Peak Month: April 1971
10 weeks on Vancouver’s CKVN chart
Peak Position #4
Peak Position on Billboard Hot 100 ~ #48
YouTube: “Lucky Man”
Lyrics: “Lucky Man”
Keith Emerson was born in 1944 in Todmorden, in West Yorkshire, England. His pregnant mom had been evacuated from London during the war. As a two-year-old, Keith’s father taught him his first song on an Italian Scandali accordion. The song was “Now Is The Hour” by Bing Crosby. His father also played the piano, and by the age of seven it was agreed that Keith should take piano lessons, and not just plunk out tunes with one finger. In his teens, Emerson was bought a guitar for Christmas. He also learned to play the harmonica. He joined the Worthing Youth Swing Orchestra, playing jazz standards and new hits by Chris Barber, Dave Brubeck and Acker Bilk. In 1962, Keith Emerson founded a breakaway band from the Swing Orchestra called the Keith Emerson Trio. But, as a career as a musician was viewed as a pipe dream, Keith’s parents were delighted when he got a proper job out of high school at a local branch of the Lloyds Bank.
Peak Month: December 1970
9 weeks on Vancouver’s CKLG chart
Peak Position #2
1 week Hit Bound
Peak Position on Billboard Hot 100 ~ #17
YouTube: “Be My Baby”
Lyrics: “Be My Baby”
Andy Kim’s father came from Lebanon to Pennsylvania and finally settled in Montreal, where Kim was born in December 1946. Around the age of 15 Andrew Youakimm became fascinated with the music business in New York City. He’d travel from Montreal to the Big Apple by bus or train and try to figure out how to break into the music industry. He bought copies of Billboard Magazine, Cashbox Magazine and other trade papers to see which record companies had hits on the pop charts.
Peak Month: June 1970
9 weeks on Vancouver’s CKVN chart
Peak Position #2
1 week Preview
Peak Position on Billboard Hot 100 ~ #14
YouTube: “A Song Of Joy”
Lyrics: “A Song Of Joy”
Miguel Ríos Campaña was born in Granada, Spain, in 1944. When he was 15-years-old, Ríos started work at a local bar. He became interested in rock and roll, and took part in a song contest at Cenicienta 60 radio station. He and his friends won a prize for singing “You Are My Destiny”, popularized by teen idol Paul Anka. In 1961, when he was sixteen, and months after his father had died, Miguel Ríos moved to Madrid. He recorded four songs and became known as Mike Ríos, the King of Twist.
As Mike Ríos he obtained some television popularity during the first half of the 1960s. In 1964 he resumed using his birth name – Miguel Ríos – which cost him the support of his group, Los Relámpagos (the Lightning). In the mid-60s Ríos was cast in the film Dos chicas locas, locas (Two Crazy Girls).
In 1967 he recorded “Vuelvo a Granada”, “El Rio”, “Contra el cristal”, “El cartel”, and “Mira hacia ti”. “El Rio” became his first big hit in 1968. Then, in 1970 he recorded “Himno de la alegría” (Hymn of Joy). In English countries the song was titled “A Song Of Joy”, and Miguel Ríos recorded an English version of the single.
“A Song Of Joy” was set to an extract of the last movement of the ninth symphony by Ludwig Van Beethoven. The same melody is used for the Christian hymn “Joyful, Joyful, We Adore Thee”. “A Song Of Joy” was released at the height of the popularity of symphonic rock. Other examples of symphonic rock in the late 60s and early 70s include “A Day In A Life” and “The Long And Winding Road” by the Beatles, “Nights In White Satin” by the Moody Blues, “A Whiter Shade Of Pale” and “Conquistador” by Procul Harum, “Uncle Albert/Admiral Halsey” by Paul McCartney, and others.
Ludwig van Beethoven was born in the German city of Bonn, by the Rhine River in 1770. Considered one of the great Classical composers, Beethover wrote nine symphonies, 17 string quartets, 11 concertos and many others works including overtures, chamber music for strings, pianos, piano sonatas, variations, as well as operas, and various choral works. His Ninth Symphony is considered one of his finest compositions.
The lyrics to “A Song Of Joy” were cowritten by Waldo De Los Rios. Born Osvaldo Nicolás Ferraro Gutiérrez in 1934 in Buenos Aires, Waldo De los Rios moved to the United States in 1958 and to Spain in 1962. He was a composer, conductor and arranger. He is best-remembered for his ability to transform European classical music into pop music. This includes a 1971 update of Mozart’s Symphony No. 40. De los Rios’ compositions were heard in the 1967 film Pampa Salvaje, for which he received a prestigious award from the Argentine Cinemagraphic Association.
Waldo De Los Rios’ record album, Mozart in the Seventies, was the result of his new arrangement of famous Mozart pieces in a contemporary style, with a large percussion section. Several tracks from it were used as theme tunes to BBC programmes of that era, including the theme to the BBC’s coverage of the Horse of the Year show. Waldo Do Los Rios also issued an album “Symphonies for the Seventies” which included Mozart’s Symphony no. 40 and other major composers including Dvořák’s New World. Sadly, he took his life by suicide in 1977 at the age of 43.
The lyrics to “A Song Of Joy” offer a vision of a world where peace shall come and “men shall love each other.” Part of the song is sung in Spanish, and tells of how people will listen for songs of happiness. And it tells how those who wait this new day of love and understanding will be joyful in anticipation.
“A Song Of Joy” climbed to #1 in Fort Lauderdale and St. Louis, #2 in Vancouver (BC), Ottawa (ON), Buffalo and Battle Creek (MI), #3 in Peace River (AB), Sioux Falls (SD), Lancaster (PA), and Tucson (AZ), #5 in Erie (PA), Flint (MI), Nashville and Detroit, #6 in Philadelphia, San Bernardino (CA), Victoria (BC), Columbus (OH), Oshkosh (WI), Albany (NY), and Allentown (PA), #7 in Phoenix, Abilene (TX), Tampa, Rochester (NY), Minneapolis/St. Paul, Wilkes-Barre (PA), Louisville (KY), San Francisco, and Easton (PA), #8 in Calgary (AB), Lincoln (NE), New York City, Denver, and New Haven (CT), #9 in Orlando, Milwaukee and Chicago, and #10 in Kansas City (MO) and Boston.
Internationally, “A Song Of Joy” peaked at #1 in Australia, Canada, Switzerland, and West Germany. It also climbed to #3 in South Africa, #5 in New Zealand, and #14 on the Billboard Hot 100. The single sold over three million copies.
The artistic career of Rios came to a sudden stop when he was arrested by Francos’ police, and jailed for possession of hashish shortly after his Rock y Amor (Rock and Love) concert. In the mid seventies he recorded three progressive rock albums, but they were not commercially successful.
In 1982 he released a double album titled Rock and Rios. It sold over 450,000 copies in Spain. The album was viewed as an expression of the new freedom in a post-Franco Spain. Between 1969 and 2018 Miguel Ríos released 30 albums.
While he has performed predominantly in Spain, Miguel Ríos has also traveled to the UK, Mexico, Chile and Venezuela to perform in concert. His most recent performances were in Madrid in 2019, prior to the global pandemic.
Florence Catherine Currier was born in 1924 in the suburbs of Boston. Her family moved to Florida when she was four-years-old. When she was five, Florence started taking voice lessons as well as piano. In the summertime, she was a child actor in theater productions at the Kennebunkport Playhouse in Kennebunkport, Maine. The Playhouse was founded by her brother. At the age of 17, in the summer of 1941, she was listed as the Treasurer of the Kennebunkport Playhouse. During her years at school, she competed in singing competitions with other students across Florida and the Southeast. Upon graduating from high school in Daytona Beach, she was accepted into the Juilliard School of Music in Manhattan. She had plans to become an opera singer, and studied opera at the school.
Peak Month: December 1958
10 weeks on Vancouver’s CKLG chart
Peak Position #5
Peak Position on Billboard Hot 100 ~ #40
YouTube: “Love Of My Life”
Lyrics: “Love Of My Life”
Isaac Donald “Don” Everly was born in 1937 and Phillip Jason “Phil” Everly was born in 1939. Don was born in Muhlenberg County in Kentucky, and Phil was born in Chicago. Their dad, Ike, had been a coal miner who decided to pursue music as a guitar player. From the mid-40s Ike and his wife, Margaret, sang as a duo in Shanendoah, Iowa. Later they included their sons “Little Donnie and Baby Boy Phil,” on local radio stations KMA and KFNF. In time they were billed as The Everly Family. In 1953, the family moved to Knoxville, Tennessee. Family friend and musician Chet Atkins got a record deal for the Everly Brothers with RCA Victor in 1956. However, their first single release was a commercial failure and they were dropped from the label. Next, Atkins got them connected with Archie Bleyer, and the boys were signed to Cadence Records. In 1957, their first single on the label, “Bye Bye Love“, became a million-seller and launched their career.
Peak Month: January 1986
14 weeks on Vancouver’s CKLG chart
Peak Position #6
Peak Position on Billboard Hot 100 ~ #32
YouTube: “Live Is Life”
Lyrics: “Live Is Life”
Opus is a band from Graz, Austria. They formed in 1973. Members of the group consisted of bass guitarist and vocalist Peter Niklas Gruber (born in Graz in 1956), guitarist and vocalist Ewald “Sunny” Pfleger (born in 1955 in Ollersdorf im Burgenland), percussionist and backing vocalist Günter Timischl (born in 1948 in Fürstenfeld), keyboard player Kurt-Rene Plisnier (born in 1957 in Güssing), lead vocalist Herwig Rüdisser (born in 1956 in 1956 in Glödnitz, Carinthia), and drummer Günter Grasmuck (born in 1957 in Fürstenfeld).
Peak Month: July 1969
9 weeks on CKLG’s Vancouver Chart
Peak Position ~ #2
1 week Hit Bound
Peak Position on Billboard Hot 100 ~ #20
YouTube: “Let Me”
Lyrics: “Let Me”
A band called The Downbeats formed in Boise, Idaho, in 1958. Paul Revere Dick started the band originally as an instrumental group. They had their first chart single in Vancouver in 1960. It was an instrumental riff on the piano tune, Chopsticks, which they titled “Beatnik Sticks”. They changed their name to Paul Revere And The Raiders in 1960. Between 1960 and 1976 they released 41 singles. They charted five songs into the Top Ten on the Billboard Hot 100 in the USA. These included “Kicks”, and “Hungry” (1966), “Him Or Me – What’s It Gonna Be?” (1967) and their cover of Don Fardon’s 1968 single “Indian Reservation,” which peaked at #1 for the band in 1971. They were even more popular in Vancouver where they charted over fifteen songs into the Top Ten on the local charts here on the West Coast.
Peak Month: June 1960
8 weeks on Vancouver’s CFUN chart
Peak Position #1
Peak Position on Billboard Hot 100 ~ #95
YouTube: “Biology”
Lyrics: “Biology”
Vincent Pacimeo was born in 1941 in Flushing, New York. He was interviewed on the This Is My Story website by and Dik de Heer in 2016. Pacimeo first sang in public when he was five-years-old. Then his career as a musician was launched when he was nine-years-old and appeared “on the Ted Mack Original Amateur Hour television show playing the drums.” His musical influences were Al Jolson and WWII big bands (like Glenn Miller, Artie Shaw, Benny Goodman etc.). As he got better at drumming, Vince was invited to “play with older and seasoned musicians. By that time he was tap dancing and singing Broadway and movie musical songs.” Vince was inspired by the great singer and dancer, Gene Kelly. In the early 50s, singer and tap dancer Gene Kelly starred in numbers of musicals, including An American In Paris (1951), Singing In The Rain (1952), and Brigadoon (1954). Vince had a dream that he could be a great singer and dancer like Gene Kelly. In his mid-teens, Vince was captivated by jazz music. And he began to focus more on his vocal skills than his drumming.
Peak Month: January 1969
8 weeks on Vancouver’s CKLG chart
Peak Position #1
1 week Hit Bound
Peak Position on Billboard Hot 100 ~ #29
YouTube: “Shame Shame”
Lyrics: “Shame Shame”
James Robert Bilsbury was born in 1942 in Liverpool, England. Around 1957 he joined the the Ray Johnson Skiffle Group. He was subsequently a member of the Nightboppers, the Beat Boys, and then the Hammers. In 1962 Bilsbury, as lead vocalist and on lead guitar, formed the Sabres with guitar player Peter Shoesmith, bass guitarist Ian Moncur, and drummer Allan Wilson. By 1964 the band changed their name to the Magic Lanterns. In 1966 they released a single titled “Excuse Me Baby”. The song was influenced by British Dance Hall nostalgia. It peaked at #44 on the UK singles chart. In 1967 they released their debut album Lit Up – With the Magic Lanterns.
Peak Month: April 1980
14 weeks on Vancouver’s CFUN chart
Peak Position #5
Peak Position on Billboard Hot 100 ~ #48
YouTube: “White Hot”
Lyrics: “White Hot”
Tom Cochrane was born in Lynn Lake, Manitoba, in 1953. When he was eleven he got his first guitar. In his late teens and early twenties, he performed in coffee houses across Canada in the early 70’s. His debut album, Hang On To Your Resistance, was released in 1974. Then Tom Cochrane made his way to Los Angeles. In 1975, Cochrane got work composing theme music for the movie My Pleasure Is My Business. This was a film about Xavier Hollander, the call girl and adult film star who authored her own memoir, The Happy Hooker, in 1971. Unable to get subsequent work in Hollywood, Cochrane returned to Canada for drive a taxi and work on a cruise line. At a concert at the El Mocambo for Red Rider in 1978, Tom Cochrane met the band. Soon after Cochrane was invited to join Red Rider.
