#60: Fakin’ It by Simon and Garfunkel
City: Montreal, PQ
Radio Station: CJMS
Peak Month: September 1967
Peak Position in Montreal ~ #1
Peak position in Vancouver ~ #13
Peak Position on Billboard Hot 100 ~ #23
YouTube: “Fakin’ It”
Lyrics: “Fakin’ It”
Paul Frederic Simon was born in 1941 in Newark, New Jersey, to Hungarian-Jewish parents. His dad was a bandleader who went by the name Lou Sims. When he was eleven years old he met Art Garfunkel and were both part of a sixth grade drama production of Alice In Wonderland. Arthur Ira Garfunkel was born in 1941 in New York City. He is of Moldovian-Jewish decent. By 1954 Paul and Art were singing at school dances. In 1957, in their mid-teens, they recorded the song “Hey, Schoolgirl” under the name “Tom & Jerry”, a name that was given to them by their label Big Records. The single reached No. 49 on the pop charts.
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#64: Madam Butterfly by Malcolm McLaren
City: Montreal, PQ
Radio Station: CKOI
Peak Month: March 1985
Peak Position in Montreal ~ #5
Peak position in Vancouver ~ did not chart
Peak Position on Billboard Hot 100 ~ did not chart
Peak Position on Ireland Singles chart ~ #10
Peak Position on UK Singles chart ~ #13
Peak Position on Australian Singles chart ~ #16
YouTube: “Madam Butterfly”
Lyrics: “Madam Butterfly”
Malcolm McLaren was born in Greater London in 1946. While still an art student, McLaren had the first public exhibition of his work in 1967, which was based on an environmental installation staged at the Kingly Street Art Gallery in central London. In October 1971, McLaren took over the back part of the retail premises at 439 King’s Road in Chelsea, West London. The store sold rock and roll records, refurbished 1950s radiograms and dead stock clothing as “In The Back Of Paradise Garage”. McLaren converted the entire ground floor into the store and renamed it Let It Rock. The store was patronised by teddy boys and McLaren’s designs (along with his girlfriend) also appeared in such theatrical and cinematic productions such as The Rocky Horror Show and That’ll Be The Day. In spring 1973 the store was renamed Too Fast To Live Too Young To Die and began selling original 1950s-inspired leather clothing. In August 1973, McLaren and co-designer Vivienne Westwood visited New York to participate in the National Boutique Fair, where they began an association with the New York Dolls, supplying them with stage wear and joining their group on tour in the UK and France.
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#65: Shaddup You Face by Joe Dolce
City: Montreal, PQ
Radio Station: CKGM
Peak Month: March 1981
Peak Position in Montreal ~ #1
Peak position in Vancouver ~ did not chart
Peak Position on Billboard Hot 100 ~ #53
Peak Position on pop charts in Australia, Austria,
Belgium, Ireland, New Zealand, South Africa,
Switzerland, the UK and West Germany ~ #1
YouTube: “Shaddup You Face”
Lyrics: “Shaddup You Face”
Joe Dolce was born in a suburb of Cleveland, Ohio, in 1947. He acted in a number of plays out of high school, and was in a band called Headstone Circus with singer-songwriter Jonathan Edwards (who had a #4 hit in 1972 titled “Sunshine”). In the late 70s he moved to Melbourne, Australia. In 1978 and his first single there was “Boat People”—a protest song about the poor treatment of Vietnamese refugees. It was translated into Vietnamese, and donated to the fledgling Vietnamese community starting to form in Melbourne. His one-man show, Joe Dolce Music Theatre, was performed in cabarets and pubs.
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#66: Twelve Thirty by the Mamas and the Papas
City: Montreal, PQ
Radio Station: CJMS
Peak Month: October 1967
Peak Position in Montreal ~ #2
Peak position in Vancouver ~ #14
Peak Position on Billboard Hot 100 ~ #20
Peak Position on New Zealand Singles chart ~ #14
Peak Position on South African Singles chart ~ #16
YouTube: “Twelve Thirty”
Lyrics: “Twelve Thirty”
John Edmund Andrew Phillips was born in Paris Island, South Carolina, in 1935. His father was a military officer and John was sent to Linton Hall Military School from age seven to eleven. He hated the school and its corporal punishment. In his autobiography, Phillips recalls he also thought it was creepy that “nuns used to watch us take showers.” In high school he assembled several doo-wop groups. After he dropped out of a Naval Academy in 1953, John Phillips studied at a men’s college until 1959. In 1958 he formed a doo-wop group named the Abstracts, fashioned after the Four Preps and other popular groups of the era. The Abstracts changed their name in 1959 to the Smoothies. Another member of the group was Philip Blondheim III, who later changed his name to Scott McKenzie. The Smoothies played at night clubs in New York City with chorus girls and comedians.
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#71: Where Is My Man by Eartha Kitt
City: Montreal, PQ
Radio Station: CKOI
Peak Month: February 1984
Peak Position in Montreal ~ #2
Peak position in Vancouver ~ did not chart
Peak Position on Billboard Hot 100 ~ did not chart
Peak Position on French Singles chart ~ #2
Peak Position on Swedish Singles chart ~ #5
Peak Position on Belgian Singles chart ~ #6
YouTube: “Where Is My Man”
Lyrics: “Where Is My Man”
Eartha Mae Keith was born in 1927 in the the town of North, in central South Carolina. She has both Afro-American and Cherokee ancestry. After her mother died when she was a child, Eartha moved to live with an aunt (Mamie Kitty) in Harlem. She began her singing career at the age of 15 in 1943 as a member of the Katherine Dunham Company (the first African-American modern dance company). She went with the stage name Eartha Kitt. In 1948, she appeared in a film noir movie titled Casbah. In 1951, she recorded the Cole Porter standard “Let’s Do It”. The recording reached #12 in Australia in 1954. In 1953, Kitt recorded a Turkish folk song titled “Urska Dara” which cracked the Top 30. Later she recorded “C’est si bon” which charted to #8 on the Billboard pop chart. That winter she earned even greater success with the Christmas novelty tune “Santa Baby” which peaked at #4 on Billboard. In 1955, Eartha Kitt had a #7 hit in the UK with “Under the Bridges of Paris”.
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#75: A Night In New York by Elbow Bones and the Racketeers
City: Montreal, PQ
Radio Station: CKGM
Peak Month: February 1984
Peak Position in Montreal ~ #5
Peak position in Vancouver ~ did not chart
Peak Position on Billboard Hot 100 ~ did not chart
Peak Position on UK Singles chart ~ #33
YouTube: “A Night In New York”
Lyrics: “A Night In New York”
Thomas August Darnell Browder was born in 1950 in The Bronx (NY). Darnell began his musical career in a band named The In-Laws with his half-brother, Stony Browder Jr., in 1965. The band disbanded so Darnell could pursue a career as an English teacher. He taught at Alverta B. Gray Schultz Middle School in Hempstead (NY). He later claimed that he established a musical career because he was a “frustrated actor.” In 1974, again with Stony Browder, he formed Dr. Buzzard’s Original Savannah Band, becoming its lyricist and bass player. The band combined swing and Latin music with disco rhythms. They had their biggest hit in 1976 with “Cherchez La Femme”. The single topped the Billboard Disco Action Top 30 chart, and peaked at #2 in Belgium and the Netherlands. Dr. Buzzard’s Original Savannah Band’s self-titled debut release was a Top 40-charting album. It was certified gold and was nominated for a Grammy.
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#82: Hot Hot Hot by Arrow
City: Montreal, PQ
Radio Station: CKOI
Peak Month: July 1984
Peak Position in Montreal ~ #6
Peak position in Vancouver ~ did not chart
Peak Position on Billboard Hot 100 ~ did not chart
Peak Position on UK Singles chart ~ #38
YouTube: “Hot Hot Hot”
Lyrics: “Hot Hot Hot”
Arrow is the stage name of a musician from Montserrat named Alphonsus Celestine Edmund Cassell. He was born in Plymouth, Montserrat, in 1949. Montserrat is a British Overseas Territory in the Leeward Islands in the Caribbean. Cassell began singing calypso in 1967, and took the Junior Monarch title that year. Cassell took up singing professionally in 1969. That year he was runner up in the Montserrat Calypso King competition. He won the title the following year, following in the footsteps of his brothers Justin (known as Hero) and Lorenzo (known as Young Challenger). He took the title a total of four times.
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#84: The World We Knew by Frank Sinatra
City: Montreal, PQ
Radio Station: CJMS
Peak Month: September 1967
Peak Position in Montreal ~ #2
Peak position in Vancouver ~ did not chart
Peak Position on Billboard Hot 100 ~ #30
YouTube: “The World We Knew”
Lyrics: “The World We Knew”
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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#96: Never Ending Story by Limahl
City: Montreal, PQ
Radio Station: CKGM
Peak Month: June 1985
Peak Position in Montreal ~ #3
Peak position in Vancouver ~ #17
Peak Position on Billboard Hot 100 ~ #17
Peak Position on Norway Singles chart ~ #1
Peak Position on Spain Singles chart ~ #1
Peak Position on Sweden’s Singles chart ~ #1
Peak Position on Austria Singles chart ~ #2
Peak Position on Italy Singles chart ~ #2
Peak Position on South Africa Singles chart ~ #2
Peak Position on West Germany Singles chart ~ #2
YouTube: “Never Ending Story”
Lyrics: “Never Ending Story”
Christopher Hamill was born in 1958 in the suburbs of Manchester, England. He was an actor touring with the Palace Theatre Repertory Company. This included a production of Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat. In 1981 Hamill appeared in a minor role in the police-crime TV show The Gentle Touch. As well, Hamill was one of the actors in the “Stand and Deliver” music video with Adam and the Ants. He got a job as a waiter at the Embassy Club in London. In 1982 he joined the band Kajagoogoo. Chris Hamill adopted his stage name Limahl (an anagram of his surname) at the time he was recruited by the existing members of Kajagoogoo, who were then performing under the name Art Nouveau.
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#103: Im Nin’alu by Ofra Haza
City: Montreal, PQ
Radio Station: CKOI
Peak Month: December 1988
Peak Position in Montreal ~ #7
Peak position in Vancouver ~ did not chart
Peak Position on Billboard Hot 100 ~ did not chart
Peak Position on Finland Singles chart ~ #1
Peak Position on Greece Singles chart ~ #1
Peak Position on Norway Singles chart ~ #1
Peak Position on Portugal Singles chart ~ #1
Peak Position on Spain Singles chart ~ #1
Peak Position on Switzerland Singles chart ~ #1
Peak Position on West Germany Singles chart ~ #1
Peak Position on Austria Singles chart ~ #2
Peak Position on Sweden Singles chart ~ #2
YouTube: “Im Nin’Alu”
Lyrics: “Im Nin’Alu”
Ofra Haza is a singer born in Tel Aviv, Israel, in 1957. She began singing at an early age, including at local weddings and as a soloist in her school choir. At the age of 12, Haza joined a local protest theater troupe, named “Hatikva” (The Hope) which had been recently founded by a neighbor of hers, Bezalel Aloni. Haza soon emerged as one of the most gifted performers in the troupe. Aloni spotlighted her in many of his productions, and later became her manager and mentor. At 19, she was Israel’s foremost pop star, and news articles have retrospectively described her as “the Madonna of the East”. She represented Israel in the Eurovision Song Contest of 1983, with the song “Hi”, finishing second with 136 points.
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