#1240: Power Of Love by Frankie Goes To Hollywood
Peak Month: January 1985
8 weeks on CKLG’s Vancouver Charts
Peak Position ~ #15
Peak Position on Billboard Hot 100 ~ did not chart
YouTube.com: “Power Of Love”
Lyrics: “Power Of Love”
William Johnson was born in 1960 in Liverpool, UK. Growing up, his nickname was Billy. In 1965 he wrote his first song on a glockenspiel. At the age of 13 he got the nickname Joyful Johnson and dyed his hair. He attended school with less frequency due to being bullied in response to his androgynous appearance. He was influenced by David Bowie, Marc Bolan, the Velvet Underground and Andy Warhol and bought a guitar through the sale of cigarettes. At the age of 14 he took the name Holly Johnson in tribute to the actress Holly Woodlawn, a Puerto Rican transgendered actress and friend of Andy Warhol. In 1976 Holly Johnson became part of the Demi Monde in Liverpool’s hedonistic counter-culture. In 1977, Johnson became part of the punk/new wave band Big In Japan. After that band split in 1979, Johnson continued to pursue a musical career. In 1980 he was invited to join Frankie Goes To Hollywood.
Continue reading →
#1260: I Should Have Known Better by The Beatles
Peak Month: September 1964
3 weeks on CFUN’s Vancouver Charts
Peak Position ~ #4
Peak Position on Billboard Hot 100 ~ #53
YouTube.com: “I Should Have Known Better”
Lyrics: “I Should Have Known Better”
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.
Continue reading →
#1407: Like A Cannonball by Van Morrison
Peak Month: April 1972
6 weeks on CKVNs Vancouver Charts
Peak Position ~ #16
Peak Position on Billboard Hot 100 ~ #119
YouTube.com: “Like A Cannonball”
Lyrics: “Like A Cannonball”
Sir George Ivan “Van” Morrison, was born in Belfast on August 31, 1945. He is a singer, songwriter and musician. He has received six Grammy Awards, the 1994 Brit Award for Outstanding Contribution to Music, and has been inducted into both the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and the Songwriters Hall of Fame. In 1996 he was given the Order of the British Empire for his service to music enriching the lives of people in the UK (and beyond). Since 1996 his formal title has been Sir “Van” Morrison, OBE. In 2016 he was knighted for his musical achievements and his services to tourism and charitable causes in Northern Ireland.
Continue reading →
#1376: Same Song by Digital Underground
Peak Month: May 1991
8 weeks on CKLGs Vancouver Charts
Peak Position ~ #18
Peak Position on Billboard Hot 100 ~ did not chart
YouTube.com: “Same Song”
Lyrics: “Same Song”
In 1987, Digital Underground formed in Oakland, California. The frontman for the group is Gregory Jacobs who is billed as Shock G. Jacobs was born in 1963 in Brooklyn, New York, and spent most of his childhood in Tampa, Florida. But after his parents divorce when he was age 12, he moved back to Brooklyn. At that time he discovered turntabling: the manipulation of phonograph records and needles and a mixer by a DJ. At that time he used the nickname MC Starchild. His nickname changed to Shah-G when his cousin, Shah-T gave him the name. It shifted in time from Shah-G to Shock G. Moving back to Tampa and then to Oakland, Shock G got work as a clerk in a music store. He met up with Chopmaster J and Kenny-K. The trio became Digital Underground.
Continue reading →
#1358: Ride My See-Saw by The Moody Blues
Peak Month: November 1968
5 weeks on CKLGs Vancouver Charts
1 week Hit Bound
Peak Position ~ #12
Peak Position on Billboard Hot 100 ~ #61
YouTube.com: “Ride My See-Saw”
Lyrics: “Ride My See-Saw”
Born in 1941 in wartime England, Ray Thomas picked up harmonica at the age of nine. He was in the Birmingham Youth Choir and in October 1958 he joined a skiffle group called The Saints and Sinners. The band split up in June 1959. The Saints and Sinners helped Ray discover how well his vocals were received by audiences. Next, he formed El Riot and the Rebels, featuring Ray Thomas as El Riot dressed in a green satin Mexican toreador outfit. The band won a number of competitions in the Birmingham area. It was here that Ray became known for making an entrance onstage by sliding to center stage on his knees. On one occasion Thomas sent a row of potted tulips flying into the audience. El Riot and the Rebels appeared several times on a local variety show called Lunchbox. They made their debut on Lunchbox on November 14, 1962, and played “Guitar Tango” and “I Remember You”. Mike Pinder joined El Riot and the Rebels on keyboards. On April 15, 1963, El Riot and the Rebels performed at The Riverside Dancing Club in Tenbury Wells as the opening act for The Beatles. Pinder went off to serve in the British Army. When he returned, Thomas and Pinder left El Riot and the Rebels and formed a new band called the Krew Kats.
Continue reading →
#1306: Come On Down (From The Top of That Hill) by Jackie De Shannon
Peak Month: February 1967
8 weeks on CFUN’s Vancouver Charts
Peak Position ~ #13
Peak Position on Billboard Hot 100 ~ #121
YouTube.com:”Come On Down (From The Top of That Hill)
Sharon Lee Myers was born in Hazel, Kentucky, in 1941, a town on the Tennessee and western Kentucky border. When she was only two years old she received her first vocal training. By 1947, she was appearing on a local radio station as a child country and western singer. And by 1952, Sharon Lee Myers was hosting her own radio show. In 1954, with the family farm posing mounting challenges, the family moved to her mother’s home town of Aurora, Illinois, a seven hour drive north of Hazel. A year later, when she was in 8th grade, the family moved to nearby Batavia, Illinois. Her dad became a barber and young Sharon got instant recognition in the local paper. A headline in on May 5, 1955, in the Batavia Herald read “Sharon Lee Myers, Only 13, Is Talented Batavia Vocalist.” The paper enthused, “Though only 13, the youngster can boast almost 11 years of voice training and experience and in the past she has toured most of the south making personal appearances. Also she has sung on radio with a rhythm band for 2 years and has appeared on television 3 times.”
Continue reading →
#1293: It Won’t Be Wrong/Set You Free This Time by The Byrds
Peak Month: March 1966
7 weeks on CFUN’s Vancouver Charts
Peak Position ~ #10
CFUN Pick of the Week ~ January 29, 1966
“It Won’t Be Wrong”
Peak Position on Billboard Hot 100 ~ #63
YouTube.com: “It Won’t Be Wrong”
Lyrics: “It Won’t Be Wrong”
“Set You Free This Time”
Peak Position on Billboard Hot 100 ~ #79
YouTube.com: “Set You Free This Time”
Lyrics: “Set You Free This Time”
Around 1963 a folk trio that named itself the Jet Set, consisted of Roger McGuinn on vocals and lead guitar, Gene Clark on vocals tambour and rhythm guitar and David Crosby on vocals and rhythm guitar. In 1964 the trio released a single that was a commercial failure and credited to The Beefeaters. They added bass (and mandolin) player Chris Hillman and drummer Michael Clarke and became The Byrds. They offered up a fusion of folk-rock and became an instant hit with two #1 hits in Vancouver and the Billboard Hot 100 in 1965: “Mr. Tambourine Man” and “Turn, Turn, Turn”. The former was written by Bob Dylan and the latter by Pete Seeger. A single between their #1 hits was another Dylan tune titled “All I Really Want To Do”. The Byrds were perennial favorites in Vancouver who consistently had better chart runs in Vancouver than back in their home country of America. Aside from their two #1 hits, they failed to chart other songs into the Billboard Hot 100. But in Vancouver they charted ten songs into the Top Ten.
Continue reading →
#1213: Gimmie Your Money Please by Bachman-Turner Overdrive
Peak Month: October 1976
8 weeks on CKLG’s Vancouver Charts
Peak Position ~ #12
Peak Position on Billboard Hot 100 ~ #70
YouTube.com:”Gimme Your Money Please”
Lyrics: “Gimme Your Money Please”
Randolph Charles Bachman was born in 1943 in Winnipeg, Manitoba. When he was just three years old he entered the King of the Saddle singing contest on CKY radio, Manitoba’s first radio station that began in 1923. Bachman won the contest. When he turned five years he began to study the violin through the Royal Toronto Conservatory. Though he couldn’t read music, he was able to play anything once he heard it. He dropped out of high school and subsequently a business administration program in college. He co-founded a Winnipeg band called The Silvertones with Chad Allan in 1960. In 1962 the band became Chad Allan and the Expressions, and was renamed The Guess Who? in 1965 with their first big hit, “Shakin’ All Over”. The Guess Who dropped the question mark in their title a few years later.
Continue reading →
#1217: Sound Of Love by The Five Americans
Peak Month: July 1967
5 weeks on CKLG’s Vancouver Charts
Peak Position ~ #7
1 Week Hit Bound
Peak Position on Billboard Hot 100 ~ #36
YouTube.com: “Sound Of Love”
Lyrics: “Sound Of Love”
The Five Americans were originally a group called The Mutineers. They consisted of guitarist Mike Rabon, keyboard player Jim Durrill, guitar and harmonica player Norman Ezell, bass player Jim Grant and drummer Johnny Coble. From Durant, Oklahoma, they graduated as students from the local Southeastern State College and moved to Dallas, Texas. Coble was replaced by Jimmy Wright. Once in Texas their style shifted from mostly instrumental versions of tunes by Duane Eddy to a garage band sound. They recorded “I See The Light” in 1965 and it became a Top 30 hit in the USA the following year. It featured the Vox Continental electric organ and shouting out lyrics such as “you tried to fool me, but I got wise, now I won’t listen to none of your lies…. From now on baby, I’m gonna beware. I’ll be sorry baby, but I don’t care…”
Continue reading →
#1470: Runnin’ Out Of Fools by Aretha Franklin
Peak Month: October 1964
6 weeks on Vancouver’s CFUN chart
Peak Position #15
Peak Position on Billboard Hot 100 ~ #57
YouTube.com:”Runnin’ Out Of Fools”
Lyrics: “Runnin’ Out Of Fools”
Aretha Franklin born in Memphis, Tennessee in 1942. Her family moved to Detroit when she was four years old. Her father was a Baptist minister and she was raised in the church and sang in the choir. In 1956, at the age of 14, she released an live album of sacred music titled Songs Of Faith. It was recorded at the New Bethel Baptist Church where she worshipped. Sensing a call to share the gift of her voice with a wider audience, Aretha asked for her father’s blessing to go into the field of rhythm and blues and pop music. He told her he would do anything he could to support her, saying he wanted her to sign with a record label that could help her reach a wider audience. Aretha Franklin signed with Columbia Records in 1960. In 1961 she had a minor Top 40 hit on the Billboard Hot 100, a remake of the Al Jolson tune from the 1918 Broadway musical, Sinbad, titled “Rock-A-Bye Your Baby With A Dixie Melody”. In 1962, Aretha was dubbed as the Queen of Soul by a Chicago DJ named Pervis Spann on WVON. The nickname stuck even though she was only twenty years old.
Continue reading →
