Song:Which Way You Goin', Billy?
Album:A Good Thing Lost 1968-1973
Which Way You Goin', Billy? was a top five hit in 1969 for the Canadian group The Poppy Family led by the husband and wife duo of Susan and Terry Jacks. Susan sang and Terry wrote and produced the music. They had a couple of other hits and divorced in 1973. Susan Pesklevits was born in Saskatoon but grew up in British Columbia. As a teen, she was a regular on the Canadian TV show Music Hop. She met Terry Jacks in 1966 when he accompanied her on the show. The two clicked and married in 1967. At first they called their group Powerline and then changed it to The Poppy Family. Susan was lead singer. Terry played rhythm guitar and wrote and produced the music. Craig McCaw played lead guitar and Satwant Singh played drums. The Poppy Family signed with London Records and their debut album Which Way You Goin, Billy? was released in 1969. Which Way You Goin, Billy? was the third single and it topped the Canadian charts and reached #2 on the Billboard Hot 100. They won two Juno Awards. The Poppy Family's other hits were That's Where I Went Wrong and Where Evil Grows. You can get them on this budget comp from What Are Records in Boulder, CO. McCaw and Singh left The Poppy Family in 1970 and Jacks used studio musicians on the 1971 album Poppy Seeds. Terry and Susan Jacks divorced in 1973. Terry Jacks had a number one hit in 1973 with Seasons in The Sun. He quit the music business in the 80s and is currently an environmental activist. Susan Jacks recorded solo but wasn't all that successful. She married former Canadian Football League player Ted Dushinski in 1980 and they moved to Nashville. She became a staff songwriter at a publishing company. She had a kidney transplant in 2010 and still performs occasionally in Canada. Here's The Poppy Family performing Which Way You Goin', Billy? on The Bobby Darin Show 1970.
I loved their song "Which way you goin' Billy" I did not know they were from Canada originally. Thank-you Frank for the info.
ReplyDelete