Can Con ... Some Good, Some Bad

[radiofan]

List a can-con song or two or three that made you cringe everytime you played it and it sounds just as bad or worse when you hear it played today as an "oldie".

Let Me Take You Dancin' - Bryan Adams

If You Go Away - Terry Jacks

And...then there's the ones you liked...

Frustration - Painted Ship

Black Day In July - Lightfoot

This Beat Goes On/Switchin' To Glide - Kings

[PMC]

List a can-con song or two or three that made you cringe everytime you played it and it sounds just as bad or worse when you hear it played today as an "oldie".

Let Me Take You Dancin' - Bryan Adams

If You Go Away - Terry Jacks

Why not have plus tunes...

I always liked Michel Pagliaro doing `What the hell I got' with the studio monitor cranked

Gino Vanelli and his original Beautiful People album had alot of good tracks.

Gordon Lightfoot doing Bob Dylan's `Just like Tom Thumb's Blues'... which was much better that Dylan's... don't know if that every got on an album, it was a UA single as I recall.

If there is a cringing negative for me, it is anything by celin dion

[jon]

I classify my list of Cancon to Cringe By into three categories:

• the song always sucked
• the song did not stand the test of time
• I've heard it too many times in the last few years, and the song wears out quickly

There is still lots of CanCon I like. Maybe some would wear thin if frequently played.

Two of my very favourite CanCon songs that immediately come to mind that I know, for a fact, have been played on Oldies stations in Canada, and I really, really like are:

• If You're Lookin' - Tranquillity Base
• Colors of Anyhow - Beverly Glenn-Copeland

[sparky]

Way up high on my yecccch list 'Make My Life A Little Bit Brighter" by Chester

On the I like it list "It Always Happens This Way' by Toulouse and 'Tattoo Man' by Denise McCann

[tuned]

"Linda Write Me A Letter" by Choya on the Radio Shack "Realistic" record label. Anything by "The Raes" as in Sherrill and Robbie. They even had a CBC variety show.
Former NW board op Ray Roper managed to grind out a couple of listenable Cancon hits with Stonebolt. Adams refuses to have his speeded up single released on any compilation or made mention of in any official discography. That's probably why the Canadian single with the picture sleeve fetches 25 or 30 bucks on ebay.

[segueking2]

LOVE Michel Pagliaro - "Some Sing, Some Dance" - "What the Hell I Got" - "Loving You Ain't Easy"....and a few more....even liked "Wondering where the Lions Are" - Bruce C.
Ian Thomas had some goodstuff.

Hated a lot of can con though.

Hard to nail it down - but "Seasons in the Sun" was a piece of crund....

[skyvalleyradio]

my CANCON 'cringe-ables' and 'love-ables'go back to my first on-air gig at CJDC in Dawson Creek which was all over the map format-wise but could be more or less classified MOR/contemp. country hybrid with some CHR/Top 40 evenings

The cringe-ables:

Joni Mitchell - Woodstock (I just wanted to put her out of her misery!)
Terry Jacks - Seasons In The Sun (pass the double-bubble, please)
Downchild Blues Band - When I Get The Blues (singer needs to take the double-bubble out of his mouth...pretty boring attempt at R&B)

The Can-con that made me crank the studio monitors and shake the dust out of the speaker cones:

Gordon Lightfoot - Black Day In July (Gordie kinda rocked his folkie reputation with this great oldie!)
Lighthouse - One Fine Morning (Dawson Cr. Co-Op employees bitched to the PD about me playing this on my mid-day shift. WAAAHH!!)
Chad Allen & The Guess Who - This Time Long Ago (a much different, early version of the band with a catchy riff & nice harmonies)

[jon]

I've always been a fan of "Black Day in July". One of those few songs that CKLG-AM and -FM both played when it was current. A couple of comments that come to mind about the song that I'm no longer sure of, in terms of being factually correct:

• It was Gord's only overtly "Politic song" (as we called them at the time, referring to songs that made a strong social comment)
• It was not played in the U.S. (on the radio), because it was just "too close to home" to be acceptable

Any light that anyone can shed on these points?

[radiofan]

It was not played in the U.S. (on the radio), because it was just "too close to home" to be acceptable
Any light that anyone can shed on these points?

If Gord was a factor in the US at the time Black Day In July came out, it may not have gotten any airplay for the content reason.

Gord's stuff on United Artists was released in the US and he received little or no airplay there until he signed to Warner Bros/Reprise and had a string of hits that began in 1971.

[skyvalleyradio]

[*]It was Gord's only overtly "Politic song" (as we called them at the time, referring to songs that made a strong social comment)
[*]It was not played in the U.S. (on the radio), because it was just "too close to home" to be acceptable
[/LIST]Any light that anyone can shed on these points?

I definitly remember "Black Day In July" NOT getting airplay or chart action at either KJR or KOL at the time it was current

[johnsykes]

I still cringe every time someone plays anything by Joni Mitchell....people raved about her....but dammit....she whined....she couldn't sign in tune.....worst ever....I've got a brand new pair of roller skates.....bloody awful.

And anything by James Taylor....totally boring voice. Guess that's why I liked Terry Jacks and others didn't.

Considering I have every piece ever recorded by the Beach Boys, you may understand where I'm coming from.

[Glen Livingstone]

I still cringe every time someone plays anything by Joni Mitchell....people raved about her....but dammit....she whined....she couldn't sign in tune.....worst ever....I've got a brand new pair of roller skates.....bloody awful. 

I think the song you're referring to there John is "Brand New Key," which was actually a hit for Melanie, not Joni Mitchell.

Hate them both, if you wish, although Melanie was not a Canadian artist.

[Glen Livingstone]

The Good

"Early Morning" - The Collectors

The Bad

"Can't Help Falling in Love" - Corey Hart

The Ugly

"You're Having My Baby" - Paul Anka

[radiofan]

And anything by James Taylor....totally boring voice. Guess that's why I liked Terry Jacks and others didn't.

Mystery solved Sykes!

A few of us were wondering who was humming "Seasons In The Sun" at our last get together in Fort Langley.

Now we know. :rolleyes:

[Neumann Sennheiser]

The Good?
"Oh What A Feeling, What A Rush" by Crowbar.
(The version from their multiple-disc "live" album is a rare and wonderful find).

Sorry you never enjoyed Joni Mitchell, John. You might've missed some of her best stuff that were never commercial hits like "A Case of You". Quite poetic and beautiful lyrically. I like what she's doing lately in jazz very much.