Dave Bidini of the Rheostatics has composed a list of the fifty songs that best capture the spirit of Toronto.
38. "I Hate the Bloody Queen" by The Queen Haters…
30. "Parkette" by Bob Snider: "There was no ball playing and no crayfishing/And they called it a parkette after a politician." In the song, the singer sees Toronto's woodland supplanted by a parcel of sod.
22. "Echo Beach" by Martha and the Muffins: Rush is good, but M&M might be the only Toronto band. They were so biology class, so stereo-shop employee, so Square One, so Sheridan College, so Plantation Bowl, so smooth, suburban asphalt. Cold, zippered, click-tracked. Like a robot snapping its fingers.
7. "OK, Blue Jays" by The Batboys: For the '85 American League Championship Series, the U.S. media were humoured by the politeness of this baseball "fight" song. But "OK" is beautifully us. Lose seven in a row in '87? It's okay. Get drubbed by the Twins in '89? S'okay, too. World Series titles in '92 and '93? No problem with that.
(Thanks, Chris!)