Canadian Music of the 80s Trivia Quiz

Answer: Harlequin

Harlequin was a rock band based out of Winnipeg, Manitoba, popular in Canada in the late seventies to mid eighties. They produced eight albums and nine singles. Their drummer, Brent Fitz, has recorded and toured with Alice Cooper and Theory of a Deadman.

Answer: Loverboy

Loverboy was formed in 1980 in Calgary and sold millions of hit records in Canada and the United States. They produced four platinum albums. The band included lead singer Mike Reno, guitar player Paul Dean, bass player Scott Smith, keyboard player Doug Johnson and drummer Matt Frenette. Their songs are still played on classic rock stations in North America. Mike Reno and Ann Wilson of Heart, also had a hit song with "Almost Paradise", which was the love theme from the movie "Footloose".

Answer: Colin James

Colin James Munn was born in Regina, Saskatchewan in 1964. He started in the Regina Folk scene at a young age, sitting with the various bands and musicians and joining in. He was known as "Little Colin". He released a few popular songs in the 1980s including "Five Long Years", "Chicks and Cars and the Third World War", "Voodoo Thing" and "Why'd You Lie?". His music is a mix of blues, swing and rock. He has opened for Stevie Ray Vaughn and starred in an episode of the popular Canadian sitcom, "Corner Gas".

Answer: Rough Trade

Carol Pope, born in Manchester, England and raised in Scarborough, Ontario was the lead singer for Rough Trade. "High School Confidential" was the first openly lesbian Top 40 hit in the world. Rough Trade had three other hits which were, "All Touch", "Weapons" and "Crimes of Passion". In 1981, they appeared on the Canadian comedy show, "SCTV" and performed "High School Confidential".

Answer: Honeymoon Suite

Honeymoon Suite chose their name due to Niagara Falls being the unofficial honeymoon capital of the world. They formed in 1982 and produced seven studio albums, two live albums and twenty singles from 1984 to 2003. "Burning In Love" and "New Girl Now" are their best known songs.

Answer: Glass Tiger

Glass Tiger were first called Tokyo when they started out in 1984. They opened for Boy George and the Culture Club at Toronto's Maple Leaf Gardens that same year. The following year, they changed their name to Glass Tiger and signed a record deal with Capitol Records. "The Thin Red Line" was the fastest selling debut album in Canadian history and went gold within weeks. Bryan Adams sings background vocals on their songs "Don't Forget Me When I'm Gone" and "I Will Be There" and Rod Stewart shares lead vocals with the band's singer Alan Frew on the song "My Town".

Answer: Corey Hart

Corey Hart was in England playing with Eric Clapton and Pete Townsend when he wrote his first hit song, "Sunglasses at Night". "Never Surrender" was another big hit for Corey in 1985. He was born in Montreal, Quebec in 1962 and has also lived in Mexico City, Spain and Florida.

He has recorded with such famous singers as Tom Jones, Paul Anka, Eric Clapton and Billy Joel. He was offered the starring role in the movie "Back to the Future" but turned it down. Because of his good looks, and popularity with teens, he was featured in the magazines "Tiger Beat" and "Bop" in the mid eighties. Corey says that the first record he ever bought was Rod Stewart's "Maggie May".

The guy has taste! :)

Answer: Jeff Healey

Jeff Healey was born Norman Jeffrey Healey on March 25, 1966 and died on March 2, 2008, at the young age of 42. He was born and raised in Toronto, Ontario. At eight months old he had to have his eyes removed due to retinoblastoma, which is a rare cancer of the eye.

When he was 38 years old, the cancer returned as sarcoma in his legs. He had surgery, but the cancer spread to his lungs and eventually caused his death. Jeff started playing guitar at age three and unlike most guitar players, he played it on his lap.

He played at many "blues" clubs in his short life, including the famous "Albert's Hall". This is where he was discovered by Stevie Ray Vaughn and Albert Collins. In 1988, his trio band released the album "See The Light" which contained his famous single "Angel Eyes", which was written by American Country/Rock/Blues singer/songwriter, John Hiatt. Also on that album, was an instrumental called "Hideaway", for which he received a Grammy nomination. Jeff Healey and his band also recorded for and were featured in Patrick Swayze's film "Roadhouse".

Answer: Alannah Myles

Alannah Myles was born in 1958 and grew up on a ranch near Toronto, Ontario. She started performing at age eighteen, but didn't get her big break until 1989, when she released her self-titled album "Alannah Myles". This album produced four hit singles, which were "Love Is", Lover of Mine", "Still Got This Thing" and "Black Velvet". "Black Velvet" is a song about the life and career of Elvis Presley. It won Alannah a Grammy Award and three Juno Awards. It was a number one hit worldwide in 1989.

Answer: Doug and the Slugs

One of my favorite bands, Doug and the Slugs were a very popular alternative rock band in Canada in the eighties and into the nineties. They were based out of Vancouver, B.C. Doug and the Slugs released eighteen singles between 1980 and 1992 and were a very popular touring band in nightclubs.

Some of their more popular songs include "Making It Work", "Who Knows How to Make Love Stay?" and "Real Enough". Doug Bennett was the lead singer until his death in 2004.

Answer: The Payolas

Paul Hyde (lead singer) and the Payolas were one of the most successful bands in Canada in the 1980's. "Payolas" is a reference to the payola radio scandal in the United States in the 1960s and is thought by some to be the reason that the band was unsuccessful in breaking into the U.S. market. "Eyes of a Stranger" was their biggest hit, but they also had success with their songs "Hammer on a Drum" and "Never Said I Loved You", the latter of which was recorded with Carole Pope of Rough Trade.

Answer: Triumph

Triumph, a Canadian hard rock/heavy metal band, was formed in the late seventies, but had most of their success in the eighties, as well as into the nineties. One of their popular songs of the seventies was a cover of Joe Walsh's "Rocky Mountain Way". Eight of their albums have gone gold or higher in the United States and Canada.

Answer: Lawrence Gowan

Lawrence Gowan, or as he was known for years, simply "Gowan", is one of my favorite Canadian singers. He was born in Glasgow, Scotland, but moved to Toronto, Canada with his family when he was seven years old. He has had most of his success in Canada, but in 1999, he was asked to join the band Styx after the departure of Dennis DeYoung.

He became a singer and keyboardist with Styx and his classic hit "A Criminal Mind" is now performed by the band. I was fortunate enough to see Gowan live at a nightclub in Calgary in 1997.

He performed John Lennon's song "Imagine" on one of John Lennon's own pianos and did an amazing job.

Answer: Red Rider

Red Rider was popular in both Canada and the U.S. in the 1980s, but never had a top 40 hit. "Lunatic Fringe" was used in the movie "Vision Quest" and is still played on classic rock stations today. As well, their songs "Cowboys in Hong Kong" and "What Have You Got to Do?" were featured on an episode of "Miami Vice".

In 1986, the band officially changed their name to Tom Cochrane and Red Rider and released a self-titled album. This album contained the song "Big League" which is a song that Tom Cochrane wrote that stemmed from a request by the father of a young hockey player who had been killed in a car accident. Tom Cochrane wrote the song after being unable to forget the encounter.

Answer: Bryan Adams

Bryan Adams, born in 1959, in Kingston, Ontario, is probably Canada's most popular and well known singer/songwriter/musician. He has won two Grammy Awards, including "Best Pop Instrumental Performance" and "Best Song Written for a Motion Picture, Television or Other Visual Media" for his contributions to the "Robin Hood Prince of Thieves" soundtrack and the song "Everything I Do".

As well, Bryan co-wrote the song "All For Love", which he recorded with Rod Stewart and Sting for the movie "The Three Musketeers".

He has also been nominated for several other Grammy Awards. He has won many Canadian awards and has been inducted into the Canadian Music Hall of Fame and the Walk of Fame. Bryan has been awarded the Order of Canada and the Order of British Columbia, for his contribution to modern pop music. Since his career began in 1980, he has sold an estimated 65 millions records and is still singing in 2008.