SAGA

Sub-Rush Canadians with a vocalist who sounded better suited to Broadway. "Wind Up" was good arena-prog, but forgettable otherwise.

Also in the video dude was wearing a jumpsuit with a special crotch pouch.

They bizarrely have about fifty albums to their name, seemingly.

http://www.michaelsadler.com/photos/misc/bigimages/49.jpg

http://www.michaelsadler.com/photos/misc/bigimages/50.jpg

Rush
Triumph
April Wine
Saga
Voivod
Max Webster
Klaatu
Godspeed You Black Emperor! (The name works well in this company.)

I somehow left this one off the list.

Rush
Triumph
April Wine
Saga
Voivod
Max Webster
Klaatu
Godspeed You Black Emperor! (The name works well in this company.)

What about Helix?

Billy Thorpe should be on that list for "Children of the Sun", but to my suprise, he isn't Canadian. I thought that it was law that all Rush opening acts in the late 70s/early 80s had to be of Canadian citizenship? Maybe it was ok as Austrailia is in the Commonwealth.

Zebra was a band that should also be given honorary Canadian citizenship as their song "Whose Behind the Door" definitely fits in those other bands.

Embarrassing Fact: I once saw Saga live in concert. It is not at all mitigated by the fact that they were opening for Hall & Oates.

No way. Zebra were 100 percent Ami cheese. New Orleans transplanted to the metro Joisey/Long Island circuit where they were discovered. Travelled and traded in exactly the same rooms as Twisted Sister, the
Good Rats and the most famous Rat Race Choir.

Zebra's cover of "Slow Down" was absolutely crushing.

No Canadian rock heirarchy that contains neither The Guess Who nor Chilliwack can be considered canonical!

Add BTO, Trooper and Moxy for seasoning. Pat Travers for the major throwdown. Ronnie Hawkins' Hawks.

The last time I looked, too, almost the entire Saga catalog was still in print. Even REO Speedwagon and Styx can't claim that.

Saga kind of sound a bit like a German band on Sky records or something.

oh and also this describes one of my oldest and best friends, i'll look into it.

Mr. Nova plays guitar on at least one track

Aldo Nova's "Fantasy" was almost identical to Jefferson Starship's "Jane". The power ballad "Ball and Chain" was his other big hit.

Personally, I'd put Nomeansno at the top of that CanCon list. I'm far from the biggest booster of music made by my countrymen, but most of 'em (even the lousy ones) have at least one moment of greatness. Triumph (first concert I ever saw!) had "Magic Power, Honeymoon Suite had "New Girl Now", Bryan Adams had "Cuts Like A Knife" and almost nothing else.

And speaking of Zebra, their "Bears" was ABSOLUTELY one of my five favourite singles of the '80s! (Despite an embarrassing video that I mercifully only saw once.) Can't explain why, not even to myself (unsure).

...hell , i didn't know Aldo was Canadian -- i was talking about the similarities in their sounds.

I remember that Randy Jackson was listed as the bassist on BOC's "Shooting Shark", and while i've always thought it sounded oddly UN-Zebra-like, (to say nothing about the observation that Zebra's Randy Jackson played guitar) didn't know until i just looked it up that the "Shooting Shark" bassist is none other than (US) American Idol judge, Randy "The Emperor" Jackson.

...has this thread yet pretzeled beyond recognition?

He also played bass in the 1986 configuration of Journey and a couple zillion other albums

AB: Yeah. (Holding up a bottle of Molsen’s Beer) This is from
my home area here.
GS: Long Island?
AB: Nooo.
GS: You’re from Canada?
AB: Yeah.
GS: Are you French-Canadian?
AB: Yeah. Well I’m not from Canada actually. My grandfather
is from Canada.

"On the Loose" is a great song. The rest of that album sounds exactly the same, though, very little variation. I remember on MTV they had another video before they hit it big with "On the Loose" (the lyrics went: "Hurry but don't be late", or something like that)

Hey, that might make a good thread: "Musicians Who Share A Name"! I can think of a half-dozen right now...

isn't that "Wind Him Up"?

NEWSFLASH

Do you think you have what it takes to be the new singer for Saga?

We just recorded these two songs [On the Loose and Wind Him Up] without vocals during a sound check in Germany. So all you have to do is downlaod them, and video tape yourself singing along to them. Then post them on YouTube and email us the link along with your name & brief biography of yourself!!!

It's that easy!!!

The competition so far :
http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=03Eb1pCWesQ
http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=s25FgzByJUA

Just letting you guys know, good luck! It probably helps if you're a multi-instrumentalist too by the way. An Asterix moustache would be an asset as well I guess.

Mustache Dude has left Saga? THE APOCALYPSE IS NIGH!

A radio station used to play entire albums on Sunday evenings when I was growing up, and I had about 3/4 of Worlds Apart on tape. Hearing "On The Loose" randomly last year prompted me to grab the album and eventually their first five. I really like the idea of their Rush/Yes influenced prog pop, just wish they had more memorable tunes. Worlds Apart sounds like a big influence on The Fixx, though producer Rupert Hine probably deserves more credit/blame. It also seems like Rush actually followed Saga's lead with the sound of parts of Grace Under Pressure and Power Windows. I'm trying to ignore the comparison of the vocals to Styx. A couple songs could just as easily be compared to Wall Of Voodoo, really!

"On The Loose" is amazing but I've still never bought that album. I'm gonna put it on my Amazon wishlist.