#20: Too Little Time by Brenda Lee
City: St. John’s, NL
Radio Station: VOCM
Peak Month: April 1966
Peak Position in St. John’s ~ #5
Peak Position in Vancouver ~ did not chart
Peak Position on Billboard Hot 100 ~ #123
YouTube: “Too Little Time”
Lyrics: “Too Little Time”
Brenda Mae Tarpley was born in 1944 in Atlanta, Georgia. Her parents were poor. During her childhood, young Brenda shared a sagging iron bed with her brother and sister in a series of three-room houses. They had no running water. Here parents went from job to job. After the stock market crash in 1929, Brenda’s mother would recall “you could hardly buy a job.” The region was devastated by an infestation of the boll weevil. Brenda started singing solos each Sunday at the Baptist church where her family attended. In her 2002 autobiography, she wrote “I grew up so poor, and it saddens me to see the poverty that is still there. A lot of my family have never done any better. Some of them are just exactly where they were when I was a kid. And in a way, there is still something inside of me that is a part of that, the part that doesn’t expect much. Little things make them happy, and that’s the same with me.”
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#6: Silhouettes by Steve Gibson and the Red Caps
City: Smiths Falls, ON
Radio Station: CJET
Peak Month: November 1957
Peak Position in Smiths Falls ~ #2
Peak Position in Vancouver ~ did not chart
Peak Position on Billboard Hot 100 ~ #63
YouTube: “Silhouettes”
Lyrics: “Silhouettes”
On his website, Marv Goldberg writes “In the music world of the late 30s and early 40s, there were many pioneer black vocal groups, all of whom owed a common debt to the Mills Brothers and Ink Spots. However, other influences were also apparent in their styles. Swing and big band jazz had a tremendous impact in the 30s, and myriad small combo jazz and jive groups resulted, often with members drawn from the larger orchestras. In parallel with this trend were the vocal groups that evolved from these combos in the 30s. In them, all members played (and vocally imitated) instruments besides singing – a combination that all but disappeared from R&B by the middle 50s. It was in this atmosphere that the group later known as the 5 Red Caps was born. While there were vocal groups in all cities with large black populations, in the 1930s many of them flocked to the Los Angeles area because, in addition to niteclubs, theaters, and radio, there were also opportunities to work in films and cartoon soundtracks. Three of these groups had a hand in the formation of the Red Caps: the original Basin Street Boys, the 4 Blackbirds, and the 5 Jones Boys. In 1938, they would coalesce into the 4 Toppers, the predecessor to the Red Caps.”
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#21: From A Distance by P.F. Sloan
City: St. John’s, NL
Radio Station: VOCM
Peak Month: April 1966
Peak Position in St. John’s ~ #6
Peak Position in Vancouver ~ did not chart
Peak Position on Billboard Hot 100 ~ did not chart
YouTube: “From A Distance”
Lyrics: “From A Distance”
Philip Gary Schlein was born in New York City in 1945. His mom was born in Romania and his dad in the USA. The family moved to West Hollywood when Philip was twelve years old. His father was a pharmacist and had the family name changed legally since Philip’s dad was repeatedly denied a liquor license for his store. The new surname, Sloan, gave Philip’s dad no hassles and the family business thrived. In 1958 Philip was given a guitar as a present. Prior to being drafted into the US Army, Elvis Presley gave Philip Sloan a quick guitar lesson at a music store in Hollywood. By the age of 14 Philip Sloan’s nickname was “Flip,” a variant of Philip. So he became P (Philip) F (Flip) Sloan. At 16, “Flip” Sloan got a position as a songwriter with Screen Gems in Los Angeles. In addition to songwriting, Sloan teamed up with Steve Barri. The pair recorded several records hoping for a hit single. They failed at getting any notice when releasing singles under the names The Lifeguards, Themes Inc., The Rally-Packs and The Wildcats. And they barely registered on the charts in 1964 as Philip and Stephan with “When You’re Near You’re So Far Away”, or as The Street Cleaners with “That’s Cool, That’s Trash”.
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#1: Rockabilly Party by Hugo and Luigi
City: Saint-Jerome, PQ
Radio Station: CKJL
Peak Month: July 1957
Peak Position in Saint-Jerome ~ #2
Peak Position in Vancouver ~ did not chart
Peak Position on Billboard Hot 100 ~ did not chart
YouTube: “Rockabilly Party”
Lyrics: N/A
Hugo Peretti was born in New York City in 1916 in an Italian-American family. Peretti began his music career as a teenager, playing the trumpet in the Borscht Belt in update New York. He graduated to playing with orchestras, then partnered with his cousin Luigi Creatore. Luigi Creatore was born in New York City in 1921, also to an Italian-American family. His father, Giuseppe Creatore, was an orchestra bandleader. Luigi was drafted into the United States military in WWII. Once the pair teamed up, they cowrote “Wimoweh” (along with four other cowriters) which was a #4 hit for The Weavers in 1952. They also cowrote Sarah Vaughan’s #14 hit in 1955 “Experience Unnecessary”. They also produced a number of hits for Jimmie Rodgers including “Honeycomb”, “Oh-Oh, I’m Falling In Love Again”, “Secretly”, “Bombombey”, “Are You Really Mine” and other hits for .
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#102: Rubber Duckie by Ernie
City: Hamilton, ON
Radio Station: CHAM
Peak Month: September 1970
Peak Position in Hamilton ~ #2
Peak Position in Vancouver ~ did not chart
Peak Position on Billboard Hot 100 ~ #16
YouTube: “Rubber Duckie”
Lyrics: “Rubber Duckie”
Jim Henson was born in 1936 in Greenville, Mississippi, by the Mississippi River. His family moved to a Maryland suburb of Washington DC in the late ’40s. Henson recalled the arrival of the family’s first television as “the biggest event of his adolescence.” He was heavily influenced by radio ventriloquist Edgar Bergen and the early television puppets of Burr Tillstrom on Kukla, Fran and Ollie, (an ad-libbed television show with puppets that ran from 1947 to 1957) and Bil and Cora Baird (best known for the puppetry sequence in “The Lonely Goatherd” in The Sound of Music).
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#1: Secret Love by Billy Stewart
City: Saguenay, PQ
Radio Station: CKRS
Peak Month: November 1966
Peak Position in Saguenay ~ #3
Peak Position in Vancouver ~ #8
Peak Position on Billboard Hot 100 ~ #48
YouTube: “Secret Love”
Lyrics: “Secret Love”
William Larry Stewart II was born in Washington D.C. in 1937. In 1949, at the age of 12 Stewart he and his three younger brothers began singing under the billing The Four Stewart Brothers. Singing gospel music, they were given a weekly spot on Sundays from 1949 to 1954 on WUST-AM in Washington D.C. In his teens he also won a talent singing contest performing George Gershwin’s “Summertime”. In 1955 Bo Diddley encountered Billy Stewart playing piano. Diddley was impressed and invited Stewart to become one of his backing musicians. During his time with Bo Diddley, Billy Stewart was able to expand his musical repertoire to include playing organ, bass and drums. In 1956 Bo Diddley played guitar on Stewart’s first single titled “Billy’s Blues” recorded on the Chess label. In 1957, Stewart released “Billy’s Heartache” which featured backing vocals from 18-year-old Marvin Gaye. In 1962, Stewart recorded a tune based on his nickname called “Fat Boy”. The song climbed to #18 on the Billboard R&B charts.
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#2: All Strung Out by Nino Tempo and April Stevens
City: Peace River, AB
Radio Station: CKYL
Peak Month: October 1966
Peak Position in Peace River ~ #5
Peak Position in Vancouver ~ #17
Peak Position on Billboard Hot 100 ~ #26
YouTube: “All Strung Out”
Lyrics: “All Strung Out”
Caroline Vincinette LoTempio was born in 1929 in Niagara Falls (NY). She started recording at age fifteen. From the official website of April Stevens & Nino Tempo comes this story: “One day, while standing outside Hollywood’s famous Wallach Music City on Sunset and Vine, she was approached by Tony Sepe, the owner of Laurel Records, who asked her if she could sing. The young teenager thought he was probably flirting, but answered his question in the affirmative. Before long, she changed her name to April Stevens and recorded a few songs for Sepe’s small independent label. An aunt of Carol LoTiempo’s had suggested April as a name, and as she was born in April LoTiempo liked the name. Still in high school, April then moved on to record for Society Records. On her first Society label release, “Don’t Do It”, her sweetly innocent approach to addressing very real concerns for a teenage girl was given a twist at the end. She gives in to the boy’s advances, as long as there’s a commitment. “Don’t Do It” was banned from airplay… “”Stop holding my hand,” April pleaded. But in the second verse, she suggestively purred “I need it, how I need it…ooooh I want it.” Consequently, “Don’t Do It” sold by word of mouth only, from under the counter.”
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#5: The Eyes Of A New York Woman by BJ Thomas
City: Regina, SK
Radio Station: CJME
Peak Month: August 1968
Peak Position in Regina ~ #1
Peak Position in Vancouver ~ #7
Peak Position on Billboard Hot 100 ~ #28
YouTube: “The Eyes Of A New York Woman”
Lyrics: “The Eyes Of A New York Woman”
Billy Joe Thomas was born in Hugo, Oklahoma, in 1942. His family eventually moved to Houston, Texas. When he was in his teens playing baseball, Billy Joe Thomas took the name of BJ. This was because there were too many boys on the baseball team with the name of Billy Joe. During his teens he sang in a church choir. In 1958, BJ Thomas heard “To Be Loved” by Jackie Wilson. He credits the song as being a catalyst for his love of singing. In the late 50’s, in grade eleven, his Junior year, BJ Thomas became lead singer for a local band named The Triumphs. He got to know Roy Head and the Traits. The Traits and The Triumphs participated in several Battle of the Bands events in the early 60’s. In 1966, BJ Thomas got a record contract with Scepter Records.
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#3: The Boy In The Bubble by Paul Simon
City: Burnaby, BC
Radio Station: CFML
Peak Month: April 1987
Peak Position in Burnaby ~ #2
Peak Position in Vancouver ~ #32
Peak Position on Billboard Hot 100 ~ #86
YouTube: “The Boy In the Bubble”
Lyrics: “The Boy In The Bubble”
Paul Frederic Simon was born in 1941 in Newark, New Jersey, to Hungarian-Jewish parents. His dad was a bandleader who went by the name Lou Sims. When he was eleven years old he met Art Garfunkel and were both part of a sixth grade drama production of Alice In Wonderland. By 1954 Paul and Art were singing at school dances. In 1957, in their mid-teens, they recorded the song “Hey, Schoolgirl” under the name “Tom & Jerry”, a name that was given to them by their label Big Records. The single reached #49 on the pop charts.
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#1: Lightning’s Girl by Nancy Sinatra
City: Lloydminster, AB
Radio Station: CKSA
Peak Month: October 1967
Peak Position in Lloydminster ~ #2
Peak Position in Vancouver ~ #17
Peak Position on Billboard Hot 100 ~ #24
YouTube: “Lighting’s Girl”
Lyrics: “Lightning’s Girl”
Nancy Sinatra is the daughter of crooner Frank Sinatra and was born in New Jersey in 1940. When she was 5 years old he recorded a song about her titled “Nancy, With the Laughing Face”. At the age of twenty she began her career appearing on The Frank Sinatra Timex Show: Welcome Home Elvis. This was a television special on the occasion of Elvis Presley’s discharge from the U.S. Army after being drafted to into the services in 1958. Nancy was sent by her father to meet Elvis at the airport in front of a pack of photographers. In 1960, she also got married to singer and actor, Tommy Sands.
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