#1289: War Song by Neil Young
Peak Month: July 1972
6 weeks on Vancouver’s CKVN chart
Peak Position #10
Peak Position on Billboard Hot 100 ~ #61
YouTube.com “War Song”
“War Song” lyrics
In 1945 Neil Young was born in Toronto, Ontario, and then lived most of his years growing up in the town of Omemee in the Kawartha Lakes region near Peterborough. As a boy Neil Young was diagnosed with epilepsy, Type 1 diabetes and polio. By the age of six he was not able to walk. Despite his health challenges, he developed an interest in music and was taught to play the banjo and ukulele. After playing clubs in Toronto in the early 60s Young moved to Los Angeles by the time he turned twenty and became a member of the Buffalo Springfield.
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#1291: Gone From Me by Eddie Carroll
Peak Month: March 1961
8 weeks on Vancouver’s CFUN chart
Peak Position #11
Peak Position on Billboard Hot 100 ~ did not chart
YouTube.com: “Gone From Me”
Edward Eleniak was born in Smokey Lake, Alberta, in 1933. He moved to Hollywood in 1956 to pursue a career in the motion picture and television industry and landed a position with NBC as a writer and producer. As a “resident alien” he was drafted into the U.S. Army and performed with the Armed Forces Service Radio and the 6th Army Chorus. In 1959 he dropped his Ukranian surname and went by Eddie Carroll to advance his career. In 1960 Carroll released a comedy album, On Fraternity Row. In 1962 he co-wrote the song “How Is Julie?” with Barry DeVorzon which was recorded by The Lettermen. In 1960, DeVorzon had co-written “Dreamin'” by Johnny Burnette, and “Hey Little One” with Dorsey Burnette. He would later write “Nadia’s Theme”, an instrumental hit in 1976.
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#1292: Rocky Mountain Way by Triumph
Peak Month: May 1978
6 weeks on Vancouver’s CFUN chart
Peak Position #17
Peak Position on Billboard Hot 100 ~ did not chart
YouTube.com: “Rocky Mountain Way”
Lyrics: “Rocky Mountain Way”
In 1975 three local Toronto rockers, guitarist Rik Emmett, drummer Gil Moore and bass and keyboard player Mike Levine decided to jam on a chance encounter at a club called the Hollywood Tavern on The Queensway in Toronto. They decided to form a band and started to perform in clubs in the local Toronto area. Moore and Emmett did the vocals for this hard rock trio. From their live performances they were able to secure a record deal with Attic Records.
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#1293: Vickie Lee by The Untouchables
Peak Month: October 1960
7 weeks on Vancouver’s CFUN chart
Peak Position #12
Peak Position on Billboard Hot 100 ~ did not chart
YouTube.com: “Vickie Lee”
Sheridan “Rip” Spencer was a student at Jordan High School in Los Angeles. His cousin, Brice Coefield, went to school at L.A. High. The cousins sang together and they chose to form a doo-wop group called the Sabers. In the fall of 1955 they had an audition with Cal-West Records. Rip was the second tenor, Brice was baritone and the bass singer was Walter Carter. Their recording, “Always Forever”, was a song Rip had written and it didn’t have a b-side. When they went home they got a classmate of Brice’s named Billy Hamlin Spicer to be the first tenor. The record failed to chart and the Sabers changed their name to the Chavelles.
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#1294: Bluebird by Buffalo Springfield
Peak Month: August 1967
6 weeks on Vancouver’s CFUN chart/5 weeks on CKLG
Peak Position #9 on CKLG
Peak Position on Billboard Hot 100 #58
YouTube.com: “Bluebird”
Lyrics: “Bluebird”
In 1966 a folk-rock band was formed in Los Angeles from a mix of Canadian and American musicians. It was called Buffalo Springfield. The band consisted of Stephen Stills (guitar, keyboards, vocals), Dewey Martin (drums, vocals), Bruce Palmer (electric bass), Richie Furay (guitar, vocals), and Neil Young (guitar, harmonica, piano, vocals). Like the Byrds, Buffalo Springfield’s debut album blended musical strains of folk and country music with British invasion. However, their second album, Buffalo Springfield Again, showcased their shift into psychedelic rock.
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#1295: Sole Sole Sole by Siw Milmkvist and Umberto Marcato
Peak Month: August 1964
8 weeks on Vancouver’s CFUN
Peak Position #12
Peak Position on Billboard Hot 100 ~#58
YouTube.com: “Sole Sole Sole”
Lyrics: “Sole Sole Sole”
On December 31, 1936, Siw “Siwan” Gunnel Margareta Malmkvist was born. She is a Swedish singer who has been popular in Scandinavia and West Germany. She had a number one hit in West Germany in 1964 with “Liebeskummer lohnt sich nicht” (“Lovesickness Is Not Worthwhile”). On July 18, 1964, she became the first Swede to have a hit on the Billboard Hot 100 chart, when “Sole Sole Sole”, a duet with Italian singer Umberto Marcato, entered the chart, peaking at #58. The song is sung in Italian and German.
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#1296: I Wouldn’t Want to Lose Your Love by April Wine
Peak Month: January 1975
7 weeks on Vancouver’s CKLG chart
Peak Position #12
Peak Position on Billboard Hot 100 ~ did not chart
YouTube.com: “I Wouldn’t Want To Lose Your Love”
Lyrics: “I Wouldn’t Want To Lose Your Love”
In 1969 in the Halifax suburb of Waverly, Nova Scotia, guitarist Myles Goodwyn teamed up with the Henman brothers: Ritchie (drums), David (guitar) and Jimmy (bass). The name for the band was arrived at since they liked the sound of the two words together. The next year the band moved to Montreal and got a record contract with Aquarius Records. A self-titled album was released in 1971 and Aquarius asked the band to record a second album. At this time Jim Henman was replaced by Jim Clench.
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#1341: Lazy Sunday by the Small Faces
Peak Month: June 1968
6 weeks on Vancouver’s CKLG chart
Peak Position #15
Peak Position on Billboard Hot 100 ~ #114
YouTube.com: “Lazy Sunday”
Lyrics: “Lazy Sunday”
In 1947 Steve Marriott was born in London, UK. By the age of 12 Marriott had formed several bands and writing songs influenced by Buddy Holly. In 1960 he was cast as the Artful Dodger in the new musical Oliver! at a theatre in London’s West End. In 1963-64 his band, Steve Marriott and The Moments, were a back-up band to headliners The Nashville Teens, The Animals, Georgie Fame and others at concerts in London. Marriott played guitar and was his bands’ lead vocalist. After the group disbanded in July 1964 Marriott met bass player Ronnie Lane and drummer Kenney Jones at a club when they were playing with their band, the Outcasts. They added Jimmy Winston on keyboards and began releasing singles, including Sha-la-la-la-lee,” which went to #3 in the UK in 1966. The Small Faces were part of the British mod subculture, sharp-dressed and absorbed with looks and fashion. The word faces signaled as much, and small was a reference to all of them being no taller than 5’6″.
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#1297: Sie Liebt Dich by The Beatles
Peak Month: July 1964
5 weeks on Vancouver’s CFUN chart
Peak Position #8
Peak Position on Billboard Hot 100 ~ #97
Youtube.com: “Sie Liebt Dich”
Lyrics: “Sie Liebt Dich”
In his book, The Beatles Encyclopedia: Revised and Updated, Bill Harry writes about the background to the song “She Loves You.” In June 1963, The Beatles were on a tour of the UK with Gerry and the Pacemakers and Roy Orbison. While they were on the tour bus, Paul McCartney and John Lennon got the idea for “She Loves You”. It was in their hotel room after their June 26th concert at the Majestic Ballroom in Newcastle upon Tyne they made expanded on the lyrics and the melody for “She Loves You”. According to Kenneth Womack in his book, Long And Winding Roads: The Evolving Artistry of The Beatles, “She Loves You” was finished the following day at Paul McCartney’s Forthlin Road home in Liverpool.
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#1299: Circle Game by Buffy Sainte-Marie
Peak Month: October 1970
7 weeks on Vancouver’s CKVN chart
Peak Position #14
Peak Position on Billboard Hot 100 ~ did not chart
YouTube.com: “Circle Game”
Lyrics: “Circle Game”
In 1942 Beverly Sainte-Marie was born on the Piapot Cree Reserve in southwestern Saskatchewan. From her early childhood she was called Buffy. As a child she was orphaned. Her aunt and uncle in Maine of Mi’kmaq First Nation descent then adopted her. Growing up in Maine, Buffy taught herself how to play piano and guitar. After high school took Fine Arts courses at the University of Massachussetts in Amherst to study in the Fine Arts fields, continuing to write music in her spare time. She graduated in the Top Ten in her class but chose to devote her life to music. She began to appear at coffee houses in the folk music circuit in New England, barely making ends meet.
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