Collections and Labels

2020's

Alberta

New Brunswick

MOCM ALBUM HOF

NEW AND UNDER DEVELOPMENT This is a special place within the Museum of Canadian Music, reserved for featured artists who stand among the most important contributors to Canada’s musical legacy. Each entry represents what curator Robert Williston believes to be their greatest album—a defining work that captures their artistic essence ...

MOCM Top 1000 Canadian Albums

so far around 400 albums have been added....

Artistes Féminines Québécoises

Created November 8, 2023 – this collection is a growing celebration of the powerful, poetic, and pioneering voices of women in Quebec music. From chanson and folk to pop, rock, and experimental sounds, Artistes Féminines Québécoises highlights the rich cultural legacy and ongoing evolution of female artistry in la belle ...

True North Trebles: 60s All-Girl Groups

A Tribute to Canada’s Independent Female Voices of the Swingin’ Sixties While the girl group boom of the 1960s is often associated with major American labels like Motown, Scepter, and Philles, Canada’s contribution was something different—smaller in scale, but no less passionate. Most of the all-female groups that emerged here ...

Sister Soundcheck: 70s Canadian Girl Groups

As the 1960s came to a close, the golden age of matching dresses, major label girl group polish, and regional pop hits began to fade. But in Canada, a new wave of all-female musical voices was already starting to stir — this time rougher around the edges, louder, more political, ...

CanCon Queens: 80s Edition

Big hair, bold voices, and unstoppable style—welcome to the era of neon dreams and fierce Canadian femmes. CanCon Queens: 80s Edition celebrates the trailblazing women who ruled the airwaves, dancefloors, and MuchMusic screens throughout the decade. From synth-pop sparkle to power ballad glory, this playlist brings together the essential female-fronted ...

Canadian Talent Library

The Canadian Talent Library (CTL) is the manifestation of Lyman Potts' "Canadianization" of Canadian radio broadcasting. Created primarily to bring a measure of truly Canadian programming to private (commercial) radio stations, CTL became a unique showcase for Canadian singers, musicians and song-writers that especially attracted easy-listening program producers in other ...

CBC Northern Service and Related Recordings

For many years CBC North, a branch of the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, has released broadcast recordings featuring northern singers and songwriters from the NWT, Yukon and northern Quebec, performing in various languages. Included in this series are Inuit songs, fiddle music, contemporary music, and an album for children. The collection ...

Canadian Women in Song

A heartfelt tribute to the voices, stories, and strength of Canadian women in music and beyond. This lovely collection brings together singer-songwriters, trailblazing performers, and cultural icons whose contributions shaped the sound and soul of Canada throughout the 20th century. From folk to jazz, pop to classical, and every heartfelt ...

Beautiful Black Canadians

A radiant tribute to the voices, rhythms, and stories of Black Canadians across generations. This collection spans nearly 4,000 tracks of reggae, Caribbean sounds, hip-hop, soul, jazz, R&B, and every brilliant fusion in between. From pioneering legends to underground innovators, Beautiful Blac Canadians celebrates the richness and resilience of Black ...

Civic Pride

The Music of Willie Dunn

This collection presents practically every Willie Dunn recording he ever made, eight hours of music. Willie Dunn was a Canadian folk musician, filmmaker, poet, and activist whose art remains one of the most profound testaments to Indigenous experience in the modern era. Born William Lawrence Dunn on August 14, 1941, ...

Early Lightfoot!

This collection includes all of Gordon Lightfoot's recordings from the years 1961 to 1967. Born on November 17, 1938, in Orillia, Ontario, Lightfoot started out as a country dancer on CBC's Country Hoedown, appearing regularly on the weekly variety show from 1960-62 where he clog danced and harmonized. "The only ...

Early Tom Connors

Here's a collection of the young ultimate Canadian patriot, pre-stompin', pre-black-hatted Canadian legend. On the CKGB, Twang, Dominion, and Rebel labels circa 1965-1969.

Buck 65

Rich Terfry performs under the name Buck 65. Terfry, grew up in the small town of Mount Uniacke, Nova Scotia. Terfry became known on Halifax's hip-hop scene in the early 1990s, while recording songs under the name Stinkin' Rich. His first EP, Chin Music (1992), attracted the attention of the ...

Debbie Lori Kaye - Sweetheart Of The Sault

Debbie Lori Kaye - The Little Girl with the Big Voice Sweetheart of the Sault By Robert Williston April 5, 2025 Deborah Kaye, known professionally as Debbie Lori Kaye, was a diminutive dynamo, a singer, guitarist, and songwriter whose soaring voice and magnetic charm made her a standout figure in ...

Eric's Trip

Eric’s Trip was a Canadian indie rock band hailing from Moncton, New Brunswick. Formed in 1990 when musicians Rick White and Christopher Thompson of The Forest joined Julie Doiron and Ed Vaughan (who was later replaced by Mark Gaudet of Purple Knight), they took their name from a Sonic Youth ...

Eric Simpson and Don Stagg

The Timeless Legacy of Don Stagg and Eric Simpson: Pioneers of Sonic Exploration In the realm of Canadian music history, few collaborations have captured the imagination quite like those of Don Stagg and Eric Simpson. Spanning decades, their artistic partnership has given rise to some of the most innovative and ...

Jackie Mittoo - The Keyboard King

Jackie Mittoo was a visionary keyboardist, composer, and arranger whose fingerprints are all over the birth and evolution of ska, rocksteady, and reggae. As musical director at Jamaica’s legendary Studio One by age 15, he helped define the island’s sound throughout the 1960s. After relocating to Toronto in the late ...

Jack Grunsky: A Musical Journey Across Continents

Childhood in Toronto Born in Austria, Jack Grunsky was raised in Toronto, Canada, where his parents, both musicians, instilled in him a deep love for music. The Grunsky household resonated with melodies as Jack honed his skills through lessons in cello, piano, and recorder. However, during his high school years, ...

Round, Round with Frank Ludwig

Frank Ludwig is one of Canadian rock’s most versatile and underrated architects—a gifted keyboardist, vocalist, and songwriter whose career spans garage beginnings, platinum radio hits, and quietly profound studio work. This playlist traces his musical path from the psychedelic flair of Richmond’s Self Portrait, through theatrical turns with Brutus, to ...

Jay Telfer

Toronto singer/songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Jay Telfer is arguably best known for his work with 1960s rock group, A Passing Fancy, and for penning Steel River’s hit, “Ten Pound Note”. Starting out with folk group, The Voyageurs at the age of 14, Telfer befriended future Bruce Cockburn manager Bernie Finkelstein, who ...

Out of Time: The Lynda Layne Collection

Born Hazel McKirdy in 1949 in Kitchener, Ontario, Lynda Layne emerged in the early 1960s as one of Canada’s most promising teen pop vocalists. At just 14 years old, she released her debut single in 1963 on Arc Records under her birth name—a cover of Skeeter Davis’s “End of the ...

Lloyd Hanson

Lloyd Hanson is a Canadian bassist, multi-instrumentalist, composer, arranger, producer, and recording engineer whose work has profoundly shaped the Canadian music landscape. Based in Fredericton, New Brunswick, Hanson is the founder of Reel North Recording Studios, a former hub of creative innovation in Atlantic Canada. Renowned for his stylistic diversity ...

Roy Payne - A Reflection

IMHO - Roy Absalom Payne, born April 3, 1939 A Reflection for the Museum of Canadian Music Snowden Walters, December, 2010 If you do an online search for Roy Payne you won’t find a lot. A few entries that say he’s a guy from Trout River, Newfoundland & Labrador. A ...

Neil Merryweather

Neil Merryweather (born Robert Neilson Lillie on December 27, 1945 in Winnipeg, Manitoba) was a Canadian rock singer, bass player and songwriter. He has recorded and performed with musicians including Steve Miller, Dave Mason, Lita Ford, Billy Joel and Rick James, and released an extensive catalogue of albums. Merryweather began ...

Raymond Materick

Raymond George Materick (born April 15, 1943) is a Canadian singer-songwriter, from Brantford, Ontario who particularly was well-appreciated in the mid-late 1970s, who continues to perform. He is best known for writing and performing "Linda Put the Coffee On", a major hit single in both Canada and the USA in ...

Pierre Perpall

Pierre Perpall – The Chameleon of Canadian Music Pierre Perpall is a Canadian musical icon whose career spans over six decades of soul, pop, disco, and dancefloor magic. Born in Montreal in 1948 to a black American jazz musician father and a Québécoise mother, Perpall’s mixed heritage and early exposure ...

Rick St. Jean

At just 17, Rick St. Jean embarked on his professional music career in Montreal, establishing and collaborating with various bands like The Munks and Freedom North. His musical pursuits took him to Japan alongside Eddie Kaye and Bob Burgess (of The Haunted), who subsequently became his sister's husband. Upon returning ...

100 Years of Phil Nimmons

Clarinet-playing bandleader Phil Nimmons was the dean of Canadian jazz Brad Wheeler, Globe and Mail, April 18, 2024 On Oct. 6, 2010, at age 87, jazz clarinetist Phil Nimmons performed a concert of improvised music with pianist David Braid at Petro-Canada Hall in St. John’s. The finale, Falling Through, combined ...

Bruce Cockburn

For his many achievements, the Ottawa-born artist has been honoured with 12 Juno Awards, an induction into the Canadian Music Hall of Fame, and a Governor General’s Performing Arts Award, and has been made an Officer of the Order of Canada. But he never rests on his laurels. “I’d rather ...

Dutch + Garrett Mason Prime Minister & Son

Here is the only place you will find practically every Dutch and Garrett Mason track ever recorded. Hit shuffle a few times, hit play, sit back and listen to the best Nova Scotian and Canadian bluesmen! Dutch (b Norman) Mason. Singer, guitarist, pianist, b Lunenburg, NS, 19 Feb 1938, d ...

6th Avenue Records

6th Avenue Records was launched in 1965 by Al Reusch as part of Aragon Enterprises Ltd., following the relocation of Aragon Recording Studios to its new home on West 6th Avenue in Vancouver, British Columbia. The label functioned as a companion to Aragon’s main imprint, documenting a wide range of ...

Aragon Records

Vancouver, British Columbia label founded by Al Reusch in 1946. Jack Herschorn purchased the label in June 1971 from Aragon Enterprises Limited and two months later the label and its catalogue was acquired by Can-Base Industries Ltd. when it bought out Herschorn Productions Ltd. In 1946, aided by Al Reusch, ...

Black Hen Music

Black Hen Music was started by award-winning producer and musician Steve Dawson in 1998. Black Hen is dedicated to producing music that is diverse, eclectic and that has some connection to roots music forms. Since its inception, Black Hen has released over 80 albums and continues to expand its roster. ...

Bonsound Records

Bonsound is a music company founded in 2004 and based in Montreal, Canada. We are a record label, music publisher, booking agency, concert producer and artist management team. We also run two sublabels: Make It Rain and Blow the Fuse records.

Condor Records

Condor Records brought their catalogue to citizenfreak.com in 2017 - it is a unique Canadian record label base in Burnaby, British Columbia that featured Jack Millman aka Johnny Kitchen, a pseudonym for Larry Fischer.

Sonore

Sonore was a small French-Canadian label based in Montréal that had a brief run from 1967 to 1968, issuing a catalogue that ran sequentially from S-8001 through S-8016 (with no documented release at S-8013). In less than two years, with fewer than 35 songs and a combined runtime of just ...

Trans-World Explosion

Trans-World Explosion draws from the rock-oriented catalogue of Montréal-based Trans-World Records, a Canadian label active from the mid-1960s into the early 1970s that operated as label, manufacturer, and distributor under several corporate names. While Trans-World released material across multiple styles, this playlist focuses on its strongest and most enduring output: ...

Ray St. Germain

On Jun 25th, 2024 Canada and the Métis community mourned the loss of Ray St. Germain, a cherished advocate and musician whose influence spanned generations. Since our connection in 2012, citizenfreak.com has proudly featured his music, celebrating his remarkable recording career. His music reflects his enduring legacy and profound impact ...

Cree Songbook

Cree Songbook brings together Cree voices from across Canada, tracing a wide musical continuum that moves between traditional chant, fiddle and country song, folk, rock, hip-hop, and contemporary pow-wow-influenced sounds. Drawn from communities including Beardy’s First Nation, Maskwacis, Mistissini, Sandy Lake, Saddle Lake, Hobemma, and North Battleford, the playlist reflects ...

Bob Bryden

Canadian music veteran, Bob Bryden (‘Reign Ghost’, ‘Christmas’) has two new releases coming in 2023. One is a 5 song electric EP entitled ‘Transcendental Misinformation’ and the other is a full double album called ‘No Song Left Behind - The Acoustic Album’. The former release features Bob once again working ...

BIG CANADIAN HAIR

This is the room where the hair is high and the vibes are louder. BIG HAIR celebrates the glorious era(s) when volume wasn’t just for music—it was a lifestyle. Across all genres, from rock to pop to funk and beyond, these artists brought big sound, big style, and even bigger ...

Hard Rock des Habitants

134 Records, 719 Tracks, 1,000's of photos! Dive deep into the raw, unfiltered sounds of Montreal’s underground hard rock and psychedelic scene from the 60s and 70s. A time when fuzzed-out guitars, heavy blues riffs, and mind-expanding jams thundered through Quebec’s clubs and college halls. This collection brings together essential ...

Judy Tate: Canada’s Hidden Voice

Judy Tate: Harmony, Humour, and the Hidden Life of a Studio Singer By Robert Williston Nov 21, 2025 Judy Tate grew up in a house where music was more a language than an activity. Her mother, Jean Campbell, was a gifted pianist with a full contralto voice and a repertoire ...

$1000 Record Club

Welcome to the $1000 Record Club—an exclusive list of Canadian records that have either surpassed or are approaching the USD $1,000 mark in collector value. These are the rarest of the rare: private pressings, limited runs, and cult classics that have become holy grails for vinyl hunters worldwide. With only ...

Mary Saxton's Soul

Here is nearly every Mary Saxton recording. Mary Saxton: Canada's Northern Soul Voice Mary Saxton emerged from Edmonton, Alberta in the 1960s as one of Canada’s most compelling and underrated soul-pop vocalists. A powerful voice rooted in rhythm and blues, Saxton bridged the gap between the gritty stylings of American ...

Canadian Places

A musical map of the True North, Canadian Places features songs inspired by the cities, towns, provinces, territories, and regions that define our vast and varied landscape. From small-town anthems to urban ballads, coast-to-coast travelogues to prairie hymns, these tracks celebrate the places we call home—and the stories they hold. ...

Canadiana

The Canadiana Room is reserved for those recording artists who proudly exemplify the true spirit of Canada—through songs about our land, our people, and the stories that make us who we are. From rugged coasts to prairie skies, from small-town tales to national anthems of identity and belonging, these artists ...

Robert Service

Known as the “Bard of the Yukon,” Robert Service (1874–1958) was one of Canada’s most beloved poets, famed for his vivid, rhythmic tales of the northern frontier. His narrative poems—like The Cremation of Sam McGee and The Shooting of Dan McGrew—captured the spirit, humour, and hardship of life in the ...

Sounds of World War I

Music, Memory, and the Canadian Home Front, 1914–1918 During the First World War, music became an indispensable part of life in Canada—rallying communities, shaping public opinion, and offering comfort amid loss. Whether sung around parlor pianos, performed at recruitment drives, or published as sheet music in downtown Toronto, popular wartime ...

Sounds of World War 2

Music, Memory, and Morale on Canada’s Home Front, 1939–1945 Music once again served as a powerful cultural force during the Second World War—on the battlefield, over the airwaves, and in the hearts of Canadians across the country. In a time of global uncertainty and widespread mobilization, sound became a unifying ...

Greatest Canadian Album Covers

This room celebrates the bold, bizarre, beautiful, and iconic artwork that has graced the front of Canada’s finest records. Greatest Canadian Album Covers is a visual tribute to the designers, illustrators, photographers, and artists who helped define eras and genres with a single image. From psychedelic masterpieces to DIY punk ...

Haunted Halloween Canadian Style

Step into the dark and mysterious corners of Canada's musical legacy. Haunted Halloween Canadian Style is the ultimate Canadian horror soundtrack—a collection that melds eerie folk tales, unsettling soundscapes, and supernatural legends from the Great White North. Whether it's ghostly ballads or spine-tingling beats, these tracks invite you to explore ...

The Ultimate Jamaica to Ontario Collection

This room celebrates the vibrant legacy of Jamaican immigrants who settled across Ontario—not just in Toronto, but also in cities like Hamilton, London, Windsor, Ottawa, and beyond. The Ultimate Jamaica to Ontario Collection features reggae, ska, rocksteady, dancehall, dub, and hip-hop from the artists and communities that carried island rhythms ...

Rarest Canadian Music

Welcome to the deep end of the archive—an unparalleled collection of Canada’s most elusive, obscure, and impossible-to-find recordings. Private press LPs, vanished 45s, cassette-only gems, and forgotten studio experiments—all rescued from the brink of silence. Spanning every genre and region, RAREST CANADIAN MUSIC shines a light on the voices, visions, ...

Ruth Lowe

Born in Toronto in 1914, Ruth Lowe was a pioneering Canadian songwriter and pianist best known for penning the iconic ballad “I’ll Never Smile Again.” Originally broadcast by Percy Faith on CBC Radio in 1939, the song gained global fame when Frank Sinatra and Tommy Dorsey recorded it in 1940—making ...

Ukrainian Power

Canada is home to the second largest Ukrainian diaspora in the world, and their musical legacy runs deep. Ukrainian Power celebrates the rich traditions and modern expressions of Ukrainian-Canadian music—from centuries-old folk songs and fiery polkas to soaring choirs and contemporary fusions. These recordings reflect resilience, cultural pride, and a ...

The Toronto Jazz Scene

A city of clubs, sessions, and serious chops—Toronto has long been the beating heart of Canadian jazz. This collection pays tribute to the players, composers, and innovators who shaped its sound: from smoky post-war lounges to modern downtown lofts, from straight-ahead swingers to boundary-pushing experimentalists. Featuring legends, sidemen, and new ...

The Vancouver Jazz Scene

Cradled between mountains and ocean, Vancouver’s jazz scene flows with creativity, openness, and West Coast cool. This collection showcases the city’s rich musical tapestry—from smoky clubs in Gastown to avant-garde loft sessions and seaside festivals. Home to boundary-pushing improvisers, lyrical composers, and deep-pocket rhythm sections, The Vancouver Jazz Scene blends ...

The Montreal Jazz Scene

Montréal was one of the few places in North America where you could still buy alcohol legally. The city’s unofficial theme song was the 1928 Irving Berlin Co. chart topper “Hello Montréal!”, which summed up the sentiments of thirsty tourists: “Goodbye Broadway, hello Montréal / I’m on my way, I’m ...

The Winnipeg Scene 1964-1974

Created Jul 11, 2023 - Here is an overview of one of Canadas hottest music scenes ever, the vibrant rock music scene of Winnipeg, Manitoba circa 1964 - 1974. Around 140 records and 500 photos so far! Check back as more is added.....

Atlantic Frequency: Halifax 1990s

This playlist was started Dec 23, 2025 and is in progress....In the early 1990s, a loose network of bands, venues, and independent labels centered in Halifax, Nova Scotia began drawing national attention. While rarely labeled as a “scene” by its participants at the time, the cluster would later be widely ...

Winston Hewitt's Reggae

Hewitt is considered one of the top reggae artists in Canada. In addition to being the creator of the "Canadian Reggae Music Awards" in 1985, Winston is the original lead singer and one of the founding members of one of Jamaica's top international reggae vocal group 'The Pioneers'. Hewitt, working ...

The Yorkville Sound

“A city within a city — a way of life.” Step into the cafés, basements, and smoky clubs of 1960s Toronto, where a cultural and musical revolution was brewing on every corner. Long before gentrification transformed it into a luxury address, Yorkville Village was alive with defiance, creativity, and possibility. ...

MOCM Top 1000 Canadian Singles

This playlist is a curated journey through Canada's most significant and influential singles, as selected by Robert Williston for the Museum of Canadian Music. Spanning genres, decades, and regions, it showcases the diversity and richness of Canadian music history. From iconic tracks like Stompin' Tom Connors' "The Hockey Song" to ...

Yé-Yé

This room celebrates the vibrant world of Yé-Yé—the playful, stylish pop movement that swept through Quebec in the 1960s. Inspired by the French Yé-Yé scene but with its own Montreal flair, this collection includes catchy francophone rock ‘n’ roll, twist-era charmers, and the infectious sounds of local instrumental combos. From ...

Primitive Cover Artwork

Welcome to a gallery of glorious roughness. Primitive Cover Artwork celebrates the raw, the hand-drawn, the awkwardly charming visuals that graced some of Canada’s most obscure and endearing releases. From crayon scrawls to cut-and-paste photocopy jobs, these covers are pure outsider art—bold, DIY, and bursting with personality. They may not ...

Canadian Radio and Television Recordings

This room will be dedicated to the golden age of Canadian broadcasting—when radio and television were not only national pastimes but cultural lifelines. Canadian Radio and Television Recordings features music, performances, comedy, and dramatic works originally produced for the airwaves and small screen. From CBC studio sessions and live broadcasts ...

Trains

There’s something timeless about the sound of a train—and Canadians have been singing about it for generations. Trains is a collection of songs that capture the rhythm of the rails, the romance of the journey, and the stories of those riding steel across the country. From lonesome whistles to boxcar ...

The Normand Hudon Collection

This collection features the album cover artwork of celebrated Montreal artist Normand Hudon, with 16 titles identified so far. Known for his vivid style and irreverent humour, Hudon brought a unique visual flair to Canadian records—often capturing the spirit of Montreal through playful caricature and expressive linework. Born in 1929, ...

Famous Canadians

This room celebrates the household names, national icons, and international stars who put Canadian talent on the map. Famous Canadians features artists whose voices, songs, and stories have become part of the cultural fabric—across genres, generations, and borders. Whether they topped charts, won awards, or simply captured hearts, these are ...

Canadian Oddities

Step into the weird and wonderful. Canadian Oddities is a collection of the most offbeat, obscure, and delightfully strange recordings ever to surface in the Great White North. From outsider artists and vanity pressings to unclassifiable genre mashups and one-of-a-kind curiosities, this room celebrates the creative misfits and musical wild ...

Canadian Monsters

From Sasquatch to Ogopogo, Wendigo to werewolves on the Prairies—Canadian Monsters prowls the folklore, forests, and fever dreams of the Great White North. This collection features songs about legendary beasts, mythical creatures, and mysterious happenings that could only come from Canada’s vast and haunted landscape. Sometimes spooky, sometimes silly, always ...

Canadian Disasters

British Columbia Centennial

In 1971, British Columbia celebrated its 100th anniversary as a province of Canada, inspiring a wave of commemorative music across the region. From official theme songs and radio spots to locally pressed singles and regional tributes, musicians captured the landscapes, communities, and heritage of the province in song. This playlist ...