#1198: Hitchcock Railway by Jose Feliciano
Peak Month: November 1968
6 weeks on CKLG chart
Peak Position #11
Peak Position on Billboard Hot 100 ~ #77
YouTube.com: “Hitchcock Railway”
Lyrics: “Hitchcock Railway‘
In 1945 José Montserrate Feliciano García was born blind and spent his first five years in the town of Lares, Puerto Rico. He had ten brothers. His website references his first infatuation with music when an uncle of his had him accompany him on a tin cracker can. In 1950 his family moved to New York City. At age six he learned to play the concertina, a smaller cousin of the accordion. When he turned nine Feliciano performed at The Puerto Rican Theater in the Bronx. Using records as a means of instruction, young José learned to play the guitar. As he listened to Rock n’ Roll, he began to sing.
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#1199: Cheryl’s Goin’ Home by The Cascades
Peak Month: May 1966
7 weeks on CFUN chart
Peak Position #7
Peak Position on Billboard Hot 100 ~ #131
YouTube.com: “Cheryl’s Going Home”
“Cheryl’s Going Home” lyrics
John Gummoe was born in Cleveland, Ohio, and was drafted to join the U.S. Navy. On the USS Jason, a group of sailors in the U.S. Navy formed a band in 1960 called the Silver Strands. Among the San Diego based crew was John Gummoe who provided lead vocals. The group left the Navy and renamed themselves the Thundernotes. Among Gummoe’s bandmates were Eddy Snyder (guitar), G, David Szabo (keyboards) Dave Stevens (bass guitar) and Dave Wilson (drums). They became The Cascades and recorded “There’s A Reason,” making #10 in San Francisco and #15 in San Diego in July ’62. Their second release with Valliant Records was “Rhythm Of The Rain”. The song went to #1 in the USA, Hong Kong, Singapore, Japan and Ireland. The song peaked at #3 on CFUN and spent 15 weeks on the chart in 1963. It tied for the second longest chart run for a single in Vancouver that year behind “She Loves You” by The Beatles.
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#1403: School Bus by Kris Jensen
Peak Month: October 1960
7 weeks on Vancouver’s CFUN chart
Peak Position #13
Peak Position on Billboard Hot 100 ~ did not chart
YouTube.com link: “School Bus”
In 1942, Peter Jensen was born in New Haven, Connecticut. From a young age, Pete was a big fan of the singing cowboys, Gene Autry and Roy Rogers. When Pete was sixteen years old, he met Denise Norwood. She was a songwriter who penned “The Garden Of Eden.” This was a hit for Joe Valino. Between the ages of sixteen and nineteen, Jensen collaborated with Denise Norwood. He recorded numbers of her songs at her home studio. In 1959, Colpix Records released Jensen’s recording of “Bonnie Baby”. The tune made the local charts on WHIL Boston. Jensen variously recorded for Leader, Kapp, Hickory and finally White Whale. Jensen could not only sing, but also play the guitar and bass guitar. Though he would release at least sixteen singles between 1959 and 1966, he is remembered in America as a one-hit wonder. But not in Vancouver where he charted three songs on the local pop charts.
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#1201: Can I Get to Know You Better by The Turtles
Peak Month: November 1966
6 weeks on CKLG chart
Peak Position #5
Peak Position on Billboard Hot 100 ~ #89
YouTube.com: “Can I Get To Know You Better”
Lyrics: “Can I Get To Know You Better”
In 1947 two of the founding members of The Turtles were born. Howard Kaplan spent his first eight years in the Bronx and Manhattan. Then his dad got a job in Utica, in upstate New York, with General Electric. Several years later he moved with his family to the Los Angeles community of Westchester, just to the south of Santa Monica. Mark Volman was born in Redondo Beach and his family later also moved to Westchester. At Westchester High School both boys were in the Westchester High A Capella Choir. Mark was a first tenor and Howard was a second tenor. Kaplan and Volman’s first band, the Crossfires, played instrumental music, but the arrival of the Beatles in 1964 encouraged a change of focus. Howard’s vocal abilities made him a clear choice to be the frontman when the Crossfires evolved into the Turtles. In ’65 Kaplan changed his surname to Kaylan. Other high school friends, Al Nichol, Don Murray and Jim Tucker were among the original Crossfires bandmates who made the transition to The Turtles. After several changes bass player Chip Douglas was in the Turtles’ line-up by the spring of 1966.
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#1202: Sunrise to Sunset by Five Man Electrical Band
Peak Month: September 1969
8 weeks on CKLG chart
Peak Position #12
Peak Position on Billboard Hot 100 ~did not chart
YouTube.com: “Sunrise to Sunset”
The Five Man Electrical Band was a Canadian mainstream rock band from Ottawa. They had an international hit in 1970 called “Signs”. Their other hits did well in Canada, including “Absolutely Right” and “I’m A Stranger Here”. Prior to 1969 the band was known as the Staccatos.Continue reading →
#1203: It’s Over by Prism
Peak Month: May 1978
8 weeks on CFUN
Peak Position #15
Peak Position on Billboard Hot 100 ~ no US chart
YouTube.com: “It’s Over”
Lyrics: “It’s Over”
In 1967 a new rock group appeared on the Vancouver scene called the Seeds of Time. They had several local hits including “My Home Town” and “Crying The Blues”. There were a number of lineup changes, but the bands personnel included drummer Rocket Norton, guitarist Lindsay Mitchell, and bassist Al Harlow. These three reunited after the Seeds of Time disbanded in 1974. After a brief stint as an R&B band called Sunshyne, they became Prism under Lindsay Mitchell’s initiative. In the band were new singer Ron Tabak, bassist Tom Lavin (ex of Denise McCann), keyboardist John Hall, and drummer Rodney Higgs. Higgs was actually a pseudonym for Jim Vallance, the future songwriting partner of Bryan Adams. The band released a self-titled album in 1977 that included two local singles “Take Me To The Kaptin” and “It’s Over”.
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#1204: Drop the Needle by Maestro Fresh Wes
Peak Month: June 1990
3 weeks on CKLG chart
Peak Position #15
Peak Position on Billboard Hot 100 ~did not chart
YouTube.com: “Drop The Needle”
Lyrics: “Drop The Needle”
Wes Williams was born in Toronto in 1968. In the mid-80s he attended Carleton University in Ottawa and studied Political Science and Law. Deciding to focus on music, Maestro Fresh Wes released the first Canadian hip-hop single to break into the Top 40 in Canada and the USA with “Let Your Backbone Slide”. Williams’ first show in Ottawa affirmed his decision to pursue music full time. About 2,000 people showed up to watch him open for Public Enemy at Astralite, a now-defunct club on St. Laurent Boulevard. For a hip-hop show, it was a huge crowd by Ottawa standards in the late 80s.
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#1402: It’s True by The Eternal Triangle
Peak Month: September 1966
9 weeks on Vancouver’s CFUN chart
Peak Position #16
Peak Position on Billboard Hot 100 ~ did not chart
YouTube.com: “It’s True”
Born in Vancouver in 1943, when he was in his teens Tom Northcott was gaining a reputation while making his rounds through the Vancouver coffeehouse circuit in the early ’60s. In particular, he frequented the Kitsilano area, the focal point of the hippie counterculture north of San Francisco. In 1965, Northcott took over from Ronnie Jordan as the frontman for the Vancouver Playboys, already an established BC band that wore identical suits. They were considered one of BC’s top emerging bands, mixing a Beatles look with music stylings of The Ventures. Northcott established one of Vancouver’s first labels, Syndrome Records, which LA execs at Warner were impressed enough with to offer him distribution. While the Playboys toured the country that summer and fall, the label served home to their first single, “Cry Tomorrow”.
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#1207: Give All Your Love To Me by Gerry And The Pacemakers
Peak Month: September 1965
6 weeks on Vancouver’s CFUN chart
Peak Position #11
Peak Position on Billboard Hot 100 ~ #68
YouTube.com: “Give All Your Love To Me”
Lyrics: “Give All Your Love To Me”
In September 1942, Gerry Marsden was born in Liverpool, UK. His interest in music began at an early age. During World War II Marsden recalls standing on top of an air raid shelter singing “Ragtime Cowboy Joe.” Passers by applauded. Marsden formed the group in the late ’50s, calling themselves, The Mars-Bars, a nod to the Mars Bar candy bar and the first syllable of Marsden’s surname. The band consisted of Marsden as frontman and guitarist, Fred Marsden on drums, Les Chadwick on bass, and Arthur Mack on piano. The latter left in ’61 to be replaced by Les McGuire (who also played saxophone). Along with the Beatles, the group now known as Gerry and the Pacemakers, toured clubs in Liverpool and in Hamburg, Germany. In 1961, The Beatles and Gerry & the Pacemakers merged to become the Beatmakers, for a one-off performance in Litherland Town Hall. The line-up comprised Gerry Marsden, George Harrison, Paul McCartney, John Lennon, Les Chadwick, Pete Best, Freddy Marsden and Les Maguire, plus vocalist Karl Terry from the local Liverpool band The Cruisers. In Liverpool in the early 60s they were as popular as the Beatles. Beatles manager, Brian Epstein, signed up the band with EMI/Columbia Records and they released their first single in ’63 called “How Do You Do It?” The song had been offered to the Beatles who also recorded the tune. However, the Beatles didn’t consider the song in keeping with their emerging sound and objected to releasing it as a single. Luckily, Gerry and the Pacemakers version quickly climbed to #1 in the UK in April ’63.
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#1208: I Was Made To Love Her by King Curtis & the Kingpins
Peak Month: February 1968
6 weeks on Vancouver’s CKLG chart
Peak Position #10
Peak Position on Billboard Hot 100 ~ #76
YouTube.com: “I Was Made To Love Her” ~ King Curtis
YouTube.com: “I Was Made To Love Her” ~ Stevie Wonder
Lyrics: “I Was Made To Love Her”
Born Curtis Ousley in Fort Worth, Texas, in 1934. His trademark was a honking Texas tenor sound inspired by his main influences Illinois Jacquet, Earl Bostic, Arnett Cobb albeit with a rock and roll edge. He moved to New York in 1952 and played with Lionel Hampton’s and Horace Silver’s jazz groups. He began doing session work for R&B and rock and roll artists in the mid-Fifties. One of his most memorable solos, and the one that sealed his reputation as a rock and roll sideman, appeared in the Coasters’ 1958 smash, “Yakety Yak”.
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