Bryan Adams tops car song poll
MONTREAL (CP) – As the summer road trip season continues, Bryan Adams’ classic Summer of ’69 has topped the list of Canadians’ favourite driving songs, everywhere but in Ontario, suggests a new poll.
The mid-1980s tune topped the list of seven suggested songs among men and women, according to a Decima Research survey of 1,000 Canadians. The song was more popular in Quebec at 36 per cent, compared with a national average of 27 per cent.
The other songs in order of preference were:
2). Bohemian Rhapsody – Queen;
3). Born to be Wild – Steppenwolf;
4). It’s Only Rock ‘n Roll (But I Like It) – The Rolling Stones;
5). Drive My Car – The Beatles;
6). Free Fallin’ – Tom Petty;
7). Radar Love – Golden Earring.
Ontario was the only province not to pick the Adams tune as its favourite. Residents there preferred Bohemian Rhapsody.
British Columbians were divided between the song by Adams, a former Vancouver resident, and the Stones classic.
The order of preference of the seven songs was slightly different in each of the three provinces.
Adams said he appreciated topping the poll, especially in Quebec.
“I’ve always thought Quebecers had extremely good taste,” he said in an e-mail.
Montreal radio DJ Claudine Prevost pinned the Adams song’s popularity on its chorus and the memories it sparks among listeners.
“It’s a good song because it’s one that everyone knows,” the CKOI-FM personality said Tuesday as the poll results were made public.
“Each summer, it’s a song that people request.”
The 29-year-old said she loves the song even though she is too young to have any memories of her own about that summer 37 years ago.
The seven songs were selected by music journalists. No French selections were included because they wouldn’t be known across the country.
Danielle Martineau of Montreal said she prefers Bohemian Rhapsody but has great memories, nevertheless, of the summer when she was a freedom-loving teenager.
“In ’69, I was 19,” said Martineau, a Revenu-Quebec employee who attended the release of the results. “It was a great time in those years.”
The poll was conducted July 12-19 as part of a national telephone survey paid for by various corporations. The margin of error was plus or minus 3.1 percentage points, 19 times out of 20.
The survey also found that two-thirds of Canadian drivers admitted to singing in the car.
Female singers outnumbered males 73 per cent to 58 per cent.
Ontario residents were the most likely to sing in the car, while Quebecers were the least likely. Almost half of Quebecers said they never sing in the car.
More than half of respondents across Canada said they preferred to sing along with songs on the radio, while 34 per cent selected songs on their CD, MP3 or cassette players.
B.C. drivers claimed they were most likely to get caught singing by other motorists. Some 64 per cent said they were spotted, compared with the national average of 50 per cent.
But Alberta drivers were the most confident, with 82 per cent saying they would continue to sing when spotted by other drivers.
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