#15: A Hundred Pounds Of Clay by Craig Douglas
City: Calgary, Alberta
Radio Station: CFAC
Peak Month: June 1961
Peak Position in Calgary ~ #1
Peak position in Vancouver ~ did not chart
Peak Position on Billboard Hot 100 ~ did not chart
YouTube.com: “A Hundred Pounds Of Clay”
Lyrics: “A Hundred Pounds Of Clay”
Terrence Perkins was born in the Isle of Wight in 1941. He helped out on his parents farm. In his mid-teens Terry became a milkman and got a reputation as the singing milkman. He got invited to a cinema to sing, and was asked what song he was singing while delivering milk. In 1957 he won a talent contest on the Isle of Wight singing the Pat Boone hit, “Love Letters In The Sand”. He came to attention of Decca Records manager Bunny Lewis and signed with the label in 1958. He was given the stage name Craig Douglas. It seemed there were already a number of Terry’s in the recording business and released his first single that year. Among his first single releases was a cover of the Jimmie Rodgers hit “Are You Sincere?” In early 1959, he covered the Fleetwoods’ “Come Softly To Me”. Later that year his cover of the Dion & the Belmont tune “A Teenager In Love”, landed Douglas in the #13 spot on the UK Singles chart. But it was his cover of the Sam Cooke song “Only Sixteen” that found him on top of the UK pop charts for four weeks in September 1959. In 1959, Douglas was voted ‘Best New Singer’ in 1959 in the British music magazine, New Music Express (NME).
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#19: Whenever You Need Somebody by Rick Astley
City: Calgary, Alberta
Radio Station: CFCN
Peak Month: April 1988
Peak Position in Calgary ~ #1
Peak position in Vancouver ~ did not chart
Peak Position on Billboard Hot 100 ~ did not chart
YouTube.com: “Whenever You Need Somebody”
Lyrics: “Whenever You Need Somebody”
Richard Paul Astley was born in 1966 in Newton-le-Willows, a market town in Merseyside, England. He began to sing in a church choir at the age of ten. After graduating from school, he formed a band called FBI who played covers of the Beatles and the Shadows. Astley was the band’s drummer, but became the lead vocalist. He was noticed by producer Pete Waterman, and signed to a record contract. His first release was in 1987 titled “When You Gonna”, with Lisa Fabien. It made the Top 20 in Belgium and the Netherlands. Astley released his first solo single later that year titled “Never Gonna Give You Up”. It topped the pop charts in 16 nations around the world from Australia to Zimbabwe.
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#44: When I’m Sixty-Four by the Beatles
City: Calgary, Alberta
Radio Station: CKXL
Peak Month: July 1967
Peak Position in Calgary ~ #5
Peak position in Vancouver ~ did not chart
Peak Position on Billboard Hot 100 ~ did not chart
YouTube.com: “When I’m Sixty-Four”
Lyrics: “When I’m Sixty-Four”
Paul McCartney was born in Liverpool in 1942. He attended the Liverpool Institute High School for Boys and met fellow classmates George Harrison on a school bus. When Paul was 14 his mom died from a blockage in one of her blood vessels. In his early teens McCartney learned to play trumpet, guitar and piano. He was left-handed and restrung the strings to make it work. In 1957, Paul met John Lennon and in October he was invited to join John’s skiffle band, The Quarrymen, which Lennon had founded in 1956. After Paul joined the group his suggested that his friend, George Harrison, join the group. Harrison became one of the Quarrymen in early 1958, though he was still only 14. Other original members of the Quarrymen, Len Garry, Rod Davis, Colin Hanton, Eric Griffiths and Pete Shotton left the band when their set changed from skiffle to rock ‘n roll. John Duff Lowe, a friend of Paul’s from the Liverpool Institute, who had joined the Quarrymen in early 1958 left the band at the end of school. This left Lennon, McCartney and Harrison as remaining trio. On July 15, 1958, John Lennon’s mother died in an automobile accident.
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#47: Lovely Rita by the Beatles
City: Calgary, Alberta
Radio Station: CKXL
Peak Month: June 1967
Peak Position in Calgary ~ #9
Peak position in Vancouver ~ did not chart
Peak Position on Billboard Hot 100 ~ did not chart
YouTube.com: “Lovely Rita”
Lyrics: “Lovely Rita”
Paul McCartney was born in Liverpool in 1942. He attended the Liverpool Institute High School for Boys and met fellow classmates George Harrison on a school bus. When Paul was 14 his mom died from a blockage in one of her blood vessels. In his early teens McCartney learned to play trumpet, guitar and piano. He was left-handed and restrung the strings to make it work. In 1957, Paul met John Lennon and in October he was invited to join John’s skiffle band, The Quarrymen, which Lennon had founded in 1956. After Paul joined the group his suggested that his friend, George Harrison, join the group. Harrison became one of the Quarrymen in early 1958, though he was still only 14. Other original members of the Quarrymen, Len Garry, Rod Davis, Colin Hanton, Eric Griffiths and Pete Shotton left the band when their set changed from skiffle to rock ‘n roll. John Duff Lowe, a friend of Paul’s from the Liverpool Institute, who had joined the Quarrymen in early 1958 left the band at the end of school. This left Lennon, McCartney and Harrison as remaining trio. On July 15, 1958, John Lennon’s mother died in an automobile accident.
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#2: This Wheel’s On Fire by Julie Driscoll, Brian Auger and the Trinity
City: Belleville, Ontario
Radio Station: CJBQ
Peak Month: August 1968
Peak Position in Belleville ~ #7
Peak position in Vancouver ~ did not chart
Peak Position on Billboard Hot 100 ~ #106
YouTube.com: “This Wheel’s On Fire”
Lyrics: “This Wheel’s On Fire”
Julie Driscoll was born in 1947 in London. She became a professional musician in her teens, singing in nightclubs with her dad’s band. She recorded her first single on Columbia Records, titled “Take Me By The Hand”, when she was fifteen. Hearing that maker-shaker Giorgio Gomelsky was looking for a ‘girl’ singer to record, she approached him at his club in Richmond, The Crawdaddy. While waiting for a suitable song for her, Gomelsky and organist Brian Auger started putting together a soul revue that would be called Steampacket. Julie was chosen as one of the frontline singers. In 1965, at the age of seventeen, she joined fellow vocalists Long John Baldry and Rod Stewart, Auger, bassist Rick Brown and drummer Mickey Waller. Julie Driscoll & the Brian Auger Trinity emerged out of Steampacket around 1966, when Baldry and Stewart left to pursue solo careers. The new group continued the revue format to considerable live success performing.
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#8: All My Loving/This Boy by the Beatles
A-side: “All My Loving”
Peak Month: March 1964
Peak Position #1
14 weeks on Vancouver’s CFUN chart
Peak Position on Billboard Hot 100 ~ #45
YouTube.com: “All My Loving”
Lyrics: “All My Loving”
B-side: “This Boy”
Peak Month: March 1964
Peak Position #1
5 weeks on Vancouver’s CFUN chart
Peak Position on Billboard Hot 100 ~ did not chart
YouTube.com: “This Boy”
Lyrics: “This Boy”
Paul McCartney was born in Liverpool in 1942. He attended the Liverpool Institute High School for Boys and met fellow classmates George Harrison on a school bus. When Paul was 14 his mom died from a blockage in one of her blood vessels. In his early teens McCartney learned to play trumpet, guitar and piano. He was left-handed and restrung the strings to make it work. In 1957, Paul met John Lennon and in October he was invited to join John’s skiffle band, The Quarrymen, which Lennon had founded in 1956. After Paul joined the group his suggested that his friend, George Harrison, join the group. Harrison became one of the Quarrymen in early 1958, though he was still only 14. Other original members of the Quarrymen, Len Garry, Rod Davis, Colin Hanton, Eric Griffiths and Pete Shotton left the band when their set changed from skiffle to rock ‘n roll. John Duff Lowe, a friend of Paul’s from the Liverpool Institute, who had joined the Quarrymen in early 1958 left the band at the end of school. This left Lennon, McCartney and Harrison as remaining trio. On July 15, 1958, John Lennon’s mother died in an automobile accident.
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#12: Modern Love by David Bowie
Peak Month: November 1983
17 weeks on Vancouver’s CKLG chart
Peak Position #1
2 weeks Playlist Hit Bound
Peak Position on Billboard Hot 100 ~ #14
YouTube.com: “Modern Love”
Lyrics: “Modern Love”
David Robert Jones was born in 1947 in Brixton, a suburb in the southern part of London, UK. From an early age he demonstrated talent as a singer and especially through dance and movement. When he was nine years old his father brought home some 45’s by Elvis Presley, Frankie Lymon & The Teenagers, Fats Domino and others. When David Jones heard Little Richard sing “Tutti Frutti” he later said in an interview that he “heard God.” Growing up, David learned to play the recorder, ukulele, piano and baritone saxophone. In 1962, at the age of 15 he formed a band named the Konrads. In 1964 he formed a band named David Jones and the King Bees. They appeared on the variety show Ready Steady Go! to sing their debut single, “Liza Jane”. Jones briefly moved on to join the Mannish Boys before being the front man for Davy Jones and The Lower Third. They released a single in 1965 titled “You’ve Got A Habit Of Leaving”. Due to the growing popularity of another English recording artist named Davy Jones (who went on to become lead singer for The Monkees), David Robert Jones decided to change his professional name to David Bowie. He chose his surname after a 19th Century American pioneer named James Bowie who invented the Bowie knife.
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#24: Lucky Lips by Cliff Richard
Peak Month: August 1963
Peak Position #1
14 weeks on Vancouver’s CFUN chart
Peak Position on Billboard Hot 100 ~ #62
YouTube.com: “Lucky Lips”
Lyrics: “Lucky Lips”
Cliff Richard was born Harry Roger Webb on October 14, 1940, in the city of Lucknow in Uttar Pradesh, India. In 1940 Lucknow was part of the British Raj, as India was not yet an independent country. Webb’s father worked on as a catering manager for the Indian Railways. His mother raised Harry and his three sisters. In 1948, when India had become independent, the Webb family took a boat to Essex, England, and began a new chapter. At the age of 16 Harry Webb was given a guitar by his father. Harry then formed a vocal group called the Quintones. Webb was interested in skiffle music, a type of jug band music, popularized by “The King of Skiffle,” Scottish singer Lonnie Donegan who had an international hit in 1955 called “Rock Island Line”.
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#27: Video Killed The Radio Star by the Buggles
Peak Month: January 1980
17 weeks on Vancouver’s CKLG chart
Peak Position #2
Peak Position on Billboard Hot 100 ~ #31
YouTube.com: “Video Killed The Radio Star”
Lyrics: “Video Killed The Radio Star”
Trevor Charles Horn was born in the outskirts of the city of Sunderland, in the town of Hetton-le-Hole, in the county of Tyne and Wear in northeast England. At age eight he learned to play the double bass. Subsequently, he learned to play guitar and sight-read and play the recorder. At times he played in his fathers’ band the Joe Clarke Big Band. At the age of 14 Trevor was in a band called the Outer Limits, named after the 1963 sci-fi television show The Outer Limits. After public school, he got work in a rubber factory, and later as a progress chaser in a plastic bag factory. In the latter job he was fired after three months. He soon got work in a band that played at a Top Rank Ballroom. He also performed songs he’d composed on guitar on BBC Radio Leicester. When he was twenty-one, Trevor Horn moved to London and playing in a band hired to re-record top 20 songs for BBC radio to fit the needle time restrictions at the time. Next, Horn got work for a year with Ray McVay’s big band. This included performances at the world ballroom dancing championship and the television show Come Dancing. As well, he was hired as a session musician for rock groups and to record advertising jingles.
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#31: Pinball Wizard by Elton John
Peak Month: May 1975
12 weeks on Vancouver’s CKLG chart
Peak Position #1
Peak Position on Billboard Hot 100 ~ did not chart
YouTube.com: “Pinball Wizard”
Lyrics: “Pinball Wizard”
Reginald Kenneth Dwight was born in 1947. When he was three years old he astounded his family when he was able to play The Skater’s Waltz by Émile Waldteufel by ear at the piano. When he was eleven years old he won a scholarship as a Junior Exhibitor at the Royal Academy of Music. Between the ages of 11 and 15 he attended the Academy on Saturday mornings. In 1962, by the age of 15, he was performing with his group, The Corvettes, at the Northwood Hills Hotel (now the Northwood Hills Public House) in a northern borough of London. While he was playing with a band called Bluesology in the mid-60s he adopted the stage name Elton John. His stage name, which became his legal name in 1967, was taken from Bluesology saxophonist Elton Dean, and their lead singer, Long John Baldry.
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