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

At #19 on May 30 are the Deverons with "Lost Love" b/w "Feel All Right". Both sides were recorded at the same session for their debut single, so they both feature the departed Burton Cummings. The A-side isn't on youtube, but the B-side is:




We'll hear more from them later, as well we'll hear more about the Guess Who poaching another member of the Deverons.

 

I would say David Clayton-Thomas 69 BST hits might be competition.

 

Catherine McKinnon peaked at #23 on the April 25 main chart with her rendition of Buffy Sainte-Marie's "Until It's Time For You To Go".

I was not familiar with the song when a version started receiving heavy airplay on Montreal AC station CJAD in the late 1970s. I didn't realize who had sung that version until the RPM charts appeared online and discovered that it was Vera Lynn (#1 on the RPM adult contemporary chart in 1979).

 

30. WHAT AM I GONNA DO
by ROBBIE LANE & THE DISCIPLES
#1 for 3 weeks: June 6, 13 and 20, 1966




​

You have to admire Robbie Lane and the Disciples' excavation skills, if nothing else, finding this lovely song buried on the b-side of Neil Sedaka's 1959 flop single "Going Home to Mary Lou". Co-writer Sedaka commendably works the song's pretty melody over a perfunctory b-side-quality arrangement, but it took Lane and his band to really find the song's beauty, with a high-quality strings and brass-led arrangement.

Which is not to say that the Disciples needed to cover seven-year-old American songs, having multiple songwriters among them. For example, and I've never been more excited about anything in this thread than I am about writing this, guitarist Terry Bush, who wrote this present single's b-side. After breaking up with the Disciples and going into jingle writing, Bush wound up thirteen years hence composing and singing one of the most instantly recognisable melodies ever to come out of Canada: "Maybe Tomorrow", better known as the theme song to TV's The Littlest Hobo.

Sadly, this is the only time we'll be hearing from journeyman Robbie Lane and his disciples at the top spot, as no other of their singles topped the CanCon chart, either under their own name or under advertising-related pseudonym the Butterfingers or while providing backup for Ronnie Hawkins as one of the very many groups of musicians to bear the name "The Hawks". This track appears on their only album, It's Happening, a Capit0l 6000-Series album released to tie in with the CTV television show of the same name, for which they were the house band.

ON THE PAGES OF RPM: Okay, the May 9th issue was during the reign of "Love Drops", but the "Sounding Board" section offered quite a lot of feedback from local DJs about this Robbie Lane song, a few weeks in advance of it taking the number one spot:

• "Has the easy-to-listen-to sound so typical of Robbie. A great outing by a young man to watch in the near future. Already being charted in this area and is a hit." - Roy Geldhart, CKBW Bridgewater
• "Robbie's best yet. VOCM Channel 59 Pick Hit of the week. Could Go Go all the way with the right exposure." - George Grant, VOCM St. John's
• "Great reaction from record buyer's in this area. Personal reaction GREAT. Like Brian Wilson's 'Caroline No' should be a national breakout." - Wayne Barry, CKOK Penticton
• "A smash HIT. With the right push from DJ's I feel this song could be one of the big seller's for '66. Getting good reaction across the Ottawa area." - Barry the Sarazin, CJET Smiths Falls
• "With a few plays it will be on every chart in Canada. It has a great sound for the springtime, and the kids will dig it." - John Loweth, CHNO Sudbury
• "Great sound. Gotta go. My personal "Pick To Click". Robbie should finally make it record-wise on this outing. Gotta be." - Ted Hockaday, CHAB Moose Jaw
• "Shows a certain Gary Lewis influence that sounds like money in the bank. Robbie's best to date and a must for Canadian DJ's." - Graham Wyllie, CKCL Truro

 

Hitting #4 on June 6 (peaking at #35 on the Top 100) is "Toodle Oo Kangaroo" b/w "Patches Of Heaven" by Larry Lee and the Leesures from London, Ontario. They had previously released several singles as well as an album in 1965 (on the Canatal label).




There was a "Toodle-Oo Kangaroo" by Frank Virtuoso & the Virtues released in 1956. It lists "Virtuoso-Decino-DeKnight-Barry" as songwriters while the Larry Lee release on Columbia attributes the song the the mysterious "R.Genovsi"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2DVnyfbwZns
Neither "Toodle Oo Kangaroo" or the B-side are on youtube. So here's Larry Lee & the Leesure's 1964 single "Big Hoss Man Part I" (not to be confused with "Big Boss Man" which was on Larry's 1965 LP.) Produced by Buck Ram, it was released on the Entree label in the U.S. , complete with some of the phoniest "crowd noises" in recorded music history. I guess it was an attempt to replicate the "Boot 'N' Sound" sound. We'll hear more from Larry Lee later.

 

At #8 on June 13 are the Townsmen with a cover of the Ivy League's "Funny How Love Can Be". It would stall at #83 for three weeks on the RPM 100. The original isn't on youtube, here's a version from a 1992 reunion:

 

At #20 the same week are Bobby G. Griffith and the New Movement with "Cheater Cheater".





Here's the B-side "You're Married Now Jack" with an identical (not similar, identical) starting:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EtR5tfr0uG8

He was born in Winnipeg, but grew up in Dryden, Onatrio, later moving to Toronto. If you don't recognize the name, surely you'll remember seeing this hairstyle in used record bins:


He would release one more 45 with the New Movement on Stone Records in 1967 "Tough Guy":
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yOo6DCjqoi4

After that he would go on to a solo career with a few hits, we'll hear about that later.

 

Here's one I missed: #9 on May 30 (#59 on the big chart), Danny Harrison with "Girl, Girl, Girl". This now goes for big $$ on the "Northern Soul" market.



Here's the B-side "Broken And Blue"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dWwscdGWHIg

He would release one last 45 in 1967, "Operation Groove", but it didn't chart. It's not on youtube but the B-side is.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J9V9NlmeGOQ

 

The thing that's most notable about "Toodle Oo Kangaroo" is just how aggressively it was marketed in RPM. There were multiple ads across multiple issues, with a "name Larry Lee's kangaroo" competition among other things. It clearly didn't make a hit out of the song, but then again RPM wasn't a mass market periodical. I guess the label was targeting radio programmers.

 

The Allan Sisters peaked at #28 on the main chart on June 13, 1966, with "Dream Boy", the last of their three Top 40 hits, all on different labels. On the first, "Larry" on the Shell label, their name was misspelled 'Allen'. On their second Top 40 hit, "Remember The Face" on Red Leaf, the name was properly spelled 'Allan'. But for this song on Quality, the label once again read 'Allen Sisters'.




"Dream Boy" peaked at #4 on the CanCon chart on May 30. For part of its CanCon chart run, it was shown as a two-sided hit. Its flip was "Devil To Angel":
The Allan Sisters - Devil To Angel (misspelled 'Allen Sisters' on label) - YouTube

Both sides are available on the unauthorized CD, The Allan Sisters Meet Mary Saxton. The audio of both clips is from this CD.

 

I wonder what the reason was for cutting back to 50 for those few years. Sales of 45s were still pretty strong in Canada in the early '80s, and almost everything that was on Billboard was also available here. I realize that sales of most 45s would likely be around 1/10th that of the US just because of our population, but a lot of those spots were held by Canadian artists because of the Cancon rules. Would have loved to have seen a full chart for those years.

 

I noticed that too. There was a blurb that there would be rush release in Australia, but I can find no evidence it ever came out there.

 

Inspired by Secret Agent Man.

And Feel Alright, by Shout.

 

This is a song I knew from earlier versions. I must have heard one when I was a kid, and only came across it for my collection in the cd era, and I have concluded it could have been the Jimmy Clanton version.

Regarding Maybe Tomorrow, I don't believe I've ever come across it on cd, and only know of it from the TV Program.

 

31. THE REAL THING
by BOBBY CURTOLA
#1 for 2 weeks: June 27 and July 4, 1966




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So, just how tight exactly were our Bobby's ties to his tooth-rotting corporate overlords? Well, all these decades later, if you go to bobbycurtola.com, the official online source for all your Curtola-related needs, you're immediately greeted with a banner that spells out Bobby's name in the classic Coca-Cola font. Of course, you're also given the opportunity to "find out when Bobby will be coming to a venue near you", which, given that he died four and a half years ago, seems unlikely. After all, it was Pepsi, not Coke, that (allegedly) once told Chinese audiences it would "bring your ancestors back from the grave."

Why, you ask, did I bother going to Bobby's website? Well, I just had to know. In Curtola's chequered career so far, we have seen him cover a handful of songs from south of the border. We saw him cover an obscurity written by a Kingston DJ. And we've seen him sing more songs than you can shake a stick at that were written by Dyer and Basil Hurdon, Bobby's tooth-rotting artistic overlords. And indeed, the Tartan label you see above faithfully lists (Hurdon-Hurdon) as the songwriters. And yet the internet is full of sites, including Billboard Magazine's obituary, that describe Bobby himself as co-writer of this, his second Coca-Cola jingle. So which is it? Did the label lie? Or did the internet?

Well, this is what bobbycurtola.com's "Bio" page says:

In June of 1964, Bobby became the first pop singer to record a jingle that sounded like a “Top 40 Hit Single,” the song was “Things Go Better with Coke.” He signed an exclusive contract with Coca-Cola to be their #1 Spokesman. Bobby, also co-wrote “The Real Thing” which was used for the commercial “Coke’s The Real Thing.”

Random comma notwithstanding, we'll take Bobby's family-curated and eerily inactive website as gospel. And why not? 1970's Curtola album features a Curtola/Hurdon writing credit and a Hurdon/Curtola writing credit, and Stickin' With Beautiful Things from 1976 lists Bobby as writer or co-writer of fully half of the album's ten songs. So the man could write.

So what if the inspiration for his first spark of songwriting talent was a bottle of pop?

ON THE PAGES OF RPM: While I tend to avoid the barely-coherent verbal diarrhea that is the weekly Elvira Capreese column, I will excerpt a bit of it from the fourth of July edition: "WHATEVER HAPPENED TO....Jack London? Teenagers still talk about Jack but there hasn't been a hit from J.L. for quite some time. Shirley Matthews finally out of her tight U.S. contract is singing at Toronto's Bluenote where she was discovered and there are rumours of a comeback, soon. Terry Black...why no new singles from Terry? This boy is an artist with one of the hottest producers in the U.S. and Canadians are waiting for his next release."

 

"The Real Thing" has never been issued on any CD that I'm aware of. It is available digitally on the Bobby Curtola Don't Stop Dreaming Of Me compilation. The digital track not only contains this song but also the "And Things Go Better With Coke" jingle.


My Youtube upload of Wes Dakus' "The Hoochi Coochi Coo" has received the following message from Nor-Va-Jak:

copyright content - please remove


To which I have responded as follows:

Hello Nor-Va-Jak:
Thank you for all the superb CDs you have released the last few years, especially those of Canadian artists in conjunction with SuperOldies. On this site and others, I have been singing the praises of your releases for some time, including providing direct links to your website. Should you continue to wish that I remove this video I will of course do so, but will then be less inclined to continue to promote your releases.

We'll see how they respond.

 

At #13 on the Cross Canada Chart on June 27 is the third and final release from Edmonton's James & the Bondsmen "Hot Soup" b/w "Have You Ever Had The Blues" (the group discussed earlier here Every RPM Canadian Content #1 single discussion thread 1964-2000 ). Recorded in Memphis like the other singles, it would hit #97 on the Top 100. "Hot Soup" isn't on youtube, but the flipside is.



Edit: found this in the comments section on a blog from "Anonymous".

Mr Ed Music Round up: James & The Bondsmen

 

The Enigma Of Bobby Brittan

At #13 on the Cross Canada Chart on July 4 (#98 on the big chart) is "Just For You" b/w "Does Your Daddy Know" by the mysterious Bobby Brittan. It was released on an independent Toronto label, REM records (this appears to be their only release). "Just For You" isn't on youtube, but the B-side is:



The arrangement was by Paul Hoffert, who would go on to be one of the founding members of Lighthouse. The songwriter, Gordon Evans, commented on the youtube video:

The only other information I can find on Bobby Britten comes from the pages of RPM. Bobby was apparently discovered by Stan Klees, and the record received a lot of hype: here's a full page ad on page 2 of the May 16 issue:
http://rpmimages.3345.ca/pdfs/Vol+5,+No.+12+-+Week+of+May+16th,+1966.pdf
Ads then started appearing January 1967 for "Don Brewer Presents The Number 1 Featuring Bobby Brittan / Shannon Conway" (page 4)
http://rpmimages.3345.ca/pdfs/Vol+6,+No.+22+-+Week+Ending+Jan.+28th,+1967.pdf
All would be explained on page 2 of the July 1 issue (with picture):
http://rpmimages.3345.ca/pdfs/Vol+7,+No.+18+-+Week+Ending+July+1st,+1967.pdf
The Bobby Brittan Group (a "groovin' Canadian blues group) with Shannon Conway as "shapely back-up". They would create a "stir" in their first Toronto appearance:
http://rpmimages.3345.ca/pdfs/Volume+8-No.+12-November+18,+1967.pdf (page 3)
More news on page 2 here (calling themselves BBG?), then the trail grows cold.
http://rpmimages.3345.ca/pdfs/Volume+8-No.+13-November+25,+1967.pdf

 

Man, that's a Curious Case. Snooping around, I can't find anything more than you except (a) the 45 is stored at York University, which houses Paul Hoffert's archives, (b) the record label REM Records and the music publishing company Dee Bee Music were housed at the same address in Don Mills (no surprise there, really), (c) the two songs are listed on SOCAN's repertoire (the a-side is a cowrite between Brittan and Evans). Also I found one non-RPM reference to the band and label, which is in Cashbox Magazine: "New label on the Canadian scene, REM records, debuts with a pairing by Bobby Brittan, “Just For You” and “Does Your Daddy Know.” They can be reached at 701 Don Mills Road, Don Mills, Ontario." Nothing we don't already know.

Amazing how a person can just disappear from public record.

 

I'll also mention that it's not a half bad song, though I'm not sure it's as "Herb Alpert" as the composer seems to think.

Definitely the second-best Cancon song whose lyrics address the question of whether your daddy knows.

 

32. CLOCK ON THE WALL
by THE GUESS WHO?
#1 for 2 weeks: July 11 and 18, 1966




​

How our trusty band of Winnipeggers have grown! In this stage of their gradual evolution, we now have Randy Bachman as composer and Burton Cummings as lead singer. Chad Allen hasn't yet left the group, but he's not the only lead vocalist in the band anymore (and he'll be leaving pretty gosh-darn soon anyway). This song doesn't sound anything like the Guess Who sounded in 1964 and 1965, but it also doesn't sound anything like they will sound in a few years when they break through in 1968. So let's call this angsty Animals-esque belter "transitional".

Randy's lyrics aren't quite Dylan (good thing he has a friend named Clive, since that rhymes with "five"), but they do have a message to say about the dangers of living your life according to a strict time table. The clock on the wall, it seems, keeps pushing us - and that's no way to live a life. It either drives him to drink pr prevents him from devoting more time to drink.I'm not quite sure which. In any case, in a scant few years the writer of this song will leave the Guess Who both as a reaction to the pressures of life on the road (aggravating health problems) and because of the religious Bachman's reluctance to indulge in the rock-and-roll lifestyle his bandmaes fancied.

While other Guess Who releases got wider releases, "Clock on the Wall" only came out in Canada on Quality, the USA on Scepter, and the Netherlands on CNR - who gave it a picture sleeve nearly identical to "Hey Ho", including a picture taken before Bob Ashley had left the band and thus not including this track's singer. This would appear to be the Guess Who's final single on Scepter, though it wasn't the final single from the It's Time album.

OTHER CANCON ENTRIES: The week of July 11 sees a - perhaps unintentional - sneak preview of a change to come half a year later: a streamlined Cross Canada Chart Action section that dispenses with the sample listing of individual radio stations and the various other pieces of information compiled about the individual charting songs: the existence of a US release, location of production, and performing rights agency. This much simpler top-twenty existed for only one week before returning to the more complicated format on July 18, but half a year later, in December, the switch became permanent - alongside other changes that we'll talk about in due course.

ON THE PAGES OF RPM: One of the very first issues of RPM, when it was a mimeographed brochure, had a passionate article advocating against government-enforced Canadian Content quotas. Quite amazing, really, when you consider just how important RPM would ultimately be in establishing that very thing. The first suggestion that that particular tide might be turning is perhaps to be found on the first page of the July 11th issue:

Ottawa: Miss. Judy LaMarsh, Secretary of State, has tabled a White Paper on Broadcasting that may well be the first step to Canadianizing radio and TV in Canada. The paper specifically refers to a "substantial Canadian content" in programming. It further states that "minimum standards" will be provided.

This is possibly the first major breakthrough for the Canadian music industry. Record companies in Canada have been itching to record Canadian talent in Canada. Moderate regulations will mean that record company investments in Canadian content will assure some promise of financial return. The recording of Canadian bands, and symphony orchestras as well as light entertainment and hit parade recording might well become a reality.

The world industry has always assured Canada that if we can prove the potential of our domestic talent in our own country, they will gladly accept Canada's music.

This could mean a new industry for Canada with songwriters, composers, arrangers, musicians and other creative people sharing in the rewards of a new export industry.

Many of our current talents will have the opportunity to be preserved for posterity.

Miss LaMarsh may well have supplied Canada's music industry with the guarantee of the future it needs to continue... and possibly JUST IN THE NICK OF TIME!

 

Here's the nifty B-side, "One Day", the last track on a Guess Who single to feature Chad Allan on lead vocals:





Tired of the road and wanting to devote more time to his studies at the University of Manitoba, Chad Allan played his final gig with the Guess Who at the River Heights Community Club on May 28. The final link to the original incarnation of the band as the Rave-Ons back in 1957 was now gone.



At Winnipeg Stadium, May 23 1966 (2nd last concert with Chad)



After completing his studies, Chad Allan would show up in the fall of 1967 as the host for the Winnipeg segment of CBC TV's Let's Go, where ironically his backing band would be...the Guess Who.

 

Both sides of the single would be on the Guess Who's third LP, It's Time, released in June of 1966.



The only track on the album written by Chad Allan (and the final song on side 2) "Guess I'll Find A Place"



But look at the front cover, on the left. That's not Chad Allan...

 

Entering the Cross Canada Chart on May 27 at #20 are the Deverons with "She Is My Life" b/w "You Can't Buy Me". It's their third single on Reo and the first without Burton Cummings and with his replacement, Wayne Arnold.



https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V2xLBJSU4so



Rare picture of the post-Burton lineup.

With the departure of Chad Allan, the Guess Who felt they needed a replacement. So of course they went back to the same well, the Deverons.