#16: Little Coquette by Jimmy Beasley
City: Halifax, NS
Radio Station: CJCH
Peak Month: October 1956
Peak Position in Halifax ~ #4
Peak position in Vancouver ~ did not chart
Peak Position on Billboard Hot 100 ~ did not chart
YouTube: “Little Coquette”
Lyrics: “Little Coquette”
Jimmy Beasley was born in Kansas City, Missouri, in 1929. (Real Blues Magazine states he was born in 1929, while Wikipedia states he was born in 1931). Beasley was in several bands while in high school. But he also developed a talent for boxing. Between 1948 and 1950 he won 59 out of 65 fights vying for the Golden Glove competition. In 1954, Beasley was about to move to Los Angeles, when his band – The Sonny Kenner Trio – became the house band at the El Capitan Club at 18th and Vine in Kansas City. On one occasion, Billie Holiday showed up at the club and asked to sing with the trio. Upon moving to Los Angeles, Beasley got to know people in the music scene. For a semester he studied theology at Pepperdine College in Malibu, but quit before the year was through.
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#44: I Believe In Sunshine by Madrigal
City: Calgary, AB
Radio Station: CKXL
Peak Month: November 1970
Peak Position in Calgary ~ #6
Peak position in Vancouver ~ #26
Peak Position on Billboard Hot 100 ~ did not chart
YouTube: “I Believe In Sunshine”
Lyrics: “I Believe In Sunshine”
Formed by a bunch of high school chums in Willowdale, Ontario, in 1968, Madrigal consisted of Rick Henderson on guitars, guitarist/bassist John Swainson, Peter Boynton on Piano, and drummer Don Simpson. Madrigal been playing psychedelic rock and pop in the Toronto area for close to a year. Greg Hambleton, owner of Tuesday Records, noticed them and one thing led to another. Hambleton signed Madrigal to management and recording contracts. In the summer of 1969, the band was in a recording studio. They released their version of his song “I Believe In Sunshine”. The song had been recorded by A Passing Fancy in 1967 and peaked at #28 on CHUM in Toronto.
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#20: Pretty Little Girl by the Monarchs
City: Halifax, NS
Radio Station: CJCH
Peak Month: October 1956
Peak Position in Halifax ~ #6
Peak position in Vancouver ~ did not chart
Peak Position on Billboard Hot 100 ~ did not chart
YouTube: “Pretty Little Girl”
Lyrics: “Pretty Little Girl”
The Monarchs were a doo-wop group from New York City. The members consisted of Arthur Allen, Arthur Kemp, Fred Wells, Robert Galloway, and Robert White. They released a single titled “Wanna Go Home” on Wing Records in 1955. They switched labels to record on Neil Records in 1956. Their first effort was “Always Be Faithful”. Their third single release was “Pretty Little Girl” late summer ’56. A photo of the group at the top of this post features the five members on each side of a table with a manager and his spouse at the back of the table.
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#19: Tears For Souvenirs by Tommy Leonetti
City: Halifax, NS
Radio Station: CJCH
Peak Month: January 1957
Peak Position in Halifax ~ #4
Peak position in Vancouver ~ did not chart
Peak Position on Billboard Hot 100 ~ did not chart
YouTube: “Tears For Souvenirs”
Nicola Tomaso Lionetti was born in 1929 in North Bergen, New Jersey. He had a talent for singing and changed his name. He sang with the Charlie Spivak jazz band and the Tony Pastor jazz Band. In the early fifties, Arthur Godfrey remarked on his television show that, when told they had booked Tommy Leonetti, he thought that it was a trio called “Tommy, Lee, and Eddy.” Leonetti had a minor hit in 1954 on the Billboard Pop chart titled “I Cried”, which peaked at #30. His biggest hit in the USA was in 1956 with “Free”, which peaked at #23 on the Billboard chart. He was a singer with the 1957‐58 cast of Your Hit Parade.
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#8: Let’s Kiss And Make Up by Bobby Vinton
City: Halifax, NS
Radio Station: CHNS
Peak Month: December 1962
Peak Position in Halifax ~ #1
Peak position in Vancouver ~ did not chart
Peak Position on Billboard Hot 100 ~ #38
YouTube: “Let’s Kiss And Make Up”
Lyrics: “Let’s Kiss And Make Up”
Stanley Robert Vinton was born in 1935 in Canonsberg, Pennsylvania. His father was a bandleader, and the Polish surname was originally Vintula, and anglicized to Vinton. He was given a weekly 25-cent allowance as an incentive to learn the clarinet (about $4.25 in 2024 dollars). By the age of sixteen, Bobby Vinton had his own band in Pittsburgh. He got a degree in university in music composition, and learned to also play saxophone, piano, drums, trumpet and oboe. In the fall of 1959, Bobby Vinton wrote a song titled “First Impression” which became a Top 40 hit in Pittsburgh, Philadelphia, Syracuse (NY) and Flint (MI). In early 1960, Vinton had a Top 20 hit in Syracuse (NY) with “A Freshman And A Sophomore”. He served in the United States Army for two years and got a record deal late in 1960 on the Epic label.
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#42: Children Of The Sun by Mashmakhan
City: Calgary, AB
Radio Station: CKXL
Peak Month: April 1971
Peak Position in Calgary ~ #4
Peak position in Vancouver ~ did not chart
Peak Position on Billboard Hot 100 ~ did not chart
YouTube: “Children Of The Sun”
Lyrics: “Children Of The Sun”
Mashmakhan was formed in 1969 in the southwestern Quebec town of L’Île-Perrot, by the Ottawa River near the St. Lawrence. In 1960, Pierre Sénécal, Brian Edwards (born 1943 in Saskatoon, SK), Jim Nuchter and Rayburn Blake first met in Montreal. Drummer Jim Nuchter failed to turn up for a booked performance. Drummer Jerry Mercer (born Newfoundland in 1939) was invited to replace Nuchter. Bass guitarist and vocalist Edwards quit shortly after. But the other three teenagers, Sénécal, Blake and Mercer continued to perform at local Montreal dance halls under names like the Phantoms, Ray Blake’s Combo, and the Dominoes. Sénécal played flute, organ and piano. Rayburn Blake was the lead guitarist.
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#14: He’s My Ideal by Annette
City: Halifax, NS
Radio Station: CHNS
Peak Month: December 1962
Peak Position in Halifax ~ #2
Peak position in Vancouver ~ did not chart
Peak Position on Billboard Hot 100 ~ did not chart
YouTube: “He’s My Ideal”
Lyrics: N/A
Annette Joanne Funicello was born in Utica, New York in 1942. In 1955 she began her professional career as a child performer at the age of twelve when Walt Disney discovered her performing as the Swan Queen in a dance recital of Swan Lake at the Starlight Bowl in Burbank, California. She became one of the most popular Mouseketeers on the original Mickey Mouse Club. As a teenager, she became a pop singer and shortly after an actress in a series of films popularizing the successful Beach Party genre alongside co-star Frankie Avalon during the mid-1960s. On July 17, 1955 Annette Funicello made her television debut during the live broadcast of Disneyland’s opening day ceremonies. She participated in a song and dance routine promoting the upcoming debut of Walt Disney’s new television show, The Mickey Mouse Club. Following the shows premier on Monday, October 3, 1955, The Mickey Mouse Club became an immediate hit. Its army of small, amateur mouse-eared stars took America by storm. It wasn’t long before the young audience of boys and girls developed a particular interest in a little dark haired girl named Annette.
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#13: A Fool Never Learns by Andy Williams
City: Halifax, NS
Radio Station: CHNS
Peak Month: February 1964
Peak Position in Halifax ~ #2
Peak position in Vancouver ~ #41
Peak Position on Billboard Hot 100 ~ #13
YouTube: “A Fool Never Learns”
Lyrics: “A Fool Never Learns”
Howard Andrew “Andy” Williams was born in Wall Lake, Iowa, in 1927. In 1938, he was part of a quartette of siblings called the Williams Brothers. They appeared as guests on radio stations in Des Moines (IA), Cincinnati (OH) and Chicago. When he was 17, he joined the United States Merchant Marine and served during World War II. In 1944, the Williams Brothers sang backing vocals on Bing Crosby’s “Swinging On A Star”. In the mid-40s, the Williams Brothers appeared in the 1944 films, Janie and Kansas City Kitty, and the 1947 films Something in the Wind, Good News and Ladies Man. Andy Williams and two of his brothers also appeared in the 1946 movie The Harvey Girls.
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#12: Sometime by Gene Thomas
City: Halifax, NS
Radio Station: CHNS
Peak Month: January 1962
Peak Position in Halifax ~ #2
Peak position in Vancouver ~ #16
Peak Position on Billboard Hot 100 ~ #53
YouTube: “Sometime”
Lyrics: “Sometime”
Gene Thomasson was born in Palestine, Texas, in 1937. He started to play guitar at the age of 12. He told author Vicki Welch Ayo, “I played Elks, Moose Lodges, Lion’s (all the animal kingdom clubs) National Guard Armories, etc; every place with four walls and electricity for plugging in the amps.” In the spring of 1961 he released a song credited to Gene Thomas titled “Sometime” and it didn’t get much attention. He released a followup titled “Lamp Of Love” which reached #15 in Houston and charted in San Antonio (TX). He re-released “Sometime” on the United Artists label and this time he got proper promotion.
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#51: Julia Get Up by Rich Dodson
City: Calgary, AB
Radio Station: CKXL
Peak Month: December 1972
Peak Position in Calgary ~ #9
Peak position in Vancouver ~ Hitbound
Peak Position on Billboard Hot 100 ~ did not chart
YouTube: “Julia Get Up”
Rich Dodson was born in Sudbury, Ontario, in 1947. In 1964, living now in Calgary, he formed an instrumental band called The Rebounds. By 1965, the band morphed into The Stampeders, named after that city’s football team, The Calgary Stampeders. Although, it could be argued that the yearly Calgary Stampede was also an inspiration for their name. During the band’s most successful chart run from 1968 to 1976, it was made up of guitarist Rich Dodson, bass player Ronnie King (born Cornelius Van Sprang) and drummer Kim Berly (born Kim Meyer). All three provided vocals. Originally, the band was a group of five formed in 1964 called The Rebounds. The Rebounds had five members: Rich Dodson, Len Roemer, Brendan Lyttle, Kim Berly, and Race Holiday. They renamed themselves The Stampeders in 1965 and Len Roemer was replaced with Ronnie King and Van Louis, making them a band of six for a few years. But after a temporary move to Toronto in 1966 the band was down to three members, Dodson, King and Berly by 1968. Between 1967 and 1976 The Stampeders charted 15 singles into the Canadian RPM Top 40.
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