Sometime by Gene Thomas

#12: Sometime by Gene Thomas

City: Halifax, NS
Radio Station: CHNS
Peak Month: January 1962
Peak Position in Halifax ~ #2
Peak position in Vancouver ~ #16
Peak Position on Billboard Hot 100 ~ #53
YouTube: “Sometime
Lyrics: “Sometime

Gene Thomasson was born in Palestine, Texas, in 1937. He started to play guitar at the age of 12. He told author Vicki Welch Ayo, “I played Elks, Moose Lodges, Lion’s (all the animal kingdom clubs) National Guard Armories, etc; every place with four walls and electricity for plugging in the amps.” In the spring of 1961 he released a song credited to Gene Thomas titled “Sometime” and it didn’t get much attention. He released a followup titled “Lamp Of Love” which reached #15 in Houston and charted in San Antonio (TX). He re-released “Sometime” on the United Artists label and this time he got proper promotion.

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Julia Get Up by Rich Dodson

#42: Julia Get Up by Rich Dodson

City: Calgary, AB
Radio Station: CKXL
Peak Month: December 1972
Peak Position in Calgary ~ #9
Peak position in Vancouver ~ Hitbound
Peak Position on Billboard Hot 100 ~ did not chart
YouTube: “Julia Get Up

Rich Dodson was born in Sudbury, Ontario, in 1947. In 1964, living now in Calgary, he formed an instrumental band called The Rebounds. By 1965, the band morphed into The Stampeders, named after that city’s football team, The Calgary Stampeders. Although, it could be argued that the yearly Calgary Stampede was also an inspiration for their name. During the band’s most successful chart run from 1968 to 1976, it was made up of guitarist Rich Dodson, bass player Ronnie King (born Cornelius Van Sprang) and drummer Kim Berly (born Kim Meyer). All three provided vocals. Originally, the band was a group of five formed in 1964 called The Rebounds. The Rebounds had five members: Rich Dodson, Len Roemer, Brendan Lyttle, Kim Berly, and Race Holiday. They renamed themselves The Stampeders in 1965 and Len Roemer was replaced with Ronnie King and Van Louis, making them a band of six for a few years. But after a temporary move to Toronto in 1966 the band was down to three members, Dodson, King and Berly by 1968. Between 1967 and 1976 The Stampeders charted 15 singles into the Canadian RPM Top 40.

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You're Not A Goody Goody by Bobby Curtola

#11: You’re Not A Goody Goody by Bobby Curtola

City: Halifax, NS
Radio Station: CHNS
Peak Month: May 1964
Peak Position in Halifax ~ #3
Peak position in Vancouver ~ #41
Peak Position on Billboard Hot 100 ~ did not chart
YouTube: “You’re Not A Goody Goody
Lyrics: N/A

Bobby Curtola was born in Port Arthur, Ontario, in 1943. (The town would become amalgamated into the city of Thunder Bay in 1970). His cousin Susan Andrusco remembers “Bobby would always be singing at our family gatherings. The family loved him. And he loved being the centre of attention. He would sing Oh My Papa, and my grandpa would cry.” Oh My Papa was a number-one hit for Eddie Fisher in January 1954, when Bobby Curtola was still ten-years-old. In the fall of 1959, sixteen-year-old high school student Bobby Curtola went from pumping gas at his father’s garage in Thunder Bay, Ontario, to the life of a teen idol. Within a year he went from playing in his basement band, Bobby and the Bobcats, to recording his first hit single in 1960, “Hand In Hand With You”, which charted in June ’60 in Ontario, but not in Vancouver.

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Chantilly Lace/Love Me Baby by the Beavers

#9: Chantilly Lace/Love Me Baby by the Beavers

City: Halifax, NS
Radio Station: CJCH
Peak Month: July 1964
Peak Position in Halifax ~ #2
Peak position in Vancouver ~ did not chart
Peak Position on Billboard Hot 100 ~ did not chart
YouTube: “Chantilly Lace“/”Love Me Baby
Lyrics: “Chantilly Lace
Lyrics: N/A

The Beavers were a band that comprised of Bill Schnare on lead guitar and backing vocals, Dave Isner on bass guitar, Doug Billard on lead vocals, Gerry Archer on drums, and Wayne Forrest on rhythm guitar. According to Jim Rice of Nova Scotia Classic Rock, the Beavers formed in 1962. However, Discogs has the band forming in 1963, and originally as the Shadows. In the Discogs version of things, presumably with the popularity of Cliff Richard and the Shadows, they switched to the Beavers.

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Stay Away From My Baby by Lynda Layne

#22: Stay Away From My Baby by Lynda Layne

City: Halifax, NS
Radio Station: CHNS
Peak Month: November 1963
Peak Position in Halifax ~ #6
Peak position in Vancouver ~ did not chart
Peak Position on Billboard Hot 100 ~ #80
YouTube: “Stay Away From My Baby
Lyrics: N/A

Hazel McKirdy was born in 1949 in Kitchener, Ontario. McKirdy regularly on CBC TV’s “Music Hop” program in the mid-1960s, starting in 1964. She recorded as Lynda Layne, and in 1963 and her debut single was titled “Stay Away From My Baby”.

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Band Bandit by Tundra

#36: Band Bandit by Tundra

City: Calgary, AB
Radio Station: CKXL
Peak Month: January-February 1971
Peak Position in Calgary ~ #5
Peak position in Vancouver ~ #10
Peak Position on Billboard Hot 100 ~ did not chart
YouTube: “Band Bandit
Lyrics: n/a

Tundra was a band formed in from Toronto in 1970. The original line up was Al Manning on guitar, Bruce Manning on bass guitar, Glen LeCompte on drums, Lisa Garber on vocals, and Scott Cushnie on piano. George Scott Cushnie was born in 1938 and was a member of the Toronto band the Suedes (with Robbie Robertson). He also played with Ronnie Hawkins and the Hawks. Cushnie was also a member of the Hamilton based rock band Jerry Warren & the Tremblers who released a local hit in 1960 titled “Rompin'”. In the early 60s Cushnie also played with a band based in Alexandra, called Barry Darvell & the Blazers. He also played with the Ottawa group, The Townsmen, for about a year.

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My Guy by Dianne James

#23: My Guy by Dianne James

City: Halifax, NS
Radio Station: CHNS
Peak Month: June  1965
Peak Position in Halifax ~ #8
Peak position in Vancouver ~ did not chart
Peak Position on Billboard Hot 100 ~ did not chart
Peak Position on RPM Top Singles chart ~ #13
YouTube: “My Guy
Lyrics: N/A

Born in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Dianne James moved to Edmonton where she started singing with various groups. James became a headliner at The Mayfair Club with a group called the Shamrocks. She appeared regularly on the local CBC-TV show Teen Tempo. James was discovered in Edmonton by manager Don Eckess who signed her to Arc Records. James released her first single “Don’t Go”/ “The Time Has Come”. “Don’t Go” peaked at #12 in Calgary. While “The Time Has Come” was a Top 50 hit in Regina (SK). James also released two other singles at the age of 20. The second of these was “My Guy”, not to be confused with the 1964 same-titled song by Mary Wells from 1964.

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Bust the TV by the Pumps

#24: Bust the TV by the Pumps

City: Halifax, NS
Radio Station: CJCH
Peak Month: May  1980
Peak Position in Halifax ~ #8
Peak position in Vancouver ~ did not chart
Peak Position on Billboard Hot 100 ~ did not chart
YouTube: “Bust The TV

The Pumps is a hard rock/AOR band from Winnipeg (MB) that was formed in 1978. Taking their name from a random pick in a Winnipeg phone book, The Pumps centred around friends Chris Burke-Gaffney on vocals and bass, lead guitarist Lou Petrovich, and drummer Terry Norman Taylor. Within a few months, Brent Diamond joined on keyboards. They released an album in 1980 titled Gotta Move.

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Sign Of The Times by Mens Room

#25: Sign Of The Times by Mens Room

City: Halifax, NS
Radio Station: CJCH
Peak Month: June-July  1983
Peak Position in Halifax ~ #7
Peak position in Vancouver ~ did not chart
Peak Position on Billboard Hot 100 ~ did not chart
YouTube: “Sign Of The Times
Lyrics: “Sign Of The Times

Mens Room was a studio project featuring three well-known Canadian singers. Charity Brown, a Kitchener native who had success in Canada with the group Rain. Charity Brown’s biggest hit was “Take Me In Your Arms” from 1975.  Cherrill Rae was half of the successful British-Canadian duo The Raes with her husband Robbie, who released three albums, had a hit television variety show in Canada from 1978 to 1980. Caren Cole was a classical musician and rock singer from Toronto who would later have a Hi-NRG hit with “I Need A Lover Tonight”.

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She Says by 49th Parallel

#37: She Says by 49th Parallel

City: Calgary, AB
Radio Station: CKXL
Peak Month: January 1968
Peak Position in Calgary ~ #7
Peak position in Vancouver ~ did not chart
Peak Position on Billboard Hot 100 ~ did not chart
YouTube: “She Says
Lyrics: n/a

Singer Dennis Abbott and guitar player Dan Lowe formed a band in the mid-60’s called The Real McCoys. The name was soon discarded in favor of The Shades of Blond. The band consisted of Abbott and Lowe, joined by Bob Carlson on guitar, Dave Petch on organ, Mick Woodhouse on bass guitar, and Terry Bare on drums. The Shades of Blond played covers of British Invasion hits. As well, they began to write some songs and experimented with a fuzz-guitar garage rock sound. This got them a contract to record on International Master Discovery Records, which put out an album featuring four of the new Calgary bands. By ’67 they’d changed their name to 49th Parallel, and had all but outgrown the local circuit. They played the prairies relentlessly for the next year or so, making over a dozen stops in Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan at The Temple Gardens alone.

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