#389: Do They Know It’s Christmas? by Band Aid
Peak Month: January 1985
8 weeks on Vancouver’s CKLG chart
Peak Position #1
Peak Position on Billboard Hot 100 ~ #11
YouTube: “Do They Know It’s Christmas”
Lyrics: “Do They Know It’s Christmas”
Band Aid was the name of a mostly British supergroup formed to record a song in response to news reports of the famine in Ethiopia. The famine had been ongoing since 1983, and recording artists were motivated by what they were seeing on TV broadcasts in the fall of 1984 as the situation worsened. Band Aid was comprised of members of British bands Bananarama, the Boomtown Rats, Culture Club, Duran Duran, Heaven 17, Status Quo, Spandau Ballet, Style Council, and Ultravox. American R&B band Kool & The Gang – who happened to be in London during a visit to their record label in the UK – also agreed to take part in the project. As well, Phil Collins from Genesis, Sting from the Police, and George Michael from Wham! were featured vocalists.
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#957: Bang A Gong by Witch Queen
Peak Month: June 1979
7 weeks on CKLG’s Vancouver Chart
Peak Position ~ #11
Peak Position on Billboard Hot 100 ~ #68
YouTube: “Bang A Gong”
Lyrics: “Bang A Gong”
Witch Queen was a band from Montreal. They were assembled as a studio band by Montreal-based producers Gino Soccio and Peter Alves at the height of the disco craze. Soccio was born in 1955 in Verdun, Quebec. In 1976 Soccio was a local session musician, aspiring composer and University of Montreal student in philosophy. His musical tastes were primarily progressive rock, jazz and classical music. However, local Montreal producer Pat Deserio hired Soccio to contribute keyboards on the musical project Kébekélektrik (pronounce it like “Quebec Electric”). Soccio was asked to craft a disco record containing four songs: an arrangement of Maurice Ravel’s “Bolero”, a popular cover of Space’s “Magic Fly”, and two original compositions, “Mirage” and “War Dance”. The latter became a hit on the US Billboard Hot Dance Chart in 1978.
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#384: Let Me Take You Dancing by Bryan Adams
Peak Month: August 1979
9 weeks on Vancouver’s CKLG chart
Peak Position #4
1 week Playlist
Peak Position on Billboard Hot 100 ~ did not chart
Soundcloud: “Let Me Take You Dancing”
Lyrics: “Let Me Take You Dancing”
Born in Kingston, Ontario, in November 1959, Bryan Adams parents immigrated from the UK in the 1950s. His dad, Captain Conrad J. Adams, was a diplomat in the Canadian foreign service. While growing up his family was posted to Portugal, Austria and Israel. By the age of 15 Adams was playing with the band Sweeney Todd as a frontman. By the time he turned 17, Bryan Adams had landed work as a background vocalist for the CBC. His first salary came from working for Robbie King, a keyboard musician with Motown. During his senior years in high school he began playing music with his guitarist, Keith Scott.
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#385: You Could Have Been A Lady by April Wine
Peak Month: April 1972
11 weeks on Vancouver’s CKVN Chart
Peak Position ~ #1
Peak Position on Billboard Hot 100 ~ #32
YouTube: “You Could Have Been A Lady”
Lyrics: “You Could Have Been A Lady”
April Wine is a Canadian rock band that has released 34 singles, 16 studio albums and 9 live albums. They formed in Waverly, Nova Scotia, in 1969. The founding members were brothers David Henman (guitar) and Ritchie Henman (drums) and Myles Goodwyn (lead vocals, guitar). The Henman brothers cousin Jim Henman was also part of the band, but was replaced by bass player Jim Clench in 1971, a year after the band moved to Montreal and released their self-titled debut album. Miles Francis Goodwin was born in Woodstock, New Brunswick, in 1948. James Patrick Clench was born in Montreal in 1949. The Henman brothers were born and raised in Halifax, Nova Scotia.
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#386: Cutie Pie by Johnny Tillotson
Peak Month: August 1961
9 weeks on CKWX’s Vancouver Chart
Peak Position ~ #2
Peak Position on Billboard Hot 100 ~ did not chart
YouTube: “Cutie Pie”
Lyrics: “Cutie Pie”
In 1939 Johnny Tillotson was born in Jacksonville. He had four Top Ten hits on the Billboard Hot 100 and ten more in the American Top 40. He took an early interest in appearing on stage and by high school had a talent as a singer. In his teens he got a contract to be in the line-up of regular performers on the Jacksonville TV show, McDuff Hayride, hosted by Toby Dowdy. And in the mid-50s Tillotson had his own variety TV show, called The Velda Show, on WFGA. In 1957, a local Jacksonville deejay, Bob Norris, sent a recording of Tillotson singing at a Pet Milk talent contest. He ended up performing on the Grand Ole Opry in Nashville. Cadence Records owner, Archie Bleyer, signed Tillotson to a record contract. “Dreamy Eyes” was his first single released in the fall of 1958. It peaked at #63 on the Billboard Hot 100. It would wait three years before appearing on the pop charts in Vancouver in 1961, peaking at #8, as the song enjoyed a more successful re-issue.
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#1349: Never Change My Mind by John Acosta and James Russell
Peak Month: April 1991
Peak Position #18
9 weeks on Vancouver’s CKLG Chart
Peak Position on Billboard Hot 100 ~ did not chart
YouTube: “Never Change My Mind”
Lyrics: “Never Change My Mind”
Juan Carlos was born in Montevideo, Uruguay, around 1969. The Carlos family moved to Canada and settled in Toronto. In 1983, while in grade nine, he met another classmate named James Russell. The pair soon discovered a mutual passion for music. Russell had been a member of the Toronto Youth Symphony. The two decided to form a singing duo and won a talent contest at their high school while still in grade nine. They would perform live again while still in high school. Meanwhile, Juan Carlos was going by John Acosta as a stage name when the duo performed live.
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#387: The Rainmaker by Tom Northcott
Peak Month: November 1969
8 weeks on Vancouver’s CKLG Chart
1 week Hit Bound
Peak Position ~ #2
Peak Position on Billboard Hot 100 ~ did not chart
YouTube: “The Rainmaker”
Lyrics: “The Rainmaker”
Tom Northcott is a Vancouver folk-rock singer with hits on the local pop charts from the mid-60s into the early 70s. He became known to a Canadian audience by his regular appearances on CBC Television’s Let’s Go music program in 1964-68. He was nominated as best male vocalist for a Juno Award in 1971. Later he co-founded Mushroom Studios in Vancouver and produced records. His hits are played regularly on Canadian oldies music stations.
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#388: Good Times by Eric Burdon And The Animals
Peak Month: August 1967
8 weeks on Vancouver’s CKLG Chart
1 week Hit Bound
Peak Position ~ #2
Peak Position on Billboard Hot 100 ~ did not chart
YouTube: “Good Times”
Lyrics: “Good Times”
Eric Victor Burdon was born in 1941 in Newcastle Upon Tyne, England. He was born into a working class family. Due to the river pollution and humidity in Newcastle he suffered asthma attacks daily. During primary school, Burdon writes in his memoir, Don’t Let Me Be Misunderstood, he was “stuck at the rear of the classroom of around 40 to 50 kids and received constant harassment from kids and teachers alike”. He goes on to say his primary school was “jammed between a slaughterhouse and a shipyard on the banks of the Tyne. Some teachers were sadistic…and sexual molestation and regular corporal punishment with a leather strap was the order of the day.” In his song “When I Was Young”, he states he met his first love at 13, who was very experienced while he was not. He also says he smoked his first cigarette at 10 years old and would skip school with his friends to drink.
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#390: Diamond Sun by Glass Tiger
Peak Month: August 1988
13 weeks on Vancouver’s CKLG Chart
Peak Position ~ #4
Peak Position on Billboard Hot 100 ~ did not chart
YouTube: “Diamond Sun”
Lyrics: “Diamond Sun”
Discovered in the summer of 1984 when a band from Newmarket, Ontario called Tokyo spent two evenings performing before capacity crowds at Toronto’s Maple Leaf Gardens opening for Boy George and Culture Club. Their dynamic original sound captured the moment, and the race to sign them was on. Tokyo, which had become a major force in suburban high schools and the Ontario club circuit, officially became Glass Tiger early the following year when a record deal was finally signed with Capitol Records. The band consisted of Alan Frew on vocals and guitar, Sam Reid on keyboards, Al Connelly on guitar, Wayne Parker on bass and Michael Hanson on drums.
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#1269: Sinful Wishes by Kon Kan
Peak Month: May 1993
Peak Position #19
9 weeks on Vancouver’s CKLG Chart
Peak Position on Billboard Hot 100 ~ did not chart
YouTube: “Sinful Wishes”
Barry Harris was born in Toronto. In 1988 he envisioned a one-off project involving a synth-pop version of Lynn Anderson’s 1971 hit “Rose Garden”. Harris got Kevin Wynne to be a vocalist for the single. This was due to Wynne’s ability to mimic the vocal drone found in singles by New Order (i.e. “Blue Monday”). The duo got their name – Kon Kan – from the phrase “Can Con” which is short for Canadian Content which is the name of a rule that enforces Canadian radio stations to at least play 30% music from Canadian musicians. “I Beg Your Pardon” peaked at #3 in New York City, #7 in Hamilton (ON) and Columbia (SC), #9 in Chicago, #10 in San Francisco, and #15 in Vancouver (BC). Internationally, “I Beg Your Pardon” peaked at #5 in the UK, #7 in New Zealand, and #8 in Germany. On March 18, 1990, at the Juno Awards, Kon Kan won an award for Best Dance Recording.
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