#37: Surfin’ Safari by the Beach Boys
City: Calgary, Alberta
Radio Station: CFAC
Peak Month: October 1962
Peak Position in Calgary ~ #1
Peak position in Vancouver ~ #6
Peak Position on Billboard Hot 100 ~ #14
YouTube.com: “Surfin’ Safari”
Lyrics: “Surfin’ Safari”
Brian Wilson was born in Inglewood, California, in 1942. In biographer Peter Ames Carlin’s book, Catch a Wave: The Rise, Fall, and Redemption of the Beach Boys’ Brian Wilson, he relates that when Brian Wilson first heard George Gershwin’s “Rhapsody in Blue” it had a huge emotional impact on him. As a youngster, Wilson learned to play a toy accordion and sang in children’s choirs. In his teens he started a group with his cousin, Mike Love and his brother, Carl. Mike was born in Los Angeles in 1941 and Carl was born in 1946 in Hawthorne, California. Brian Wilson named the group Carl and the Passions in order to convince his brother to join. They had a performance in the fall of 1960 at Hawthorne High School, where they attended. Their set included some songs by Dion and the Belmonts. Among the people in the audience was Al Jardine, another classmate. Jardine was born in Hawthorne in 1942. He was so impressed with the performance that he let the group know. Jardine would later be enlisted, along with Dennis Wilson to form the Pendletones in 1961. Dennis was born in Inglewood in 1944.
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#48: My Name Is Mud by Eddie Rambeau
City: Calgary, Alberta
Radio Station: CFAC
Peak Month: August 1965
Peak Position in Calgary ~ #8
Peak position in Vancouver ~ did not chart
Peak Position on Billboard Hot 100 ~ #112
YouTube.com: “My Name Is Mud”
Lyrics: N/A
Eddie Rambeau was born Edward Cletus Fluri, in 1943. His birthplace was Hazelton, Pennsylvania. He is an singer, songwriter, actor and author. Rambeau sang at record hops in Hazelton where he impressed deejays with his talent. One of the deejays, Jim Ward, set up an audition for Rambeau at Swan Records. He was signed to the label and released his first single, “Skin Divin’”, under his new name, Eddie Rambeau, on graduation day in June 1961. The song made the Top 20 in several radio markets in Idaho and Massachusetts.
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#4: Soul Time by Shirley Ellis
City: Belleville, ON
Radio Station: CJBQ
Peak Month: May 1967
Peak Position in Belleville ~ #6
Peak Position in Vancouver ~ #20
Peak Position on Billboard Hot 100 ~ #67
YouTube: “Soul Time”
Lyrics: “Soul Time”
Shirley Marie O’Garra was born in The Bronx in 1929. In 1954, the doo-wop group The Chords recorded two of Shirley’s compositions “Pretty Wild” and LV – LV”. In the early 1960’s, Shirley Ellis was the lead singer of the Metronomes. In 1961, she released “Love Can Make You Know” credited to Shirley Elliston. And in 1962 under the name Shirlee May, she released “Lonely Birthday”. In 1963, Ellis had the first of a series of novelty R&B crossover hits. “The Nitty Gritty” climbed to #4 in the Billboard Hot R&B Singles chart and #8 on the Billboard Hot 100. In January 1964, the single peaked at #7 on CFUN in Vancouver. It was stuck behind four Beatles songs and one by Cliff Richard which were higher up the FUNTASTIC FIFTY.
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#1: I’m A Midnight Mover by Wilson Pickett
City: Belleville, Ontario
Radio Station: CJBQ
Peak Month: August 1968
Peak Position in Belleville ~ #1
Peak position in Vancouver ~ #27
Peak Position on Billboard Hot 100 ~ #24
YouTube.com: “I’m A Midnight Mover”
Lyrics: “I’m A Midnight Mover”
Wilson Pickett was born in Prattville, Alabama, in 1941. He was the fourth of 11 children. He referred to his mother as “the baddest woman in my book.” Pickett told historian Gerri Hirshey, “I get scared of her now. She used to hit me with anything, skillets, stove wood … [one time I ran away and] cried for a week. Stayed in the woods, me and my little dog.” His grandfather also beat him when Wilson was found with a copy of Louis Jordan’s “Ain’t Nobody Here But Us Chickens”. Pickett eventually left Prattville at the age of 14 to live with his father in Detroit in 1955. He joined a gospel group called the Violinaires. But his interest in music shifted to R&B.
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#1457: A Shot In The Dark by Henry Mancini
Peak Month: August 1964
Peak Position #17
19 weeks on Vancouver’s CFUN Chart
Peak Position on Billboard Hot 100 ~ #97
YouTube.com: “A Shot In The Dark”
Enrico Nicola Mancini was born in Maple Heights, Ohio, in 1924. Both his parents were Italian immigrants to the USA. At age eight Enrico learned to play the piccolo. He later studied at the Juilliard School of Music. When he turned 18 he enlisted in the United States Army he met Glenn Miller at basic training. Owing to a recommendation by Miller, Mancini was first assigned to the 28th Air Force Band before being reassigned overseas to the 1306th Engineers Brigade in France. In 1945, he helped liberate the Mauthausen-Gusen concentration camp in Austria. In 1946, he became a pianist and arranger for the newly re-formed Glenn Miller Orchestra, led by ‘Everyman’ Tex Beneke. (Glenn Miller was declared missing in action after his plane disappeared over the English Channel in December 1944). In 1952, Henry Mancini joined Universal Studios’ Universal-International music department. In 1952 he scored music for The Raiders, and in 1953 for The Glenn Miller Story.
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#1: It’s A Shame by the Spinners
City: Antigonish, NS
Radio Station: CJFX
Peak Month: October 1970
Peak Position in Antigonish ~ #2
Peak Position in Vancouver ~ #20
Peak Position on Billboard Hot 100 ~ #14
YouTube: “It’s A Shame”
Lyrics: “It’s A Shame”
William “Billy” Henderson was born in 1939 in Indianapolis (IN). In 1954 he formed a group called the Domingos. Henry Fambrough was born in Detroit in 1938 and was another founding member of the Domingos. Fambrough was drafted into the army in 1961, and on his return two years later, the Spinners signed up under Motown Records. Pervis Jackson was born in New Orleans in 1938 and was another original member of the group. Robert Steel “Bobby” Smith was born in 1936 in Detroit. The group had their first record deal when they signed with Tri-Phi Records in early 1961. That year the group had a Top 30 hit on the Billboard Hot 100 titled “That’s What Girls Are Made For”. It peaked at #5 on the Hot R&B Singles chart, and #20 in Toronto. On May 23, 1964, the Spinners appeared in concert at the Hollywood Bowl (later renamed the Grooveyard) in New Westminster. In 1965, “I’ll Always Love You” returned them to the Top Ten on the R&B charts. It also cracked the Top 30 in Vancouver (BC). But eleven other single releases between 1961 and 1970 failed to crack the Hot 100. Another Top 20 R&B hit titled “Truly Yours” charted in Vancouver in 1966.
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#1459: Are You Lonely For Me by Freddie Scott
Peak Month: March 1967
Peak Position #10
19 weeks on Vancouver’s CFUN Chart
Peak Position on Billboard Hot 100 ~ #39
YouTube.com: “Are You Lonely For Me”
Lyrics: “Are You Lonely For Me”
Freddie Scott was born in Providence, Rhode Island, in 1933. He sand in his grandmother’s gospel group, Sally Jones & the Gospel Keyes. He toured with them across England at the age of 12. After high school, Scott studied medicine, but began singing again with the Swanee Quintet Juniors and gave up his medical career. In 1956, he recorded as a secular singer with the J&S label in New York City, releasing his first solo single “Running Home”. Scott also wrote the top 10 R&B hit “I’ll Be Spinning” for the label’s duo Johnnie & Joe. As well, his song “Baby I’m Sorry” was recorded by Ricky Nelson for his 1957 debut album Ricky. Freddie Scott was conscripted for the U.S. Military. He continued to record for small labels with little success. After leaving the military, he turned to songwriting, joining the Aldon Music publishing company set up by Al Nevins and Don Kirshner in the Brill Building. It was there that Freddie Scott recorded many of his own demos and worked as a record producer with Erma Franklin, whose song “Piece Of My Heart” was later covered by Big Brother & the Holding Company. Scott also continued to release his own records, including “Baby, You’re a Long Time Dead” for New York based Joy Records in 1961. The B-side “Lost The Right”, charted in California, Texas, Pennsylvania and New Jersey.
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#1464: The Magic Touch by the Bobby Fuller Four
Peak Month: July 1966
Peak Position #19
19 weeks on Vancouver’s CFUN Chart
Peak Position on Billboard Hot 100 ~ did not chart
YouTube.com: “The Magic Touch”
Lyrics: “The Magic Touch”
Robert Gaston Fuller was born in 1942 in Baytown, Texas, a suburb of Houston. In his early childhood his family moved to Salt Lake City, and in 1956 to El Paso. While Fuller was a 13-year-old Elvis Presley was shaking the foundations of the pop music world. Bobby Fuller was memorized by what was unfolding. In 1958, he formed a four-man combo in the style of fellow Texan Buddy Holly. Other members were Bobby’s brother Randy (Randell) Fuller on bass and rhythm guitar, Jim Reese on guitar, Dalton Powell on piano, and Dewayne Quirico on drums. Randy Fuller was born in El Paso, Texas, in 1944. Jim Reese was born in Amarillo, Texas, on December 7, 1941. DeWayne Quirco was born in 1942 in El Paso, and Dalton Powell was born in El Paso in 1942. Powell and Quirco were drummers at different points in the life of the band. In 1961 the Bobby Fuller Four released their first single titled “You’re In Love”. In 1962, “Gently My Love” cracked the Top 30 on KELP-AM in El Paso. From November 1963 to March 1964, the Bobby Fuller Four single “Saturday Night” was a Top 30 hit in Sydney, Australia. In the spring of 1965, the Bobby Fuller Four had a Top Ten hit in Las Vegas with “She’s My Girl”. Another release, “Let Her Dance”, stalled at #133 bubbling beneath the Billboard Hot 100.
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#1052: Turn Around by Dick and Dee Dee
Peak Month: November 1963
Peak Position #7
19 weeks on Vancouver’s CFUN Chart
Peak Position on Billboard Hot 100 ~ #27
YouTube.com: “Turn Around”
Lyrics: “Turn Around”
Mary Sperling was born in Minneapolis, Minnesota, around 1942. At the age of 16 she began songwriting. She teamed up with Dick St. John who she met at junior high. The pair lost track of each other until DeeDee’s first year at college when they both started working at See’s Candies in Los Angeles. On their lunch breaks they discovered a mutual love of song writing and ended up collaborating on a song called, “I Want Someone.” The flip side, “The Mountain’s High”, became their first gold record, storming up the charts in summer of 1961. The song spent two weeks at the #2 position on the Billboard Hot 100. “The Mountain’s High” reached #1 in Vancouver and #37 on the UK Singles Chart. Dick and DeeDee played in the Los Angeles area for six months, backed by the new, upcoming surf band, The Beach Boys.
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#2: Mean Woman Blues/Gotta Lotta Livin’ To Do/Party by Elvis Presley
B-side: “Mean Woman Blues”
Peak Month: July-August-September 1957
Peak Position #1
12 weeks on Vancouver’s Red Robinson Teen Canteen Survey
Peak Position on Billboard Pop Singles chart ~ did not chart
YouTube.com: “Mean Woman Blues”
Lyrics: “Mean Woman Blues”
B-side: “Gotta Lotta Livin’ To Do”
Peak Month: August-September 1957
Peak Position #4
6 weeks on Vancouver’s Red Robinson Teen Canteen Survey
Peak Position on Billboard Pop Singles chart ~ did not chart
YouTube.com: “Gotta Lotta Livin’ To Do”
Lyrics: “Gotta Lotta Livin’ To Do”
B-side: “Party”
Peak Month: July 1957
Peak Position: #5
4 weeks on Vancouver’s Red Robinson Teen Canteen Survey
Peak Position on Billboard Pop Singles chart ~ did not chart
YouTube.com: “Party”
Lyrics: “Party”
Elvis Aaron Presley was born on in a two-room house in Tupelo, Mississippi, on January 8, 1935. His twin brother, Jessie Garon Presley, was stillborn. When he was eleven years old his parents bought him a guitar at the Tupelo Hardware Store. As a result Elvis grew up as an only child. He and his parents, Vernon and Gladys, moved to Memphis, Tennessee, in 1948. The young Presley graduated from high school in 1953. That year he stopped by the Memphis Recording Service to record two songs, including “That’s When Your Heartaches Begin”. Elvis’ musical influences were the pop and country music of the time, the gospel music he heard in church and at the all-night gospel sings he frequently attended, and the black R&B he absorbed on historic Beale Street as a Memphis teenager. In 1954, Elvis began his singing career recording “That’s All Right” and “Blue Moon Of Kentucky” at Sun Records in Memphis.
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