Band Bandit by Tundra

#37: Band Bandit by Tundra

City: Calgary, AB
Radio Station: CKXL
Peak Month: January-February 1971
Peak Position in Calgary ~ #5
Peak position in Vancouver ~ #10
Peak Position on Billboard Hot 100 ~ did not chart
YouTube: “Band Bandit
Lyrics: n/a

Tundra was a band formed in from Toronto in 1970. The original line up was Al Manning on guitar, Bruce Manning on bass guitar, Glen LeCompte on drums, Lisa Garber on vocals, and Scott Cushnie on piano. George Scott Cushnie was born in 1938 and was a member of the Toronto band the Suedes (with Robbie Robertson). He also played with Ronnie Hawkins and the Hawks. Cushnie was also a member of the Hamilton based rock band Jerry Warren & the Tremblers who released a local hit in 1960 titled “Rompin'”. In the early 60s Cushnie also played with a band based in Alexandra, called Barry Darvell & the Blazers. He also played with the Ottawa group, The Townsmen, for about a year.

Continue reading →

My Guy by Dianne James

#23: My Guy by Dianne James

City: Halifax, NS
Radio Station: CHNS
Peak Month: June  1965
Peak Position in Halifax ~ #8
Peak position in Vancouver ~ did not chart
Peak Position on Billboard Hot 100 ~ did not chart
Peak Position on RPM Top Singles chart ~ #13
YouTube: “My Guy
Lyrics: N/A

Born in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Dianne James moved to Edmonton where she started singing with various groups. James became a headliner at The Mayfair Club with a group called the Shamrocks. She appeared regularly on the local CBC-TV show Teen Tempo. James was discovered in Edmonton by manager Don Eckess who signed her to Arc Records. James released her first single “Don’t Go”/ “The Time Has Come”. “Don’t Go” peaked at #12 in Calgary. While “The Time Has Come” was a Top 50 hit in Regina (SK). James also released two other singles at the age of 20. The second of these was “My Guy”, not to be confused with the 1964 same-titled song by Mary Wells from 1964.

Continue reading →

Bust the TV by the Pumps

#24: Bust the TV by the Pumps

City: Halifax, NS
Radio Station: CJCH
Peak Month: May  1980
Peak Position in Halifax ~ #8
Peak position in Vancouver ~ did not chart
Peak Position on Billboard Hot 100 ~ did not chart
YouTube: “Bust The TV

The Pumps is a hard rock/AOR band from Winnipeg (MB) that was formed in 1978. Taking their name from a random pick in a Winnipeg phone book, The Pumps centred around friends Chris Burke-Gaffney on vocals and bass, lead guitarist Lou Petrovich, and drummer Terry Norman Taylor. Within a few months, Brent Diamond joined on keyboards. They released an album in 1980 titled Gotta Move.

Continue reading →

Sign Of The Times by Mens Room

#25: Sign Of The Times by Mens Room

City: Halifax, NS
Radio Station: CJCH
Peak Month: June-July  1983
Peak Position in Halifax ~ #7
Peak position in Vancouver ~ did not chart
Peak Position on Billboard Hot 100 ~ did not chart
YouTube: “Sign Of The Times
Lyrics: “Sign Of The Times

Mens Room was a studio project featuring three well-known Canadian singers. Charity Brown, a Kitchener native who had success in Canada with the group Rain. Charity Brown’s biggest hit was “Take Me In Your Arms” from 1975.  Cherrill Rae was half of the successful British-Canadian duo The Raes with her husband Robbie, who released three albums, had a hit television variety show in Canada from 1978 to 1980. Caren Cole was a classical musician and rock singer from Toronto who would later have a Hi-NRG hit with “I Need A Lover Tonight”.

Continue reading →

She Says by 49th Parallel

#38: She Says by 49th Parallel

City: Calgary, AB
Radio Station: CKXL
Peak Month: January 1968
Peak Position in Calgary ~ #7
Peak position in Vancouver ~ did not chart
Peak Position on Billboard Hot 100 ~ did not chart
YouTube: “She Says
Lyrics: n/a

Singer Dennis Abbott and guitar player Dan Lowe formed a band in the mid-60’s called The Real McCoys. The name was soon discarded in favor of The Shades of Blond. The band consisted of Abbott and Lowe, joined by Bob Carlson on guitar, Dave Petch on organ, Mick Woodhouse on bass guitar, and Terry Bare on drums. The Shades of Blond played covers of British Invasion hits. As well, they began to write some songs and experimented with a fuzz-guitar garage rock sound. This got them a contract to record on International Master Discovery Records, which put out an album featuring four of the new Calgary bands. By ’67 they’d changed their name to 49th Parallel, and had all but outgrown the local circuit. They played the prairies relentlessly for the next year or so, making over a dozen stops in Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan at The Temple Gardens alone.

Continue reading →

Girls On Film by Duran Duran

#26: Girls On Film by Duran Duran

City: Halifax, NS
Radio Station: CJCH
Peak Month: November  1983
Peak Position in Halifax ~ #6
Peak position in Vancouver ~ did not chart
Peak Position on Billboard Hot 100 ~ did not chart
YouTube: “Girls On Film
Lyrics: “Girls On Film

Duran Duran is a band from Birmingham, England, which formed in 1978. Stephen Duffy was born in Birmingham in 1960. In 1978 he was attending the School of Foundation Studies & Experimental Workshop at Birmingham Polytechnic. It was there he met John Taylor and his friend Nick Rhodes. Nigel John Taylor was born in 1960 in the West Midland city of Solihull. As a child, Taylor attended Our Lady of the Wayside Catholic school and the Abbey High School, in Redditch. He wore glasses due to severe myopia, and enjoyed James Bond movies. Taylor was interested in the hobby of wargaming with hand-painted model soldiers. In his early teen years, he discovered music, choosing Roxy Music as his favourite band, and before long was collecting records and teaching himself to play the piano. His first band was called Shock Treatment.

Continue reading →

My Heart Stood Still by Bernadette Carroll

#27: My Heart Stood Still by Bernadette Carroll

City: Halifax, NS
Radio Station: CHNS
Peak Month: December  1962
Peak Position in Halifax ~ #5
Peak position in Vancouver ~ did not chart
Peak Position on Billboard Hot 100 ~ did not chart
YouTube: “My Heart Stood Still
Lyrics: “My Heart Stood Still

Bernadette Dalia was born in 1944 in Elizabeth, New Jersey. Bernadette’s first performance was at the age of seven, given a role in an elementary school play. Soon after her family moved to Linden, New Jersey, she became a bit of a reckless teenager. She’d sneak out late at night to go to local recording studios with her friends. In 1959, she joined with sisters Barbara Allbut, Jiggs Allbut and, Lynda Malzone to form a group called The Starlets. Their first recording, on the Astro label, was “PS I Love You.” The single was a Top 30 hit on WMCA in New York City in 1960. Bernadette graduated from Linden High School in in Linden, New Jersey, in 1962. After The Starlets disbanded, Bernadette made her first solo recording for the Julia label, “My Heart Stood Still.”

Continue reading →

Wot by Captain Sensible

#28: Wot by Captain Sensible

City: Halifax, NS
Radio Station: CJCH
Peak Month: March-April  1983
Peak Position in Halifax ~ #9
Peak position in Vancouver ~ did not chart
Peak Position on Billboard Hot 100 ~ did not chart
YouTube: “Wot
Lyrics: “Wot

Raymond Ian Burns was born in 1954 in London, UK. In 1974 he joined the port-punk band Johnny Moped which included Chrissy Hynde. In 1976 he formed punk band The Damned. He was with The Damned on their first five albums from 1976 (Damned Damned Damned) to 1982 (Strawberries). Burns adopted his stage name Captain Sensible ironically because he described himself as a “debauched maniac” who had fun “regardless of the consequences. His first solo release, “Jet Boy, Jet Girl”, was a Top 40 hit in the Netherlands in 1978. He recorded the single while The Damned was on a break.

Continue reading →

Say It Again by Terry Black

#48: Say It Again by Terry Black

City: Calgary, AB
Radio Station: CFAC
Peak Month: February 1965
Peak Position in Calgary ~ #3
Peak position in Vancouver ~ did not chart
Peak Position on Billboard Hot 100 ~ did not chart
YouTube: “Say It Again
Lyrics: N/A

Terrance Black was born in Vancouver in 1949. Local DJ, Red Robinson, has said about Terry Black: “Back in the British Invasion days, a young Vancouver singer took the city by storm. He was discovered by Buddy Clyde on Dance Party, a teen show on CHAN TV (now Global). Buddy was able to get the attention of the owner of Dunhill records, the same label that the Mamas and Papas recorded for as well as P.F. Sloan (Eve of Destruction) and others of the day.” Terry Black’s first single, “Sinner Man,” was a minor hit in Canada in 1964. His vocal style mimicked the sound of many male vocalists who were part of the British Invasion. While he was fifteen years old, Black had a #2 hit in Vancouver with “Unless You Care”. His single was kept out of the #1 spot in September ’64 by Roy Orbison’s “Oh, Pretty Woman”. “Unless You Care” peaked at #2 in Vancouver, and Corvalis (OR), #3 in Winnipeg (MB), #4 in Regina (SK), #8 in Oshawa (ON), and Montreal, #9 in Bakersfield (CA), #11 in Hamilton (ON), and Winston-Salem (NC), #12 in Toronto, and #17 in Los Angeles.

Continue reading →

Mr. Special by the Allan Sisters

#29: Mr. Special by the Allan Sisters

City: Halifax, NS
Radio Station: CHNS
Peak Month: December 1964-January 1965
Peak Position in Halifax ~ #10
Peak position in Vancouver ~ did not chart
Peak Position on Billboard Hot 100 ~ did not chart
YouTube: “Mr. Special

The Allan Sisters were from Edmonton, Alberta. Jackie started singing at the age of 7, and Coralie took up singing soon after. The sisters were billed in Edmonton as the Allan Sisters. They were part of a group named the Four Tops, years before the Motown group of the same name began making hit records. RPM magazine describes the transition they made from Edmonton to Ontario. “The girls left their home in Edmonton to give show business a whirl in Upper Canada. They were part of a group called the Four Tops, but after many disappointments the group broke up and the Two Tops left and became the successful Allan Sisters.” RPM details how the sisters were discovered in talent scout Art Snider, who was also the music director for the CBC variety show Country Hoedown.
Continue reading →

Sign Up For Our Newsletter