#538: Sit Down I Think I Love You by the Mojo Men
Peak Month: February 1967
9 weeks on CFUN’s Vancouver Charts
Peak Position ~ #2 ~ CKLG
Peak Position on Billboard Hot 100 ~ #36
YouTube.com: “Sit Down I Think I Love You” ~ Mojo Men baroque rock cover
YouTube.com: “Sit Down I Think I Love You” ~ Buffalo Springfield original rock version
Lyrics: “Sit Down I Think I Love You”
Singer and bass guitarist Jim Alaimo was born James Charles Alamio in 1938. Jim was in a Coral Gables, Florida, band called the Redcoats with his cousin Steve Alaimo. They released a single in 1958 titled “Home By Eleven” on a label called Dade Records, which is also the name of the county that Coral Gables was located. In 1959 they released a doo-wop single titled “I Want You To Love Me”. Subsequent singles in ’59-’60 were rockabilly-infused “She’s My Baby”, a doo-wop tune “You Can Fall In Love”, and teen ballad “Love Letters”. Steve Alaimo went on to have a solo career and had a Top 30 hit in 1963 titled “Everyday I Have To Cry”.
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#365: Happiness by the Pointer Sisters
Peak Month: June 1979
14 weeks on Vancouver’s CFUN chart
Peak Position #6
Peak Position on Billboard Hot 100 ~ #30
YouTube: “Happiness”
Lyrics: “Happiness”
Ruth (born 1946), Anita (born 1948), Bonnie (born 1950), and June (born 1953) Pointer grew up with their brothers and parents in West Oakland. Throughout their childhood the children were raised to listen to and sing gospel at the Church of God in Christ congregation in West Oakland. Their parents, Reverend Elton Pointer and Sarah Pointer, told the children rock ‘n roll and the blues were “the devil’s music.” and it was only when they were away from their watchful parents that they could sing these styles. It happened that June Pointer bought a copy of Elvis Presley’s 1957 single “All Shook Up” which her mother allowed her to play because the B-side was “Crying in the Chapel”. In 1958 the parents bought a piano and Ruth began to take piano lessons.
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#366: Barbara-Ann by the Regents
Peak Month: June 1961
8 weeks on CKWX’s Vancouver Chart
Peak Position ~ #2
Peak Position on Billboard Hot 100 ~ #13
YouTube: “Barbara-Ann”
Lyrics: “Barbara-Ann”
In 1957 there was a doo-wop group formed in the Bronx called The Monterays. Group members included second tenor Ernie Maresca, second tenor Chuck Fassert, lead singer Guy Villari (born Gaetano Villari in 1942 in the Bronx), first tenor Sal Cuomo and bass singer Tony Gravagna. The group changed their name to the Desires. Ernie Maresca was born in the Bronx, New York, in 1939. He wrote a song the Desires recorded in 1958 titled “Story Of Love”. It was not released by Seville Records until 1962. Then Ernie Maresca left the group and was replaced by Don Jacabucci. The group renamed themselves The Regents. This was because they had recorded a demo at Regent Sound studio and Guy Villari smoked Regents cigarettes. To this day, Villari has the empty pack that was in his pocket when the name was chosen. It was also helpful to change their name since an African-American doo-wop group called the Desires formed in 1958, after its members met at the 118th Street Youth Center in New York City. And a doo-wop group in Brooklyn named the Desires released “I Don’t Know Why” in 1960.
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#369: So You Are A Star by the Hudson Brothers
Peak Month: December 1974
10 weeks on Vancouver’s CKLG chart
Peak Position #2
Peak Position on Billboard Hot 100 ~ #21
YouTube: “So You Are A Star”
Lyrics: “So You Are A Star”
William Louis Hudson Jr. was born in 1949. Mark Jeffery Anthony Hudson was born in 1951. Brett Stuart Patrick Hudson was born in 1953. The three brothers were all born in Portland, Oregon. Their father left the family when the boys were young after he told their mother he “was going out for a pack of cigarettes.” Bill and Mark formed a band in 1963. Brett was eleven and recalls he was “too young and overweight and I wasn’t in the band.” But when Brett got sick with a virus, his older brothers decided he could join the band if he got better (they were afraid Brett was going to die). Brett got better and joined the My Sirs. In 1964 they added a guitarist named Kent Fillmore to their group. Bill also played guitar, Brett played bass guitar, and Mark played drums and keyboards. All three Hudson brothers sang vocals, with Bill as lead vocalist. After winning several local “battle of the bands”-type contest, the group recorded several songs at a local recording studio, where they received the attention of a local promoter, who offered them a contract promoting Chrysler automobiles.
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#1098: Doowutchyalike by Digital Underground
Peak Month: September 1990
9 weeks on Vancouver’s CKLG chart
Peak Position #11
Peak Position on Billboard Hot 100 ~ did not chart
YouTube: “Doowutchyalike”
Lyrics: “Doowutchyalike”
In 1987, Digital Underground formed in Oakland, California. The frontman for the group is Gregory Jacobs who is billed as Shock G. Jacobs was born in 1963 in Brooklyn, New York, and spent most of his childhood in Tampa, Florida. But after his parents divorce when he was age 12, he moved back to Brooklyn. At that time he discovered turntabling: the manipulation of phonograph records and needles and a mixer by a DJ. At that time he used the nickname MC Starchild. His nickname changed to Shah-G when his cousin, Shah-T gave him the name. It shifted in time from Shah-G to Shock G. Moving back to Tampa and then to Oakland, Shock G got work as a clerk in a music store. He met up with Chopmaster J and Kenny-K. The trio became Digital Underground.
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#376: Black Land Farmer by Wink Martindale
Peak Month: September 1961
11 weeks on Vancouver’s CFUN
Peak Position #4 CFUN/ #2 CKWX
Peak Position on Billboard Hot 100 ~ #85
YouTube: “Black Land Farmer”
Lyrics: “Black Land Farmer”
Winston Conrad “Wink” Martindale was born in Jackson, Tennessee, in 1933. His first work for pay was as a paperboy for the Jackson Sun. Then he was a soda jerk at Baker’s Drug Store. In 1951, Martindale began his career as a disc jockey while he was still just 17-years-old at WPLI in Jackson. His starting salary was $1.02 a week. He was quickly hired at WTJS, also in Jackson, and next at WDXI. In short order Martindale had doubled his salary. He would recall later ““I think that I was born with a desire to be a radio announcer. I always had that great desire to sit behind a microphone. My first ‘mic’ was two paper cups attached to a string. It wasn’t long before I was sitting behind the real thing.” Between 1953 and 1957 he was a DJ at WHBQ in Memphis. Meanwhile, he earned a Bachelors degree at Memphis State University majoring in Speech and English, with a minor in Journalism.
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#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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