Peak Month: March 1983
13 weeks on Vancouver’s CFUN chart
Peak Position ~ #3
Peak Position on Billboard Hot 100 ~ #83
YouTube: “Shy Boy”
Lyrics: “Shy Boy”
Bananarama is an Irish-English girl group formed in 1981. It was founded by Sara Elizabeth Dallin, born in 1961 in Bristol. She studied journalism at the London College of Fashion for a year, starting in 1980. While at the college, she met Paul Cook of Sex Pistols fame who was currently in a band called The Professionals. Dallin, along with her childhood friend Karen Woodward (also born in Bristol in 1961), and college mate Siobhan Fahey (born in Dublin in 1958), became backing vocalists for The Professionals. In 1982 Bananarama were featured vocalists with Fun Boy Three on their #4 UK hit single “‘Tain’t What You Do (It’s the Way That You Do It)”. Later that year, they backed Fun Boy Three on their #5 UK hit single “Really Saying Something” – a cover of a minor hit in 1964 for the Velvelettes.
In the summer of 1982, Bananarama released “Shy Boy”.
“Shy Boy” was cowritten by Steve Jolley and Tony Swain. Jolley was born in 1950 and Swain was born in London in 1952. Jolley began his music career playing guitar with Sam Apple Pie in 1969. The next year, Jolley joined Freedom, a Procol Harum splinter group. He stayed with Freedom until 1972. Jolley and Swain met in 1975 while they were working respectively as a cameraman and sound technician for The Muppet Show. In 1981 they wrote and produced a #4 UK hit single for the disco-funk band Imagination titled “Body Talk”. While writing songs for Bananarama (“Shy Boy”, “Cruel Summer”, ), they also wrote “All Cried Out” and “Love Resurrection” for Alison Moyet, and produced “True” – a 1983 number-one international hit for Spandau Ballet. They also produced “Gold” and “Lifeline”, the former a Top Ten hit in eight countries, the latter a #7 hit in the UK. Tony Swain latter produced “You Came” (a Top Ten hit in eleven nations in 1988) for Kim Wilde. Also for Kim Wilde, Swain produced “Four Letter Word”, “Never Trust A Stranger” and “Hey Mister Heartache”. All three singles charted in the Top Ten between two and seven nations. But in 2001 Steve Jolley became infamous after he pled guilty to taking indecent pictures of a 12-year-old boy he had sex with, and for sexual assault of the minor. Swain went on to become the head A&R Consultant for Universal Records.
“Shy Boy” is a song about a “boy” who used to be shy. But, ever since he started going steady with his girlfriend, he’s shyness has vanished. Now that he’s met someone he’s totally sexually attracted to, his girlfriend proclaims “He give me lovin’ like nobody else. I like the way he turns me on.” The ‘former ‘Shy Boy’ has found his stride.
“Shy Boy” peaked at #2 in Halifax (NS), #3 in Vancouver (BC), Kitchener (ON), and Toronto, #4 in Hamilton (ON), Regina (SK), #6 in Yellowknife (NWT), #8 in Ottawa (ON), and #10 in Edmonton (AB).
In 1983, Bananarama released a cover of the 1969 hit by Steam titled “Na Na Hey Hey Kiss Him Goodbye”. It charted to #5 in the Uk and #4 in Ireland. Their followup hit was “Cruel Summer” (#7 in Ireland, #8 in the UK and #9 on the Billboard Hot 100 in the USA). The trio had a third Top Ten hit in 1983 in West Germany, Switzerland, Ireland and the UK titled “Robert DeNiro’s Waiting”.
In 1986 Bananarama had their biggest hit with a cover of the 1970 Shocking Blue song “Venus”. And in 1987 with the release of Wow, Bananarama had another Top Ten hit with “I Heard A Rumor” (#4 in the USA, #8 in Switzerland, #9 in Ireland and #10 in New Zealand). Followup singles – “Love In The First Degree” and “I Want You Back” – from the album also garnered Top Ten chart runs in multiple nations. In 1988, Fahey – who had married Dave Stewart of the Eurythmics – left Bananarama. Her replacement from 1988 to 1991 was Jacquie O’Sullivan.
A 1989 cover of the Beatles 1965 hit “Help!” earned Bananarama a final Top Ten hit across Belgium, Ireland, Switzerland, the UK and West Germany. Dallin and Woodward carried on from 1992 as a pop duo. Over the years, Bananarama have performed on worldwide tours. But their appearances have been limited in Canada to three concerts in Montreal between 1999 and 2013, and one concert in Toronto in 2018. Fahey rejoined Bananarama in 2017.
Since 1982, Bananarama has released eleven studio albums, the most recent – In Stereo – in 2019. The trio have received ten Billboard Music Awards nominations.
A-side: “Share The Land”
Peak Month: November 1970
9 weeks on Vancouver’s CKVN chart
Peak Position ~ #1
Peak Position on Billboard Hot 100 ~ #10
YouTube: “Share The Land”
Lyrics: “Share The Land”
B-side: “Bus Rider”
Peak Month: November 1970
9 weeks on Vancouver’s CKVN chart
Peak Position ~ #1
Peak Position on Billboard Hot 100 ~ did not chart
YouTube: “Bus Rider”
Lyrics: “Bus Rider”
Randolph Charles Bachman was born in 1943 in Winnipeg, Manitoba. When he was just three years old he entered the King of the Saddle singing contest on CKY radio, Manitoba’s first radio station that began in 1923. Bachman won the contest. When he turned five years he began to study the violin through the Royal Toronto Conservatory. Though he couldn’t read music, he was able to play anything once he heard it. He dropped out of high school and subsequently a business administration program in college. He co-founded a Winnipeg band called Al & The Silvertones with Chad Allan in 1960.
Peak Month: November 1978
17 weeks on Vancouver’s CFUN chart
Peak Position ~ #7
Peak Position on Billboard Hot 100 ~ did not chart
YouTube: “Round Round We Go”
Lyrics: “Round Round We Go”
In 1967 Ra McGuire and Brian Smith played in a Vancouver band named Winter’s Green. The band recorded two songs, “Are You a Monkey” and “Jump in the River Blues” on the Rumble Records Label. “Are You A Monkey” later appeared on a rock collection: 1983’s “The History of Vancouver Rock and Roll, Vol. 3.” In the early seventies Winter’s Green changed their name to Applejack and added drummer Tommy Stewart and bassist Harry Kalensky to their lineup. Applejack became a very popular band in the Vancouver area, and began touring extensively in British Columbia. The band played a few original tunes such as “Raise A Little Hell”, and “Oh, Pretty Lady”, as well as Top 40 songs by artists such as Neil Young, and Chicago.
Peak Month: April 1971
12 weeks on Vancouver’s CKVN chart
Peak Position ~ #1 ~ CKLG
Peak Position on Billboard Hot 100 ~ did not chart
YouTube: “Oh What A Feeling”
Lyrics: “Oh What A Feeling”
Crowbar’s roots go back to the beginning of Roly Greenway’s career. In 1942 Roly Greenway was born in Guelph, Ontario. By the time he was sixteen in 1958, he had learned to play bass guitar. That year he joined a Guelph-based band called The Centurys. In 1962 he was a member of Joe Pino & The Starlites, then The Ascots in 1963. While he was in the Ascots, Greenway met guitarist Rhéal Lanthier. Born in 1939 in the foothills of the Laurentians in scenic Buckingham, Quebec, Rhéal Lanthier was nicknamed “The Frenchman.” In 1964-65, Greenway and Lanthier played the Las Vegas lounge circuit for a couple of years, backing stars like Liberace and Zsa Zsa Gabor. They came back to Canada in 1966, and Greenway joined Bobby Curtola‘s touring band.
Peak Month: May 1964
11 weeks on Vancouver’s CFUN chart
Peak Position ~ #1
Peak Position on Billboard Hot 100 ~ #47
YouTube: “Party Girl”
Lyrics: “Party Girl”
Bernadette Dalia was born in 1944 in Elizabeth, New Jersey. Bernadette’s first performance was at the age of seven, given a role in an elementary school play. Soon after her family moved to Linden, New Jersey, she became a bit of a reckless teenager. She’d sneak out late at night to go to local recording studios with her friends. In 1959, she joined with sisters Barbara Allbut, Jiggs Allbut and, Lynda Malzone to form a group called The Starlets. Their first recording, on the Astro label, was “PS I Love You.” The single was a Top 30 hit on WMCA in New York City in 1960. Bernadette graduated from Linden High School in in Linden, New Jersey, in 1962. After The Starlets disbanded, Bernadette made her first solo recording for the Julia label, “My Heart Stood Still.” Early pressings of the record were credited only to ‘Bernadette.’ A second pressing was credited to ‘Bernadette Carroll.’ In the fall and winter of 1962 “My Heart Stood Still” charted into the Top Ten in Springfield, Massachusetts, and Halifax, Nova Scotia.
Peak Month: December 1966
5 weeks on Vancouver’s CKLG chart
Peak Position ~ #7
1 week Hit Bound
Peak Position on Billboard Hot 100 ~ #125
YouTube: “Peace Of Mind”
Lyrics: “Peace Of Mind”
The Count Five were a band formed in San Jose, California, in 1964. The band consisted of five members. John “Sean” Byrne was born in Dublin, Ireland, in 1947. He was a lead vocalist who played rhythm guitar. Byrne also wrote most of the original songs by the band. Craig “Butch” Atkinson was born in Springfield, Missouri, in 1947, and was the bands’ drummer. In 1948, Brooklyn, New York, native Kenn Ellner was born. He became the other lead vocalist for the Count Five and also played tambourine and harmonica. Born in 1948 in Indianapolis, Indiana, Roy Cheney played bass guitar. In sixth grade, Roy asked his parents to buy him a guitar. His mom picked up an acoustic special at Sears Roebuck in downtown San Jose. The fifth bandmate was John “Mouse” Michalski, who was born in Cleveland in 1949 and played lead guitar. In 1964 Cheney and Michalski were classmates at Pioneer High School in San Jose. They formed a band called The Citations. But as the British Invasion dominated pop music in 1964, the band changed their name to The Squires.
Peak Month: December 1967
9 weeks on Vancouver’s CKLG chart
1 week Hit Bound
Peak Position ~ #1
Peak Position on Billboard Hot 100 ~ #106
YouTube: “Love Of The Common People”
Lyrics: “Love Of The Common People”
Carson Wayne Newton was born in 1942 in Norfolk, Virginia. When he was four years old his parents took him to see the Grand Ole Opry. He began to learn guitar, steel guitar and piano from the age of six. At the age of six he was featured on a local radio show each morning on his way to elementary school. At the age of six, young Wayne also performed in front of the USO and for President Harry Truman. With his brother, Jerry, they performed at country fairs and clubs as the Rascals in Rhythm. They had several guest spots with the Grand Ole Opry roadshows and on ABC-TV’s Ozark Jubilee. They also gave a performance for President Eisenhower. From 1958 to 1962 the brothers performed six days a week on the Lew King Rangers Show. In 1961, Wayne Newton & The Newton Brothers cover of the Johnnie Ray hit from 1951, “The Little White Cloud That Cried”, charted in at least five states. Further success awaited them with their first of twelve guest appearances on The Jackie Gleason Show on September 29, 1962.
Peak Month: January 1961
11 weeks on Vancouver’s CFUN chart
Peak Position ~ #1
Peak Position on Billboard Hot 100 ~ #9
YouTube: “Corinna Corinna”
Lyrics: “Corinna Corinna”
Ray T. Peterson was born in Denton, Texas, in 1939. He became an athlete in high school. But he contracted polio at the age of fifteen. Peterson had thought singing was for sissies, but with polio he focused on his vocal gift. He took singing lessons and developed a four-octave range. Ray Peterson was told he would never walk again. And then his doctors told him he could only walk with crutches. Peterson persevered and performed at singing contests in San Antonio. He won some contests and was flown out to Los Angeles to appear with Bob Hope in a telethon for polio victims. By 1957 he moved to Los Angeles and got a contract with RCA Victor that fall.
Peak Month: November 1963
13 weeks on Vancouver’s CFUN chart
Peak Position #2
Peak Position on Billboard Hot 100 ~ #12
YouTube: “Mecca”
Lyrics: “Mecca”
Gene Pitney was born in 1940 in Hartford, Connecticut. He was a songwriter who became a pop singer, something rare at the time. Some of the songs he wrote for other recording artists include “Rubber Ball” for Bobby Vee, “He’s A Rebel” for The Crystals and “Hello Mary Lou” for Ricky Nelson. Pitney was more popular in Vancouver than in his native America. Over his career he charted 14 songs into the Top Ten in Vancouver, while he only charted four songs into the Top Ten on the Billboard Hot 100. Curiously, only two of these songs overlap: “(The Man Who Shot) Liberty Vallance” and “I’m Gonna Be Strong”. Surprisingly “Only Love Can Break A Heart”, which peaked at #2 in the USA, stalled at #14 in Vancouver, and “It Hurts To Be In Love” stalled at #11 in Vancouver while it peaked at #7 south of the border.
Peak Month: August 1981
10 weeks on Vancouver’s CFUN chart
Peak Position #2
Peak Position on Billboard Hot 100 ~ #17
YouTube: “Fire And Ice”
Lyrics: “Fire And Ice”
Patricia Mae Andrzejewski was born in Greenpoint, Brooklyn, New York City in 1953. She was raised near the city of Babylon, Long Island. Her dad was a sheet-metal worker and her mom was a beautician. At the age of eight she began to take voice lessons. After high school, she spent a year to study health education, but dropped out to marry high school sweetheart Dennis Benatar, who was drafted into the United States Army. She was 19. While her husband was stationed at Fort Lee, Virginia, she worked as a bank teller near Richmond (VA). She quit her job and formed the Pat Benatar Band. Dennis Benatar was discharged from the Army and the couple moved to New York in May 1975 so Benatar could pursue a singing career. She performed at an amateur night at the Catch a Rising Star comedy club in Manhattan. Later in 1975, Pat Benatar got a part in Harry Chapin’s rock musical The Zinger showing at a theatre in Huntington Station, Long Island.
