#10: You Can Cry If You Want To by the Troggs
City: Kingston, ON
Radio Station: CKLC
Peak Month: September 1968
Peak Position in Kingston ~ #4
Peak position in Vancouver ~ did not chart
Peak Position on Billboard Hot 100 ~ did not chart
YouTube: “You Can Cry If You Want To”
Lyrics: “You Can Cry If You Want To”
The Troggs formed in 1964 and decades later were dubbed by music critics as the “first British punk band.” Never strangers to controversy, many of their records were considered by radio programmers and social conservatives as too suggestive for the masses, and they consequently banned them. The band’s first big hit was “Wild Thing” which is rated by Rolling Stone Magazine as one of the Top 500 songs in the rock ‘n roll era. While they racked up their biggest string of Top Ten singles between 1966 and 1968, the band consisted of co-founders Reg Presley and Ronnie Bond, as well as Pete Staples and Chris Britton.
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#11: Cold Turkey by the Plastic Ono Band
City: Kingston, ON
Radio Station: CKLC
Peak Month: January 1970
Peak Position in Kingston ~ #5
Peak position in Vancouver ~ did not chart
Peak Position on Billboard Hot 100 ~ #30
YouTube: “Cold Turkey”
Lyrics: “Cold Turkey”
The Plastic Ono Band was formed in 1969 by John Lennon and Yoko Ono. On March 20, 1969, Lennon and Ono married, and subsequently hosted their first “Bed-in for Peace” event in at the Amsterdam Hilton (Amsterdam, the Netherlands). During their second bed-in in late May into June 1969 at the Queen Elizabeth Hotel in Montreal. On June 1, they invited a number of guests to be part of the Plastic Ono Band to record “Give Peace A Chance” in their hotel room. The guest list included Petula Clark and Timothy Leary (backing vocals), Tommy Smothers (on guitar), André Perry (percussion, production), and on handclaps: US black civil rights advocate Dick Gregory, Quebec separatist Jacques Larue-Langlois, Toronto Rabbi Abraham Feinberg, New York DJ Murray the K, British journalist Derek Taylor, and poet Allen Ginsburg. John Lennon and Yoko Ono provided lead vocals, as he played guitar and she played the tambourine.
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#90: Little Altar Boy by Vic Dana
City: Winnipeg, MB
Radio Station: CKRC
Peak Month: January 1962
Peak Position in Winnipeg ~ #17
Peak position in Vancouver ~ did not chart
Peak Position on Billboard Hot 100 ~ #45
YouTube: “Little Altar Boy”
Lyrics: “Little Altar Boy”
Samuel Mendola was born in 1940 in Buffalo, New York. He told reporter J. T. Crawford “I was nine years old and had just started tap dancing,” he says. “My parents asked me if I wanted to take dancing lessons. I said I didn’t because I thought it was just for girls. I wound up taking some lessons and did some local shows. I went to the Ted Mack Original Amateur Hour, which, in those days, was like American Idol. They had variety acts, and people wrote in from all over the country and picked the winners. And I won the Ted Mack Amateur Hour.” When he was eleven, Samuel Mendola was taken to see Sammy Davis Jr. perform in Buffalo.
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#12: Liquidator by Harry J. All Stars
City: Kingston, ON
Radio Station: CKLC
Peak Month: May 1970
Peak Position in Kingston ~ #5
Peak position in Vancouver ~ did not chart
Peak Position on Billboard Hot 100 ~ did not chart
YouTube: “Liquidator”
The Harry J. All Stars were a group that consisted of Winston Wright on organ and keyboard, Val Bennett on saxophone, Aston “Family Man” Barrett on bass guitar, Boris Gardiner on bass guitar, Jackie Jackson on bass guitar, and Carlton Barrett on drums. The group was also known as The Jay Boys. The group was popularly known as Harry J. All Stars, named after Jamaican reggae producer Harry Zephaniah Johnson.
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#35: After School by Randy Starr
City: Hull, QC
Radio Station: CKCH
Peak Month: June 1957
Peak Position in Hull ~ #4
Peak position in Vancouver ~ #26
Peak Position on Billboard Hot 100 ~ #32
YouTube: “After School”
Lyrics: “After School”
Warren Nadel was born in 1930 in the Bronx, New York. He successfully completed his dental studies at Columbia College in 1954. Around the same time, he wrote songs that were recorded by Jackie Wilson, Connie Francis, the Kingston Trio, Red Foley, Martin Denny, Cliff Richard, The Browns, Chet Atkins, Santo & Johnny, Kay Starr, Nelson Riddle, and others. In 1957, going by the name Randy Starr, Nadel signed with the small Dale record label.
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#13: I Love Candy by the Marshmallow Soup Group
City: Kingston, ON
Radio Station: CKLC
Peak Month: December 1969
Peak Position in Kingston ~ #5
Peak position in Vancouver ~ did not chart
Peak Position on Billboard Hot 100 ~ did not chart
YouTube: “I Love Candy”
The Citizen Freak website tells how the Marshmallow Soup Group was a “Canadian pop psych band formed in the summer of 1967 in Kingston, Ontario. They soon moved to Ottawa to sign with manager Vern Craig. Tim Eaton joined the group later as lead singer in early 1969 before they started recording, first with radio jingles for the United Way charities and the Canada Welfare Council.” The lead vocalist was Tim Eaton. John Lemmon, from Kingston (ON) played organ, Wayne Sweet was lead guitarist, Ron “Smack” Smith , also from Kingston (ON) was on bass guitar, and Tim Cottini was the group’s drummer. Except for Cottini, the other group members were backing vocalists for Eaton.
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#14: Rock And Roll Dreams Come Through by the Jim Steinman Band
City: Kingston, ON
Radio Station: CKLC
Peak Month: August 1981
Peak Position in Kingston ~ #5
Peak position in Vancouver ~ #13
Peak Position on Billboard Hot 100 ~ #32
YouTube: “Rock And Roll Dreams Come Through”
Lyrics: “Rock And Roll Dreams Come Through”
James Richard Steinman was born in 1947 in Hewlett, Long Island, New York. He got a B.A. in 1969 from Amherst College in Massachusetts. As a senior, Steinman wrote the book, music and lyrics for April 1969 musical The Dream Engine, which was a requirement for independent studies before graduation. The plot of the musical was set in a satirical-dystopian 1969, concerning a boy named Baal who, along with his rebel fellows, doesn’t accept the restraints and limits of their society. In 1971, Steinman provided music for a puppet show titled Ubu, and in 1972, worked on musical titled Rhinegold. In 1972, Bette Midler sang a demo of the Steinman song “Heaven Can Wait”.
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#15: We Shall Overcome by Joan Baez
City: Kingston, ON
Radio Station: CKWS
Peak Month: November 1963
Peak Position in Kingston ~ #6
Peak position in Vancouver ~ did not chart
Peak Position on Billboard Hot 100 ~ #90
YouTube: “We Shall Overcome”
Lyrics: “We Shall Overcome”
Joan Baez was born on Staten Island, New York, in 1941. Her mother was from Edinburgh, Scotland, and her father from Puebla, Mexico. Joan remembers racial slurs thrown at her due to her Mexican heritage. Her younger sister, Mimi Farina, was also became a folk singer and recording artist. Joan Baez was 17 years old in 1958 when she began her studies at the Boston University School of Drama. She was part of a group of peers who had a passion for both folk music and human rights. She began to perfect her adaptations of traditional folk songs showcasing the challenges of the human condition. These include lyrics concerning underdogs in a struggle, race relations, poverty, war and its folly, romantic betrayal, unrequited love and spiritual breakthroughs. She appeared on the folk music scene in 1959 at Club 47 in Cambridge, Massachusetts. That same year she performed at the first Newport Folk Festival in Newport, Rhode Island.
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#40: French Foreign Legion by Frank Sinatra
City: Hull, QC
Radio Station: CKCH
Peak Month: April 1959
Peak Position in Hull ~ #5
Peak position in Vancouver ~ #44
Peak Position on Billboard Hot 100 ~ #61
YouTube: “French Foreign Legion”
Lyrics: “French Foreign Legion”
Francis Albert Sinatra was born in 1915 in Hoboken, NJ. Sinatra spent much time at his parents’ tavern in Hoboken, working on his homework and occasionally singing for spare change. After leaving school before graduating, Sinatra began performing in local Hoboken social clubs and sang for free on radio stations such as WAAT in Jersey City. In New York, Sinatra found jobs singing for his supper or for cigarettes. He got his first break in 1935 when his mother persuaded a local singing group called the 3 Flashes to let him join. Baritone Fred Tamburro stated that “Frank hung around us like we were gods or something”, admitting that they only took him on board because he owned a car and could chauffeur the group around. Sinatra soon learned they were auditioning for the Major Bowes Amateur Hour show, and “begged” the group to let him in on the act. With Sinatra, the group became known as the Hoboken Four, and passed an audition from Edward Bowes to appear on the show. They each earned $12.50, and ended up attracting 40,000 votes to win first prize—a six-month contract to perform on stage and radio across the U.S. Sinatra quickly became the group’s lead singer, and, much to the jealousy of his fellow group members, garnered most of the attention from girls.
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#17: Bobby’s Birthday by Kensington Market
City: Kingston, ON
Radio Station: CKLC
Peak Month: December 1967
Peak Position in Kingston ~ #6
Peak position in Vancouver ~ did not chart
Peak Position on Billboard Hot 100 ~ did not chart
YouTube: “Bobby’s Birthday”
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Keith McKie was born in St. Albans, England, in 1947. He moved with his family to Canada in 1953. After high school, he formed a band called The Shades. This later morphed into the Vendettas. After that band dissolved, McKie was sought out by former Paupers manager Bernie Finkelstein who suggested he form a new group. To join McKie, they got former Bobby Kris & the Imperials guitarist and pianist Gene Martynec to sign. Martynec was born in 1947 in Coburg, West Germany. Former Vendettas bandmate, Alex Darou, was added to the emerging band. Darou, who played bass guitar, was born in Sault Ste. Marie (ON) in 1943. The oldest member of the band, he had already been part of a jazz trio. They also added drummer Jimmy Watson, who was born in Belfast, Northern Ireland, in 1950.
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