#171: The Swingin’ Shepherd Blues by Moe Koffman Quartette
City: Toronto, ON
Radio Station: CHUM
Peak Month: February 1958
Peak Position in Toronto ~ #4
Peak Position in Vancouver ~ #22
Peak Position on Billboard Hot 100 ~ #36
YouTube: “The Swingin’ Shepherd Blues”
Morris “Moe” Koffman was born in Toronto in 1928 to Jewish parents who ran a variety store. Koffman began to study violin at the age of nine. He later attended the Toronto Conservatory of Music. Koffman dropped out of school when he found work performing in dance bands. In 1950, he moved to the United States, where he played with a number of big bands, including with Sonny Dunham and Jimmy Dorsey. In 1955, he returned to Toronto where he formed a quartet and later a quintet.
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#186: If I Call You By Some Name by the Paupers
City: Toronto, ON
Radio Station: CHUM
Peak Month: January 1967
Peak Position in Toronto ~ #6
Peak Position in Vancouver ~ did not chart
Peak Position on Billboard Hot 100 ~ did not chart
Peak Position on the Canadian RPM Top 100 ~ #31
YouTube: “If I Call You By Some Name”
Lyrics: “If I Call You By Some Name”
The Paupers were a band from Toronto formed in 1964. Originally, they were called The Spats. The members were Skip Prokop, the former drummer with the Riverside Three (born in Hamilton (ON) in 1943), former Last Words guitarist Bill Misener (who also went by his alias Bill Marion), guitar-player Chuck Beal (born in Scarborough (ON) in 1943), and bass guitar-player Denny Gerrard (born in Scarborough (ON) in 1947). In 1965, the band released their debut folk-rock single titled “Never Send You Flowers”. The haunting tune got airplay in a number of radio markets across Ontario, and topped the CKEY Instant Five Survey in Toronto that showcased Canadian recording artists. This was followed by the British Invasion sounding “If I Told My Baby”, and “For What I Am”.
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#208: What’s The Furor About The Fuhrer? by Rough Trade
City: Toronto, ON
Radio Station: CHUM
Peak Month: January 1981
Peak Position in Toronto ~ #10
Peak Position in Vancouver ~ did not chart
Peak Position on Billboard Hot 100 ~ did not chart
YouTube: “What’s The Furor About The Fuhrer?”
Lyrics: “What’s The Furor About The Fuhrer?”
Kevan Staples was born in Toronto, Ontario, in 1950. His parents were musicians and artists. Carole Pope was born in Manchester, UK, also in 1950. Her father was a stilt walker and her mother a music hall performer. The Popes moved from Manchester to Montreal in 1955. They later moved to Toronto. Growing up, Carole studied sculpture. Kevan Staples and Carole Pope met at an audition in 1968 for Deva Loca Sideshow, a band that never ended up forming. In 1969, Staples and Pope began performing as a folk duo named O. They appeared in clubs in Toronto’s Yorkville neighborhood. In the 1960’s, Yorkville showcased the hippie movement for the rest of Canada, at least on the TV news. Yorkville was hyped as a magnet for intellectuals, artists and musicians. Writers, Margaret Atwood and Gwendolyn MacEwan, and singer-songwriters Gordon Lightfoot, Joni Mitchell and Neil Young were all part of the scene. Staples and Pope subsequently formed the Bullwhip Brothers in 1971. Finally, they changed their name to Rough Trade in 1974. O, Bullwhip Brothers and Rough Trade each drew on sexual satire, the latter from gay male iconography. In 1976, Carole Pope appeared in a concert titled Torch Showcase at a venue named A Space, in Toronto. She performed “The One Who Really Loves You” by Mary Wells and “You’re My World” by Cilla Black.
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#1: Hey Ho, What You Do To Me by the Guess Who?
City: Thunder Bay, ON
Radio Station: CKPR
Peak Month: October 1965
Peak Position in Thunder Bay ~ #1
Peak Position in Vancouver ~ #15
Peak Position on Billboard Hot 100 ~ #51
YouTube: “Hey Ho, What You Do To Me”
Lyrics: N/A
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.
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#14: Ready To Make Up by Toronto
City: Regina, SK
Radio Station: CJME
Peak Month: December 1983
Peak Position in Regina ~ #4
Peak Position in Vancouver ~ did not chart
Peak Position on Billboard Hot 100 ~ did not chart
YouTube: “Ready To Make Up”
Lyrics: “Ready To Make Up”
Toronto was formed in 1979 when singer Holly Woods met guitar player Brian Allen in 1977. Annie “Holly” Woods was born in Durham, North Carolina, in 1953. She moved to San Francisco and fronting local bands Sass, and then Gambler. She moved to Toronto and initially performed in as Annie Woods and Shivers. Brian Allen was with a band called Rose. Woods and Allen formed the band they first called Sass in 1979. But a bar manager changed the band’s name to Toronto minutes before they went on stage at a concert in 1979. The name stuck. They added Sheron Alton (Brian Allen’s girlfriend) on guitar and backing vocals, Scott Kreyer on keyboards and backing vocals, Nick Costello on bass guitar, and Jimmy Fox on drums. Kreyer, Costello and Fox were each native New Yorkers. Toronto released a debut album, Lookin’ For Trouble, in 1980. The album sold over 100,000 copies. The lead single, “Even The Score”, was a minor hit across Canada which stalled at #104 beneath the Billboard Hot 100. A second album, Head On, spawned three single releases that were not commercially successful. Head On also exceeded sales of 100,000 copies.
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#45: Teenage Rage by Streetheart
City: Regina, SK
Radio Station: CJME
Peak Month: April 1981
Peak Position in Regina ~ #7
Peak Position in Vancouver ~ did not chart
Peak Position on Billboard Hot 100 ~ did not chart
YouTube: “Teenage Rage”
Lyrics: “Teenage Rage”
Kenny Shields was from Nokomis, Saskatchewan in 1947. When he was six years old he won an amateur talent contest. Once he graduated from high school he pursued music and in 1967 formed a band in Saskatoon named Witness Inc. The band had several Top Ten hits in local radio markets in the Canadian Prairies and in Ontario. These include “I’ll Forget Her Tomorrow”, “Jezebel” and “Harlem Lady”. In 1969 Shields had a near fatal car accident and had to undergo therapy and rehab for a number of years. This meant he had to quit the band. In 1975 Shields was back with Witness Inc. and by that time he was the only original member in the band. But the pseudo-psychedlic sound that Witness Inc. was known for was no longer in vogue. The band changed its name to Streetheart and with it got a newer rock ‘n roll sound. Bass player Ken “Spider” Sinnaeve and keyboard player, Daryl Gutheil, made the transition from Witness Inc. As Streetheart, they were joined by Paul Dean and Matt Frenette who both moved on to form Loverboy.
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#2: We All Need Love by Troiano
City: Smithers, BC
Radio Station: CFBV
Peak Month: July 1979
Peak Position in Smithers ~ #11
Peak Position in Vancouver ~ Playlist
Peak Position on Billboard Hot 100 ~ did not chart
YouTube: “We All Need Love”
Lyrics: “We All Need Love”
Domenic Troiano was born in Modugno, in southeastern Italy, in 1946. His family emigrated to Toronto when he was three-years-old. His first professional music work was with Robbie Lane & The Disciples in the early ’60s. That band got a break with they became Ronnie Hawkins backing band. In 1965, Troiano joined a local Toronto band called the Five Rogues, which later found success as Mandala. The Dells backed Mandala on their recording of “Opportunity” which reached #3 on CHUM in Toronto in early 1967. When Mandala dissolved in 1969, Troiano formed a jazz-influenced rock outfit called Bush. In 1970, he appeared on a solo album, Axe, by Guess Who bandmate Randy Bachman. He subsequently joined The James Gang in 1972, and co-wrote their minor hits “Looking for My Lady” and “Had Enough”. The same year he released his debut self-titled solo album, followed by Tricky in 1973. In 1974, Troiano wrote “Just As Bad As You”, a hit in Canada for Shawne Jackson (his then wife).
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#67: Storm Before The Calm by Luba
City: Montreal, PQ
Radio Station: CKGM
Peak Month: April 1985
Peak Position in Montreal ~ #5
Peak position in Vancouver ~ did not chart
Peak Position on Billboard Hot 100 ~ did not chart
YouTube: “Storm Before The Calm”
Lyrics: “Storm Before The Calm”
Lubomyra Kowalchyk was born in 1958 in Montreal, Quebec. During her teens she travelled across Canada performing traditional Ukrainian folk songs at weddings and festivals. Growing up she studied piano, guitar, flute and voice. She was a fine-arts student when she formed a band called Zorya in 1973, releasing an album. In 1977 she released her second album titled. Lubomyra. In 1978 she formed a band named Luba with herself as the lead vocalist. Then, when her father died in 1979, she wrote what would become her signature song, “Everytime I See Your Picture”, as a tribute to him.
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#59: Mainstreet U.S.A. by Union
City: Regina, SK
Radio Station: CJME
Peak Month: August 1981
Peak Position in Regina ~ #7
Peak position in Vancouver ~ did not chart
Peak Position on Billboard Hot 100 ~ did not chart
YouTube: “Mainstreet U.S.A.”
Lyrics: “Mainstreet U.S.A.”
Union was a short-lived band that evolved out of Ironhorse. This Canadian band consisted of Randy Bachman, C.F. Turner, Chris Leighton, and Frank Ludwig. 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 The Silvertones with Chad Allan in 1960. In 1962 the band became Chad Allan and the Expressions, and was renamed The Guess Who in 1965 with their first big hit, “Shakin’ All Over“.
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#68: Clap Your Hands by Beau-Marks
City: Edmonton, AB
Radio Station: CJCA
Peak Month: March 1960
Peak Position in Edmonton ~ #8
Peak Position in Vancouver ~ #14
Peak Position on Billboard Hot 100 ~ #45
YouTube: “Clap Your Hands”
Lyrics: “Clap Your Hands”
Originally named the Del Tones when they formed in Montreal in 1958, the groups’ first single, called “Moonlight Party”, climbed to #1 in Montreal in May 1959. However, there were other bands with the same name. The Deltones had a single on Vee-Jay Records that was a minor hit in Chicago. That group had a minor hit in Philadelphia on another label in 1960 called “Strollin’ the Blues”. There was also a band from Australia called the Delltones. To avoid confusion, the Del Tones from Montreal changed their name to the Beau-Marks in 1959 in response to a political controversy. Their new name was a pun on the Bomarc, the worlds first supersonic long-range, anti-aircraft missile, developed by Boeing. The development of the Bomarc missile was accompanied by problems with its propulsion system. In 1958 the Conservative Government, led by Prime Minister John Diefenbaker, was faced with two strategies for Canadian air defense. One was to produce the Avro Arrow, a very fast missile at a cost of over 12 Million per aircraft. It was created by the Canadian company, Avro Canada. The other option was to purchase Bomarc missles made by Boeing in Seattle, Washington, for 2 Million. The later missiles would be tipped with nuclear warheads. However, the Conservatives opted eventually not to have nuclear tipped missiles in Canada. With the cancellation of the Avro Arrow, the company lost over 14,000 jobs.
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