#2: All Strung Out by Nino Tempo and April Stevens
City: Peace River, AB
Radio Station: CKYL
Peak Month: October 1966
Peak Position in Peace River ~ #5
Peak Position in Vancouver ~ #17
Peak Position on Billboard Hot 100 ~ #26
YouTube: “All Strung Out”
Lyrics: “All Strung Out”
Caroline Vincinette LoTempio was born in 1929 in Niagara Falls (NY). She started recording at age fifteen. From the official website of April Stevens & Nino Tempo comes this story: “One day, while standing outside Hollywood’s famous Wallach Music City on Sunset and Vine, she was approached by Tony Sepe, the owner of Laurel Records, who asked her if she could sing. The young teenager thought he was probably flirting, but answered his question in the affirmative. Before long, she changed her name to April Stevens and recorded a few songs for Sepe’s small independent label. An aunt of Carol LoTiempo’s had suggested April as a name, and as she was born in April LoTiempo liked the name. Still in high school, April then moved on to record for Society Records. On her first Society label release, “Don’t Do It”, her sweetly innocent approach to addressing very real concerns for a teenage girl was given a twist at the end. She gives in to the boy’s advances, as long as there’s a commitment. “Don’t Do It” was banned from airplay… “”Stop holding my hand,” April pleaded. But in the second verse, she suggestively purred “I need it, how I need it…ooooh I want it.” Consequently, “Don’t Do It” sold by word of mouth only, from under the counter.”