Episode 45: Oh, Canada! The Canadian Rock Music Industry in the 70s

PLAY LIST

  1. American Woman by The Guess Who (1970) 

  2. You Ain’t Seen Nothing Yet by Bachman-Turner Overdrive (1974)

  3. Working Man by Rush (1974)

  4. Lay it on the Line by Triumph (1979)

  5. I Just Wanna Stop by Gino Vanelli (1978)

  6. Just Between You and Me by April Wine (1981)

SUMMARY

In the 1970s, it was not so simple for a Canadian rock band or artist to conduct a successful international career from Canada. Barriers existed that can be classified as “financial,” due to lack of an established Canadian music industry, and “credibility.” Content laws that dictated the amount of air time that Canadian acts had to receive on the radio, along with a longer-held affinity for folk and pop, made it challenging for Canadian rockers to get any credibility, even from their fellow Canadians. This episode examines these barriers and the bands that overcame them.

SOURCES

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Amy Lively