The Top 100 Canadian Singles
By: Bob Mersereau
Published: September 30, 2010
Format: Hardcover, 218 pages
ISBN-13: 9780864925374
ISBN-10: 0864925379
Publisher: Goose Lane Editions
"In the digital age, does the single still exist?", writes music reporter, long time columnist for CBC Television in New Brunswick, and author of the delightful and sure to provoke debate book The Top 100 Canadian Singles. The author shares the results of a national Canadian survey that compiled the top 100 singles in Canadian music history.
Bob Mersereau recognizes that his list is certain to spark controversy among music fans. He even invites feedback from his readers, as to their favourite songs, that may have been overlooked or failed to garner enough support to sneak onto the compilation. Even the possibility of causing arguments over included and omitted Canadian singles speaks volumes for the strong, world class legacy of Canadian music. The only stipulation that the author provided for his jurors, who ranged from media people, to musicians, to celebrities, to average Canadians, was that the songs had to have been released as singles. For many voters, according to the author, the real challenge was to select only their favourite ten Canadian songs for the list. Thanks to the internet, and music downloads, the single isn't dead either.
Bob Mersereau (photo left) shares the compilation lists of the contributors, along with fascinating exclusive interviews with the performers. The Top 100 list that resulted from the survey is intriguing for its six decade inclusion, and for the range of musical genres and styles included by the jurists. Not surprisingly, The Guess Who topped the list with their classic mega-hit "American Woman". As a staple of Classic Rock stations, the song receives heavy airplay to new and receptive audiences. Making the list were music icons including Joni Mitchell, Neil Young, Bryan Adams, Gordon Lightfoot, Rush, The Tragically Hip, and Ian and Sylvia. The champion of the anthology was Randy Bachman, who appears on six different songs, not including his additional listing as a producer. Newer musicians, including The Arcade Fire, Feist, K-OS, and Wintersleep also made the list. While rock music dominated the selections, country and folk music found space as well. Interestingly enough, many of the Top 100 songs could be classified easily into several different musical genres.
For me, the power of the book is how Bob Mersereau developed the concept of a 100 song list, oversaw the survey of hundreds of Canadians from all walks of life, and then placed the songs within the context of the Canadian musical legacy. The book crosses what many people perceive as musical boundaries, making the entire history of Canadian music accessible to everyone. The author avoided the conflict of anglophone and francophone music through the inclusion of songs by francophone artists. The book also contains a separate list of the top 100 French-Canadian singles to share that rich musical heritage with all readers.
Each song on the book's main list is backed up with interviews with the artists, a history of the song itself, and a few remembrances of that were invoked by the single. Another wonderful inclusion in the book are the top ten lists as contributed by some well known Canadians, providing some interesting insight into how the jurors reached their decisions. Their lists contain some great songs that fell short of being included in the book as well.
I highly recommend the fascinating and memory invoking book The Top 100 Canadian Singles by Bob Mersereau, to anyone who loves Canadian music. It's not necessary to be a Canadian to enjoy these classic singles over and over again. Great music is wonderful regardless of its geographical origin. This book deserves a wide audience, not only in Canada, but everywhere that music lovers are found, and enjoy the best in music listening.
Read the tremendous book The Top 100 Canadian Singles by Bob Mersereau, and fall in love with Canadian music, whether for the first time, or all over again. Is this book the last word in Canadian singles? Of course not, but it's a brilliant starting point. The author intended it to spark debate, and to create further interest in the rich heritage that is Canadian music. In that sense, this book is an outstanding success.
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