Peak Month: February 1972
8 weeks on Vancouver’s CKVN chart
Peak Position #2
Peak Position on Billboard Hot 100 ~ did not chart
YouTube.com: “I Am The Preacher”
Lyrics: “I Am The Preacher”

In 1967 Tony Kingston had a record deal with Pye and released “Master Hand” in the fall of the year. The British singer Tony Kingston had a brief deal with Decca Records in England in the late 1960’s with a single called “Mama Come On Home” released in April that year. The record is now considered a Northern Soul classic. Tony Kingston sang two songs from the 1970 British film I Start Counting, namely “They Want Love” and “Children”. After relocating to Canada in the early ’70s Kingston was signed to Yorkville Records in Toronto where he recorded “I Am The Preacher”.

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#573: Hungry Eyes by Platinum Blonde

Peak Month: May 1986
9 weeks on CKLG’s Vancouver Charts
Peak Position ~ #5
Peak Position on Billboard Hot 100 ~ did not chart
YouTube.com: “Hungry Eyes”
Lyrics: “Hungry Eyes”

Mark Holmes was born in the UK and lived in Manchester until the family moved to Toronto. He met several other musicians and formed a punk band that played covers to The Police and other new wave bands. After a lineup change, Holmes was playing guitar and the lead vocalist, Chris Steffler was the drummer and Sergio Galli was a second guitarist. The trio became Platinum Blonde. They got a record deal with CBS in 1983. Their debut album, Standing In The Dark, earned them two Video Of The Year nominations at the 1984 Juno Awards. But it was their second album, Alien Shores, which included “Crying Over You”, a #1 single on the Canadian RPM charts in 1985, and in Vancouver.

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#574: You’re What I Look For by Glass Tiger

Peak Month: January 1987
11 weeks on CKLG’s Vancouver Charts
Peak Position ~ #8
Peak Position on Billboard Hot 100 ~ did not chart
YouTube.com: “You’re What I Look For”
Lyrics: “You’re What I Look For”

Discovered in the summer of 1984 when a band from Newmarket, Ontario called Tokyo spent two evenings performing before capacity crowds at Toronto’s Maple Leaf Gardens opening for Boy George and Culture Club. Their dynamic original sound captured the moment, and the race to sign them was on. Tokyo, which had become a major force in suburban high schools and the Ontario club circuit, officially became Glass Tiger early the following year when a record deal was finally signed with Capitol Records. The band consisted of Alan Frew on vocals and guitar, Sam Reid on keyboards, Al Connelly on guitar, Wayne Parker on bass and Michael Hanson on drums.

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#1417: Aces High by The Classics

Peak Month: August 1964
8 weeks on Vancouver’s CFUN chart
Peak Position #19
Peak Position on Billboard Hot 100 ~ did not chart
YouTube.com: “Aces High”

The Classics were the house band for CFUN 1410-AM in Vancouver (BC). They formed in 1962 with Howie Vickers on trombone and lead vocals, Tom Baird on keyboards, Claire Lawrence on saxophone, organ and flute, Brian Russell on guitar, Glenn Miller on bass guitar, and Gary Taylor on drums. Fred Latremouille also played drums with the band. Tom Baird was born in Vancouver in 1943. Before he joined the CFUN Classics, he had previously been a vocalist with Roger Jerome and The Casuals. The Classics became the house band on the CBC variety show Let’s Go. They were managed by Les Vogt.

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#577: Raise A Little Hell by Trooper

Peak Month: September 1978
12 weeks on CFUN’s Vancouver Charts
Peak Position ~ #11
Peak Position on Billboard Hot 100 ~ #59
YouTube.com: “Raise A Little Hell”
Lyrics: “Raise A Little Hell”

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.

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#578: I’m On Fire For You Baby by April Wine

Peak Month: September 1974
10 weeks on CKLG’s Vancouver Charts
Peak Position ~ #7
Peak Position on Billboard Hot 100 ~ #64
YouTube.com: “I’m On Fire For You Baby”
Lyrics: “I’m On Fire For You Baby”

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. They had a Top Ten hit nationally in Canada in 1972 with “You Could Have Been A Lady”.

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#1350: Feel Your Love by Alanis Morissette

Peak Month: October 1991
6 weeks on Vancouver’s CKLG chart
Peak Position #20
Peak Position on Billboard Hot 100 ~ did not chart
YouTube.com: “Feel Your Love”
Lyrics: “Feel Your Love”

Alanis Nadine Morissette was born in Ottawa in 1974. At the age of six she began to take piano, and the following year took up dance. In Junior High School she appeared on five episodes of a local CTV comedy show called You Can’t Do That on Television. In 1987 she recorded a demo with the help of Rich Dodson of The Stampeders. Four years later she released her debut album, Alanis. Her debut single was titled “Too Hot”.

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#1415: Pretty Girls by Lisa Dal Bello

Peak Month: October 1978
5 weeks on Vancouver’s CKLG chart
Peak Position #17
Peak Position on Billboard Hot 100 ~ did not chart
YouTube.com: “Pretty Girls”
Lyrics: “Pretty Girls”

In 1959 Lisa Dal Bello was born in Weston, Ontario, a suburb of Toronto. At age 11, she taught herself to play the guitar and started writing her own songs. And she also started to perform at the Mariposa Folk Festival and the Fiddlers’ Green club in Toronto. The first song she wrote was a protest song called “Oh, Why?” In 1971 she got a summer job touring as part of a 35-member musical troupe sponsored by the Ontario Provincial Government. However, as she was only 13, she had to fib about her age to get hired for Summer Sounds ’71. The following year Lisa Dal Bello met singer-songwriter Ian Thomas at an audition. This led to her recording three songs she’d written for the CBC. The other person at the audition,  Jack Budgell got Lisa connected with jingle producer Tommy Ambrose. She also was introduced to numerous producers and got to be a back-up singer on studio recording sessions.

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#583: Ain’t Nobody Here But Us Chickens by 6 Cylinder

Peak Month: May 1980
9 weeks on CKLG’s Vancouver Charts
Peak Position ~ #9
Peak Position on Billboard Hot 100 ~ did not chart
YouTube.com: “Ain’t Nobody Here But Us Chickens”
Lyrics: “Ain’t Nobody Here But Us Chickens”

6 Cylinder was a band from Vancouver (BC) that formed in August 1977. Its founding members were Wayne Bassett, Lorne Burns, Bob Popowich, Dan Smith and Carl Erickson. Bassett and Burns were former Nechako bandmates. With 6 Cylinder, Wayne Bassett played piano, fiddle, and was on vocals, while Lorne Burns was on drums, and vocals. Bassett and Burns were session musicians on the 1974 Buddy Knox album Buddy Knox Rocks! Former Just What The Doctor Ordered and Access Junction bandmates Bob Popowich and Dan Smith also joined 6 Cylinder. Bob Popowich played played bass and added vocals, while Dan Smith played guitar and also was a vocalist. Former member with both the Nocturnals and the Cement City Cowboys, Carl Erickson, played alto and tenor saxophone, as well as adding vocals. In January 1978, Ian Berry, formerly with  Wildroot, Sweet Beaver and Cement City Cowboys, joined 6 Cylinder. Berry contributed keyboards, tenor saxophone and vocals. Prior to the formation of the classic lineup of 6 Cylinder, all six bandmates appeared in the recording studio on Cam Molloy’s album Cam Molloy, released in 1977-78.

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#1336: Say You Love Me by Shirley Eikhard

Peak Month: July 1976
7 weeks on Vancouver’s CKLG chart
Peak Position #13
Peak Position on Billboard Hot 100 ~ did not chart
YouTube.com: “Say You Love Me”
Lyrics: “Say You Love Me”

Shirley Rose Eikhard was born in Sackville, New Brunswick, in November 1955. In 1969, at the age of 13 she won an audition for the Mariposa Folk Festival’s New Songwriters Workshop on Centre Island in Toronto. At the age of 15 she wrote “It Takes Time”, which became a Top Ten hit for Anne Murray in Canada in 1971. In 1973, and again in 1974, she won the Juno Award for Best Country Female Artist. She won BMI songwriting awards for “It Takes Time” in 1971, for “Something In Your Face” in 1972, and “Right On Believing” in 1973. The latter was a single release only. “Something In Your Face” and “It Takes Time” were both from Eikhard’s debut self-titled album.

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