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

Re: Allan Nicholls

I gave Coming Apart, Let the Music Play and I'll Love You from Far Away a listen, and they're all slow-to-mid-paced ballads with some rock production, and IMHO are pretty good songs.

FWIW the first line of lyrics of Let the Music Play is "When you're feeling sad and lonely" with the same melody line as the first line of Chris Montez's Call Me, except the latter has "If you're feeling sad and lonely" ...

 

A Friend in the City sounds vaguely familiar, and I'm almost certain that it came within earshot a couple of times when it was out. It may not be of the same "formula" as So Good Together (which must be a pretty good formula, because that's always been the one Andy Kim song I thought much of), but the B-side You certainly is!

An impressive A/B double-sided combo if you ask me.

 

This is awful. The function of broadcasters is to provide entertainment that the public wants to be entertained by. Culture is derived from those individual choices, rolled up into a collective. So is "national identity", to whatever extent that's a thing. The "authorities" should have nothing to do with it.

 

108. JODIE
by JOEY GREGORASH
POLYDOR 2065 055
Highest ranking for 3 weeks: May 1 (3), 8 (3) and 15 (7), 1971




​

After releasing an absolutely manic six albums in two and a half years, San Francisco's own Creedence Clearwater Revival, bogged down in infighting, failed to release an album in 1971 before releasing their final, underwhelming album Mardi Gras in 1972. But in their absence, what was a lover of swamp rock performed by people who lived thousands of kilometres away from Louisiana to do?

Never fear, Joey Gregorash is here, with a song so very derivative of the CCR sound that John Fogerty himself must have wondered why he couldn't recall recording it.

(At this point, I'll address the factual inaccuracies of my first paragraph: while it is true that CCR didn't release an album in 1971, they did have two number-one singles in Canada in 1971, the first of them reaching the summit only a few weeks before this particular song. Still, never let the truth get in the way of a good yarn.)

In any case, as a member of the Steve Hoffman Forums once said, "Talent imitates; genius steals." And "Jodie" is very much something like a work of genius. A great song with great guitar lines and persistent hooks, it was the work of Winnipeg native Joey Gregorash.

Lyrically, the song isn't up to very much, reading for all the world like an AI device that's been fed early-seventies "counterculture" lyrics and asked to spit out new songs. Apparently, "Jodie" is a good name for people who are free, which is good advice for expecting parents. Indeed, evidence points to few Jodies in North Korea.

Nonsense it might be, but it's catchy nonsense. And that counts for a lot. The most profound lyrics are, of course, the "doo doo doos" in the song's hook, and Gregorash is in fine Fogerty voice throughout.

Joey Gregorash has been on these pages before and will again. His professional career goes back to 1965, when he was a member of the Winnipeg band the Mongrels. A few flop solo singles later, Polydor shipped him to Memphis to record an album, North Country Funk, at Stax Studios. "Jodie" was the first fruit of those labours. With a second album and another seven singles to go (one further top ten, though it won't be me talking about it), Gregorash's musical career was effectively over by 1974, before he moved to advertising and DJing, also having a career as a children's television host on a Winnipeg TV show called "S'kiddle Bits". And then suddenly, in 1987, he's in the top ten again, threatening Anne Murray's stranglehold on the title of "most famous Canadian 'wedding song'." But that's a story for another day.

Discogs, which is not always complete, shows that Polydor put out this single in Canada, the UK, France, Germany and New Zealand. Wikipedia says that "Jodie" "became an international hit after charting in Germany, Japan, Australia and reaching #3 on the Canadian charts." So there's a bit of a discrepancy there. In any case, in the USA, Lionel Records (a subsidiary of MGM) put it out. Not much to say about Lionel, a label that was only around briefly and had fewer than 30 releases during its time on Planet Earth. Its biggest hit song was also a Canadian song, one we'll be discussing next week. French and German Gregorash fans were treated to a picture sleeve.

"Jodie" was the highest-ranking song on the RPM 100 by a Canadian artist for three weeks, but for its third week it wasn't the highest-ranking Canadian song, as Matthews' Southern Comfort's version of Joni Mitchell's "Woodstock" was at number six on May 15. It will actually rank higher than the next two songs I'll be discussing as well. But we're looking at Canadian artists in this thread, and Matthews Southern Comfort (apostrophe optional, apparently) were as Canadian as they were Southern, being in fact English.

FRANCE:



GERMANY:

 

The U.S. ish on Lionel actually (and technically) preceded that label's hooking up with MGM:

MGM did, however, take over distribution midway through its release, albeit retaining the matrix numbers RCA Custom assigned it (only B side, "The Key," shown here):

Why do I get the sense about Lionel that its logo at right looked almost like a later logo for Allied Chemical a.k.a. Allied Signal?

 

There's actually a name for what the Lionel logo is: it's called a Penrose triangle.

Penrose triangle - Wikipedia

 

The B-side "The Key"



Ok, we've got the country, where's the funk?

Fun fact: Joey Gregorash's guitarist was Bob Sabellico (from Philadelphia), who replaced Randy Bachman when he took ill on their spring 1970 tour.

 

At #12 the week of May 1, 1971, "Gotta See Jane" by R. Dean Taylor. It would reach #1 on both Toronto stations (CHUM and CKFH). In the U.S. it would make it to #67 in Billboard. It had the same B-side, "Back Street", as his previous single ("Ain't It A Sad Thing")



It would have picture sleeves in Denmark and France



It was originally released in 1968 in a slightly different mix. Back then, it peaked at #17 in the U.K., #32 in the Netherlands

Spain



Germany



Italy

 

At #22 the week of May 8, "I Wish I Were" by Andy Kim, #62 in Billboard.



B-side "Walkin' My La De Da" (album track from Be My Baby)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SjsL8zELmZU

Netherlands picture sleeve



Germany

 

The week of May 8, at #30 fro the first of two weeks, "Man From The City" by Humphrey & The Dumptrucks on Boot Records.





The B-side "Send Me Some Word"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vo5F5nZt4C4

The band was from Saskatoon
“A Coffee House for the Sponge People” The Rise and Fall of The Crypt - It's Psychedelic Baby Magazine

Both songs were on their debut album Six Days Of Painted Ladies which came out at the same time. It surprisingly was released in the U.K. on London.



They would have one more single in the Top 100

» Who remembers Humphrey and the Dumptrucks?

 

At #61 the week of May 8, Ginette Reno with "So Let Our Love Begin"





The B-side "Sometimes"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qZuqjBBTVHo

Both sides came from her Beautiful Second Hand Man LP

 

At #74, the same week of May 8, "Way Down Deep" by Bobby Curtola. It would be his final appearance on the RPM Top Singles chart.



The B-side, a cover of Joe South's "Rose Garden"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=991rZ43Rsrk

Both songs were on his 1971 album Curtola (#88 on the album chart. Shake, Rattle & Roll would be his last LP to chart, #93 in 1974). "Way Down Deep" had originally been released as "Gotta Give Love (Way Down Deep)" in December of 1969 on Tartan. It was co-written by Curtola.

 

The label that that was on, Boot Records, was owned by Stompin' Tom and his manager. I had thought Boot Records was primarily a vanity label for Tom's projects, but looking through their discography, they were a very active label, focusing mostly on country and folk but casting an impressively wide net. Clannad's first album was licensed to Boot in Canada, Liona Boyd put out her first three albums on Boot, and - most interestingly - Rit MacNeil put out her first album on Boot in 1975, more than a decade before she had a hit. Very interesting.

 

At #83 the week of May 8, Pickettywich with "Waldo P. Emerson Jones"



Churned out by the British bubblegum factory, it was co-written by Andy Kim (originally for the Archies)

 

At #85, the only Top 100 hit for David Wiffen as a solo artist, "More Often Than Not".





The flip, "One Step" which was the original A-side, peaking at #91 before it was flipped.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IeCpbNeZIk0


Performing "More Often Than Not" in 1993 at a telethon.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k5-U0h1FOBA

Ian & Sylvia's version from 1971
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qnHGXNgbAws

David Wiffen was formerly of the group Three's A Crowd. His first LP actually came before that, with 1965's Live At The Bunkhouse, which is hard to find for under $1,000 (the Bunkhouse was a Vancouver folk club in the 1960s)




Wiffen, David - Live at the Bunkhouse

Both sides of the single would appear on his 1971 self-titled album on Fantasy



Wiffen, David - ST

1973's Coast To Coast Fever on United Artists would be his last album for 26 years. During that time he would have problems with drink and quit music to work as a limousine driver.



Wiffen, David - Coast to Coast Fever

 

At #37 the week of May 15, "Chick-A-Boom" b/w "Sunflower Wine" by Big Gee. Neither side is on Youtube. It was one of the last releases on the Reo label, with a rare yellow label. It came out in the U.K. on Trojan Records, and in Spain with a picture sleeve.



"Chick-A-Boom" was a rush-released cover of the song "Chick-A-Boom (Don't Ya Jes' Love It)" by Daddy Dewdrop (Dick Monda), which was originally written for the "Groovie Ghoulies" cartoon. That version peaked at #2 in Canada (June 5) and #9 in Billboard.



There's no information I could find regarding the identity of Big Gee. The B-side was written by Rick Kardonne, whose only other Discogs credit was for writing the song "Hit The Nail On The Right Head" for Salome Bey's self-titled 1970 album.

 

Right behind "Chick-A-Boom" at #38, "A Country Boy Named Willy" by Spring. It was produced by Terry Jacks, and would be released as a promo in the U.S. It would be a smash in their hometown of Vancouver (#2 CKVN, #6 CKLG), top 20 in Calgary.





The B-side "Pressed Ham"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s6LCymZgREw





We'll hear again from Spring with their next single.

 

At #75 the same week of May 15, "I'm Lost Without You" by Crosstown Bus



The B-side "In Ten Years Time"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RNLVVsut4wQ

Crosstown Bus was originally from Nelson, B.C., then moved to the bright lights of Penticton ("The Peach City"). They moved down to Vancouver where they added Frank Ludwig on keyboards and Bruce Allen as manager. After signing with MCA, the released their first single (produced by Tom Northcott), "Rochester River" b/w "Caravan (Van Morrison cover).

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ttDciCGgspw
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jaa_PX2aOhs



They recorded their first album in 1971: it was produced by Greg Hambleton, arranged by David Foster, with horns courtesy of Bruce Fairbairn. Frank Ludwig was not impressed.
Brutus and Crosstown Bus

Crosstown Bus - High Grass

High Grass would peak at #69 on the album chart (October 23, 1971). A third single would be released, "High Grass" b/w "Renie", but did nothing. The group's leader, Jeff Boyne would leave (winding up with Hammersmith) and be replaced by Blair Thornton who would be poached by Bachman-Turner Overdrive in January of 1974. The band would break up later that year and Ludwig would eventually wind up with Trooper



Crosstown Bus goes out in style

 

At #83 the same week of May 15, "Uncle Wiggley" b/w "Come Away Melinda" by Howie Vickers on MCA.



Howie Vickers was of course the former lead singer of Vancouver's Collectors, leaving in May of 1969. "Uncle Wiggley" was in fact an unreleased Collectors song, the recording below from a CBC-Radio show.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5RMhcnIJS_w

The Collectors Web Page



Howie at the Strawberry Mountain Festival in May of 1970.

His first solo single came out in June 1970 on New Syndrome Records, "Rum Diddy" b/w "One Act Play" (a re-recording of the Collectors song). An album called Laughter and Madness, Joy and Sadness was supposed to come out in August, according to press reports at the time. It was given a new name (Only Son) and a release date of October, but it never did come out.



He released a third single in February of 1972, "Wake Up Jesus" b/w "Do It Yourself", back on New Syndrome. Strangely enough, it would be released in Japan with a picture sleeve (catalogue number indicates late 1973/ early 1974)




Howie Vickers - Uncle Wiggley / Come Away Melinda - 7"

We'll hear Howie later as a member of Wildroot.

 

At #91, the fourth Vancouver act in a row: "Rock 'N' Roll Lover Man" by The Northwest Company on Coast Records. Produced by local DJ Daryl "Daryl B" Burlingham, it was a local hit (#12 at CKVN, #17 at CKLG)



The B-side "Let It All"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D0xRHNbXLjw

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



They released another single on Coast later in 1971, "(Everybody's Got To) Care" b/w "Don't Here Me Complain" (heard at the link)
Northwest Company - (Everybody's Got to) Care b/w Don't Hear Me Complain

One final single would come out in 1973 on Stamp Records, "Sweet Suzie" b/w "Ain't Nothing Wrong With Rock And Roll", produced by Jay Telfer.

Rock 'N Roll Lover Man by Northwest Company –
NW Co

 

Canadian MCA sounds like it was a replacement for the Apex label which appears to have been deep-sixed when parent Compo was reorganised as MCA Records (Canada) . . . though if one has concrete data one way or the other I'd appreciate hearing about it . . .

 

You are correct:
Apex Records (Canada) - Wikipedia

 

Here’s a link to some info regarding the Compo plant in Cornwall, Ontario.
Compo – Cornwall’s Record Factory

 

"Man From The City" was the #1 song on the RPM country chart on April 24, 1971.

 

Here's the Big Gee version of Chick-A-Boom: