City: Hamilton, ON
Radio Station: CKOC
Peak Month: October 1990
Peak Position in Hamilton ~ #12
Peak position in Vancouver ~ #27
Peak Position on Billboard Hot 100 ~ did not chart
YouTube: “Girl With A Problem”
Lyrics: “Girl With A Problem”
In 1984, The Northern Pikes became a band. They were from Saskatoon, Saskatchewan. The band was made up of members from three existing bands in the city: Doris Daye, The Idols and 17 Envelope. John Peter “Jay” Semko was from Saskatoon and was already a gifted singer, songwriter, bass guitar player and pianist. Bryan Anthony Potvin was born in 1963 in Ottawa and his family moved to Victoria where he began playing guitar. Merl Bryck, born in Humboldt, Saskatchewan, was a backing vocalist and rhythm guitarist. There were a number of lineup changes. In 1986 The Idols drummer, Don Schmid, made The Northern Pikes a permanent quartet, playing drums and percussion. Schmid was born in Saskatoon. Initially, the band released several EPs. The first was the self-titled The Northern Pikes in 1984. The second EP was Scene In North America, released in 1985. They recorded both EPs at a studio near Pike Lake, SK.
City: Hamilton, ON
Radio Station: CKOC
Peak Month: March-April 1987
Peak Position in Hamilton ~ #14
Peak position in Vancouver ~ did not chart
Peak Position on Billboard Hot 100 ~ did not chart
Peak Position on Billboard Alternative Airplay chart ~ #6
YouTube: “I’m An Adult Now”
Lyrics: “I’m An Adult Now”
Murray Kevin “Moe” Berg was born in Edmonton, Alberta, in 1959. He learned to play guitar and was also a singer. Berg was a lead singer and guitarist in the Edmonton bands Troc ’59, The News, Modern Minds and Facecrime. Then he formed Pursuit of Happiness in 1985 after he met drummer Dave Gilby. They soon met bassist Johnny Sinclair and formed the band, adding sisters Tamara and Natasha Amabile as backing vocalists.
City: Hamilton, ON
Radio Station: CKOC
Peak Month: November 1987
Peak Position in Hamilton ~ #13
Peak position in Vancouver ~ did not chart
Peak Position on Billboard Hot 100 ~ did not chart
YouTube: “This Mourning”
Lyrics: “This Mourning”
Chalk Circle is a band from Newcastle, Ontario. Its origins grew from a band formed in 1982 called The Casualties. The continuous members were lead singer and guitarist Chris Tait, and bass guitarist Brad Hopkins. The band changed their name to The Reactors, and then to New Addition. In 1984 they became Chalk Circle. The name was taken from Bertolt Brecht’s play The Caucasian Chalk Circle. The play is set in the Soviet Union around the end of WWII. It shows a dispute between two communes, the Collective Fruit Farm Galinsk fruit growing commune and the Collective Goat Farmers. They are arguing over who is to own and manage an area of farm land after the Nazis have retreated from a village and left it abandoned. A parable has been organised by one group, an old folk tale, to be played out to cast light on the dispute. In one part of the play, two women argue over whether a boy named Michael is their own son. A chalk circle is drawn and Michael is placed in the center. The two women are invited to pull Michael out of the chalk circle. If they both pull, they will tear the child in half and get half each? Choosing such a reference for the band’s name, Chalk Circle recorded some interesting songs commenting on contemporary culture.
City: Halifax, NS
Radio Station: CJCH
Peak Month: January 1987
Peak Position in Halifax ~ #1
Peak position in Vancouver ~did not chart
Peak Position on Billboard Hot 100 ~ did not chart
YouTube: “Flying On Your Own”
Lyrics: “Flying On Your Own”
Rita MacNeil was born in Big Pond, Nova Scotia, in 1944. Her family moved to Toronto for some years before returning to Cape Breton. In 196o she moved from Cape Breton to Toronto and worked for a summer at Eaton’s, in the Customer Account Services Department. This was the store where her mother worked for awhile in the 1950s. By 1964, MacNeil had begun taking voice lessons. In 1965, she dated a man from Sicily and got pregnant. She gave birth to a daughter and in the following years she battled issues with her weight – ranging between 119 and 183 pounds. She got married in 1970 and had a second child. But that marriage ended in divorce, and by 1979 she was a single-parent on welfare.
City: Halifax, NS
Radio Station: CJCH
Peak Month: March 1983
Peak Position in Halifax ~ #1
Peak position in Vancouver ~did not chart
Peak Position on Billboard Hot 100 ~ #61
YouTube: “When I’m With You”
Lyrics: “When I’m With You”
Sheriff was a band formed in Toronto in 1979. The lead vocalist was Federico “Freddy” Curci. He was born in Toronto in 1962. Growing up in his Italian-Canadian family, he was first exposed to opera. But in his late childhood he discovered Black Sabbath and the Doobie Brothers. In the mid-70s, Curci was part of a number of Italian wedding bands that played in Greater Toronto. Curci co-founded Sheriff with Steven “Steve” DeMarchi, also born in Toronto (1961 ?) and his parents also immigrated to Canada from Italy. The third founding member of Sheriff is Arnold Lanni. He was born in 1956 in Toronto. Bass guitarist, Wolf D. Hassel, joined Sheriff in 1982, as did Rob Elliott on drums.
City: Calgary, AB
Radio Station: CKXL
Peak Month: July 1968
Peak Position in Calgary ~ #6
Peak position in Vancouver ~ did not chart
Peak Position on Billboard Hot 100 ~ did not chart
YouTube: “When Friends Fall Out”
Lyrics: “When Friends Fall Out”
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.
City: Halifax, NS
Radio Station: CHNS
Peak Month: December 1965
Peak Position in Halifax ~ #9
Peak position in Vancouver ~ did not chart
Peak Position on Billboard Hot 100 ~ did not chart
YouTube: “Blue Lipstick”
Patrician Anne McKinnon was born in Shiloh, Manitoba, in 1947. had already been singing on the CBC for years — as part of the choir in the 1960s music show Singalong Jubilee (which is where Anne Murray got her start, too). Patrician-Anne — and her better-known sister, the singer and actor Catherine McKinnon — split their time between the East Coast and Toronto.
She was just 16 years old when she recorded “Blue Lipstick”.
“Blue Lipstick” was written for her by the famous songwriter P.F. Sloan. Philip Gary Schlein was born in New York City in 1945. His mom was born in Romania and his dad in the USA. The family moved to West Hollywood when Philip was twelve years old. His father was a pharmacist and had the family name changed legally since Philip’s dad was repeatedly denied a liquor license for his store. The new surname, Sloan, gave Philip’s dad no hassles and the family business thrived. In 1958 Philip was given a guitar as a present. Prior to being drafted into the US Army, Elvis Presley gave Philip Sloan a quick guitar lesson at a music store in Hollywood. By the age of 14 Philip Sloan’s nickname was “Flip,” a variant of Philip. So he became P (Philip) F (Flip) Sloan. At 16, “Flip” Sloan got a position as a songwriter with Screen Gems in Los Angeles. In addition to songwriting, Sloan teamed up with Steve Barri. The pair recorded several records hoping for a hit single. They failed at getting any notice when releasing singles under the names The Lifeguards, Themes Inc., The Rally-Packs and The Wildcats. And they barely registered on the charts in 1964 as Philip and Stephan with “When You’re Near You’re So Far Away”, or as The Street Cleaners with “That’s Cool, That’s Trash”.
Sloan wrote “Eve of Destruction”, “Secret Agent Man” for Johnny Rivers, “Unless You Care” and “Little Liar” for Terry Black, “You Baby” and “Can I Get To Know You Better” for The Turtles, “A Must To Avoid” for Herman’s Hermits and “Where Were You When I Needed You” for the Grass Roots (and produced “Let’s Live For Today” for the Grass Roots).
In the song “Blue Lipstick”, after a break-up, a young woman wears blue lipstick to signal how hurt she feels. She pretends she doesn’t care anymore. But she knows it isn’t true. She thinks she’ll never kiss another boy. If only the guy who broke things off would return to her. Until that elusive occurrence, she’ll keep on wearing blue lipstick.
Arc Records reported “Sloane wrote the song specially for the pretty 17-year-old vocalist, after hearing her via tape, back in May before “Eve of Destruction” started his present winning streak, and now his name practically guarantees close attention from the stations. Patrician-Anne is a regular on “Frank’s Bandstand” of the CBC-TV network’s edition of “Music Hop” so the disc gets national TV exposure.”
Promotional ads for the song effused, “An artist so great, the current Number One writer/performer in the US just wrote a song especially for her. The current wave of P.F. Sloan hits is great publicity for Arc Records new release, “Blue Lipstick” by Patrician-Anne.” In another ad, Arc Records featured both Terry Black and Patrician-Anne on a poster that read “They’re what’s happening baby! Canada’s grooviest teens. Tell the world about these two.”
“Blue Lipstick” peaked at #9 in Halifax (NS).
“Blue Lipstick” would wind up being her biggest hit. Sadly, her career would slow down after she was diagnosed with cancer in the early 1970s. In 1974 the CBC in Nova Scotia released an EP titled “Patrician Anne Halifax Vocalist”. It included four tracks, featuring a cover of the hit “If” by Bread, a song written by Sylvia Tyson, and another track penned by Brent Titcomb, formerly of 3’s A Crowd. According to the Toronto Historical Jukebox, Patrician-Anne released a full-length self-titled album in 1984 and died of Hodgkin’s in 2001.
City: Calgary, AB
Radio Station: CKXL
Peak Month: November 1970
Peak Position in Calgary ~ #6
Peak position in Vancouver ~ #26
Peak Position on Billboard Hot 100 ~ did not chart
YouTube: “I Believe In Sunshine”
Lyrics: “I Believe In Sunshine”
Formed by a bunch of high school chums in Willowdale, Ontario, in 1968, Madrigal consisted of Rick Henderson on guitars, guitarist/bassist John Swainson, Peter Boynton on Piano, and drummer Don Simpson. Madrigal been playing psychedelic rock and pop in the Toronto area for close to a year. Greg Hambleton, owner of Tuesday Records, noticed them and one thing led to another. Hambleton signed Madrigal to management and recording contracts. In the summer of 1969, the band was in a recording studio. They released their version of his song “I Believe In Sunshine”. The song had been recorded by A Passing Fancy in 1967 and peaked at #28 on CHUM in Toronto.
City: Calgary, AB
Radio Station: CKXL
Peak Month: April 1971
Peak Position in Calgary ~ #4
Peak position in Vancouver ~ did not chart
Peak Position on Billboard Hot 100 ~ did not chart
YouTube: “Children Of The Sun”
Lyrics: “Children Of The Sun”
Mashmakhan was formed in 1969 in the southwestern Quebec town of L’Île-Perrot, by the Ottawa River near the St. Lawrence. In 1960, Pierre Sénécal, Brian Edwards (born 1943 in Saskatoon, SK), Jim Nuchter and Rayburn Blake first met in Montreal. Drummer Jim Nuchter failed to turn up for a booked performance. Drummer Jerry Mercer (born Newfoundland in 1939) was invited to replace Nuchter. Bass guitarist and vocalist Edwards quit shortly after. But the other three teenagers, Sénécal, Blake and Mercer continued to perform at local Montreal dance halls under names like the Phantoms, Ray Blake’s Combo, and the Dominoes. Sénécal played flute, organ and piano. Rayburn Blake was the lead guitarist.
City: Calgary, AB
Radio Station: CKXL
Peak Month: December 1972
Peak Position in Calgary ~ #9
Peak position in Vancouver ~ Hitbound
Peak Position on Billboard Hot 100 ~ did not chart
YouTube: “Julia Get Up”
Rich Dodson was born in Sudbury, Ontario, in 1947. In 1964, living now in Calgary, he formed an instrumental band called The Rebounds. By 1965, the band morphed into The Stampeders, named after that city’s football team, The Calgary Stampeders. Although, it could be argued that the yearly Calgary Stampede was also an inspiration for their name. During the band’s most successful chart run from 1968 to 1976, it was made up of guitarist Rich Dodson, bass player Ronnie King (born Cornelius Van Sprang) and drummer Kim Berly (born Kim Meyer). All three provided vocals. Originally, the band was a group of five formed in 1964 called The Rebounds. The Rebounds had five members: Rich Dodson, Len Roemer, Brendan Lyttle, Kim Berly, and Race Holiday. They renamed themselves The Stampeders in 1965 and Len Roemer was replaced with Ronnie King and Van Louis, making them a band of six for a few years. But after a temporary move to Toronto in 1966 the band was down to three members, Dodson, King and Berly by 1968. Between 1967 and 1976 The Stampeders charted 15 singles into the Canadian RPM Top 40.
