#141: Sunshine Reggae by Laid Back
City: Montreal, PQ
Radio Station: CKOI
Peak Month: March 1984
Peak Position in Montreal ~ #6
Peak position in Vancouver ~ did not chart
Peak Position on Billboard Hot 100 ~ did not chart
YouTube: “Sunshine Reggae”
Lyrics: “Sunshine Reggae”
Laid Back is a duo from Denmark. John Guldberg was born in Denmark in 1947. Tim Stahl, also from Denmark, was the other vocalist. Guldberg and Stahl met in the mid-1970s, and they played together in a group called the Starbox Band. After a poorly received show supporting the Kinks, the band split up, but the duo continued working together. Guldberg set up a small studio in downtown Copenhagen where the two musicians began exploring the possibilities that were being opened up by new technologies, such as multitrack tape recorders, synthesizers, and drum machines. In 1980, their single “Maybe I’m Crazy” became a number-two hit in Denmark. Their debut album, simply titled Laid Back, was released in 1981. A second track from the debut album, “Bolivia”, reached #3 in Denmark.
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#153: When You’re Young And In Love by the Marvelettes
City: Montreal, PQ
Radio Station: CJMS
Peak Month: July 1967
Peak Position in Montreal ~ #4
Peak position in Vancouver ~ #20
Peak Position on Billboard Hot 100 ~ #23
YouTube: “When You’re Young And In Love”
Lyrics: “When You’re Young And In Love”
The Marvelettes were a girl group formed in Inkster, Michigan, in 1960. Gladys Horton, Katherine Anderson, Georgianna Tillman, Juanita Cowart, Georgia Dobbins, were classmates at Inkster High School. Gladys Horton was born in 1945 in Gainesville (FL). Horton never knew her biological parents throughout her life, and lived with several foster families after being put up for adoption at nine months old. By the time of her high school years at Inkster High School, Horton had taken a strong interest in singing, joining the high school glee club. At age 14, she formed a group called the Del–Rhythmetts with three friends, recording under a small record label called JVB Records. Katherine Anderson was born in Inkster in 1944. While Anderson was not able to afford records growing up, she performed in gospel groups and the high school. She co-founded with Horton the girl group which was initially called the Casinyets. Georgianna Tillman was born in 1944 in Inkster.
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#148: Valparaiso by Paula Moore
City: Montreal, PQ
Radio Station: CKOI
Peak Month: April 1984
Peak Position in Montreal ~ #7
Peak position in Vancouver ~ did not chart
Peak Position on Billboard Hot 100 ~ did not chart
YouTube: “Valparaiso”
Lyrics: “Valparaiso”
Paula Moore was born in Oak Ridge, Tennessee. She grew up in a musical family. Her mother had a passion for opera and lieder (voice and piano). Paula’s family later moved around, including to Chicago, Evanston (Illinois), France, and Spain. Her first stage appearance was at age seven in Evanston, Illinois, in a play based on Richard Wagner’s Ring of the Liebelung. She portrayed the main character The Golden Fish, who narrates the ensuing drama from the depths of the Rhine. After moving to New Hampshire, at the age of sixteen Paula Moore acted in a chamber theater adaptation of James Joyce’s The Dubliners and portrayed Angélique in Molière’s The Imaginary Invalid. She studied French Literature and Fine Arts at the University of Wisconsin for two years, while studying serial music with composer and conductor René Leibowitz.
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#142: Young Guns by Wham!
City: Montreal, PQ
Radio Station: CKGM
Peak Month: May 1983
Peak Position in Montreal ~ #3
Peak position in Vancouver ~ did not chart
Peak Position on Billboard Hot 100 ~ did not chart
YouTube: “Young Guns”
Lyrics: “Young Guns”
Wham! is the name of a British pop duo formed in 1981. George Michael (born Georgiōs Kyriakos Panagiōtou) was born in East Finchley, England, in 1963. In his teens, he began his involvement in the music business by working as a DJ, playing at the Bel Air Restaurant in London. In 1975, he met Andrew Ridgeley in school in Bushey, Hertfordshire. Andrew Ridgeley was also born in 1963, in Surrey, England. Prior to forming Wham! with George Michael, Ridgeley was in a band called The Executive. Ridgeley explained that the name originated from a need for “something that captured the essence of what set us apart—our energy and our friendship—and then it came to us: Wham! Wham! was snappy, immediate, fun and boisterous too.” In 1982, the debut record to be released by the band was “Wham Rap!” in June 1982. The song charted at only No. 105 on the UK pop chart. However, it was re-released in 1983 when the band was catching on and reached the Top Ten in Australia, the Netherlands and the UK.
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#216: Sexcrime (Nineteen Eighty-Four) by Eurythmics
City: Montreal, PQ
Radio Station: CKOI
Peak Month: February 1985
Peak Position in Montreal ~ #9
Peak Position in Vancouver ~ did not chart
Peak Position on Billboard Hot 100 ~ #81
YouTube: “Sexcrime (Nineteen Eighty-Four)”
Lyrics: “Sexcrime (Nineteen Eighty-Four)”
The Eurythmics were the duo of Annie Lennox and David Stewart. They were part of the New Wave music with a heavy reliance on a synth-pop sound. They were especially successful in the UK with hits that included “Love is a Stranger”, “Sweet Dreams Are Made of This”, “Who’s That Girl?” and “Here Comes the Rain Again”. They had a successful duet with Aretha Franklin in 1985 titled “Sisters Are Doing It For Themselves”.
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#230: Golden Girl by The Rabble
City: Montreal, PQ
Radio Station: CJMS
Peak Month: July 1967
Peak Position in Montreal ~ #5
Peak position in Vancouver ~ did not chart
Peak Position on Billboard Hot 100 ~ did not chart
YouTube: “Golden Girl”
Lyrics: “Golden Girl”
Formed in 1965, The Rabble were a psychedelic/garage act that hailed, originally from Pointe-Claire, Quebec on Montreal’s west island. They consisted of Tim Charbonneau on bass guitar, Mike Harris on guitar, Rick Metcalfe on guitar, and John Pimm on vocals. McMahon had previously been with The Mighty Avengers who released a cover of the Rolling Stone’s “Blue Turns To Grey” in 1965, and also a cover of the Tymes’ number-one hit from 1963 titled “So Much In Love”. The Rabble’s first single was the Mike Harris written “I’m Alaboundy Bam” released in 1966. With no substantial support from RCA, and a failing debut single, the band recorded their next single, “Golden Girl”, in December 1966 which saw release in the summer of 1967 on Trans-World Records. Late addition, Walter “Wally” O’Reilly, was on drums for both the single and the album after Brian Robillard (formerly of The Haunted) quit The Rabble to form his own band. Though Brian Robillard was in the recording studio for “Golden Girl” and other tracks on the band’s debut album, he was not in the photo with the other five bandmates for the album photoshoot.
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#250: Gloria’s Theme by Adam Wade
City: Montreal, PQ
Radio Station: CJAD
Peak Month: December 1960
Peak Position in Montreal ~ #9
Peak Position in Vancouver ~ #49
Peak Position on Billboard Hot 100 ~ #74
YouTube: “Gloria’s Theme”
Lyrics: “Gloria’s Theme”
Patrick Henry “Adam” Wade was born in 1935 in Pittsburgh (PA). After high school he worked as a lab assistant with Dr. Jonas Salk on a polio research team. Wade began to pursue a recording career, signing with Coed Records in 1959. His first single release was “Tell Her for Me” which climbed to #66 on the Billboard Hot 100. His debut album, And Then Came Adam, was released late that year. The liner notes exclaim:
From the world of science to the glittering world of entertainment, from test tubes to records, from guinea-pigs to real live audiences – this is the unorthodox and exciting saga of Adam Wade thus far. Although he has been a member of the entertainment fraternity for no more than a few months, his achievements in such a short space of time have given us an indiction that Adam is a talent to be reckoned with – one who will be a leading personality in popular music for many years to come.
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#205: Night Life by Rusty Draper
City: Montreal, PQ
Radio Station: CJAD
Peak Month: November 1963
Peak Position in Montreal ~ #5
Peak position in Vancouver ~ did not chart
Peak Position on Billboard Hot 100 ~ #57
YouTube: “Night Life”
Lyrics: “Night Life”
Farrell Haliday “Rusty” Draper was born in 1923 in Kirksville (MO). Nicknamed “Rusty” for his red hair, he began performing on his uncle’s radio show in Tulsa (OK) in the mid-1930s. Draper moved on to work at radio stations in Des Moines (IA) —sometimes filling in for sports announcer Ronald Reagan —and in Illinois before moving to San Francisco. He began to sing in local clubs, becoming resident singer at the Rumpus Room in San Francisco. By the early 1950s, he had begun appearing on national TV shows, including The Ed Sullivan Show and Ozark Jubilee.
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#1: Super Freak by Rick James
City: Montreal, PQ
Radio Station: CKGM
Peak Month: December 1981
Peak Position in Montreal ~ #1
Peak position in Vancouver ~ did not chart
Peak Position on Billboard Hot 100 ~ #16
Peak Position on Belgian Singles chart ~ #2
Peak Position on Netherlands Singles chart ~ #2
Peak Position on New Zealand Singles chart ~ #4
YouTube: “Super Freak”
Lyrics: “Super Freak”
James Ambrose Johnson Jr. was born in 1948 in Buffalo (NY). His dad left the family in 1958, and his mother who was a dancer got additional work as a numbers runner with the Buffalo crime family to make ends meet. This gave a James the chance to see acts like John Coltrane, Etta James and Miles Davis. But it also introduced him to the underbelly of society as an older child. In his autobiography, Glow, it is stated that he lost his virginity to a girl of 14 when he was “9 or 10.” James joined the Navy at age 14 or 15, lying about his age to avoid the draft for the Vietnam war. The singer had already picked up a penchant for narcotics and theft by this time in his life, and there was hope the Navy could go some way to straighten him out. However, that was soon dashed as he failed to turn up to his fortnightly reserve session aboard USS Enterprise. It also gained him a ticket to Vietnam.
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#2: Knowing You Knowing Me by ABBA
City: Montreal, PQ
Radio Station: CKGM
Peak Month: July 1977
Peak Position in Montreal ~ #1
Peak position in Vancouver ~ #10
Peak Position on Billboard Hot 100 ~ #14
Peak Position on Belgian Singles chart ~ #1
Peak Position on Irish Singles chart ~ #1
Peak Position on South African Singles chart ~ #1
Peak Position on UK Singles chart ~ #1
Peak Position on West German Singles chart ~ #1
YouTube: “Knowing You Knowing Me”
Lyrics: “Knowing You Knowing Me”
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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