#703: Moon River by Jean Thomas
Peak Month: May 1962
10 weeks on CFUN’s Vancouver Charts
Peak Position ~ #6
Peak Position on Billboard Hot 100 ~ did not chart
YouTube.com: “Moon River”
Lyrics: “Moon River”
Jean Thomas was born in Weymouth, Massachusetts, in the early 40’s. She grew up in Sarasota, Florida. Since her parents own a summer business in Nantasket Beach, one of the busiest beaches in the Greater Boston area, she returned with her family to Massachusetts each summer. At Sarasota High School, Jean was part of a singing group called Preacher John and the Five Saints. In the fall of 1959, she attended Florida State University in Tallahassee. In 1961, Jean and her brother Don went to New York City to pursue their dreams. They headed over to Paul Anka’s Spanka Publishing Company. They were promptly and signed to a songwriting contract. Jean Thomas did an audition in the Brill Building at 1650 Broadway.
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#731: Spanish Eyes by Al Martino
Peak Month: January 1966
9 weeks on CFUN’s Vancouver Charts
Peak Position ~ #3
Peak Position on Billboard Hot 100 ~ #15
YouTube.com:”Spanish Eyes”
Lyrics: “Spanish Eyes”
Jasper Cini was born in 1927 in Philadelphia. His first name was an Anglicization of his father’s name, Gasparino. His parents were immigrants from Abruzzo, Italy. His family were bricklayers. He worked in his father’s construction business. When he was still in his teens he joined the United States Navy. But during World War II he got a shrapnel injury and was sent back home. Next, he was inspired by his boyhood friend, Alfredo Cocozza, and hoped to pursue a singing career. Alfredo Cocozza later changed his name to Mario Lanza. At night, Jasper Cini sang in local Philly bars and clubs. Mario Lanza convinced Jasper Cini to change his name to Al Martino. Al moved to New York City in 1948 and became roommates with Eddie Fischer and Guy Mitchell, fellow crooners also hoping for a big break. Martino got noticed and was invited to appear on the Arthur Godfrey’s Talent Scout Show in 1952. He won the context singing a #1 hit from 1951 by Perry Como titled “If (They Made Me A King)”. In 1952 Al Martino had a breakthrough #1 hit in America, Canada and Britain with “Here In My Heart”.
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#1373: Same Song by Digital Underground
Peak Month: May 1991
8 weeks on CKLGs Vancouver Charts
Peak Position ~ #18
Peak Position on Billboard Hot 100 ~ did not chart
YouTube.com: “Same Song”
Lyrics: “Same Song”
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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#1303: Come On Down (From The Top of That Hill) by Jackie De Shannon
Peak Month: February 1967
8 weeks on CFUN’s Vancouver Charts
Peak Position ~ #13
Peak Position on Billboard Hot 100 ~ #121
YouTube.com:”Come On Down (From The Top of That Hill)
Sharon Lee Myers was born in Hazel, Kentucky, in 1941, a town on the Tennessee and western Kentucky border. When she was only two years old she received her first vocal training. By 1947, she was appearing on a local radio station as a child country and western singer. And by 1952, Sharon Lee Myers was hosting her own radio show. In 1954, with the family farm posing mounting challenges, the family moved to her mother’s home town of Aurora, Illinois, a seven hour drive north of Hazel. A year later, when she was in 8th grade, the family moved to nearby Batavia, Illinois. Her dad became a barber and young Sharon got instant recognition in the local paper. A headline in on May 5, 1955, in the Batavia Herald read “Sharon Lee Myers, Only 13, Is Talented Batavia Vocalist.” The paper enthused, “Though only 13, the youngster can boast almost 11 years of voice training and experience and in the past she has toured most of the south making personal appearances. Also she has sung on radio with a rhythm band for 2 years and has appeared on television 3 times.”
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#1290: It Won’t Be Wrong/Set You Free This Time by The Byrds
Peak Month: March 1966
7 weeks on CFUN’s Vancouver Charts
Peak Position ~ #10
CFUN Pick of the Week ~ January 29, 1966
“It Won’t Be Wrong”
Peak Position on Billboard Hot 100 ~ #63
YouTube.com: “It Won’t Be Wrong”
Lyrics: “It Won’t Be Wrong”
“Set You Free This Time”
Peak Position on Billboard Hot 100 ~ #79
YouTube.com: “Set You Free This Time”
Lyrics: “Set You Free This Time”
Around 1963 a folk trio that named itself the Jet Set, consisted of Roger McGuinn on vocals and lead guitar, Gene Clark on vocals tambour and rhythm guitar and David Crosby on vocals and rhythm guitar. In 1964 the trio released a single that was a commercial failure and credited to The Beefeaters. They added bass (and mandolin) player Chris Hillman and drummer Michael Clarke and became The Byrds. They offered up a fusion of folk-rock and became an instant hit with two #1 hits in Vancouver and the Billboard Hot 100 in 1965: “Mr. Tambourine Man” and “Turn, Turn, Turn”. The former was written by Bob Dylan and the latter by Pete Seeger. A single between their #1 hits was another Dylan tune titled “All I Really Want To Do”. The Byrds were perennial favorites in Vancouver who consistently had better chart runs in Vancouver than back in their home country of America. Aside from their two #1 hits, they failed to chart other songs into the Billboard Hot 100. But in Vancouver they charted ten songs into the Top Ten.
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#712: Tall Cool One by The Wailers
Peak Month: April 1964
9 weeks on CFUN’s Vancouver Charts
Peak Position ~ #6
Peak Position on Billboard Hot 100 ~ #36
YouTube.com: “Tall Cool One”
In 1958, a rock band called The Nitecaps was formed in Tacoma, Washington. The band was composed of five schoolmates. John Greek played rhythm guitar and trumpet, Richard Dangel was on lead guitar, Kent Morrill played keyboards and sang vocals, Mark Marush played tenor saxophone and Mike Burr was the bands drummer. Greek and Marush were born in 1940, Morrill in 1941 and Dangel and Burk in 1942. In 1958, the group made a demo of an instrumental whose title, “Scotch On The Rocks.” It was re-recorded in 1959 as “Tall Cool One,” a titled suggested by Kent Morrill’s mother. The recording happened after a dance where the Wailers were performing in Tacoma.
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#1216: Sound Of Love by The Five Americans
Peak Month: July 1967
5 weeks on CKLG’s Vancouver Charts
Peak Position ~ #7
1 Week Hit Bound
Peak Position on Billboard Hot 100 ~ #36
YouTube.com: “Sound Of Love”
Lyrics: “Sound Of Love”
The Five Americans were originally a group called The Mutineers. They consisted of guitarist Mike Rabon, keyboard player Jim Durrill, guitar and harmonica player Norman Ezell, bass player Jim Grant and drummer Johnny Coble. From Durant, Oklahoma, they graduated as students from the local Southeastern State College and moved to Dallas, Texas. Coble was replaced by Jimmy Wright. Once in Texas their style shifted from mostly instrumental versions of tunes by Duane Eddy to a garage band sound. They recorded “I See The Light” in 1965 and it became a Top 30 hit in the USA the following year. It featured the Vox Continental electric organ and shouting out lyrics such as “you tried to fool me, but I got wise, now I won’t listen to none of your lies…. From now on baby, I’m gonna beware. I’ll be sorry baby, but I don’t care…”
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#861: Look What You’ve Done by The Pozo Seco Singers
Peak Month: January 1967
7 weeks on CKLG’s Vancouver Charts
Peak Position ~ #6
1 Week Hit Bound
Peak Position on Billboard Hot 100 ~ #32
YouTube.com:”Look What You’ve Done”
Lyrics: “Look What You’ve Done”
In 1964, baritone singer Don Williams and tenor Lofton Kline were a Corpus Christi singing duo that went by the name of The Strangers Two. They heard 17-year-old Ray High School student, Susan Taylor, performing solo at the Del Mar Hootenannies. Lofton recalls, “Don was married and had a little one to support, and was working at Pittsburgh Plate Glass. I was going to Del Mar College in Corpus. The college had a hootenanny scheduled and Don and I were asked to entertain.” After they met Susan Taylor, as Lofton tells it, ““We asked her to come over and practice with us the following week. She did…and the rest is ‘history.’” Susan’s alto voice blended perfectly with Don’s baritone and Lofton’s tenor.
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#715: It’ll Be Me by Cliff Richard
Peak Month: August 1963
11 weeks on CFUN’s Vancouver Charts
Peak Position ~ #7
Peak Position on Billboard Hot 100 ~ did not chart
YouTube.com: “It’ll Be Me”
Lyrics: “It’ll Be Me”
Cliff Richard was born Harry Roger Webb on October 14, 1940, in the city of Lucknow in Uttar Pradesh, India. In 1940 Lucknow was part of the British Raj, as India was not yet an independent country. Webb’s father worked on as a catering manager for the Indian Railways. His mother raised Harry and his three sisters. In 1948, when India had become independent, the Webb family took a boat to Essex, England, and began a new chapter. At the age of 16 Harry Webb was given a guitar by his father. Harry then formed a vocal group called the Quintones. Webb was interested in skiffle music, a type of jug band music, popularized by “The King of Skiffle,” Scottish singer Lonnie Donegan who had an international hit in 1955 called “Rock Island Line.”
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#915: C’mon by Poco
Peak Month: May 1971
8 weeks on CKVN’s Vancouver Charts
Peak Position ~ #9
Peak Position on Billboard Hot 100 ~ #69
YouTube.com: “C’mon”
Lyrics: “C’mon”
Paul Richard “Richie” Furay was born in 1944 in Yellow Springs, Ohio. He is a singer, songwriter, and Rock & Roll Hall of Fame member. Furay is best known for forming the band Buffalo Springfield and later forming the band Poco. Prior to forming Buffalo Springfield, Furay was a member of the nine member group called the Au Go Go Singers who performed at New York City’s Cafe Au Go Go. In 1967, one of the production engineers for the album, Buffalo Springfield Again, was Jim Messina. He was the producer for the bands final album in 1968, Last Time Around. Messina was born in Maywood, California, in Los Angeles County, in 1947. While still 16 years of age in 1964, Messina recorded his first record credited to Jim Messina And His Jesters, primarily a surf guitar album.
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