#974: The Dreamer by Neil Sedaka
Peak Month: July 1963
7 weeks on CKLG’s Vancouver Chart
Peak Position ~ #5
CFUN Twin Pick Hit of the Week ~ July 6, 1963
Peak Position on Billboard Hot 100 ~ #47
YouTube: “The Dreamer”
Lyrics: “The Dreamer”
In 1939 Neil Sedaka was born in Brooklyn and grew up in Brighton Beach beside Coney Island. His paternal grandparents immigrated to America from Constantinople, Ottoman Empire, in 1910. His fathers side of the family there were Sephardi Jews and his mother’s side Ashkenazi Jews from Russian and Polish background. Sedaka is a cousin of the late singer Eydie Gorme. When Neil was eight years old he listened to a show on the radio called The Make-Believe Ballroom that opened his world to appreciation for music. Within a year Neil had began learning classical piano at the age of nine at the Julliard School of Music. His progress was impressive and Arthur Rubinstein voted Neil as one of the best New York High School pianists after he turned 16 years old.
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#379: Josie by Steely Dan
Peak Month: December 1978
14 weeks on CFUN’s Vancouver Chart
Peak Position ~ #4
Peak Position on Billboard Hot 100 ~ #26
YouTube: “Josie”
Lyrics: “Josie”
Donald Jay Fagen was born into a Jewish household in Passaic, New Jersey, in 1948. The first record he bought was “Reelin’ and Rockin'” by Chuck Berry in 1958. In 1959, when he was eleven years old, a cousin of Donald Fagen suggested he explore jazz music. So he attended the Newport Jazz Festival. Fagen recalled later “I lost interest in rock ‘n’ roll and started developing an anti-social personality.” By 1960, after he’d turned twelve, Fagen began frequenting the Village Vanguard jazz club. He was able to see Charles Mingus, Thelonius Monk, and Miles Davis. He learned to play the piano, and he played baritone horn in the high school marching band. Fagen also drew inspiration from the Boswell Sisters, Henry Mancini, Ray Charles, Sly and the Family Stone and a variety of Motown recording acts.
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#380: I Wanna Live by Glen Campbell
Peak Month: June 1968
7 weeks on CKLG’s Vancouver Chart
Peak Position ~ #1
1 week Hit Bound
Peak Position on Billboard Hot 100 ~ #36
YouTube: “I Wanna Live”
Lyrics: “I Wanna Live”
Glen Travis Campbell was born in 1936 in the village of Billstown, Arkansas. His dad was a sharecropper. He moved to Albuquerque, New Mexico, and at the age of 18 joined his uncle’s band, Dick Bills and the Sandia Mountain Boys. Campbell also had guest spots on a local KOB children’s TV show, K Circle B Time. In 1958, Campbell formed the Western Wranglers. In 1960 he moved to LA and joined The Champs of “Tequila” fame. Campbell also became a session musician in a group that would become known as The Wrecking Crew. During this time Glen Campbell played on recordings for Bobby Darin, Ricky Nelson, Dean Martin, Nat King Cole, The Monkees, Nancy Sinatra, Merle Haggard, Jan and Dean, Elvis Presley, Frank Sinatra and others. He recorded his first single in 1961 titled “Turn Around Look At Me.”
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#381: The Witch/Psycho by The Sonics
Peak Month: March 1965
“The Witch”
9 weeks on CFUN’s Vancouver Chart
Peak Position ~ #2
Peak Position on Billboard Hot 100 ~ did not chart
YouTube: “The Witch”
Lyrics: “The Witch”
4 weeks on CFUN’s Vancouver Chart
Peak Position ~ #4
Peak Position on Billboard Hot 100 ~ did not chart
YouTube: “Psycho”
Lyrics: “Psycho”
The Sonics were formed in 1960 in Tacoma when teenage guitarist Larry Parypa was encouraged by his parents to take his budding musical talents to the next level. A number of lineup changes ensued over the first several years. The band was an instrumental group until 1962, when Marilyn Lodge joined and became the bands first vocalist. She was replaced in 1963 by a local frontman named Ray Michelsen. At the time the bands’ drummer, Bill Dean, was not totally committed to the musical project. In time he left the band. Elsewhere on the musical scene in Tacoma were The Searchers (distinct from the British band the Searchers) who formed in 1961. The Searchers included Gerry Roslie on keyboards, Rob Lind on saxophone and Bob Bennett on drums. In search of a new drummer for the Sonics, once Larry Parypa heard the Searchers in concert – a new lineup fell into place.
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#1067: Tell Me What You Dream by Restless Heart
Peak Month: May 1993
7 weeks on CKLG’s Vancouver Chart
Peak Position ~ #7
Peak Position on Billboard Hot 100 ~ #43
YouTube: “Tell Me What You Dream”
Lyrics: “Tell Me What You Dream”
Restless Heart was a country band from the USA that formed in 1984. There were several lineup changes and by 1992 they were comprised of John Dittrich on drums, lead and background vocals; Paul Gregg on bass guitar, lead and background vocals, Dave Innis on piano, keyboards, rhythm guitar, lead and background vocals, and Greg Jennings on lead guitar and background vocals. All four were part of the original lineup. Dittrich was born in 1951 in Syracuse, New York; Gregg was born in 1954 in Altus, Oklahoma; Innis was born in 1959 in Bartlesville, Oklahoma; and Jennings was born in 1954 in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. In 1983 Dave Innis wrote “Dare Me” which was recorded by the Pointer Sisters in 1984, and peaked at #11 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1985.
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#382: Lodi by Creedence Clearwater Revival
Peak Month: June 1969
9 weeks on CKLG’s Vancouver Chart
Peak Position ~ #3
Peak Position on Billboard Hot 100 ~ #52
YouTube: “Lodi”
Lyrics: “Lodi”
John Fogerty was born in 1945 in Berkeley, California. He was raised in nearby El Cerrito. He learned to play guitar in his youth. In 1959 John Fogerty, Stu Cook and Doug Clifford formed a trio named the Blue Velvets. Based in El Cerrito, California, just north of Berkeley, they were joined in 1960 by John’s brother, Tom, who had been in a band called The Playboys. The Blue Velvets were influenced by Little Richard and other rock ‘n roll greats. They played a number of hits on the radio and their cover of Bobby Freeman’s “Do You Want To Dance,” was an audience favorite. In 1964 the Blue Velvets changed their name to the Golliwogs. They had a Top Ten hit called “Brown Eyed Girl” in San Jose (#7), Fresno (#3) and Miami (#8) in the winter of 1965-66. It was a blues infused tune, but not the same-titled song that Van Morrison would take up the charts the following year.
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#383: Tina by the Easy Riders
Peak Month: June 1957
11 weeks on Vancouver’s CKWX Chart
Peak Position ~ #4
Peak Position on Billboard Hot 100 ~ #96
YouTube: “Tina”
Lyrics: “Tina”
Terry Gilkyson was born in 1916 in Phoenixville, Pennsylvania. He went to the University of Pennsylvania where he studied voice, composition and harmony. He moved to Tucson, Arizona, to work on a ranch. But when World War II began he was drafted and sang folk songs over the Armed Forces radio network. After the war he was married and began to write songs. His first big break was when he wrote “The Cry Of The Wild Goose”, a number-one hit in March 1950 for Frankie Laine. He recorded two albums of folk songs, The Solitary Singer, volumes 1 and 2, in 1950 and 1951. And in 1951 Gilkyson was the featured vocalist in the Weavers number-one hit in May-June titled “On Top Of Old Smokey”.
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#386: Cutie Pie by Johnny Tillotson
Peak Month: August 1961
9 weeks on CKWX’s Vancouver Chart
Peak Position ~ #2
Peak Position on Billboard Hot 100 ~ did not chart
YouTube: “Cutie Pie”
Lyrics: “Cutie Pie”
In 1939 Johnny Tillotson was born in Jacksonville. He had four Top Ten hits on the Billboard Hot 100 and ten more in the American Top 40. He took an early interest in appearing on stage and by high school had a talent as a singer. In his teens he got a contract to be in the line-up of regular performers on the Jacksonville TV show, McDuff Hayride, hosted by Toby Dowdy. And in the mid-50s Tillotson had his own variety TV show, called The Velda Show, on WFGA. In 1957, a local Jacksonville deejay, Bob Norris, sent a recording of Tillotson singing at a Pet Milk talent contest. He ended up performing on the Grand Ole Opry in Nashville. Cadence Records owner, Archie Bleyer, signed Tillotson to a record contract. “Dreamy Eyes” was his first single released in the fall of 1958. It peaked at #63 on the Billboard Hot 100. It would wait three years before appearing on the pop charts in Vancouver in 1961, peaking at #8, as the song enjoyed a more successful re-issue.
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#395: Gypsy Woman/String Along by Rick Nelson
Peak Month: June 1963
5 weeks on CFUN’s Vancouver Chart
Gypsy Woman Peak Position ~ #6
Peak Position on Billboard Hot 100 ~ #62
YouTube: “Gypsy Woman”
Lyrics: “Gypsy Woman”
Peak Month: June 1963
6 weeks on CFUN’s Vancouver Chart
String Along Peak Position ~ #5
Peak Position on Billboard Hot 100 ~ #25
YouTube: “String Along”
Lyrics: “String Along”
In 1940 Eric Hilliard Nelson was born. On February 20, 1949, while still eight years old, he took the stage name of Ricky Nelson when appearing on the radio program, The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet. A child actor, Ricky was also a musician and singer-songwriter. who starred alongside his family in the long-running television series, The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet (1952–66), as well as co-starring alongside John Wayne and Dean Martin in the western Rio Bravo (1959). He placed 53 songs on the Billboard singles charts between 1957 and 1973.
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#394: So Far Away by Carole King
Peak Month: October 1971
9 weeks on Vancouver’s CKVN Chart
Peak Position ~ #2
Peak Position on Billboard Hot 100 ~ #14
YouTube: “So Far Away”
Lyrics: “So Far Away”
Carole King was born Carol Joan Klein in 1942 in Manhattan and raised in Brooklyn. Her parents were Jewish. From the age of three, her mother taught her how to play piano. At age four her parents discovered she had perfect pitch, and was able to sing each note on target. Of her piano lessons King later said in an interview, “My mother never forced me to practice. She didn’t have to. I wanted so much to master the popular songs that poured out of the radio.” In 1957 Carole Klein formed a group called the Co-sines, and changed her surname from Klein to King. At the time she dated Neil Sedaka. She and fellow student Paul Simon recorded demo records for $25 a disc.
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