#43: Last Kiss by Wednesday

Peak Month: November 1973
14 weeks on Vancouver’s CKLG chart
Peak Position #1
Peak Position on Billboard Hot 100 ~ #34
YouTube.com: “Last Kiss”
Lyrics: “Last Kiss”

In the early 70s a group from Oshawa, Ontario, were formed who named themselves Wednesday. The band formed when high school friends Mike O’Neil and Paul Andrew Smith decided to start a band. O’Neil played guitar and banjo, while Smith played guitar and keyboards. Both were singers. They were getting a good reputation as they played covers of contemporary hit songs at gigs across Ontario. They auditioned for a drummer and got Randy Begg, and they soon got bass player John Dufek to round out the band. In 1973 they showed up at Toronto’s Manta Studios in Toronto and made some demos.

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#1128: Teen Angel by Wednesday

Peak Month: June 1974
7 weeks on Vancouver’s CKLG chart
Peak Position #10
Peak Position on Billboard Hot 100 ~ did not chart
YouTube.com: “Teen Angel” ~ Mark Dinning version
“Teen Angel” lyrics ~ Original Mark Dinning version
YouTube.com: “Teen Angel” ~ Wednesday version
“Teen Angel” lyrics ~ Wednesday version (see below)

“Teen Angel” is a teenage tragedy song written by Jean Dinning and her husband, Red Surrey. It became a hit for Jean’s brother, Mark Dinning, in 1959. “Teen Angel” was released in October 1959. The song was not an instant success, with radio stations in the U.S. banning the song, considering it too sad. Despite the reluctance of radio stations, the song continued to climb the charts. In the last week of 1959, the single jumped from #100 to #50 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. It went on to reach #1 on the Billboard Hot 100 in February 1960. In the UK it climbed to #37 on the UK Singles Chart, despite being  banned from being played by the BBC. At the end of 1960 Billboard ranked it as the #5 song of the year.

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