the summer of

What it was like to be 15 in 1989 in Canada

To be fifteen in Canada in 1989 was to have “Blow at High Dough” by The Tragically Hip everywhere, Batman on every screen, and Degrassi High on after school. That year, gas cost $0.53/litre and Free trade with the US officially begins was the new thing. Born in 1974? You turned 15 in 1989 — a teenager from 1987 to 1993, right in the window a soundtrack bonds to you for life.

Compiled by the Original Lore archive from period charts, box-office and price records. How we build these · sources noted throughout.

▶ Play your 1989 reel with sounda 30-second video of your year — the song, the screen, the turn.

the mixtape of 1989

Blow at High Dough — The Tragically Hip

  1. Like a Prayer — MadonnaThe scandal only made it bigger, gospel choir and all, blasting from every open bedroom window.
  2. Forever Your Girl — Paula AbdulPaula Abdul's bright bounce turned the mall food court into a place worth getting dressed up for.
  3. Hélène — Roch VoisineRoch Voisine's tender ballad swept Quebec that fall and had half the country humming it into winter.
  4. Right Here Waiting — Richard MarxThe long-distance ballad everyone dedicated to a summer-camp love they'd never actually call.
  5. Black Velvet — Alannah MylesA bluesy growl from a Canadian voice that made the whole world stop and ask who she was.

▶ Play your 1989 reel

why this one mattered

Not a radio-chart #1 but Canada's own #1 all the same — Kingston's Tragically Hip topped the RPM Canadian Content chart with a road song off Up to Here, the debut album that would go on to sell Diamond in a country of 27 million. This is the one that said rock could sound like exactly where you were from.

the year-end #1 was #1 on RPM's Canadian Content Singles Chart in spring 1989, from the debut album Up to Here (later certified Diamond in Canada).

what topped the Canadian box office in 1989

  • Batman
  • Honey, I Shrunk the Kids
  • Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade
  • Look Who's Talking
  • Jésus de Montréal

the tv shows you are binging in 1989

  • Degrassi High
  • The Kids in the Hall
  • CBC Newsworld
  • Hockey Night in Canada
  • MuchMusic

the games you are playing in 1989

  • Tetris
  • Super Mario Bros. 2
  • Mega Man 2
  • Altered Beast
  • Ghouls 'n Ghosts
  • SimCity

what things cost in 1989

What things cost in 1989
Gasoline$0.53/litre
Minimum wage (Ontario)$4.75/hour
Movie ticket~$4.50
Stamp (domestic letter)$0.38
the average income~$26,000/year average individual employment income

trending this year

SkyDome opens
Wikimedia Commons, source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Rogers_Centre,_Toronto,_Canada_-_Toronto_Blue_Jays_stadium.jpg · CC0
SkyDome opens
Canada-US Free Trade Agreement takes effect
AI-generated illustration
Canada-US Free Trade Agreement takes effect
CBC Newsworld launches
Wikimedia Commons, source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:CBC_Newsworld_logo.svg · Public domain
CBC Newsworld launches
Sega Genesis arrives
Wikimedia Commons, source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Sega-Genesis-Mod1-Set.jpg · Public domain
Sega Genesis arrives
Audrey McLaughlin elected NDP leader
Photo by Frank Saptel (Wikimedia Commons), source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:AudreyMcLaughlin2012_1_(cropped).png · CC BY 2.0
Audrey McLaughlin elected NDP leader

the gadgets you just got

Sega Genesis
Evan-Amos (Vanamo Media), via Wikimedia Commons · Public Domain (released to public domain worldwide)
Sega Genesis
Game Boy
Evan-Amos, via Wikimedia Commons · Public Domain
Game Boy
Camcorder
Photo by Darian Hildebrand (Wikimedia Commons), source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:RCA_VHS_shoulder-mount_Camcorder.jpg · CC BY-SA 3.0
Camcorder
Cordless phone
Photo by Oliverdl (Wikimedia Commons), source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Cphone.JPG · CC BY-SA 3.0
Cordless phone
Portable CD player
Wikimedia Commons, source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Sony_Discman_D_50.jpg · Public domain
Portable CD player

what everyone is snacking on

Poutine
Wikimedia Commons, source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Poutine_from_Windsor,_ON.jpg · CC0
Poutine
Coffee Crisp
Wikimedia Commons, source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Coffee-Crisp-Split.jpg · Public domain
Coffee Crisp
All-dressed chips
Photo by Ser Amantio di Nicolao (Wikimedia Commons), source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:A_pile_of_All_Dressed_potato_chips_on_a_paper_towel.jpg · CC BY-SA 4.0
All-dressed chips
Wunderbar
AI-generated illustration
Wunderbar
Timbits
Wikimedia Commons, source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Timbits.jpg · Public domain
Timbits

what everyone is drinking

Clearly Canadian
Arkpafisto, via Wikimedia Commons (https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Clearly_Canadian_Orchard_Peach.jpg) · CC0
Clearly Canadian
Tim Hortons double-double
Photo by Justin (Wikimedia Commons), source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Tim_Hortons,_extra_extra_large.jpg · CC BY-SA 2.0
Tim Hortons double-double
Milk in a bag
Photo by incommunicado (Wikimedia Commons), source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Four_litre_bagged_milk,_Quebec.jpg · CC BY-SA 2.0
Milk in a bag
Orange Crush
Photo by Alextvmx (Wikimedia Commons), source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Botella_Orange_Crush_Mexico.jpg · CC BY-SA 4.0
Orange Crush
A Caesar
Photo by AirIntake at English Wikipedia (Wikimedia Commons), source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Caesar_Cocktail.JPG · CC BY-SA 3.0
A Caesar

what made the news in 1989

  • The Berlin Wall falls (November 9)
  • The École Polytechnique massacre shocks Montreal and the country (December 6)
  • SkyDome opens in Toronto (June 3)
  • The Canada-US Free Trade Agreement takes effect (January 1)
  • Wayne Gretzky becomes the NHL's all-time leading scorer (October 15)
The Berlin Wall falls, watched live on Canadian TV (November 9)
Photo by Sue Ream (Wikimedia Commons), source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:BerlinWall-BrandenburgGate.jpg · CC BY 3.0
The Berlin Wall falls, watched live on Canadian TV (November 9)
The École Polytechnique massacre in Montreal kills fourteen women (December 6)
Photo by Sergey Mkrtchyan (Wikimedia Commons), source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:In_Memory_of_The_Victims_of_the_Montreal_Polytechnique_Massacre.jpg · CC BY-SA 2.0
The École Polytechnique massacre in Montreal kills fourteen women (December 6)
Toronto's SkyDome opens, and the Blue Jays clinch the AL East there that September
Photo by Benny Lin (Wikimedia Commons), source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Toronto_Skydome_Rogers_Centre_(224831552).jpg · CC BY 2.0
Toronto's SkyDome opens, and the Blue Jays clinch the AL East there that September
The Canada-US Free Trade Agreement takes effect January 1
Photo by U.S. Embassy Canada (Wikimedia Commons), source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Peace_Arch_(4034697479).jpg · Public domain
The Canada-US Free Trade Agreement takes effect January 1
The Calgary Flames defeat the Montreal Canadiens to win the Stanley Cup (May 25)
Photo by Bernard Spragg. NZ (Wikimedia Commons), source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Saddledome_Calgary_Alberta._(14356760314).jpg · CC0
The Calgary Flames defeat the Montreal Canadiens to win the Stanley Cup (May 25)

what everyone is saying

  • "eh"immortal
  • "out for a rip"taking the car, or the snowmobile, for a fast, aimless drive
  • "give'r"still the highest compliment for effort
  • "two-four"the case of beer at every long weekend
  • "klick"slang for a kilometre, used constantly on road trips

the summer of 1989.

you think you've got all the time in the world.

…and then it cools. Play the reel to feel where 1989 goes.

Turn 1989 into a 30-second reel →

▶ Play your 1989 reel with sound