#54: Listen To The Radio by Pukka Orchestra
City: Regina, SK
Radio Station: CJME
Peak Month: May 1984
Peak Position in Regina ~ #10
Peak position in Vancouver ~ Hit Bound
Peak Position on Billboard Hot 100 ~ did not chart
YouTube: “Listen To The Radio”
Lyrics: “Listen To The Radio”
The Pukka Orchestra was formed in Toronto in 1979. The core of the band consisted of vocalist/guitarist/songwriter Graeme Williamson (born in Glasgow, Scotland) and guitarists/co-songwriters Neil Chapman and Tony Duggan-Smith. The band’s name is derived from the Hindi word pukka, which means “Genuine”, “Authentic”, “First Class”. The name was coined by Duggan-Smith’s extremely British grandfather who had been the harbourmaster of Calcutta and had later worked for Marconi. When Duggan-Smith told him he was playing music for a living his grandfather replied, “That’s all very nice Tony, but don’t bother with any mediocre bands, get yourself into a Pukka Orchestra”. The band made frequent use of numerous guest musicians, jokingly commenting “Are you in the Pukka Orchestra? Why not, everyone else is.”