A head's up since Zip Zip 4 was mentioned after the CBC story on CIA:

Martin Ward-Doran, Zip Zip 4's lead singer, responded to Lostbutnotforgotten80's comment on the YouTube upload of Zip Zip 4's Home to say that he does not know CIA.

Below is a list of all the SOCAN search results for both "CIA" and "C.I.A.". Note that SOCAN's website makes a distinction between those two search terms.

SOCAN does not, however, distinguish between "CIA" and "The CIA" (or "C.I.A." and "The C.I.A.")

As always, these results are included on the Masterlist under the "SOCAN" tab. If anyone digs up any additional info on any of these songs, you can comment on the Masterlist or leave a reply on this thread.

Another quirk of SOCAN's website is that it only allows searching for titles based on either an exact match or beginning with a given phrase. This means that titles which include "CIA", but don't start with "CIA" (for example: "Working for the CIA") have to be individually searched for. I'm currently collecting SOCAN entries for these kinds of titles. If anyone has any suggestions, feel free to leave a comment.

Less Likely (based on date):

CIA by [no performer listed] (Work # 81932401) has a date estimate of Jun 16, 2015

• Shareholder(s): Associated Music Publishers Can,Burgon Geoffrey, Chester Music, Peer International Ltd (Canada), Southern Music Publ Co Canada Ltd

C.I.A. by [no performer listed] (Work # 207283281) has a date estimate of Mar 02, 2021

• Shareholder(s): Anthem Entertainment B, Anthem Music Publishing I, Bmg Platinum Songs Us, Bmg Rights Management Canada B, Low John E, Wgbh Music Inc

Unlikely:

CIA by Martin Gerber, Steve Bick, Jay Lolli, Katherine Stares (Work # 46810387) has a date estimate of Jan 20, 2008 and features 2 members of BUTTERFLYWINGTIP (Bandcamp) who appear to have been too young and according to their Bandcamp page are "influenced by Boards of Canada, Wu Tang, and King Tubby"

• Shareholder(s): Bick Steven John

CIA by Michael Lockwood (Work # 36918742) has a date estimate of Oct 07, 2006 and credits "Opus 1 Production Music Library", which was founded in 1998 (Wiki page)

• Shareholder(s): Bmg Rights Management Canada A, Hereinafter Music, Lockwood Michael Dean, Monotune Musak, Opus 1 Production Music Library Llc

CIA by [no performer listed] (Work # 240409258) has a date estimate of Aug 5, 2025, is the alternate title for "Ghosted" and is likely from the AppleTV movie of the same name

• Shareholder(s): ADAMS PETER GREGORY, THOMAS STUART MICHAEL, APPELLA MUSIC, BELLASSA MUSIC LLC, Concord Copyrights Canada, Concord Sounds Canada

CIA by [no performer listed] (Work # 72573602 / 76644400) has a date estimate of May 29, 2011 and is composed by Ahn Ji Hong, a South Korean film and TV composer (muso.ai link)

• Shareholder(s): Ahn Ji Hong, Universal Music Publishing Canada I, Universal Music Publishing Korea

CIA by [no performer listed] (Work # 78449922 / 250172911) has a date estimate of Dec 5, 2013 and credits Smilax Publishing Srl Unipersonale, which appears to be an Italian publisher founded in 2004 (smilaxpublishing.com)

• Shareholder(s): Angelino Pasquale, Smilax Publishing Srl Unipersonale

CIA by [no performer listed] (Work # 74634919 / 78056414) has a date estimate of Mar 25, 2012 and credits Micha Liberman, a composer of instrumental production music (pmpm.tv link)

• Shareholder(s): Bmg Production Music Canada A, Liberman Micha M, Seven Mile Lane Music

C.I.A. by [no performer listed] (Work # 12628763) credits Dominic Frontiere, a prolific film and TV composer

• Shareholder(s): Bruin Music Company, Frontiere Dominic, Sony Atv Melody Canada

CIA by [no performer listed] (Work # 10919561) credits Alain Crevier, a late 70's Québécois folk singer, whose songs listed on discogs are all in French (Discogs link / link to an example of his music: "Complainte A L'hiver" on YouTube)

• Shareholder(s): Crevier Alain, Intermede Musique Intl

CIA by [no performer listed] (Work # 29923860 / 29923861 / 29287754 / 29120699 / 31179557 / 31179556) have date estimates ranging from Oct 21, 2001 to Apr 17, 2005 and appear to be cues from a 2000 TV documentary called The CIA (archive.org copy of TCM link), for which David Vanacore is credited with the music

• Shareholder(s) - Work # 29923860: Defaria John Hill, Discovery Networks Music Publishing, Discovery Trademark Holding, Sony Atv Songs Llc, Sony Atv Tunes, Sony-Atv Tunes Llc, Sony/Atv Songs, Vanacore David John
• Shareholder(s) - Work # 29923861: Dinletir Birol, Discovery Networks Music Publishing, Discovery Trademark Holding, Sony Atv Songs Llc, Sony Atv Tunes, Sony-Atv Tunes Llc, Sony/Atv Songs, Vanacore David John
• Shareholder(s) - Work # 29287754: Discovery Networks Music Publishing, Discovery Trademark Holding, Sony Atv Songs Llc, Sony Atv Tunes, Sony-Atv Tunes Llc, Sony/Atv Songs, Vanacore David John, Vanacore Victor Anthony
• Shareholder(s) - Work # 29120699: Discovery Networks Music Publishing, Koskenmaki Matt David, Sony Atv Songs, Sony Atv Songs Llc, Vanacore David John
• Shareholder(s) - Work # 31179556: Discovery Trademark Holding, Sony Atv Tunes, Sony-Atv Tunes Llc, Vanacore David John, Vanacore Victor Anthony
• Shareholder(s) - Work # 31179557: Discovery Trademark Holding, Sony Atv Tunes, Sony-Atv Tunes Llc, Vanacore David John

CIA by [no performer listed] (Work # 72462073) has a date estimate of May 24, 2011 and credits Manuel Ángel Rodríguez, who is primarily a composer of music for Spanish language television (IMDB link)

• Shareholder(s): Emi April Music Canada Ltd, Reyna Manuel Angel Rodriguez, Televisa Music Publishing Sa De Cv

CIA (aka Caught in the Act / Caught You in the Act) by [no performer listed] (Work # 225660031) has a date estimate of Apr 16, 2021 and credits Kobalt Music Publishing, which was founded in 2000

• Shareholder(s): Hein Thomas, Kobalt Mus Pubg Ltd Canada Iii, Marchetti Mario, Silva Lining Music, Thurber Jeremy Randolph, Thurbersounds

CIA by [no performer listed] (Work # 10916205) credits Warren Hunter and Dennis Mills, who are both of the Vancouver art-rock band Rhythm Mission, which performs Devo-inspired no wave that features saxophone (Discogs link / link to an example of their music - "Medulla" on YouTube / link to an interview with Dennis Mills)

• Shareholder(s): Hunter Warren Peter, Mills Dennis Wayne

CIA (aka PSM CIA DAKR) by [no performer listed] (Work # 94740095) has a date estimate of Nov 28, 2017 and credits Pink Shark Cues, which primarily publishes instrumental production music (pinksharkmusic.com link)

• Shareholder(s): Key Of Harmony Mus Pubg Ii, Krain David, Pink Shark Cues

CIA by [no performer listed] (Work # 210412883) has a date estimate of Apr 4, 2021 and is likely from the soundtrack to The Crocodile Hunter: Collision Course, for which Mark McDuff is credited with the music, and which, according to this review from IMDB, featured a poorly received side plot featuring CIA operatives

• Shareholder(s): Mcduff Mark Christopher, u/A Music Inc, Universal Music Publishing Canada I

C.I.A. by [no performer listed] (Work # 35648215 / 48974194) has a date estimate of Jul 21, 2006 and credits prolific film composer Randy Newman

• Shareholder(s): Newman Randall S, Skg Songs, Universal Music Corporation, Universal Music Publishing Canada I, Usi A Music Publishing

CIA by [no performer listed] (Work # 75484615) has a date estimate of Jul 29, 2012, is the alternate title to "Poolboy Drowning out the Fury", and is likely from the 2011 movie of the same name (IMDB link), for which Sunna Wehrmeijer is credited with the music (sunnawehrmeijer.com)

• Shareholder(s): Sunna Music Productions, Wehrmeijer Sunna E

Confirmed to be a different song:

CIA by AB's (Work # 35829455 / 91934209) is a different song (YouTube link)

• Shareholder(s): Nippon Television Music Corporation, Starr Gregory, Universal Music Publishing Canada I, Yoshino Yasuo

Čia (which displays as CIA on SOCAN) by Alina Orlova (Work # 228500223) is a different song (YouTube link)

• Shareholder(s): Butavicius Simas, Orlovskaja Alina, Sba Music Publishing Llc, Unknown Pub, Warner Chappell Music Canada Ltd

C.I.A. (alternate title for "Gabe's New Joint") by Antibalas / Antibalas Afrobeat Orchestra (Work # 34491493) is a different song (YouTube link)

• Shareholder(s): Boscosound Music, Defend Music Inc B, Kobalt Mus Pubg Ltd Canada Ii, Perna Martin Adrian, Roth Gabriel Alexander, Sanghamu Jordan

C.I.A. by Bernard Lavilliers (Work # 54213072 / 209072518) is a different song (YouTube link)

• Shareholder(s) - Work # 54213072: Francis Dreyfus Music, Lavilliers Bernard Rene Fernand
• Shareholder(s): - Work # 209072518: Bmg Rights Management Canada B, Francis Dreyfus Music, Lavilliers Bernard Rene Fernand

C.I.A. (aka CIA) by Brian Melvin's Nightfood (Work # 47197834) is a different song (YouTube link)

• Shareholder(s): SMITH RICHARD DONNELL, GLOBAL PACIFIC PUBLISHING

CIA by Bruce Fowler (Work # 38135248) is a different song (Spotify link) from the soundtrack to The Good Shepherd

• Shareholder(s): Fowler Bruce L,U P G Music Publishing, Universal Music Publishing Canada Ii

CIA by C.I.A. (Work # 80629003) is a different song (YouTube link)

• Shareholder(s): Evans Glenn M, Nuclear Assault Music,St Music Circle

C.I.A. by Cartel (Work # 25538186) is a different song (Bandcamp link)

• Shareholder(s): Brown Jason

CIA by Chadwick Stokes (Work # 83271839) is a different song (Spotify link)

• Shareholder(s): Ain T No Trip To Cleveland Music, Kobalt Mus Pubg Ltd Canada Ii, Nettwerk Music Group Inc Ii, Urmston Charles Stokes

CIA (aka C.I.A.) by Claudia Cazacu (Work # 77740455) is a different song (Spotify link)

• Shareholder(s): Cazacu Claudia, Musicallstars Publishing, Warner Chappell Music Canada Ltd, Wc Music Corp

CIA by Colin Harris, Dave Tull, Mike Wood, Rik Kiviaho (aka Joykamp) (Work # 31549456) is a different song (Soundclick link)

• Shareholder(s): Kiviaho Alan Edward, Wood Mike Deone

CIA by David Brulin (Work # 254371971) is a different song (YouTube link)

• Shareholder(s): BRULIN DAVID LAURENT, SENTRIC MUSIC CANADA LTD CO SENTRIC MUS LTD, TUNECORE DIGITAL MUSIC, TUNECORE INC II

CIA by David Mula (Work # 247129324) is a different song (YouTube link)

• Shareholder(s): OYENIYI ABIODUN DAVID, SENTRIC MUSIC CANADA LTD CO SENTRIC MUS LTD, SENTRIC MUSIC PUBLISHING LTD

CIA (aka CIA (Church in Absentia)) by Drakare, Onome Enakerakpor ft. Miella (Work # 251991868) is a different song (YouTube link)

• Shareholder(s): ABAA DOOYUM KINGSLEY, SENTRIC MUSIC CANADA LTD CO SENTRIC MUS LTD, SENTRIC MUSIC PUBLISHING LTD

CIA (aka CIA (Fear No Evil)) by Eloq (Work # 83553423) is a different song (Bandcamp link)

• Shareholder(s): Fenger August Vibes, The Bank Music Publishing Aps

C.I.A. (Criminals In Action) (aka C.I.A.) by Zack De La Rocha, KRS-One & The Last Emperor (Work # 27785854) is a different song (YouTube link)

• Shareholder(s): Bdp Music, De La Rocha Zack M, Horne Keith Everette, Last Emperor, Obi Wan, Parker Lawrence Krsone, Peace Be Still Music, Universal Music Publishing Canada I, Universal Music Publishing Canada Ii, Universal Music-Z Tunes Llc, Universal Songs Of Polygram International Inc, Word War Publishing

C.I.A. by Fleece (Work # 84523414) is a different song (Spotify link)

• Shareholder(s): Rogers Matthew Ryan, Soil Ethan Spencer

CIA by Freddie Gibbs (Work # 228221764 / 231731124) is a different song (YouTube link)

• Shareholder(s) - Work # 228221764: American Songs Alpha, Big Rabbit, Concord Sounds Canada, Concord Sounds Canada, Concord Sounds Canada, Concord Sounds Canada, Jackson Otis Lee Jr, Kobalt Mus Pubg Ltd Canada Ii, Madlib Invazion Music, These Are Songs Of Pulse, These Are Songs Of Pulse, These Are Songs Of Pulse, These Are Songs Of Pulse, Tipton Fredrick Jamel
• Shareholder(s) - Work # 231731124: Denton Norva Q, Gibbs Freddie, Lambert Ben George, Unknown Pub, Warner Chappell Music Canada Ltd, Wc Music Corp

CIA by Frozouda and Asan (Work # 236922817 / 243725658) is a different song (YouTube link)

• Shareholder(s) - Work # 236922817: Atuanorinos S A, Juan Tomas Santos, Pelontri Facundo Agustin, Sony Music Publishing Argentina S R L, Sony Music Publishing Argentina S R L, Sony Music Publishing Argentina S R L, Sony Music Publishing Argentina S R L, Turqui Ricardo Naim, Unknown Pub, Woscoboinik Ivan
• Shareholder(s) - Work # 243725658: JUAN TOMAS SANTOS, PELONTRI FACUNDO AGUSTIN, TURQUI RICARDO NAIM, WOSCOBOINIK IVAN, UNKNOWN PUB, WARNER CHAPPELL MUSIC ARGENTINA, Warner Chappell Music Canada LTD

CIA by Gift Of Destiny (Work # 79536735) is a different song (Spotify link)

• Shareholder(s): Cd Baby Alpha Music, Cd Baby Chi Music, Halland Michael Gilmore

CIA by Jbeat (Work # 208320312) is a different song (Spotify link)

• Shareholder(s): Sanchez Spuler Sergio, Sentric Music Canada Ltd Co Sentric Mus Ltd, Tunecore Digital Music, Tunecore Inc Ii

CIA by Kai Panschow (Work # 84097922 / 249699357) is a piece of instrumental production music (popvirus.com link - see track #9)

• Shareholder(s): PANSCHOW KAI, POPVIRUS PUBLISHING GROUP UG (HAFTUNGSBESCHRAENKT) & CO. KG, RED BRICK MUSIC PUBLISHING

CIA by Kaoru Wada (Work # 232874872) is a different song (Spotify link)

• Shareholder(s): Bandai Namco Music Live Inc, Sony Atv Music Publishing Canada, Wada Kaoru

CIA by Kevin Kiner, Gustavo Santaolalla (Work # 234320596) is a different song (YouTube link) from the soundtrack to Narcos: Mexico

• Shareholder(s): 22D Music Canada, 22D Music Canada B, Gaumont International Music, Gaumont International Soundtracks, Kiner Kevin D, Santaolalla Gustavo A

C.I.A. by Kiko and Thomas Gandey (Work # 91511959) is a different song (YouTube link)

• Shareholder(s): Black Rock Publishing Ltd, Dalla Ca Kiko, Gandey Thomas Sebastian, Sentric Music Canada Ltd Co Sentric Mus Ltd

Čia (which displays as CIA on SOCAN) by Minnado (Work # 236787963) is a different song (YouTube link)

• Shareholder(s): Gestion Et Medias Dip Inc, Sentric Music Canada Ltd Co Sentric Mus Ltd, Spakauskas Mindaugas

CIA by New Politics (Work # 200040240 / 214564684) is a different song (YouTube link)

• Shareholder(s) - Work # 200040240: Boyd David, Hansen Soeren, Karlsson Tobias Erik, Kobalt Mus Pubg Ltd Canada, Mxm Music Ab, Vecchio Louis Iii
• Shareholder(s) - Work # 214564684: Bmg Gold Songs, Bmg Rights Management Canada A, Bmg Rights Management Canada A, Bmg Rights Management Canada A, Bmg Rights Management Canada A, Boyd David S, Hansen Soeren, Karlsson Erik Tobias, Psycho Killers, Unknown Pub, Vecchio Norberto Luis

CIA (aka The C.I.A. is Trying to Kill Me) by Non Phixion (Work # 33381450) is a different song (YouTube link)

• Shareholder(s): Billion Dollar Bill, Braunstein William, Fuentes John, Manzanilla Mitchell, Ray Todd

CIA (aka IF19 CIA / aka CIA The Invisible Front) by Oli Arnalds (Work # 76448185 / 247661358) is necessarily a different song as Ólafur Arnalds was born in 1986

• Shareholder(s) - Work # 76448185: Arnalds Olafur, Kobalt Mus Pubg Ltd Canada, Kobalt Music Copyrights Sarl
• Shareholder(s) - Work # 247661358: ARNALDS OLAFUR, BOSWORTH MUSIC GMBH, Southern Music Publ Co Canada LTD

CIA by Orr And Woodgate (Work # 30374037) is 1:02 long piece of instrumental production music from a collection called "Vintage Commercials" (HDCD1314) (dennismusic.com link - see track 15 of HDCD1314)

• Shareholder(s): Bosheck Wilhelm W E, Current Music North Ii, Dennis Music International Ltd, Orr Colin V

CIA (aka The C.I.A.) by Graeme Revell (Work # 76296841) is a different song (YouTube link) from the soundtrack to Collateral Damage

• Shareholder(s): REVELL GRAEME CHARLES, UNIVERSAL MUSIC PUBLISHING CANADA II, WARNER-BARHAM MUSIC LLC

CIA by Marco Papetti (Work # 94393523 / 94988182) is a different song (YouTube link)

• Shareholder(s) - Work # 94393523: Expressive Artists Canada Ltd, Italian Way Music, Papetti Marco
• Shareholder(s) - Work # 94988182: PAPETTI MARCO, ITALIAN WAY MUSIC

CIA (aka C.I.A.) by Primer (Work # 230009518 / 230385367) is a different song (Soundcloud link)

• Shareholder(s) - Work # 230009518: Johnson Ryan, Sentric Music Canada Ltd Co Sentric Mus Ltd, Tunecore Digital Music, Tunecore Inc Ii
• Shareholder(s) - Work # 230385367: Johnson Ryan, Sentric Tunecore Canada, Tunecore Global

CIA (alternate title for "FBI Warning") by Punsapaya (Work # 35743767) is a different song (YouTube link)

• Shareholder(s): FARINA GIUSEPPE, POUPKO MICHAEL JARED, PUNSAPAYA TUNES

CIA by Radium Dolls (Work # 255432451) is a different song (YouTube link)

• Shareholder(s): DAY EWAN GENE, EQUINOX BRYCE CHARLES, PERKINS THOMAS MICHAEL, PERKINS WILLIAM JOHN, DOMINO DOUBLE SIX PUBLISHING, GAGA MUSIC PTY LTD

C.I.A. by Riot (Work # 12056349) is a different song (YouTube link)

• Shareholder(s): Bandora Music Publishing, Canadiana Mus, Canadiana Mus, Canadiana Mus, Canadiana Mus, Chanteclair Mus, Forrester Rhett, Rightsong Music Inc

CIA (aka The CIA) by Stephen Barton (Work # 87727338 / 87730271) is a different song (YouTube link) from the soundtrack to Unlocked

• Shareholder(s): Barton Stephen J, Kobalt Mus Pubg Ltd Canada, Kobalt Music Netherlands B.V.

CIA by Steve Jablonsky (Work # 76582620 / 77096162) is a different song (YouTube link) from the soundtrack to Pain & Gain

• Shareholder(s): Jablonsky Steve K, Paramount Bella Music, Songs Of Universal Inc, Universal Music Publishing Canada Ii

CIA by Surf City (Work # 48300672 / 74227544) is a different song (Bandcamp link)

• Shareholder(s) - Work # 48300672: Arch Hill Music Publishing Limited, Bmg Firefly, Bmg Rights Management Canada A, Collins Logan Joel, Kennedy Jamie Ryan, Kennedy Josh Daryl, Stoddard Davin Ryan
• Shareholder(s) - Work # 74227544: Arch Hill Music Publishing Limited, Collins Logan Joel, Kennedy Jamie Ryan, Kennedy Josh Daryl, Red Brick Mus Pubg, Stoddard Davin Ryan

C.I.A. by Ted Leo And The Pharmacists (Work # 81726145) is a different song (YouTube link)

• Shareholder(s): Huan Hound Of Valinor, Kmr Music Royalties Ii Scsp, Kobalt Mus Pubg Ltd Canada, Leo Theodore F

CIA by Teddy Lasry (Work # 46999654 / 231879931) is a different song (Soundcloud link)

• Shareholder(s) - Work # 46999654: Canpub Apm, Kapagama, Lasry Teddy Albert
• Shareholder(s) - Work # 231879931: Canpub Metro Park, Lasry Teddy Albert, Sonimage

C.I.A. by The Four Windows (Work # 83860305 / 83882152) is a 3:22 long track from the 1988 album "Stars and Strings" by a Swiss surf-rock band (Discogs link)

• Shareholder(s) - Work # 83860305: Bmg Klanggold Oesterreich, Bmg Rights Management Canada A, Plazzeriano Alfred
• Shareholder(s) - Work # 83882152: Bmg Klanggold Oesterreich, Bmg Rights Management Canada A, Plazzeriano Freddy

CIA by The Living End (Work # 245199316) is a different song (YouTube link)

• Shareholder(s): CHENEY CHRISTOPHER JOHN, BMG RIGHTS MANAGEMENT (AUSTRALIA) PTY LTD, BMG RIGHTS MANAGEMENT CANADA B

CIA by Wayne Brain (Work # 250847713) is a different song (YouTube link) - performer is listed on GEMA's copyright registration, despite not being listed on SOCAN

• Shareholder(s): JAMES ARJUNA LEO, BEATSTARS PUBLISHING WORLDWIDE, SONY/ATV SONGS, SONY ATV SONGS LLC

CIA (aka C.I.A.) by Zebra (Work # 87956911 / 205961014) is a different song (YouTube link)

• Shareholder(s) - Work # 87956911: Budde Music France, Cohen Charles, Huyghues Lacour Alain Herve, Lahcene Jean, Red Brick Mus Pubg
• Shareholder(s) - Work # 205961014: Budde Music France, Huyghues Lacour Alain Herve, Lahcene Jean, Nimsgern Frank, Red Brick Mus Pubg, Red Brick Mus Pubg, Red Brick Mus Pubg, Red Brick Mus Pubg

CIA by [no performer listed] (Work # 74657177) is a 42 second long piece of instrumental production music from a collection called "Spies like Us" (NLV111) (musou.gr link - see track 5)

• Shareholder(s): Anthem Musicbox, Kucaj Martin, Stock Cinesymphonies Mus

One of the fun things I've been keeping track of on the Masterlist (specifically on the 'Info' tab), is a tally of the play counts of all the various reuploads, remasters, covers, etc. of CIA.

Congratulations to CIA's band for going Lostwave Platinum™... If only we knew where to send the commemorative plaque!

Further congratulations / shout-out to u/richfromhell (whose original upload was almost exactly 6 years ago) for spreading the word about our favorite lostwave. Shout-out to Antonio's Remastered Works, whose CIA remaster accounts for nearly half of CIA's 1 million+ plays. And congrats to everyone here for creating and sustaining this dedicated community.

Now lets get to finding CIA's band before they go Lostwave Double Platinum!

This is a recap of the past 18 months of the search for CIA, as visualized by the changes to the 'Leads' tab of the Masterlist.

First, a brief rundown of how leads are categorized:

• Newly added leads are tagged as "Newly Added" and generally posted near the top of the 'Leads' list.
• More often than not, information is found that allows a lead to be classified as some degree of unlikely. Primarily, that classification is based on genre:
  • Bands that are the right genre, but differ from CIA's band in some notable way (style, voice, instruments used / not used) are typically categorized as "Less Likely".
  • "Unlikely" bands are usually not new wave, but a different (but still related) subgenre of rock music.
  • "Very Unlikely" bands are generally completely mismatched to CIA's genre (for example: jazz, blues, hardcore punk, heavy metal, folk, etc.).
  • In addition to the genre-based classification, if a band is particularly notable (if they have a Wikipedia page for instance), that band is moved one category lower (for example "Less Likely" → "Unlikely" or "Unlikely" → "Very Unlikely").
  • If the evidence for a given band's genre classification is particularly weak / circumstantial, that band is moved one category higher (for example "Very Unlikely → "Unlikely" or "Unlikely" → "Less Likely").
  • Lastly, a band may be marked as some degree of unlikely if they broke up too early (1983 or earlier) or formed too late (1985 or later).
• Leads requiring more information to rule on, or those that remain unknown to us after a diligent search are tagged as: "Searching"
• Bands that seem to be a good fit (right genre, not notable, Ontario bands that were active at the right time) are tagged as "Promising Lead"
• As u/Successful-Bread-347 noted in this recent post, anyone may contact band members (or other leads) who have not already been contacted. We ask that you let us know here or on discord. We will then mark the lead as "In Progress"
• Any time a band member is contacted and denies knowledge of "CIA", their band is marked as a "Contact Rule Out"

The Past 18 Months:

• The current iteration of the Masterlist began in January 2025 with 140 total leads. This consisted of 114 unchecked leads gathered from listings in the Toronto Star from Newspapers.com and leads previously discussed on discord. One prominent group of leads at that time was a couple dozen bands that played a benefit for Ryerson's campus radio station, CKLN, at Beverly Tavern in 1984. The initial version of the list also included 26 contacted bands (many of which were contacted by u/richfromhell - see his Dec 2024 r/Lostwave thread).
• After the Masterlist was promoted on r/Lostwave in March 2025, additional leads came in, progress was made marking unlikely bands as 'unlikely', and the total number of unchecked bands shrunk to about 100.
• In June 2025, CIA's synth was identified as a Korg Poly-800 by u/technomanuel. The fact that the Poly-800 was likely unavailable prior to late 1983 has allowed us to classify bands that broke up prior to that point as 'unlikely'.
• Work on the initial group of leads really ramped up in July, 2025, when we managed to get the number 'unchecked' bands down to 23. This was accomplished by conducting enough research to mark 100 bands as 'unlikely' and increasing the number of contact rule outs to 67.
• Thanks to the Toronto Gig Database, January 2026 saw hundreds of bands that played the Toronto venues, The Cabana Room, Beverly Tavern, Larry's Hideaway, and The Turning Point added to the list.
• In February 2026, u/Successful-Bread-347 contacted the author of the Toronto Gig Database, Bruce Marshman, and acquired previously unpublished gig listings for the El Mocambo, resulting in hundreds more bands being added.
• Starting in January 2026, u/LunaTeaaa analyzed over 1,000 bands that u/Successful-Bread-347 had added to the 'Comps Analysis' tab of the Masterlist. This month, the most promising of those bands were added to the 'Leads' list.
• Other bands recently added are:
  • new wave and rock bands from Hamilton
  • bands listed on a defunct website called punkhistorycanada.ca
  • bands that competed in various battles of the bands (such as the 1984 Burlington Battle of the Bands)
  • bands from Fanshawe College's Music Industry Arts program
  • bands which were to be included in a planned compilation album of Hamilton bands
  • known bands from CFNY's Great Ontario Talent Search
  • and many more...
• Presently, there are over 1,600 total bands - about 500 of those are still in the 'newly added' / 'searching' categories, and 11 have achieved 'Promising Lead' status. As always, we welcome any help in generating new leads, researching leads, and/or contacting band members!

I am trying to identify a song which was recorded off CFNY in late 1984. It was first posted to the internet in 2020 (link to the original YouTube upload), and has since become a pretty big internet mystery. The quality of that original recording is a little rough - this YouTube upload is the most popular "remaster". Across all the various reuploads, the song has close to 1 million views, and yet no one has been able to identify the band.

Song ID apps don't work - they only give false results.

Alan Cross, who started at CFNY in 1986, posted the song to his blog in 2021. He doesn't know the band.

David Marsden, Liz Janik, Ivar Hamilton, and Scot Turner (all from CFNY) have all been asked about the song and don't recognize it.

The prevailing opinion is that it is most likely a cassette recording (either a demo tape or an independently produced commercial tape) from a band local to CFNY's broadcast range. It could have been an entry in CFNY's annual Great Ontario Talent Search contest. Another possibility is that it was featured on "The Streets of Ontario", which aired independent bands that had records or tapes for sale in broadcast area record stores.

If anyone here happens to recognize the song or band please let me know. Suggestions, speculation, and wild guesses are also welcome.