#502: Sweet Mary by Argent

Peak Month: May 1971
10 weeks on Vancouver’s CKVN chart
Peak Position #5
Peak Position on Billboard Hot 100 ~ #102
YouTube.com: “Sweet Mary”
Lyrics: “Sweet Mary”

Rodney Terrance “Rod” Argent was born in St. Albans, about 32 kilometers northwest of London. He sang in a children’s choir at St. Alban’s Cathedral. He was trained in classical music. But when he heard Elvis Presley, Little Richard and Big Mama Thornton, his musical tastes changed. In 1961 he wanted to form a rock band and wrote a song called “She’s Not There”. The band got a record contract with Decca and named themselves the Zombies. “She’s Not There” became a #1 hit in Vancouver in October 1964, and a #2 hit on the Billboard Hot 100 in December ’64. The song was the Zombies only Top 40 hit in the UK, peaking at #12. Their next release in Canada was “You’d Better Leave Me Be” (“Leave Me Be” in the UK and Australia). The song peaked at #21 in Vancouver (BC) and #1 in Saint John, New Brunswick.  The Zombies had more success with their next release, “Tell Her No”. It peaked at #4 in Montreal, #6 on the Billboard Hot 100 in the USA, and #10 in Vancouver (BC). But the song failed to crack the Top 40 on the weekly UK charts, stalling at #42.
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