#204: Stop! I Don’t Need No Sympathy by Alma Faye Brooks
City: Montreal, PQ
Radio Station: CKGM
Peak Month: July 1977
Peak Position in Montreal ~ #7
Peak position in Vancouver ~ did not chart
Peak Position on Billboard Hot 100 ~ did not chart
YouTube: “Stop! I Don’t Need No Sympathy”
Lyrics: N/A
Alma Faye Brooks was born in Tyler, Texas, in 1953. In 1965, she moved with her family to Montreal. She sang at the Union United Church, a black-Canadian congregation. In 1977, she released “Stop! I Don’t Need No Sympathy”, a cover of a song previously performed in 1973 by Washington DC R&B singer Lynn Roman.
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#36: Dance by the Queen City Kids
City: Regina, SK
Radio Station: CJME
Peak Month: June 1982
Peak Position in Regina ~ #7
Peak Position in Vancouver ~ did not chart
Peak Position on Billboard Hot 100 ~ did not chart
YouTube: “Dance”
Lyrics: “Dance”
Queen City Kids bandmates formed a group in Regina in 1969. The lineup consisted of Alex Chuaqui on vocals and guitars, Jeffrey Germain on drums, John Donnelly on bass and guitarist Kevin Fyhn. Alex, Jeffrey and John were enrolled in music in high school. Alex Chauqui played violin, John Donnelly played the bagpipes, and Jeffrey Germain who also in a Police Boys Band played bass guitar. Germain soon added drums to his skillset. They three heard Kevin Fyhn play “Hey Jude” by the Beatles in music class, and he was invited to join the band. Initially, they were a cover band playing tunes by the Animals, the Beatles, Bee Gees, and the Safaris. Donnelly’s dad suggested they call themselves the VIPs. In 1971, they entered the Saskatchewan Homecoming ’71 talent contest and won second prize. In 1973, they changed their name to Cambridge. They began to play covers of heavier rock bands like Blue Oyster Cult, Deep Purple and Foghat.
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#127: Your Love by Lime
City: Montreal, PQ
Radio Station: CKGM
Peak Month: June 1981
Peak Position in Montreal ~ #6
Peak position in Vancouver ~ did not chart
Peak Position on Billboard Hot 100 ~ did not chart
YouTube: “Your Love”
Lyrics: “Your Love”
Lime was a disco band from Montreal who formed in 1979. The group was originally composed of married couple Denis and Denyse LePage. As a teenager, Denis performed in the band the Persuaders. By the mid-1970s he had formed the jazz-fusion act Le Pouls with then-wife Denyse LePage, a singer-songwriter in her own right. In 1979, Denis LePage wrote, arranged, and released an instrumental 12″ single vinyl record called “The Break” under the name Kat Mandu. It appeared first on Unidisc Records. The single was successful and peaked at number three on Billboard’s Disco chart.
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#10: I Go To Pieces by Paul Janz
City: Saskatoon, SK
Radio Station: CKOM
Peak Month: July 1985
Peak Position in Saskatoon ~ #2
Peak Position in Vancouver ~ #19
Peak Position on Billboard Hot 100 ~ did not chart
YouTube: “I Go To Pieces”
Lyrics: “I Go To Pieces”
In 1951 Paul Janz was born into a Mennonite family and his dad was a Mennonite minister. They lived for a few years in Three Hills, Alberta. At the age of four Janz moved with his family to Balen, Switzerland. He was raised on gospel and traditional church music and from childhood sang in a church choir. Early on he was inspired by his upbringing and started to experiment with musical arrangements by the age of ten. When he turned 13 he showed off his emerging skills on the trumpet in a Salvation Army Band. In his teen years he acquired proficiency on drums, guitar and opera with the Basel Conservatory of Music. He also ended up arranging and conducting with the Basel Symphony. He formed a group called Deliverance and based himself in Munich for much of the 70s. The group had success in Germany and scored a minor hit on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1979 called “Leaving L.A”, that peaked in the ‘States at #56.
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#18: I Want To Stand Up On The Mountain by Loreen Church
City: Saskatoon, SK
Radio Station: CKOM
Peak Month: January 1964
Peak Position in Saskatoon ~ #2
Peak Position in Vancouver ~ did not chart
Peak Position on Billboard Hot 100 ~ did not chart
YouTube: “I Want To Stand Up On The Mountain”
Lyrics: N/A
Loreen Church was born in Manor, Saskatchewan. She was born in 1945. The Ottawa Journal described her in 1963 as “a pretty 16-year-old from Regina who should go places…” Monty Montague of the Andantes’ band from Regina, spoke with Loreen Church at a Battle of the Bands event in Regina in January 1965. He recalls, “The winners were chosen probably by ballot from the crowd, in which case, it was good to get as many friends in attendance as you could. But it could have been by a panel…can’t remember. Loreen Church’s band got first. Joe Vargo and the Dynamics came second – they were solid and mature. And we got third, perhaps a little disappointed, but really didn’t know what to think of it either way. When we were packing up the equipment, we noticed Loreen Church standing a little out front until she got our attention. Then she stepped forward and said, that even though we got third, we were really, really good… Then she made a prediction: that in one year’s time — we would be top band in the city.”
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#32: Wishing by Barry Boyd
City: Saskatoon, SK
Radio Station: CKOM
Peak Month: March 1963
Peak Position in Saskatoon ~ #6
Peak Position in Vancouver ~ did not chart
Peak Position on Billboard Hot 100 ~ did not chart
YouTube: “Wishing”
Lyrics: N/A
Boyd was born in 1930, and raised in Vancouver. He got his start in radio in Prince George in 1956. That was the year Elvis Presley had hit first number-one hit “Heartbreak Hotel”, Carl Perkins was singing about “Blue Suede Shoes”, and Frankie Lemon and the Teenagers had a hit with “Why Do Fools Fall In Love”. In 1959 Boyd moved to CJCA in Edmonton. Along with CHED, CJCA was one of the Edmonton top two rock radio stations. Barry Boyd played Top-40 pop hits on his weekday afternoon show as well as at “record hops” or “platter parties” on Friday and Saturday nights. He hosted these events in various towns and villages around central Alberta, cruising in his big white 1955 Cadillac. On the radio he gave himself the nickname “the Bouncing B.”
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#35: Feel It Again by Honeymoon Suite
City: Saskatoon, SK
Radio Station: CKOM
Peak Month: April 1986
Peak Position in Saskatoon ~ #4
Peak Position in Vancouver ~ #17
Peak Position on Billboard Hot 100 ~ #34
YouTube: “Feel It Again”
Lyrics: “Feel It Again”
In 1981 John Richard DeGiuli, from Niagara Falls, Ontario, formed the Honeymoon Suite. He was a guitarist and lead vocalist and went with the stage name, Johnnie Dee. After several years of line-up changes, he played alongside lead guitarist Derry Grehan and drummer Dave Bretts. In 1983 the band won a contest on Toronto’s FM station Q107 for playing a song Grehan wrote titled “New Girl Now”. The band expanded to include keyboardist, Ray Coburn, and Gary Lalonde on bass. A debut album followed that included their debut single and several other marginal hits. A second album, The Big Prize, included their first Top 20 single in Canada, called “Feel It Again”.
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#9: Only by Dorion
City: Saskatoon, SK
Radio Station: CKOM
Peak Month: July 1986
Peak Position in Saskatoon ~ #4
Peak Position in Vancouver ~ did not chart
Peak Position on Billboard Hot 100 ~ did not chart
YouTube: “Only”
Lyrics: N/A
Ron Dorion is he name of the singer who went by the name Dorion. He is not to be confused the 80s Canadian rock band Dorian from New Hamburg, Ontario. Dorion was a solo recording artist who got a record contract with Columbia Records in the mid-80s. He sounded a bit like George Michael.
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#39: Love Has Remembered Me by April Wine
City: Saskatoon, SK
Radio Station: CKOM
Peak Month: November 1985
Peak Position in Saskatoon ~ #5
Peak Position in Vancouver ~ did not chart
Peak Position on Billboard Hot 100 ~ did not chart
YouTube: “Love Has Remembered Me”
Lyrics: “Love Has Remembered Me”
April Wine is a Canadian rock band that has released 34 singles, 16 studio albums and 9 live albums. They formed in Waverly, Nova Scotia, in 1969. The founding members were brothers David Henman (guitar) and Ritchie Henman (drums) and Myles Goodwyn (lead vocals, guitar). The Henman brothers cousin Jim Henman was also part of the band, but was replaced by bass player Jim Clench in 1971, a year after the band moved to Montreal and released their self-titled debut album. Miles Francis Goodwin was born in Woodstock, New Brunswick, in 1948. James Patrick Clench was born in Montreal in 1949. The Henman brothers were born and raised in Halifax, Nova Scotia.
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#40: Young Thing, Wild Dreams (Rock Me) ~ Red Rider
City: Saskatoon, SK
Radio Station: CKOM
Peak Month: July 1984
Peak Position in Saskatoon ~ #7
Peak Position in Vancouver ~ Getting Airplay
Peak Position on Billboard Hot 100 ~ #71
YouTube: “Young Thing, Wild Dreams (Rock Me)”
Lyrics: “Young Thing, Wild Dreams (Rock Me)”
Tom Cochrane was born in Lynn Lake, Manitoba, in 1953. When he was eleven he got his first guitar. In his late teens and early twenties, he performed in coffee houses across Canada in the early 70’s. His debut album, Hang On To Your Resistance, was released in 1974. Then Tom Cochrane made his way to Los Angeles. In 1975, Cochrane got work composing theme music for the movie My Pleasure Is My Business. This was a film about Xavier Hollander, the call girl and adult film star who authored her own memoir, The Happy Hooker, in 1971. Unable to get subsequent work in Hollywood, Cochrane returned to Canada for drive a taxi and work on a cruise line. At a concert at the El Mocambo for Red Rider in 1978, Tom Cochrane met the band. Soon after Cochrane was invited to join Red Rider.
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