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32 Canadian music facts that will make you feel old

Published: September 10, 2013

If youre the type of person who thinks that 90s occured 10 years agonewsflash, it was 2003 a decade agothen, well, join the club. But if that wasnt enough to make you feel partially senile, here are 32 more Canadian music shockers thatll make you feel well, twice your age.

1. The Moffat triplets turn 30 next year. In our minds, they still look like this:

Photo: youngmalecelebs.net

Thankfully, their eternal youth will be forever preserved in mega jams like Bang Bang Boom and the truest mega jam, Misery.

2. As a band, the Tragically Hip are already 30. They started in 1983, when Pierre Trudeau was still prime minister.

Photo: Musicbloodline.info

And after roughly three decades of being Canadas favourite band, Gord Downieand his plethora of onstage grimacesdont appear to be slowing down anytime soon.

3. Sook Yin Lee, from Muchmusics The Wedge, has been with CBCs DNTO for 11 years.

Photo: Torontoist.com

In our minds, shes forever the host of The Wedge.Sorry, Damian.

4. The iconic Sam the Record Man sign is gone.

Photo: Blogto.com

And Canada has lost a national music icon. Its not coming back, either.

5. Souldecision singer Trevor Guthrie is 40. He was born on the year when construction on the CN Tower began.

And now he has a hit single with Armin van Buuren. Still, Souldecision, reunite already! Trevor is still 5 years younger than

6. Maestro Fresh Wes, who is 45. He was born in 1968, the year Martin Luther King, Andy Warhol, and Robert Kennedy died.

Photo: rezzabrothers.com

But it was also the year a Canadian hip hop legend was born.

7. Speakers Corner: Then and now.

At its height, Speakers Corner had multiple locations across Canada. It offered, at the time, passersby a far-off chance to appear on national televisionand it also launched the career of the Barenaked Ladies. See their appearance below. The iconic Speakers Cornerthe most famed location being at Torontos Queen and John intersectionhas since been shuttered.

8. Rustys Ken MacNeil had the most iconic dreadlocks of the 90s.

Photo: nowtoronto.com

Thanks to Fluke, and the bands penchant for incredible videos that involved names like Canadian gay icon Bruce LaBruce and rock-star-to-be Danko Jones, Rusty were the essential staple of 90s Cancool. They were so cool, in fact, that they made whiteboy dreads permissible. (With a shout-out, obviously, to the Doughboys John Kastner.)

9. Now, he looks like this.

Though we can get behind a clean-cut Ken.

10. Safe to say hes aged better than Sum 41s Deryck Whibley.

Geez. Let this be a warning for people who want to stay in high school forever: Its not a good look. Other pop-punk idols, however, arent faring nearly as badly.

11. Jonovision, who we loved for its music segment, Jonopalooza, debuted 17 years ago.

The national teen talk show, which featured some of the best Canadian music acts of its era, helped launch Jonathan Torrens career. As a nation, were better off for it.

12. The first Edgefest happened in the same year Sidney Crosby was born: 1987. Teenage Head played.

And, for a period, the festivalwhich initially was birthed from Torontos influential CFNY radio stationwent national. Between 1997 and 1999, it canvassed the country, becoming our answer to Lollapalooza. (And thats no joke: Hole headlined festivities in 1999.)

13. SARStock, Canadas biggest-ever concert, happened 10 years ago.

Has it really been a decade since SARS, the epidemic that made Purell a fixture in public life?

14. Electric Circus also retired 10 years ago.

But we still havent stopped L-dancing to Love Inc. in the shower.

15. Sarah McLachlans Lilith Fair concert series is old enough to get a drivers license.

Sure, laugh at Natalie Merchant and Paula Coles had-a-bad-day-so-Im-hitting-the-bathtub-with-a-bottle-of-red folk. But wed still check out this Lilith Fair lineupNeko Case and Cowboy Junkies, among others, were on the bill, and we still love them to this day.

16. You remember when The Trailer Park Boys Bubbles played in Sandbox and looked like this.

Photo: mlkshk.com

And as much as we loved Sandbox, we also love Bubbles from Trailer Park Boys.

17. Master T is 52.

Photo: showvisontalent.com

And were forever grateful for his massive presence of Rap City, a show that introduced hip hop to countless Canadians. T, we salute you.

18. Sloans Twice Removed is the same age as Justin Bieber.

And at 19, Twice Removed is probably better behaved than the Biebs.

19. Meanwhile, Sloans label, Murderecords, is the same age as Miley Cyrusboth were born in 1992.

Photo: sloanmusic.com

And while Mileys poppin molliesand dat ass, obvsMurderecords is poppin out singles collections.

19. The last Cargo Records album was cut in 1997the year Princess Diana died.

Photo: discogs.com

And though its been 16 years, we still miss the label that brought us seminal Change of Heart, Shadowy Men From a Shadowy Planet, and Killjoys releases.

21. Ten years later, in 2007, the last Music World and the flagship Sam the Record Man stores would close.

Photo: Flickr.com

The Quinte Mall in Belleville, ON, is home to the last-standing Sam the Record Man.

22. Heres what Airwalk shoes have turned into.

Photo: caboodle.com

In 1996, the classic stripped-down Airwalk was the pinnacle of cool-kid style. Now, theyre making Croc knockoffs.

23. Meanwhile, heres how the Modrobes logo evolved.

Meanwhile, Mod Robes went from being the beacon of folk-fest hippie cool to being. a less influential beacon of folk-fest hippie cool.

24. The Doughboys Crush is 20.

Photo: discogs.com

And led by Shine, which was the alt-rock song of a generation, Crushstill sounds incredible. Their members influence remains: singer John Kastner is now a programmer for NXNE, while red-bearded guitarist Jonathan Cummins is a Montreal-based writer who, among other projects, helped form the Besnard Lakes.

25. The Rheostatics Introducing Happiness is old enough to go university.

Photo: discogs.com

And itd totally be a drama major with a minor in Canadian literature. (With a focus on hockey-related stories.)

26. The ages of the actors in the Zit Remedy are (or would be) in the 40s.

Photo: tumblr.com

Pat Mastroianni as Joey, Stefan Brogren as Snake, and Neil Hope, who sadly passed in 2007, as Wheels, are or would be well into their middle age. No matter, really, as the Zit Remedys only song, Everybody Wants Something, will live in eternal infamy.

27. Degrassis Spike and Caitlin are still friendsand they DJ together as DJs Demanda and Mistycious. They look like this now.

Photo: facebook.com

Together, the lovely duo has periodically spun punk rock and goth at an 80s dance party called In Between DaysSpike and Caitlin wouldve loved it.

28. Chart Magazines logo: Then and now.

The national music magazine-turned-website, which first launched in 2001, has seen its share of lumps: It went on a brief hiatus in 2011, only to be bought by andPOP and, eventually, media company Channel Zero. Its well-deserved redesign comes from its andPOP era, and, well be quite honest: The update was well-warranted.

29. The Ongoing History of New Music, with Alan Cross, isnt new: At 20, It can legally purchase alcohol.

30. Enhanced CDs, like I Mother Earths Scenery and Fish and Treble Chargers Self=Title, came with extra digital goodieslike pictures, puzzles, and zine directories.

Remember when we actually bought CDs and actually put them in our computer towers and actually pored through the enhanced content on them? Treble Charger once featured a zine directory on one of their albums, whichreally Treble Charger? You were actuallydown with zine culture at one point? Times done changed.