THE GREATEST SONGS OF THE 1960s THAT NO ONE HAS EVER HEARD
659) Original Caste — “Mr. Monday”
I don’t like Mondays, but Mr. Monday would disagree. From Calgary comes this soaring pop nastygram to go-getters. It was a huge hit in Medicine Hat . . . and San Antonio. Go figure.
Ray McGinnis:
In 1966 Bruce Innes met a singing trio in Calgary called the North Country Singers: Dixie Lee Stone, Bliss Mackie and Graham Bruce. . . . By 1967 Innes had joined them . . . . In 1968 the group . . . moved to Los Angeles, and changed their name to the Original Caste.*. . . From the[ir] album came a single titled “One Tin Soldier”. . . . [which] sold well in Canada** . . . . On [its] strength . . . the Original Caste began to tour extensively. . . . [The] followup single . . . “Mr. Monday”. . . . [was] co-written by . . . Dennis Lambert and Brian Potter. . . . [whose] biggest success was producing “Rhinestone Cowboy” for Glen Campbell . . . . [I]n the song, Mr. Monday can’t spare a dime or the time. . . . But he has his eye of the prize: a pot of gold. . . . [It] peaked at #1 in Kingston (ON), #2 in Medicine Hat (AB), #3 in Vancouver (BC), Edmonton (AB) and Toronto, #4 in Calgary (AB), #5 in Pointe Claire (PQ), #6 in Victoria (BC) and Stevens Point (WI), #9 in Sydney (NS), #10 in Hamilton (ON) and #18 in San Antonio (TX). . . .
https://vancouversignaturesounds.com/hits/mr-monday-by-the-original-caste/
Bill Dahl notes that “although it didn’t chart stateside, ‘Mr. Monday’ was an even bigger seller north of the border . . . than “One Tin Soldier,” peaking at #4 [with “One Tin Soldier reaching #6].” (liner notes to the One Tin Soldier CD reissue)
* Bruce Innes: “Someone at Dot records : . . . presented us with three or four different names. It’s hard to imagine that it seemed the least stupid now, but that did seem the least stupid at the time.” (liner notes to the One Tin Soldier CD reissue)
** Bill Dahl notes that the Caste “saw an inferior cover inserted into the soundtrack of the ’71 movie smash Billy Jack. . . . [Bruce Innes recalls that “w]e were pretty good friends with Tom Laughlin . . . . [W]hen he was cutting Billy Jack together, he’d just play our album. But somehow our management team and he couldn’t get it figured out, so he ended up just hiring another producer and getting that band Coven . . . and recut it.” (liner notes to the One Tin Soldier CD reissue)
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