#48: Are You A Boy Or Are You A Girl by the Barbarians
City: Hamilton, ON
Radio Station: CKOC
Peak Month: August 1965
Peak Position in Hamilton ~ #2
Peak Position in Vancouver ~ #20
Peak Position on Billboard Hot 100 ~ #55
YouTube: “Are You A Boy Or Are You A Girl”
Lyrics: “Are You A Boy Or Are You A Girl”
The Barbarians were a band from Provincetown, Cape Cod, Massachusetts. The drummer was Victor “Moulty” Moulton, born in Provincetown (MA) in 1945. Jerry Causi was the lead vocalist and had recently left the United States Coast Guard. Guitarist Ron Enos (born 1943) joined in 1964, but left the band before they found their fifteen minutes of fame. He was replaced by Geoffrey “Jeff” Morris in 1965. Guitar player Bruce Benson (born in 1946 in Provincetown) was the third original continuing member of the Barbarians. In the summer of 1964, Bruce Benson had a job at Howard Johnson’s tin Provincetown. Benson recalls, “I helped man the soda fountain, all the 3D burgers and ice cream you could eat.” Victor Moulton worked in the kitchen washing dishes. Benson and Moulton became friends and go to Victor’s Restaurant down Bradford Street from Howard Johnson’s.
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#1: Macho Man by Village People
City: Hamilton, ON
Radio Station: CKOC
Peak Month: October 1978
Peak Position in Hamilton ~ #1
Peak Position in Vancouver ~ did not chart
Peak Position on Billboard Hot 100 ~ #25
YouTube: “Macho Man”
Lyrics: “Macho Man”
The Village People were formed in 1977 in San Francisco. French composer Jacques Morali had written some dance tunes. Around that time singer Victor Willis gave Morali a demo tape. Jacques Morali liked the demo and invited Willis to record four songs for an album credited to the Village People. The group name referenced New York City’s Greenwich Village neighborhood, at the time known for having a substantial gay population. Morali got the inspiration for creating an assembly of American male archetypes based on the gay men of ‘The Village’ who frequently dressed in various fantasy attire. The Village People debut single release was “San Francisco (You’ve Got Me)”. It topped the Billboard Dance Club songs chart in for seven weeks from September 3rd to October 15th, 1977. Other cuts from the Village People album, “In Hollywood” and “Fire Island”, shared the top spot on the Dance Club chart. At the time, the Village People only consisted of singer Victor Willis.
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#102: Rubber Duckie by Ernie
City: Hamilton, ON
Radio Station: CHAM
Peak Month: September 1970
Peak Position in Hamilton ~ #2
Peak Position in Vancouver ~ did not chart
Peak Position on Billboard Hot 100 ~ #16
YouTube: “Rubber Duckie”
Lyrics: “Rubber Duckie”
Jim Henson was born in 1936 in Greenville, Mississippi, by the Mississippi River. His family moved to a Maryland suburb of Washington DC in the late ’40s. Henson recalled the arrival of the family’s first television as “the biggest event of his adolescence.” He was heavily influenced by radio ventriloquist Edgar Bergen and the early television puppets of Burr Tillstrom on Kukla, Fran and Ollie, (an ad-libbed television show with puppets that ran from 1947 to 1957) and Bil and Cora Baird (best known for the puppetry sequence in “The Lonely Goatherd” in The Sound of Music).
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#119: Johnny Remember Me by John Leyton
City: Hamilton, ON
Radio Station: CKOC
Peak Month: October 1961
Peak Position in Hamilton ~ #11
Peak Position in Vancouver ~ did not chart
Peak Position on Billboard Hot 100 ~ did not chart
YouTube: “Johnny Remember Me”
Lyrics: “Johnny Remember Me”
John Leyton was born in 1936 in the seaside town of Frinton-on-Sea in Essex, England. He served in the Royal Army Service Corps. He studied drama, paying his way through drama school with bit-part roles in films and on television. In 1958 these included bit parts in The Square Peg, Doctor at Sea, and The Devil’s Disciple. In 1959, he appeared as a prisoner in an uncredited role in the British war film Danger Within. Next, he has a minor part as a recruit in the 1959 British comedy film I’m All Right Jack. He also had small roles in The Captain’s Table (where he plays a bystander watching a beauty contest), and film about P.O.W.s in Italy who plan to escape from prison, titled Breakout. Leyton also appeared for one episode of the British TV series The Invisible Man. His first major acting role was his portrayal of Ginger in a 1960 Granada TV adaptation of Biggles. This earned him a large following of young female fans and led to the formation of a John Leyton fan club. Following the success of Biggles, Leyton was persuaded by his manager to audition as a singer for record producer Joe Meek.
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#27: When A Man Loves A Woman by Luba
City: Hamilton, ON
Radio Station: CKOC
Peak Month: January 1988
Peak Position in Hamilton ~ #8
Peak position in Vancouver ~ #25
Peak Position on Billboard Hot 100 ~ did not chart
YouTube: “When A Man Loves A Woman”
Lyrics: “When A Man Loves A Woman”
Lubomyra Kowalchyk was born in 1958 in Montreal, Quebec. During her teens she travelled across Canada performing traditional Ukrainian folk songs at weddings and festivals. Growing up she studied piano, guitar, flute and voice. She was a fine-arts student when she formed a band called Zorya in 1973, releasing an album. In 1977 she released her second album titled. Lubomyra. In 1978 she formed a band named Luba with herself as the lead vocalist. Then, when her father died in 1979, she wrote what would become her signature song, “Everytime I See Your Picture”, as a tribute to him. The first studio album for the band Luba, Chain Reaction, was released in 1980. A Luba (EP) was released in 1982 containing “Every time I See Your Picture”. The song climbed to #1 in Ottawa, #3 in Halifax, #6 in Montreal and #11 in Kitchener (ON). She performed in front of 12,000 rock fans at the Montreal Forum in January 1983. She was the opening act at that concert for the headliner Chris de Burgh.
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#26: Don’t Go Out Into The Rain (You’re Going To Melt) by Herman’s Hermits
City: Hamilton, ON
Radio Station: CKOC
Peak Month: August 1967
Peak Position in Hamilton ~ #1
Peak position in Vancouver ~ #9
Peak Position on Billboard Hot 100 ~ #18
YouTube: “Don’t Go Out Into the Rain”
Lyrics: “Don’t Go Out Into the Rain”
Peter Blair Denis Bernard Noone was born in a suburb of Manchester, England, in 1947. Keith Hopwood was born in 1946, in the same suburb of Davyhulme. Karl Anthony Green was born in 1947, also in Davyhulme. Derek “Lek” Leckenby was born in Leeds in 1943. Jan Barry Whitwam was born in 1946 in Manchester. Both Leckenby and Whitwam were members of a band called the Wailers who played covers by Little Richard, Jerry Lee Lewis and other early rock recording artists. Peter Noone originally was in an amateur band called the Cyclones. He moved on to the Heartbeats in 1961, a Buddy Holly cover band. Just after he turned 14, Noone debuted on Coronation Street, playing the role of Stanley Fairclough starting in December 1961. In the fall of 1962 Herman’s Hermits was formed. Peter Noone was the lead vocalist. Karl Green played bass guitar. Keith Hopwood played rhythm guitar. “Lek” Leckenby played lead guitar and Barry Whitwam played drums.
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#22: Resurrection Shuffle by Ashton, Gardner & Dyke
City: Hamilton, ON
Radio Station: CKOC
Peak Month: August 1971
Peak Position in Hamilton ~ #1
Peak position in Vancouver ~ #11
Peak Position on Billboard Hot 100 ~ #40
YouTube: “Resurrection Shuffle”
Lyrics: “Resurrection Shuffle”
Ashton, Gardner & Dyke were a British rock trio. Anthony “Tony” Ashton was born in Blackburn, Lancashire, England, in 1946. At the age of 13, in 1959, he joined a local group, the College Boys, on rhythm guitar and piano. When Ashton left school at the age of 15 he was already an accomplished pianist. By 1961 he fronted the Tony Ashton Trio at the Picador Club in Blackpool. He was asked to join The Remo Four, managed by Brian Epstein (who also managed the Beatles). Among the quartet was drummer Roy Dyke (born in 1945 in Liverpool). The Remo Four were voted No. 3 Group in a 1961 Mersey Beat poll. While the Beatles travelled back and forth to Hamburg, the Remo Four began playing U.S. Air Force bases in France, building their stage and musical experience. Johnny Sandon joined the band as vocalist in 1962, and stayed for two years. Ashton and Dyke replaced others in the line-up in 1963. The Remo Four (including Tony Ashton and Roy Dyke) were an opening act for The Beatles on a fall 1964 tour in the UK, along with Mary Wells. The Remo Four released a debut album in 1966 titled Smile!
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#2: Love Is A Beautiful Song by Dave Mills
City: Hamilton, ON
Radio Station: CKOC
Peak Month: November 1973
Peak Position in Hamilton ~ #1
Peak position in Vancouver ~ did not chart
Peak Position on Billboard Hot 100 ~ did not chart
YouTube: “Love Is A Beautiful Song”
Lyrics: “Love Is A Beautiful Song”
Dave Mills was born in England in 1935. He moved to Australia in 1961. In 1965, he moved to South Africa and began a singing. He got a record deal with the Storm label in 1968. In 1969, he had a number-one double-sided hit in Rhodesia titled “Theresa”/”Nobody”. The single climbed to #2 in South Africa. An album was released in 1970 titled Theresa. His second single release from the album was “Love Is A Beautiful Song”.
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#3: Shiny Happy People by R.E.M.
City: Hamilton, ON
Radio Station: CKOC
Peak Month: October 1991
Peak Position in Hamilton ~ #1
Peak position in Vancouver ~ #7
Peak Position on Billboard Hot 100 ~ #10
YouTube: “Shiny Happy People”
Lyrics: “Shiny Happy People”
R.E.M. is a band from Athens, Georgia, formed in 1980. Drummer William “Bill” Berry was born in Duluth (MN) in 1958. His family spent some years variously in Wisconsin and then Ohio, before moving to Macon (GA) in 1972. In high school he met guitar player Mike Mills. Born in Orange County (CA), Mills moved with his family to Georgia when he was six months old. Mills and Berry formed a band called Shadowfax, which later became The Back Door Band. Lead vocalist, Michael Stipe, was born in Decatur (GA) in 1960. Like Mike Mills, he was raised in a military family. When Stipe was in university, he met store clerk and guitar player Peter Buck. The pair formed a band and were later joined by Berry and Mills. Peter Buck was born in 1956 in Berkeley (CA). His family moved to Georgia where he attended public school.
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#4: Try by Blue Rodeo
City: Hamilton, ON
Radio Station: CKOC
Peak Month: November-December 1987
Peak Position in Hamilton ~ #3
Peak position in Vancouver ~ #26
Peak Position on Billboard Hot 100 ~ did not chart
YouTube: “Try”
Lyrics: “Try”
Blue Rodeo formed as a band in 1984 and had their first gig at The Rivoli in Toronto, February 1985. Blue Rodeo has sold over 4 million albums and won seven Juno awards. In 2012 they were inducted into the Canadian Music Hall of Fame. In 1987 the band consisted of co-founders Jim Cuddy, Greg Keelor, and Bazil Donovan, Cleave Anderson and Bob Wiseman.
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