Music

10 Canadian pop acts you might have forgotten

by Shorey Andrews

It’s no secret that Canada is home to some seriously awesome and insanely successful artists from all genres and eras of music. A recent YouTube musical hole of no return uncovered some long-lost jams from some of Canada’s pop-rock groups from the past.

Some groups that used to over saturate YTV’s Hit List and Muchmusic’s MOD have more or less been forgotten. While we’ve looked at strictly boy-bands in the past, this time, we kept it a little broader. Most of these groups have since parted ways, but the celebration of their pop hits will live on forever in our patriotic hearts.

The Moffatts – (1990 – 2001)

If ever there was a Canadian equivalent to the likes of Hanson this band was it. Teen brothers Scott, Clint, Bob, and Dave reached worldwide fame in 1998 with their first adult album Chapter I: A New Beginning (the foursome had been making music and releasing albums since they were kids). Their popularity would continue to rise until their breakup in 2001. Since then Clint and Bob have formed the country group Like Strangers, while Scott Moffatt recently released his first solo single “Whenever Not Ever.”

Lillix – (1997 – Present)

This band from Cranbook, British Columbia began making music together in high school and made their international debut in 2003 with the album Falling Uphill. Their popularity was given a boost when their music was featured in the films Freaky Friday and 13 Going On 30. Their remake of the classic tune “What I Like About You” became the theme song for the Amanda Bynes television show of the same name. Various ex-members have started solo careers (most notably AUX-favourite Louise Burns) or quit music altogether, but Lillix is still active; after several band member changes, the band consists of only two of its original members, sisters Tasha-Ray and Lacey-Lee Evin.

Sky – (1997 – 2005)

Montreal-based pop group Sky took all of our teenage emotions and stuffed them into the perfect melody aptly titled “Love Song” way back in 1999. In 2000 James Renald announced he would be leaving the group and was replaced by Anatasia who was later replaced by Karl Wolf. The band never attained their initial success, and by 2003 Sky had broken up and Karl Wolf went on to grace us with his widely popular “Africa” cover tribute? Who knows.

Faber Drive – (2004 – Present)

After being discovered by Chad Kroeger, pop/punk band Faber Drive released their debut album Seven Second Surgery in 2007. Hailing from Mission, British Columbia this foursome found themselves on tour with other Canadian pop music faves Hedley, Marianas Trench, and Simple Plan. Their most popular singles were “Tongue Tied” and “Second Chance.” The group’s most recent album came out in 2012 and as of right now they are still together, but “on hiatus.”

B4-4 – (1999 – 2004)

In the year 2000 you couldn’t turn on YTV’s Hit List and not see B4-4. This Toronto group was composed of brothers Dan and Ryan Kowarsky along with Ohad Einbinder and released five well-known singles while enjoying the height of their popularity in Canada. Einbinder eventually exited the group leaving the two brothers to form pop duo RyanDan. They are still making music today, and most notably, they recently admitted that their biggest single “Get Down” was indeed about blow jobs.

McMaster and James – (2000 – 2001)

Luke McMaster and Rob James came from Winnipeg and released a few hits in the early ‘00s, most notably “Love Wins Everytime” and “Thank You.” In 2000 they opened for Christina Aguilera during the Canadian portion of her tour and, sadly, that’s about exciting as it got for the duo. The band released two more singles before parting ways. Rob James was a contestant on the fourth season of Canadian Idol, finishing seventh.

soulDecision – (1993 – 2005)

This group from Vancouver originally began making music under the name Indecision. After they signed on with a major record label, they were forced to change their name and landed on soulDecision. During the release of their first album No One Does it Better, popular singles “Faded” and “Ooh It’s Kind of Crazy” got the band noticed both in Canada and the United States. During their musical run, soulDecision opened for Christina Aguilera, Destiny’s Child, Jay-Z, and *NSYNC. They broke up in 2005, though singer Trevor Guthrie stayed in music and landed his biggest hit to date in 2013 as the vocalist on Armin van Buuren’s massively popular “This Is What It Feels Like.”

Wave – (1999 – 2003)

Wave was an adorable pop group formed in 1999 in Niagara Falls by members Dave Thomas and Paul Gigliotti. Their debut album Nothing As It Seems spawned a number one hit in Canada, “California,” and went on to see major success with their singles “Think It Over” and “Don’t Say Sarah.” The band would only last until 2003 when the two members parted ways. Gigliotti began a solo career and Thomas went on to continue to write music.

Sugar Jones – (2001 – 2002)

You may find it a challenge to gather information on Canadian band Sugar Jones likely because they only released one album and then seemingly fell off the face of the earth. The five members of the group were picked out of thousands that auditioned to be in an all-girl pop band via the Canadian version of the television show Popstars back in 2001. Their self-titled album saw minor success with its two singles “Days Like That” and “How Much Longer.” The group gave up by 2002.

Serial Joe – (1997 – 2001)

Technically speaking, Serial Joe is not considered a pop band. But if you consider the band’s final album (Last Chance) At the Romance Dance , you would have to agree that their tracks slowly went into full pop mode by 2001. Subsequently, that’s also when the band parted ways. Their greatest success was seen during the tail end of the ‘90s with the albums KICKed and Facedown. The internet would have you believe that they never existed, as finding any form of a music video is practically impossible.

It goes without saying that if you ever come across the video for “Mistake” send it our way, stat.