#56: Listen To The Radio by Pukka Orchestra
City: Regina, SK
Radio Station: CJME
Peak Month: May 1984
Peak Position in Regina ~ #10
Peak position in Vancouver ~ Hit Bound
Peak Position on Billboard Hot 100 ~ did not chart
YouTube: “Listen To The Radio”
Lyrics: “Listen To The Radio”
The Pukka Orchestra was formed in Toronto in 1979. The core of the band consisted of vocalist/guitarist/songwriter Graeme Williamson (born in Glasgow, Scotland) and guitarists/co-songwriters Neil Chapman and Tony Duggan-Smith. The band’s name is derived from the Hindi word pukka, which means “Genuine”, “Authentic”, “First Class”. The name was coined by Duggan-Smith’s extremely British grandfather who had been the harbourmaster of Calcutta and had later worked for Marconi. When Duggan-Smith told him he was playing music for a living his grandfather replied, “That’s all very nice Tony, but don’t bother with any mediocre bands, get yourself into a Pukka Orchestra”. The band made frequent use of numerous guest musicians, jokingly commenting “Are you in the Pukka Orchestra? Why not, everyone else is.”
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#57: Walk Away by The Box
City: Regina, SK
Radio Station: CJME
Peak Month: May 1984
Peak Position in Regina ~ #8
Peak position in Vancouver ~ Hit Bound
Peak Position on Billboard Hot 100 ~ did not chart
YouTube: “Walk Away”
Lyrics: “Walk Away”
The Box was formed in 1981 by former Men Without Hats keyboard player Jean-Marc Pisapia. He was born in 1957 in Montreal and learned to play piano at the age of four. He studied architecture at the University of Montreal. After a summer tour with Men Without Hats in 1981, Jean-Marc formed Checkpoint Charlie, inviting guitarist Guy Florent and bass guitarist Jean-Pierre Brie to join him. In 1983, the band added Jean-Marc’s brother, Guy Pisapia, on keyboards. This enabled Jean-Marc to give his attention primarily to lead vocals. At this time the band changed their name to The Box. In 1984 The Box released a self-titled album with a debut single titled “Walk Away”.
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#75: Act Of An Innocent by Parachute Club
City: Regina, SK
Radio Station: CJME
Peak Month: March 1985
Peak Position in Regina ~ #12
Peak position in Vancouver ~ New on LG73 (Hit Bound)
Peak Position on Billboard Hot 100 ~ did not chart
YouTube: “Act Of An Innocent”
Lyrics: “Act Of An Innocent”
Lorraine Christine Segato was born in 1956 in Hamilton (ON). She was the lead vocalist in the Toronto band Mama Quilla II, which formed in 1977. The seven-piece all-female band performed at Toronto’s first Bi-National Lesbian Conference in 1979, sponsored by the Lesbian Organization of Toronto (LOOT). The songwriter for Mama Quilla II was Susan Sturman. Billy Bryans also occasionally performed for the band on percussion. Interested in forming their own band to showcase songs that they were writing, Lorraine Segato and Billy Bryans formed a band named V. This soon morphed into the Parachute Club in 1982 when they invited Mama Quilla II member Laurie Conger to join them.
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#11: Shake Yourself Down by the Checkerlads
City: Regina, SK
Radio Station: CKCK
Peak Month: October 1966
Peak Position in Regina ~ #5
Peak position in Vancouver ~ Runners Up (October 29/66)
Peak Position on Billboard Hot 100 ~ did not chart
YouTube: “Shake Yourself Down”
The Checkerlads were a band from Regina, Saskatchewan. According to Discogs.com, they were formed in 1963 by Arnie Sanns on lead vocals and bass guitar, Bob Stevens on rhythm guitar, Larry Reich on lead guitar, and backing vocals, and drummer Harvey Frasz. They later added organist Bob Edwards. (However, the Psychedelicized.com website states that in addition to Reich and Frasz, the other members were Arnold Rippliner, Robert Frei, and Robert Bucholtz. Yet, Psychedelicized.com links to an article on Canuckistanmusic.com, which states the lineup of the Checkerlads consisted of Sanns, Stevens, Reich and Franz). Canuckistan states “it was not until they decided to add Bob Edwards on organ that things started to take off for the group. They toured many of the US centres, ending up in Hollywood, where (manager Joe) Vargo managed to score the Lads some recording time at Gary Paxton’s LA studio.”
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