IT’S CANADA DAY, UP CANADA WAY

Thanks to the late, great Stompin’ Tom Connors for our title this week.  Tom was a proud Canadian..and Canada should always be proud of him.  Although Tom was more of a ‘home  grown’ star, there are many more Canadians musicians and singers who’ve also done well, not only in Canada, but internationally.  So, all things Canadian in America is the theme for this quiz.  

As amazing a singer/songwriter as she is, Joni Mitchell doesn’t have one.  Montreal’s Gino Vannelli came close in the late ‘70’s.  Rush may be in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, but they don’t had one.  Even Alanis Morissette doesn’t have one and neither does Shania Twain.  What are we talking about?  Why a U.S. # 1 hit single of course.  

   

Over the decades, quite a few Canadians have topped Billboards’ Hot 100 chart.  For this quiz, you’ll have to guess, from the supplied questions and clues, which Canadian performer we’re talking about.    

Remember, all these artists had # 1 hit songs, so it really won’t be that hard.  Now, whip out your Canadian flag, wave it around a few times, then have at it.  For those reading this from other parts of the globe than the Great White North, take a shot anyway.  These are all well known artists.  Maybe you didn’t even know they were Canadian.  They ARE!   

   

QUESTIONS:

1.  This singer/songwriter had his first Billboard # 1 in 1957 and his last in 1974.  While he did have plenty of other hits, he only had one other # 1.  The song was also a # 13 hit for Donny Osmond in the fall of 1972.  A National Film Board of Canada documentary short uses this songs’ title.  His hometown is Ottawa and there’s a street there named after him.  Throughout his career, he’s always done things ‘his way’.  This star also has a star on Canada’s Walk of Fame, is a member of the Order of Canada and has had his autobiography published within the last few months.  Who is he and what’s the name of his # 1 Billboard hit?      

 His last came in 1974.  hH

2.  Originally, this performer was a high school phys ed teacher until a spot on a national CBC television program whisked her to stardom.  Her first hit, which did not go to # 1 in the U.S., happened in 1970.  Since then, she’s had many CBC/CTV TV specials and was a regular on “Glen Campbell’s Good Time Hour” TV series in the summer of 1974.  She’s now retired from singing, but can still swing a mean golf club.  Who is this legendary Canadian superstar?   

         

3.  In 2007, this singer/songwriter who hails from Napanee, Ontario topped the Billboard singles chart for the first time, although she was certainly no stranger to the charts.  Her 2002 debut album, “Let Go” yielded two Top Ten U.S. hits – “Complicated” (# 2) and “Sk8er Boi” (# 10).  On June 29^th (yes just a few days ago), she married (for the second time).  Her first husband was Deryck Whibley, from the band Sum 41.  Her groom this time was Chad Kroeger, lead singer for Nickelback.  We’re looking for the name of this chart topper and the song that took her to the top of the singles chart...and this time she wasn’t singing about ‘boi’s’, but about ‘girls’.  Who is she and what’s the song?  Here’s a hint:  Her father named her after the French pronunciation of the fourth month of the year. 

  

4.  Early in their career, they wished they ‘had a million dollars’.  Most likely they have that now (and more) after their runaway success.  The band formed in Toronto and released their first album “Gordon” in 1992.  Every Thursday night, you can hear them perform the opening theme (which they also wrote) to TV’s hottest sitcom, “The Big Bang Theory” (in syndication, the show airs every day somewhere).  They first hit Billboards’ Hot 100 in 1997 with “The Old Apartment” (# .  Their only # 1 (thus far anyway) happened a year later.  This song was the # 1 song on Billboard for ‘one week’ in 1998.  What’s the name of the band and their U.S. # 1 hit? 

     

5.  This singer is one of Canada’s most successful exports.  She’s sung several theme songs for movies, but her most famous was “My Heart Will Go On”, the end theme from fellow Canadian/director James Cameron’s blockbuster, “Titanic”.  Her first Billboard # 1 in 1994 had the same title as a Huey Lewis # 1 hit from 1985 (although it was not the same song).  This should be easy...so who is she and what was her first # 1 Billboard hit? 

               

ANSWERS

1.  That would be Paul Anka.  His first Billboard # 1 was “Diana” in 1957.  His last was 1974’s “(You’re) Having My Baby”.  In between he had dozens of hits, but his only other U.S. # 1 was 1959’s “Lonely Boy”.  The song was featured in the 1959 motion picture, “Girls Town” starring Mamie Van Doren, Mel Torme and Anka.  As an actor, Paul has also appeared in “The Longest Day” (1962) and “Captain Ron” (1992) among many other movie and TV appearances.  Paul Anka Drive is in the south end of Ottawa.  In 2005, Paul was doubly honoured with the Order of Canada and a star on Canada’s Walk of Fame in Toronto.  “My Way”, Paul’s autobiography, was published in April of this year by St. Martin’s Press.  

             

2.  Anne Murray’s first U.S. hit was 1970’s “Snowbird”.  It peaked at # 8.  She entered the Top Ten again in 1973 with “Danny’s Song” (# 7) and once more in ’74 with her version of The Beatles song, “You Won’t See Me”.  Anne’s only Billboard Hot 100 # 1 was 1976’s “You Needed Me”.  Her big break came as cast member of CBC TV’s “Singalong Jubilee”.  She was signed to Arc Records in Toronto, but had her first real success with Capitol Records, the label she stayed with for a quarter of a century.  Since1970, Anne’s charted 28 ‘Pop’ hits, 41 ‘Adult Contemporary’ hits and 54 ‘Country’ hits.  She has the Order of Canada, a star on Canada’s Walk of Fame as well as a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.  She’s won 4 Grammy Awards, and 24 JUNOs.  During her career, Anne has sold over 50 MILLION (records/cassettes/CDs) worldwide.  
  

3.  Avril Ramona Lavigne has sold over 30 million albums and 50 million singles.  She has a clothing line, plus not one, but two perfumes on the market.  Her 2007 # 1 hit was “Girlfriend”.  It survived at the top for only one week, but she joined an exclusive club of Canadian females, that includes Anne Murray, Celine Dion and Nelly Furtado, who’ve had # 1 hits on the Billboard Hot 100.  In 2005, Avril won 3 JUNO Awards, including ‘Artist of the Year’.  Her clothing line, Abbey Dawn, is based on her childhood nickname.  Her two perfume lines are called Black Star and Forbidden Rose.  Hearty congratulations to newlyweds Avril and Chad.  

                    

4.  The Barenaked Ladies are the group.  “One Week” is the song (from the 1998 album “Stunt”).  The BNL have had a few line up changes over the years.  Andy Creeggan, the keyboard player, left in 1995 and co-founding member Steven Page departed in 2009.  Early in their career, they received a huge publicity boost in 1991, when a staffer for then Toronto mayor June Rowlands took them off the bill at the News Year’s Eve concert because of their name.  In February of this year, the Barenaked Ladies and Canadian astronaut Chris Hadfield (commander of the International Space Station) came together on what was billed as the ‘first space-to-earth musical collaboration’ with the song “I.S.S.” (Is Somebody Singing”). 

            

5.  If you didn’t know it was Celine Dion, you should hand in your Canadian passport.  Her first Billboard # 1 was “The Power of Love”.   She first hit the Billboard Hot 100 chart in 1990 with “Where Does My Heart Beat Now”.  The song climbed up to # 4.  Her four # 1’s are:  “The Power of Love” (1994), “Because You Loved Me” (1996), “My Heart Will Go On (Love Theme From Titanic) (1998) and “I’m Your Angel”, a duet with R. Kelly (1998).  Celine has won far too many awards and accolades to write about here, but she received her star on Canada’s Walk of Fame in 1999 and her star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 2004.  Celine married her long time manager, Rene Angelil in Montreal in 1994.  The couple renewed their vows in Las Vegas in a lavish ceremony in 2000.     

IT’S “RAINING IN MY HEART” (AND OTHER PLACES TOO)

Will this rain never go away?  We’ve had so much more rain this season that normal.  Of course, the lower half of Alberta has had to deal with much worse – major flooding.  Our hearts and prayers go out to all those who lost their homes and the few that sadly, lost their lives.

 

Over the decades, rain has inspired many a songwriter to sit right down and write himself a rain song.  This column’s title, “Raining In My Heart” was a minor hit for Buddy Holly (#88 in 1959) and a medium hit in 1978 for Leo Sayer (# 49).  

But there are so many more ‘rain’ songs that made the charts.  The Beatles had one simply called “Rain” in 1966 (it was the flip side of “Penny Lane” which went # 1).    

  

Let’s see how well you do naming the ‘rain’ song.  I’ll give you the year (and occasionally the name of the artist), you supply the ‘rain’ name.  Just to make it even easier, all of these ‘rain’ songs were Top Ten hits.  No bottom of the charts, obscure titles here.  So now that we’ve gotten the ground rules established, let’s get this ‘rain’ dance started.   

  

QUESTIONS:

1.  The year was 1971 and the Carpenters, Karen and Richard, had a ‘rain’ song go all the way to # 2 on Billboards’ Hot 100.  A snippet of the lyrics are:  “Talkin’ to myself and feelin’ old.  Sometimes I’d like to quit.  Nothin’ ever seems to fit...”  Can you name that ‘rain’ song?

2.  1986 was the year...the artist was Oran ‘Juice’ Jones.  If you don’t get the name of the ‘rain’ song that the ‘Juice’ had, you should stop taking these quizzes.  Think for a second and you’ll get it.        

3.  This 1970 Academy Award winning ‘rain’ song was featured in the movie, “Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid”.  The singer was Billy Joe Thomas, but you may know him better as B.J. Thomas.  This should be very easy.  What’s the name of this ‘rain’ song?

4.  This pop singer was born Benjamin Franklin Peay in 1931.  His ‘50’s and ‘60’s hits included eight that made Billboards’ Top Ten.  Some of those song titles are:  “Hotel Happiness” (# 3 1963), “The Boll Weevil Song” (# 2 in 1961) and “It’s Just A Matter of Time” (# 3 in 1959).  His ‘rain’ hit happened in 1970.  If you’ve never heard of Benjamin Franklin Peay, that’s because he changed his name to Brook Benton.  What’s the name of Brooks’ ‘rainy’ hit?       

5.  This ‘rain’ song was a Top 5 hit and the Boston born singer who wrote and sang it (and who now lives on Martha’s Vineyard) had his first chart hit with it in 1970.  He later had several Top 5 hits re-creating classic hits in his own inimitable style.  His only # 1 was the Carole King written song, “You’ve Got A Friend” in 1971.  First, name the artist, then his 1970 ‘rain’ hit.             

ANSWERS

1.  “Rainy Days And Mondays” peaked at # 2 for the Carpenters in June of 1971.  It had been written by Paul Williams and Roger Nichols, the songwriting team who also wrote the Carpenters’ # 2 hit in 1970, “We’ve Only Just Begun”.          

2.  This should have been very easy IF you knew your ‘80’s music.  Oran ‘Juice’ Jones took his song “The Rain” to # 9 during the week of November 15, 1986.  It dropped out of the Top Ten the next week, never to return.   

3.  “Raindrops Keep Fallin’ On My Head” was B. J. Thomas’ first # 1 hit.  The song was featured in the 1969 movie “Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid”.  The song had been written by Burt Bacharach and Hal David and was # 1 for the first four weeks of January, 1970.  In April of ’70, “Raindrops Keep Fallin’ On My Head” won the Academy Award for ‘Best Original Song In a Motion Picture’.             

4.  C’mon, you know it’s “Rainy Night In Georgia”.  Brook Benton took the Tony Joe White written song to # 4 in 1970.  The # 1 song that stopped it from going any higher was Simon & Garfunkel’s “Bridge Over Troubled Water”.  Tony Joe White had a Top Ten hit the previous year (1969) with “Polk Salad Annie”.  Brook Benton passed away in April of 1988.        

5.  “Fire And Rain” was the James Taylor song in question and came from his second album “Sweet Baby James”, produced by Peter Asher of Peter & Gordon fame.  “Fire And Rain” climbed as high as # 3 on Billboards’ Hot 100 chart and remained there for three weeks in late October and early November 1970. 

BOY THE WAY GLENN MILLER PLAYED. SONGS THAT MADE THE HIT PARADE

Those lyrics come from the theme song to “All In The Family” starring Carroll O’Connor and Jean Stapleton, who died a few weeks back (May 31^st to be precise).  Did you know that that song, called “Those Were The Days”, made the Billboard Hot 100 chart in 1972?  It only went as high as # 43, but that’s pretty good for two actors.  That got me to thinking about other television performers who’ve had songs on the charts.  Examples include TV’s beloved dad, Bill Cosby, who made five entries on Billboard that included, “Little Ole Man (Uptight, Everything’s Alright” that made it to # 4 in 1967.  David Soul (“Starsky & Hutch”) took “Don’t Give Up On Us” to # 1 in 1977.  TV soap star and “Melrose Place” hunk Jack Wagner had a # 2 hit in 1985 with the song “All I Need”.  Actor John Schneider from “The Dukes of Hazzard”charted four hits in the Hot 100, including “It’s Now Or Never”, a # 14 hit in 1981.  Alright, you’ve seen some of the examples – let’s test your knowledge on the subject, shall we?  Some of these actors were really not singers, but somehow, they found the right combination and hit the record charts.  How many can you guess? 

     

QUESTIONS:

1.  This actor played a former student who was ‘welcomed back’ (HINT ALERT) to his old high school to teach.   John Travolta was one of the ‘sweathogs’ he taught.  This comedian/actor had his one and only chart hit in 1977.  Can you name him?

2.  Starring in the TV series “Dr. Kildare” from 1961 until 1966, this actor charted seven songs on Billboards’ Hot 100 chart in total, including one Top Ten hit.  He went on to star in TV mini-series such as “The Thorn Birds” and “Shogun”.  Who is this guy?   

3.  This Academy Award winning actress was nominated for an Oscar this year, but didn’t win.  She got her start in such ‘60’s television series as “Gidget” and “The Flying Nun”, then went on to star in hit movies such as “Norma Rae” and “Forrest Gump”.  So ‘Sally’ forth (HINT ALERT) and come up with the name of this actress.

4.  She was a regular on a highly popular “Carol Burnett” sketch comedy TV series from 1967 ‘till 1978, then went on to star in her own TV series from 1982 to ’87.  She charted three times on Billboards’ Hot 10 and that includes one # 1 hit in 1973.  She’s not from Georgia (she was born in California), but her # 1 song had that state name in its title.  Hooche Mama (HINT ALERT), who is she?       

5.  This actor saw one of his “Donna Reed Show” co-stars score a # 1 single in 1962.  His best charted hit made it to # 6 in 1963, but that song gets played on ‘oldies’ radio every Father’s Day.  He was an original Mouskateer on “The Mickey Mouse Club’ in 1955.  This actor went on to become an advocate for the rights of child actors.  Can you name this ‘60’s actor?           

ANSWERS

1.  That would be Gabe Kaplan, whose song, “Up Your Nose (With a Rubber Hose)” went to # 91 in 1977.  Kaplan is an expert poker player these days and can often be found playing high stakes poker on those poker TV programs.         

2.  Richard Chamberlain actually had a pretty good career as a singer.  “The Theme From Dr. Kildare (Three Stars Will Shine Tonight)” went to # 10 in 1962.  His next hit that same year, “Love Me Tender” (yes, the Elvis Presley # 1 from 1956), made it to # 21.  Then he went to # 14 with 1963’s “All I Have To Do Is Dream”.  Chamberlain did chart five more times, but only one song, “Blue Guitar” broke the Top 50 (“Blue Guitar” went to # 42 in 1963).  The last time he made Billboards’ Hot 100 chart was in 1964.   

3.  Sally Field aka ‘Mrs. Lincoln’ was the actress in question.  Sally was nominated for an Academy Award this year as ‘Best Supporting Actress’ as Mary Todd Lincoln in Steven Spielberg’s “Lincoln”, but the Oscar went to Anne Hathaway for “Les Miserables”.  In 1967, Sally hit the record charts her one and only time with “Felicidad”.  It inched its way to # 94, then sank like a stone.             

4.  Vicki Lawrence was a regular on Carol Burnett’s weekly TV show for its entire 11 year run.  She hit # 1 on the Billboard in 1973 with “The Nights The Lights Went Out In Georgia” which was written by her then husband, Bobby Russell.   “Mama’s Family”, which was originally a recurring sketch on “The Carol Burnett Show” ran on NBC from 1983 until ’85 and was revived in first run syndication from 1986 until 1990.  Most recently, Vicki played Miley Stewart’s ‘mamaw’ (grand mother) on the hit Disney series, “Hannah Montana.      

5.  Paul Peterson was the actor’s name we were looking for.  Shelley Fabares, Paul’s co-star on the “Donna Reed Reed Show”, had the 1962 # 1 smash, “Johnny Angel”.  That same year, Peterson hit the charts with “She Can’t Find Her Keys”, a # 19 hit.  His biggest chart success came in 1963 with “My Dad”.  The “Donna Reed Show” ran from 1958 until 1966 and Paul acted in minor roles in movies and on TV, but couldn’t sustain his previous success.  Paul formed the non-profit, tax deductable foundation, A Minor Consideration, in 1990 to give guidance and support to current and former child actors.  His official website is paulpeterson.com.