#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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#2: Spin Spin by Gordon Lightfoot
City: Sault Ste. Marie, ON
Radio Station: CJIC
Peak Month: October 1966
Peak Position in Sault Ste. Marie ~ #2
Peak Position in Vancouver ~ #25
Peak Position on Billboard Hot 100 ~ did not chart
YouTube: “Spin Spin”
Lyrics: “Spin Spin”
Gordon Meridith Lightfoot Jr. was born in Orillia, Ontario, on November 17, 1938. His parents, Jessica and Gordon Lightfoot Sr., ran a dry cleaning business. His mother noticed young Gordon had some musical talent and the boy soprano first performed in grade four at his elementary school. He sang the Irish lullaby “Too Ra Loo Rah Loo Rah” at a parents’ day. As a member of the St. Paul’s United Church choir in Orillia, Lightfoot gained skill and needed confidence in his vocal abilities under the choir director, Ray Williams. Lightfoot went on to perform at Toronto’s Massey Hall at the age of twelve when he won a competition for boys who were still boy sopranos. During his teen years Gordon Lightfoot learned to play piano, drums and guitar.
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#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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