5 people argue which decade of the Junos produced the best music
The JUNO Awards has been an institution in Canadian music for 50 years. Over that time, Canadian artists have made their mark around the world, while musicians from elsewhere have stolen our Canuck hearts and influenced music here at home.
Given the multitude of musical memorable moments over the past five decades, it might be hard to pick a best 10 years in that span.
These folks think otherwise; they say there is an answer. We asked five Saskatchewan music buffs which decade they think produced the best artists and songs, locally and abroad.
We also asked our debaters to submit three of their favourite songs from their chosen decade. So, read and rock on!
Jump to the:
1970s: Lightning in a box
By Vesti Hanson
The 1970s in Canadian music is when the training wheels came off. It was the most inventive and exciting decade for homegrown talent.
The first year of the decade saw Winnipeg's Guess Who galvanize the White House lawn with their good teeth, massive sideburns and genial virtuosity. "I don't need your war machines; I don't need your ghetto scenes." That was only the beginning.
In 1971, CRTC Chairman Pierre Juneau (yes, the guy the JUNO Awards are named after) brought the single most influential tablet down from Capital Hill and declared the Canadian content guidelines for broadcast across the nation. The result was a bumper crop of state of the art studios to accommodate the quality of recordings needed for broadcast. Now, on any commercial radio station, we were mainlining our musical culture and it sounded lush and spectacular.
From Glenn Gould to Crowbar, from Joni Mitchell to Rush, our diet became diverse and stimulating. It was lightning in a box, and that box was connected to every home and every car in the country. And with cheap gas and infinite miles of back dirt roads we were all plugged in.
An A-list circuit of clubs across the country presented these Canadian heroes. It wasn't the stadium show that would become the threshold needed for touring, nor the videos that would dictate the imagination; it was all about the music.
Vesti Hanson is perhaps best known as the captain of the popular juggernaut 10-piece R&B band The VeXations. Other career highlights include a stint at the National Arts Centre with Jim Guedo's Songs of a Prairie Girl and being the only Saskatoon singer to front a back three at Buds on Broadway and also perform as a soloist with the Saskatoon Symphony Orchestra. She lives for a blistering horn line and gigging at the Bassment.
1980s: Eclectic
By Samantha Taylor
"This is a throw down, a showdown, hell no, I can't slow down."
Has there ever been a more eclectic decade in Canadian music than the 1980s? From the opening snare hit that instantly calls out to you from "Summer of 69" to the godfather of Canadian rap, Maestro Fresh Wes (who wrote those lyrics you just read), the '80s had it all. It was a time when a little known girl from Quebec, Celine Dion, was just breaking onto the scene and the road warriors, The Tragically Hip, were taking off.
It was an era when weird mood music or songs with a conscience became known as 'alternative' or 'indie' (Jane Siberry, Cowboy Junkies, Bruce Cockburn and Grapes of Wrath) and there was a rise in girl power (Alannah Myles, Luba, Carole Pope, Lee Aaron).
The '80s were an age of great creativity, too, and it consisted of real bands, with people who could actually sing and play; autotune didn't exist. Men weren't afraid to sing and give it their all, especially when it came to their hair (Loverboy, Chilliwack, Platinum Blonde, Glass Tiger).
In the '80s, there was room for everyone from the quirky (Kim Mitchell, Doug and the Slugs, Men Without Hats), the blues (Colin James, Jeff Healy), to the grizzled veterans (Rush, Leonard Cohen, Streetheart).
Music videos made or broke songs. Music and pop culture were intertwined.
There's a reason '80s radio stations are so popular. The music is fun, incredibly diverse, and you can actually sing along to it. When listening to mixtapes on our Walkmans, we all can sound like a raspy Bryan Adams, a passionate Mike Reno or a wistful Sarah Mclachlan.
Samantha Taylor is a high school teacher in Regina who is passionate about teaching, travel, good food and family. While she loves a good Can Con '80s tune for karaoke, she can also march long distances with a sousaphone.
1990s: Substance over style
By Tyler Elynuik
The '90s began with a musical rebellion. People were growing tired of '80s over-produced glitter rock and were looking for a change. They wanted music that valued substance over style, that had passion and came from the heart.
A change in musical tastes, avenues like Chart magazine that were now there to promote homegrown talent, and long-overdue national record label support helped pop, hip hop, country and especially alternative rock explode across Canada.
In a pre-Internet era, buzz was established by word of mouth, touring, radio airplay and MuchMusic video exposure. Success had to be earned.
Across the country, pockets of bands strove to achieve it. In Halifax, an explosion of activity even resulted in the city being dubbed "the next Seattle" by the American and British music press.
It wasn't just the massive number of great alternative records being created in the '90s that set this decade apart. Canadian artists like Shania Twain, Celine Dion, Barenaked Ladies and Alanis Morissette established internationally. Canada had finally arrived at the adult table.
The Big Shiny Tunes compilation series and touring festivals like Edgefest, Summersault and Another Roadside Attraction put our best acts head to head with the biggest international acts of the day, and we more than held our own.
Then it all changed. The Internet arrived, digital music files were created, radio station conglomerates sanitized playlists, clubs closed down and record labels started hemorrhaging money. Bands that played arenas in 1995 fizzled into non-existence or hiatus by 1999.
But, looking back on the decade, Neil Osborne, of 54-40 fame, called the '90s "the golden years" and I couldn't agree more with that (Ocean) pearl of wisdom.
Tyler Elynuik is a music geek, whose obsession with '90s music started while he was in high school ... in the '90s, and continues today with his podcast Rave & Drool: A Chronicle of '90s CanRock and its accompanying social media pages.
2000s: Taking note of Canada
By Eric Anderson
In 2005, a group of university students sat down beside me at a bus stop in Cork, Ireland. One of them looked at my shirt and proclaimed "sweet band." It was Arcade Fire.
From 2000 to 2010, the world realized Canada's musical exports amounted to more than Celine Dion and Bryan Adams. A surge of independent and talented Canadian artists and songwriters pushed music down exciting paths and the world took notice.
In 2002, Toronto's Broken Social Scene released an album that forced music reviewers to pay attention to what was happening in our country. You Forgot It In People is a perfect indie-rock record made by a group of friends who would go on to find success in other groups such Stars and Metric. The group also had a young Leslie Feist in its midst, who was five years away from achieving star status with her hit song, "1234."
Independent bands and artists from across the country made loyal fans by making challenging and rewarding albums while relentlessly touring their incredible live shows. Artists like The New Pornographers, The Weakerthans, Sarah Harmer, Kathleen Edwards, Constantines, Hey Rosetta!, Joel Plaskett, Wolf Parade and The Sadies barely scratch the surface of the talent being exported to the world.
I am a huge Tragically Hip fan, so when Gord Downie released a solo album in 2001, I was worried. My fears were eased the first time I listened to Coke Machine Glow. It was full of poetic musings on relationships and Canadian landscapes while the music contained a spontaneity and weirdness that was exciting. Downie released two more solo albums in the decade and forged musical friendships with many of the bands I listed earlier. In fact, it was Broken Social Scene's Kevin Drew who produced Downie's award winning Secret Path album as well as his final album, Introduce Yerself.
The decade ended with Arcade Fire winning the Grammy for best album for The Suburbs. I like to think that somewhere in Ireland, the student who commented on my shirt was smiling.
Eric Anderson is the communications leader for Sherbrooke Community Centre in Saskatoon and creator of the podcast YXE Underground. He spent nearly eight years with CBC Saskatchewan.
2010s: Genre-fluidity
By Elsa Gebremichael
The 2010s is the best decade in Canadian music because we have all of the previous decades to draw from and influence our creativity, as well as the technology to recreate sounds from any genre from years past.
These days artists are a lot more "genre-fluid" and that's due to the fact that the options for making music are seemingly limitless. Whether it's by using "organic" and analog instrumentation, by sampling previous works, by incorporating our own cultures' traditional sounds and instruments, or accessing a plethora of digital plug-ins, VSTs and soft synths that can emulate pretty much any sound, we have the ability to create anything our hearts desire.
Three songs stand out as indicative of the advantages this decade affords.
"Sisters" by A Tribe Called Red blends electronic sounds and dance elements of the '80s and '90s with traditional singing, making this song hit you in a way that's nostalgic but fresh. It takes me back to the days of rollerskating to Dance Mix '95, but it's also unique and meaningful because of its cultural roots.
A hometown fave is The Garrys, a sister trio from Saskatoon. Their vibe, nostalgic and dreamy, layers vocal harmonies over sometimes super chill, sometimes energetic surf rock and doo-wop sounds of the '60s and '70s, setting them apart from a lot of "modern" bands." "Danceland (Come With Me)" is fun, catchy, and sure to make you swoon.
I love the entirety of The Secret Life of Planets. Zaki Ibrahim's voice is smooth like Sade and her musical expression is intergalactic in its depth. Even though "Do The Thing Right" has a definite place in the modern musical landscape, it also has a strong '90s R&B and hip hop vibe with electronic and jazz elements, creating a sound you'd straight up hear on a Spike Lee Joint.
Wild Black is the solo-collaborative project of singer-songwriter, Elsa Gebremichael, a first-generation Ethiopian Canadian, born and raised in Saskatoon. After many years of playing in active recording and touring bands that ranged from psych rock to electro pop, Elsa decided to start a new solo project.
Since this new chapter began, Wild Black has secured a mentorship with Canadian creative powerhouse Maylee Todd, has gone to L.A. to co-write and shoot a music video for her debut single "Wild & Free," featuring Tamil Toronto artist Shan Vincent De Paul, and was a first round recipient of the MVP Project, an initiative by Prism Prize x Canadian Academy x RBCMusic, to make a video for her latest single, disco-inspired bop, "Moon Star Lover". The visual, which premiered on Afropunk, was created with Toronto duo LXL Directors and celebrates femme, non-binary, LGBTQ+, BIPOC in a cute summer camp queer love story.
Wild Black is currently working on her debut album and has touring and music release plans for throughout the year.
What's your favourite decade in music? Make your case below!
