#537: Open Up Your Door by Richard & The Young Lions
Peak Month: November 1966
9 weeks on CFUN’s Vancouver Charts
Peak Position ~ #2
Peak Position on Billboard Hot 100 ~ #99
YouTube.com: “Open Up Your Door”
Lyrics: “Open Up Your Door”
When Richard Tepp began to hear the Beatles, Dave Clark Five, Rolling Stones and the Gerry and the Pacemakers in 1964, these British Invasion acts inspired him to become a rock ‘n roll singer. Sitting in his home in Newark, New Jersey, he saw the way the opposite sex reacted to the Beatles. Tepp imagined a wonderful life that would include him performing and girls screaming. He attended a gig at a club on Chancellor Avenue in Newark where The Emeralds were on stage. He asked if he could join there band and, after showing them his vocal skills, they hired him on the spot. The Emeralds soon changed their name to The Original Kounts and became a cover band playing British Invasion songs. They grew their hair long and stood out.