#20: Magic Power by Triumph
City: Regina, SK
Radio Station: CJME
Peak Month: November 1981
Peak Position in Regina ~ #5
Peak Position in Vancouver ~ did not chart
Peak Position on Billboard Hot 100 ~ #51
YouTube: “Magic Power”
Lyrics: “Magic Power”
In 1975 three local Toronto rockers, guitarist Rik Emmett, drummer Gil Moore and bass and keyboard player Mike Levine decided to jam on a chance encounter at a club called the Hollywood Tavern on The Queensway in Toronto. They decided to form a band and started to perform in clubs in the local Toronto area. Moore and Emmett did the vocals for this hard rock trio. From their live performances they were able to secure a record deal with Attic Records.
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#1: My Heart’s Symphony by Gary Lewis and the Playboys
City: St. John’s, NL
Radio Station: VOCM
Peak Month: April 1966
Peak Position in St. John’s ~ #1
Peak Position in Vancouver ~ #12
Peak Position on Billboard Hot 100 ~ #13
Peak Position on UK Singles chart ~ #36
YouTube: “My Heart’s Symphony”
Lyrics: “My Heart’s Symphony”
Gary Lewis & the Playboys were a band formed in 1964 as Gary & the Playboys. The “Playboys” was dreamed up given Gary Lewis thought the tardiness of his bandmates cast them as less than serious musicians, and in a word – playboys. They auditioned for a job at Disneyland without telling Disney employees about Lewis’ celebrity father, Jerry Lewis. They were hired on the spot, audiences at Disneyland quickly accepted them, and the Playboys were soon playing to a full house every night. The orchestra bandleader Les Brown, who had known Jerry Lewis for years, told record producer Snuff Garrett that the younger Lewis was playing at Disneyland. After listening to the band, Garrett thought using Gary’s famous name might sell more records. He convinced the group to add “Lewis” into their name. So they became Gary Lewis & the Playboys.
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#11: Don’t Make Me Over by the Swinging Blue Jeans
City: St. John’s, NL
Radio Station: VOCM
Peak Month: April 1966
Peak Position in St. John’s ~ #2
Peak Position in Vancouver ~ #24
Peak Position on Billboard Hot 100 ~ #116
Peak Position on UK Singles chart ~ #31
Peak Position on Australian Singles chart ~ #35
YouTube: “Don’t Make Me Over”
Lyrics: “Don’t Make Me Over”
The Swinging Blue Jeans had their origins in a band called the Bluegenes, a jazz-influenced skiffle sextet group formed by Bruce McCaskill. From the liner notes on their 1964 album Hippy Hippy Shake, there is a great description about the Swinging Blue Jeans’ origins. “It was in 1959 that Ray Ennis (born in 1942 in Liverpool) and Norman Kuhlke (born in 1942 in Liverpool) met in a dance hall in Garston, a suburb of Liverpool. And it was that meeting that led to the formation of the Swinging Blue Jeans. Ray was a regular singer with the group playing at Garston’s Wilson Hall. Norman used to go in, listen to the band, and request songs for Ray to sing. (“One of my biggest fans,” Ray laughs). Together they formed the SBJ – washboard (which Norman played), tea-chest bass and three guitars (one of which Ray played). They appeared at clubs and dance halls in and around Liverpool for a year, and then, in a talent contest at the Empire Theatre one night, they came up against a group led by Ralph Ellis (born in 1942 in Liverpool).”
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#3: Everybody’s Out Of Town by B.J. Thomas
City: Bathurst, NB
Radio Station: CKBC
Peak Month: April 1970
Peak Position in Bathurst ~ #5
Peak Position in Vancouver ~ #18
Peak Position on Billboard Hot 100 ~ #26
YouTube: “Everybody’s Out Of Town”
Lyrics: “Everybody’s Out Of Town”
Billy Joe Thomas was born in Hugo, Oklahoma, in 1942. His family eventually moved to Houston, Texas. When he was in his teens playing baseball, Billy Joe Thomas took the name of BJ. This was because there were too many boys on the baseball team with the name of Billy Joe. During his teens he sang in a church choir. In 1958, BJ Thomas heard “To Be Loved” by Jackie Wilson. He credits the song as being a catalyst for his love of singing. In the late 50’s, in grade eleven, his Junior year, BJ Thomas became lead singer for a local band named The Triumphs. He got to know Roy Head and the Traits. The Traits and The Triumphs participated in several Battle of the Bands events in the early 60’s. In 1966, BJ Thomas got a record contract with Scepter Records.
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#4: Petticoat White (Summer Sky Blue) ~ Bobby Vinton
City: St. John’s, NL
Radio Station: VOCM
Peak Month: September 1966
Peak Position in St. John’s ~ #3
Peak Position in Vancouver ~ did not chart
Peak Position on Billboard Hot 100 ~ #81
YouTube: “Petticoat White (Summer Sky Blue)”
Lyrics: “Petticoat White (Summer Sky Blue)”
Stanley Robert Vinton was born in 1935 in Canonsberg, Pennsylvania. His father was a bandleader, and the Polish surname was originally Vintula, and anglicized to Vinton. He was given a weekly 25-cent allowance as an incentive to learn the clarinet (about $4.25 in 2024 dollars). By the age of sixteen, Bobby Vinton had his own band in Pittsburgh. He got a degree in university in music composition, and learned to also play saxophone, piano, drums, trumpet and oboe. In the fall of 1959, Bobby Vinton wrote a song titled “First Impression” which became a Top 40 hit in Pittsburgh, Philadelphia, Syracuse (NY) and Flint (MI). In early 1960, Vinton had a Top 20 hit in Syracuse (NY) with “A Freshman And A Sophomore”. He served in the United States Army for two years and got a record deal late in 1960 on the Epic label.
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#7: Juanita Banana by the Peels
City: St. John’s, NL
Radio Station: VOCM
Peak Month: April 1966
Peak Position in St. John’s ~ #3
Peak Position in Vancouver ~ #39
Peak Position on Billboard Hot 100 ~ #59
YouTube: “Juanita Banana”
Lyrics: “Juanita Banana”
The Peels consisted of Gail Allan, Bill Spilka, Harvey Davis, and Harold Swart. They were a study group who were assembled by co-writer of “Juanita Banana”, Tash Howard. Bill Spilka was born in 1933. He attended Princeton. He played trombone while at Princeton with the Stan Rubin and His Tigertown Five from 1953 to 1955. Harvey Davis wrote and recorded one rock n’ roll single in 1959 titled “Come Back Baby”.
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#5: I Met Him On A Sunday ’66 by the Shirelles
City: St. John’s, NL
Radio Station: VOCM
Peak Month: April 1966
Peak Position in St. John’s ~ #2
Peak Position in Vancouver ~ did not chart
Peak Position on Billboard Hot 100 ~ did not chart
YouTube: “I Met Him On A Sunday ’66”
Lyrics: “I Met Him On A Sunday ’66”
The Shirelles were a girl group that formed in 1957 in order to enter a talent show at their high school. The foursome were Shirley Owens, Beverly Lee, Addie “Micki” Harris and Doris Coley. Owens was born Shirley Alston Reeves in Henderson, North Carolina, in 1941. Harris was born in Passaic, New Jersey, in 1940. Lee was also born in Passaic, in 1941. Coley was born in Goldsboro, North Carolina, in 1941. Their performance at that 1957 high school talent show led to a record contract with Decca Records. In 1958 they had a minor hit titled “I Met Him on a Sunday”. It was written by the foursome. The song concerned a girl who meets a guy on a Sunday. She misses him the next day, goes out on a date with him on Wednesday, kisses him on Thursday. And by Saturday she says “bye bye baby.” Such were the fates of some teens in the late 50’s checking out if there momentary crushes were solid enough to go steady. The single was a Top 20 hit in Toronto in April 1958.
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#43: Honky Tonk by Bill Doggett with Tommy Brown
City: Halifax, NS
Radio Station: CJCH
Peak Month: January 1957
Peak Position in Halifax ~ #9
Peak Position in Vancouver ~ did not chart
Peak Position on Billboard Hot 100 ~ did not chart
YouTube: “Honky Tonk”
William “Bill” Ballard Doggett was born in Philadelphia in 1916. From the mid-1930s, Doggett worked with bandleader Lucky Millinder, American Federation of Musicians (for black Americans) bandleader, musician and arranger Frank Fairfax, and jazz tenor saxophonist and arranger James Mundy. In 1942, he was hired as the Ink Spots pianist and arranger. In 1945 he recorded “Be-Baba-Leba” which climbed to #3 on the R&B charts in the USA. During the 40s and into the 50s, Bill Doggett worked with Louis Jordan, Wynonie Harris, Johnny Otis, Illinois Jacquet, and others. In 1951 he signed a record deal with King Records. Doggett had four Top 20 R&B hits in 1953-54: “Mooniest”, “Early Bird”, “No More In Life”, and “High Heels”.
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#6: We’re Doing Fine by Billy J. Krammer and the Dakotas
City: St. John’s, NL
Radio Station: VOCM
Peak Month: April 1966
Peak Position in St. John’s ~ #2
Peak Position in Vancouver ~ did not chart
Peak Position on Billboard Hot 100 ~ did not chart
YouTube: “We’re Doing Fine”
Lyrics: N/A
William “Billy” Howard Ashton was born in Bootle, Lancashire, England, in 1943. He sang in a children’s choir and learned to play guitar. Out of high school he apprenticed as an engineer with British Railways, while playing rhythm guitar on the side. He formed a band and only ended up lead vocalist when his guitar was stolen after a gig. Billy was the highest-ranking non-professional artist in a popularity contest sponsored by the local music newspaper Merseybeat. His manager got him connected to Brian Epstein, the manager of The Beatles. Epstein took over Billy’s management, and got his a contract with George Martin, who was producing The Beatles’ recordings.
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#8: Time In My Heart For You by Dion
City: St. John’s, NL
Radio Station: VOCM
Peak Month: March 1966
Peak Position in St. John’s ~ #3
Peak Position in Vancouver ~ did not chart
Peak Position on Billboard Hot 100 ~ did not chart
YouTube: “Time In My Heart For You”
Lyrics: “Time In My Heart For You”
Dion Francis DiMucci was born in the Bronx, NY, in 1939. His parents named him Dion in honor of the French Canadian Dionne quintuplents who captured the interest of millions around the world after the five infants were born in May 1934. Dion’s dad, Pasquale DiMucci, was a vaudeville performer and Dion accompanied him to see his dad on stage. As a child he was given an $8 dollar guitar by his uncle while he lived on 183rd Street. Dion’s childhood was set in the midst of conflict between his parents. In an interview with New York Magazine in 2007, Dion remembers “…There was a lot of unresolved conflict in my house… My pop, Pasquale, couldn’t make the $36-a-month rent on our apartment at 183rd and Crotona Avenue.” He was a dreamer, a failed vaudevillian, and sometimes Catskills puppeteer. He’d talk big and lift weights he’d made from oilcans, while Frances, Mrs. DiMucci, took two buses and the subway downtown to work in the garment district on a sewing machine. “When they’d start yelling, I’d go out on the stoop with my $8 Gibson and try to resolve things that way.”
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