Can-Con 45 Of The Day - December 16

Can-Con 45 Of The Day - December 16

Postby radiofan » Fri Dec 15, 2017 11:07 pm

Today's Can-Con 45 is from 1982 ... Santana's cover version of Ian Thomas' "Hold On" ...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J0s8LLCuCgA

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Those who danced were thought to be quite insane by those who couldn't hear the music.
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Re: Can-Con 45 Of The Day - December 16

Postby jon » Fri Dec 15, 2017 11:22 pm

Santana's version peaked at #4 on RPM. But we'll never know how well the Ian Thomas version would have done on RPM as they were not publishing charts through its most popular period.

On CHUM Toronto, the Santana version also peaked at #4, but Ian's original only made it to #13.

As a CKRA-FM listener in Edmonton at the time, I remember it as a toss-up as to which version was played most.
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Re: Can-Con 45 Of The Day - December 16

Postby Richard Skelly » Sat Dec 16, 2017 2:27 am

Ian Thomas had beginner’s luck as a solo artist, scoring a US Top 40 Hit with his debut single Painted Ladies. After that he became, like so many Canadian artists, solely dependent on airplay and sales north of the border. Unlike most CanCon peers, however, he obviously had a committed music publisher eager to pitch those Canadian-only hits to international acts.

Santana’s covered Hold On in 1982. The same year, America, scored by remaking Ian’s Right Before Your Eyes. (Coincidentally, both Ian and America owed their initial breaks to imitating Neil Young with, respectively, Painted Ladies and A Horse With No Name.) By 1984, it was Manfred Mann’s Earth Band getting a hit out of Thomas’s The Runner. Other songs were interpreted by a variety of artists, including Chicago and Bette Midler.

Back in the day, a songwriter could still earn decent money from royalties accrued through record sales and radio airplay. The cash flow undoubtedly helped Ian continue his own recording/performing activities in Canada. Recently, he performed some old hits within a quartet featuring Murray McLauchlan, Cindy Church and Marc Jordan.
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