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

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

  1. JamieC

    JamieC Senior Member

    Location:
    Detroit Mi USA
    TY Now I know who BIM is. One of my favorite Christmas albums is by Bim and Connie Kaldor. Of course I don't know squat about either.
     
  2. John54

    John54 Senior Member

    Location:
    Burlington, ON
    Good song! I had no actual idea it was a John / Taupin track. It reminds me a little of Early in the Morning by Vanity Fare, which I think I said about some other song a week or two ago and it might even have been the same one, in another thread ... ? I forget

    I gave this one a listen, it's actually very good, R & B-ish. The only flaw is where it keels over and comes to a complete stop about 1:40 in, before reviving; very weird. I wonder whether that was actually part of the song or if the YouTube poster did it on purpose?
     
  3. bekayne

    bekayne Senior Member

    It was part of the song, very 1968 for a B-side.
     
    John54 likes this.
  4. Paul C

    Paul C Forum Resident

    Location:
    Ontario, Canada
  5. bekayne

    bekayne Senior Member

    At #91 the same week of March 6, "Song For Wendy" b/w "Goodtime Song" by Cliff (The Bells) Edwards on A&M Records. It reached #36 on the Country Music Playlist. Neither side is on Youtube.

    [​IMG]

    It was on the album Singer Of Songs.

    [​IMG]

    He would release one more album, What's Forever For in 1980 on Boot Records. He would have a few more entries on the country chart

    [​IMG] [​IMG]
     
    Paul C likes this.
  6. bekayne

    bekayne Senior Member

    Paul C likes this.
  7. Paul C

    Paul C Forum Resident

    Location:
    Ontario, Canada
    For today's catch-up song, we're going all the way back to yesterday and Marty Simon's "Roll You Over" (#37 on February 28, 1976):

     
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  8. Paul C

    Paul C Forum Resident

    Location:
    Ontario, Canada
    The video and the Youtube link above both appear to play "Louie Louie". Here's the hit side, a cover of Sam Cooke's "Having A Party":
     
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  9. W.B.

    W.B. The Collector's Collector

    Location:
    New York, NY, USA
    No doubt would have been IS 032 if issued in the U.S. But didn't the prefix indicate Island being distributed by GRT of Canada at this point?
     
  10. Paul C

    Paul C Forum Resident

    Location:
    Ontario, Canada
    My copy is still in its GRT sleeve. Odd that there is no mention of GRT on the label.

    [​IMG]
    For both "Roll You Over" and The Crescent Street Stompers' "Having A Party" above, the labels erroneously state 'stereo'. Both are in fact mono.
     
  11. W.B.

    W.B. The Collector's Collector

    Location:
    New York, NY, USA
    On that, I agree. But the prefix was the giveaway here. Besides, didn't Quality press for GRT?
     
  12. bunglejerry

    bunglejerry Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Location:
    Toronto, ON
    I completely forgot to post today!
     
  13. bunglejerry

    bunglejerry Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Location:
    Toronto, ON
    177. THEME FROM S.W.A.T. (PART 1)
    by THE T.H.P. ORCHESTRA
    RCA PB-50179
    Highest ranking for 3 weeks: March 13 (4), 20 (1) and 27 (2), 1976




    [​IMG]
    Given the nature of the government's CanCon legislation, that a song composed abroad could still qualify as Canadian Content provided the artist and production were both Canadian in origin, it's a surprising but happy turn of events that Canada never really developed a "copycat" music industry, one that churned out locally-produced soundalike imitations of current Top 40 hits. It could have happened, and as you've been able to see from my occasional look-in on the Québec music scene, simultaneous soundalikes almost became a thing there, though by 1974 or so that was largely played out. Also, they were translated soundalikes, so they weren't actually designed to deceive. Of course, I'm not talking about mere covers, of which there have been plenty. I'm talking about carbon-copy versions that adhere to the internationally successful original just as closely as they can. I'm talking about... this.

    What is this? Well, quickly, "S.W.A.T." was an Aaron Spelling cop drama that aired a season and a half from February 1975 to April 1976. It has two great legacies: first, a trio of films starting in 2003 and a currently-airing TV reboot that first aired in 2017. And second, its theme song. Written by Barry De Vorzon, it took its chicken-scratch and strings template straight from early-70s blaxploitation soundtracks and cannily caught a moment as funk was morphing into disco, with its sonic template and scope coming straight out of Hollywood. A rerecording with an artist credit of Rhythm Heritage came out on ABC Records and was a hit Stateside. And up here? Well, the "Theme from S.W.A.T." was a hit up here too. It was just a wee bit different.

    Rhythm Heritage's version of the song spent a single week atop the Billboard 100, the week of February 28. The THP Orchestra version's also spent a single week at the number one position on the RPM 100, almost a month later during the week of March 20. It was the first of three Canadian songs to top the RPM 100 in 1976, a number equal to the number of German and Scottish songs to do so.

    Rhythm Heritage and the THP Orchestra are testaments to the remarkable depth of talented session musicians available in Los Angeles and Toronto respectively. The masterminds behind Rhythm Heritage were Michael Omartian and Steve Barri. We've met Barri at least twice in this thread: he produced material for Terry Black and 3's a Crowd. The session players credited on Rhythm Heritage's first full-length album Disco-Fied likely have close to 10,000 session credits between them and include Ed Greene, Dean Parks, Ray Parker Jr., Lee Ritenour, Victor Feldman and Tom Scott. The THP Orchestra's talent pool was a bit less deep but still included Paul Zaza, Jack Zaza, certain individuals from Dr. Music and from the Tommy Hunter Show, and... Terry Bush of "The Littlest Hobo" fame once again!

    The nefarious story here is apparently that ABC Records had some hold-up in getting its Canadian release of the Rhythm Heritage hit manufactured. RCA was aware of this and decided to exploit it by contracting Ian Guenther and Willi Morrison of Three Hats Productions to rush-release their own recording and get it to shops and radio before ABC's bottleneck cleared up.

    And who on earth were Three Hats Productions? Well, Ian Guenther was part of the original lineup of Lighthouse, playing the violin. He has a few other violin or fiddle credits under his arm from the late sixties and early seventies as well. I can't say too much about Willi Morrison's early career, though he has a few odd releases under his own name or under the name Emigré. The two of them seem to have started producing together in around 1972 or 1973, using the name Three Hats Productions. Their early work together is very far from the disco sound with which they would build their career. It tends to be folky, countryish material. I have no idea why RCA thought that they were the right men to emulate a proto-disco TV theme song, but perhaps the reputation of their Rolodex preceded them.

    Given that radio stations now had two almost identical versions to play, but one would count toward their CanCon quota and the other wouldn't, it's easy to guess which one they went with. Unsurprisingly, ABC were less than pleased with RCA's manoeuvre. Here's RPM reporting on it:

    "There would appear to be some controversy over the single release of the Theme From S.W.A.T. by the Rhythm Heritage on ABC and RCA's successful cover by the T.H.P. Orchestra. RPM's Chart Editor, Rob Mearns, explains that the RPM chart 'is compiled from radio play and sales with sales the most important factor in compiling the top twenty. Radio play is a major factor, along with sales for the next ten.' He went on to explain that 'After the top thirty (100 up to 40) radio play is the main factor in moving up the chart.'

    Mearns pointed up the fact that in the Feb 7 issue of RPM, the Rhythm Heritage's Theme reached No. 37 on the RPM 100 because at that time, the distributing label had reported that 85% of the major radio stations were playlisting and charting the single. Mearns noted: 'One of the problems we experience here in Canada is the advance service that radio stations receive from the U.S. on singles, some of which are never released in Canada yet appear on playlists and, in some cases even on the charts.'

    When it became apparent that the single wasn't being serviced to retail outlets, chart action began to slacken off. In fact the single moved from its high at No. 37 down to No. 51 the week of Feb 14 'because there was no product available.'

    It should be noted that CHUM Radio in Toronto had playlisted the Rhythm Heritage version for four weeks but 18 minutes after receiving the T.H.P. version from RCA's Johnny Murphy, they aired the single which climbed to the No. 1 position (Feb 28) after only five weeks of play.

    With more and more stations changing over to the T.H.P. version, the single entered the RPM 100 at No. 88 the week of Feb 21 followed the next week by a bulleted No. 75. Sales were becoming greater daily and RPM's Canadian retailer samplings indicated that T.H.P. did, indeed, have a hit. The single, after three weeks of charting moved up to No. 18 with a bullet and the week of March 13 took another giant leap with a bullet into the No. 4 position. This week (Mar 20) Theme From S.W.A.T. by the T.H.P. Orchestra made its way to the No. 1 position and with sufficient RCA sales figures to back the chart position.

    RCA's Ontario promotion manager, Johnny Murphy, has been in constant contact with RPM supplying weekly and cumulative sales of the single."


    So the THP Orchestra was a hastily-conceived one-off for the purpose of ripping off a competitor. What's most remarkable is that, against all odds, it turned into something much bigger and more enduring than that. The full extent of Guenther and Morrison's disco ambitions only became visible with time. But as we have one other occasion to talk about them, I'll leave that story till then.

    While Rhythm Heritage's take on the song came out in 19 countries, including - eventually - Canada, the THP Orchestra's version came out in a more modest number of countries. Frankly, given the recording's raison d'être, the fact that that number is more than one is surprising. RCA put it out in Canada, Brazil, France, Greece and Italy (all of whom got the ABC original as well), while Power Exchange Records and Tapes put it out in the UK - that final bizarrely named UK indie label was actually only three months removed from getting a UK Number One single, with a weird fluke single by a man from Oshawa. Brazil, France and Italy gave it boring picture sleeves.

    ON THE PAGES OF RPM: The 1976 Juno Awards, the second to have no actual relationship to RPM, were held March 15 at - of all places - Ryerson Polytechnic Institute, years before it became Ryerson University, the slime mould currently devouring Toronto's downtown core. Whereas in 1975, Walt Grealis's name wasn't even mentioned during the ceremony, this year they brought out Randy Bachman to give him an honorary award. Here's a quick rundown of the major awards, where Grammarly can have a heart attack over my deliberate non-usage of the Oxford comma.

    For the big three awards, Joni Mitchell won "Female Vocalist of the Year" (her first Juno and - shockingly - one of only two Junos she would ever win) over Anne Murray, Charity Brown, Suzanne Stevens and Sylvia Tyson. Gino Vannelli won for "Male Vocalist of the Year" over Gordon Lightfoot, Jean-Pierre Ferland, Murray McLauchlan and Paul Anka. BTO was "Group of the Year", beating April Wine, Beau Dommage, Harmonium and the Stampeders.

    BTO took "Best Selling Album" for Four Wheel Drive over April Wine, Paul Anka, Beau Dommage and Harmonium (almost the same exact list as "Group of the Year"). They also took "Best Selling Single" for "You Ain't Seen Nothing Yet" over Paul Anka, Hagood Hardy and the Stampeders.

    The Country awards display the ongoing lack of imagination that this set of awards has suffered from since they were called the RPM Awards: Anne Murray for "Country Female Vocalist" over Carroll Baker, Susan Jacks, Sylvia Tyson and Patti MacDonnell, the Mercey Brothers for "Country Group or Duo" over Bob Murphy Big Buffalo, Carlton Showband, The Family Brown and Four Ways, and Murray McLauchlan for "Country Male Vocalist" over Jimmy Arthur Ordge, R. Harlan Smith, Stompin' Tom Connors and Tommy Hunter.

    With the Junos' comically loose definition of the term on full display, Gordon Lightfoot won "Folksinger of the Year" over Joni Mitchell, Murray McLauchlan, Stompin' Tom Connors and Valdy.

    Hagood Hardy won in a field of ten for "Composer of the Year" for "The Homecoming". He also won for the surprisingly deep "Instrumental Artist of the Year" category, beating André Gagnon, François Dompierre, Liona Boyd and Moe Koffman. Additionally, Peter Anastasoff won "Producer of the Year", even though that was the only song on the album he produced.

    In retrospect, we can say the "Most Promising" awards batted 0.333 this year, giving the nod to Patricia Dahlquist, Dan Hill and Myles & Lenny. Losers in these categories include Heart and - of all people - Sylvia Tyson, whose first album came out fourteen years previously!

    Oh, and Elton John and the Captain and Tenille both won awards too. I'm sure they display them proudly on their mantelpieces to this day.

    BRAZIL:

    [​IMG]

    FRANCE:

    [​IMG]

    ITALY:

    [​IMG]
     
  14. bekayne

    bekayne Senior Member

    Here's the B-side "Theme From S.W.A.T. (Part 2)



    Here's the LP version, I'll leave it to others to document any differences (I'll be mentioning the LP later)
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ygq_WWvhlWw

    Compare to the U.S. original
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LHDg96-ZN_U

    Here's the TV show intro
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zFijg_Tnn7M

    Some of the names on the THP album: Eric Robertson (The Majestics, Heads Of Our Time), Barry Keane (Wishbone), Bob Mann (Dreams, Mountain), Brian Russell (The Classics, Three To One), Dave Brown (Dr. Music), Gary Morgan (Rob McConnell & The Boss Brass), Roy Smith (Phil Nimmons Group), Matthew McCauley (Dan Hill's co-producer), Russ Little (Lighthouse), Arnie Chycoski (Lighthouse)
     
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  15. W.B.

    W.B. The Collector's Collector

    Location:
    New York, NY, USA
    I would like to know if anyone can identify if it was THP's version of "Theme From S.W.A.T." or another (certainly not Rhythm Heritage's) which Earl played during a story he read in this "SCTV News" segment:

    (Seen during 0:24-0:45.)
     
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  16. bekayne

    bekayne Senior Member

    At #24 for the first of two weeks (week of March 13, 1976), "Take It Like A Man" by Bachman-Turner Overdrive (#24 at CHUM as well. On the home front it charted higher in Vancouver WA than Vancouver BC). It reached #33 in Billboard, their last Top 40 entry down south (#63 in Cash Box). It was the first A-side with a Blair Thornton songwriting credit (co-written with Fred Turner).



    B-side "Woncha Take Me For A While" (knock-knock-knockin' on heaven's...sorry)
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t5b0GGKSYzw

    [​IMG] [​IMG]

    Dutch picture sleeve

    [​IMG]

    Spain

    [​IMG]

    Japan

    [​IMG]
     
  17. bekayne

    bekayne Senior Member

    "Take It Like A Man" featured Little Richard on piano

    [​IMG]

    Here's Randy Bachman's story (remember, it's a Randy Bachman story)
    Interview: Randy Bachman on inspiring Elvis and upsetting Steven Tyler | Louder
    The other song with Little Richard "Stay Alive"


    "Take It Like A Man" was on the new album Head On. It entered the charts December 27, 1975, peaking at #3 on February 17, tumbling out of the top ten by March 27, and dropping off completely after 22 weeks. In the U.S. it made it to #23 in Billboard.

    [​IMG] [​IMG]
    [​IMG]
    [​IMG]
     
    Paul C likes this.
  18. bekayne

    bekayne Senior Member

    [​IMG]

    Brazil cover

    [​IMG]

    Israel

    [​IMG]

    The U.K. and Greece

    [​IMG]

    Uruguay

    [​IMG]
     
  19. bekayne

    bekayne Senior Member

    At #11 the week of March 20, "So Glad You're A Woman" b/w "Making Out The Best I Can" by the Neon Philharmonic



    [​IMG]

    If you had thought 1. "I didn't know the Neon Philharmonic were Canadian" and 2."I didn't know the Neon Philharmonic was still around in 1976", it would be perfectly logical because 1. they weren't and 2. they weren't. The Neon Philharmonic was the American duo of Tupper Saussy and Don Gant who released two albums in 1969
    and had a #17 hit in Billboard with "Morning Girl" (#2 in Canada). They released their last single in 1972 and disbanded, at which point the name "Neon Philharmonic" was purchased by Canadian record producer David Kastle (Buxton Kastle, Young, Dickens, Mingles). Kastle would produce a single for Tupper Saussy on London in 1975 which would only be released in Canada, "Jack And Jill" b/w "She Cares".

    [​IMG]

    Kastle would put together a new Neon Philharmonic comprised of two Canadians, Ron Demmans (Smyle) and Ray Williams. The first single on London would by "Long Distance Love Affair" (written by Williams) b/w "Making Out The Best I Can" (written by Saussy). It was produced by Kastle and engineered by Don Gant.
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bxgycmiVqUI

    [​IMG]

    "Bright Lights, Hard Nights" b/w "You And I" (both written by the new guys) would follow, then "Lovin' You" b/w "Don't Look Back"

    [​IMG]

    A final single would come in 1977, credited to the Neon Philharmonic Featuring The Springer Bros., "Twice As Strong" b/w "Don't Look Back"

    [​IMG]

    Ron Demmans and Ray Williams would transition from being the Neon Philharmonic to the pop country duo, the Springer Brothers (Bob and Josh Springer). "Dance, Dance, Dance" b/w "You And I" (for the second time) came out on London in 1978, followed by "Twice As Strong" b/w "You And I" (for the third time) which got a U.S. release on Elektra
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BC8QSsFBwXE

    Then "One More Broken Heart" b/w "You And I" (for the fourth time)
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2QuYwgR5gV0

    After that, "Put Your Heart In It" b/w "You And I" (for the fifth time!!!). 1979's "What's A Nice Girl Like You (Doing In A Love Like This)" b/w "Twice As Strong" (never let a track go to waste) was even more country.
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EkJq4i-QDZI

    Finally in 1980, a cover of "Cathy's Clown" b/w "No Fair Fallin' In Love"
     
    Paul C likes this.
  20. bekayne

    bekayne Senior Member

    At # 31 the week of March 20, Terry Jacks with "Y'Don't Fight The Sea"



    B-side, the brief "Me And You"
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nrj2TH15ZVI

    [​IMG]

    Y'Don't Fight The Sea would me the title of his second album on Goldfish Records. It entered the charts on February 7, 1976, peaking at #35 three weeks later, only seven weeks on the chart.

    [​IMG] [​IMG]
    [​IMG]
     
  21. bekayne

    bekayne Senior Member

    At #36 the week of March 20, "Sweeney Todd Folder" by Sweeney Todd. It peaked at #15 for two weeks at their hometown station of CKLG.



    B-side "Let's Do It All Again"
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PTZMyTd2W7w

    [​IMG]

    Sweeney Todd Folder by Sweeney Todd - 1976 Hit Song - Vancouver Pop Music Signature Sounds

    The story begins around 1971 with a band called Rasputin featuring lead vocalist Ron Tabak, guitarist Jim McCulloch, Brian Konopelski on bass, Harold Collishaw on keyboards and drummer Don Snell.
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=snF7K7VcpCI
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tUunLFdnihY

    Tabak would be replaced by future lounge singer Ted Fleetwood, who in turn would be replaced by London-born Nick Gilder.

    [​IMG]

    The band would change their name to The Incredible Sweeney Todd in 1973, Konopelski would be replaced on bass by Brian McDonald (who would briefly use the stage name Drummond Everliegh Smith) and Collishaw by Dan Gaudin. John Booth would replace Snell on drums, then Bud Marr replaced McDonald on bass. This was the lineup that would be signed by London Records.

    [​IMG]

    The first single was "Rock 'N' Roll Story" in 1975
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c0RreyyUMC8

    B-side "Short Distance, Long Journey"
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CBKW0b7kqq0

    Their self-titled debut album would come out in December, entering the charts on December 27.
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kgB1IeSy1Kc

    [​IMG]
    [​IMG]
     
    Paul C likes this.
  22. bekayne

    bekayne Senior Member

    At #77 the week of March 20, Fullerton Dam with "Tobacco" b/w "Cars Rolling Down" on Polydor Records.

    [​IMG]

    Neither side is on Youtube, but their first single on Polydor from 1975 is: "You Didn't Break My Heart"



    Fullerton Dam was led by Grant Fullerton, formerly of The Stitch In Tyme and Lighthouse.


    [​IMG]
    [​IMG]

    He would leave Lighthouse along with lead singer Pinky Dauvin right before they hit it big in order to form the band Mudflat (with Pinky, David Moulaison, Gene Falbo and Bob DiSalle).

    [​IMG]
    [​IMG]

    Fullerton Dam was formed in September of 1974 with drummer Steve Negus, Larry Brohman on bass and Brad MacDonald on keyboards. They will chart once more.
     
    Paul C likes this.
  23. bekayne

    bekayne Senior Member

    Peaking at #4 the week of March 27, "Wow" by The Disco Sound Of Andre Gagnon. It reached #3 at Montreal's CKGM, #15 on the Pop Music Playlist, #95 in Billboard, #5 on the "Hot Disco" chart



    "Wow" was used for over 20 years as the theme song for soccer on TV in Peru
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bN2wC1LCbxc
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dobyNoM5P1E

    B-side "Samba" which topped the charts in San Juan, Puerto Rico
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qykzjN_GupM

    [​IMG] [​IMG]

    Dutch picture sleeve

    [​IMG]

    Dutch re-issue ("Ta Samba" was now apparenty the "Lotto Tune")

    [​IMG]

    Portugal

    [​IMG]
     
  24. bekayne

    bekayne Senior Member

    Spain

    [​IMG]

    France

    [​IMG]

    Germany

    [​IMG]

    Italy

    [​IMG]

    "Wow" came from the album Neiges (#22 week of April 17, 20 weeks on the chart)

    [​IMG]

    I'll just leave you with this quote from NHL goalie Gilles Gratton (Montreal Gazette, December 5, 1975)
    According to Rod Gilbert, Gratton had memorized the entire Neiges album and could play it on the piano.
     
    Mr. D likes this.
  25. W.B.

    W.B. The Collector's Collector

    Location:
    New York, NY, USA
    The U.S. label shown was CBS Terre Haute. Here's the Pitman:
    [​IMG]
     

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