#7: C’est La Vie ~ Greg Lake
City: Montreal, PQ
Radio Station: CKGM
Peak Month: September 1977
Peak Position in Montreal ~ #1
Peak position in Vancouver ~ did not chart
Peak Position on Billboard Hot 100 ~ #91
Peak Position on South African Singles chart ~ #14
YouTube: “C’est La Vie”
Lyrics: “C’est La Vie”
Greg Lake was born in 1947 in Parkstone, Dorset, England. Lake started to play guitar in 1959 when he was twelve. In 1963-64 Lake was a dockworker in Poole, England. At the age of 17 he decided to become a full-time musician. Greg Lake was a member of Unit 4 (not to be confused with Unit 4 +2), the Time Checks and The Shame. Then, he formed King Crimson with childhood buddy, Robert Fripp, in the winter of 1968. King Crimson made their breakthrough as an opening act for the Rolling Stones at a concert in Hyde Park for over 500,000 concert goers in July 1969.
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#24: Games That Grown Up Children Play by Browning Bryant
City: Fredericton, NB
Radio Station: CFNB
Peak Month: July 1969
Peak Position in Fredericton: #2
Peak position in Vancouver ~ did not chart
Peak Position on Billboard Hot 100 ~ did not chart
YouTube: “Games That Grown Up Children Play”
Lyrics: “Games That Grown Up Children Play”
Known professionally as Browning Bryant (born in 1957), he was the only child of Maud and Ray Bryant, and a long-time resident of Pickens, South Carolina. He was given a guitar at age three, took lessons at age seven, and soon began performing. He attained success singing folk-pop that was uncharacteristically mature and introspective for a pre-teen heartthrob. With a young voice compared to Wayne Newton, Browning Bryant’s career is highlighted in a meteoric rise starting around the age of ten. In 1967, he sang at the Easley Football Jamboree and was invited on a Charlotte, North Carolina, TV show. He appeared six times on The Arthur Godfrey Show on CBS. That led to a talent agency visit in New York. In 1968 , at the age of eleven, he was signed to Dot Records. His first single release was in 1969 at the age of twelve.
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#8: I.O.U. by Freeez
City: Montreal, PQ
Radio Station: CKGM
Peak Month: September 1983
Peak Position in Montreal ~ #1
Peak position in Vancouver ~ did not chart
Peak Position on Billboard Hot 100 ~ did not chart
Peak Position on Billboard Hot Dance/Disco Club Play ~ #1
Peak Position on Iceland Singles Chart ~ #1
YouTube: “I.O.U.”
Lyrics: “I.O.U.”
John Rocca was born in London, UK, in 1960. In 1980, while he was still 19-years-old, Rocca formed the jazz-funk-dance band Freeez. Other members of the band included Jean-Paul “Bluey” Maunick (born in 1957 in Mauritius), Maunick had formed the band Incognito in 1979 when Rocca invited him to join Freeez. As well, there was Andy Stennett (keyboards), Peter Maas (bass guitar) and Paul Morgan (drums). In 1980, the band released “Keep in Touch” which peaked at #49 in the UK Pop singles chart.
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#9: Just An Illusion by Imagination
City: Montreal, PQ
Radio Station: CKGM
Peak Month: June 1982
Peak Position in Montreal ~ #1
Peak position in Vancouver ~ did not chart
Peak Position on Billboard Hot 100 ~ did not chart
Peak Position on Italian Singles Chart ~ #1
YouTube: “Just An Illusion”
Lyrics: “Just An Illusion”
Imagination were a British trio. It was comprised of Leee John (born in 1957 in London), whose parents moved to England from St. Lucia in 1955. After his parents divorce, he moved to New York City and at the age of ten was signed to a record company. He provided backing vocals for a number of groups including The Delfonics and The Chairmen of the Board. He moved back to England in his teens. In college he recorded an album with EMI, but it was not commercially successful. While working as a backing singer, Leee met guitar and bass player Ashley Ingram. They formed a band called Fizz and began writing songs. The pair met Errol Kennedy in the early 80s and formed the group Imagination.
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#10: Smalltown Boy by Bronski Beat
City: Montreal, PQ
Radio Station: CKOI
Peak Month: January 1985
Peak Position in Montreal ~ #1
Peak position in Vancouver ~ #10
Peak Position on Billboard Hot 100 ~ #48
Peak Position on Belgian Singles chart ~ #1
Peak Position on Italian Singles chart ~ #1
Peak Position on Netherlands Singles chart ~ #1
YouTube: “Smalltown Boy”
Lyrics: “Smalltown Boy”
James “Jimmy” Somerville was born in Glasgow, Scotland, in 1961. He moved to London in 1980 and attended the London Gay Teenage Group. In 1983 he co-founded Bronski Beat with Steven Forrest, the latter adopted the stage name Steve Bronski. Forrest was born in 1960 in Glasgow. Larry Steinbachek was also born in 1960, in his case in London. He worked as an electrician and was studying to be a musician prior to forming Bronski Beat. The three mates were sharing a flat in Brixton when they decided to form a group. They first performed publicly at an arts festival, September in the Pink. The trio were unhappy with the inoffensive nature of contemporary gay performers and sought to be more outspoken and political.
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#21: Sun City by Artists United Against Apartheid
City: Ottawa, ON
Radio Station: CFRA
Peak Month: December 1985
Peak Position in Ottawa ~ #1
Peak position in Vancouver ~ #22
Peak Position on Billboard Hot 100 ~ #38
Peak Position on Dutch Singles chart ~ #3
Peak Position on Australian Singles chart ~ #4
Peak Position on New Zealand Singles chart ~ #4
Peak Position on Swedish Singles chart ~ #5
Peak Position on Belgian Singles chart ~ #5
Peak Position on Irish Singles chart ~ #8
YouTube: “Sun City”
Lyrics: “Sun City”
Artists United Against Apartheid was a protest ensemble created by Steven Van Zandt in 1985. It consisted of DJ Afrika Bambaataa, Puerto Rican bandleader Ray Barretto, punk rocker Stiv Bator, Pat Benatar, Jamaican DJ Big Youth, Panamanian singer-songwriter Ruben Blades, rapper Kurtis Blow, U2 lead singer Bono, Jackson Browne, jazz bass player Ron Carter, E Street Band member Clarence Clemmons, Jimmy Cliff, George Clinton (of Parliament-Funkadelic), Bob Dylan, The Fat Boys, Peter Gabriel, Peter Garrett (of Midnight Oil) Bob Geldof (of the Boomtown Rats), rapper Grandmaster Melle Mel, Herbie Hancock, actress Daryl Hannah (Jackson Browne’s girlfriend at the time), Labelle “Lady Marmalade” singer Nona Hendryx, B.T. Express singer Kashif, Eddie Kendricks, hip-hop artist DJ Kool Herc, Darlene Love (lead singer on “He’s A Rebel” credited to the Crystals), Finish rocker Michael Monroe, Bonnie Raitt, lead singer of the Ramoes – Joey Ramone, Lou Reed, Keith Richards (of the Rolling Stones), David Ruffin (of the Temptations), Run-DMC, poet and singer Gil Scott-Heron, Indian musician L. Shankar, Beatles bandmate Ringo Starr and his son Zak, Pete Townshend (of The Who), Bobby Womack, and Ronnie Wood (with the Faces, Jeff Beck Group and Rolling Stones).
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#17: Be Still My Beating Heart by Sting
City: Montreal, PQ
Radio Station: CKOI
Peak Month: March 1988
Peak Position in Montreal ~ #1
Peak position in Vancouver ~ #28
Peak Position on Billboard Hot 100 ~ #15
YouTube: “Be Still My Beating Heart”
Lyrics: “Be Still My Beating Heart”
Gordon Matthew Thomas Sumner was born in Wallsend on Tyne, North Tyneside, Northumberland, England, in 1951. His mother was a hairdresser and his father was a milkman and engineer. When he was ten-years-old, young Sumner got introduced to Spanish guitar, when a family friend left it at the Sumner residence. After high school he was variously a bus conductor, building labourer and tax officer. He went to college and from 1974-76 was a public school teacher. Sumner performed jazz in the evening, weekends and during breaks from college and teaching, playing with the Phoenix Jazzmen, Newcastle Big Band, and Last Exit. He gained his nickname, “Sting,” due to his habit of wearing a black and yellow sweater with hooped stripes with the Phoenix Jazzmen. Bandleader Gordon Solomon thought Sumner looked like a bee which prompted the name “Sting.” According to Sting, in an interview with CBS Sunday Morning, “they thought I looked like a wasp, and they’d joke. They called me Sting. They thought it was hilarious…That became my name.”
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#19: Double Dutch Bus by Frankie Smith
City: Montreal, PQ
Radio Station: CKGM
Peak Month: August 1981
Peak Position in Montreal ~ #1
Peak position in Vancouver ~ did not chart
Peak Position on Billboard Hot 100 ~ #30
Peak Position on Dutch Singles Top 100 ~ #7
YouTube: “Double Dutch Bus”
Lyrics: “Double Dutch Bus”
Franklyn “Frankie” Leon Smith was born in Philadelphia in 1940. As a child, he taught himself to play piano. He studied a minor in music at a college in Tennessee. One of his uncles was comedian Pigmeat Markham. In 1973, Frankie Smith and Bill Bloom wrote a song called “Double Dutch” after a game of skipping rope popular across America. However, the single was not a hit. Through the 70s, Frankie Smith wrote songs recorded by Melba Moore, Barbara Mason, Archie Bell & The Drells, Billy Paul, and others.
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#3: Boy In The Box by Corey Hart
City: Montreal, PQ
Radio Station: CKGM
Peak Month: October 1985
Peak Position in Montreal ~ #1
Peak position in Vancouver ~ #7
Peak Position on Billboard Hot 100 ~ #26
YouTube: “Boy In The Box”
Lyrics: “Boy In The Box”
Corey Hart was born in 1962 in Montreal, Quebec. He is best known for his international Top Ten hits “Sunglasses at Night” (#7 Billboard Hot 100) and “Never Surrender” (#3 Billboard Hot 100). Hart is known as one of Canada’s most successful singer-songwriters. He’s sold over 16 million records worldwide. On the Billboard Hot 100 Hart scored 9 consecutive Top 40 Hits. Back in Canada he succeeded in charting 30 top 40 singles (including 11 Top 10 singles during his career). Hart is a Grammy Nominated, ASCAP & multiple Juno and ADISQ award winner. He has also written and produced several songs for fellow Quebec recording star Celine Dion.
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#1: Boys Do Fall In Love by Robin Gibb
City: Yellowknife, NWT
Radio Station: CJJD
Peak Month: September 1984
Peak Position in Yellowknife ~ #1
Peak position in Vancouver ~ did not chart
Peak Position on Billboard Hot 100 ~ #37
Peak Position on South African Singles chart ~ #7
Peak Position on Italian Singles chart ~ #10
YouTube: “Boys Do Fall In Love”
Lyrics: “Boys Do Fall In Love”
Robin Hugh Gibb was born with his twin brother, Maurice Gibb, on December 22, 1949, on the Isle of Man. He was one of the three brothers who became the Bee Gees. Living in England, the brothers initially formed a band called the Rattlesnakes. The boys, with their older brother Barry and their parents, moved to Australia in 1959. Barry, Robin and Maurice began to perform locally and build up a reputation in their new hometown in Australia. The Gibbs brothers started to perform to raise spare change and spending money. They were introduced to Brisbane radio presenter jockey Bill Gates by dirt track racing promoter and driver Bill Goode, who had hired the brothers to entertain the crowd at the Redcliffe Speedway in 1960. The crowd at the speedway would throw money onto the track for the boys, who generally performed during the breaks. Gates changed their name from the Rattlesnakes to the BGs (Barry Gibbs initials).
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