#1144: Give It Up ~ Colin James

Peak Month: February 1991
10 weeks on Vancouver’s CKLG chart
Peak Position #18
Peak Position on Billboard Hot 100 ~ did not chart
YouTube.com: “Give It Up”
Lyrics: “Give It Up”

Colin James Munn was born in Regina, Saskatchewan, in 1964. He is a neo-swing artist who mixes swing, jump blues, rockabilly, ska and contemporary rock ‘n roll into his performances and recordings. In 1984 he was playing with a Regina. As luck would have it American rocker, Stevie Ray Vaughan, was in town to appear in concert. Vaughan was fresh from the releases of his 1983 album, Texas Flood, and his 1984 album, Couldn’t Stand The Weather. Vaughan had also been given a spotlight as a guitarist playing numbers of songs on David Bowie’s 1983 Let’s Dance album. The opening act for Stevie Ray Vaughan was unable to perform, and with just a few hours to prepare, Colin James Munn was asked to be the opener for the Regina concert with members of a local band called Flying Colours. James knocked it out of the ballpark and was asked by Stevie Ray Vaughan to join him for the rest of the tour as the opening act. James played the rest of the tour with his backing band, the Hoodoo Men. But it was Stevie Ray Vaughan who suggested that Munn drop his last name and just go by Colin James. Munn sounded too much like “mud” over the distortion from the loudspeakers at the concert venues.

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#1148: Something Better by Chilliwack

Peak Month: September 1977
9 weeks on Vancouver’s CKLG chart
Peak Position #12
Peak Position on Billboard Hot 100 ~ did not chart
YouTube.com: “Something Better”
Lyrics: “Something Better”

Bill Henderson was born in Vancouver in 1944. He learned guitar and became the guitarist for the Panarama Trio that performed at the Panarama Roof dance club on the 15th Floor of the Hotel Vancouver. He formed the psychedelic pop-rock Vancouver band, The Collectors, in 1966. After a half dozen local hits including “Looking At A Baby” and “Lydia Purple” the band disbanded by 1970. Henderson (vocals, guitar), Claire Lawrence (saxophone, keyboards), Ross Turney (drums) and Glenn Miller (bass) were all Collectors bandmates. After Howie Vickers left The Collectors, they changed their name to Chilliwack. The name was a Salish First Nations name that means “going back up” and is the name of a city in the Fraser Valley in British Columbia.

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#1149: Rock ‘N Roll Lover Man by Northwest Company

Peak Month: June 1971
8 weeks on Vancouver’s CKVN chart
Peak Position #12
Peak Position on Billboard Hot 100 ~ did not chart
YouTube: “Rock ‘N Roll Lover Man”

The Northwest Company was a band in the Fraser Valley from the town of Haney, about 25 miles east of Vancouver. The bands members were bass player Gowan Jurgensen, lead vocalist Rick McCartie, lead guitar and vocalist Ray O’Toole, rhythm guitar player Vidor Skofteby and on drums and vocals, Richard Stepp who was a teenager in Sicamous, British Columbia. Before moving to Vancouver in his late teens, Richard Stepp had been a paid musician in two Sicamous area bands called the Esquires and the Rebels. McCartie had been lead vocalist, and Richard Stepp the drummer, with the short-lived Vancouver band, The Questions, in 1965-66 (a group that won the Battle of the Bands in 1965 at the Pacific National Exhibition). The Northwest Company was originally named the Bad Boys. This was named after The Bad Boys Rag Shop, a trendy clothing store in Vancouver back in ’67. However, CFUN deejay Tom Peacock, encouraged the band to come up with another name that wouldn’t strike fear into parents of the groups female fan-base. It was Gowan Jurgensen who suggested to his bandmates the North West Company, based on the Montreal fur trading business founded in 1789. The band agreed, but distinguished themselves from the fur trading company with “Northwest” instead of “North West.”

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#1150: I Turn To You by Spring

Peak Month: February 1972
9 weeks on Vancouver’s CKVN chart
Peak Position #13
Peak Position on Billboard Hot 100 ~ did not chart

After receiving his Bachelor of Music degree in Composition from the University of British Columbia, Terry Frewer did post graduate studies in ethnomusicology, specializing in the music of the First Nations, Japan and India. He also did advanced training in jazz orchestration at the Banff School of Fine Arts. He quickly launched into a highly successful career beginning with playing (along with drummer Ross Turney) as a late addition to the Classics, the CBC Let’s Go house band.* The Classics line-up was fronted by Howie Vickers on vocals, with reed player Claire Lawrence and bass player Glenn Miller. The Classics went on to become The Collectors who then morphed into Chilliwack. Meanwhile, in 1968 Terry Frewer helped found the Vancouver band Spring. This quartet scored a huge local hit in 1971 with “A Country Boy Named Willie”. The song peaked at #2 on CKVN for two weeks. Other primary members of Spring included Bob Buckley (vocals, keyboard, sax, woodwinds), Pete McKinnon (bass), and Kat Hendrikse (drums).

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#1400: Time For Everyone by Northwest Company

Peak Month: September 1968
5 weeks on Vancouver’s CKLG chart
Peak Position #17
Peak Position on Billboard Hot 100 ~ did not chart

The Northwest Company was a band in the Fraser Valley from the town of Haney, about 25 miles east of Vancouver. The bands members were bass player Gowan Jurgensen, lead vocalist Rick McCartie, lead guitar and vocalist Ray O’Toole, rhythm guitar player Vidor Skofteby and on drums and vocals, Richard Stepp who was from Sicamous, British Columbia. Before moving to Vancouver in his late teens, Richard Stepp had been a paid musician in two Sicamous area bands called the Esquires and the Rebels. McCartie had been lead vocalist, and Richard Stepp the drummer, with the short-lived Vancouver band, The Questions, in 1965-66 (a group that won the Battle of the Bands in 1965 at the Pacific National Exhibition). The Northwest Company was originally named the Bad Boys. This was named after The Bad Boys Rag Shop, a trendy clothing store in Vancouver back in ’67. However, CFUN deejay Tom Peacock, encouraged the band to come up with another name that wouldn’t strike fear into parents of the groups female fan-base. It was Gowan Jurgensen who suggested to his bandmates the North West Company, based on the Montreal fur trading business founded in 1789. The band agreed, but distinguished themselves from the fur trading company with “Northwest” instead of “North West.”

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Peak Month: December 1966
9 weeks on Vancouver’s CFUN chart
Peak Position #13
Peak Position on Billboard Hot 100 ~ did not chart
Plus 3 weeks on the All-Canadian Top-Ten
YouTube.com: “Remorse”

Mike Campbell was born in Vancouver and attended Burnaby South Secondary School and graduated in 1960. He became a local teen idol on the west coast. During the 1960’s he made around a hundred television appearances on popular CBC shows Let’s Go, Music Hop and Hits A Poppin. He can be seen appearing in a summer 1968 installment of Hits A Poppin, hosted by Terry David Mullugan, singing “Two Bit Manchild” starting at 1:24 with Terry David’s introduction in the above link. Campbell released “Remorse” in 1966 on Tom Northcott’s recently established New Syndrome label. Like many long-forgotten seven-inchers of the time, though, this one bears the distinctive markings of the fab four, especially those silky harmonies and that taut, emotive songwriting.

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#1161: Every Bit of Love by Ken Tobias

Peak Month: December 1975
10 weeks on CKLG chart
Peak Position #19
Peak Position on Billboard Hot 100 ~ did not chart
YouTube.com: “Every Bit Of Love”
Lyrics: “Every Bit Of Love”

In 1945 Ken Tobias was born in Saint John, New Brunswick. His family’s home was filled with music and young Ken was featured in a number of tap dancing performances. Though he dreamed of becoming a draftsman, out of high school he and his brother Tony formed the folk group The Ramblers. By the mid-60s Tobias lived in Halifax and was a staple in the roster of performers on CBC TV’s afternoon show, Music Hop. This led to his appearing several years later on Singalong Jubilee with other Canadian music stars Anne Murray, Gene MacLellan.

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#1162: Please Forget Her by The Jury

Peak Month: September 1966
9 weeks on CFUN chart
Peak Position #11
Peak Position on Billboard Hot 100 ~ did not chart
Two more weeks on the CFUN All-Canadian Top Ten
YouTube: “Please Forget Her”

The Jury was a band formed in Winnipeg in 1964. According to Garage Rock Radio, The Jury has roots in a Winnipeg group named the Chord U Roys. This was a take-off on a popular men’s pant in the late 50s called the corduroy. (Corduroy goes back to  18th Century in Manchester, England). The Chord U Roys consisted of Terry Kenny on lead guitar, Bruce Walker on vocals and Ray Stockwell on drums. There were a number of changes in the lineup. Once they reformed as The Jury, the bandmates were Terry Kenny, Bruce Walker, Ray Stockwell, Roland Blaquiere on bass guitar and George Johns on rhythm guitar. The Jury got a recording contract with London Records in Canada in 1965. That year they released their first single, “Until You Do.” It was a hit in Winnipeg as a result of their emerging fan base, reaching the Top Ten on CKY.

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#1165: Sugar Mountain/When You Dance I Can Really Love – Neil Young

Peak Month: April 1971
6 weeks on Vancouver’s CKVN chart
Peak Position #7
Peak Position on Billboard Hot 100 ~ #93
YouTube.com: “Sugar Mountain”
Lyrics: “Sugar Mountain”
YouTube.com: “When You Dance I Can Really Love”
Lyrics: “When You Dance I Can Really Love”

Neil Young was born in Toronto in 1945. His family moved to Omemee, Ontario, and he contracted polio in 1951, two years before the polio vaccine was introduced. He learned guitar and dropped out of high school. He played in the Winnipeg based band called The Squires, who toured parts of Manitoba and northern Ontario. They played instrumental covers of Cliff Richard’s backup band, The Shadows. Young moved to California in 1966 where he was a founding member of the Buffalo Springfield. In 1968 he released his self-titled debut studio album. And in 1969 he became the fourth member of Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young. Since then he has released 35 studio albums and more live and compilation albums.

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#1166: Teen Angel by Wednesday

Peak Month: June 1974
7 weeks on Vancouver’s CKLG chart
Peak Position #10
Peak Position on Billboard Hot 100 ~ did not chart
YouTube.com: “Teen Angel” ~ Mark Dinning version
“Teen Angel” lyrics ~ Original Mark Dinning version
YouTube.com: “Teen Angel” ~ Wednesday version
“Teen Angel” lyrics ~ Wednesday version (see below)

“Teen Angel” is a teenage tragedy song written by Jean Dinning and her husband, Red Surrey. It became a hit for Jean’s brother, Mark Dinning, in 1959. “Teen Angel” was released in October 1959. The song was not an instant success, with radio stations in the U.S. banning the song, considering it too sad. Despite the reluctance of radio stations, the song continued to climb the charts. In the last week of 1959, the single jumped from #100 to #50 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. It went on to reach #1 on the Billboard Hot 100 in February 1960. In the UK it climbed to #37 on the UK Singles Chart, despite being  banned from being played by the BBC. At the end of 1960 Billboard ranked it as the #5 song of the year.

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