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

I've always loved this single. I had no idea she was that young.

"Smiling Wine" was knocked out of the #1 spot on the RPM country chart on May 6, 1972, by the last of Stompin' Tom Connor's three #1 songs "Moon-Man Newfie".

 

Spending the week of April 29, 1972, at #1 on the RPM Adult Contemporary chart was "Wings Of A Dove" by Syncona, a Canadian band that played Caribbean music. It was released on their own Syncona label. In the liner notes of the band's debut and, apparently, only album (not released until 1974), "Wings Of A Dove" is described as "a traditional song usually sung by schoolchildren.

 

On RPM's 'French Canadian Top Ten' chart, after three consecutive #1's by non-Canadians, CanCon returned to the chart's summit in the form of Sherbrooke born Caroline Vallee, known professionally as Karo. She performed the self-penned "My My My" at the World Popular Song Festival in Tokyo. Released on the Vedettes label, it was the #1 song on the French language chart on March 25, 1972. It would subsequently be issued by Capitol of Canada and enter the main RPM chart on August 5 (more than four months later), peaking at #54 on September 23.










The Youtube clip sounds the same as the Vedettes 45 to me, except that the left and right channels are switched. I don't have a Capitol 45, but the fact that the producer and arranger credits are identical suggests that they are the same recording. It’s interesting, however, that the information on the Capitol label is in English, which suggests that it might be an English version.

 

The following week, April 1, 1972, Karo was replaced at the #1 spot on the French language chart by Renee Martel's "Un Amour Qui Ne Veut Pas Mourir", her version of Delaney & Bonnie's "Never Ending Song Of Love".










During its brief existence, Renee Martel would top the French language chart three times, more than any other artist.

 

On April 8, 1972, Renee Martel handed over the top spot on the French language chart to 17 year old Montrealer Michel Pilon. "Sans Amour" would reign for two weeks.






Pilon retired from music in 1982 at age 27.

 

Michel Pilon was replaced at #1 by a non-Canadian (Mireille Mathieu), who in turn was replaced at #1 on April 29, 1972, by Richard Huet's "La Baie James". Huet was born in Montebello, Quebec, which is about 65km from Ottawa but considerably further from La Baie James.

 

123. YOU COULD HAVE BEEN A LADY
by APRIL WINE
AQUARIUS AQ 5021
Highest ranking for 2 weeks: May 20 (4) and 27 (8), 1972



​

So imagine you're Myles Goodwyn. You've joined a band of three family members with the same surname. You've moved from Halifax to Montréal on the back of a misunderstanding and fluked your band into a record deal. You've gamely worked through the band's first - unsuccessful - album as one frontman in three, despite your ambition. And though you wrote and sang only two songs on the début, those were the two that got pulled as singles. You've impressed the label enough to bankroll a second album, pushing you as the frontman. You've survived a personnel change (the first of many) when Jim Henman (who was cousin to the other two band members) left the band and was replaced by 'your guy' Jim Clench.

When the second album is released, you sing lead vocals on eight of the nine vocal tracks and receive songwriter credits on five of the album's ten tracks. You have asserted your dominance over the band and are now clearly its leader.

And yet... when British/Canadian producer Ralph Murphy brought two songs, recent English releases that had made no impact in North America, and suggested April Wine cover them for the album, Goodwyn was fine with it. He liked the songs. He was fine with the second guitarist contributing two compositions and the new-recruit bassist writing (and singing) one. After all, April Wine's position was hardly assured at this point.

But how could it have affected Goodwyn's ego and self-confidence when the first single pulled from the album was one of those British covers? And then the second single from the album was the other British cover? And then the third single was one of the two written by David Henman? On the one hand, it must have made him feel rejected. On the other hand, these marketing decisions did bring about a change in April Wine's fortunes that led them on a fifty-year journey to the heart of Canadian popular rock.

"You Could Have Been a Lady" was Hot Chocolate's third single, released in 1971. Hot Chocolate launched their career with a cover of "Give Peace a Chance" released on Apple Records, eventually charting on the UK singles charts 37 times in a lengthy career. They're best known on this side of the pond for "You Sexy Thing" and "Every 1's a Winner" - that second one of course also covered by a Montréal band, Bootsauce (years later). Hot Chocolate's original is excellent, funkier and looser than April Wine's cover, with brass and an organ.

Having said that, though, April Wine wear the song like a glove, bringing a hard-rock feel to it while sacrificing none of its whistle-test catchiness. I'm not sure the lyrics fit 2021 very comfortably, but that doesn't stop the cover from receiving routine play on classic rock stations - alongside those other two songs I mentioned, Elton John's "Bad Side of the Moon" and "Drop Your Guns".

The album was called On Record and came in a clever package: the album cover was a perfect mock-up of the record album itself, complete with the Aquarius label listing the title and songs on side one. On the grooves of the vinyl itself, however, have been superimposed head shots of the four band members. Literally "on record".

April Wine's recording of"You Could Have Been a Lady" got released on a wide range of labels: Aquarius in Canada, Big Tree in the USA, Interfusion in Australia and New Zealand, Philips in Argentina, and Pye Records in the UK, Germany, France and Greece (a nice list of countries, but smaller than the list that put out Hot Chocolate's version, which includes Yugoslavia, Singapore and Turkey but not Canada). For all that, only two countries saw the On Record album in 1971: Canada and the USA, where Big Tree rather logically changed the cover and retitled it April Wine. In 1991, Repertoire Records put the album out in Europe, bravely retaining the Aquarius-logoed original cover.

GERMANY:



FRANCE:

 

Never Coming Home : A transitional song from a transitional album. Brave Belt was caught between the country rock direction of the first album and the heavier sound that they would become known for once they transformed into BTO.

No Good To Cry : Another song that I discovered via Oldies radio. As good as the Wildwees version is, I prefer this version because a) I heard it first and b) Susan Jacks's vocal has a vulnerability to it that conveys the lyrics perfectly.

Little Ol' Rock and Roll Band : Sounds a bit like Lighthouse.

Sour Suite : Love this song. The arrangement suits the melancholy lyrics beautifully.

Fly Across The Sea : I like the synth on this one.

We're Dancin'(Til It Blows Over) : I had never heard this song until a few years ago when I was looking up some Pagliaro stuff on Youtube. Loved it instantly. Pretty heavy for top 40 radio especially at the time.

Devil You: Not to take anything away from their more laid back hits, but my favorite Stampeders songs are their more rocking hits such as this one.

 

The 45 does not have the faded-in intro. It's also a bit longer than the LP version.

 

"We Gotta Make It Together" was #1 on the RPM Adult Contemporary chart for two non-consecutive weeks, May 6 and May 20.

 

The RPM chart showed this as a two-sided hit, so "Then Came The White Man" must have received some airplay.

 

​

"You Could Have Been A Lady" peaked at #2 the previous week while "Heart Of Gold" was #1 (#1 CKVN-Vancouver, #6 CHUM-Toronto). In the U.S., #32 in Billboard, and very big in Ohio: # 2 in Cleveland, #5 in Dayton, #7 in Akron, #11 in Columbus.



Judging by the look of that clip, I'm going to guess it was from Rollin' On The River (they appeared September 18, 1972 and January 8, 1973). The B-side "Teacher" (non-LP)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NP9fV-EiTT4

On Record made it to #35, the U.S. had a different title and cover

 

The US Big Tree label (Monarch pressing variant, Alco Research & Engineering typesetting):

 

At #26 the week of May 20, Rick Jones with "Saskatchewan Sunrise"



The B-side "The Child From The Future"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M9i4KL_jaHQ

Both songs were on his 1971 album on Argo, Twixt You And Me



Rick Jones was born in London ON in 1937 before going to London UK to make his career as an actor/ folk singer. Here he is as "Harry the pianist" in the "Song Of Death" episode of the British Sci-Fi series Undermind from 1965.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QbDXNT3TOyE

He put out three singles on Decca and Fontana, "Connie" b/w "My Sometime Love", "The Flowers Are Mine" b/w "Reason To Believe" and "I'll Be Your Baby Tonight" b/w "Little Lady Sometimes". He would come to his greatest fame in the U.K. as a host for children's programmes, particularly Fingerbobs.



https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3BA2L7E_u-I

His groovy 1972 single, "Theme From The Aeronauts"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TbICN1g8rYE

He released one more solo LP, 1973's Hiya Maya



He would join the "pub country" band Meal Ticket, who put out three LPs later in the 1970s.

 

At #87 the same week, "Can You Tell Me" by Heat Exchange, the first of three singles released on the Yorkville label





The B-side "Inferno"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VpJEZunu-hg

The follow-up "Scorpio Lady" b/w "Reminiscence"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5WT24N-SwkA
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ij7Cd86jq6M




The final single "She Made Me All Alone" b/w "Philosophy"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GdOn_eSS1CA
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=20guwKemRC0




The group started under the name Cloud in Toronto, they changed their name after they were signed to Yorkville. They recorded an album in 1973 that would not come out until 2017. Here's an interview with group member Craig Carmody that tells their story. Guitarist Neal Chapman would return to the charts over a decade later as a member of Pukka Orchestra
The Day After The Sabbath: TDATS #96: Heat Exchange (with Craig Carmody)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BH4z6taIERc

 

How did I not know that? Interesting.

 

April Wine had their moments but this song is awful. "They all need you to make love to"? That's down there in the Monday Morning Choo-Choo territory for bad lyrics.

That's consistent with the fact that I recall hearing both sides on the radio at various times.

 

Peaking at #34 the week of May 27, "Get Up, Get Out, Move On" b/w "A Man Like You" by Fludd. It hit #12 in Vancouver (CKVN) and #18 in Toronto (CHUM). In the U.S. it was popular in Idaho, making the top twenty in Boise.






After the single, their newest member, guitarist Mick Hopkins would return to England to form the band Quartz, keyboardist Peter Csanky would take his place.

Get Up, Get Out, Move On by Fludd –

 

At #68 the same week, "Red Red (The Rocking Horse)" by Buxton Kastle.



The B-side "Lovin' Games"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Scpy05Fovxw

This was the second single for the Hamilton band formerly known as Mingles. They were on a new label (Reprise rather than RCA Victor), "Buxton" (aka Jerry Doucette) had left for Vancouver, and the hyphen in their name was also gone. They would have one more release.

 

At #75 the same week of May 27 for the first of two weeks, Ocean with "Make The Sun Shine".





The B-side "Wild Country"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wreCgiXD4w0

Both songs would be on the next LP.

 

124. OLD MAN
by NEIL YOUNG
REPRISE REP 1084
Highest ranking for 4 weeks: June 3 (18), 10 (6), 17 (5) and 24 (4), 1972




​

Hey, weren't we just talking about Neil? Like, the day before yesterday? Well, "Heart of Gold" took its time rising to number one. And of course a hit single demands a follow-up, and so here it is: the remarkable "Old Man" backed with "The Needle and the Damage Done". While it was less successful than the previous single, it was still a hit: its number four position on RPM's chart is his second-highest charting single as a solo artist. More surprisingly, its Billboard performance is also his second-highest charting single as a solo artist, and it managed a measly 31.

You have to pity poor Scott Young, sports journalist, book author Hockey Hall of Fame inductee, and estranged father to Neil Young. Watching his son achieve greater and greater fame with his personal confessions, he said "I used to see myself in every miserable bastard who showed up in Neil's songs." A messy divorce from Neil's mother had removed Scott from his son's life - not completely, but largely. So Scott Young was profoundly moved by the touching lyrics of this song, which seemed to suggest a desire for reconciliation, a reaching out for common ground. Then Neil broke his heart by letting him know the song wasn't about him at all but instead about the farmhand on the California ranch he had just bought. As Neil explained in the 2006 movie Heart of Gold:

About that time when I wrote ("Heart of Gold"), and I was touring, I had also - just, you know, being a rich hippie for the first time - I had purchased a ranch, and I still live there today.

And there was a couple living on it that were the caretakers, an old gentleman named Louis Avala and his wife Clara. And there was this old blue Jeep there, and Louis took me for a ride in this blue Jeep. He gets me up there on the top side of the place, and there's this lake up there that fed all the pastures, and he says, 'Well, tell me, how does a young man like yourself have enough money to buy a place like this?'

And I said, 'Well, just lucky, Louie, just real lucky.' And he said, 'Well, that's the darndest thing I ever heard.' And I wrote this song for him.

Whatever the inspiration, it's a gorgeous song, a touching missive from a young man (of twenty-four) to someone much older, completely sidestepping the generation gap at a time in history when it was perhaps at its widest. At 75 years old, Neil is still singing it.

It was the first song recorded in Nashville for Harvest. It has a beautiful banjo line (actually a 'guitar-banjo' played by James Taylor), a simple but effective drum beat (with no hi-hats per Young's instruction; he had drummer Kenny Buttrey sit on his right hand to avoid the temptation) and absolutely gorgeous harmonies from James Taylor and Linda Ronstadt again.

The b-side, a two-minute live solo recording of "The Needle and the Damage Done" (which has no studio recording) is also one of Neil Young's most famous songs, showing up on both 1977's Decade and 2004's Greatest Hits (as did the a-side). An intentionally simple song with an elegant guitar pattern, the song is a series of brief couplets about the dangers of heroin. Its intentionally vague lyrics are frequently taken to refer to Danny Whitten, Young's Crazy Horse bandmate who was then grappling with addiction. Five months after this single fell from the charts, Whitten was dead. And Neil Young was arguably never the same.

As the follow-up to the global smash "Heart of Gold", "Old Man" also saw release in a large number of countries, all bearing the Reprise logo. These countries are Canada, the USA, New Zealand, Germany, El Salvador, Portugal, Austria, Australia, France, Brazil, the Netherlands, Japan and South Africa. Five familiar faces gave it a picture sleeve.

GERMANY:



PORTUGAL:



FRANCE:

 

THE NETHERLANDS:



JAPAN:

 

And the U.S. label for "Old Man":

 

At #71 the week of June 3, The Bells with "Lord Don't You Think It's Time". It's not on youtube but the B-side "Easier Said Than Done" is

(from their LP before the last one).

 

At #79 the week of June 3, Allan Nicholls with a cover of the Cat Stevens song "The Joke"





As Berger in Hair



In Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band on the Road as one of the "Hammermen"
Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band on the Road - Wikipedia




Interview with Nicholls from 2003.
Profile | Allan Nicholls | Season 3 | Episode 308