Summer 1973 in Canada. In August, Canada's first Pride Week was celebrated in multiple cities across the country. This has had great influence on the society in which we live now. Let's see what, if any, lasting impact the songs of the day have had.
Bonus Track: 52 - "Dance a Little Step," Mashmakhan (CanCon!)
This Montreal band, named for a strain of hashish, broke through when their Middle Eastern-influenced "As the Years Go By" went to #1 and cracked the Top 40 in the States in 1970. They had scattered success after that, and they managed their final hit with this jittery rocker about loosening up and getting moving. Catchy, but forgettable. But their big hit is still an intriguing listen, and might have had something to do with the naming of this feature.
50 - "Gypsy Davy," Arlo Guthrie
Woody's son charted here with this version of a folk ballad about a noblewoman who runs off with a Roma traveler and refuses to let her husband take her back. It's given a light pop production, but that seems to fit the idea of freedom from restrictive wealth. Though I wonder what Woody's version sounds like.
48 - "My Merry-Go-Round," Johnny Nash
The Houstonian's follow up to the Triple Crown-winning "I Can See Clearly Now" was this pop ballad about returning to a time of childlike innocence. Passionately delivered, but not a great song, so I have no qualms with the fact that it flopped.
45 - "Rosalie," Michael Tarry (CanCon!)
Manchester-born Michael Terry McDermott moved to Canada in the 50s, and made his biggest impact on our charts with this Top Ten about a man's failure to spark a romance with the ballet dancer who lived on the floor above him. I don't hear much in it, other than a less-substantive Harry Chapin story song/
44 - "It Wouldn't Have Made Any Difference," Tom Middleton (CanCon!)
The only Top Ten for this singer from Victoria, BC was this cover of a Todd Rundgren song about giving up on trying to please a lover. A great song. and a decent soft-rock take on it. But I imagine the Rundgren original is better. I should probably listen to the whole Something/Anything album some time. If this, "Hello It's Me" and "I Saw the Light" are any indication, it's right in my wheelhouse.
43 - "Living Without You," Creamcheeze Goodtime Band (CanCon!)
This group from Perth County, Ontario had their biggest success with this folky, Neil Young-ish tune about loneliness. A very good sad song. This is the kind of stuff Terry Jacks and The Poppy Family tried to do, only much, much better.
42 - "He Did With Me," Vicki Lawrence
The followup to the Carol Burnett Show player's cross-border #1 "The Night the Lights Went Out in Georgia" was this number about a woman talking to her ex's new lover about how all the promises he made to her have been previously made, and broken, to another. An exemplary country song, but it only got this high here and stalled in the 70s at home. It did go to #1 in Australia, and for that I give a hearty "Aussie Aussie Aussie! Oi Oi Oi!"
40 - "Sitting on a Poor Man's Throne," Copperpenny (CanCon!)
Contrary to what I said a few months ago, this was the Kitchener band's biggest hit. It's a soul-rock poverty lament. It reminds me of the stuff the Temptations were doing around this time. A nice little forgotten gem.
35 - "Block Buster," Sweet
This was the London glam fixtures' only #1 at home. It missed the Top 40 by a lot in the States, but scraped into the Top 30 here. It's a stomping rocker about trying to stop a nefarious cad named Buster. To block him, if you will. It uses the same blues riff that Bowie's "Jean Genie" was built on, but it has its own charms.
32 - "Bongo Rock '73," The Incredible Bongo Band (CanCon!*)
This instrumental track, a cover of a 1959 instrumental by Oklahoma percussionist Preston Epps, was recorded by a group of studio musicians assembled in Los Angeles by producer Michael Viner for a horror movie called The Thing With Two Heads. It only reached #57 in the States, but here it went Top 20, assisted by a dubious ConCan certification caused by the fact that much of the album it came from was recorded in Vancouver. This is fun and funky, but it's not as famous as the same LP's "Apache," which has been sampled so many times it is sometimes referred to as the national anthem of hip-hop.
30 - "Farmer's Song," Murray McLauchlan
Murray Mac's first and biggest hit was this country-folk tribute to the farmers who put food on all of our tables. A sincere ode to people who wear "straw hat and old dirty hankies," and a fun singalong to boot. This is definitely a Certified CanCon Classic.
29 - "Moonshine (Friend of Mine)," John Kay
The biggest solo hit by German-born, Waterloo-raised Joachim Krauledat, founder and singer of Steppenwolf, was this easygoing country drinking song. Not much to it, but appealing enough.
28 - "All Things Come From God," Tony Kosinec (CanCon!)
The biggest hit for this Toronto singer-songwriter was this pop-rock ode to the Almighty. It caught the tail-end of the early-70s Christian-pop boom, but it's a solid entry, with a suitably epic feel. Worth a listen.
27 - "Cry Your Eyes Out," Les Emmerson (CanCon!)
The second solo hit for the leader of Ottawa's Five Man Electrical band was this bubblegummy pop message to an ex that they will end up back together. The guitar solo is kinda rockin', but otherwise, this would not have sounded out of place on a David Cassidy album. But I do like the whistling at the end.
25 - "Minstrel Gypsy," Stampeders (CanCon!)
The Calgarians' sixth Top Ten was this country-rock ballad about a musician missing his lover while on the road. Both the narrator and the theme are well-traveled, and this is about average. But it sounds to me like the singer is trying to do a Burton Cummings impression for some reason.
23 - "Carry On," Cliff and Ann Edwards (CanCon!)
I can't find this song, but I've deduced it's by two members of The Bells, the South Africans-turned-Canadians who gave the world 1971's creepy sex ballad "Stay Awhile." What's weird is that even though he married Ann, his duet partner on "Stay Awhile" was her sister Jackie. That makes things even creepier. I'm guessing this song is less disturbing, because it would be hard for it not to be.
21 - "Roll Over Beethoven," Electric Light Orchestra
ELO's second hit at home and first here was a cover of the Chuck Berry rock standard, which cheekily opens with a bit of Ludwig Van's fifth symphony and interpolates parts of it during the instrumental break. An apt introduction to the band's approach, and a fun record as well.
14 - "Glamour Boy," The Guess Who (CanCon!)
One of their songs that only charted at home, this is a piano ballad that Burton Cummings wrote about David Bowie. It seems to criticize the glam approach of theatrics being as or more important than the music, but apparently, Burton learned to appreciate Bowie over the years, and now performs the song in concert as a tribute. Whether you agree with its tone, it's clearly a well-written song, and I appreciate it on that level very much.
10 - "Give Me Love (Give Me Peace on Earth)," George Harrison
The smart Beatle's sequel/extension to "My Sweet Lord" was a #1 in the States, but stalled in the low Top Ten in the other Crown countries. I don't feel like either outcome is worth getting upset about. George probably felt the same.
9 - "Get Down," Gilbert O'Sullivan
Gil's number about a girl or a dog went top in the U.K., and Top Ten in North America. Never liked it, but I'm now even more offended having seen the single cover. No one need to see that man with his shirt open.
8 - "Playground in My Mind," Clint Holmes
The sing-songy kiddie novelty went to #1 here, while being held to #2 in the States. What that says about us at this time, I'm not sure.
7 - "Kodachrome," Paul Simon
Paul's paean to cameras and nostalgia was a cross-border #2. I wonder if , as punishment for not hitting #1, his mama did take his Kodachrome away.
6 - "Will it Go Round in Circles," Billy Preston
The Fifth Beatle's cross-border charttopper about things that are missing something. He certainly isn't talking about this song. It laps your brain beautifully.
5 - "Smoke on the Water," Deep Purple
The North American Top Five riff delivery system about a fire in Switzerland. For some reason, I am hungry for a candy bar. I think I'll eat a Mounds.
4 - "Shambala," Three Dog Night
Again, a Top Five on this side of the pond that didn't chart on the other side. It has become my favorite 3DN. It relaxes me. I want to go there.
3 - "Monster Mash," Bobby "Boris" Pickett
Tbe Halloween perennial's surprise return to the charts netted a Triple Top Ten. Throw Dracula a bone and do a Transylvania Twist next time you hear it.
2 - "Yesterday Once More," Carpenters
The U's pushed this to #2, but we made this wistful appreciation of oldies but goodies a #1. Good on us. Karen still shines to this day.
1 - "Bad Bad Leroy Brown," Jim Croce
The piano-boogie ode to a badass who gets taken down over a woman was a North American #1 that, yes, didn't chart in Britain. Was this a particularly frosty time for transatlantic musical relations. Maybe. Possibly because American gatekeepers were squicked out by glam fashion?
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