#90: Ma Baker by Boney M
City: Ottawa, ON
Radio Station: CFGO
Peak Month: October 1977
Peak Position in Ottawa ~ #6
Peak position in Vancouver ~ did not chart
Peak Position on Billboard Hot 100 ~ #96
Peak Position on Austrian Singles chart ~ #1
Peak Position on Belgian Singles chart ~ #1
Peak Position on Dutch Singles chart ~ #1
Peak Position on French Singles chart ~ #1
Peak Position on Norwegian Singles chart ~ #1
Peak Position on Swedish Singles chart ~ #1
Peak Position on Swiss Singles chart ~ #1
Peak Position on West German Singles chart ~ #1
Peak Position on New Zealand Singles chart ~ #2
Peak Position on UK Singles chart ~ #2
YouTube: “Ma Baker”
Lyrics: “Ma Baker”
Franz Reuther was born in 1941 in Kirn, Germany, in the Rheinland-Pfalz region bordering France. After graduating from school, he began to work as a cook. But in 1967 he released a single credited to Frank Farian. In 1974 he wrote a song titled “Baby Do You Wanna Bump”. In 1975 the single was released under the pseudonym Boney M. He got Marcia Barrett and Liz Mitchell to sing vocals for the debut Boney M. album. Barrett was born in Saint Catherine Parish in Jamaica in 1948. She moved to England in 1963 with her parents. In the late 60s, Barrett moved to West Germany and sang with Czechoslovakian singer Karel Gott who was known as “the Golden Voice of Prague.” Gott had three Top Ten albums in Germany between 1968 and 1971. Barrett also toured with the band of German singer Rex Gildo. After signing with a West German record label in 1971, Marcia Barrett toured with her German-language covers of “Son Of A Preacher Man” and “Oh Happy Day”.
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#121: Saturday Swing Out by Four Aces
City: Ottawa, ON
Radio Station: CFRA
Peak Month: May 1958
Peak Position in Ottawa ~ #6
Peak position in Vancouver ~ did not chart
Peak Position on Billboard Hot 100 Singles ~ did not chart
YouTube: “Saturday Swing Out”
Lyrics: N/A
Al Albertini was born in Chester (PA) in 1922. In his childhood, young al appeared on a radio show from Philadelphia called The Horn and Hardart Children’s Hour. Horn and Hardart’s slogan was “Less work for mother dear whose gentle hands, lead us so kindly through little folk lands. We’ll give her happiness, each kindness, each caress repaid with thoughtfulness. Less work for mother dear.” After high school graduation in 1940, he was drafted into the United States Navy after the nation entered WWII in December 1941. While he was in the navy, Albertini met Dave Mahoney, and the pair discovered a mutual interest in singing and music. After WWII, they added Rosario “Sod” Vaccaro and Lou Silvestri to become a foursome. By the late 40s they were billed as The Four Aces. They released their first single, “Baby, wha hoppen”, in 1949.
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#114: Everyday by Buddy Holly
City: Ottawa, ON
Radio Station: CFRA
Peak Month: December 1957
Peak Position in Ottawa ~ #4
Peak position in Vancouver ~ did not chart
Peak Position on Cashbox Top 100 Singles ~ #51
YouTube: “Everyday”
Lyrics: “Everyday”
In 1936, Charles Hardin Holley was born in Lubbock, Texas. When he was five years old he won $5 when he entered a local talent show and sang “Down The River of Memories.” He listened to the Grand Ole Opry growing up and after trying to learn the piano settled on taking up the guitar. During his Junior and Senior years in school, Holley entered some talent shows with friends in duos and doing gigs with a band playing a blend of country & western and rhythm & blues. He had a band that performed live on the Lubbock radio station KDAV. After high school graduation Holly focused on making a career as a musician. He heard Elvis Presley in concert in Lubbock in 1955. Shortly after Hollry would appear as the opening act for Presley in concert three times in 1955. Owen Bradley, who would also produce records for Conway Twitty, Brenda Lee, Patsy Cline and Gene Vincent, became Holley’s record producer after he signed a record deal with Decca Records in February 1956. After signing the record deal, Buddy Holley dropped the “e” from his surname to become Buddy Holly.
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#113: First Anniversary by Cathy Carr
City: Ottawa, ON
Radio Station: CKOY
Peak Month: February 1959
Peak Position in Ottawa ~ #6
Peak position in Vancouver ~ #32
Peak Position on Billboard Hot 100 ~ #42
YouTube: “First Anniversary”
Lyrics: “First Anniversary”
Angelina Helen Catherine Cordovano was born in The Bronx (NY) in 1936. In her early childhood, Catherine became a regular on The Children’s Hour broadcast from both Philadelphia and New York City. The closing song was sung to the tune of “A Bicycle built for Two”: Childhood, childhood, sweetest days of all.
Children playing hide and seek and ball.
Tripping to school so merry,
The Golden Rule to study.
Oh, how we’ll miss, the years of bliss,
When our childhood days are gone.
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#103: (You Were Made For) All My Love by Jackie Wilson
City: Ottawa, ON
Radio Station: CKOY
Peak Month: September 1960
Peak Position in Ottawa ~ #1
Peak position in Vancouver ~ #29
Peak Position on Billboard Hot 100 ~ #12
Peak Position on Australian Singles chart ~ #30
YouTube: “All My Love”
Lyrics: “All My Love”
Jackie Wilson was born in suburban Detroit in 1934. Wilson began singing as a youth, accompanying his mother, an experienced church-choir singer. In his early teens, Wilson joined the Ever Ready Gospel Singers. Wilson dropped out of high school at age 15, having been sentenced twice to detention in the Lansing Corrections system for juveniles. During his second stint in detention, Wilson learned to box and began competing in the Detroit amateur circuit at age 16. His record in the Golden Gloves was 2–8. After his mother forced him to quit boxing, Wilson got his girlfriend, Freda Hood, pregnant, and her father forced him to marry her. Wilson became a father at age 17.
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#120: Love My Way by the Psychedelic Furs
City: Ottawa, ON
Radio Station: CFRA
Peak Month: April 1983
Peak Position in Ottawa ~ #7
Peak position in Vancouver ~ did not chart
Peak Position on Billboard Hot 100 ~ #44
Peak Position on New Zealand Singles chart ~ #9
YouTube: “Love My Way”
Lyrics: “Love My Way”
Richard Butler was born in Surrey, England, in 1956. Butler started art school in London with the idea of becoming a painter. After graduation, he worked in a silk-screen print shop but got the idea to form a band. Timothy “Tim” Butler is the younger brother of Richard, and was born in 1958. Richard Butler formed the band in 1977 with his brother Tim. They were joined by guitarist John Ashton who was born in London in 1957. Vince Ely joined the band as a drummer in the classic Psychedelic Furs lineup in 1979, as did Ashton.
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#88: Love Walked In by Dinah Washington
City: Ottawa, ON
Radio Station: CKOY
Peak Month: November 1960
Peak Position in Ottawa ~ #1
Peak position in Vancouver ~ #25
Peak Position on Billboard Hot 100 ~ #30
YouTube: “Love Walked In”
Lyrics: “Love Walked In”
Ruth Lee Jones was born in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, in 1924. After her family moved to Chicago, she played piano for the choir in St. Luke’s Baptist Church while still in elementary school. She sang gospel music in church and played piano, directing her church choir in her teens and was a member of the Sallie Martin Gospel Singers. In 1939 when she was fifteen, she won an amateur contest at the Regal Theater in Chicago singing “I Can’t Face the Music”. By 1941–42, she was performing in such Chicago clubs as Dave’s Café and the Downbeat Room of the Sherman Hotel (with Fats Waller). She was playing at the Three Deuces, a jazz club, when a friend took her to hear Billie Holiday at the Garrick Stage Bar. Club owner Joe Sherman was so impressed with her singing of “I Understand”, – a hit that year on the pop chart for Jimmy Dorsey and on the R&B chart for Fats Waller – that he hired her. During her year at the Garrick—she sang upstairs while Holiday performed in the downstairs room—she acquired the name by which she became known. She credited Joe Sherman with suggesting the change from Ruth Jones, made before Lionel Hampton came to hear Dinah at the Garrick. Hampton’s visit brought an offer, and Washington worked as his female band vocalist after she had sung with the band for its opening at the Chicago Regal Theatre.
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#129: Train In Vain by the Clash
City: Ottawa, ON
Radio Station: CFGO
Peak Month: May 1980
Peak Position in Ottawa ~ #4
Peak position in Vancouver ~ #6
Peak Position on Billboard Hot 100 ~ #23
YouTube: “Train In Vain”
Lyrics: “Train In Vain”
The Clash is a band that formed in London (UK) in 1976. John Graham Mellor “Joe Strummer” was born in 1952 in Ankara, Turkey. He began attending a boarding school in London, England, in 1962. He told a reporter years later, “[A]t the age of nine I had to say good-bye to them because they went abroad to Africa or something. I went to boarding school and only saw them once a year after that – the Government paid for me to see my parents once a year. I was left on my own, and went to this school where thick rich people sent their thick rich kids. Another perk of my father’s job – it was a job with a lot of perks – all the fees were paid by the Government.” His brother, David, who also attended the boarding school committed suicide in 1970. This deeply impacted John Mellor. By this time he had been going by the moniker Woody Mellor, with “Woody” a tribute to his hero Woody Guthrie. He was part of a band called the 101ers. By 1975 he took the stage name Joe Strummer.
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#141: Angel In My Pocket by One To One
City: Ottawa, ON
Radio Station: CFRA
Peak Month: June-July 1986
Peak Position in Ottawa ~ #6
Peak position in Vancouver ~ #25
Peak Position on Billboard Hot 100 ~ #92
YouTube: “Angel In My Pocket”
Lyrics: “Angel In My Pocket”
One To One were a band that formed in Ottawa, Ontario, in 1984. It consisted of vocalist Louise Reny and producer/multi-instrumentalist Leslie Howe. The duo had been in a local rock band since the mid-70s called Mainstream. Tired of playing covers of 60’s, 70’s and 80’s pop tunes, Reny and Howe were inspired to collaborate and release original material. In late 1985 they released “There Was A Time“. The song climbed to #1 on CFRA-AM in Ottawa, and #14 on the Canadian RPM singles chart. According to Canadian Bands.com, the single made the Top 20 in several European record markets.
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#71: Pride (In The Name Of Love) by U2
City: Ottawa, ON
Radio Station: CFRA
Peak Month: December 1984
Peak Position in Ottawa ~ #5
Peak position in Vancouver ~ #20
Peak Position on Billboard Hot 100 ~ #33
Peak Position on New Zealand Singles chart ~ #1
Peak Position on Irish Singles chart ~ #2
Peak Position on UK Singles chart ~ #3
Peak Position on Australian Singles chart ~ #4
Peak Position on Dutch Singles chart ~ #5
Peak Position on Belgian Singles chart ~ #6
Peak Position on Norwegian Singles chart ~#7
Peak Position on Polish Singles chart ~ #9
YouTube: “Pride (In The Name Of Love)”
Lyrics: “Pride (In The Name Of Love)”
U2 is a band formed in Dublin, Ireland, in September 1976. Its members include lead vocalist and rhythm guitar player Bono, lead guitar and keyboard player the Edge, synthesizer and guitar player Adam Clayton, and drummer and percussionist Larry Mullen Jr. The band formed when its members were all teenagers. The band had several name changes before they settled on U2 in 1978.
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