#1: 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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#2: 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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#3: 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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#4: Til I Am Myself Again by Blue Rodeo
City: Hamilton, ON
Radio Station: CKOC
Peak Month: February 1991
Peak Position in Hamilton ~ #1
Peak position in Vancouver ~ #25
Peak Position on Billboard Hot 100 ~ #19
YouTube: “Till I Am Myself Again”
Lyrics: “Till I Am Myself Again”
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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#4: Waiting For Love by Alias
City: Hamilton, ON
Radio Station: CKOC
Peak Month: March 1991
Peak Position in Hamilton ~ #1
Peak position in Vancouver ~ #7
Peak Position on Billboard Hot 100 ~ #13
YouTube: “Waiting For Love”
Lyrics: “Waiting For Love”
Federico “Freddy” Curci was born in Toronto in 1962. Growing up in his Italian-Canadian family, he was first exposed to opera. But in his late childhood he discovered Black Sabbath and the Doobie Brothers. In the mid-70s, Curci was part of a number of Italian wedding bands that played in Greater Toronto. Curci co-founded Sheriff with Steven “Steve” DeMarchi, also born in Toronto (1961 ?) and his parents also immigrated to Canada from Italy. They had a Canadian hit in 1983 titled “When I’m With You”. The power rock ballad became a giant hit in the USA in 1988. In 1988, Curci and DeMarchi founded Alias. The band recorded several albums, including the number-one hit in Canada, “More Than Words Can Say”, which climbed to #2 in the USA in 1990.
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#6: Ball Of Confusion by Love and Rockets
City: Hamilton, ON
Radio Station: CKOC
Peak Month: November-December 1985
Peak Position in Hamilton ~ #2
Peak position in Vancouver ~ did not chart
Peak Position on Billboard Hot 100 ~ did not chart
YouTube: “Ball Of Confusion”
Lyrics: “Ball Of Confusion”
Love And Rockets is a band formed in 1985. They named themselves after a comic book series that began in 1981. The lead singer was Daniel Ash, who was born in 1957 in Northampton, England. He started playing guitar at the age of 15. He played in several cover bands, and met future Love and Rockets bandmates David “David J” Haskins and Kevin Dompe. As a child, Kevin Dompe banged on flowerpots, and kitchen pots and pans before getting bongo drums. In 1978, Ash, David J and Kevin Dompe (now billed as Kevin Haskins), formed gothic band Bauhaus. They had a an Indie #8 hit in the UK titled “Bela Lugosi’s Dead”. Bauhaus had two more Top Ten Indie hits in the UK in 1980 titled “Terror Couple Kill Colonel” and “Telegram Sam”. Bauhaus disbanded after the summer of 1983.
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#7: Violetta by Ray Adams
City: Hamilton, ON
Radio Station: CKOC
Peak Month: June 1962
Peak Position in Hamilton ~ #1
Peak position in Vancouver ~ did not chart
Peak Position on Billboard Hot 100 ~ did not chart
YouTube: “Violetta”
Lyrics: “Violetta”
Ragnar Asbjørnsen was born in 1931 in Norway. In the late 1950s he was part of the vocal group named The Cavaliers. The group released “Eselsangen” in 1958, and In 1958, he was part of a recording duo called Ruth & Ragnar, releasing a single titled “Når Tusen Stjerner Tenner Lys”. The following year they released the single “Den Gamle Tango (Cocktail Tango)”. Additionally, he released a duet with Alf Blyverkets Kvartett titled “Ungkarsdilemma”. Asbjørnsen released “Jeg Håper, Jeg Ønsker, Jeg Drømmer” in 1959. In 1960, he released a solo single titled “Roser Vil Jeg Alltid Gi Deg”. He changed his name to Ray Adams and recorded his first single, “Ding Dong Girl Bonny Belle”, in 1960. In 1961, he released a single titled “Dagen Er Din”.
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#8: Mamma Mia by ABBA
City: Hamilton, ON
Radio Station: CKOC
Peak Month: August 1976
Peak Position in Hamilton ~ #1
Peak position in Vancouver ~ did not chart
Peak Position on Billboard Hot 100 ~ #32
YouTube: “Mamma Mia”
Lyrics: “Mamma Mia”
ABBA is a pop band from Sweden. Agneta Fältskog was born in 1950 in the lakeside city of Jönköping in southern Sweden. Fältskog wrote her first song at the age of six, which she named “Två små troll” (“Two Small Trolls”). In 1958, she began taking piano lessons, and also sang in a local church choir. In early 1960, Fältskog formed a musical trio, the Cambers. At age 15 she left school to pursue a career in music. She considers Connie Francis, Lesley Gore, Aretha Franklin and Marianne Faithfull as her prime influences on her musical style. Fältskog worked on reception for a car firm while performing with the Bernt Enghardt band. In 1967 she wrote “Jag var så kär” (“I Was So in Love”), after a dating relationship ended. The single topped the Swedish pop charts in early 1968. That year she met Björn Ulvaeus, a member of the Hootenanny Singers. Ulvaeus was born in the western coast city of Gothenburg, Sweden, in 1945. In the early Sixties, Ulvaeus joined the Hootenanny Singers. They had a #5 hit in Sweden in 1964 with “Gabrielle”, based on the Russian folksong “May Here Always Be Sunshine”. The folk group had many Top Ten hits in Sweden into the early 70s, including a cover of “Green, Green Grass of Home” (“En sång en gång för längese’n”).
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#9: Personal Jesus by Depeche Mode
City: Hamilton, ON
Radio Station: CKOC
Peak Month: April 1990
Peak Position in Hamilton ~ #4
Peak position in Vancouver ~ did not chart
Peak Position on Billboard Hot 100 ~ #28
YouTube: “Personal Jesus”
Lyrics: “Personal Jesus”
Depeche Mode is a band formed in Essex, UK, in 1980. Andrew “Andy” Fletcher was born in Nottingham, England, in 1961. His family moved to Basildon, Essex, when he was two-years-old. In 1977, when schoolmates Vince Clarke and Andy Fletcher formed a band called No Romance in China with Clarke on vocals and guitar and Fletcher on bass. In 1980, they formed the band Composition of Sound, and added Martin Gore, and later that year David Gahan. Vincent “Vince” Clarke was born in 1960 in Greater London. He learned violin and piano when he was a child. Martin Gore was born in 1961 in London. He learned to play keyboards through the 1970s. After graduating in 1979, he took a position working as a bank cashier.
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#10: Little Deuce Coupe by the Beach Boys
City: Hamilton, ON
Radio Station: CKOC
Peak Month: September 1963
Peak Position in Hamilton ~ #1
Peak position in Vancouver ~ #15
Peak Position on Billboard Hot 100 ~ #15
YouTube: “Little Deuce Coupe”
Lyrics: “Little Deuce Coupe”
Brian Wilson was born in Inglewood, California, in 1942. In biographer Peter Ames Carlin’s book, Catch a Wave: The Rise, Fall, and Redemption of the Beach Boys’ Brian Wilson, he relates that when Brian Wilson first heard George Gershwin’s “Rhapsody in Blue” it had a huge emotional impact on him. As a youngster, Wilson learned to play a toy accordion and sang in children’s choirs. In his teens he started a group with his cousin, Mike Love and his brother, Carl. Mike was born in Los Angeles in 1941 and Carl was born in 1946 in Hawthorne, California. Brian Wilson named the group Carl and the Passions in order to convince his brother to join. They had a performance in the fall of 1960 at Hawthorne High School, where they attended. Their set included some songs by Dion and the Belmonts. Among the people in the audience was Al Jardine, another classmate. Jardine was born in Hawthorne in 1942. He was so impressed with the performance that he let the group know. Jardine would later be enlisted, along with Dennis Wilson to form the Pendletones in 1961. Dennis was born in Inglewood in 1944.
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