#880: Flippin’ To The A Side by Cats Can Fly

Peak Month: April 1986
9 weeks on Vancouver’s CKLG chart
Peak Position #9
Peak Position on Billboard Hot 100 ~ did not chart
YouTube.com: “Flippin’ To The A Side”
Lyrics: “Flippin’ To The A Side”

The bandmates for Cats Can Fly were a Elia Junior high school band from North York, Ontario. When they formed in 1971, initially they went by the name of Ethos. Alan Frizell and Jim Longmuir both played guitar, Frank Miller played drums and the bass player was Peter Steele. Peter Alexander, of Canadianbands.com, writes that Ethos was “formed under the supervision of the School Board” under Laura Lapedus. Upon graduation, Ethos played in local bars as a house band. When they discovered an American band also went by the name of Ethos, they changed their name to Scamp. They went on tour as an opening act for Burton Cummings in the latter part of the 70’s. At the end of the decade they won the CFTR Talent Search. A record project with Nimbus 9 Records faltered in the early 80’s. They had a number of lineup changes by the time they renamed themselves Cats Can Fly. At this point the only original member of the band was Peter Steele, whose stage name was now Peter Alexander. The other band members were drummer Eddie Zeeman, bass player David Ashley and guitar player James Mitchell. Peter Alexander, who had originally been the bass player for Ethos, was now playing keyboards.

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#882: Yessiree-Yessiree by Ray Whitley

Peak Month: April 1962
8 weeks on Vancouver’s CFUN chart
Peak Position #5
Peak Position on Billboard Hot 100 ~ did not chart
“Yessiree-Yessiree”

Ray Whitley was born in Columbus, Georgia, in November, 1943. In 1958, at the age of fourteen, Ray Whitley formed his own band. He soon caught the attention of Producer Felton Jarvis who introduced Ray to Bill Lowery. Whitley was offered work as a staff songwriter for Bill Lowery’s publishing company, Lowery Music Publishers of Atlanta, Georgia. When he was 17 years old, Ray Whitley recorded his first record, “I Wasn’t Sure”. Deejays weren’t sure about the single and gave it a pass. His second attempt, “Yessiree – Yessiree”, got airplay in San Francisco, Seattle and Vancouver (BC).

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#883: Love Finds A Way by Lorne Greene

Peak Month: November 1963
9 weeks on Vancouver’s CFUN chart
Peak Position #7
Peak Position on Billboard Hot 100 ~ did not chart
YouTube.com: “Love Finds A Way”

Lyon Himan Green was born in 1915 in Ottawa. His parents were Russian Jews who emigrated from White Russia (present daddy Belarus) in 1913. It was a time when Russian Jews experienced pogroms, large-scale anti-Jewish riots, at the hands of the cossacks. Green’s father owned a shoe repair store and made orthotics. Young Lyon Himan Green worked as a shoeshine boy outside his father’s shop by the age of eleven, making 15 cents for each pair of shoes he shined. Lyon was called Chaim at home and he learned to speak Yiddish. Though he began studying chemical engineering, he switched to languages and drama. Green also worked at the campus radio station. Green was hired out of university to work at the CBC as as an announcer. By 1939 he gave newscasts on national radio and was dubbed the Voice of Canada. In 1941 Greene was the narrator for Churchill’s Island, a National Film Board depiction of the defense of Great Britain. The film won the first Academy Award for Documentary Short Subject.
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#884: Tapioca Tundra by The Monkees

Peak Month: April 1968
7 weeks on Vancouver’s CKLG chart
Peak Position #5
Peak Position on Billboard Hot 100 ~ #34
YouTube.com: “Tapioca Tundra”
Lyrics: “Tapioca Tundra”

Robert Michael Nesmith was born on December 30, 1942 in Houston, TX. His mother, Bette invented liquid paper and would later leave the $20 million estate to him. Affectionately nicknamed “Nez,” he learned to play saxophone as a young child and joined the United States Air Force years later. After two years in the Air Force, he left to pursue a career in folk music. In 1962 Nesmith won the San Antonio College talent award, performing folk songs and writing his own songs. By 1963, he had moved to Los Angeles, with the intent of getting into the movie business. He also was hosting a hootenanny at the Troubador in West Hollywood, as the “hootmaster.” Nesmith released a 45 single titled “Wandering'”, which he penned. In 1964 Nesmith wrote “Different Drum”, which was a #13 hit for Linda Ronstadt and the Stone Poneys on the Billboard Hot 100 and #5 in Vancouver in late 1967.

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#885: 5-4-3-2-1 by Manfred Mann

Peak Month: November 1964
7 weeks on Vancouver’s CFUN chart
Peak Position #6
Peak Position on Billboard Hot 100 ~ did not chart
CFUN Twin Pick October 24, 1964
YouTube.com: “5-4-3-2-1”
Lyrics: “5-4-3-2-1”

Manfred Sepse Lubowitz was born in Johannesburg, South Africa, in 1940. Raised in a Jewish family, Manfred studied music at the University of the Witwatersrand, and formed a rock ‘n roll band called The Vikings in 1959. Lubowitz was against the South African system of Apartheid, first introduced in 1948, and becoming entrenched and expanded under the leadership of Prime Minister Hendrik Verwoerd. So Manfred Lubowitz moved to Britain. He began to write for Jazz News under the pseudonym, Manfred Manne. In time he shortened his adopted surname to Mann. In 1962 he met Mike Hugg at a holiday camp at Clacton-on-Sea. They decided to start a band and named it the Mann-Hugg Blues Brothers. Hugg was born in Hampshire, England, in 1942, and had studied jazz growing up. They got a record contract in 1963.

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#886: The Colour Of My Love by Jefferson

Peak Month: October 1969
7 weeks on Vancouver’s CKLG chart
Peak Position #7
Peak Position on Billboard Hot 100 ~ #68
YouTube.com: “The Colour Of My Love”
Lyrics: The Colour Of My Love”

Geoffrey Turton  was born in Birmingham, UK, in 1944. Turton attended Turves Green Secondary Boys School. He played clarinet in the school band and it was there he met fellow clarinetist, Brian “Chuck” Botfield, around 1954. Botfield went on to Moseley College of Art and formed a skiffle band called the Bobcats. (In the late 50’s, one of the band members was Christine Perfect. She went on to become Christine McVie and was a lead vocalist for Fleetwood Mac). The Bobcats were renamed The Rockin’ Berries since they played a lot of songs by American R&B singer and guitar player, Chuck Berry. Meanwhile, Geoff Turton was in another band called The Swinging Chimes. The Rockin’ Berries had a tour to Germany, but had failed to land a record contract. Some of the band members departed and Chuck Botfield asked Geoffrey Turton to join the band ahead of the German tour. Turton remembers, “I got the call from Chuck right out of the blue so I literally downed tools – I was working in a factory as a toolmaker – and flew out to Germany to join them.”
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#887: Detroit Rock City by KISS

Peak Month: April 1977
7 weeks on Vancouver’s CKLG chart
Peak Position #6
Peak Position on Billboard Hot 100 ~ did not chart
YouTube.com: “Detroit Rock City”
Lyrics: “Detroit Rock City”

Kiss formed in 1973 in New York City. Their distinctive presence on stage with face paint and often ghoulish outfits made them darlings of the glam rock scene. On stage they breathed fire, spat blood, had drum sets that levitated, guitars that smoked, rockets shooting and fireworks of all kinds. The bands original lineup consisted of rhythm guitar and vocalist, Paul Stanley, Gene Simmons on bass guitar and vocals, lead guitarist and vocalist, Ace Frehley, and Peter Criss on drums and vocals. They remained the bands’ lineup until 1980 when Criss left for a solo career.
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#889: In The Middle Of A Dark, Dark Night by Guy Mitchell

Peak Month: August 1957
16 weeks on CKWX chart
Peak Position ~ #16
Peak Position on Billboard Hot 100 ~ #83
YouTube.com: “In The Middle Of A Dark, Dark Night”

In 1927 Albert George Cernick was born in Detroit, Michigan. His parents were immigrants from Yugoslavia after World War I. in 1938 he parents moved to California. At the age of 11 he got a contract with Warner Brothers Pictures as a child actor. He also was featured on radio station KFWB in Los Angeles. He worked as a saddle maker by day and a singer at night. The prospect of roles in Hollywood failed to materialize. So the family moved to San Francisco where young Guy became part of Dude Martin’s band. Mitchell entered the U.S. Navy in 1945 for two years. Returning to civilian life, Mitchell joined the Carmen Cavallaro band as the featured vocalist in late 1946. In 1949 he won an Arthur Godfrey Talent Scout’s Award and got a record contract with the Columbia label.
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#890: I’m Gonna Love You Too by Terry Jacks

Peak Month: January 1973
9 weeks on Vancouver’s CKLG chart
Peak Position #11
Peak Position on Billboard Hot 100 ~ #116
YouTube.com: “I’m Gonna Love You Too”
Lyrics: “I’m Gonna Love You Too”

Terrence Ross Jacks was born in Winnipeg, Manitoba, in 1944. During his career as a recording artist he became a household name and recognized as a singer, songwriter, record producer and environmentalist. His family moved to Vancouver in 1961 and he formed a band named The Chessmen along with local guitarist, Guy Sobell. The Chessmen had four singles that made the Top 20 in Vancouver, two which were double-sided hits. These included the Top Ten hits “Love Didn’t Die,” “The Way You Fell” and “What’s Causing This Sensation”. Jacks met Susan Pesklevits on a local CBC music show called Let’s Go in 1966.

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Peak Month: December 1977
12 weeks on Vancouver’s CKLG chart
Peak Position #13
Peak Position on Billboard Hot 100 ~ did not chart
YouTube.com: “What Would Mama Say”

Heather Gauthier and her sister Mary Lou Gauthier, and Judi Richards were backing vocalists. In the mid-70’s they had been singing backup for various local groups in Montreal in recording studios. However, it wasn’t lucrative enough. In 1975 they decided to become their own performing act. By 1976 their line-up was composed of Heather Gauthier, Judi Richards and Lorri Zimmerman. Their first single on Magique Records, off the Toulouse album, was the French hit “It Always Happens This Way (C’est toujours à recommencer).” It only contained two lines in English but managed to chart outside of Quebec. In April 1977 it reached #39 on RPM Top Singles Chart, #29 in Toronto, #8 in Vancouver and #6 in Ottawa. Toulouse were the first bilingual disco recording act who comfortably sang in English and French. With the cross-over potential of their debut single, Toulouse re-released the album in 1977 with all the vocals re-recorded in English for the American market.

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