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

Don't switch the blade on the guy in shades.

 

Heard this today on Sirius and rocked out to it lol! Hard to hear the song without picturing the jailhouse video. Good stuff.

 

I apologize for being away for the past few days. We lost power on Saturday morning due to Hurricane Fiona. I'll have my next post up today or tomorrow.

 

Well that is completely understandable.

I hope everything is okay for you and those close to you.

 

I can't believe the highest it reached was only #24. That song seemed to be everywhere.

I had forgotten that the video featured the wonderful Laurie Brown.

 

I agree. #24 is pretty low for a song that was seemingly played every five minutes and launched a string of hits that would last for close to a decade. Further proof that chart statistics don't always tell the whole story.

 

Around the time "Sunglasses At Night" was entering the charts, Anne Murray released a new single that sounded a little different from what one would expect from her. Featuring synths, programmed drums, and rock guitar, "That's Not The Way (It's S'posed To Be)" had a sleek and modern (for the time) sound that had elements of new wave, AOR, and synth-pop. Taken from her 1983 release, A Little Good News, "That's Not The Way (It's S'posed To Be)" hit #5 on the RPM Adult Contemporary as well as #22 on the RPM Country Singles Chart. Although it missed the Top 50, "That's Not The Way It's Supposed To Be" got some top 40 airplay in a few markets.

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Country?!?

 

On March 10, Saga entered the Top 50 at #50 with "Scratching The Surface", the second single from 1983's Heads or Tales. The single would peak at #45 in late March/early April.

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249 I WANT YOU BACK
SHERRY KEAN
Highest Ranking For 4 Weeks:
1984-04-07 (#21) 1984-04-14 (#20)
1984-04-21 (#19) 1984-04-28 (#19)
Capitol 72937



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Sherry Kean (born Sherry Kean Huffman) had been a fixture on the Toronto music scene since the late 1970s. She had fronted several bands including The Sharks where she met guitarist and future husband, David Baxter. Formed in 1980. The Sharks soon became a popular attraction on the local club scene playing a mix of pop and punk covers. At one point the band also included bassist Basil Donovan and drummer Cleave Anderson who would eventually achieve success as members of Blue Rodeo.

The Sharks disbanded in 1982 allowing Kean to pursue a solo career. With Baxter in tow, she shopped some demos around which caught the interest of manager Sergei Dening. By the end of the year, Dening had secured a deal with Capitol Records and Kean was soon in New York’s Media Sound with producer Mike Thorne recording an album’s worth of new material. From these sessions emerged the five-song EP, Mixed Emotions which was released in the Summer of 1983. The first single was “I Want You Back” (NOT the Jackson Five song), which received modest airplay that Autumn.

With Capitol giving the go-ahead for a full album, Kean and Baxter recorded five new songs with producer Harvey Goldberg at Manta Studio in Toronto. People Talk was finally released in March of 1984 containing the newly recorded songs in addition to three from the EP and two unreleased tracks recorded during the New York sessions. The album was preceded by the re-release of “I Want You Back” b/w “Sever The Ties”. The single entered the Top 50 at #50 on March 3 commencing an 11-week chart run. It the number one Canadian single for four weeks straight peaking at #19 for the weeks of April 21 and April 28. An extended mix of the song was released also, which proved to be popular in Dance clubs across the country.

Two additional singles were released from People Talk, “Would You Miss Me” which reached #93 and “Get Away From That Girl” which did not chart. Three years later, Kean would re-emerge with the country-flavoured Maverick Heart and receive a nomination for Country Female Vocalist of The Year at the 1988 Juno Awards. She subsequently retired from performing. Having reverted to her given name, Sherry Huffman currently works as a tour guide at the McCulloch Heritage Centre in Pictou, Nova Scotia.

 

I think "I Want You Back" is the only Sherry Kean I have heard (The Good Lord knows I've been wrong before). I haven't heard this in decades either, but I still really like it. I like Kean's phrasing emphasizing the final syllable in each line rather than swallowing it like so many new wave artists may have tended to. The bass break is rad, too.

Saga had a lot more hits than I recall them getting. I've never heard any Saga albums but the singles are enjoyable in their poppy-Brit-progginess. They really are a better version of Asia: longevity, better hooks, better songs. They were more popular in Europe than here weren't they?
The synths are rad in "Scratching the Surface", the electric drums, not so much. Electric drums didn't bother me in the 80s though.

Anne Murray has an amazingly smooth & husky voice. She can fricken sing! "That's Not the Way" is absolutely enjoyable.

Add me to the WTF list that "Sunglasses at Night" only hit 24. That makes no sense. I'd listen to Anne Murray over Corey Hart any day of the week.

 

I have no memory of the song but my wife loves it and mentioned it a few years back, so I tracked down a copy of the album to give to her.

Indeed.

The only thing I can figure is that when Sunglasses at Night was out, I was probably watching Much Music more than I was listening to AM radio and the song's ubiquity may have been more related to its heavy video rotation but it still seems low.

 

That would be People Talk which is actually a pretty good album.

The followup single, "Would You Miss Me", got a little bit of airplay for a couple weeks upon release a few months later but that was about it.

 

In early 1984 veteran rockers, April Wine released "This Could Be The Right One", the first single from the band's new album Animal Grace. It failed to break into the Top 50, but it did garner a decent amount of airplay at the time.

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"This Could Be The Right One" reached #58 on the Billboard Hot 100 (the last April Wine song to make the chart) and #23 on its rock chart.

By this time, RPM had a competitor in the form of The Record. Unfortunately, its charts are not publicly available. For this time period, Nanda Lwin's Top 40 Hits uses The Record's then 40-position sales chart as its source, and it does not list this song as having made that chart. The Record published separate sales and airplay charts, but Lwin uses only the sales chart as his source until 1990.

 

Just watched this. Check your local listings, it is likely to be repeated a few more times in the coming week or so:

https://www.cbc.ca/documentarychannel/docs/doug-and-the-slugs-and-me

 

250 LISTEN TO THE RADIO
PUKKA ORCHESTRA
Highest Ranking For 5 Weeks:
1984-05-05 (#24) 1984-05-12 (#22)
1984-05-19 (#21) 1984-05-26 (#19)
1984-06-02 (#24)
Solid Gold SGS-751​

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Formed in 1979, The Pukka Orchestra was a fixture on Toronto’s Queen Street club scene during the early 1980s. Utilizing numerous guest musicians throughout its career, the core of the band consisted of Scottish-born singer/guitarist Graeme Williamson along with guitarists Neil Chapman and Tony Duggan-Smith. It was Duggan-Smith’s British grandfather (who had served as the harbormaster in Calcutta, India) who coined the band name. The word pukka means “authentic” or first class in Hindi. When Duggan Smith mentioned that he was playing music for a living, his grandfather replied “That's all very nice Tony, but don't bother with any mediocre bands, get yourself into a Pukka Orchestra".

The Pukka Orchestra debuted in 1981 with an independent single “Rubber Girl” b/w “Do The Slither” on their Rubber imprint. In 1983, the band signed to Solid Gold and released its self-titled debut early the following year. The first single was “Listen To The Radio”, a retitled cover of the Tom Robinson/Peter Gabriel duet “Atmospherics: Listen To The Radio”, which had been a U.K. hit in 1983.

Released to radio in March 1984, “Listen To The Radio” b/w “Spies Of The Heart” entered the RPM Singles Chart on April 7, 1984. The single enjoyed a 10-week run on the countdown peaking at #19 for the week of May 26. It was the highest-ranking Canadian single for five weeks straight from May 5 to June 2.

Although the band was off to a promising start, success proved to be short-lived. Just as the album was climbing the charts, Solid Gold went into receivership and the follow-up single “Might As Well Be On Mars” only peaked at #93 as a result. Shortly after, Graeme Williamson developed kidney issues while he was in Scotland visiting family. He eventually received a kidney transplant and returned to Toronto. Upon his return, the band recorded an EP, Palace of Memory, which was released in 1987. Unfortunately, his health issues cropped up once more while the band was attempting to record its second full-length album in 1988. He returned to Scotland where he lived until his death in June 2020.

 

Listen to the Radio, Might As Well Be on Mars, Cherry Beach Express all got decent airplay in Southern Ontario. especially on CFNY, where the album was #51 for the year in 1984.

 

Come to think of it, I do remember hearing "Might As Well Be On Mars" on local radio a few times during that summer.

 

As another CFNY listener in the '80s, I heard Listen to the Radio a few times. I'm listening to it as I post in fact, and it seems a lot punchier than the Tom Robinson original. It's a really good song, so is Might as Well Be on Mars; I'd rank Cherry Beach Express third but it's quite alright as well! I have their CD, maybe the vinyl too

I'm not knocking Tom Robinson's Listen to the Radio by the way, it really is wonderfully atmospheric in a European culture sort of way. I had thought it was the flip side of War Baby, but the two songs were his '83 single releases. But don't I have a 12" with both on it? I believe I do ... two excellent songs, in any case.

 

I remember liking The Pukka Orchestra's whole album a fair deal. I haven't spun it in a lifetime though, so I'm not sure if I still dig it.

 

Gosh, had so forgotten This Could be The Right One and Listen To The Radio! For the time both were really good. I mean, there's that '80s production but there are other qualities, like the vocal, on both saving them from just being more disposable audio tissue paper.

 

On March 31, Martha and The Muffins entered the countdown at #45 with "Black Stations, White Stations". This was the first single after the lineup was scaled back and the act was rebranded as M+M. The lyrics dealt with racism in the radio industry and as a result, a number of stations avoided playing the song. In spite of this, the single peaked at #26 on May 12 and held that position for the next two weeks.

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M+M was perhaps my favorite Canadian group at the time. I was a bit disappointed with the Mystery Walk album, although I like it a lot better now. However, "Black Stations / White Stations" brings the funky heat though. Still love it! One of the groups best songs.