#54: Milk Train by the Everly Brothers
City: Calgary, AB
Radio Station: CKXL
Peak Month: November 1968
Peak Position in Calgary ~ #7
Peak position in Vancouver ~ did not chart
Peak Position on Billboard Hot 100 ~ did not chart
YouTube: “Milk Train”
Lyrics: “Milk Train”
Isaac Donald “Don” Everly was born in 1937 and Phillip Jason “Phil” Everly was born in 1939. Don was born in Muhlenberg County in Kentucky, and Phil was born in Chicago. Their dad, Ike, had been a coal miner who decided to pursue music as a guitar player. From the mid-40s Ike and his wife, Margaret, sang as a duo in Shanendoah, Iowa. Later they included their sons “Little Donnie and Baby Boy Phil,” on local radio stations KMA and KFNF. In time they were billed as The Everly Family. In 1953, the family moved to Knoxville, Tennessee. Family friend and musician Chet Atkins got a record deal for the Everly Brothers with RCA Victor in 1956. However, their first single release was a commercial failure and they were dropped from the label. Next, Atkins got them connected with Archie Bleyer, and the boys were signed to Cadence Records. In 1957, their first single on the label, “Bye Bye Love“, became a million-seller and launched their career.
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#2: Flying On Your Own by Rita MacNeil
City: Halifax, NS
Radio Station: CJCH
Peak Month: January 1987
Peak Position in Halifax ~ #1
Peak position in Vancouver ~did not chart
Peak Position on Billboard Hot 100 ~ did not chart
YouTube: “Flying On Your Own”
Lyrics: “Flying On Your Own”
Rita MacNeil was born in Big Pond, Nova Scotia, in 1944. Her family moved to Toronto for some years before returning to Cape Breton. In 196o she moved from Cape Breton to Toronto and worked for a summer at Eaton’s, in the Customer Account Services Department. This was the store where her mother worked for awhile in the 1950s. By 1964, MacNeil had begun taking voice lessons. In 1965, she dated a man from Sicily and got pregnant. She gave birth to a daughter and in the following years she battled issues with her weight – ranging between 119 and 183 pounds. She got married in 1970 and had a second child. But that marriage ended in divorce, and by 1979 she was a single-parent on welfare.
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#3: When I’m With You by Sheriff
City: Halifax, NS
Radio Station: CJCH
Peak Month: March 1983
Peak Position in Halifax ~ #1
Peak position in Vancouver ~did not chart
Peak Position on Billboard Hot 100 ~ #61
YouTube: “When I’m With You”
Lyrics: “When I’m With You”
Sheriff was a band formed in Toronto in 1979. The lead vocalist was Federico “Freddy” Curci. He was born in Toronto in 1962. Growing up in his Italian-Canadian family, he was first exposed to opera. But in his late childhood he discovered Black Sabbath and the Doobie Brothers. In the mid-70s, Curci was part of a number of Italian wedding bands that played in Greater Toronto. Curci co-founded Sheriff with Steven “Steve” DeMarchi, also born in Toronto (1961 ?) and his parents also immigrated to Canada from Italy. The third founding member of Sheriff is Arnold Lanni. He was born in 1956 in Toronto. Bass guitarist, Wolf D. Hassel, joined Sheriff in 1982, as did Rob Elliott on drums.
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#4: This Time by Troy Shondell
City: Halifax, NS
Radio Station: CHNS
Peak Month: November 1961
Peak Position in Halifax ~ #1 for 3 weeks
Peak position in Vancouver ~ #5
Peak Position on Billboard Hot 100 ~ #6
YouTube: “This Time”
Lyrics: “This Time”
Troy Shondell was born in 1939 as Gary Wayne Schelton. As he grew up Schelton learned the play five musical instruments. When he was 18, his first single was released titled “My Hero”, and credited to Gary Shelton (having dropped the “c” in his name in this instance). In June 1958, “Kissin’ At the Drive-In” was a Top 30 hit on WJJD in Chicago, and “The Trance” also charted in Chicago that fall. Schelton’s father died of a heart attack in 1960, and he wrote a song titled “Still Loving You”. Bob Luman covered the song successfully as a country hit in 1970.
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#53: When Friends Fall Out by the Guess Who
City: Calgary, AB
Radio Station: CKXL
Peak Month: July 1968
Peak Position in Calgary ~ #6
Peak position in Vancouver ~ did not chart
Peak Position on Billboard Hot 100 ~ did not chart
YouTube: “When Friends Fall Out”
Lyrics: “When Friends Fall Out”
Randolph Charles Bachman was born in 1943 in Winnipeg, Manitoba. When he was just three years old he entered the King of the Saddle singing contest on CKY radio, Manitoba’s first radio station that began in 1923. Bachman won the contest. When he turned five years he began to study the violin through the Royal Toronto Conservatory. Though he couldn’t read music, he was able to play anything once he heard it. He dropped out of high school and subsequently a business administration program in college. He co-founded a Winnipeg band called Al & The Silvertones with Chad Allan in 1960.
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#5: Hallelujah I Love Her So by Ray Charles
City: Halifax, NS
Radio Station: CJCH
Peak Month: October 1956
Peak Position in Halifax ~ #1
Peak position in Vancouver ~did not chart
Peak Position on Billboard Hot 100 ~ did not chart
YouTube: “Hallelujah I Love Her So”
Lyrics: “Hallelujah I Love Her So”
Ray Charles Robinson Sr. was born in 1930 in Albany, Georgia. His half-brother, George, was born when Ray was one-years-old. The brother had the same father, but George’s mother was someone the father had taken up with after he abandoned the family in the first year of Ray Charles’ life. George died accidentally in their mother’s laundry tub at the age of 4. From an early age Ray learned to play piano, though he began to lose his sight at the age of 4, and lost it by age 7. In 1937, Ray Charles was sent to St. Augustine (FL) to attend the Florida School for the Deaf and the Blind. At the school, young Ray learned to play classical piano by using braille music. In 1945, his mother died when he was 14-years-old.
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#6: It’s Good News Week by Hedgehoppers Anonymous
City: Halifax, NS
Radio Station: CHNS
Peak Month: December 1965-January 1966
Peak Position in Halifax ~ #2
Peak position in Vancouver ~ #17
Peak Position on Billboard Hot 100 ~ #48
YouTube: “It’s Good News Week”
Lyrics: “It’s Good News Week”
Hedgehoppers Anonymous was a beat group who formed in November 1963 as The Trendsetters. They became The Hedgehoppers the following year. Jonathan King took over their record production in 1965, and added “Anonymous” to their name when they said they were popular in Peterborough, and did not want to change their name completely. Mike Tinsley was the lead vocalist for the group. Born in Portsmouth, UK, in 1940, he was the lead vocalist of the Electrons before he joined the Trendsetters. Guitarist John Stewart was born in 1941 Kincardineshire in Scotland. The rhythm guitarist with the group was Tony Cockayne. The bass player, Ray Honeyball, was born in 1941 in County Durham, UK. While the group’s drummer, Leslie Dash, was born in 1943 in Middlesex. All members of the beat group were Royal Air Force ground crew based at RAF Wittering in Cambridgeshire, England, before they formed.
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#7: Fever by Little Willie John
City: Halifax, NS
Radio Station: CJCH
Peak Month: December 1956
Peak Position in Halifax ~ #2
Peak position in Vancouver ~ did not chart
Peak Position on Billboard Hot 100 ~ #27
Peak Position on Billboard R&B Best Sellers ~ #1
Peak Position on Billboard R&B Jockeys chart ~ #1
Peak Position on Billboard R&B Jukebox chart ~#1
YouTube: “Fever”
Lyrics: “Fever”
Little Willie John was born in 1937 in Cullendale, Arkansas. His family moved to Detroit in 1941 when his dad got work in a factory. He performed in a gospel singing group with a number of his siblings in the late 40s. In the early 50s he was singing with Paul “Hucklebuck” Williams Orchestra. In 1952 he had a seasonal regional hit in Detroit with “Mommy What Happened to Our Christmas Tree”. The song was credited to 14-year-old Willie John and Three Lads and a Lass. Willie John got the attention of a talent scout and was signed to King Records in 1955. He was nicknamed “Little Willie” due to his stature. His first hit with King Records was “All Around the World” which shot to #5 on the R&B charts in ’55. The song is a profession of the singer’s love for someone addressed as “my baby,” describing what else wouldn’t be true if he doesn’t love his woman. The refrain:
Well, if I don’t love you, baby
Grits ain’t groceries
Eggs ain’t poultry
And Mona Lisa was a man.
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#52: Two In The Afternoon by Dino, Desi & Billy
City: Calgary, AB
Radio Station: CKXL
Peak Month: June 1967
Peak Position in Calgary ~ #8
Peak position in Vancouver ~ did not chart
Peak Position on Billboard Hot 100 ~ #99
YouTube: “Two In The Afternoon”
Lyrics: “Two In The Afternoon”
Desiderio Alberto Arnaz IV is the son of Des Arnaz and Lucille Ball. His birth in 1953 was one of the most publicized in television history. His parents were the stars of the television sitcom I Love Lucy, and Ball’s pregnancy was part of the storyline, which was considered daring then. The same day Lucy gave birth to Desi Jr., the fictional Lucy Ricardo gave birth to “Little Ricky.” As a testament to how interested the American public was in Lucy’s TV baby, Arnaz appeared on the cover on the very first issue of TV Guide with a title that read: “Lucy’s $50,000,000 baby.” The reason he was given this title was because revenue from certain tie-in commitments were expected to top that mark. In 1964 Desi became the drummer for the pop trio Dino, Desi and Billy. “Dino” was Dean Paul Martin, the son of pop singer Dean Martin “Billy” was Billy Hinsche, brother-in-law of Brian Wilson of the Beach Boys.
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#10: Dance With The Guitar Man by Duane Eddy
City: Halifax, NS
Radio Station: CJCH
Peak Month: December 1962
Peak Position in Halifax ~ #2
Peak position in Vancouver ~ #6
Peak Position on Billboard Hot 100 ~ #12
YouTube: “Dance With The Guitar Man”
Lyrics: “Dance With The Guitar Man”
Duane Eddy was born in Corning, New York, in 1938. When he turned five years old he started to play guitar. His family moved to Arizona and in 1954, at the age of 16, Eddy got a Chet Atkins Gretch guitar. In 1954, at Coolidge High School Duane met Jimmy Delbridge who shared his love of music. Both boys played guitar and sang. In short order they were appearing on local radio in Coolidge, KCKY, as Jimmy and Duane. Jimmy sang best and Duane was a superior guitar player. Duane persuaded Jimmy leave the guitar behind and play piano. During 1955 local Phoenix disc jockey Lee Hazlewood was informally managing the duo. In June ’55 Hazlewood drove Eddy and Jimmy Dell (as he was now known) to Ramsey Recording Studio in Phoenix. In the studio the duo recorded the first of Hazelwood’s songs, “Soda Fountain Girl” and “I Want Some Lovin’ Baby”. These were old hillbilly tunes backed by Buddy Long & the Western Melody Boys.
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