#1: Hey Ho, What You Do To Me by the Guess Who?

City: Thunder Bay, ON
Radio Station: CKPR
Peak Month: October 1965
Peak Position in Thunder Bay ~ #1
Peak Position in Vancouver ~ #15
Peak Position on Billboard Hot 100 ~ #51
YouTube: “Hey Ho, What You Do To Me”
Lyrics: N/A

Randolph Charles Bachman was born in 1943 in Winnipeg, Manitoba. When he was just three years old he entered the King of the Saddle singing contest on CKY radio, Manitoba’s first radio station that began in 1923. Bachman won the contest. When he turned five years he began to study the violin through the Royal Toronto Conservatory. Though he couldn’t read music, he was able to play anything once he heard it. He dropped out of high school and subsequently a business administration program in college. He co-founded a Winnipeg band called Al & The Silvertones with Chad Allan in 1960.

In 1962 the band became Chad Allan and the Reflections after some lineup changes. In addition to lead singer and guitarist, Chad Allen, and Randy Bachman on guitar, the keyboard player was Bob Ashley, on bass guitar was Jim Kale, and the drummer was Gary Peterson. Born in Winnipeg in 1943, Kale was still 18-years-old when he joined Chad Allen and the Reflections. Garry Denis Peterson was born in Winnipeg in 1945. He was 17-years-old when he joined the band. In 1962 they released “Tribute To Buddy Holly”, followed in 1963 by “Shy Guy” and in 1964 “Stop Teasing Me”. Later in 1964 the band changed its name to Chad Allen and the Expressions.

They had a hit in Canada in 1965 called “Shakin’ All Over”, a cover version of the original by the UK’s Johnny Kidd And The Pirates in 1960. Quality Records label credited the “Guess Who?” as the recording artist in an attempt to disguise the fact that the group was Canadian. Quality thought the record would be better received if they were thought to be a British Invasion act. The actual name, Chad Allan and the Expressions, was revealed a few months later. However, radio DJs in the United States and Canada continued to announce the group singing “Shakin’ All Over” as Guess Who?. This prompted a name-change to The Guess Who?

In 1965 The Guess Who? had a #3 hit the Canadian RPM singles chart with a cover of the 1961 Bobby Lewis hit “Tossin’ And Turnin'”. They repeated the feat with their third national Top Ten hit in Canada with “Hey Ho, What You Do To Me”.

“Hey Ho What You Do To Me” was cowritten by Nick Ashford, Valerie Simpson, and Jo Armstead. Born Josephine Armstead in 1944, in Yazoo City, Mississippi, Armstead started singing in the church in which her mother was a minister. After her grandfather introduced her to blues music, she also began singing in juke joints and at dances, and first sang in a club as part of Bobby “Blue” Bland’s band. She joined a local band, Little Melvin & The Downbeats, as a teenager.

In 1960, Armstead along with Eloise Hester and Delores Johnson became The Ikettes as part of the Ike & Tina Turner Revue. She had been recommended to Ike Turner by her sister Velma Dishman who was his ex-wife. As an Ikette, Armstead recorded the single “”I’m Blue (The Gong-Gong Song)” which peaked at #19 on the Billboard Hot 100 and #3 on the Hot R&B Singles chart. As well, Armstead in her capacity as an Ikette backed Ike & Tina Turner on “I Idolize You”, “It’s Gonna Work Out Fine” and “Poor Fool”. The former and latter made the Top 5 on the R&B charts. However, “It’s Gonna Work Out Fine” not only reached #2 on the Hot R&B Singles chart, but also #14 on the Billboard Hot 100.

In 1962, Jo Armstead settled in New York City and recorded under the name Deena Johnson, by her own account a pseudonym to avoid being tracked down by Ike Turner. However, she recalled her time as an Ikette fondly: “It was the greatest but you had to be young to travel the Chitlin’ Circuit as they called it. We weren’t flying and we didn’t stay in 5-star hotels. It was really rough. You really had to be young but it was fun and we joked and laughed a lot.” She added, “I have the utmost respect for Ike Turner as an artist and what he created.”

After her tenure as an Ikette, Jo Armstead recorded advertising jingles, and sang back-up for such musicians as James Brown, Walter Jackson and B.B. King. Than she had a chance meeting with Nick Ashford and Valerie Simpson. They began writing songs together, one of the first results being “Let’s Go Get Stoned”, which became a number-one hit on the R&B charts for Ray Charles in 1966. Its follow-up “I Don’t Need No Doctor” was also a hit for Ray Charles and later Humble Pie. The trio of writers also had success with songs for Chuck Jackson, Maxine Brown, The Shirelles, The Nashville Teens, and the Guess Who. Armstead separately wrote songs for Aretha Franklin, Garland Green, Syl Johnson. Gladys Knight & the Pips, Dorothy Moore, and Carl Carleton.

In 1968, Jo “Joshie” Armstead had a Top 30 R&B hit with “A Stone Good Lover”. This was followed by a minor hit with “I’ve Been Turned On”. In 1972, Jo Armstead was in the Broadway musical Don’t Play Us Cheap. In 1973 the musical earned two Tony Award nominations. And in 1973, Seesaw generated seven Tony Award nominations and won two. Armstead was also part of this Broadway production. As well, Armstead has been a backing vocalist for Esther Phillips, Quincy Jones, Roberta Flack (including on “Feel Like Makin’ Love”), The Kiki Dee Band on “I’ve Got The Music In Me”, Frankie Valli on “My Eyes Adored You” and “Swearin’ to God”, B.B. King, Burt Bacharach, Taj Mahal, Nina Simone, Luther Vandross and others. Between 1962 and 1989, Jo Armstead released ten of her own singles. In the 1980s, after returning to Chicago, Armstead had a stint managing boxer, Alfonso Ratliff (who won the World Boxing Council title in 1985). She recorded for her own Prairie Rose Records in the 1990s.

Nickolas Ashford was born in 1941 in Fairfield, South Carolina. Simpson was born in the Bronx, New York, in 1946. Ashford was part of a gospel group in Ypsilanti, Michigan, in his late teens. It was in Harlem in 1964 that Ashford and Simpson first met at a Baptist church. In 1965, their song “Let’s Go Get Stoned” became a number-one R&B hit for Ray Charles in 1966. That year the Guess Who? recorded “Hey Ho, What You Do to Me”, which became a Top Ten hit in a number of record markets in Canada. Ashford and Simpson wrote several hits for Marvin Gaye and Tammi Terrell including “Your Precious Love”, “Ain’t Nothing Like The Real Thing” and “You’re All I Need To Get By”.

Ashford and Simpson wrote “Reach Out And Touch” and “Remember Me” for Diana Ross, a number-one hits in 1978 for Quincy Jones (“Stuff Like That”) and Chaka Khan (“I’m Every Woman”).

As a recording act, Ashford And Simpson had Top Ten R&B hits with “It Seems to Hang On”, “Found a Cure”, “Love Don’t Make It Right”, “Street Corner”, and “Solid”. The latter was a #12 pop hit and a number-one R&B hit in 1984. At President Barak Obama’s 2009 inauguration, Ashford and Simpson rewrote their song, “Solid”, as “Solid as Barack”. They dedicated it to him at his inaugural festivities.

Between 1972 and 1989 Ashford & Simpson charted nine singles into the Top Ten of the Billboard R&B chart. Recording artists who took their songs to the studio include Aretha Franklin, the Marvelettes, Smokey Robinson & the Miracles, Gladys Knight & the Pips, and Martha & the Vandellas. In 2011, Nick Ashford died at the age of 70 of throat cancer. In 2015, Rolling Stone ranked Ashford & Simpson among the 20 top duos in the rock ‘n roll era.

“Hey Ho What You Do To Me” is a song about a guy who, having been teased and squeezed, is amazed the impact a gal has on him. As a result he sings “I wanna tell you what you do to me”, and that he loves her. The guitar and vocals resembled the sound of the Beatles.

“Hey Ho What You Do To Me” peaked at #1 in Thunder Bay (ON), #2 in Winnipeg (MB), #15 in Vancouver, and #18 in Orlando.

In January 1966 Burton Cummings was asked to join The Guess Who?, when keyboardist Bob Ashley left the group. By May 1966 Burton Cummings became the lead vocal for the group when Chad Allen left to pursue solo work and host the CBC TV show Let’s Go. In 1966 The Guess Who? had a fourth Top Ten single on the Canadian charts titled “Believe Me“. The band released “The Clock On the Wall” and next “And She’s Mine”.

The Guess Who? released “His Girl”, a number-two hit in Vancouver in August 1967. The Guess Who? tried to tour in the UK themselves in 1967 in support of “His Girl”. However, they didn’t have the proper documentation to perform in Britain. As a result, “His Girl” only ended up spending one week on the British singles charts. A follow up single, “This Time Long Ago”, was a Top 20 hit in Vancouver later in ’67.

In the fall of 1967 The Guess Who? were hired as the house band for The Swingers, a local CBC radio show in Winnipeg. They also were hired as the house band for the TV show Let’s Go, also on the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. That show was hosted by their former band-mate, Chad Allan. The group got exposure on the 39 weeks the show aired in both seasons (1967-68 and 1968-69). The Guess Who? performed hits on the Canadian charts like “Touch Me” by The Doors, “Time of the Season” by The Zombies, “You Keep Me Hanging On” by Vanilla Fudge, “White Room” by Cream and “Along Comes Mary” by The Association. They also were able to debut some of their own compositions including “Of A Dropping Pin, “Lightfoot, and “These Eyes”.

Meanwhile, in the fall of ’67, The Guess Who? released “Flying On The Ground Is Wrong“. Their next single was titled “When Friends Fall Out“. Later in ’68, the Guess Who released “Of A Dropping Pin”.

In the summer of 1969 the Guess Who had their second #1 hit in Canada with “Laughing”. The B-side, “Undone”, was also a Top 30 hit. In January 1970 the band charted “No Time” to #1 across Canada. This was followed by the anti-war anthem “American Woman”. Though Burton Cummings would later state the song was just about preferring Canadian women to American women, the lyrics speak of larger issues: “I don’t need your war machines. I don’t need your ghetto scenes.” “American Woman” became the band’s biggest hit, and ironically was heard by some listeners as a song of adoration of American women. The Guess Who were invited to perform at the White House in July 1970. However, Pat Nixon instructed the band not to play “American Woman”, given her concern the lyrics would be understood as anti-American and anti-war. The latter being objectionable for a nation still at war in Vietnam. The B-side, “No Sugar Tonight” made the disc a double-sided number-one hit in Canada.

On February 8, 1970, the Guess Who performed in concert in Calgary at the Apollo Theatre. Randy Bachman left the Guess Who in May 1970. He was replaced by Kurt Winter, born in 1946 in Winnipeg. He was in a band called Brother. Gregory Leskiw, also born in Winnipeg in 1946, was from the band Wild Rice. Leskiw had begun learning guitar at the age of 12. Both Winter and Leskiw played guitar in the Guess Who.

Following upon their monster hit, the Guess Who had another Top Ten hit in Canada with “Hand Me Down World“, which climbed to #10 on the RPM Canadian singles chart in 1970. In the winter of 1970, The Guess Who had another Top Ten hit in Canada with “Bus Rider”/”Share The Land”.

In 1971 the Guess Who had another Top Ten hit in Canada with “Hang On To Your Life”. The song’s lyrics offered a message advising against taking illegal drugs. The album version of the song concluded with Burton Cummings reading Psalm 22: 13-15. It included these words: “my bones are out of joint… My strength is dried up like a potsherd; and my tongue cleaveth to my jaws; and thou hast brought me into the dust of death.”

The next single release in 1971 by the band was the non-album disc “Albert Flasher”/”Broken“. The followup single, “Rain Dance” became the twelfth Top Ten single for The Guess Who in Canada. The B-side, “Sour Suite” was also a Top 20 hit in Canada. In the fall of 1971, The Guess Who released “Life In The Bloodstream”, which peaked at #4 in Vancouver. All three songs were from the Guess Who’s eighth studio album So Long Bannatyne. 

In 1972 the band had more Top Ten hits in Canada with “Heartbroken Bopper” and “Running Back To Saskatoon”. The Guess Who went on tour with Three Dog Night in November and December 1972 to Japan, New Zealand, and Australia. The following year “Follow Your Daughter Home” and “Glamour Boy” kept the band on Top 40 radio. On August 14, 1973, the Guess Who appeared in Calgary at the Stampede Corral. The next single release for the band was “Star Baby“.

In 1974 The Guess Who pulled out of their international sales slump with a Top Ten hit across the continent, “Clap For The Wolfman”, a tribute to the famed rock ‘n roll DJ. The single also climbed into the Top 20 in the Netherlands (#11), South Africa (#14) and Belgium (#18).

After their album, Road Food, the band went back into a slump with fans taking a pass on further album releases into 1975-76.  The Guess Who officially split up in October 1975. Burton Cummings went solo. On May 17, 1978, the Guess Who performed in concert in Calgary at the Stampede Corral.

The Guess Who appeared concerts in Calgary on June 27, 2000, and August 11, 2001, both at the Saddledome.

Over the decades since their breakup, The Guess Who have performed at reunion concerts and tours. Meanwhile, former bandmate Randy Bachman, quit the band in 1970. He went on to form Bachman-Turner Overdrive, which was commercially very successful through the mid-70s. Bachman subsequently launched a solo career. Since 2005, Randy Bachman has been a host of Vinyl Tap,a show on CBC Radio where he plays sets of pop tunes and discusses some of the details he knows about the performers and musicians he’s met. In 2008 Randy Bachman was awarded the Order of Canada.

After he left the Guess Who, Randy Bachman released a solo album called Axe, and formed a band called Brave Belt. This included his brothers Robbie and Tim and Chad Allan. Fred Turner then replaced Chad Allan. By 1973 they were billed as the Bachman-Turner Overdrive. In the mid-70s the BTO would have a half a dozen Top Ten hits in Canada and a #1 internationally with “You Ain’t Seen Nothing Yet”. Bachman also had a solo career and co-hosted Vinyl Tap on CBC.

September 9, 2026
Ray McGinnis

References:
Contributions from John Einarson and Burton Cummings, The Guess Who, Manitoba Music Museum, Winnipeg, MB, 2012 and 2016.
Ivor Levene, “Rearview Mirror: Burton Cummings Reflects on The Guess Who,” Relix.com, New York City,  June 20, 2016.
Leslie Michele Derrough, Burton Cummings of the Guess Who (Interview), Glide, January 26, 2015.
“The Guess Who – concerts – Canada,” setlist.fm.
“Burton Cummings – concerts – Canada, ” setlist.fm.
Randy Bachman,Vinyl Tap, CBC, Toronto, Ontario.
Randy Bachman Bio, Randy Bachman.com.
“Jo Armstead: From The Cotton Fields of Mississippi, To The Cotton Club in New York City,” Sound Motion, May 13, 2008.
“Nick Ashford of Ashford & Simpson songwriting team dies at 70,” Los Angeles Times, August 24, 2011.
“20 Greatest Duos of All Time,” Rolling Stone, December 17, 2015.
Christian John Wikane, “Making a Masterpiece: An Interview with Legendary Composer Valerie Simpson,” Popmatters.com, November 13, 2020.

Fab ’58 CKPR 580-AM Thunder Bay (ON) | October 1, 1965