Paterson, I have to correct you on who sang lead on Sugar Sugar. It was Ron Dante who also sang lead on Tracy by the Cufflink who like the Archies were a studio  concoction.

Lorne wrote:

Yes, Ron Dante sang lead on "Sugar, Sugar", with Kim and Toni Wine singing backup.
Members of Cat Mother & the All-Night News Boys wrote the original portion of "Good Old Rock 'N Roll", and they released it first in June 1969. DC5's cover version came out in November 1969, and as far as I know wasn't even released in North America.
Seven songs on the chart count as Cancon:
Sugar, Sugar
Baby I Love You
Laughing
Spinning Wheel
Where Do I Go
When I Die
Give Peace A Chance

Yes I wondered about the Cat Mother citation but I did a quick YT search before posting and saw that the DC5 had recorded a version. I probably have that on the DC5 greatest hits but don't remember it. I think my copy of the DC5 collection was released before Dave Clark made their material very hard to get.

One other thing that caught my attention on this chart was the fact that "Did You See Her Eyes" by the Illusion was a CHUM Charger. I had read about that group but never heard them until I obtained a tape of an air check of WWWW FM from Detroit where they play the song.

Also Ron Dante was a member of the Detergents who had a novelty hit with Leader of the Laundramat.
 

Last edited by Fitz (August 9, 2023 1:50 pm)

RadioActive wrote:

Fitz wrote:

One other thing that caught my attention on this chart was the fact that "Did You See Her Eyes" by the Illusion was a CHUM Charger 

For those curious about this relatively obscure tune. Written by Jeff Barry, a long time hitmaker. 

And to take this thread full circle, Barry also co-wrote "Sugar, Sugar" with Andy Kim.  

Fitz wrote:

Paterson, I have to correct you on who sang lead on Sugar Sugar. It was Ron Dante   

In his biography, "My Life in Rock 'n Roll Radio", Bruce Morrow stated:  " . . . biggest nongroup of all time, the Archies -- an animated amalgamation of recording-studio musicians brought together to create the sound of a cartoon show"


 

mace wrote:

The only songs on that chart that I don't remember are 8, 10, 18 and 24.

you are probably better off not knowing # 8 by Shannon who was actually Marty Wilde. Some bubblegum is fine but not that one.
 

But was "Give Peace a Chance" actually considered CanCon? The CHUM Chart Book by Ron Hall doesn't recognize it as such, and I thought in those pre-MAPL days a song had to have at least a Canadian singer, musician or songwriter to qualify as that?


PJ

Thanks for the clarification, Fitz!

I'm also curious too, as I was only a little shaver when the official CanCon regs came into effect (I was 5 years old in 1972): Were Canadian stations still expected (or encouraged) to play a certain amount of CanCon as part of their condition of license before 1972? Or was playing Canadian music just something that earned a station brownie points with the federal regulator, like, when their license came up for renewal?


PJ

Last edited by Paul Jeffries (August 9, 2023 8:53 pm)

It's risky to post old articles like the Billboard 1970 above.  It has a few errors and I have noticed that some of the old RPM articles initially had some information wrong about cancon and other regulations. Some of these articles were written well before the regs actually came in and were not accurate. Or in a few cases the CRTC changed something after the article was written. 

The Billboard article reads like 30% cancon came in October 1 1970 with songs only needing to meet one part of the MAPL criteria. Then in October 1 1971 30% of the songs needed to be two parts MAPL.  This is not correct.  Any of the songs that were one part MAPL and were cancon prior still would be, and part of the 30% total.

Cancon came in on January 18, 1971 and AM radio stations were to play 30% cancon.  In the beginning a song only needed to meet one area or more of MAPL to qualify. The criteria became two parts or more  in January 1972.  It is still two parts or more today, and songs that were one part are still cancon.  Another early Billboard article said that songs would eventually need to be three and four parts to qualify which is incorrect.    

 

Fitz wrote:

One other thing that caught my attention on this chart was the fact that "Did You See Her Eyes" by the Illusion was a CHUM Charger. I had read about that group but never heard them until I obtained a tape of an air check of WWWW FM from Detroit where they play the song.

CKLW got interested in the track before it became a single. Believe it was almost 7-minutes long but Rosalie
felt it could be a hit if a part or parts were deleted.
Hugh Turnbull in Production worked his razor blade magic, prior to the tune’s 45 release and the record company may have even used his edit.
Rosie was right, of course. The song went top 10 in Windsor/Detroit, peaking at #7 July 8, 1969 on the
Big 30.
 

RadioActive wrote:

Of course the articles don't list the final rules. They were still in development.

What's interesting to me - and why I thought it was worth posting - is how they were being conceived until they formed the final regulations as we know them today. There's nothing wrong with seeing what those in charge were thinking about in the early going and how they eventually turned out. This is a contemporary record of their thoughts at the time.

I know you love to disagree with nearly everything I post, but this seems a bit over the top in this case. This was the state of the planning at the time. That's what makes it worth a second look - to see how it started and where it eventually went. Call it a history lesson if you want. But it's not wrong because that was what they were considering back in 1970. 

As for the second piece, I found it amazing that this stuff was going on as far back as 1960. I had no idea the debate had been happening way back then. Without this article, I suspect it would have been lost for good. CanCon was apparently an obsession with the government even as far back as a decade or more before they officially brought the final rules in. It's part of Canadian radio history. What is the harm of discovering that?  

Now RA, let's not get into a "thing" here.  
First off, no I don't love to disagree with nearly everything you post.  I don't comment on most of your posts.  I only do when you get overly opinionated or one sided on a topic, ignore facts, or have said something wrong or misleading.

I make mistakes in my posts as well.  Look at my CHUM chart posting from yesterday.  I was wrong about a lot of things and appreciated the corrections. When I get opinionated it is usually with you or Aaron, and I have been off base and unclear too. 

Maybe I didn't explain very well. Even though the Billboard article was a bit of history, it was also incorrect and adds to confusion for anyone here who isn't overly familiar with the cancon regs.  SOWNY has 1,473 users and of this group maybe about 40-50 post something.  Some of the large group that don't post may not be in broadcasting at all or weren't around when the regs came in.

The second article from 1960 was fine and actually more historic than what was in Billboard.  The Billboard article reads like the regs, criteria and dates had all been set.   But this wasn't the case, or they were later changed.  So it might be worthwhile to point out in the preamble that the article was from 1970 and some of the information contained is incorrect.  If you want to point out the inaccuracies is up to you. 

Fitz wrote:

mace wrote:

The only songs on that chart that I don't remember are 8, 10, 18 and 24.

you are probably better off not knowing # 8 by Shannon who was actually Marty Wilde. Some bubblegum is fine but not that one.
 

I listened to #8 Abergavanny this morning. It truly is a dreadful tune.

I'm somewhat embarrassed to say I don't hate either of these tunes as much as some, although I could live with not hearing either of them again. 

For the record, Abergavenny is a real place in Wales. 

And Leapy Lee's actual life story is far more interesting than his one hit wonder. He was framed for a stabbing that took place in a bar and spent three years in jail, effectively ending his recording career. And the case involved a famous actress, who helped cover up the crime. 

Never mind Little Arrows. This was Slings and Arrows.

The story here.