#14: Sometime by Gene Thomas
City: Halifax, NS
Radio Station: CHNS
Peak Month: January 1962
Peak Position in Halifax ~ #2
Peak position in Vancouver ~ #16
Peak Position on Billboard Hot 100 ~ #53
YouTube: “Sometime”
Lyrics: “Sometime”
Gene Thomasson was born in Palestine, Texas, in 1937. He started to play guitar at the age of 12. He told author Vicki Welch Ayo, “I played Elks, Moose Lodges, Lion’s (all the animal kingdom clubs) National Guard Armories, etc; every place with four walls and electricity for plugging in the amps.” In the spring of 1961 he released a song credited to Gene Thomas titled “Sometime” and it didn’t get much attention. He released a followup titled “Lamp Of Love” which reached #15 in Houston and charted in San Antonio (TX). He re-released “Sometime” on the United Artists label and this time he got proper promotion.
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#33: My Heart Stood Still by Bernadette Carroll
City: Halifax, NS
Radio Station: CHNS
Peak Month: December 1962
Peak Position in Halifax ~ #5
Peak position in Vancouver ~ did not chart
Peak Position on Billboard Hot 100 ~ did not chart
YouTube: “My Heart Stood Still”
Lyrics: “My Heart Stood Still”
Bernadette Dalia was born in 1944 in Elizabeth, New Jersey. Bernadette’s first performance was at the age of seven, given a role in an elementary school play. Soon after her family moved to Linden, New Jersey, she became a bit of a reckless teenager. She’d sneak out late at night to go to local recording studios with her friends. In 1959, she joined with sisters Barbara Allbut, Jiggs Allbut and, Lynda Malzone to form a group called The Starlets. Their first recording, on the Astro label, was “PS I Love You.” The single was a Top 30 hit on WMCA in New York City in 1960. Bernadette graduated from Linden High School in in Linden, New Jersey, in 1962. After The Starlets disbanded, Bernadette made her first solo recording for the Julia label, “My Heart Stood Still.”
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#2: Baby You Come Rolling Cross My Mind by the Peppermint Trolley Company
City: Guelph, ON
Radio Station: CJOY
Peak Month: July 1968
Peak Position in Guelph #4
Peak position in Vancouver ~ #20
Peak Position on Billboard Hot 100 ~ #59
YouTube: “Baby You Come Rolling Cross My Mind”
Lyrics: “Baby You Come Rolling Cross My Mind”
In 1966, the Peppermint Trolley Company was a group formed in Redlands, California. There was a band named the Mark V which had been together since 1962. It consisted of members Danny Faragher, Jimmy Faragher, Steve Hauser, Dave Kelliher, Brad Madson and Dick Owens. They teamed with producer Dan Dalton, who urged the band to change its name. The Peppermint Trolley Company’s name was proposed by Jimmy Faragher and chosen by a committee of the Mark V band members. The Peppermint Trolley Company’s debut single was “Lollipop Train”. The song was co-written by P.F. Sloan and Steve Bari. It was another song passing on advice to those lacking insight into interpersonal and societal issues. “Lollipop Train” was a Top 20 hit in Chico (CA) in October 1966. When the group called it quits in February of 1967, Danny and Jimmy, along with Dalton, decided to continue recording under the “Trolley” name. The PTC would now be a duo consisting of Danny and Jimmy Faragher. Danny played trombone, marxophone, and melodica.
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#2: Ain’t No Mountain High Enough by Marvin Gaye and Tammi Terrell
City: Grande Prairie, AB
Radio Station: CFGP
Peak Month: July 1967
Peak Position in Grande Prairie #2
Peak position in Vancouver ~ #14
Peak Position on Billboard Hot 100 ~ #19
YouTube: “Ain’t No Mountain High Enough”
Lyrics: “Ain’t No Mountain High Enough”
Marvin Pentz Gay Jr. was born in 1939 in Washington D.C. His father was a Pentecostal church minister who never held down a job for more than three years in a row. Marvin’s childhood consisted of “brutal whippings”, since Gay Sr. would strike him for any shortcoming, including putting his hairbrush in the wrong place or coming home from school a minute late. Marvin later stated, “It wasn’t simply that my father beat me, though that was bad enough. By the time I was twelve, there wasn’t an inch on my body that hadn’t been bruised and beaten by him.” He also said that “living with Father was like living with a king, an all-cruel, changeable, cruel and all-powerful king”. He later recalled, “if it wasn’t for Mother, who was always there to console me and praise me for my singing, I think I would have been one of those child suicides you read about in the papers.”
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#3: I Can Make It With You by the Pozo-Seco Singers
City: Grande Prairie, AB
Radio Station: CFGP
Peak Month: December 1966
Peak Position in Grande Prairie #3
Peak position in Vancouver ~ did not chart
Peak Position on Billboard Hot 100 ~ #32
YouTube: “I Can Make It With You”
Lyrics: “I Can Make It With You”
In 1964, baritone singer Don Williams and tenor Lofton Kline were a Corpus Christi singing duo that went by the name of The Strangers Two. They heard 17-year-old Ray High School student, Susan Taylor, performing solo at the Del Mar Hootenannies. Lofton recalls, “Don was married and had a little one to support, and was working at Pittsburgh Plate Glass. I was going to Del Mar College in Corpus. The college had a hootenanny scheduled and Don and I were asked to entertain.” After they met Susan Taylor, as Lofton tells it, ““We asked her to come over and practice with us the following week. She did…and the rest is ‘history.’” Susan’s alto voice blended perfectly with Don’s baritone and Lofton’s tenor.
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#3: Heart Of The Night by Poco
City: Fredericton, NB
Radio Station: CIHI
Peak Month: July 1979
Peak Position in Fredericton: #2
Peak position in Vancouver ~ did not chart
Peak Position on Billboard Hot 100 ~ #20
YouTube: “Heart Of The Night”
Lyrics: “Heart Of The Night”
Richard Furay was born in 1944 in Yellow Springs, Ohio. He got his first guitar when he was eight years old. He met Stephen Stills in the summer of 1963, and the pair formed the Au GoGo Singers. In 1965, they joined the Buffalo Springfield. Furay was part of the trend-setting sound of the Buffalo Springfield, with “For What It’s Worth” and other classics. The Buffalo Springfield began splintering in 1968. When Bruce Palmer left the band, he was replaced by Jim Messina who was in the recording studio for the bands’ last album Last Time Around. Messina and Furay formed Poco later that year. Messina began playing guitar at the age of five. He left Poco after the first two albums and became part of the duo of Loggins and Messina.
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#8: Where Were You When I Was Falling In Love by Lobo
City: Fredericton, NB
Radio Station: CIHI
Peak Month: October 1979
Peak Position in Fredericton #2
Peak position in Vancouver ~ did not chart
Peak Position on Billboard Hot 100 ~ #23
YouTube: “Where Were You When I Was Falling In Love”
Lyrics: “Where Were You When I Was Falling In Love”
Roland Kent LaVoie was born in Tallahassee, Florida, in 1943. He began his musical career in 1961 as a member of a local band, The Rumours. The band included Gram Parsons and Jim Stafford, as well as drummer Jon Corneal, who later joined Parsons’s International Submarine Band. In 1964, while attending the University of South Florida, LaVoie joined a band called the Sugar Beats and met producer Phil Gernard. He recorded a regional hit for the band, a cover of Johnny River’s song, “What Am I Doing Here?” During the 1960s, LaVoie performed with many other bands, including US Male, The Uglies, and Me and the Other Guys. By 1969, LaVoie released his first solo recording titled “Happy Days in New York City”.
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#14: It’s A Happening World by the Tokens
City: Fredericton, NB
Radio Station: CFNB
Peak Month: August 1967
Peak Position in Fredericton #2
Peak position in Vancouver ~ did not chart
Peak Position on Billboard Hot 100 ~ #69
YouTube: “It’s A Happening World”
Lyrics: “It’s A Happening World”
In 1955 a doo-wop group called The Linc-Tones formed in Brooklyn, New York. Neil Sedaka was a founding member of the group but left in 1957. They renamed themselves in 1957 as The Tokens. That year they appeared on TV for the first time on The Ted Steele Dance Time. In 1959 the Tokens recorded “Picture In My Wallet” under the name of Darrell & The Oxfords, which became a Top Ten hit in San Bernardino. They had a #15 charting hit in the USA in 1959 titled “Tonight I Fell in Love”. The Tokens are known best for their number one 1961 hit, “The Lion Sleeps Tonight.” The song was originally a Zulu folk song called “M’bube” and Anglicized to “Wimoweh”. The Tokens consisted of Jay Siegel, Hank Medress and brothers Mitch and Phil Margo. True rock pioneers, they were among the first to successfully use the falsetto lead voice, a sound that influenced groups such as the Four Seasons and the Beach Boys. The group had their first Top 20 hit in the USA billed as The Tokens with “Tonight I Fell In Love”, in 1961. The song peaked at #27 in Vancouver.
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#19: New World Coming by Mama Cass Elliot
City: Fredericton, NB
Radio Station: CFNB
Peak Month: March 1970
Peak Position in Fredericton: #5
Peak position in Vancouver ~ did not chart
Peak Position on Billboard Hot 100 ~ #42
YouTube: “New World Coming”
Lyrics: “New World Coming”
Ellen Naomi Cohen was born in 1941 and raised in Washington, D.C. She adopted the name “Cass” in high school after the actress Peggy Cass. When Ellen Cohen was 16 she saw Peggy Cass in the film Auntie Mame. Peggy Cass who was nominated for an Academy Award in 1959 in the Best Supporting Actress category for her performance in Auntie Mame. “Cass” Cohen later she took the surname “Elliot,” in memory of a friend who had died. She moved to Manhattan, pursuing an acting career where she toured in a musical production of The Music Man in 1962. She was part of a folk trio called the Big 3 from 1962 to 1964. From there she joined the Mugwumps, and met Denny Doherty. In 1965 she became part of The Mama’s & the Papas.
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#4: Crazy Love by Poco
City: Fredericton, NB
Radio Station: CIHI
Peak Month: March-April 1979
Peak Position in Fredericton #3
Peak position in Vancouver ~ #13
Peak Position on Billboard Hot 100 ~ #17
YouTube: “Crazy Love”
Lyrics: “Crazy Love”
Richard Furay was born in 1944 in Yellow Springs, Ohio. He got his first guitar when he was eight years old. He met Stephen Stills in the summer of 1963, and the pair formed the Au GoGo Singers. In 1965, they joined the Buffalo Springfield. Furay was part of the trend-setting sound of the Buffalo Springfield, with “For What It’s Worth” and other classics. The Buffalo Springfield began splintering in 1968. When Bruce Palmer left the band, he was replaced by Jim Messina who was in the recording studio for the bands’ last album Last Time Around. Messina and Furay formed Poco later that year. Messina began playing guitar at the age of five. He left Poco after the first two albums and became part of the duo of Loggins and Messina.
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