Great Canadian Musicians and Tunes #1 Quiz

Quiz Answer Key and Fun Facts

1. This band was formed in Toronto in 1968 by Skip Prokop and Paul Hoffert. It was unique in the way it combined rock with, jazz, classical, and a big band sound. It's biggest hits were "Pretty Lady", "One Fine Morning", and "Sunny Days". What band am I referring to? (keeping seafarers safe on dark and stormy nights)

Answer: Lighthouse

From 1972 through 1974, Lighthouse won the Juno Award, Canada's highest music honor, for Group of the Year. They disbanded in 1976, reunited for a short concert tour in 1982, then got back together again in 1992 with the three original members, Prokop, Hoffert, and McBride. Mcbride was dismissed seven months later due to erratic performances caused by drug abuse, and died in 1998. Forty two years after their beginning, Lighthouse is still shining on their fans.

2. This indie-rock band from Montreal came about in 2003 under the tutelage of the husband-and-wife team of Win Butler and Regine Chassange. It has won several awards including the Studio 8 Award for Album of the Year ("Funeral"-2004) and one of its Junos for Album of the Year ("Neon Bible" - 2007). What's the name for this Canadian alternative music group? (no pinball machines were damaged as far as I know)

Answer: Arcade Fire

Their first album, "Funeral", became Arcade Fire's music company's biggest selling album ever. So good were sales, that they were able to afford to buy their own sound studio. But Win and Regine didn't allow the money to go to their heads, so they purchased an old church and property in the small town of Farnham, Quebec, and turned it into a recording studio.

It served them well as their next album, "Neon Bible", debuted at number one on Canadian Album Charts and number two on US Billboard's top 200.

3. Another Toronto band that made a good run from 1976-1996 was FM, which started out with just two members. In 1977, frontman Cameron Hawkins added Martin Deller on drums, only to have the addition cause his original partner to leave and embark on a solo career, although he returned to FM in 1983. Who was this departing member, who always kept his face covered with gauze? (serial killer or musician?)

Answer: Nash the Slash

Nash the Slash has had a long and interesting career. Only a very select few know his real identity, nor is it known why he wraps his face completely in gauze even before he shows up at a concert site, leaving it on until he's long gone from the venue. Nobody even knows his eye colour as he always wears dark glasses as well as hats to cover his hair.

This has been his trademark and he's managed to keep it hush-hush for nearly 40 years!

4. This pop/blues/hard-rock band came together in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, in 1995, with Shaun Verreault (vocals, guitar), Safwan Javed (percussion, vocals), and Earl Pereira (bass,vocals). Hits include the singles, "Midnight Rain" from 1997, "Companion(Lay Me Down)" from 1999, and its biggest hit from 2005, "I Love Not Loving You". From the 'jar' of the same name, what's the name of this trio?

Answer: Wide Mouth Mason

The band, Wide Mouth Mason, who named themselves after a common pickling jar of all things, has had more than 15 years of recording and concert success that says their name is anything but a mistake. Naming Jimi Hendrix, Muddy Waters, and Buddy Guy, as their biggest influences, they regularly open for ZZ Top, George Thorogood, and sell out regularly when on their own.

5. Sweeney Todd, named after the murderous barber legend from the 1800s, was formed in 1975 Vancouver. It had a major hit with "Roxy Roller", but its lead singer, Nick Gilder, became much more successful after he left the band with a huge hit that went to number one in both the US and Canada in 1978. What song earned him two Junos as well as a People's Choice Award? (as a 'kid', I loved visiting Toronto when the temperature was high)

Answer: Hot Child In The City

Wow! What a great tune "Hot Child In The City" was! And like the clue says, I loved visiting Toronto as a kid when it was blistering hot. The other choices were also fairly popular hits for Nick, who even though being born in London, England, came to Canada as a young child with his parents and became an official citizen of the country. "Roxy Roller", his big hit with Sweeney Todd, also hit number one in Canada in 1975.

6. This 1985 Toronto band's biggest hits were "I'm An Adult Now" (1986), "She's So Young" (1989), and "Two Girls In One" (1996). Their debut album, "Love Junk", was produced by the amazing Todd Rundgren with the single "I'm An Adult Now" quickly becoming a smash hit on MTV and all across Canada. Can you remember the name of this alternative music group? (their name before Will Smith did a movie with a tiny spelling difference)

Answer: The Pursuit Of Happiness

The movie with Will Smith is "The Pursuit of Happyness", with happiness being improperly spelled with a y as per the clue. The music group, The Pursuit Of Happiness were Edmonton's Moe Berg as songwriter/lead singer, Dave Gilby on the drums, and Johnny Sinclair playing bass. Tam and Tasha Amabile were a brother-sister twin duo that provided backing vocals.

They've never officially disbanded, but their last recording was in 2005 and they've not performed in concert since 2006.

7. "Feel the sun burn, On my skin I, Feel the wind whip, Through my grin. Tore the rearview, Mirror down I, Wrapped it in my wedding gown." Which of Jann Arden's songs do those lyrics come from? (wish I was there myself sometimes)

Answer: Where No One Knows Me

Born Jann Arden Anne Richards on March 27, 1962, this Canadian music legend has won eight Junos on 19 nominations with two each in the category of Songwriter of the Year and Female Artist of the Year. Her song "Where No One Knows Me", from her 2005 album, "Jann Arden", peaked at number ten on the Canadian Music charts. In 2006, she received a star on the Canada's Walk of Fame.

8. This Canadian artist from Big Pond, Nova Scotia, holds the honour of being the only female singer ever to have three different albums hit the charts in Australia in the same year. She is famous for performing the powerfully moving song "Working Man", to which a dozen or more fully dressed miners join her on stage in memory of the hundreds who have died in Canada's underground mines. Who's this Canadian artist who has overcome many emotional skeletons so she could dedicate her life to singing for her fans? (she runs a hometown tearoom which has become an Eastern Canadian landmark)

Answer: Rita MacNeil

Despite being born with a cleft palate and having to fight weight and shyness issues her entire life, this has not stopped Rita MacNeil from embarking on a very successful and hard working career that has spanned 35 years. In the 90s, her albums were even outselling her male counterparts like Garth Brooks, Clint Black, and George Strait.

9. "You've got lip service tributaries, You've got death fetish mercenaries, You hold the tickets to the cemeteries You're BIG and BAD and SCARY! But people see through you." These lyrics come from the song, "People See Through You", one of the most upfront anti-political power ballads ever written. Which altruistic Canadian musician penned the words to this anti-governmental work of musical art? (do you think he's still 'Wondering Where The Lions Are?')

Answer: Bruce Cockburn

Bruce Cockburn's first big hit was called, "Wondering Where the Lions Are" and it was heavily played throughout the world, hence the reason for the clue. Born in Ottawa, May 27, 1945, Bruce has 30 albums and 400+ songs to his credit. "People See Through You", from his 1986 album, "World of Wonders", is what I consider "required listening" for anyone who likes/loves powerful protest songs. I guarantee you an experience of music and lyrics on a prophetic scale.

After you've heard the song, many faces of world personalities will be going through your mind as the potent verses attach themselves to the various personalities in a profoundly prophetic manner.

10. This group, from Ottawa, Ontario, was originally called The Staccatos. They changed their name to this in 1968, and in 1971, their massive hit "Signs" went to number four in Canada and number three in the U.S. What's the name of this 'numerically-charged' group? (had big hits with "Absolutely Right" (1971) and "I'm A Stranger Here". (1972))

Answer: The Five Man Electrical Band

The Five Man Electrical Band sounds pretty 'numerically-charged', doesn't it? In 1967 as The Staccatos, they did something rarely, if ever, seen in the music industry then or up until now. They got together with The Guess Who, another awesome Canadian product, and recorded an album called "A Wild Pair", where one side featured songs from The Guess Who and the other side featured their songs.

Their 'gamble' paid off because the next year they achieved some fair success with the album, "Five Man Electrical Band", and subsequently, changed the name of their band to the same as the album's title.

Source: Author krazykritik

This quiz was reviewed by FunTrivia editor agony before going online.
Any errors found in FunTrivia content are routinely corrected through our feedback system.

There's many awesome and underrated musicians that many people don't realize are Canadian. This quiz is to share facts and information about them. I feel music fans will further appreciate what Canada has brought to the music world after taking my quiz!

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