Driving home from the club this morning, I had on either JackFM or the local oldies station on the radio and I heard the song "Sweet City Woman". OMG! I don't think I had heard that song in over 20 years. I don't understand why not - I mean how many great songs prominently feature the banjo? I belted it out and was wracking my brain trying to remember who sang it. I decided it must have been a Canadian band since I had not heard it in recent memory (I've lived in the States nearly 15 years). When I got home I looked it up and found out that it was indeed a Canadian band - The Stampeders. And that automatically made me think of one of their other "famous" songs - Ramona since it is also the name of my bff. Anyway, I had a blast watching videos of them singing their songs on YouTube. And if you are so inclined, here is "Sweet City Woman" and "Ramona". BTW, The Stampeders also sang "Hit the Road Jack", "Carry Me" and "Wild Eyes". Surely one of those songs must have been a hit in the States.

One of the things is that Canada has "Canadian Content Rules" for radio (and TV). I forget the exact percentage but it is something like 50% of all music played had to be "Canadian Content". As a result, we heard the same songs over and over again. And Canadian bands are sometimes HUGE in Canada and barely known outside of the country. An example of this was back in the early 90's the Barenaked Ladies were so popular in Canada. On tour they were selling out entire stadiums. However, in 1995 they were touring the States and we had tickets to see them at the Minnesota Zoo. A venue that maybe holds maybe 800 people. That day there were about 300 people there but the concert was called due to a tornado! We did get a chance to chat with Ed Robertson as he noticed us holding signs that said "I went to your high school" (I did but graduated the year before he and Steven Page started).

Stephen went to a conference once in Nashville and he found out one night that Blue Rodeo was playing at a local club. He convinced everyone that they had to get their early

Here are some hits by other Canadian bands/singers. Do you recognize any of them?

Chilliwack: My Girl
Anne Murray: You Needed Me
Barenaked Ladies: If I Had a $1000000
Triumph: When the Lights Go Down
Rush: Tom Sawyer
Max Webster: Paradise Skies
Rough Trade: High School Confidential
Teenage Head: Some Kinda Fun
Kim Mitchell: All We Are
Alannah Miles: Black Velvet
kd lang: Constant Craving
Leonard Cohen: First We Take Manhattan
Blue Rodeo: Til I Am Myself Again
The Pursuit of Happiness: I'm an Adult Now
Tragically Hip: Courage
The Guess Who: American Woman
Burton Cummings: Break It To Them Gently
Dan Hill: Sometimes When We Touch
Trooper: Raise A Little Hell
Bryan Adams: Run to You
April Wine: Just Between You and Me
Sweeney Todd: Roxy Roller
Celine Dion: Where Does My Heart Beat Now
Sheriff: When I'm With You


Ok, I guess I could go on and on. I just had a fun um, hour and half looking up songs on YouTube.