#1146: It’s For You by Cilla Black
Peak Month: October 1964
6 weeks on Vancouver’s CFUN chart
Peak Position #7
Peak Position on Billboard Hot 100 ~ #79
CFUN Twin Pick September 12, 1964
YouTube: “It’s For You”
Lyrics: “It’s For You”
In 1962 Paul McCartney and John Lennon wrote a song called “Love Of The Loved”. The song became the debut single for Cilla Black in 1963 reaching the UK Top 40 in the fall of that year. Cilla Black recorded a Burt Bacharach-Hal David song, “Anyone Who Had A Heart”, as her follow up single. It reached #1 in the UK for three weeks in February 1964. Her third single release was an English translation of the Umberto Bindi tune, “Il Mio Mondo”. Black’s English language cover was called “You’re My World”. Her fans took that song to #1 in the UK for four weeks starting in late May 1964, and to #2 in Vancouver in July ’64. In 1964 Cilla Black was the “it-girl” of pop music in the UK. The only other female recording acts to have any number one record in the UK in 1964 were Sandie Shaw and The Supremes.
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#1147: Dear Delilah by Grapefruit
Peak Month: March 1968
7 weeks on Vancouver’s CKLG chart
Peak Position #10
Peak Position on Billboard Hot 100 ~ #98
YouTube.com: “Dear Delilah”
Lyrics: “Dear Delilah”
In 1938, Alexander Young was born in Glasgow, Scotland. When he was 25 years old, his family moved to Sydney, Australia. But Alexander, who had developed talents as a singer, songwriter, saxophonist, bassist and guitarist, chose to stay in the UK. He sought out ways to advance his musical career, including becoming a session musician. He adopted the stage name George Alexander, and was a member of the Bobby Patrick Big Six. Young’s family were very musical. One of his younger brothers, George Young, formed a band called The Easybeats who had an international hit in 1966 called “Friday On My Mind”. His much younger brothers, Malcolm (born 1953) and Angus (born 1955) founded the hard rock group AC/DC.
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#1152: Trains And Boats And Planes by Billy J. Kramer and The Dakotas
Peak Month: July 1965
6 weeks on Vancouver’s CFUN chart
Peak Position #8
Peak Position on Billboard Hot 100 ~ #47
YouTube.com: “Trains And Boats And Planes”
Lyrics: Trains And Boats And Planes”
William “Billy” Howard Ashton was born in Bootle, Lancashire, England, in 1943. He sang in a children’s choir and learned to play guitar. Out of high school he apprenticed as an engineer with British Railways, while playing rhythm guitar on the side. He formed a band and only ended up lead vocalist when his guitar was stolen after a gig. Billy was the highest-ranking non-professional artist in a popularity contest sponsored by the local music newspaper Merseybeat. His manager got him connected to Brian Epstein, the manager of The Beatles. Epstein took over Billy’s management, and got his a contract with George Martin, who was producing The Beatles’ recordings.
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#1184: Smashed Blocked by John’s Children
Peak Month: January 1967
8 weeks on CFUN chart
Peak Position #13
Peak Position on Billboard Hot 100 ~ #102
YouTube.com: “Smashed Blocked”
Lyrics: “Smashed Blocked”
Chris Townson was born in 1947 and spent his childhood in foster care homes. The Independent reported in an obituary for Townson in 2007, that “in 1958, he was sent by London County Council to Stoatley Rough School in Haslemere, Surrey, and spent two years there.” Around 1960, Townson met Andy Ellison at a mixed Boarding School near Box Hill, Surrey. Ellison recalls, “this was an outward bound school, that means, only lessons in the morning, and then expedition training in the afternoons and other strange activities to enhance one’s… self. Here it was that we both learnt how to be even naughtier than we already were, and it was also here one night, in our sparse dormitory, that we wrote our first song… on a banjo… titled, “Hey Little Anaconda, Won’t You Play With Me”! After their Boarding School years, Chris and Andy reconnected in Letherhead, 45 minutes southwest of London. Chris was jamming with a band that met in the basement of his art teacher’s home. Geoff McClelland was played guitar and Chris learned to play drums since they didn’t need another guitar player.
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#1207: Give All Your Love To Me by Gerry And The Pacemakers
Peak Month: September 1965
6 weeks on Vancouver’s CFUN chart
Peak Position #11
Peak Position on Billboard Hot 100 ~ #68
YouTube.com: “Give All Your Love To Me”
Lyrics: “Give All Your Love To Me”
In September 1942, Gerry Marsden was born in Liverpool, UK. His interest in music began at an early age. During World War II Marsden recalls standing on top of an air raid shelter singing “Ragtime Cowboy Joe.” Passers by applauded. Marsden formed the group in the late ’50s, calling themselves, The Mars-Bars, a nod to the Mars Bar candy bar and the first syllable of Marsden’s surname. The band consisted of Marsden as frontman and guitarist, Fred Marsden on drums, Les Chadwick on bass, and Arthur Mack on piano. The latter left in ’61 to be replaced by Les McGuire (who also played saxophone). Along with the Beatles, the group now known as Gerry and the Pacemakers, toured clubs in Liverpool and in Hamburg, Germany. In 1961, The Beatles and Gerry & the Pacemakers merged to become the Beatmakers, for a one-off performance in Litherland Town Hall. The line-up comprised Gerry Marsden, George Harrison, Paul McCartney, John Lennon, Les Chadwick, Pete Best, Freddy Marsden and Les Maguire, plus vocalist Karl Terry from the local Liverpool band The Cruisers. In Liverpool in the early 60s they were as popular as the Beatles. Beatles manager, Brian Epstein, signed up the band with EMI/Columbia Records and they released their first single in ’63 called “How Do You Do It?” The song had been offered to the Beatles who also recorded the tune. However, the Beatles didn’t consider the song in keeping with their emerging sound and objected to releasing it as a single. Luckily, Gerry and the Pacemakers version quickly climbed to #1 in the UK in April ’63.
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#1219: My Friend the Sea by Petula Clark
Peak Month: April 1962
9 weeks on Vancouver’s CFUN chart
Peak Position #16
Peak Position on Billboard Hot 100 ~ did not chart
YouTube.com: “My Friend The Sea”
Lyrics: “My Friend The Sea”
Born November 15, with “a voice as sweet as chapel bells,” Petula Clark first broke into the limelight during World War II when as a child she entertained the troops, both on radio and in concert. She is said to have performed in over 200 shows for the forces all over England before the age of nine and by war’s end, Petula Clark–the British “Shirley Temple” who had come to represent childhood itself–was so popular in England she was asked to sing at a national victory celebration at Trafalgar Square. In 1944, Petula made her first movie and has since appeared in over 30 British and American films.
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#1244: Love Song by Elton John
Peak Month: May 1976
6 weeks on Vancouver’s CKLG chart
Peak Position #10
Peak Position on Billboard Hot 100 ~ did not chart
YouTube.com: “Love Song”
Lyrics: “Love Song”
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. Continue reading →
#1252: Blue Turns to Grey by Cliff Richard and the Shadows
Peak Month: May 1966
6 weeks on Vancouver’s CFUN chart
Peak Position #8
Peak Position on Billboard Hot 100 ~ did not chart
YouTube.com: “Blue Turns To Grey”
Lyrics: “Blue Turns To Grey”
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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#1272: Dead End Street by The Kinks
Peak Month: December 1966
5 weeks on Vancouver’s CKLG chart
Peak Position #8
Peak Position on Billboard Hot 100 #73
YouTube.com: “Dead End Street”
Lyrics: “Dead End Street”
The Kinks were an English rock band formed in 1963 in Muswell Hill, North London, by brothers Ray and Dave Davies and Pete Quaife. Categorized in the United States as a British Invasion band, the Kinks are recognized as one of the most important and influential rock groups of the era. The Kinks first came to prominence in 1964 with their third single, “You Really Got Me”, written by Ray Davies. It became an international hit peaking at #1 in the UK, #7 on the Billboard Hot 100 and #5 in Vancouver on CKLG. Extremely influential on the American garage rock scene, You Really Got Me has been described as “a blueprint song in the hard rock and heavy metal arsenal. In 1965 the Kinks toured internationally headlining with other groups including Manfred Mann, The Honeycombs and The Yardbirds.
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#1282: I Don’t Wanna Love You by Cliff Richard
Peak Month: January 1965
7 weeks on Vancouver’s CFUN chart
Peak Position #14
Peak Position on Billboard Hot 100 ~ did not chart
YouTube.com: “I Don’t Wanna Love You”
Lyrics: “I Don’t Wanna Love You”
Between 1958 and 2008 Cliff Richard charted 69 singles into the UK Top Ten including 14 #1 hits. In contrast, he managed to only chart three songs into the Top Ten on the Billboard Hot 100. Vancouver was a hybrid of the two markets and had 21 singles reach the Top Ten including six number one hits. 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.
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