and Stan Rogers, plus the thankfully-still-with-us Anne Murray and the Worms, two or three of the Kids in the Hall, all the men of Great Big Sea and Alanis Morrisette, at the very least.

Comments

[technoshaman.livejournal.com]

GREAT BIG SEA!!!!

hsifyppah!

Rush!

Capt. Roy Brown, RCAF, the man who finally got Richtofen

Robert Goulet

Carrie-Anne Moss

Christopher Plummer (!) (Thought he was Brit? nooo. Toronto.)

Jay Silverheels (!)

Jewel Saite

And who could forget?

Bob and Doug Mackenzie :)

Good day, eh? :)

[acelightning.livejournal.com]

[banjoplayinnerd.livejournal.com]

Gives a whole new meaning to "O Canada!!"

[hitchhiker.livejournal.com]

i came here to say "GREAT BIG SEA" in all caps too :) also, robertson davies was canadian, wasn't he?

"Walk him along, John, carry him along..."

[thatcrazycajun.livejournal.com]

Can't believe I forgot those rowdy Newfies in GBS; thanks for the reminder. I've been to see them live at least once, at a folk festival on Long Island some years back, on a bill with Da Vinci's Notebook and Rockapella.

Re: "Walk him along, John, carry him along..."

[hitchhiker.livejournal.com]

i managed to see them live once too - they came to san francisco just when i was there, and mactavish snagged me a ticket. amazing stage presence.

[banjoplayinnerd.livejournal.com]

Oh now that would have been some concert! But sadly, a continent away from wherever I might have been at the time.

[banjoplayinnerd.livejournal.com]

When I first read your post it took me a moment to catch on that the "RCAF" you were talking about wasn't the Royal Canadian Air Farce.

[acelightning.livejournal.com]

[happyfunpaul.livejournal.com]

Just mentioning musical groups (and repeating some mentioned by others):
Barenaked Ladies, Arrogant Worms, Moxy Früvous, Urban Tapestry, Captain Tractor, The Splendour Bog, Spirit of the West, Three Dead Trolls in a Baggie, Crash Test Dummies

- Paul, not Canadian but a frequent visitor from SE Michigan 1991-1999

[jodimuse.livejournal.com]

Wow! Such august company! Thanks, Matt (and Paul!). :) And thanks for the Canada Day wishes, too! Muchly appreciated. I hope you all have a wonderful July 4th weekend planned!

[banjoplayinnerd.livejournal.com]

Actually, you can get across the border by land or sea without a passport if your state is enlightened enough to have something called an "enhanced driver's license" (or enhanced ID in my case) that performs the same function as a passport for going to Canada and a few other nearby placs. OK, it's still a bunch of security theater and not quite like just showing your driver's license like we used to be able to do, but . . .

I forgot what the point of this post was, except to join you in wishing my Canadian friends a happy Canada Day.

As for Canadian entertainers, some of my personal favorites: Moxy Fruvous, The Frantics, Lorne Elliot, Stephen Leacock, his spiritual successor Stuart McLean, Ian & Sylvia, Rufus Wainwright and the various members of the Guess Who and BTO. (By the way, Randy Bachman does a great retrospective show about the music scene for CBC radio called Vinyl Tap.) Oh, and of course Brooke Lunderville and the lamentably late John Caspell (their CD is out now on CD Baby), and all my other filker friends from the Vancouver and Toronto areas. You know who you are. :)

[thatcrazycajun.livejournal.com]

>>all my other filker friends from the Vancouver and Toronto areas. You know who you are. :)<<

Maybe, but *I* don't know who they are! Tell me, tell me!

And you can't mention Rufus Wainwright without also mentioning his daddy Loudon III, of "Dead Skunk" and "IWAWAL" fame. But thanks for adding to my list of cool Canuck bands. :-)

[banjoplayinnerd.livejournal.com]

My pleasure. There are doubtless others I forgot that I should have included. In fact a few years ago in honor (or, in this case honour) of Canada Day Dr. Demento devoted his entire show to novelty acts from Canada. Some were well known like the Frantics and the Arrogant Worms, some not quite so much (how many non-Dementia fans know Radio Free Vestibule?).

And yeah, thanks for pointing out Loudon Wainwright III. He had an occasional gig as a bit player in the TV version of M*A*S*H singing some of his songs.

As for Canadian filker friends, I was hesitant to name a bunch of people for fear I'd leave some out. But shaddyr, pondside and her lovely husband, u_must_b_joking, janeg and philip2637 come immediately to mind from my flist.

[dan-ad-nauseam.livejournal.com]

And yeah, thanks for pointing out Loudon Wainwright III. He had an occasional gig as a bit player in the TV version of M*A*S*H singing some of his songs.

Except that he's American. Born in North Carolina, raised in New York.

James Keelaghan deserves a mention.

[banjoplayinnerd.livejournal.com]

Raised in several places, actually, including Southern California and a boarding school that later became the star of Dead Poets Society. But you are right, Kate McGarrigle is the parent Rufus and sister Martha inherited their Canadianness from.

[dan-ad-nauseam.livejournal.com]

And I just realized we missed Bruce Cockburn.

[banjoplayinnerd.livejournal.com]

And damn, how could we all have forgotten Leonard Cohen!!??

If you're interested in Canadiana I can point you in the direction of Stuart McLean's show The Vinyl Cafe. You might think it would take its name from the various musical acts he showcases, in genres as diverse as traditional folk, singer-songwriter and jazz, but all very Canadian. (Vinyl Cafe was the first place I heard of Rufus Wainwright, about a year before he started doing songs for movies like Shrek.) But no, McLean is a storyteller, and most of his stories revolve around Dave, his wife Morley, their two kids, and the various goings-on in Dave's life. Dave owns The Vinyl Cafe, Canada's smallest record store (his motto: "We May Not Be Big, But We're Small") and he or someone around him is constantly getting into odd and highly amusing situations. ("Dave Carves The Turkey" is something of a holiday classic in Canada.) It's sort of a Canadian Prairie Home Companion.

[archiver-tim.livejournal.com]

What would Canadian music be without Rosalie Trombly?

Now we'll see if your Foogle-gu can catch up to what I said.

[ericavdg.livejournal.com]

All these comments and no one has mentioned Stan Rogers! I can't I'm the first to think of him.

[ericavdg.livejournal.com]

I am an idiot. The comment posted and there he was in the original post. That'll teach me to scan instead of read!

[janeg.livejournal.com]

Great lists! Gordon Lightfoot remains my first and favourite, but I second the nominations of Great Big Sea, Arrogant Worms, Stan Rogers, Joni Mitchell, Leonard Cohen, Crash Test Dummies, Rush, etc. - and of course Urban Tapestry!

Left out so far: Heather Dale, David Francey, Tanglefoot, Eileen McGann, John Wort Hammon (yes, I know that I seem to be his only fan among filkers but I like him!), Mike Ford, Tragically Hip and many, many more Canadian filkers - those not mentioned so far but on Matt's list include Dave Clement, Judith Hayman, Heather Borean, Tom Jeffers, Graham Leathers (yes, we still claim him).

I'll remember more as soon as I hit Post.

[banjoplayinnerd.livejournal.com]

+1 Mike Ford -- he does an awesome Canadian version of "I've Been Everywhere."