#100: Any Other Way by Jackie Shane
City: Toronto, ON
Radio Station: CHUM
Peak Month: April 1963
Peak Position in Toronto ~ #2
Peak Position in Vancouver ~ did not chart
Peak Position on Billboard Hot 100 ~ did not chart
YouTube: “Any Other Way”
Lyrics: “Any Other Way”
Jackie Shane was born in 1940 in Nashville, Tennessee. Her grandmother’s singing around the house had an influence on Shane’s vocal development. Further encouragement from her grandmother allowed her to display her vocal talents as she progressed in age. By the age of five she was dressing as a girl, and by thirteen she told her mother she was a woman in a man’s body. Jackie Shane began her music career as a young teen, demonstrating vocal and rhythmic ability. This was noticed by Louis Lavelle, who recruited Shane and Les Monday to form a musical trio. They performed at a variety of small gigs, including at local fairgrounds and on radio stations. Initially a drummer as well as a vocalist, Shane would play drums standing up while singing. Shane’s drumming talent led to studio session work as a drummer, including on Lillian Offitt’s “Miss You So” in the summer of 1957. Working in Nashville regularly as a stage performer during the late 1950s, Shane also worked in the studio as a drummer on tracks by Larry Williams, Big Maybelle, Gatemouth Brown, Little Willie John, Joe Tex, and other performers.
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#145: Sex…I’m A… by Berlin
City: Toronto, ON
Radio Station: CHUM
Peak Month: May 1983
Peak Position in Toronto ~ #5
Peak Position in Vancouver ~ did not chart
Peak Position on Billboard Hot 100 ~ #62
YouTube: “Sex…I’m A…”
Lyrics: “Sex…I’m A…”
The genesis of Berlin was the rock band the Toys, formed in 1976 in Orange County, California, by bass guitarist John Crawford, drummer Dan Van Patten, guitar player Chris Ruiz-Velasco, and vocalist Tyson A. Cobb. After a few shows, the band changed its name to Berlin and stayed together for about three years but ultimately regrouped, discharging Cobb as lead singer. After a brief replacement, Terri Nunn took over as lead vocalist after answering an ad through the Musicians Contact Service in Hollywood in 1979. The band’s first single, “A Matter of Time”, was released in 1979 on Renegade Records and they appeared on television for the first time on the short-lived Hollywood Heartbeat, hosted by former Fleetwood Mac guitarist Bob Welch. Terri Nunn left Berlin later that year to pursue an acting career, and was replaced by Virginia Macolino.
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#12: I Will Follow You by Georgia Gibbs
City: Montreal, PQ
Radio Station: CJAD
Peak Month: April-May 1963
Peak Position in Montreal ~ #1
Peak position in Vancouver ~ did not chart
Peak Position on Billboard Hot 100 ~ did not chart
YouTube: “I Will Follow You”
Lyrics: “I Will Follow You”
Georgia Gibbs was a traditional pop singer who sang with the Artie Shaw, Tommy Dorsey and other big bands in the 40s. She went on to have numerous hits prior to the arrival of Elvis Presley in 1956, who with other rock n’ rollers swept many traditional pop singers like Georgia Gibbs off the pop charts. Gibbs was born in 1919 as Frieda Lipschitz in a Russian-Jewish immigrant home in Worcester, Massachusetts. Her father died shortly after she was born and as an infant lived in an orphanage until she was seven years old. Before she left the orphanage her musical talents were in bloom and she got lead roles each year in the orphanage’s variety show. Back at home when her mother got work as a midwife, young Frieda was often left on her own for weeks at a time with only a Philco radio for company.
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#24: You Are Everything by Stylistics
City: Montreal, PQ
Radio Station: CKVL
Peak Month: February 1972
Peak Position in Montreal ~ #1
Peak position in Vancouver ~ #9
Peak Position on Billboard Hot 100 ~ #9
YouTube: “You Are Everything”
Lyrics: “You Are Everything”
The Stylistics were created from two Philadelphia groups, the Percussions and the Monarchs. The two bands attended the same high school. The Stylistics was first conceived when Airrion Love’s English teacher, Beverly Hamilton, suggested the two bands merge. Russell Thompkins Jr., James Smith, and Airrion Love came from the Monarchs. James Dunn and Herb Murrell were in the Percussions. The name “the Stylistics” came from their guitar player Robert Douglas. Three original members, Airrion Love, James Dunn, and Russell Thompkins Jr., were born in Philadelphia. Herb Murrell was born in Lane, South Carolina and James Smith was born in New York City, but moved to Philadelphia after his father’s death in 1962. Dunn, Love, Murrell, Smith and Thompkins Jr. were the classic Stylistics lineup from 1968 to 1980. During this time the group charted five singles into the Top Ten on the Billboard Hot 100, a dozen on the Billboard Best Selling Soul Singles/Hot Black Singles chart, and ten singles in the UK Pop Singles Top Ten.
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#115: Riders On The Storm by Doors
City: Toronto, ON
Radio Station: CHUM
Peak Month: August 1971
Peak Position in Toronto ~ #1
Peak Position in Vancouver ~ #7
Peak Position on Billboard Hot 100 ~ #14
Peak Position on Dutch Singles chart ~ #7
Peak Position on Irish Singles chart ~ #12
YouTube: “Riders On The Storm”
Lyrics: “Riders On The Storm”
The Doors were a psychedelic rock band from Los Angeles featuring Jim Morrison on vocals, Robbie Kreiger on guitar, Ray Manzarek on keyboards and drummer John Densmore. In 1965 Morrison and Manzarek were UCLA film students. They met each other for the first time on Venice Beach. Morrison had graduated and was living a vagabond life, sleeping on the beach, taking drugs and writing poetry. Morrison told Manzarek, “I was taking notes at a fantastic rock ‘n’ roll concert going on in my head.” Then he sang “Moonlight Drive” to Manzarek. Discovering their addition interest in music, the two decided to form a band. Jim Morrison was born in Melbourne (FL) in 1943. He was the oldest child and his father was a U.S. Naval officer. Morrison suggested the name of the band. It came from the novel by Aldous Huxley’s The Doors of Perception. Huxley’s novel, in turn, drew inspiration from poet William Blake’s “The Marriage of Heaven and Hell.” In that poem Blake writes: “If the doors of perception were cleansed, everything would appear to man as it is, infinite.” The Doors signed a record contract with Columbia Records in the winter of 1965-66.
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#161: Once In A Lifetime by the Talking Heads
City: Toronto, ON
Radio Station: CHUM
Peak Month: February 1981
Peak Position in Toronto ~ #7
Peak Position in Vancouver ~ airplay – no chart position
Peak Position on Billboard Hot 100 ~ #103
YouTube: “Once In A Lifetime”
Lyrics: “Once In A Lifetime”
The Talking Heads are a band formed in 1975 in New York City. David Byrne was the lead vocalist and guitarist. He was born in Dumbarton, Scotland, in 1952. When he was eight years old his family moved to Maryland where his father worked for Westinghouse. He was in a band in high school. By 1973, in Providence, Rhode Island, he was in a band called the Artistics with drummer Chris Frantz. They both subsequently moved to New York City in 1974. Franz was born in 1951 in Fort Campbell, Kentucky. In 1973, he was dating Tina Weymouth and after they moved to New York City she was invited in 1975 to join the Talking Heads. Weymouth was born in 1950 in Coronado, California. At age 14 she taught herself to play bass guitar. She met David Byrne and Chris Frantz at the Rhode Island School of Design. In 1977, Jerry Harrison joined the Talking Heads. He was born in 1949 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. In 1971 he formed the Modern Lovers with Jonathan Richman. When Richman went solo in 1974, Jerry Harrison returned to his alma mater, Harvard, to get his Master’s degree in architecture.
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#165: Johnny Are You Queer? by Josie Cotton
City: Toronto, ON
Radio Station: CHUM
Peak Month: February-March 1982
Peak Position in Toronto ~ #4
Peak Position in Vancouver ~ did not chart
Peak Position on Billboard Hot 100 ~ did not chart
YouTube: “Johnny Are You Queer?”
Lyrics: “Johnny Are You Queer?”
Josie Jones was born in Dallas, Texas, in 1956. In the late 70s, Josie headed west from Texas and drove to Los Angeles. She had dreams of making it as a pop singer. She was given the song “Johnny Are You Queer?” after it had been a demo recorded by the Go-Gos. Taking the stage name Josie Cotton, she released her debut album Convertible Music in 1982. The album had a sixties girl group sound which included a cover of the 1963 Top Ten hit by The Exciters titled “Tell Him”.
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#52: Freak-A-Zoid by Midnight Star
City: Montreal, PQ
Radio Station: CKGM
Peak Month: January 1984
Peak Position in Montreal ~ #1
Peak position in Vancouver ~ did not chart
Peak Position on Billboard Hot 100 ~ #66
YouTube: “Freak-A-Zoid”
Lyrics: “Freak-A-Zoid”
Midnight Star was formed by Reggie Calloway in 1976. Calloway was born in Cheyenne, Wyoming, in 1955. After his parents divorced in 1963, Reggie Calloway worked from 1964 to 1970 at his Larson’s Flower Barn and Ice Cream Parlor which was operated by his mother in Cincinnati, Ohio. A natural athlete, Reggie also played trumpet. In 1975 Reggie and brothers Vincent and Gregory, along with friends John Jones and Ruben Jordan, formed the jazz-fusion group SunChild. They released their first single on their own label, Starbound Records. During the summer of 1975, SunChild served as the back-up band for Sonny Stitt. Subsequently, Midnight Star consisted of Reggie Calloway as frontman, Belinda Lipscomb on lead vocals, Melvin Gentry on guitar and vocals, Kenneth Gant on bass guitar and vocals, Bill Simmons on saxophone and keyboards, Bo Watson on keyboards and vocals, and Jeff Cooper on guitar and keyboards, were all students at Kentucky State University. They later added non-KSU students Vincent Calloway (Reggie’s younger brother) on trombone, and Bobby Lovelace on drums. Midnight Star was a nine-piece ensemble.
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#163: It Will Stand by the Showmen
City: Windsor, ON
Radio Station: CKLW
Peak Month: May 1964
Peak Position in Windsor ~ #6
Peak Position in Vancouver ~ #28
Peak Position on Billboard Hot 100 ~ #80 (1964) | #61 (1961)
YouTube: “It Will Stand”
Lyrics: “It Will Stand”
The Showmen were a group formed by General Norman Johnson. He was born in 1941, in Norfolk, Virginia. “General” was his first name, not a military name, stage name or nickname. He began singing in choirs at the age of six. In 1953, Johnson formed The Humdingers. They were recorded by Atlantic Records in 1956, but their four singles were not released. In 1961, the group changed its name to The Showmen. They moved to New Orleans from Norfolk (VA) and were signed to Minit Records and Allen Toussaint produced fifteen of their singles. General Norman Johnson was the lead singer for The Showmen. He was backed up by bass singer Milton “Smokes” Wells, second tenor Dorsey “Chops” Knight, his first tenor brother Gene “Cheater” Knight, and Leslie “Fat Boy” Felton on baritone. Wells, Dorsey and Gene Knight, and Leslie Felton all met General Norman Johnson at the same high school in Norfolk, Virginia. They all lived in the same neighborhood.
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#168: Reet Petite by Jackie Wilson
City: Windsor, ON
Radio Station: CKLW
Peak Month: October 1957
Peak Position in Windsor ~ #6
Peak Position in Vancouver ~ #22
Peak Position on Billboard Hot 100 ~ #62
Peak Position on UK Singles chart ~ #6 (1957) & #1 (1986)
Peak Position on Irish Singles chart (1986) ~ #1
Peak Position on Dutch Singles chart (1987) ~ #1
Peak Position on Swiss Singles chart (1987) ~ #3
Peak Position on Austrian Singles chart (1987) ~ #3
Peak Position on West German Singles chart (1987) #4
Peak Position on New Zealand Singles chart (1987) ~ #4
Peak Position on Norwegian Singles chart (1987) ~ #5
YouTube: “Reet Petite”
Lyrics: “Reet Petite”
Jackie Wilson was born in suburban Detroit in 1934. Wilson began singing as a youth, accompanying his mother, an experienced church-choir singer. In his early teens, Wilson joined the Ever Ready Gospel Singers. Wilson dropped out of high school at age 15, having been sentenced twice to detention in the Lansing Corrections system for juveniles. During his second stint in detention, Wilson learned to box and began competing in the Detroit amateur circuit at age 16. His record in the Golden Gloves was 2–8. After his mother forced him to quit boxing, Wilson got his girlfriend, Freda Hood, pregnant, and her father forced him to marry her. Wilson became a father at age 17.Continue reading →
