#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.