Canadian Music Artists of the '50s, '60s and '70s Quiz

Answer: The Beau Marks

Released in 1959 in Canada and quickly rising to number one, "Clap Your Hands" was the breakthrough hit for the Beau Marks. The record rose quickly to Number one in Australia and made the Billboard Hot 100 rising to 45. Sadly despite some good recordings The Beau Marks did not chart again outside Canada. Oddly, as Canadian artists usually received good airplay in the UK, this record failed to chart.

The Beau Marks released three or four albums with good sales in Canada but not a lot elsewhere. My vinyl collections holds a copy of "The High Flying Beau Marks" which I found in a second hand store, I believe it was their first album.

The song "Clap Your Hands" was recorded in French and sold well in Quebec.

Answer: Neil Young

Neil Young is a Canadian born pop/rock/folk singer/writer. He has written many of his own hits and is widely seen also as a great interpreter of other people's songs. He has been a member of seminal rock groups like Buffalo Springfield and Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young. He placed "Heart of Gold" on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1972 and the song rose to number one.

Answer: The Four Lads

The Four Lads originated in Toronto as the Otnorots, obviously Toronto spelled backwards. They changed their name to the Four Dukes and then the Four Lads when in 1950 they were invited to New York and came to the notice of Mitch Miller. Miller, as a bandleader, producer and A & R man at Columbia Records, used the Four Lads as backup singers for Johnnie Ray on his early hits like "Cry" and "The Little White Cloud That Cried". The Four Lads had hits of their own: "Skokiaan", "No Not Much", "Standing On the Corner" and their biggest hit and signature tune "Moments To Remember".

"Moments To Remember" spent six weeks at number two on the Billboard chart, most of it behind American vocal group rivals The Four Aces with their biggest hit "Love is a Many Splendoured Thing".

Answer: Paul Anka

Paul's first number one was "Diana" in 1957 and his second in 1959, "Lonely Boy". He would wait fifteen years for his next number one when he teamed in 1974 with Odia Coates for "You're Having My Baby". He had many other chart hits such as "Puppy Love", "Put Your Head on My Shoulder" and "You Are My Destiny".

Paul wrote all his hits and many songs he wrote were successful with other singers, such as Frank Sinatra with "My Way"(English lyrics by Paul Anka), Donny Osmond with "Puppy Love" and "She's A Lady" for Tom Jones.

Answer: Guess Who

The Guess Who or just Guess Who issued some great memories in the 1960s. The Guess Who started in Winnipeg and after some name changes emerged in 1962 as Chad Allan and the Reflections - they changed from Reflections to Expressions so as not be confused with the stateside group of the same name. Under this name they released a version of Johnny Kidd's "Shakin All Over" which went to number one in Canada; the US release listed the band as The Guess Who in order to create some mystery and the name stuck. Future releases included "American Woman", "Undun", "Laughing" and "No Time"; all these records were top ten hits on the Billboard Hot 100 with "American Woman" making number one. "No Time" with its inclusion on the soundtrack of "Forest Gump" became the group's best selling song. The song "No Time" has been inducted into the Vocal Groups Hall of Fame.

Randy Bachman of The Guess Who went on to form Bachman Turner Overdrive aka BTO which had a number of top ten hits in the 1970s.

Answer: Bobby Curtola

Bobby Curtola hit the Billboard Hot 100 in 1962 reaching number 41 for fourteen weeks with "Fortune Teller". Curtola was a major pop star in the early 1960s in Canada. Indeed, he charted 30 songs between 1960 and 1966 with 20 of those reaching the top 15. Bobby Curtola died at his home in June 2016 mere months after his partner tragically died in an automobile accident.

Answer: Hank Snow

Hank Snow was born in Nova Scotia in 1914 and got his first guitar as a teenager. He played on local then national radio shows in the late 1930s and after many years of recording in and touring Canada his records began to be played on country music stations in the USA.

He moved to Nashville around 1948 or 49 and began his thirty year chart career. His recording of "I'm Moving On" stayed at number one on the Billboard country charts for twenty one weeks and was a million seller. Some of his other hits were "I Don't Hurt Anymore", "The Golden Rocket" and "I've Been Everywhere".

In all Hank charted 85 singles on the Billboard Country Chart, he released over 75 studio albums and 18 compilation albums. Hank recorded with RCA Victor from 1936 until 1981 and was responsible in no small way for getting RCA to sign Elvis Presley.

Answer: The Diamonds

The Diamonds hailed from in and around Toronto and in 1955 ventured to New York to try their luck. After winning on Arthur Godfrey's talent show they gained a recording contract. Released on Mercury Records in 1957, "Little Darlin'" reached number two on the Billboard Top 100, number three on the British Charts and number two on the Australian Chart. The Diamonds had fifteen top thirty hits during the fifties, mostly covers of previous hits by black groups (like fellow Torontonians The Crew-Cuts) but done in the unique harmonies of The Diamonds.

A number of early "boy bands" modelled themselves after the Diamonds. Some of their other charted songs were "Silhouettes", "The Stroll", "Walking Along", "Kathy O" and "She Say".

Answer: Jack Scott

Achieving great chart success between 1958 and 1962 was Windsor Ontario born Jack Scott. Jack placed 19 hits on The Billboard Hot 100, four of them making the top ten. His biggest hit was "What in the World's Come Over You" which was a top ten in the UK reaching number ten.

It reached number five on the Billboard Hot 100 and number two in Canada. In Australia the song was a huge hit making number one and staying on the charts for six months. Jack Scott released some of the best early rockabilly styled records, "Leroy", Goodbye Baby", "Geraldine" and "The Way I Walk".

Answer: Lucille Starr

Lucille Starr, born in Manitoba in 1938, became in 1964 the first Canadian woman to sell a million copies of a record when her "The French Song" became a world wide hit. A number of other hits followed like "Jolie Jacqueline" and a French and English version of "Crazy Arms". Lucille was the first Canadian woman to appear on the Grand Ole Opry.

Her breakout record "Quand Le Soleil Dit Bonjour Aux Montagnes" was renamed "The French Song" by producer Herb Alpert at A&M records, because he could not pronounce the title. Lucille died on 04 September 2020; her death prompted this long time fan to write the quiz on Canadian hit makers.