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

The two weeks that "Faster Than The Speed Of Life" was shown as the #1 song on the CanCon chart, it was not the highest charting song written by Mars Bonfire on the main chart. Wilson Pickett's version of "Born To Be Wild" (with Duane Allman on guitar) peaked at #43 on May 26, 1969.

 

The US Dunhill 45, speaking of which . . .

 

The US labels had more info:

The prior single - also with Duane Allman on guitar, and from within the same Fame sessions - had some US copies pressed by Columbia:

 

In 1969, Capitol of Canada signed two artists who performed in both English and French, Pierre Lalonde and Natalie Baron. For their first Capitol releases, each artist released two singles simultaneously, one English and one French.

Pierre Lalonde was already an established star when signed by Capitol. His first English Capitol 45, "I'll Catch The Sun" (a Rod McKuen song) peaked at #6 on the CanCon chart on May 26 and at #60 on the main chart the following week. Capitol pressed special promotional 45s featuring an introduction by Miss Canada 1969, Marie-France Beaulieu:



Although the promo 45 was on the Capitol 'target' label.....


....the commercial 45 was still on the 'swirl' label.

 

Unlike Pierre Lalonde, it does not appear that 21 year old Quebec City native Natalie Baron had ever recorded before she signed with Capitol. Her first English 45, "Take Me Away", peaked at #6 on the CanCon chart on June 2 and at #84 on the main chart.






"Take Me Away", co-written by Jackie Trent and Tony Hatch, was a remake of a song first recorded by Trent. Jackie Trent and Tony Hatch wrote most of Petula Clark's 1960s English language hits, including those (like "Downtown") only credited to Hatch.

It appears that Capitol released only two more Natalie Baron singles (both English). I can't find any evidence that Natalie Baron ever recorded again.

 

The May 24, 1969, issue of Billboard included a 44-page special 'Canada Spotlight' (available on Google Books). In that same issue, Billboard introduced twenty position Canadian singles and album charts, stating that these would be regular weekly charts. I don't know for how long Billboard continued to publish these Canadian charts, but I don't believe it was for very long.

 

Both of those would chart. "(Somebody Somewhere) Needs You" (#16, December 27 1969) and "The Next Sound You Hear" (#26, April 18 1970). The latter produced by Nimbus 9 and written by Chad Allan.

 

An oddity of Pierre Lalonde's career in the 1960s is that for one year he lead a "double life": as Pierre Lalonde and as "Peter Martin". He hosted The Peter Martin Show on New York TV station WPIX from December 1967 to September of 1968. He had a handful of Canadian guest: Paul Anka, Monique Leyrac, Les Baronets and Montreal Mayor Jean Drapeau (it is not known if His Worship sang any tunes)
CTVA Music - US Pop Music TV Shows - "The Peter Martin Show" (syndicated)(1967-68)

Lalonde would release the album Introducing Peter Martin: Hit Songs From Peter's Television Shows.



The Peter Martin Show would be replaced by The Pickle Palace hosted by Peter Yarrow.

 

Correction. It peaked at #2 on the CanCon chart that week. I apologize to both Monsieur Lalonde and Mister Martin.

 

At #4 the week of May 26 (#67 on the big chart one week later), Dianne Brooks with "Walkin' On My Mind" b/w "Need To Belong".



The B-side "Need To Belong"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dY9MI5ytZ8M



Dianne Brooks was from New Jersey and was a member of the Three Playmates who had a minor hit with "Sugah Woogah". Shortly after the group ended she would move to Toronto and sing in the clubs there. In 1962 she would write and record "The Orbiteer Twist" for RCA Victor, featuring a teenaged Robbie Robertson on guitar. The song was promoting a new toy called Orbiteer I (a space age variation on the boomerang).

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gV082nB1Kkk



Her next recordings were two she did for Verve Folkways in 1967, produced by Harvey Brooks: "In My Heart" b/w "I Just Don't Know What To Do With Myself" and "Picture Me Gone" b/w "Sometimes I Wonder"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KcE0aGBeyXA
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ByZOztropvQ
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A6oycfKykMM

In 1969, Mort Ross and Doug "Dr. Music" Riley (who had been partners in the advertising jingle biz) created with Terry Brown a new music production company and record label called "Revolution". The first release would be "Walkin' On My Mind", both sides written and arranged by Riley, produced by Ross. It would be the only record to come out on Revolution, as the label name would soon be changed to Revolver. Here's a special issue of RPM devoted to the story of Revolution and Revolver.

https://worldradiohistory.com/CANADA/RPM/60s/1969/RPM-1969-09-20.pdf

We'll hear more from Dianne Brooks, more from Revolver Records (including a real #1 hit), Doug Riley, Dr. Music and Terry Brown (as producer for Rush).

 

Different pressings - one from RCA Smiths Falls, the other from Compo in Cornwall, ON.

We have a same situation with the U.S. release, on Ray Charles' Tangerine label:

 

Also covered by The Sugar Shoppe.

 

"The Orbiteer Twist" by Dianne Brooks got me thinking...how many Canadian "Twist" songs are there?

Lenny Bryan-"Twistin' Blues"
The Checkers-"Twilight Twist", "Twistin' Inn"
Ken Davidson-"Twist Man Easy"
Bernie Early-"Ferris Wheel Twist"
Max Falcon-"Let's Twist And Hop"
The Hot Toddies-"Let's Twist It", "Whole Lot Of Twistin'", "My Twisting Gal", "Blues Twist", "Big John Twist"
Billy Martin & His Orchestra-"Twistin' Round The World ", "Twistin' Queen"
The Ray Combo-"Greensleeve Twist", "Whole Lotta Twisting Going On", "Honky Twist"
Hank Gallant And The Sceptres-"Miss Twist"
Twister Lee & The Hideaways-"Walkin' With Twister Lee"
Garry McDonnall, Lennie Richards & The Nomads-"Teem Twist Nos. 1 & 2"
Mr. 5 By 5-"Slow Twistin"
Guy Roger-"Viens Danser Le Twist"
Donn Abrahan With The Ambassadors-"International Twist"
Les Megatones-"Megatwist", "Twist Des Copains", "Zebra Twist"
Les Jaguars-"Supersonic Twist"
Pierre LeBon Et Les Sepera-Twist-"Le Twist", "S.V.P. Twist", "Twist Spécial", "Francis D. Twist"
The Corvet's-"Corvet's Twist"
Four Pladds-"Honky Twist"
Yolande Claude-"Twist Et Chante"
Bob Davies-"Twist To The Music"
Jean Boucher-"Canada Twist"

 

I had to look that up



Just twist in my sobriety

 

83. BABY, I LOVE YOU
by ANDY KIM
DOT STEED 716X
#1 for 10 non-consecutive weeks: June 9, 16, 23 and 30, July 7, 21 and 28, and August 2, 9 and 16, 1969




​

Phil Spector's marriage to Veronica Bennett (a/k/a Ronnie Spector) was a terrifying tale of domestic abuse and dysfunction. However, the creative work they did together includes, according to some, among the finest songs in the history of recorded sound. Certainly, "Be My Baby" is one of the most frequently cited classics. Three months after that epochal single, the songwriting trio responsible for it followed it up with "Baby, I Love You". Both were attributed to Veronica's vocal trio the Ronettes, though of the three only Veronica appeared on either. The backup vocals on "Baby, I Love You" were actually sung by Darlene Love and Cher. Where the former hit number two on Billboard, the latter placed a much lower 24.

The three people responsible for the songwriting were Phil Spector himself together with husband-and-wife songwriting Jeff Barry and Ellie Greenwich. After Barry and Greenwich divorced in 1965, Barry's career would eventually lead him to Andy Kim, who I am now speaking about for the fourth time. Kim and Barry, of course, co-wrote a good many songs (another of which we'll be speaking about very soon). But Kim, with a rushed release schedule, also recorded covers, including covers of his boss's previous hits: Kim recorded versions of both of the songs I've just mentioned and put them both out as singles, the latter in 1969 and the former in 1970. Both were big hits. We'll get to the 1970 recording in due time, but as for "Baby, I Love You", it hit number nine on Billboard and put in two weeks at the top of the RPM 100 chart. On its little sister, the Canadian Content chart, it logged an impressive ten weeks at the top: five in a row and then a further five after a one-week interruption by another well-known Canadian song we'll be getting to tomorrow.

And the song itself? Well, it's truly sublime. With an angelic melody pulled from the depths of time, the Ronettes' original is only slightly less inspired than the magnificent "Be My Baby", and many of the countless covers down the decades carry at least a glimmer of the original's sense of majesty (yes, even the Ramones' attempt at it). Kim's take is wrapped up in an excellent imitation of Phil Spector's patented "wall of sound" construction, including even those castanets. The main distinction between the 1963 original and the 1969 remake would be Kim's additional "na-na-nas", which give the song a secondary hook. Nothing could replace the original, but Kim's take does indeed come very close.

I mentioned that Kim recorded covers. This song was the title track of his third and final Steed album, which rather surprisingly contains only six Barry-Kim compositions. Tim Hardin, Jimmy Webb and Burt Bacharach were also covered. I suppose that's something we can talk about in more detail in a few days, when we'll have further to say about Kim.

Discogs lists releases for this song in Canada, the USA, the UK, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Australia, Brazil, West Germany, Greece, France and Japan - as usual with Kim, under the aegis of Dot Records except in the USA where it's a Steed release. A gallery from four countries with picture sleeves follows, but that's not the most interesting thing. The most interesting thing is that "Baby, I Love You" is the first CanCon number one single to be released *in a different format* than just a standard 7", as it was also released as a PocketDisc, a novelty item that was in fact a four-inch flexidisc that ran at 33 RPM and was sold from vending machines for 50c. "Magic Carpet Ride" also got released in this manner, as did perhaps 60 different titles. Philco sold a competing line, called Hip Pocket Records, which were compatible. The idea failed to catch on and was discontinued in 1969.

NETHERLANDS:



GERMANY:



FRANCE:



JAPAN:

 

I have a Southern Plastics-pressed 45 with Alco Research & Engineering label type, a later pressing with recuts by Annex Studios of Hollywood:

I have to say, with all due respect, I much prefer Mr. Kim's version of this to The Ronettes'. May have something to do with co-writer Jeff Barry producing it.

(I.I.N.M., early copies had A&R Studios lacquers from New York, no doubt where Mr. Barry and Mr. Kim were working out of at the time.)

 

Mr. Barry changed the order of the songwriter credits. Mr. Spector had listed him last:

Reached #5 in The Netherlands:
Top 40 week 38 van 1969

 

At #2 the week of June 9, Buckstone Hardware with "Pack It In" b/w "You're Still Getting Better". It would come out on Apex in a picture sleeve. It would peak at #33 on the big chart six weeks later.





The band was originally called The Riffkin and were from North Bay ON. They moved to Toronto and changed their name, apparently Burton Cummings liked to party with them when he was in town. And the bass player was known as "Jocko"...
https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10150400048434991

Another Guess Who connection":
When Jake met Randy UPDATED - BayToday.ca



It would be their only release.

 

At #4 the week of June 23, Life with "Hands Of The Clock" b/w "Ain't I Told You Before". It would peak at #19 in the Top 100 eight weeks later, still at #4.



B-side:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X_gBX1iJQys

It was released with picture sleeves in Germany and Portugal




The band was formed in Montreal, they were formed out of the remains of another band, The Scene, who had charted with their only single:
https://forums.stevehoffman.tv/thre...thread-1964-2000.987585/page-46#post-25377070
They would add formers memebers of local other bands such as Bartholowmew Plus Three and Carnival Connection. Neil Sheppard would produce and write both sides of the single. After the single was recorded, Lori Zimmerman (the wife of bass player Danny Zimmerman) would join the group. She was with them long enough to appear on the picture sleeves, in the advertising campaign for the single and on the cover of RPM.



She would leave the group later in 1969, and released a self titled album in 1971.

 

"Hands Of The Clock" received quite a bit of promotion in the pages of RPM.

 

Life would release a follow-up, "Sweet Lovin'" b/w "Desire" in November but it would not chart. The single after that would, we'll hear that one later. Both songs would be on their album released in 1970.
Life - ST

 

At #6 the week of June 23, the Noblemen with "Child Of My Sleeping Mind" b/w "Up To No Good". It spent one week in the Top 100 (#97) on May 12, two weeks before it even entered the CanCon chart. Neither side is on Youtube.




They would change their name to Harry Young and the Noblemen, then Young And Company (and would chart again under that name.)

 

The week of June 23, at #7 is Michael Tarry with "If You Belive" b/w "Such A Long Time". Neither side is on Youtube. Here's the groovy followup "Neighbors At The Zoo"



He would have a couple more singles ("What's Your Name", "Sometimes You're Up") and one with the group Milestone ("Today"). None charted and none are on Youtube. But he will eventually have a big hit, we'll hear that one later.

 

At #75 on the main chart (but not the CanCon chart) the week of June 23, Paul Anka with "Sincerely" b/w "Next Year". It would come in a picture sleeve in Germany.

 

At #5 the week of June 30, Southbound Freeway with "Roll With It" b/w "Don't Go Cryin'". It would peak at #53 in the Top 100 a month later, the week of July 28. It was released on Quality and in the U.S. on Atco. They were from Edmonton (it would reach the top ten in their hometown), so of course it was recorded in Clovis NM with Norman Petty. Surprisingly, both sides are on youtube:



The B-side:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=atcdJuCveoM



The band started around 1966, releasing their first single "Dead End Street" b/w "Something Better" on the local Pace label.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ph1FiyqxuKk
Both songs would appear on the Pace compilation

(1967)



Southbound Freeway would back Barry Allen for a couple of years until he left to join Purple Haze in 1968.
Here's a version of "Born To Wild" recorded as The Risiong Sun in 1969 for a Birchmount exploito album.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2ypueRoMUc4

They shortened their name to Freeway and released one more single in 1973, "Right Now, Good Vibrations" b/w "You Don't Have To Be". They finally threw in the towel in 1976.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OYx2GYQyExI

Canadian Bands.com - Southbound Freeway