#36: Dance by the Queen City Kids
City: Regina, SK
Radio Station: CJME
Peak Month: June 1982
Peak Position in Regina ~ #7
Peak Position in Vancouver ~ did not chart
Peak Position on Billboard Hot 100 ~ did not chart
YouTube: “Dance”
Lyrics: “Dance”
Queen City Kids bandmates formed a group in Regina in 1969. The lineup consisted of Alex Chuaqui on vocals and guitars, Jeffrey Germain on drums, John Donnelly on bass and guitarist Kevin Fyhn. Alex, Jeffrey and John were enrolled in music in high school. Alex Chauqui played violin, John Donnelly played the bagpipes, and Jeffrey Germain who also in a Police Boys Band played bass guitar. Germain soon added drums to his skillset. They three heard Kevin Fyhn play “Hey Jude” by the Beatles in music class, and he was invited to join the band. Initially, they were a cover band playing tunes by the Animals, the Beatles, Bee Gees, and the Safaris. Donnelly’s dad suggested they call themselves the VIPs. In 1971, they entered the Saskatchewan Homecoming ’71 talent contest and won second prize. In 1973, they changed their name to Cambridge. They began to play covers of heavier rock bands like Blue Oyster Cult, Deep Purple and Foghat.
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#69: Whose Side Are You On by Matt Bianco
City: Montreal, PQ
Radio Station: CKOI
Peak Month: May 1985
Peak Position in Montreal ~ #7
Peak position in Vancouver ~ did not chart
Peak Position on Billboard Hot 100 ~ did not chart
YouTube: “Whose Side Are You On”
Lyrics: “Whose Side Are You On”
You may think Matt Bianco is the name of a guy. But in fact this is a British sophist-pop, jazz-funk, and Latin-flavored music group. The group’s name suggests that Matt Bianco is a person, often assumed to be an alias for the main member and front man Mark Reilly. According to Reilly, “when we were forming the band, we loved the spy movie theme tunes from the fifties and sixties with lots of bongos, quite jazzy and slightly kitsch. So Matt Bianco was a character invented that would fit into that genre, a made up spy, a secret agent. We thought it was hilarious. We loved spy TV themes and film scores. We were really into that 60s spy movie image.” Reilly adds, “ever since then people who don’t know the band ask ‘So, who’s Matt?'” Mark Reilly was born in 1960 in High Wycombe, Buckinghamshire, England. In 1981, Reilly joined Blue Rondo à la Turk which was a floating collective of jazz and salsa oriented musicians. In this band Reilly met keyboard player Danny White, and bass guitarist Kito Poncioni. White was born in 1959 in Letchwork, England. Poncioni was born in 1958 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
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#76: What Is Life by George Harrison
City: Montreal, PQ
Radio Station: CKVL
Peak Month: April 1971
Peak Position in Montreal ~ #1
Peak position in Vancouver ~ #3
Peak Position on Billboard Hot 100 ~ #10
YouTube: “What Is Life”
Lyrics: “What Is Life”
George Harrison was born in Liverpool in 1943. Harrison remembers cycling past a home in his neighborhood that was playing “Heartbreak Hotel” by Elvis Presley. The encounter with the song got him hooked on rock ‘n roll. He subsequently was influenced by Little Richard and Buddy Holly. Harrison’s father bought him his first guitar in 1956 when Harrison was 13 years old. After Paul McCartney joined John Lennon’s group, the Quarymen, McCartney suggested that his friend, George Harrison, join the group. Harrison became one of the Quarrymen in early 1958, though he was still only 14. They changed their name to the Silver Beatles and then the Beatles in the spring of 1960. They group headed to Hamburg, Germany, on August 17, 1960, for a three-and-a-half month stint. In early 1961 the Beatles returned for more engagements in Germany. On June 22, 1961, Bert Kaempfertproduced “My Bonnie”, “Ain’t She Sweet” and eight other songs. Later in 1961, “My Bonnie” climbed to #4 on the Hamburg pop charts and #32 on the German pop charts.
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#81: No Mercy by Stranglers
City: Montreal, PQ
Radio Station: CKOI
Peak Month: August 1985
Peak Position in Montreal ~ #3
Peak position in Vancouver ~ did not chart
Peak Position on Billboard Hot 100 ~ did not chart
YouTube: “No Mercy”
Lyrics: “No Mercy”
The Stranglers formed in Guilford, Surrey, England, in 1974. They originally built a following within the mid-1970s pub rock scene. While their aggressive, no-compromise attitude had them identified by the media with the emerging UK punk rock scene that followed, their idiosyncratic approach rarely followed any single musical genre, and the group went on to explore a variety of musical styles, from new wave, art rock and gothic rock to the sophist-pop of some of their 1980s output. The classic Stranglers lineup was comprised of Jean-Jacques Burnel, Jet Black, Hugh Cornwell, and Dave Greenfield. Jean-Jacques Burnel was born in Notting Hill, London, in 1952. He trained as a classical guitarist, but switched to bass guitar with the Stranglers. As a holder of French citizenship, Burnel received his call-up papers for national service in France. He succeeded in avoiding it with a novel defence, arguing that his absence would damage the Stranglers as a band, and therefore the careers of the other members.
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#117: I’m Confessin’ by Frank Ifield
City: Montreal, PQ
Radio Station: CJAD
Peak Month: October 1963
Peak Position in Montreal ~ #1
Peak position in Vancouver ~ #33
Peak Position on Billboard Hot 100 ~ #58
YouTube: “I’m Confessin’”
Lyrics: “I’m Confessin’”
Frank Ifield was born in Coventry, England, in 1937. His parents were Australians, and the family moved back to Australia in 1948 aboard the RMS Orion. The family settled 30 miles outside of Sydney. It was a rural district and young Frank listened to hillbilly music while milking the family’s cow. He was given a guitar in 1949 by his grandmother and was self-taught. Ifield also taught himself to yodel, by imitating country stars. At the age of 13, he performed his version of Bill Showmet’s “Did You See My Daddy Over There?” and appeared on local radio station 2GB’s talent quest, Amateur Hour. This track was issued as his first single, in 1953. By November of that year, he appeared regularly on Brisbane radio station 4BK’s Youth Parade, playing guitar and singing.
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#123: The Politics Of Dancing by the Re-Flex
City: Montreal, PQ
Radio Station: CKOI
Peak Month: March 1984
Peak Position in Montreal ~ #2
Peak position in Vancouver ~ #17
Peak Position on Billboard Hot 100 ~ #24
YouTube: “The Politics Of Dancing”
Lyrics: “The Politics Of Dancing”
Re-Flex were formed in 1981 by musicians John Baxter on vocals and lead guitar and Paul Fishman on keyboards and backing vocals. Paul Fishman’s father, Jack Fishman, was a songwriter who had a number of hits to his credit. These included “Arrevederci Darling” by Anne Shelton (Top 20 in 1955); “Why Don’t They Understand” for George Hamilton IV (#10 in the USA in 1957); “My Friend The Sea” for Petula Clark (#7 in the UK in 1961); “If I Only Had Time” for John Rowles (#3 in 1968 in UK); “Help Yourself” for Tom Jones (#5 in the UK in 1968); “Something’s Happening” for Herman’s Hermits (#6 in 1968 in the UK); And “If Paradise Is Half As Nice” for the Amen Corner (a number-one hit in the UK in 1969). Given his father’s success, Paul Fishman saw a future in the music business, and at age 16 decided to pursue music as a career.
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#134: Rhapsody In The Rain by Lou Christie
City: Montreal, PQ
Radio Station: CFCF
Peak Month: April 1966
Peak Position in Montreal ~ #3
Peak position in Vancouver ~ #8
Peak Position on Billboard Hot 100 ~ #16
Peak Position on Cash Box Top 100 Singles ~ #20
YouTube: “Rhapsody In The Rain”
Lyrics: “Rhapsody In The Rain”
Lou Christie was born in 1943 with the birth name Lugee Alfredo Giovanni Sacco. He was born in Glenwillard, a suburb of Pittsburgh. His first public performance was a first-grade Christmas pageant, in which he sang “Away in a Manger.” While in high school, he studied music and voice, served as student conductor of the choir and sang solos at holiday concerts. His teacher, Frank Cummings, wanted him to pursue a career in classical music, but Sacco wanted to cut a record to get on American Bandstand. At age 15 he met and befriended Twyla Herbert, a classically trained musician 20 years his senior, who became his regular songwriting partner. Lugee Sacco performed with several vocal groups and between 1959 and 1962 released several records on small Pittsburgh labels, achieving a local hit with “The Jury” by Lugee & The Lions (a group consisting of Sacco, Twyla Herbert’s daughter Shirley, and two others) released on the Robbee label. After graduating from high school in 1961, Sacco traveled to New York City and worked as a session vocalist.
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#127: Your Love by Lime
City: Montreal, PQ
Radio Station: CKGM
Peak Month: June 1981
Peak Position in Montreal ~ #6
Peak position in Vancouver ~ did not chart
Peak Position on Billboard Hot 100 ~ did not chart
YouTube: “Your Love”
Lyrics: “Your Love”
Lime was a disco band from Montreal who formed in 1979. The group was originally composed of married couple Denis and Denyse LePage. As a teenager, Denis performed in the band the Persuaders. By the mid-1970s he had formed the jazz-fusion act Le Pouls with then-wife Denyse LePage, a singer-songwriter in her own right. In 1979, Denis LePage wrote, arranged, and released an instrumental 12″ single vinyl record called “The Break” under the name Kat Mandu. It appeared first on Unidisc Records. The single was successful and peaked at number three on Billboard’s Disco chart.
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#141: Sunshine Reggae by Laid Back
City: Montreal, PQ
Radio Station: CKOI
Peak Month: March 1984
Peak Position in Montreal ~ #6
Peak position in Vancouver ~ did not chart
Peak Position on Billboard Hot 100 ~ did not chart
YouTube: “Sunshine Reggae”
Lyrics: “Sunshine Reggae”
Laid Back is a duo from Denmark. John Guldberg was born in Denmark in 1947. Tim Stahl, also from Denmark, was the other vocalist. Guldberg and Stahl met in the mid-1970s, and they played together in a group called the Starbox Band. After a poorly received show supporting the Kinks, the band split up, but the duo continued working together. Guldberg set up a small studio in downtown Copenhagen where the two musicians began exploring the possibilities that were being opened up by new technologies, such as multitrack tape recorders, synthesizers, and drum machines. In 1980, their single “Maybe I’m Crazy” became a number-two hit in Denmark. Their debut album, simply titled Laid Back, was released in 1981. A second track from the debut album, “Bolivia”, reached #3 in Denmark.
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#153: When You’re Young And In Love by the Marvelettes
City: Montreal, PQ
Radio Station: CJMS
Peak Month: July 1967
Peak Position in Montreal ~ #4
Peak position in Vancouver ~ #20
Peak Position on Billboard Hot 100 ~ #23
YouTube: “When You’re Young And In Love”
Lyrics: “When You’re Young And In Love”
The Marvelettes were a girl group formed in Inkster, Michigan, in 1960. Gladys Horton, Katherine Anderson, Georgianna Tillman, Juanita Cowart, Georgia Dobbins, were classmates at Inkster High School. Gladys Horton was born in 1945 in Gainesville (FL). Horton never knew her biological parents throughout her life, and lived with several foster families after being put up for adoption at nine months old. By the time of her high school years at Inkster High School, Horton had taken a strong interest in singing, joining the high school glee club. At age 14, she formed a group called the Del–Rhythmetts with three friends, recording under a small record label called JVB Records. Katherine Anderson was born in Inkster in 1944. While Anderson was not able to afford records growing up, she performed in gospel groups and the high school. She co-founded with Horton the girl group which was initially called the Casinyets. Georgianna Tillman was born in 1944 in Inkster.
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