#800: The Love Parade by The Dream Academy
Peak Month: June 1986
8 weeks on Vancouver’s CKLG chart
Peak Position #7
Peak Position on Billboard Hot 100 ~ #36
YouTube.com: “The Love Parade”
Lyrics: “The Love Parade”
The Dream Academy were a folk rock and new wave group from London, England. They formed in 1983 with their membership consisting of Nick Laird-Clowes on vocals and guitar, Kate St. John on oboe, accordion, saxophone, piano and cor anglais (English horn) and Gilbert Gabriel on piano and clarinet. David Gilmour, a member of Pink Floyd, produced the Dream Academy’s first two albums. They had a Top Ten hit in 1985 called “Life in a Northern Town”. It was an ethereal tune with images of Salvation Army Band’s children drinking lemonade, mornings lasting all day, of rain and going to a railway station. There are references as well to the winter of 1963, John F. Kennedy and The Beatles.
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#802: My Back Pages by The Byrds
Peak Month: April 1967
7 weeks on Vancouver’s CKLG chart
Peak Position #6
1 week Hitbound: March 18, 1967
Peak Position on Billboard Hot 100 ~ #30
YouTube.com: “My Back Pages”
Lyrics: “My Back Pages”
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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#833: God Only Knows by The Beach Boys
Peak Month: September 1966
12 weeks on Vancouver’s CKLG chart
Peak Position #5
Peak Position on Billboard Hot 100 ~ #39
YouTube.com: “God Only Knows”
Lyrics: “God Only Knows”
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. His named the group Carl and the Passions in order to convince his brother to join. They had a performance at Hawthorne High School, where they attended. Among the people in the audience was Al Jardine, another classmate. Jardine 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. The first song Brian Wilson wrote would become “Surfer Girl”. A demo of the tune was made in February 1962 and would go on to be a Top Ten hit when it was released a year later in 1963. However, their first recording was a doo-wop-surf tune called “Surfin’” in October 1961. It was released in November ’61 on the Candix Enterprises Inc. label. The surprise for the group was that the record label had changed the group’s name from the Pendletones to the Beach Boys. Consequently, as each time the record was played by a DJ in America, radio listeners were being introduced to the Beach Boys. The name Pendletones was now history.
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#803: Queen Of The Angels by Deane Hawley
Peak Month: July 1962
12 weeks on Vancouver’s CFUN chart
Peak Position #9
CFUN Twin Pick May 26, 1962
Peak Position on Billboard Hot 100 ~ did not chart
YouTube.com: “Queen Of The Angels”
William Deane Hawley was born in Staten Island, New York, on December 18, 1937. He moved to California at the age of three. He attended USC and got a Masters in Human Behavior while also recording pop singles and appearing on several TV music shows. He recorded his first song in 1958, credited to Deane Hawley and The Crystals on the Valor label. He worked with a number of songwriters including Dorsey Burnette (“Bossman”) and Sharon Sheeley (“Don’t Dress the World in Black”) and Ben Wiseman and Fred Wise (“Pocket Full of Rainbows”).
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#805: Mama by B.J. Thomas
Peak Month: June 1966
8 weeks on Vancouver’s CFUN chart
Peak Position #4 CFUN
Peak Position on Billboard Hot 100 ~ #22
YouTube.com link: “Mama”
Lyrics: “Mama”
Billy Joe Thomas was born in Hugo, Oklahoma, in 1942. His family eventually moved to Houston, Texas. When he was in his teens playing baseball, Billy Joe Thomas took the name of BJ. This was because there were too many boys on the baseball team with the name of Billy Joe. During his teens he sang in a church choir. In 1958, BJ Thomas heard “To Be Loved” by Jackie Wilson. He credits the song as being a catalyst for his love of singing. In the late 50’s, in grade eleven, his Junior year, BJ Thomas became lead singer for a local band named The Triumphs. He got to know Roy Head and the Traits. The Traits and The Triumphs participated in several Battle of the Bands events in the early 60’s. In 1966, BJ Thomas got a record contract with Scepter Records.
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#801: You’re So Square by Buddy Holly
Peak Month: October 1961
7 weeks on Vancouver’s CKWX chart
Peak Position #5
CKWX Hot Prospect: September 23, 1961
Peak Position on Billboard Hot 100 ~ did not chart
YouTube.com: “You’re So Square”
Lyrics: “You’re So Square”
In 1936, Charles Hardin Holley was born in Lubbock, Texas. When he was five years old he won $5 when he entered a local talent show and sang “Down The River of Memories.” He listened to the Grand Ole Opry growing up and after trying to learn the piano settled on taking up the guitar. During his Junior and Senior years in school, Holley entered some talent shows with friends in duos and doing gigs with a band playing a blend of country & western and rhythm & blues. He had a band that performed live on the Lubbock radio station KDAV. After high school graduation Holly focused on making a career as a musician. He heard Elvis Presley in concert in Lubbock in 1955. Shortly after Hollry would appear as the opening act for Presley in concert three times in 1955. Owen Bradley, who would also produce records for Conway Twitty, Brenda Lee, Patsy Cline and Gene Vincent, became Holley’s record producer after he signed a record deal with Decca Records in February 1956. After signing the record deal, Buddy Holley dropped the “e” from his surname to become Buddy Holly.
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#811: Something About You by The Four Tops
Peak Month: November 1965
6 weeks on Vancouver’s CKLG chart
Peak Position #3
Wax To Watch ~ November 6, 1965
Peak Position on Billboard Hot 100 ~ #19
YouTube.com: “Something About You”
Lyrics: “Something About You”
The Four Tops were Levi Stubbs, Abdul “Duke” Fakir, Renaldo “Obie” Benson and Lawrence Payton. Stubbs was born in 1936 as Levi Stubbles and was a cousin of Jackie Wilson. The first three were from Pershing High School in Detroit. Payton was from Northern High School. They met at a birthday party in 1953 for a mutual friend and while in high school formed a group called The Four Aims. Their repertoire was jazz and pop standards. To avoid confusion with the pop group, The Ames Brothers, they switched their name to The Four Tops. They signed a record contract with Chess Records in 1956. They left Detroit at that time for the Big Apple. Abdul “Duke” Fakir, recalls they foursome bounced around the nightclub circuit. They group shared a studio apartment. They rotated three daytime suits. It was agreed that whoever had the more important engagement got first pick. However, when they signed later with Motown in 1963 their fortunes changed. Berry Gordy Jr. saw The Four Tops perform “In The Still of The Night” on the Jack Paar Show that year.
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#812: I Have A Boyfriend by The Chiffons
Peak Month: December 1963
9 weeks on Vancouver’s CFUN chart
Peak Position #5
Peak Position on Billboard Hot 100 ~ #36
YouTube.com: “I Have A Boyfriend”
Lyrics: “I Have A Boyfriend”
Formed in 1960, The Chiffons were a girl-group from the Bronx. The group consisted of three classmates from James Monroe High School, Patricia Bennett, Barbara Lee and lead singer, Judy Craig. Songwriter, Ronnie Mack, who wrote the groups first hit, “He’s So Fine”, suggested the group add Sylvia Peterson to make them a quartette in 1962. In March 1963, “He’s So Fine” took the group to #1 for four weeks in on the Billboard charts and to #1 on the Vancouver pop charts for three weeks. The tune ended up being involved in a plagiarism lawsuit against former Beatle, George Harrison. A record by Harrison, “My Sweet Lord”, was found to be a case of “subconscious plagiarism” by a US judge in 1976 in favor of Bright Tunes Music Corporation that owned the rights to “He’s So Fine”. The ruling involved U.S. Copyright Law where it was found that “substantial similarity” was proved, that a level of similarity between “He’s So Fine” and “My Sweet Lord” existed to a degree necessary to show that copying had occurred.
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#813: Come On Up by The Young Rascals
Peak Month: October 1966
7 weeks on Vancouver’s CKLG chart
Peak Position #5
Peak Position on Billboard Hot 100 ~ #43
YouTube.com: “Come On Up”
Lyrics: “Come On Up”
In 1942, Felix Cavaliere was born in Pelham, New York, a 15 minute drive north of Times Square in midtown Manhattan. He was trained in classical piano from the age of six. He learned to play keyboards and as a singer, in 1963, was hired to join Joey Dee And The Starliters, of “The Peppermint Twist” fame. Eddie Brigati was born in Garfield, New Jersey, in 1945. He learned to sing and play percussion. In 1963, he became a member of Joey Dee and The Starliters. Brigati co-wrote most of the Young Rascals songs, along with Cavaliere. Guitar player, Gene Cornish, was born in New Jersey and grew up in Ontario and in Rochester, New York. In 1964, he joined Joey Dee And The Starliters. By late 1964, Cavaliere, Brigati and Cornish teamed up with Jersey City native, Dino Danelli, to form the Young Rascals. Danelli was a drummer. Eddie Brigati’s brother, David, helped with studio recordings and was a reliable backup singer on the records. David Brigati is sometimes referred to as the “Fifth Rascal.” However, it was just the four ~ Felix Cavaliere, Eddie Brigati, Gene Cornish and Dino Danelli ~ who performed in live concerts.
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#814: Calling Dr. Casey by John D. Loudermilk
Peak Month: July 1962
9 weeks on Vancouver’s CFUN chart
Peak Position #7
Peak Position on Billboard Hot 100 ~ #83
YouTube.com: “Calling Dr. Casey”
Lyrics: “Calling Dr. Casey”
John D. Loudermilk was born in Durham, North Carolina, in 1934. Although he had a middle initial, D, the “D” wasn’t short for any middle name. His father was an illiterate carpenter, John D Loudermilk Sr. John D Jr. When he was seven his dad gave him a ukulele made from a cigar box. Young John D Jr. learned to play guitar in his youth and began to write poems and songs. His poetry was inspired after he began to read the works of Kahlil Gibran. In his late teens, in the early 50’s, John D Jr. wrote a poem titled “A Rose And A Baby Ruth”. It concerned a teenage couple who have a quarrel and the boy gives his girlfriend a rose and a Baby Ruth candy bar to make up. Loudermilk put notes to the poem and played the sung version on a local TV station. This caught the attention of country singer, George Hamilton IV. The song was published in 1956 and became a Top Ten hit on both the Country and Pop charts on Billboard Magazine. The following year, Loudermilk penned “Sittin’ In The Balcony” for Eddie Cochran. Once that became a hit, Loudermilk’s songwriting career was launched. He co-wrote “Waterloo,” a #1 country hit and #4 pop hit in 1959 for country singer, Stonewall Jackson.
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