Artist · chart history
The Northern Pikes
Band Saskatoon Canada Formed 1984
The Northern Pikes formed in 1984 in Saskatoon, Canada. The Northern Pikes has 8 chart appearances on 4 radio countdowns from 2 stations on RockLists, spanning 1987–1999. The most successful song on radio countdowns is “She Ain't Pretty”, which appears on 3 lists with a best position of #39. The station that charted The Northern Pikes most often is CFNY 102.1 The Edge (Toronto, ON), with 7 appearances. The artist’s biggest year on year-end countdowns was 1990.
The Northern Pikes came out of Saskatoon in 1984 with jangling guitars, big-hearted harmonies and a knack for a chorus that sounded good coming out of a car radio. The original lineup was Jay Semko, Bryan Potvin, Merl Bryck and Glen Hollingshead, with Don Schmid joining in 1986, and the early EP Scene in North America gave them "Teenland".
Virgin signed them, and Snow in June, in 1990, was their high-water mark: "She Ain't Pretty" is a sly, swaggering rocker with a hook that won't let go, backed by the moodier "Girl With a Problem" and "Kiss Me You Fool". The Junos took notice, with nominations for Group of the Year, Single of the Year and Video of the Year, after an earlier nod for Breakthrough Group.
At home they racked up a platinum album and four gold ones before going quiet in 1993. They regrouped in 1999, and in 2012 the Western Canadian Music Hall of Fame inducted them.
Written with AI assistance from RockLists chart data, MusicBrainz and Wikipedia.
Songs by The Northern Pikes on radio countdowns
| # | Song | Strength | Lists | Best | #1s | Peak year |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | She Ain't Pretty | 3 | #39 | – | 1990 | |
| 2 | Teenland | 2 | #382 | – | – | |
| 3 | Kiss Me You Fool | 1 | #539 | – | – | |
| 4 | Girl With a Problem | 1 | #65 | – | 1990 | |
| 5 | The Things I Do for Money | 1 | #88 | – | 1987 |
Albums with charting songs
Where each song was first released, from MusicBrainz.
Year-end chart timeline
Combined year-end countdown points per year. Taller bars mean more songs placing higher across more stations.
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