Tag: Classic Rock

Canada’s All Time Top Songs – #98

At 98 is a signature song from former Sweeney Todd singer, Nick Gilder. The track is Hot Child In The City. Nick was born in London, England in 1951 and raised in Vancouver, British Columbia.

His music career began as the singer for a group called Sweeny Todd and had a major hit while with them, “Roxy Roller”. After that success, Nick left the band, going solo and signing a record deal in the USA. In a strange twist, when Nick left the band, his replacement was a young Bryan Adams. That deal spawned the featured song, “Hot Child In The City” which hit number 1 in both Canada and the USA.

Riding the success of his new solo career, he won 2 Juno Awards (Canada’s Grammys), Most Promising Male Vocalist of the Year and Single of the Year. He also won a People’s Choice award in the USA. Other than North America, the song did not have much success internationally and did even chart in the United Kingdom.

This song was the high point of his vocal career. He never again charted in the USA and had only a few songs chart in Canada.

He did have success as a songwriter as well, penning hits for diverse artist as Pat Benatar and Bette Midler. He is still touring in Canada and now lives back in Vancouver.

Canada’s All-Time Top Songs – #99

After a Visitor break (some old friends from Saskatchewan on their way to the Chepe Express) and a bit of a cold, maybe CoVid, I will continue to move forward to where I left off; here is 99 on the top 100 list. I have also added a few notes as an upgrade. I think I was in a hurry when I did this one. As for the Chepe Express, we plan on that one next year.

At 99, we present “We Run” by Strange Advance. A Vancouver new wave band, they formed in 1982 and were almost immediately nominated for a Juno (Canada’s Grammy) as the most promising band in 1983. We Run was taken from their album, “2WO”, and released as a single in 1985. It reached number 28 on the RPM pop chart. The band never made strides outside of Canada. In addition, they were mostly a session band and apparently had never played live before 1985.

They released 3 albums overall and essentially went dormant after releasing the 3rd in 1988. There is talk about a new album being released shortly.

There is more information on that release and the band overall at their website.

https://www.strangeadvance.com/

Canada’s All-Time Top Songs – #100

I’m revisiting a few old posts to kickstart a series I never finished. As a lover of Canadian music, I found a list of the top 100 Canadian hits. The song holding down the 100 spot is by Honeymoon Suite. The original post continues with a few tweaks below.

Back in the hair band days of the 1980s, Honeymoon Suite was a card-carrying member of the genre. Formed in Niagara Falls, Ontario, in 1981, they had a string of hits on Canadian radio and had some success in the USA market. The band’s name and the place they formed share a connection, which is very witty. Their big highlight was performing the title track for the movie Lethal Weapon.

Love Changes Everything was released in 1988 and is on their album Racing After Midnight. The song reached number 9 in Canada, 13 on the US Rock and 91 on the US chart, all by Billboard. The band is still recording, and its latest release was in 2019, with a new album coming on February 16, 2024. The album title is “Alive”.

Get ready to rock to a live version of the tune; live is always the best.

Remember to support independent artists; you never know what you will find.

To see and learn more about this icon of Canadian rock, hit the link. https://honeymoonsuiteband.com/

Canada’s All Time Top Songs – #97

We have now got to 97 on the list, “Crying Over You” by Platinum Blonde. The band formed in the early 80’s and had a string of hits on Canadian airwaves. They had minimal success in the USA, so my readers from anywhere but Canada will find them to be a new band. The song featured here was their one and only number 1 in Canada. It was taken from their 1985 album “Alien Shores”. The album spawned (see what I did there) 4 singles and is likely the pinnacle of their success. It included their only charted single in the USA, “Somebody, Somewhere” which reached 82 on the Billboard Top 100 and 23 in Canada.

The band is still touring and had released an album of new material in 2012.

Without further adieu, the number 97 Canadian hit of all time, “Crying Over You”.

Canada’s All Time Top Songs – #98

At 98 is a signature song from former Sweeney Todd singer, Nick Gilder. The track is Hot Child In The City.

Sweeney Todd had a big hit in 1976 with Roxy Roller. After that success, Nick left the band, going solo and signing a record deal in the USA. That deal spawned the featured song which hit number 1 in both Canada and the USA. Unfortunately, he never realized much further success, never again hitting the top 40. He did have success as a songwriter as well, penning hits for diverse artist as Pat Benatar and Bette Midler.

Canada’s All Time Top Songs – #99

At 99 we present “We Run” by Strange Advance. A Vancouver new wave band, they formed in 1982, and were almost immediately nominated for a Juno (Canada’s Grammy) as most promising band. “We Run” was taken from their album, “2WO” and released as a single in 1985. It reached number 28 on the RPM pop chart. The band never made any inroads outside of Canada and essentially went dormant after releasing their 3rd album in 1988. . Fun fact, they were mostly a session band and apparently had never played live as a group prior to 1985.

Canada’s All Time Top Songs – #100

The first entry into our top 100 is Honeymoon Suite and their song Love Changes Everything.

Back in the hair band days of the 1980’s, Honeymoon Suite was formed in 1981 in Niagara Falls, Ontario. The name and the place share a connection, very witty. They had a string of hits in Canada throughout the 80’s and even had some traction in the USA, highlighted by performing the title track for the movie Lethal Weapon.

Love Changes Everything was released in 1988 and is on their album Racing After Midnight. The song reached number 9 in Canada, 13 on the US Rock and 91 on the US chart, all by Billboard. The band is still recording, it’s latest release was in 2019.

Get ready to rock to a live version of the tune, live is always best.

Song Of The Day – The Guess Who – Running Back To Saskatoon

Broadway Bridge and the Central Business Distr...
Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

 

It’s theme week on Song Of The Day.  The theme, songs about Canadian cities.  Winnipeg.  Check.  Montreal.  Check.  Now it is time for Saskatoon.  The Guess Who did this one way back in 1972.  As an added city bonus, the song also has references to Moosomin, Moose Jaw, Broadview in Saskatchewan, Red Deer, Hanna and Medicine Hat in Alberta, Terrace in BC and for some reason Hong Kong.  No idea why Hong Kong.  The other towns would all be familiar to Winnipeg bands playing the Western Canadian pub and club circuit.  Enjoy the classic “Running Back To Saskatoon”.

 

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Remembering Darryl Cotton

Australian singer, actor and television personality Darryl Cotton passed away at 62 on July 27.  As I researched his career, I was amazed at the depth and connections he had.  He played with Rick Springfield, was involved with a group that morphed into the Little River Band, song-wrote for Donny and Marie Osmond, Olivia Newton-John, Shaun Cassidy, The New Seekers and Engelbert Humperdink.

Enjoy his 1980 hit “Same Old Girl”.

 

Remembering Jon Lord

Deep Purple
Deep Purple (Photo credit: daniconil)

July 16, saw the passing of rock keyboard innovator, Jon Lord.  He was 71.  Best known as one of the founding members of 70’s icons, Deep Purple, he also played with Whitesnake.  He played on the classic song by The Kinks, “You Really Got Me“.  He was on albums by David Gilmour and George Harrison.  He virtually created the riffs used to this day by keyboardists in all types of popular music.

In my life, Deep Purple was one of the bands that formed my musical tastes.  Machine Head is still an album that makes me perk up and listen.  I will never forget Smoke On The Water or Highway Star, which are very much a part of the soundtrack of my life.  The band in heaven just got a bit better.

Highway Star

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Smoke On The Water