#34: Dreamer by Supertramp
Peak Month: November 1980
14 weeks on Vancouver’s CFUN chart
Peak Position #2
Peak Position on Billboard Hot 100 ~ #15
YouTube.com: “Dreamer”
Lyrics: “Dreamer”
Richard “Rick” Davies was born in 1944 in Swindon, England. By the age of eight, it was clear his only real interest in school was music. At the age of 12 he became a snare drummer with the British Railways Staff Association Brass and Silver Jubilee Band. Davies recalls, “As a kid, I used to hear the drums marching along the street in England, in my home town, when there was some kind of parade, and it was the most fantastic sound to me. Then, eventually, I got some drums and I took lessons. I was serious about it… I figured if I could do that – I mean a real drummer, read music and play with big bands, rock bands, classical, Latin, and know what I was going to do – I would be in demand and my life was set… Eventually, I started fiddling with the keyboards, and that seemed to go over better than my drumming, for some reason. So you’ve gotta go with what people react to.”
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#35: In A Big Country by Big Country
Peak Month: December 1983
17 weeks on Vancouver’s CKLG chart
Peak Position #1 ~ CFUN
Peak Position on Billboard Hot 100 ~ #17
YouTube.com: “In A Big Country”
Lyrics: “In A Big Country”
William Stuart Adamson was born in 1958 in Manchester, England, and grew up in Fife, Scotland. He learned to play keyboards, guitar and basss guitar. In 1976 he formed a band called Tattoo, and in 1977 a punk rock band called the Skids. The Skids had a #10 hit on the UK Singles chart in 1979 titled “In The Valley”, followed by “Masquerade” which peaked at #14 in the UK and #6 in Ireland. A third released in ’79, “Working for the Yankee Dollar”, also made the Top 20 in the UK. In 1981 Adamson formed Big Country. His co-founder, Bruce Watson, was born in Timmins, Ontario, in 1962, and moved with his family to Scotland while he was a toddler. In the late 70’s, Watson was a member of Edinburgh area new wave bands the Delinquents and Eurosect. Watson was versatile with his musical skills in guitar, mandolin and sitar. Bass guitarist, Anthony “Tony” Butler, was born in 1957 in London. He was a member of the new wave band On The Air, who toured with the Skids in 1980. From that tour, Butler and Adamson became friends. Mark Brzezicki was born in the suburbs of Greater London in 1957. He learned to play the drums and was a member of On The Air.
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#36: Forever Live And Die by Orchestral Manoeuvres In The Dark
Peak Month: December 1986
14 weeks on Vancouver’s CKLG chart
Peak Position #1
Peak Position on Billboard Hot 100 ~ #19
YouTube.com: “Forever Live And Die”
Lyrics: “Forever Live And Die”
Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark (OMD) is a band that formed in 1978 in the Liverpool suburb of Wirral, UK. The bands’ co-founder, George Andrew “Andy” McCluskey, was born in 1959 in the town of Heswall on The Wirral peninsula. In primary school McCluskey met Paul Humphreys. The two teamed up in their teens to play in the bands Hitlerz Underpantz, VCL XI and the Id. The latter was a synth-pop band that also included future OMD member Malcolm Holmes. Paul David Humphreys was born in 1960 Merseyside. He was influenced by Kraftwerk and Brian Eno. Malcolm Holmes was born in a suburb of Merseyside in The Wirral in 1960. When the Id was founded in 1977, Holmes became the band’s drummer. He joined OMD in 1980. Martin Cooper was born in 1958 and joined OMD in 1980.
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#37: Conscience by James Darren
Peak Month: May 1962
11 weeks on Vancouver’s CFUN chart
Peak Position #1
Peak Position on Billboard Hot 100 ~ #11
YouTube.com: “Conscience”
Lyrics: “Conscience”
James William Ercolani was born in 1936 in Philadelphia. From a young age he wanted to be an actor. He recalls, “I wasn’t really a singer. I was a kid in Philly whose dad would take him to bars and nightclubs and I would get up and sing two songs.” Just after he turned twenty, Ercolani went to the Brill Building in Manhattan and was instantly offered a contract with Columbia Pictures. He was quickly given the stage name James Darren. His first film was a crime film noir in 1956 titled Rumble on the Docks. Darren was given the lead role as a young man caught up in the rivalry between two gangs, who eventually changes his ways and gets work in his father’s print shop. In 1957, Darren starred in the military comedy Operation Mad Ball with Jack Lemmon. That year, James Darren was cast in the laundry business meets crime syndicate film noir The Brothers Rico. His third film noir was in 1957 titled The Tijuana Story, and Darren was given second billing. In 1958, it was the western film Gunman’s Walk where James Darren appeared with top billing on the movie poster along with Tab Hunter and Van Hefflin.
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#38: The Globe by Big Audio Dynamite
Peak Month: April 1992
18 weeks on Vancouver’s CKLG chart
Peak Position #1
Peak Position on Billboard Hot 100 ~ #72
YouTube.com: “The Globe”
Lyrics: “The Globe”
Michael Geoffrey Jones was born in London, UK, in 1955. Jones’ maternal grandmother Stella was born in 1899 to Jewish parents in Russia and escaped the Russian pogroms by migrating to the United Kingdom. Growing up, Jones learned to play guitar and in the early 70s was in a glam rock band called The Delinquents. He moved on to The London SS. When that band broke up, in 1976 Jones became an original bandmate with The Clash. In 1983 Jones was expelled from The Clash. Late that year he formed General Public which released a debut album, All the Rage in January 1984. Jones left the band and later that year formed Big Audio Dynamite as lead guitarist.
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#39: Spirit In The Sky by Doctor and the Medics
Peak Month: November 1986
14 weeks on Vancouver’s CKLG chart
Peak Position #1
Peak Position on Billboard Hot 100 ~ #69
YouTube.com: “Spirit In The Sky”
Lyrics: “Spirit In The Sky”
The Doctor and the Medics lead singer, Clive Jackson, was born in Liverpool in 1961. Richard Searle was born in 1963 in London and played guitar. The two founded Doctor and the Medics in 1981. Other bandmates included Steve “Vox” Ritchie, who was born in 1964 in Billericay, UK, and played drums with the band. Colette Anadin (aka Colette Appleby) and her sister Wendi, were known in the band as “The Anadin Brothers” to add gender ambiguity into the mix. In addition, Steve McGuire was the lead guitarist. In 1982 the band released “The Druids Are Here”. Doctor and the Medics blended psychedelia with Japanese Kabuki Theatre and make-up that resembled KISS. A 1985 single, “The Miracle of the Age”, stalled at #117 under the UK Singles Top 100 chart.
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#40: You’re The Reason by Bobby Edwards
Peak Month: September 1961
13 weeks on Vancouver’s CFUN chart
Peak Position #1
Peak Position on Billboard Hot 100 ~ #11
YouTube.com: “You’re The Reason”
Lyrics: “You’re The Reason”
Robert Edward Moncrief was born in 1926 in Anniston, Alabama. Around 1956 Moncrief served for two years in the United States navy. As Bobby Moncrief, he first recorded for Pappy Daily at ‘D’ Records in late 1958. His first recording was called “Long Gone Daddy”. In 1959, was going by the stage name Bobby Edwards. He revived Tex Ritter’s 1945 hit, “Jealous Heart”, written by Jenny Lou Carson. He also has a hit credited to Bobby Edwards With The Texas Trailblazers titled “Stranger To Me”. The record was issued on the Bluebonnet label. Then Edwards went out west, working shows on his own in southern California. Songwriter Terry Fell was impressed with Edwards and placed him on Crest Records. Fell helped produce and arrange a song Edwards wrote titled “You’re the Reason.” The single was recorded in February 1961.
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#41: Please Mister Postman by the Beatles
Peak Month: January 1964
15 weeks on Vancouver’s CFUN chart
Peak Position #1
Peak Position on Billboard Hot 100 ~ did not chart
YouTube.com: “Please Mister Postman”
Lyrics: “Please Mister Postman”
Paul McCartney was born in Liverpool in 1942. He attended the Liverpool Institute High School for Boys and met fellow classmates George Harrison on a school bus. When Paul was 14 his mom died from a blockage in one of her blood vessels. In his early teens McCartney learned to play trumpet, guitar and piano. He was left-handed and restrung the strings to make it work. In 1957, Paul met John Lennon and in October he was invited to join John’s skiffle band, The Quarrymen, which Lennon had founded in 1956. After Paul joined the group his suggested that his friend, George Harrison, join the group. Harrison became one of the Quarrymen in early 1958, though he was still only 14. Other original members of the Quarrymen, Len Garry, Rod Davis, Colin Hanton, Eric Griffiths and Pete Shotton left the band when their set changed from skiffle to rock ‘n roll. John Duff Lowe, a friend of Paul’s from the Liverpool Institute, who had joined the Quarrymen in early 1958 left the band at the end of school. This left Lennon, McCartney and Harrison as remaining trio. On July 15, 1958, John Lennon’s mother died in an automobile accident.
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#42: Walking With My Angel by Bobby Vee
Peak Month: November-December 1961
10 weeks on Vancouver’s CFUN chart
Peak Position #1
Peak Position on Billboard Hot 100 ~ #53
YouTube.com: “Walking With My Angel”
Lyrics: “Walking With My Angel”
Bobby Vee was born in Fargo, North Dakota as Robert Thomas Velline. He was part of a highschool band that was asked to step in and perform for the concert that was to be headlined by Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens and the Big Bopper. Each had died in a small plane crash the day before. And the concert was held in Moorhead, Minnesota, across the Red River from Fargo. Fifteen year old Vee and his band were a hit and he got a contract with Liberty Records. It was his fourth single release, Devil or Angel, that catapulted him into the Top Ten and teen idol stardom. The single peaked at #1 in Vancouver on September 10, 1960. Vee’s followup single, “Rubber Ball”, climbed to #3 in Vancouver in December ’60. “Run to Him” (#2) “The Night Has a Thousand Eyes” (#3) and “Come Back When You Grow Up Girl” (#3).
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#43: Last Kiss by Wednesday
Peak Month: November 1973
14 weeks on Vancouver’s CKLG chart
Peak Position #1
Peak Position on Billboard Hot 100 ~ #34
YouTube.com: “Last Kiss”
Lyrics: “Last Kiss”
In the early 70s a group from Oshawa, Ontario, were formed who named themselves Wednesday. The band formed when high school friends Mike O’Neil and Paul Andrew Smith decided to start a band. O’Neil played guitar and banjo, while Smith played guitar and keyboards. Both were singers. They were getting a good reputation as they played covers of contemporary hit songs at gigs across Ontario. They auditioned for a drummer and got Randy Begg, and they soon got bass player John Dufek to round out the band. In 1973 they showed up at Toronto’s Manta Studios in Toronto and made some demos.
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