#1290: Listen to Me by One Way Street
Peak Month: February 1967
9 weeks on Vancouver’s CFUN chart
Peak Position #16
Peak Position on Billboard Hot 100 ~ did not chart
YouTube.com: “Listen To Me”
One Way Street was a band from Vancouver. According to All Music.com’s Stansted Monchifet, “they billed themselves as folk-rockers.” Yet, their only single release, on the local Vantown label, was the recording was “Listen To Me” b/w “Tears In My Eyes”. The song draws its influences more from Los Angeles’ The Seeds, than the Mojo Men’s “Sit Down I Think I Love You”. Both songs were currently on the CFUN chart while the One Way Street climbed their way into the Top 20. One Way Street featured to smooth, urgent, vocals of Rick Wanzel, guitarist Doug Fairbairn, bass player Greg Johnstone, keyboard player Bob Hirtle and percussionist Jim Warren. Monchifet writes that “the band cut their single at the Vancouver Sound Recording Studio in under an hour.” “Listen To Me” spent nine weeks on the CFUN chart and peaked at #16 in February 1967.
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#1291: Hard Rock Mine by Dorsey Burnette
Peak Month: March 1961
7 weeks on Vancouver’s CKWX chart
Peak Position #14
Peak Position on Billboard Hot 100 ~ did not chart
WX DISC-overy of the Week ~ February 11, 1961
YouTube.com: “Hard Rock Mine”
Dorsey Burnette was born in 1932 in Memphis, Tennessee. He played bass in his younger brother Johnny Burnette’s rockabilly Rock ‘n Roll Trio. Dorsey became a solo artist and had a few minor hits in the late 1950s and early 1960s. His biggest hit was in 1960 with “Tall Oak Tree” that peaked in the Top 30 in the USA and #15 in Vancouver. Dorsey Burnette is best known for writing over 350 songs. His most well known songs were recorded by teen idol, Ricky Nelson. When he was six his dad bought him a Gene Autry guitar, along with one for his younger brother, Johnny. Dorsey had a temper and was on a path to becoming what was then called a juvenile delinquent. He put his temper to better use competing as a Golden Gloves boxer. He met another boxer when he was 17 years old at the 1949 championship named Paul Burlison. They discovered a mutual interest in music. However, Burlison was inducted into the US Army in 1951. Dorsey and his brother began appearing on Memphis radio stations and playing gigs for beer money, kicks and girls.
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#1292: 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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#1294: 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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#1295: 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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#1296: 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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#1297: 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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#1298: 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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#1299: 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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#1344: 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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