Thank You, Canada!

Yesterday was Canada Day. I was out of town and didn't realize it was Canada Day until 10 PM. So, of course, I reacted to Canada Day like any American would, which was to listen to random late 90s/early 2000s pop music by Canadian acts.

Strangely, I am well versed in this period of music because our cable service at the time provided MuchMusic, Canada's version of MTV. What made MuchMusic great was that they played music videos regularly at a time when MTV had already phased out doing that. As a result, I spent most of my time watching new music on MuchMusic, which allowed me to be exposed regularly to American pop music but also granted me the knowledge of what was big in Canada that was homegrown.

Here are some of the music videos I watched to celebrate Canada Day:

The Moffatts – “Bang Bang Boom”

The Moffatts were the Canadian boy band of the time period even if they didn't exactly want to be a boy band. The group comprised of four brothers was huge in Canada, but unlike other boy bands, they wrote and played their own music. Ultimately, a desire to get away from being a boy band and a difficult relationship with their father as manager led to their break-up.

soulDecision - “Faded”

soulDecision had a good little run in this period of time with this song and “Ooh It's Kind of Crazy.”

Prozzak - “Sucks to Be You”

Here's where Canada could get a little weird. Two DJs put together songs. Rather than be themselves, they were Simon and Milo, two cartoon characters who appeared in all the music videos. I'm not sure how their live shows went, but this happened. It was catchy.

B4-4 - “Get Down”

This easily takes the cake. Canada should be embarrassed. During the height of the boy band era, these guys popped up. To begin with, you kind of automatically want to punch these guys in the fact. Then, throw in a song that's trying to be subtle about oral sex but isn't subtle at all, a bizarre video whose plot isn't clear and involves apparently the dreams of a young child entering a beach world so that he can accomplish strength, chicks, and basketball skills while being surrounded by a tanned up boy band. Whatever. Just enjoy, and start shouting, “OVER TO MY HOUSE!” whenever you get the chance. Side fact: this is comedian Laura Sanders's favorite music video. Please let her know you watched it, too.