#8: Only by Dorion

City: Saskatoon, SK
Radio Station: CKOM
Peak Month: July 1986
Peak Position in Saskatoon ~ #4
Peak Position in Vancouver ~ did not chart
Peak Position on Billboard Hot 100 ~ did not chart
YouTube: “Only”
Lyrics: N/A

Ron Dorion is he name of the singer who went by the name Dorion. He is not to be confused the 80s Canadian rock band Dorian from New Hamburg, Ontario. Dorion was a solo recording artist who got a record contract with Columbia Records in the mid-80s. He sounded a bit like George Michael.

“Only” is a song about a guy who wants the one he adores to know they are the only one. He’s not thinking of anyone else. He’s not trying to lead them on.

“Only” reached #4 in Saskatoon (SK).

On a YouTube post, someone named Dwayne Jeffrey writes “Love this song. It actually hit number 4 in Saskatoon back in 1986.” Since “Only” was at #6 the week of July 25, 1986, it’s a good bet it was ranked at #4 for the week of July 18, 1986, on CKOM in Saskatoon. But the chart isn’t available online. However, there is an online CKOM chart published for the week of June 20, 1986, where “Only” climbed from #15 – the week of June 13th – to #11. On the June 20, 1986, and August 1, 1986 CKOM Top 20 charts the following songs were on both charts.

June 20, 1986                                                                                                    August 1, 1986
#2 – There’ll Be Sad Songs to Make You Cry – Billy Ocean                       #19
#7 – Who’s Johnny – El DeBarge                                                                    #14
#8 – Invisible Touch – Genesis                                                                        #  5
#11 – Only – Dorion                                                                                            #  9
#17 – Sledgehammer – Peter Gabriel                                                              #  3
#19 – Patio Lanterns – Kim Mitchell                                                               #  4

“Only” by Dorion charted in the CKOM Top Ten between the weeks of June 27 and August 1, 1986 – for six weeks.

In 1987, Ron Dorion had a followup release titled “I Feel Like Buddy Holly”. Whatever happened to him, or information about his place of birth in Canada seems to have vanished – at least he’s left no trail on the Internet.

June 15, 2026
Ray McGinnis

References:

CKOM 650-AM Saskatoon (SK) | August 1, 1986