#9: Juanita Banana by the Peels
City: St. John’s, NL
Radio Station: VOCM
Peak Month: April 1966
Peak Position in St. John’s ~ #3
Peak Position in Vancouver ~ #39
Peak Position on Billboard Hot 100 ~ #59
YouTube: “Juanita Banana”
Lyrics: “Juanita Banana”
The Peels consisted of Gail Allan, Bill Spilka, Harvey Davis, and Harold Swart. They were a study group who were assembled by co-writer of “Juanita Banana”, Tash Howard. Bill Spilka was born in 1933. He attended Princeton. He played trombone while at Princeton with the Stan Rubin and His Tigertown Five from 1953 to 1955. Harvey Davis wrote and recorded one rock n’ roll single in 1959 titled “Come Back Baby”.
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#7: I Met Him On A Sunday ’66 by the Shirelles
City: St. John’s, NL
Radio Station: VOCM
Peak Month: April 1966
Peak Position in St. John’s ~ #2
Peak Position in Vancouver ~ did not chart
Peak Position on Billboard Hot 100 ~ did not chart
YouTube: “I Met Him On A Sunday ’66”
Lyrics: “I Met Him On A Sunday ’66”
The Shirelles were a girl group that formed in 1957 in order to enter a talent show at their high school. The foursome were Shirley Owens, Beverly Lee, Addie “Micki” Harris and Doris Coley. Owens was born Shirley Alston Reeves in Henderson, North Carolina, in 1941. Harris was born in Passaic, New Jersey, in 1940. Lee was also born in Passaic, in 1941. Coley was born in Goldsboro, North Carolina, in 1941. Their performance at that 1957 high school talent show led to a record contract with Decca Records. In 1958 they had a minor hit titled “I Met Him on a Sunday”. It was written by the foursome. The song concerned a girl who meets a guy on a Sunday. She misses him the next day, goes out on a date with him on Wednesday, kisses him on Thursday. And by Saturday she says “bye bye baby.” Such were the fates of some teens in the late 50’s checking out if there momentary crushes were solid enough to go steady. The single was a Top 20 hit in Toronto in April 1958.
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#43: Honky Tonk by Bill Doggett with Tommy Brown
City: Halifax, NS
Radio Station: CJCH
Peak Month: January 1957
Peak Position in Halifax ~ #9
Peak Position in Vancouver ~ did not chart
Peak Position on Billboard Hot 100 ~ did not chart
YouTube: “Honky Tonk”
William “Bill” Ballard Doggett was born in Philadelphia in 1916. From the mid-1930s, Doggett worked with bandleader Lucky Millinder, American Federation of Musicians (for black Americans) bandleader, musician and arranger Frank Fairfax, and jazz tenor saxophonist and arranger James Mundy. In 1942, he was hired as the Ink Spots pianist and arranger. In 1945 he recorded “Be-Baba-Leba” which climbed to #3 on the R&B charts in the USA. During the 40s and into the 50s, Bill Doggett worked with Louis Jordan, Wynonie Harris, Johnny Otis, Illinois Jacquet, and others. In 1951 he signed a record deal with King Records. Doggett had four Top 20 R&B hits in 1953-54: “Mooniest”, “Early Bird”, “No More In Life”, and “High Heels”.
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#10: Time In My Heart For You by Dion
City: St. John’s, NL
Radio Station: VOCM
Peak Month: March 1966
Peak Position in St. John’s ~ #3
Peak Position in Vancouver ~ did not chart
Peak Position on Billboard Hot 100 ~ did not chart
YouTube: “Time In My Heart For You”
Lyrics: “Time In My Heart For You”
Dion Francis DiMucci was born in the Bronx, NY, in 1939. His parents named him Dion in honor of the French Canadian Dionne quintuplents who captured the interest of millions around the world after the five infants were born in May 1934. Dion’s dad, Pasquale DiMucci, was a vaudeville performer and Dion accompanied him to see his dad on stage. As a child he was given an $8 dollar guitar by his uncle while he lived on 183rd Street. Dion’s childhood was set in the midst of conflict between his parents. In an interview with New York Magazine in 2007, Dion remembers “…There was a lot of unresolved conflict in my house… My pop, Pasquale, couldn’t make the $36-a-month rent on our apartment at 183rd and Crotona Avenue.” He was a dreamer, a failed vaudevillian, and sometimes Catskills puppeteer. He’d talk big and lift weights he’d made from oilcans, while Frances, Mrs. DiMucci, took two buses and the subway downtown to work in the garment district on a sewing machine. “When they’d start yelling, I’d go out on the stoop with my $8 Gibson and try to resolve things that way.”
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#15: I Feel Good by Lewis and Clarke Expedition
City: St. John’s, NL
Radio Station: VOCM
Peak Month: September 1967
Peak Position in St. John’s ~ #4
Peak Position in Vancouver ~ did not chart
Peak Position on Billboard Hot 100 ~ did not chart
YouTube: “I Feel Good”
Lyrics: “I Feel Good”
Lewis and Clarke Expedition were a group formed in 1966 in Los Angeles. They were comprised of Travis Lewis (Michael Martin Murphey) on vocals, guitar and harmonica; Boomer Clarke (Owen Castleman) on vocals and guitar; John London on guitar and bass; Ken Bloom on guitar and keyboards; and John Raines on drums. Prior to 1964, while still in high school, Michael Martin Murphey and Owens “Boomer” Castleman were bandmates in a Dallas, Texas group called the Lost River Trio. John London formed a folk duo with future Monkee Mike Nesmith while both were attending San Antonio College in 1963. Ken Bloom started playing the flute at the age of ten. The following year he learned both the clarinet and saxophone. As a teenager Ken Bloom played in a band called the Robin Hood Band. He was also with the Gas Company from 1965 to 1967. Bloom was later part of what he describes as an “old timey string band” called the Main Street Shuffle Kings. Drummer Johnny Raines was from Los Angeles. Raines met John London when both were playing for Chris and Craig.
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#22: Seattle by Perry Como
City: Edmonton, AB
Radio Station: CHED
Peak Month: June 1969
Peak Position in Edmonton ~ #2
Peak Position in Vancouver ~ did not chart
Peak Position on Billboard Hot 100 ~ #38
YouTube: “Seattle”
Lyrics: “Seattle”
Pierino Ronald “Perry” Como was born in Canonsburg, PA, in 1912. He was one of 13 children of parents who emigrated from Italy. He learned to play the organ from a young age. Como took on other jobs to pay for music lessons, and learned to play many different instruments, but never had a voice lesson. He showed more musical talent in his teenaged years as a trombone player in the town’s brass band, playing guitar, singing at weddings, and as an organist at church. Como was a member of the Canonsburg Italian Band along with bandleader Stan Vinton, father of singer Bobby Vinton and often a customer at Como’s barber shop. Como started helping his family at age 10, working before and after school in Steve Fragapane’s barber shop for 50¢ a week. By age 13, he had graduated to having his own chair in the Fragapane barber shop, although he stood on a box to tend to his customers. As Pierno Como had a good singing voice, he was asked to sing at weddings, especially in the local Greek community. In time he became known as the “wedding barber” even in the Pittsburgh area and across Ohio.
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#211: There Was A Tall Oak Tree by Dorsey Burnette
City: Toronto, ON
Radio Station: CHUM
Peak Month: April 1960
Peak Position in Toronto ~ #4
Peak position in Vancouver ~ #12
Peak Position on Billboard Hot 100 ~ #23
YouTube: “There Was A Tall Oak Tree”
Lyrics: “There Was A Tall Oak Tree”
Dorsey Burnette was born in 1932 in Memphis, Tennessee. He played bass in his younger brother Johnny Burnette’s rockabilly Rock ‘n Roll Trio. Dorsey became a solo artist and had a few minor hits in the late 1950s and early 1960s. Dorsey Burnette is best known for writing over 350 songs. His most well known songs were recorded by teen idol, Ricky Nelson. When he was six his dad bought him a Gene Autry guitar, along with one for his younger brother, Johnny. Dorsey had a temper and was on a path to becoming what was then called a juvenile delinquent. He put his temper to better use competing as a Golden Gloves boxer. He met another boxer when he was 17 years old at the 1949 championship named Paul Burlison. They discovered a mutual interest in music. However, Burlison was inducted into the US Army in 1951. Dorsey and his brother began appearing on Memphis radio stations and playing gigs for beer money, kicks and girls.
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#18: Till You Come Back To Me by Patti Page
City: St. John’s, NL
Radio Station: VOCM
Peak Month: April 1966
Peak Position in St. John’s ~ #4
Peak Position in Vancouver ~ did not chart
Peak Position on Billboard Hot 100 ~ #130
YouTube: “Till You Come Back To Me”
Lyrics: N/A
Patti Page was born on November 8, 1927. The New York Times writes “She was born Clara Ann Fowler in Claremore, Oklahoma, the second youngest of 11 children of a railroad laborer. Her mother and older sisters picked cotton. She often went without shoes. Because the family saved money on electricity, the only radio shows Miss Page heard as a child were Grand Old Opry, The Eddie Cantor Show and Chicago Barn Dance.”
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#183: Little Bitty Pretty One by Clyde McPhatter
City: Montreal, PQ
Radio Station: CJAD
Peak Month: August 1962
Peak Position in Montreal ~ #5
Peak Position in Vancouver ~ did not chart
Peak Position on Billboard Hot 100 ~ #25
YouTube: “Little Bitty Pretty One”
Lyrics: “Little Bitty Pretty One”
Clyde McPhatter was born in the historic African-American district of Hayti in Durham, North Carolina, on November 15, 1932. Starting at the age of five, he sang in his father’s Baptist church gospel choir along with his three brothers and three sisters. When he was ten, Clyde was the soprano-voiced soloist for the choir. When his family moved to Harlem after he graduated, Clyde formed a gospel group, the Mount Lebanon Singers. They performed across churches in the region. In 1950, after winning the coveted Amateur Night at Harlem’s Apollo Theater contest, McPhatter returned to his job as a grocery store manager. He was discovered singing the choir in the Holiness Baptist Church of New York City by Billy Ward, front man with his Dominoes. Ward recruited McPhatter into the group.
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#123: Sometimes I Wish I Were A Boy by Lesley Gore
City: Calgary, AB
Radio Station: CFAC
Peak Month: November 1964
Peak Position in Calgary ~ #12
Peak Position in Vancouver ~ #21
Peak Position on Billboard Hot 100 ~ did not chart
YouTube: “Sometimes I Wish I Were A Boy”
Lyrics: “Sometime I Wish I Were A Boy”
Lesley Sue Goldstein was born in 1946 in Brooklyn, New York City. She was raised in Tenafly, New Jersey, and attended the Dwight School for Girls. Lesley Gore recalls that in February 1963, “It’s My Party” was among some two hundred demos producer Quincy Jones brought to review with her in the den of her family home. On hearing the song, Gore told Jones: “That’s not half bad. I like it. Good melody. Let’s put it on the maybe pile.” The song proved to be the only demo Gore and Jones found agreeable. She recorded “It’s My Party” with Quincy Jones on March 30, 1963, while she was still a Junior (Grade 11) in high school. The singer was in tears because her boyfriend Johnny left with her best friend Judy. The song was released in early April 1963. It reached number-one on June 1, 1963, remaining for a second week on both the Billboard Hot 100 and Cashbox Top 100 Singles chart. In Canada it peaked at #1 in Vancouver, Hamilton (ON), Toronto and Montreal. While on May 30, 1963, Leslie Gore was a guest on American Bandstand.
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