#44: Mountain Of Ice/School Days by Barry Ennis

City: Saskatoon, SK
Radio Station: CKOM
Peak Month: March 1964
Peak Position in Saskatoon ~ #7
Peak Position in Vancouver ~ did not chart
Peak Position on Billboard Hot 100 ~ did not chart
Citizen Freak: “Mountain Of Ice/School Days”

Barry Ennis was born in 1942 in Eston, Saskatchewan. He was the lead singer of Barry Ennis and the Keymen in the mid-sixties. The band formed in 1963 when Ennis was 21-years-old. In 1964, he released the single “Mountain Of Ice” with the B-side “School Days”.

“Mountain Of Ice” is a song about a girl who has long blonde hair, and pretty blue eyes. But she lives on a mountain of ice. The guy plans to get to the top of the mountain and win her affections. “Mountain Of Ice” was written by Andy Martino, who was the personal manager of The Cascades who are remembered for their number-one hit “Rhythm Of The Rain”. Andy Martino arranged the Cascades minor hit “Cheryl’s Goin’ Home” written by Bob Lind.

“School Days” was written by Chuck Berry, and number-one R&B hit for him in 1957. It reached #3 on the Billboard pop chart, number-one in Toronto, and #2 in Vancouver. The song is about high school life in the ’50s. The stops and starts in this song evoke the nature of high school, where you go from one class or activity to another. In the song, students go from “American history” and “practical math.” The song gives glimpses into a day at school: “And the guy behind you won’t leave you alone.” During lunchtime, “you’re lucky if you can find a seat” in the school cafeteria. As the lunch break is short, “you’re fortunate if you have time to eat.”
Chuck Berry nailed it when he exclaims:
“Soon as three o’clock rolls around,
you finally lay your burden down. 
Close up your books, get out of your seats,
down the halls and into the streets.
Up to the corner and ’round the bend,
right to the juke joint you go in.
Drop the coin right into the slot.
You gotta hear something that’s really hot…”

Teens were not into school, but into the hits on rock n’ roll radio stations. And jukeboxes were the place you could play your favorite tunes.

The disc was recorded and printed at CJCA-AM radio in Edmonton, Alberta.

“Mountain Of Ice/School Days” reached #7 in Saskatoon (SK), and #18 in Regina (SK).

In 1965, Barry Ennis and the Keymen were hired to be the backup band for Edmonton pop singer Diane James. The group travelled to Regina, Lethbridge (AB) and other prairie towns. They Ennis was passionate about music and an avid sports fan. He spent over fifteen years with Canadian Taxpayers Federation. He found his calling helping people in the community.

Barry Ennis died in 2018 from cancer at the age of 76.

References:
“Barry Ennis Obituary,” Remembering.ca, October 11, 2018.
Terry Hoknes, “Barry Ennis and the Keymen,” Facebook, July 12, 2021.

CKOM 1250-AM Saskatoon (SK) | March 15, 1964