#4: Soul Time by Shirley Ellis

City: Belleville, ON
Radio Station: CJBQ
Peak Month: May 1967
Peak Position in Belleville ~ #6
Peak Position in Vancouver ~ #20
Peak Position on Billboard Hot 100 ~ #67
YouTube: “Soul Time”
Lyrics: “Soul Time”

Shirley Marie O’Garra was born in The Bronx in 1929. In 1954, the doo-wop group The Chords recorded two of Shirley’s compositions “Pretty Wild” and LV – LV”. In the early 1960’s, Shirley Ellis was the lead singer of the Metronomes. In 1961, she released “Love Can Make You Know” credited to Shirley Elliston. And in 1962 under the name Shirlee May, she released “Lonely Birthday”. In 1963, Ellis had the first of a series of novelty R&B crossover hits. “The Nitty Gritty” climbed to #4 in the Billboard Hot R&B Singles chart and #8 on the Billboard Hot 100. In January 1964, the single peaked at #7 on CFUN in Vancouver. It was stuck behind four Beatles songs and one by Cliff Richard which were higher up the FUNTASTIC FIFTY.
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