Every RPM Canadian Content #1 single discussion thread 1964-2000

Discussion in 'Music Corner' started by bunglejerry, Aug 17, 2020.

  1. Paul C

    Paul C Forum Resident

    Location:
    Ontario, Canada
    It's kinda sorta really terrible:



    Written by one CHUM DJ Gary Ferrier but 'performed' by his colleague (and future gameshow host) Mike Darow, who sometimes went by Mike Darrow.
     
    Last edited: Dec 27, 2020
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  2. Paul C

    Paul C Forum Resident

    Location:
    Ontario, Canada
    Was the Edmonton Symphony Orchestra even aware they were playing R&B music that night? They must have played "A Whiter Shade Of Pale", but it's not on the album.
     
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  3. Paul C

    Paul C Forum Resident

    Location:
    Ontario, Canada
    I had a very nice and unexpected e-mail exchange yesterday with American country legend Bill Anderson, who has made the Billboard country chart eighty times and had a number of #1 RPM country songs once it ceased to be a CanCon only chart. And it's all because on the June 3, 1967, RPM country chart, "I Can't Even Do Wrong Right" by Johnny Burke ascended to the #1 spot for a two-week stay. (Born in Rosaireville, New Brunswick, Johnny Burke's real name was Jean Bourque. Plenty of entertainers have Anglicized their names (especially, it seems, Italian-Americans - Tony Bennett, Connie Francis), but I don't know of another French Canadian who felt the need to do likewise.)

    While uploading my 45 to Youtube yesterday, I noticed that the label indicated the song was written by "B. Anderson", and I started to wonder whether this was the aforesaid Bill Anderson. A brief internet search did not answer the question, but I did learn that Bill Anderson, who is now 83 years old, is still going strong and has a website on which he invites the public to submit questions. And so I submitted the following:

    Hello Bill

    I have a 45 titled "I Can't Even Do Wrong Right" by the Canadian singer Johnny Burke, which was a huge country hit in Canada in 1967. The label lists the songwriter as "B. Anderson", and I have been wondering for years if you are this B. Anderson. I can't find any evidence that you ever recorded a song with that title. I have uploaded the song to Youtube:



    Thank you for sharing your songwriting, singing, and storytelling talents for so many years. The Kleenex people most have made millions just from "Mama Sang A Song".

    Paul



    My question did include a little fib. I had not been wondering whether he had written the song "for years"; I had only been wondering it for about twenty minutes.

    Less than two hours later, I received this lovely e-mail reply from Bill Anderson himself:

    Hey Paul:

    I confess....yes, I wrote "I Can't Even Do Wrong Right." I hadn't thought of that song in years.

    I had to smile when you brought it up, though, because I remember exactly where I was when I got the idea. I was caught in a snowstorm late one evening at the Chicago airport, and no planes were landing or taking off. I got in a cab to go to a hotel for the night. The snow was coming down so hard that the cab driver got disoriented and got on the wrong road.

    He realized his mistake, but when he tried to turn the car around and get back on the right road he slid the cab into a ditch. He sat there disgusted with himself and said, "Well...s..t....I can't even do wrong right!" I knew right then I had the title for a song!

    Is Johnny Burke still living? I knew him, and knew that he recorded several of my songs, but had forgotten about this one. If you have a copy of his record, look on the label and tell me who is listed as the publisher. I'd like to find out where that copyright is these days.

    Thanks, Paul....you brought back a good memory.

    All my best,

    Bill



    I can't say that I was all that big a Bill Anderson fan before, but I sure am now.

    Today I'm going to have to e-mail him back and tell him that Johnny Burke passed away in 2017 and that, as was often the case with Canadian 45s at the time, the label does not indicate a publisher.
     
  4. bunglejerry

    bunglejerry Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Location:
    Toronto, ON
    Man, what a great story. Thanks for sharing it.

    And regarding Burke's name, while looking at the palmarès, I have come across a small handful of Québécois entertainers who Anglicised their names, including one who maintained two separate recording (and TV!) careers under two different names. But I don't recall who they are right now and didn't take specific notes about them.
     
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  5. bekayne

    bekayne Senior Member

    I forgot one yesterday: at #19 on May 20, the final single from Don Norman & The Other Four, "Your Place In My Heart". The B-side was the A-side backwards.



    The group was now down to five, so they were in fact Don Norman & The Other Four again. Rick Paradis was the new lead singer, Don was now just on bass. They recorded another single “Nothing To Do, No Place To Go", but they broke up and it wasn't released for another 30 years.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O6SAszMWGWw

    Sir John A. released one final single which had both of their last two A-sides. Don Norman retired from performing.

    [​IMG]
     
  6. GodBlessTinyTim

    GodBlessTinyTim Forum Resident

    Location:
    Ontario, Canada
    I believe the Quiet Jungle have also been deduced to be the band behind these two relatively highly-regarded ripoff records aping the Animals and Stones, respectively.

    Unknown Artist - Please Feed The Animals

    Various - Let's Spend The Night Together

    Please Feed the Animals was recently reissued on CD and is worth grabbing if you like that low-budget sound.
     
  7. GodBlessTinyTim

    GodBlessTinyTim Forum Resident

    Location:
    Ontario, Canada
    In college I took a music-history class whose professor once referred to Les Emmerson as "Canada's Paul McCartney." Not sure if I fully agree with that comparison, but Emmerson is definitely an underappreciated national treasure and among the finest musicians to come from Ottawa. Did any of his post-FMEB solo work reach the national charts?

    Also, I wonder if the mention of Jackie Shane had anything to do with the release of her live album: Jackie Shane - Jackie Shane Live!
     
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  8. GodBlessTinyTim

    GodBlessTinyTim Forum Resident

    Location:
    Ontario, Canada
    This thread has taught me that we are in need of the following:

    -A definitive Canadian garage rock anthology
    -A Yorkville Records collection
    -A Red Leaf collection
    -A compilation of David Clatyon-Thomas'/The Shays'/The Paupers' Roman Records output
    -All 28 of Bobby Curtola's Top 40 hits in one package (even if they aren't all winners... or even contenders)

    Great story. Did anyone else read the whole email in Anderson's trademark whisperin' voice?
     
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  9. colinu

    colinu I'm not lazy, I'm energy saving!

    I have been following this thread, though it is started slightly before when I started being aware of music - Canadian or otherwise. "Ca-na-da" I do remember - I started Grade 1 in '67.
    Thoughts:

    So many of the recordings have probably never seen a digital release. A shame.
    Maybe this should have been broken down by decade 'cos it is going to take a while to get into the 80s and beyond.
    I didn't realize that artwork for singles existed in the 60s.

    Will chime in more, as appropriate.

    Oh, someone just mentioned Les Emmerson - well you can cry and cry your eyes out. :).
     
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  10. GodBlessTinyTim

    GodBlessTinyTim Forum Resident

    Location:
    Ontario, Canada
    Picture sleeves have been around since at least the 50's. In fact, American picture sleeves from 1957 were higher quality than Canadian ones from '67:

    [​IMG]

    Well, that proves he got some solo airplay outside of Ottawa!
     
  11. bunglejerry

    bunglejerry Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Location:
    Toronto, ON
    You know that 5 CD box set of The Band? It turns out some of the early-sixties obscurities were found in Duff Roman's basement. So there is stuff hiding in corners of the country (hell, maybe buried under the permafrost in the Yukon? Wouldn't be the first time). I imagine that the notion is that there wouldn't be enough of an audience for any of this to make it worth their while. Numerically, that might well be true.
     
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  12. bekayne

    bekayne Senior Member

    Doug Rankine claimed they had nothing to do with Let's Spend The Night Together.
    The Secrets / The Quiet Jungle | Garage Hangover
     
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  13. GodBlessTinyTim

    GodBlessTinyTim Forum Resident

    Location:
    Ontario, Canada
    Ah, thanks for the clarification. Still hope that Gear Fab or another label eventually reissues the Stones knockoff, regardless who made it.

    What gives me hope is that a four-disc set with the complete output of Australia's Go! label came out a couple years ago. Go! was comparable to Red Leaf in terms of productivity and longevity ('64-'68 vs. '65-'6?). Granted, Australia has done a much better job of preserving its musical heritage than Canada as a whole (and Go!'s output was arguably more consistent than Red Leaf's), but it proves such a project is only 99% unfeasible at most.
     
  14. John B Good

    John B Good Forum Hall Of Fame

    Location:
    NS, Canada
    I really enjoy hearing other language versions of songs like Everyday I Have to Cry.

    I looked up Dany Aube on Amazon, and found a cd, but too high priced :(
     
  15. John B Good

    John B Good Forum Hall Of Fame

    Location:
    NS, Canada
    Nice country sound.
     
  16. John B Good

    John B Good Forum Hall Of Fame

    Location:
    NS, Canada
    Interesting that Oscar Peterson's Canadiana Suite was issued in 1965. I wonder if it was in anticipation of Centennial fever?

    I have a Moe Koffman cd called 1967, but I see no titles on it that would be considered celebratory of the event.
     
  17. John B Good

    John B Good Forum Hall Of Fame

    Location:
    NS, Canada
    That's a beauty! Reminds me a bit of Elusive Butterfly.
     
  18. JamieC

    JamieC Senior Member

    Location:
    Detroit Mi USA
    Glad I wasn't the only one.....
     
  19. John B Good

    John B Good Forum Hall Of Fame

    Location:
    NS, Canada
    That was very amusing to me, I remember some of those faces. Austin Willis could have been Canada's man from Glad.
     
  20. John B Good

    John B Good Forum Hall Of Fame

    Location:
    NS, Canada
    Contagious sound, Plague is only shade better than Dayglo Abortions as a group name IMO.
     
  21. beccabear67

    beccabear67 Musical omnivore.

    Location:
    Victoria, Canada
    Their Nocturnals CD comes with a DVD with rare footage. Mine has band autographs on it from it's release, so possibly my most treasured CD.

    Red Leaf was a Duff Roman label wasn't it? Maybe with those and the Roman Records Paupers and David Clayton Thomas sides there could be a great 'Story Of' type compilation CD there!
    [​IMG]
     
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  22. bekayne

    bekayne Senior Member

    Appropriate his name would appear in a thread about Canadian charts, as he was host of Cross Canada Hit Parade.

     
  23. W.B.

    W.B. The Collector's Collector

    Location:
    New York, NY, USA
    Le'me guess - the Prokop was Skip, right?

    But evidently this pressing was by the RCA Victor plant in Smiths Falls, ON.
     
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  24. W.B.

    W.B. The Collector's Collector

    Location:
    New York, NY, USA
    The Amazing Randi, who is also on this clip (if the heading is of any indication), died recently. Passed away Oct. 20, aged 92.
     
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  25. John B Good

    John B Good Forum Hall Of Fame

    Location:
    NS, Canada
    It's Hard Work. Think I've spent 3 hours in the past 24, just doing 3 pages!
     
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