#35: After School by Randy Starr
City: Hull, QC
Radio Station: CKCH
Peak Month: June 1957
Peak Position in Hull ~ #4
Peak position in Vancouver ~ #26
Peak Position on Billboard Hot 100 ~ #32
YouTube: “After School”
Lyrics: “After School”
Warren Nadel was born in 1930 in the Bronx, New York. He successfully completed his dental studies at Columbia College in 1954. Around the same time, he wrote songs that were recorded by Jackie Wilson, Connie Francis, the Kingston Trio, Red Foley, Martin Denny, Cliff Richard, The Browns, Chet Atkins, Santo & Johnny, Kay Starr, Nelson Riddle, and others. In 1957, going by the name Randy Starr, Nadel signed with the small Dale record label.
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#13: I Love Candy by the Marshmallow Soup Group
City: Kingston, ON
Radio Station: CKLC
Peak Month: December 1969
Peak Position in Kingston ~ #5
Peak position in Vancouver ~ did not chart
Peak Position on Billboard Hot 100 ~ did not chart
YouTube: “I Love Candy”
The Citizen Freak website tells how the Marshmallow Soup Group was a “Canadian pop psych band formed in the summer of 1967 in Kingston, Ontario. They soon moved to Ottawa to sign with manager Vern Craig. Tim Eaton joined the group later as lead singer in early 1969 before they started recording, first with radio jingles for the United Way charities and the Canada Welfare Council.” The lead vocalist was Tim Eaton. John Lemmon, from Kingston (ON) played organ, Wayne Sweet was lead guitarist, Ron “Smack” Smith , also from Kingston (ON) was on bass guitar, and Tim Cottini was the group’s drummer. Except for Cottini, the other group members were backing vocalists for Eaton.
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#14: Rock And Roll Dreams Come Through by the Jim Steinman Band
City: Kingston, ON
Radio Station: CKLC
Peak Month: August 1981
Peak Position in Kingston ~ #5
Peak position in Vancouver ~ #13
Peak Position on Billboard Hot 100 ~ #32
YouTube: “Rock And Roll Dreams Come Through”
Lyrics: “Rock And Roll Dreams Come Through”
James Richard Steinman was born in 1947 in Hewlett, Long Island, New York. He got a B.A. in 1969 from Amherst College in Massachusetts. As a senior, Steinman wrote the book, music and lyrics for April 1969 musical The Dream Engine, which was a requirement for independent studies before graduation. The plot of the musical was set in a satirical-dystopian 1969, concerning a boy named Baal who, along with his rebel fellows, doesn’t accept the restraints and limits of their society. In 1971, Steinman provided music for a puppet show titled Ubu, and in 1972, worked on musical titled Rhinegold. In 1972, Bette Midler sang a demo of the Steinman song “Heaven Can Wait”.
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#15: We Shall Overcome by Joan Baez
City: Kingston, ON
Radio Station: CKWS
Peak Month: November 1963
Peak Position in Kingston ~ #6
Peak position in Vancouver ~ did not chart
Peak Position on Billboard Hot 100 ~ #90
YouTube: “We Shall Overcome”
Lyrics: “We Shall Overcome”
Joan Baez was born on Staten Island, New York, in 1941. Her mother was from Edinburgh, Scotland, and her father from Puebla, Mexico. Joan remembers racial slurs thrown at her due to her Mexican heritage. Her younger sister, Mimi Farina, was also became a folk singer and recording artist. Joan Baez was 17 years old in 1958 when she began her studies at the Boston University School of Drama. She was part of a group of peers who had a passion for both folk music and human rights. She began to perfect her adaptations of traditional folk songs showcasing the challenges of the human condition. These include lyrics concerning underdogs in a struggle, race relations, poverty, war and its folly, romantic betrayal, unrequited love and spiritual breakthroughs. She appeared on the folk music scene in 1959 at Club 47 in Cambridge, Massachusetts. That same year she performed at the first Newport Folk Festival in Newport, Rhode Island.
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#40: French Foreign Legion by Frank Sinatra
City: Hull, QC
Radio Station: CKCH
Peak Month: April 1959
Peak Position in Hull ~ #5
Peak position in Vancouver ~ #44
Peak Position on Billboard Hot 100 ~ #61
YouTube: “French Foreign Legion”
Lyrics: “French Foreign Legion”
Francis Albert Sinatra was born in 1915 in Hoboken, NJ. Sinatra spent much time at his parents’ tavern in Hoboken, working on his homework and occasionally singing for spare change. After leaving school before graduating, Sinatra began performing in local Hoboken social clubs and sang for free on radio stations such as WAAT in Jersey City. In New York, Sinatra found jobs singing for his supper or for cigarettes. He got his first break in 1935 when his mother persuaded a local singing group called the 3 Flashes to let him join. Baritone Fred Tamburro stated that “Frank hung around us like we were gods or something”, admitting that they only took him on board because he owned a car and could chauffeur the group around. Sinatra soon learned they were auditioning for the Major Bowes Amateur Hour show, and “begged” the group to let him in on the act. With Sinatra, the group became known as the Hoboken Four, and passed an audition from Edward Bowes to appear on the show. They each earned $12.50, and ended up attracting 40,000 votes to win first prize—a six-month contract to perform on stage and radio across the U.S. Sinatra quickly became the group’s lead singer, and, much to the jealousy of his fellow group members, garnered most of the attention from girls.
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#17: Bobby’s Birthday by Kensington Market
City: Kingston, ON
Radio Station: CKLC
Peak Month: December 1967
Peak Position in Kingston ~ #6
Peak position in Vancouver ~ did not chart
Peak Position on Billboard Hot 100 ~ did not chart
YouTube: “Bobby’s Birthday”
(If the link above states “sign in” to watch private video, if you
try to sign in, Youtube states something went wrong. Instead,
just enter “Bobby’s Birthday, Kensington Market” in the Youtube
search, and several options will appear so you can listen to it.)
Keith McKie was born in St. Albans, England, in 1947. He moved with his family to Canada in 1953. After high school, he formed a band called The Shades. This later morphed into the Vendettas. After that band dissolved, McKie was sought out by former Paupers manager Bernie Finkelstein who suggested he form a new group. To join McKie, they got former Bobby Kris & the Imperials guitarist and pianist Gene Martynec to sign. Martynec was born in 1947 in Coburg, West Germany. Former Vendettas bandmate, Alex Darou, was added to the emerging band. Darou, who played bass guitar, was born in Sault Ste. Marie (ON) in 1943. The oldest member of the band, he had already been part of a jazz trio. They also added drummer Jimmy Watson, who was born in Belfast, Northern Ireland, in 1950.
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#18: Shutters And Boards by Jerry Wallace
City: Kingston, ON
Radio Station: CKWS
Peak Month: January 1963
Peak Position in Kingston ~ #3
Peak position in Vancouver ~ did not chart
Peak Position on Billboard Hot 100 ~ #24
YouTube: “Shutters And Boards”
Lyrics: “Shutters And Boards”
Jerry Wallace was born in 1928 in Guilford, Missouri. He loved to sing and on June 1, 1952, he was one of the performers at the eighth Cavalcade of Jazz concert held at Wrigley Field in Los Angeles. Among the other performers was Roy Brown, who by that time had charted over a dozen Top Ten hits on the Billboard R&B chart. Child star Toni Harper, who recorded with Oscar Peterson, Harry James and Dizzy Gillespie in the ’50’s. And Louis Jordan who had 54 Top Ten hits on the Billboard R&B chart, eighteen of which climbed to #1, including “Caldonia”. Also, jump blues singer Jimmy Witherspoon was there to sing his 1949 #1 hit “Ain’t Nobody’s Business”, which stayed on the chart for 34 weeks. (It was first popularized in 1922 by Bessie Smith and also Alberta Hunter). Wallace’s presence made the bill inter-racial that night.
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#20: The First Night Of The Full Moon by Jack Jones
City: Kingston, ON
Radio Station: CKWS
Peak Month: August 1964
Peak Position in Kingston ~ #9
Peak position in Vancouver ~ did not chart
Peak Position on Billboard Hot 100 ~ #59
YouTube: “The First Night Of The Full Moon”
Lyrics: “The First Night Of The Full Moon”
Jack Jones was born in 1938 in Hollywood. In 1957, he released his first single “Good Luck Good Buddy” on Capitol Records. Two four singles on Capitol in the late 50s failed to chart. Meanwhile, in 1959 Jones debuted in his first film getting top billing in the Columbia Pictures musical Juke Box Rhythm. In 1961, Jones was hired to perform at Facks nightclub in San Francisco after the owner heard Jones song “This Could Be The Start Of Something Big”. At Facks nightclub, Jones was heard by Pete King, a producer and artist for Kapp Records, who quickly signed him to the label. Jack Jones was still working at his ‘day job’ as a gas station attendant when his first album on Kapp was released. While washing a customer’s windshield, Jones was surprised to hear one of his cuts playing on the car radio. He could now legitimately hope that his work as a gas station attendant would soon be over.
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#34: Mr. Lucky by Henry Mancini
City: Hull, QC
Radio Station: CKCH
Peak Month: June 1960
Peak Position in Hull ~ #1
Peak position in Vancouver ~ #15
Peak Position on Billboard Hot 100 ~ #21
YouTube: “Mr. Lucky”
Enrico Nicola Mancini was born in Maple Heights, Ohio, in 1924. Both his parents were Italian immigrants to the USA. At age eight Enrico learned to play the piccolo. He later studied at the Juilliard School of Music. When he turned 18 he enlisted in the United States Army he met Glenn Miller at basic training. Owing to a recommendation by Miller, Mancini was first assigned to the 28th Air Force Band before being reassigned overseas to the 1306th Engineers Brigade in France. In 1945, he helped liberate the Mauthausen-Gusen concentration camp in Austria. In 1946, he became a pianist and arranger for the newly re-formed Glenn Miller Orchestra, led by ‘Everyman’ Tex Beneke. (Glenn Miller was declared missing in action after his plane disappeared over the English Channel in December 1944). In 1952, Henry Mancini joined Universal Studios’ Universal-International music department. In 1952 he scored music for The Raiders, and in 1953 for The Glenn Miller Story.
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#22: Dig A Hole by the Hans Staymer Band
City: Kingston, ON
Radio Station: CKLC
Peak Month: July 1972
Peak Position in Kingston ~ #7
Peak position in Vancouver ~ did not chart
Peak Position on Billboard Hot 100 ~ did not chart
YouTube: “Dig A Hole”
Hans Stamer was born in Hamburg, Germany, in 1938. He discovered jazz, blues and the music of Django Reinhart in 1955, which inspired him to play guitar. In 1957, Stamer heard Louis Armstrong while on tour in Europe. He studied the craft of goldsmithing from 1957 to 1962, –a trade he still practices today—before moving to Edmonton. In 1964 he formed a blues band that eventually became The Famous Last Words. They toured the Canadian prairies until they split up in 1967. Stamer formed The Mighty Preachers in Edmonton later in 1967. He moved to British Columbia in 1968 and formed a jazz band called Django. As his name was often mispronounced, he added a “y” to his surname, becoming Hans Staymer.
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