Friday Funtime: Oh, Canada!

I don't get personally excited about the Olympics, but I hope the athletes and fans in Vancouver are having the time of their lives right now. Here's a celebration of some Canadians who have contributed memorable pop and rock to their neighbors to the south.

1. Nikki Yanofsky, "I Believe"
2. Bob and Doug McKenzie f/ Geddy Lee, "Take Off"
3. Paul Anka, "I Don't Like to Sleep Alone"
4. Kon Kan, "I Beg Your Pardon"
5. Alanis Morissette and Barenaked Ladies, "Call and Answer"
6. Bran Van 3000, "Drinking in L.A."
7. Anne Murray, "A Little Good News"
8. Bryan Adams, "Do I Have to Say the Words?"
9. Mother Lode, "When I Die"
10. k. d. lang, "Hallelujah"

Go West, "We Close Our Eyes"

Reasons that Go West's "We Close Our Eyes" is perhaps the worst video of all time:

1) The storyboard, or lack thereof.

2) The resulting stage directions to the duo: "Mug with this giant wrench." "Knock yourself and your mullet out with this hair dryer."

3) The duo's willingness to do so.

4) Their forced fun, which by comparison makes Wang Chung look outright mirthy on the despicable "Everybody Have Fun Tonight."

5) The inexplicable presence of a faux Pope amidst all that forced fun.

6) The insistence of the lead singer (the unfortunately named Peter Cox, who, I must admit, looked not unlike handsome former MLB pitcher and current announcer Al Leiter) on wearing worn, overtight tanks - even when wearing his leather jacket, which produces the chicken-and-egg question, Does his jacket smell like his armpits, or do his pits smell like his jacket?

And that's not even getting into the awfulness of the song, whose lyrics defy description and whose instrumentation defies taste. How this made it as high as #41 in '85 I'll never understand, but at least it missed the 40.

To think that Godley & Creme directed this. Will blunders never cease.

Pretenders, "Hymn to Her"

Two friends of mine in recent days lost strong women who were important to them. With my condolences, I offer the Pretenders' "Hymn to Her", a goddess tribute of sorts from their 1986 album Get Close. I hope it offers some comfort in difficult days. "She will always carry on / Something is lost, but something is found."