#35: Canada by the Sugar Shoppe

City: London, ON
Radio Station: CFPL
Peak Month: July 1967
Peak Position in London ~ #20
Peak position in Vancouver ~ did not chart
Peak Position on Billboard Hot 100 ~ did not chart
YouTube: “Canada”
Lyrics: “Canada

The Sugar Shoppe was formed in Toronto by lead singer, songwriter and pianist Peter Mann. Born in 1940 in New York City, Mann grew up in Miami before working as an arranger and relocating to Canada in 1965. There, he met University of Toronto School of Music student and singer Laurie Hood, and singers Lee Harris and Victor Garber, an actor and singer who was also studying in Toronto as well as singing in the city’s clubs. Garber was born in 1949 in London (ON) and began acting at the age of nine in 1958. He enrolled at the University of Toronto’s theatre training program at Hart House when he was 16 years old. In the mid-60s he performed as a folk singer before joining the Sugar Shoppe in 1967. With two male singers (Mann and Garber) and two female (Hood and Harris), they modeled themselves on the Mamas & the Papas and began working in the studio on a project to mark Canada’s Centennial in 1967.

The writer of “Canada” was Bobby Gimby. Robert Stead Gimby was born in Cabri, Saskatchewan, in 1918. After a fire burned down his father’s hardware store, the family moved to Chilliwack, British Columbia. While in Chilliwack he learned to play the trumpet and joined the Town Band, which was a hit at local dances. In 1941, he became a member of Canadian band leader Mart Kenny’s touring orchestra. The Winnipeg Free Press referred to Gimby as “The Wizard of the Trumpet.” Gimby also was a member of Mart Kenney’s Western Gentlemen which was based in Vancouver and toured western Canada. In 1944 Bobby Gimby moved to Toronto where he formed his own band. Simpsons was the sponsor of his band and he became very popular at teen dances in “Hogtown.” He made some recordings and in 1945 became a member of the Happy Gang, a popular CBC radio show with over two million listeners daily. During its run, the population of Canada between 1937 and 1959 increased from 11 million to 15 million.

Into the 1960’s Gimby became a sought-after composer of ads to TV and radio. In 1962 Gimby wrote “Malaysia Forever” which became the unofficial anthem of the new nation in 1963. The Brandon Sun reported in 1967 that Bobby Gimby was nicknamed “The Pied Piper of Canada,” and he performed dressed as the Pied Piper of Hamelin, wearing a cape.

In 1967 Bobby Gimby wrote a song for the Canadian 100th Centennial Anniversary. The song, “Canada”, was written for a documentary about the Canadian Centennial. Over 250 school bands performed the song and Bobby Gimby would perform the song inviting children to come on stage to sing the song. Teachers, loving the  message of “Canada” led the demand to release it as a single. It was released by the Young Canada Singers, and then by The Sugar Shoppe.

Gimby’s lyrics to “Canada” celebrated the nation being 20 million strong in 1967 and having ten provinces, and territories too. As a show of elation, church bells across the nation were said to ring. Meanwhile, Canadians everywhere were singing “Frère Jacques”. The song, “Frère Jacques”, is about a friar who has overslept. He is urged to wake up and sound the bell for the matins, the midnight or very early morning prayers for which a monk would be expected to wake. The English version of “Frère Jacques” was titled “Brother John”. It was often sung in a round with both the French and English verses. “Canada” promised “there’ll be happy times” and anticipated “church bells will ring, ring, ring. It’s the hundredth anniversary of confederation. Everybody sing together.” The Young Canada Singers signaled the centennial was an occasion to shout “three cheers, hip, hip hooray.” “Canada”, and the Expo 67 centennial celebrations, evoke a time in the nations history of high optimism and possibility.

“Canada” by the Sugar Shoppe peaked at #20 in London (ON) and Toronto, #26 in Winnipeg, and the Top 30 in Regina (SK). On the strength of their hit single, the Sugar Shoppe appeared on The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson.

Subsequently, the Sugar Shoppe had two minor hits on the RPM Top 100 Canadian singles chart. On July 6, 1969, the Sugar Shoppe performed the Laura Nyro song “Save the Country” on the Ed Sullivan Show.

In 1968 Bobby Gimby was awarded the Order of Canada presented by Governor General Roland Mitchener. Gimby wrote many songs over the years including for Ray Bolger, Georgia Gibbs and Peggy Lee. Gimby died at the age of 79 in 1998.

At this time of writing, fifty-eight years after the centennial and the chart-run of “Canada”, the sentiment that describes our nation in this song in 1967 has changed dramatically.

The Sugar Shoppe continued to perform, mainly in Canada, before Mann and Harris left in 1970. Garber and Hood then formed The Shoppe with Sandy Crawley. They recorded the soundtrack for a TV series based on Greek mythology in 1971, and recorded several tracks issued on anthologies. By 1973, the duo disbanded.

Peter Mann went on to be a producer for the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC) from 1972 to 1980. Subsequently, he produced numbers of albums for the Nylons. From the late 1980s to the early 2000s, Mann performed and recorded under the alias of Peter Gayle who made reggae music. Peter Mann died in 2021 at the age of 80.

Garber became a leading film, stage and television actor. from 1972 to 1975 he starred in several productions of Godspell. In the 1973 film version, Garber was cast as Jesus Christ. Garber has appeared mostly on stage in Manhattan from 1973 for the past five decades. His notable roles were cast in Death Trap, Sweeney Todd, George Bernard Shaw’s You Never Can Tell and The Devil’s Disciple, Ken Ludwig’s Lend Me A Tenor, several musicals by Stephen Sondheim including A Little Night Music and Follies, Noël Coward’s Present Laughter, and Hello Dolly! Garber has received four Tony Award nominations in the Best Actor category (variously in a musical, and in a play).

In film, Victor Garber has been cast in 45 full-length feature movies. These include Titanic, Milk, Argo, and Sleepless in Seattle. He has also appeared in many TV shows. In 2023 Garber received the Order of Canada.

Hood and Harris later worked as session singers and were both part of another group, Shooter, Myles and Lenny, in the 1970s. Hood was the female singer on Klaatu’s recording of “California Jam”. Harris developed multiple sclerosis, leading to her death in the 1990s.

January 24, 2025
Ray McGinnis

References:
Liam Lacey. “Catchy Song Still Echoes for Ca-na-da- Pied Piper Gimby.” Toronto Globe & Mail, July 24, 1987.
“Musician Led Canada in Song in Centennial Year,” Toronto Globe & Mail, June 22, 1998.
Obituaries, “Robert Stead Gimby,” Globe and Mail, June 23, 1998.
“Canada”, Wikipedia.org.

CFPL 980-AM London (ON) Top 20 | July 21, 1967