August 1989 in Canada. The Canadian equivalent of CNN, CBC Newsworld, has been up and running for a month. And it hasn't exactly been a boom time for major domestic news stories, so maybe they could have looked at, I don't know, the pop chart. Well, that's what I'm going to do at least.
Bonus Track #1: 65 - "America is Sexy," Paul Hyde (CanCon!)
After splitting from Payola$/Rock and Hyde partner Bob Rock, Hyde put out a solo record which produced this Top 30 hit. Basically, it's a big-beated dance rocker with a lyrical theme similar to the Guess Who's "American Woman:" comparing our southern neighbours to a human female in order to articulate our love/hate relationship with them. It's up there with the best of his previous bands.
Bonus Track #2: 62 - "A Friend is a Friend," Pete Townshend
This soft-rocker about the importance of having close compadres was from The Iron Man, a concept album based on the Ted Hughes story that would later inspire the animated movie The Iron Giant. The album contains contributions from not only Townshend's bandmate Roger Daltrey, but also Nina Simone and John Lee Hooker. Alas, this track is pretty much all Pete, so while it has its charm, it's just a dime-a-dozen positivity anthem.
Bonus Track #3: 52 - "Closer to Fine," Indigo Girls
Atlantans Amy Ray and Emily Sailers were signed in the wake of the success of folk-leaning artists such as Tracy Chapman and 10,000 Maniacs, and their first major-label single fell just short of the Top 50 on both sides of the border. It's a sprightly folk number about looking for meaning in alcohol, philosophy, and the companionship of others, but finally concluding that the less desperately you seek definitive answers, the more you find the clarity you're searching for. With backup from Irish band Hothouse Flowers, this is as a joyful, anthemic singalong that helped launch them on a career that has seen little mainstream radio success but steady sales and a devoted fan base.
50 - "Let the Day Begin," The Call
This band from Santa Cruz, California, floated around major labels and rock radio for much of the 80s, and scored the closest thing they would get to a pop hit with this bar-band chugger that pays tribute to the triumphs and tragedies of people from all walks of life. There are moments when it sounds like it was written for a coffee commercial, but the sincerity of the performance keeps it grounded enough not to leave a bitter aftertaste.
49 - "Can't Live With You, Can't Live Without You," Billy Newton-Davis and Celine Dion (CanCon!)
Cleveland-born R&B singer Newton-Davis moved up north in 1980, and soon became one of the leading lights of the country's soul scene. His biggest radio success came with this track, on which he duetted with a young singer from Quebec making her English-language recording debut. It's a basic MOR power ballad of the time, and Newton-Davis holds his own with the future superstar, whose powerhouse pipes were on display even then. A highlight of one career, a little-remembered footnote of another.
41 - "Missing You," Candi (CanCon!)
Ms. Pennella and band had their third hit with this bit of cookie-cutter teen pop. You aren't missing anything if you don't know this.
36 - "How Long," Blue Rodeo (CanCon!)
The Toronto country-rockers fourth hit was this song that seems to be about someone who once had a lot of power but can't understand how they lost it. I think that's it. One of the clutch of middling-for-them-but-outstanding-for-anyone-else hits that I would present to make the case that they should have become international stars.
34 - "Stranger than Paradise," Sass Jordan (CanCon!)
The British-born Montrealer had her third hit with this breakup ballad. At this point, she was the better, Canadian version of Taylor Dayne. She would later evolve into our almost-as-good version of Melissa Etheridge. She did good stuff in both incarnations.
33 - "Boy with a Beat," Trooper (CanCon!)
The Vancouver veterans picked up their first hit in almost a decade with this tune about a poor stutterer who still manages to be a chick magnet. Their sound didn't change much, but it's more comforting than stale, and it's fun to imagine the guy they're describing fitting into one of their older hits, He could have easily been one of the Boys in the Bright White Sportscars, he would definitely be in the sights of Threes Dressed Up as Nines, and he would almost certainly be up to Raising a Little Hell.
32 - "Trouble Me," 10,000 Maniacs
This single from the Jamestown, New York folk-pop outfit fell just shore of the Top 40 at home, but became their first such hit just across the border. It's a warm, welcoming offer of unconditional solace, written for singer Natalie Merchant's then-hospitalized father. Genuinely moving, and one of the reasons Merchant is on my list of "phone book singers."
24 - "Waterline," Paradox (CanCon!)
The first and biggest hit for this Quebec band was this new wavish wish for peace and love. Okay, but plenty of bands did this type of thing much better much earlier.
23 - "Jackie Brown," John Mellencamp
The Indianan's final hit of this decade was this countryish portrait of American poverty. It's evocative and suitably downbeat, but I can understand how the public wasn't as receptive to the overtly angry music he was making at this time, such as this and previous single "Pop Singer," as they were to some of the more subtly critical material he had released earlier.
21 - "Black Velvet," Alannah Myles (CanCon!)
Several months before it did a #1-#2 punch on the U.S. and U.K. charts, thRobie second domestic single from the Torontonian born Alannah Byles snuck into the Top Ten here. It's a sultry, midtempo ode to the young Elvis Presley, and Myles' sultry purr conveys the mix of admiration and lust he inspired in his female fans perfectly. Too popular overseas to qualify as a Certified CanCon Classic, but it is unquestionably a product of that system (entirely created in Canada by Canadians), and thus I dub it a Commendable CanCon Conqueror.
19 - "All the Things I Wasn't," The Grapes of Wrath (CanCon!)
The first hit for this group out of Kelowna, B.C. was this acoustic autopsy of a dead relationship. Gorgeously sad. The kind of song that you're pretty sure could have been really big if it had only been discovered by a filmmaker or TV producer and used in a memorable scene. Maybe if Lisa Loeb hadn't been living next door to Ethan Hawke while he was making Reality Bites, this could have been the big ballad from that soundtrack.
12 - "Hard Sun," Indio (CanCon!)
Hamilton native Gordon Peterson flashed in and out of the music scene, recording one major-label LP and then disappearing from the industry. But his one hit single was this majestic folk-rocker about love and spirituality and loss and anything else you can take from the lyric. While it missed the Hot 100 in the States, it was a substantial rock and alternative radio hit there, and was well-known enough for Sean Penn to ask Eddie Vedder to record a pretty-much identical cover for his 2009 directorial effort Into the Wild. Apparently, Peterson took this as a mixed blessing, for while it helped secure a reissue of his album, he also was sufficiently unhappy with a lyric Vedder changed that he sued. This just adds to the enigma of this uniquely striking song.
You don't need a Sharpie to draw these songs into the path of the Top Ten.
10 - "Hangin' Tough," New Kids on the Block
The non-threatening Boston boys try to tell the world how threatening they are. The U's bought it to the point of making it #1. But us cynical hardcases up here held it to #6. Their funky song did not put us in a trance.
9 - "Rock n' Roll Duty," Kim Mitchell (CanCon!)
The first Top Ten for the former Max Webster frontman was this rock tune about how much he loves playing and tour. It's too slick for me. It doesn't have the goofy sincerity of "Go for Soda" or the wistful honesty of "Patio Lanterns."
8 - "Don't Wanna Lose You," Gloria Estefan
This pretty ballad was the first without Miami Sound Machine getting billed. #1 at home, #3 here, #6 in Britain. If you have to hear a doctor's office love song, there are many worse options.
7 - "Toy Soldiers," Martika
Yet another American #1 that we didn't put that high. But two Top Fives to go with the #1 seems pretty acceptable for the Califorinan's ballad about a friend's cocaine addiction. Another case of a serious message effectively wrapped in catchy pop.
6 - "On Our Own," Bobby Brown
The ex-New Editioner's Ghostbusters II theme did a Ramones-style #2-#3-#4 on the charts. Naturally, we were the 3. Always right down the middle, we are.
5 - "Cold Hearted," Paula Abdul
Paula's third home #1 was held to #2 here. But at least we didn't relegate it to #46 like those mean Brits. That was pretty harsh. I think this was her best hit. It's poppy, but there's enough of an edge to make it not as sugary as some of her other stuff.
4 - "The End of the Innocence," Don Henley
Don's putdown of the Reagan administration was a Top Five here, but only got to #8 in the States. Ollie North was featured in the video. He failed to succeed in unintentionally bringing down Ronnie back then, but he may have helped unintentionally bring down the National Rifle Association three decades later. He may win my cold heart yet.
3 - "Batdance," Prince
This time it was the Brits who denied Mr. Nelson's crazed pastiche of Batman dialogue and snatches of songs he wrote for the film a Triple Crown. If they hadn't held out, it may have been a contender to be the all-time Uneasy Rider among Triple Crown winners. It's still hard to believe that this mishmash, as intriguing as it may be, was such a success.
2 - "So Alive," Love and Rockets
This slinky dance-rocker from three ex-members of British goth legends Bauhaus topped our chart, got to #3 here, and...#79 in the U.K. No love for them at home, and certainly no rockets. These three couldn't succeed over there singing about feeling alive, nor could they do so with a song about Bela Lugosi being dead. I guess the midpoint between those extremes is covering a song done by Bowie in an alien persona, because that's what they had their biggest hit with at home. Huh.
1 - "Right Here Waiting," Richard Marx
Blechhh. Terrible mush. Britain's denying it the Crown, even by just once place, is downright heroic. This is what comes to mind when I think of the horrors of Marxism.
It's Britain again next time. Come along with me then.
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