#4: Rivers Of Babylon by Boney M

City: Winnipeg, MB
Radio Station: CKY
Peak Month: December 1978
Peak Position in Winnipeg ~ #1
Peak position in Vancouver ~ did not chart
Peak Position on Billboard Hot 100 Singles ~ #30
Peak Position on Australian Singles chart ~ #1
Peak Position on Austrian Singles chart ~ #1
Peak Position on Belgian Singles chart ~ #1
Peak Position on Dutch Singles chart ~ #1
Peak Position on Finnish Singles chart ~ #1
Peak Position on Irish Singles chart ~ #1
Peak Position on Mexican Singles chart ~ #1
Peak Position on New Zealand Singles chart ~ #1
Peak Position on Norwegian Singles chart ~ #1
Peak Position on South African Singles chart ~ #1
Peak Position on Spanish Singles chart ~ #1
Peak Position on Swedish Singles chart ~ #1
Peak Position on Swiss Singles chart ~ #1
Peak Position on UK Singles chart ~ #1
Peak Position on West German Singles chart ~ #1
YouTube: “Rivers Of Babylon”
Lyrics: “Rivers Of Babylon”

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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#3: Changes by David Bowie

City: Winnipeg, MB
Radio Station: CFRW
Peak Month: February-March 1975
Peak Position in Winnipeg ~ #1
Peak position in Vancouver ~ #33
Peak Position on Billboard Hot 100 ~ #41
Peak Position on Sweden Singles chart ~ #4
YouTube: “Changes”
Lyrics: “Changes”

David Robert Jones was born in 1947 in Brixton, a suburb in the southern part of London, UK. From an early age he demonstrated talent as a singer and especially through dance and movement. When he was nine years old his father brought home some 45’s by Elvis Presley, Frankie Lymon & The Teenagers, Fats Domino and others. When David Jones heard Little Richard sing “Tutti Frutti” he later said in an interview that he “heard God.” Growing up, David learned to play the recorder, ukulele, piano and baritone saxophone. In 1962, at the age of 15 he formed a band named the Konrads. In 1964 he formed a band named David Jones and the King Bees. They appeared on the variety show Ready Steady Go! to sing their debut single, “Liza Jane”. Jones briefly moved on to join the Mannish Boys before being the front man for Davy Jones and The Lower Third. They released a single in 1965 titled “You’ve Got A Habit Of Leaving”. Due to the growing popularity of another English recording artist named Davy Jones (who went on to become lead singer for The Monkees), David Robert Jones decided to change his professional name to David Bowie. He chose his surname after a 19th Century American pioneer named James Bowie who invented the Bowie knife.

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#90: Little Altar Boy by Vic Dana

City: Winnipeg, MB
Radio Station: CKRC
Peak Month: January 1962
Peak Position in Winnipeg ~ #17
Peak position in Vancouver ~ did not chart
Peak Position on Billboard Hot 100 ~ #45
YouTube: “Little Altar Boy”
Lyrics: “Little Altar Boy”

Samuel Mendola was born in 1940 in Buffalo, New York. He told reporter J. T. Crawford “I was nine years old and had just started tap dancing,” he says. “My parents asked me if I wanted to take dancing lessons. I said I didn’t because I thought it was just for girls. I wound up taking some lessons and did some local shows. I went to the Ted Mack Original Amateur Hour, which, in those days, was like American Idol. They had variety acts, and people wrote in from all over the country and picked the winners. And I won the Ted Mack Amateur Hour.” When he was eleven, Samuel Mendola was taken to see Sammy Davis Jr. perform in Buffalo.

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