#37: Djobi Djoba by the Gypsy Kings

City: Montreal, PQ
Radio Station: CKOI
Peak Month: December 1988
Peak Position in Montreal ~ #3
Peak position in Vancouver ~ did not chart
Peak Position on Billboard Hot 100 ~ did not chart
Peak Position on French (FR) Singles Chart ~ #3
Peak Position on Dutch Singles chart ~ #12
YouTube: “Djobi Djoba”
Lyrics: “Djobi Djoba”

The Gipsy Kings (gipsy no “y” ) were formed in 1979, and originally called Los Reyes. It consisted of Nicolas Reyes on lead vocals, Tonino Baliardo on lead guitar, Chico Bouchikhi on guitar, André Reyes on rhythm guitar and backing vocals, Pablo Reyes on guitar and backing vocals, Max Baliardo on rhythm guitar, and Diego Baliardo on rhythm guitar and handclaps. Prior to the formation of the Gipsy Kings, Nicolas, André, Pablo and Patchaï Reyes played in Los Reyes with their father José Reyes. Tonino, Max and Diego Balairdo are sons of flamenco guitarist Ricardo Baliardo who was known as Manitas de Plata. Ricardo Baliardo was born in 1921 in a gypsy caravan in southern France. Chico Bouchikhi was born in 1954 in Arles, France, to a father who came from Morocco. Bouchikhi married a daughter of José Reyes named Marthe Reyes.

Continue reading →

#15: Born To Be Alive by Patrick Hernandez

Peak Month: August 1979
12 weeks on CKLG’s Vancouver Chart
Peak Position ~ #1
Peak Position on Billboard Hot 100 ~ #16
Billboard Year-End 1979 Top 100 ~ #70
YouTube: “Born To Be Alive”
Lyrics: “Born To Be Alive”

Patrick Pierre Hernandez was born in the northern Paris suburb of Le Blanc-Mesnil, within Seine-Saint-Denis in 1949. By the 1960s Patrick Hernandez had developed a keen interest in music. By the 70s he was touring with some French In the early ’70s Patrick Hernandez became a session musician. He joined the pop-rock band Paris Palace Hôtel. Later in the mid-70s Hernandez met arranger, guitarist and vocalist Hervé Tholance and the pair began to collaborate. They backed/supported the careers of French folk-country guitarist/singer Francis Cabrel who released his first studio album in 1977; And Parisian pop-rock singer Laurent Voulzy who released his first album in 1979. The pair later helped launch the Toulouse-based French group Gold, who went on to have five hit singles land in the Top Ten France’s pop charts between 1984 and 1987. Meanwhile, Hernandez released his first single in 1978 in France titled “I Give You Rendez-Vous”.
Continue reading →