Hello!
If you're here, it's because you want to know more about the songs in Degrassi Season 10.
Many amazing artists and songs were featured in Season 10 and they all deserve to be heard.
In this blog, you'll find our behind-the-scenes thoughts, ideas and emotions behind the music in the show, as well as links and interesting facts about the artists.
As the Music Supervisors on the show, we've listened to literally thousands of songs for Season 10 and we've placed over 200 of them. A fantastic blend of pop, rock, singer/songwriter, hip hop and country music made for an incredible listening experience all year long.
Thanks for being here, thanks for reading, and we hope you delve deeper into the artists you've discovered from Degrassi!
Happy reading and listening,
The Degrassi Music Supervisors.
February 2, 2011
Degrassi 1010
I Just Don't Know What To Do With Myself, Pt. 2
Original Air Date: August 3, 2010
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Popular by T.Ko
The Producer’s spot notes when we sent them this song was “many laughs.” There wasn’t supposed to be a song here, but we had this one in my back pocket for just such an occasion. Degrassi isn’t serious all the time!
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In The Morning by Leif Vollebekk
Leif was something of a guiding light in my life at a time when I needed him. One of the best show I’ve ever seen was with about ten other people at The Horseshoe Tavern and Leif playing his music, entwined with Bob Dylan and Neil Young covers. He stroked his guitar with his violin bow and demonstrated his mastery over his music. I’ll listen to the whole song for that one lyric: “and how, without knowing, can you just go by chance.”
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I Hear Drums by Elias
We definitely knew we needed an epic track for this Sav-salvation-moment. We searched a few, and this one made the cut. You can just picture the drums marching on Sav's beat, victorious!
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Degrassi 1009
I Just Don't Know What To Do With Myself, Pt. 1
Original Air Date: August 2, 2010
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Suburbia by Juice Monkey
To us this song screamed Degrassi. Though there’s not much going on in the song, it’s really the nature of it that reminded me of those kids – those teen high school years – cookie cutter houses and Johnny doing things he shouldn’t.
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Uptown by The World Provider
Another Degrassi fan band, these guys were thrilled to be part of the show. It’s great, because the song was a great fit for The Dot.
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Hard Shoulder by Gemma Ray
This was a questionable song to a questionable scene – but put to picture, it looks and feels great. It’s no traditional song, and it actually broke the traditional Degrassi practice of a rock – pop – singer/songwriter club with relatable lyrics, instead it’s more about the general feeling inside Fiona’s head, “and I wish, and I wish”.
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Dreamless Nights by Clothes Make The Man
This is one of those albums you remember being handed to you at their gig – and not being able to hear a word that’s said about it – because the band is playing it so well. That moment held on, and I found it again when listening to the album the next day.
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Degrassi 1008
Better Off Alone, Pt. 2
Original Air Date: July 29, 2010
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Sunshine Singing by The Pets
www.myspace.com/thepetsloveandwar
We had another placement for this scene that we would have preferred seeing, that being said, this worked on a different level that we can also appreciate. It was fantastic in the mix, as we eliminated a jarring frequency in the song that interfered with the frequency of the keys scratching the car, and the song and the scratch both popped. Magic of TV.
We had another placement for this scene that we would have preferred seeing, that being said, this worked on a different level that we can also appreciate. It was fantastic in the mix, as we eliminated a jarring frequency in the song that interfered with the frequency of the keys scratching the car, and the song and the scratch both popped. Magic of TV.
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Better With You by Five Times August
www.fivetimesaugust.com
There are two themes with Eli, the dark, angry, rough goth kid who listens to The Job, and the sweet kid that only Clare sees, that can be themed by Five Times August. He really is better with her, and the differences in music show his nights and days. Listen carefully with Eli, because the music always sets his mood, even if it’s in “our” listening world.
There are two themes with Eli, the dark, angry, rough goth kid who listens to The Job, and the sweet kid that only Clare sees, that can be themed by Five Times August. He really is better with her, and the differences in music show his nights and days. Listen carefully with Eli, because the music always sets his mood, even if it’s in “our” listening world.
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Degrassi 1007
Better Off Alone, Pt. 1
Original Air Date: July 28, 2010
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Let It Go by Magneto
This was supposed to be replaced with an alternate song, but that alternate ending up not being synchable, so we stuck with this one. It was one of those placements that didn’t feel right until the very last time we watched it. That nostalgic feeling goes great with football, yes?
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The Good Times by Royalchord
We had to be careful with this one, because whatever we did with it, it was sure to be too “on-the-nose”. The song is very simple, “where did the good times go?” and Clare’s parents’ divorce seemed like a good place for that question. Royalchord had this song featured on iTunes Canada the week of the episode’s airing.
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U Suck by Just Kait
I wasn’t sold on this spot, simply because it’s such a short spot – but then everyone started tremendously digging it. After all, it’s a really, cute fun spot. Just Kait has some great teenage pop-rock tunes – check her out if you’re filled with teen revolt.
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The Good Life by Amber Pacific
Oh, young love. And poor Dave. It’s a good life for a little while, until he finds out Alli isn’t digging him – at all. In the meantime, we needed some fun, familiar rock to get us into Alli’s party (before it gets too hot!).
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Take You Down by Shy Talkers
Dave can’t win for trying, and does he ever try. The Shy Talkers deliver another bass-heavy track, leading on what they know about the kids in that room – someone is going down! Alli had a plan, and it’s working nicely, so goodbye Drew – she’s taking you down.
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Public School by Soft Copy
Andrew McAllister and some of the Soft Copy brood are professors at OCAD. Is professor the right term? Teacher or instructor? In any case, these are smart guys and the link between mathematics, logic and music and art never ceases to amaze me. I look forward to their next logical release.
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Degrassi 1006
99 Problems, Pt. 2
Original Air Date: July 27, 2010
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It's Over by We Are The Take
We tried a few songs here, and then a few more, and finally landed this one. We had some trouble because there’s a lot of dialogue, and we didn’t want the song to step on it, but also wanted the energy and mischief that would come with a song. Overall it worked out great.
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I Like It by McGowan
We instantly knew we’d find a spot for this the moment we heard it. Just clean fun, it makes you want to bob your head and tap your toes, and yeah, I like it too.
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Booty Song by Rick Threat
Supplied on a dime by our good friends at Hipjoint, we really liked this song for this scene, the fat synth line with the repetitive “shake your booty” lyric fit really nicely. It’s always tough lining up a new song with pre-existing dancers’ moves, but it’s also a ton of fun.
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The World Is Yours by Undergreen
We’d never heard of this band, but we really liked the song. It feels so good, even gives off that tingly nostalgia feeling, and even though the world is yours, it isn’t, and you’ve got to fight for it. Right Riley?
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June Bug by Little Foot Long Foot
Another really cool independent Toronto band, the entire reason for this placement was singer Joan Smith’s killer pipes, she sold the song entirely on rocking vocals. The dancing crowd (especially the guy with the horn) looked great with the song – and the composers even brought in some marching band instruments on the track for visual effect.
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Degrassi 1005
99 Problems, Pt. 1
Original Air Date: July 26, 2010
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Building A Boat by Matt Mays & El Torpedo
We just had to consider Matt Mays & El Torpedo – they just rock too much. This was a placement by the editors, and it worked quite nicely, just a smooth rockin’ tune to get some energy and excitement into Riley and Drew’s workout competition.
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Lights Go Red by Chicks With Hits
A fun little song and band, these British girls helped Alli’s dance squad stay in step – but not by much!
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Authentic by Young Rival
Like Building A Boat – this song didn’t really mean anything to it’s placement, just something fun to get Alli’s hopes up – before we tear them down!
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Domino by Spiral Beach
We’ve liked Spiral Beach since their inception years ago and were avid supporters. Unfortunately, the band broke up in November 2010, their members off to bigger and brighter things (some of which may yet be heard in Degrassi!).
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Roland by The Bicycles
The Bicycles are essentially music staples – they are a good match for everything. Pretty much any song can be laid up anywhere with awesome results! No really, this was a fun, up-beat song with a catchy melody and works really well in the background of this scene.
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Same Old Song by The 1,2,3,4's
Originally, we wanted this song to be pumped on one of Riley’s Riley-style looks (when he gets angry and pensive at the same time). The lyrics made a lot of sense to Riley – he’s traveling the “same old road”, even though he’s trying not to.
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Degrassi 1004
Breakaway, Pt. 2
Original Air Date: July 22, 2010
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Save Yourself by Mark Feldman
We didn’t know it, but it turns out Mark is from Toronto – though the song was pitched by an American company. From far and wide, eh? We had our thumb on this song for a while.
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All That I Know by Zach Berkman
Though we like to give a wide variety of artists to the audience, we had to plug in another Zach Berkman song – he was just such a good fit for Degrassi. Lyrically, the song is beautiful, and his vocals justify another feature for him.
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Don't Pass Me By by Scout
The unstoppable writing partners known as Scout have done it again – another great fit in the Degrassi world. I love the everyman theme of this song.
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Sunshine Blues by Bahamas
www.myspace.com/bahamasbreeze
www.youtube.com/watch?v=N9-JZrGum0E
Afie Jurvanen – AKA Bahamas – usually rocks out at his shows – so you’ll seldom find him performing Sunshine Blues, albeit I do believe it’s one of the best compositions by a Canadian in a while. Go look it up, read the lyrics, interpret it how you’d like. To me, it’s about the eternal longing the sun has for his true love, the moon.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=N9-JZrGum0E
Afie Jurvanen – AKA Bahamas – usually rocks out at his shows – so you’ll seldom find him performing Sunshine Blues, albeit I do believe it’s one of the best compositions by a Canadian in a while. Go look it up, read the lyrics, interpret it how you’d like. To me, it’s about the eternal longing the sun has for his true love, the moon.
Degrassi 1003
Breakaway, Pt. 1
Original Air Date: July 21, 2010
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I Lied by Laurell
Yes, Fiona lied, but this song wasn’t about the lyrical content. It was more about a feeling of being high, on a ledge, trying not to fall (for Fiona, literally). The instrumentation and airy feeling of the song did just that.
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Me Against The World by The Apollo Effect
These guys are solid musicians – but this is one of those obvious placements – the feeling on screen is the same as the lyrics. We try to be as least “on-the-nose” as possible, but in this case, we just couldn’t resist.
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Anywhere But Here by Brian Melo
Another obvious placement, I’d had this in mind for a while. I just love the feeling of the song, wanted to go but not knowing how or why. We’ve all felt that. The score-like placement turning into source was a new thing we were trying here.
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The Last Day On Earth by Kate Miller-Heidke
Another great artist to come out of Cherry Lane, Zach’s music came out just in time for the Season – and his voice, lyrics and music was just a terrific fit with what we were doing.
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Degrassi 1002
What A Girls Wants, Pt. 2
Original Air Date: July 20, 2010
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The Woman I Am by Erin Hunt
A really nice gal and talented artist, we had Erin’s music on file for a little while. This scene was almost scored – until this song came along and fit very nicely.
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Love, Love, Love (Love, Love) by As Tall As Lions
Anyone who knows the band knows and loves this song. Really that’s all it’s about, the questions and insecurities of love, the good and the bad. The first time we saw this to picture, we literally gasped.
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Degrassi 1001
What A Girls Wants, Pt. 1
Original Air Date: July 19, 2010
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Original Air Date: July 19, 2010
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Times We Had by The Camels
This song reminds me of high school, and one kid in particular. It kind of stuck in my head, and when the time came to open the doors of Degrassi once more, that kid was all I could think about.
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Kindergarten by Zeus
The backing band for Jason Collett for a while, these musicians form a really great band. Though we would have preferred hearing a feature use because they’re so good, we expect nothing but good things to come from Zeus.
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Take It For Granted by illScarlett
We had this song in the running for the Degrassi New York special, but this spot turned out to be better. IllScarlett, one of our must-place bands for this season, were all really into the placement. I love the shot of the red mustang as this song is booming.
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Never look Back by Zach Berkman
Another great artist to come out of Cherry Lane, Zach’s music came out just in time for the Season – and his voice, lyrics and music was just a terrific fit with what we were doing.
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The One by Black Mustang
A darker song, these Australians had this song featured over Vanderbilt Prep’s establishing shot. We’d had this song in our scope for a while and were happy to have found a home for it.
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Hand To Hold by Adaline
Adaline holds a special place with us, we just love her music. This song was actually a demo and almost never saw the light of day, until Adaline herself felt I should hear it, just for fun. I was instantly moved and was sold right away, I had to find a place for it. The following week, this scene appeared and in my mind, it was the only song for the spot. Low and behold it became somewhat Fiona's theme music. In one of the verses, Adaline sings "love takes no prisoners, and some die alone", and her voice wavers softly, and I had to capture that moment in the show.
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