I was surprised to discover recently that, on a national and international basis, “Open Up Your Door” was more of a “never made it” than a “made it” song. Its peak position on the Billboard Hot 100 was a whopping #99 on Sept. 24, 1966.
Despite the record’s minor stature nationally, it was familiar to me because it was a regional hit in the Pacific Northwest….at least from Seattle north to Vancouver, Canada. Richard and The Young Lions peaked in the top 5 in Seattle and Vancouver, and it went all the way to the top of the chart in Cleveland, Detroit and Salt Lake City. You might say it was hot in spots.
You can take a gander at these KJR and KOL charts from 1966. The record was getting lots of spins.
Richard & The Young Lions was a Newark, NJ band. Their other singles, neither of which charted nationally, were “Nasty” and “You Can Make It.” The original lead singer, Richard Tepp, passed away in 2004. Some rock music aficionados look upon Richard and The Young Lions as among the first of the garage bands. You can watch the band perform and hear the song, if it is fuzzy in your mind, in the video below. (The video is at ad free Vimeo, so click on the play button 2x – once to go to Vimeo and again to start the video.)
Open Up Your Door: Richard & The Young Lions
Technical notes: An improved quality audio track has been lip synced with the original TV performance.
Click on the names below to read about these broadcasters who were popular in Bellingham and Whatcom County, including nearby Canadian legend Red Robinson:
Danny Holiday (KPUG)
Dick Stark (KENY & KPUG)
Kirk Wilde (KPUG)
Gary Shannon (KPUG)
Mike Forney (KPUG)
Jay Hamilton (KPUG & KBFW)
Bob O’Neil & Marc Taylor (KPUG)
John Christopher Kowsky (KPUG)
Haines Faye & Rogan Jones (KVOS & KGMI)
Tom Haveman (KENY & KVOS)
Red Robinson (Vancouver B.C.)
Jerry Holzinger began his radio career in 1956 after local radio personalities encouraged him to…
The first husband of former first lady Jill Biden has been charged with killing his…
Tacoma Rainiers 2026 season starts March 27th in Reno.
Great pic from George Waldenberger. The Space Needle across from the KOMO Plaza building.
The game will stream on Peacock, NBC: Mike Tirico will handle play-by-play for his first…
File this under USUAL SUSPECTS: Nkechy Ezeh, a Nigerian who was appointed to a state…
View Comments
September 10, 2020 at QZVX
Edgar Bennett says:
Big hit here in the N.W. Bombed everywhere else.
September 10, 2020 at QZVX
Steven Smith says:
Edgar….by virtue of all the airplay in the PNW I had incorrectly assumed it probably made it into the top 10 or 15 nationally.
September 10, 2020 at QZVX
Jack D. Bell says:
Sure am getting frustrated trying to get verified for posting!
September 12, 2020 at QZVX
Jason Remington says:
Hmmm… You have many previously approved posts (only one is needed to reach whitelist status–and you are whitelisted) –as long as you use the same email address it should not be happening. We will keep an eye on it.
September 10, 2020 at QZVX
Jack D. Bell says:
Thank you for this!…we in the wild NW favored hard, basic-beat tunes that were dance-worthy….I thought this group was from here!…anyway, around this time period. psychedelic stuff was making headway-think “Electric Prunes”!…our local kick-ass groups like the Sonics, Wailers, Dynamics, had pretty much done the gritty. garage band thing to death….and they were even harder edged than this East Coast group…about 25 years ago, the late Mike Webb, with the help of the owner of golden Oldies record store, put together 126 NW tunes, some very obscure, and it aired on KVI..I have a copy of that impressive show (had to pay a guy at work $50 bucks for it!)…It covered several genres of music, from the mid-50s through the early 70s….oh yeah, Peter Blecha was the owner’s name!…he has written a book or two on the History of NW Rock….I bought a few rare oldies from him…I was glad he was there…but he seemed very full of himself!
September 20, 2020 at QZVX
Dick Ellingson says:
Does your tape have “Polly Anne” by Billy Saint? A non-edgy love tune that I love. Please post it if you have it. It was on Dolton or one of those.
Last time I drove Metro’s Route 44, there was still a Golden Oldies in Wallingford on 45th kind of between Drunken Dognuts and Dick’s.
September 20, 2020 at QZVX
Steven Smith says:
I remember Golden Oldies….we had one of their stores in town. Loved the place.
September 20, 2020 at QZVX
Dick Ellingson says:
I noticed #1 there and it reminded me that at KGEZ the GM gave me an LP by the Charles River Valley Boys called “Beatle Country”. One of the cuts was “Yaller Submarine” (well it sounded like “Yaller” anyhow).
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RECzxQlPyTc&list=PL1zuZAS_BgpIhkzMbiN5wCcrAhmlUGKlm&index=3
September 20, 2020 at QZVX
Jason Remington says:
Seemed to have done well in the Pacific Northwest, I do remember it, but it was not in my personal Fab 50.
August 24, 2021 at QZVX
John Christopher Kowsky says:
Speaking of Northwest Bands…there was a place on the road into Birch Bay that hosted live bands, back in the early ‘60’s. You could go there and see Northwest up-and-comers such as “Paul Revere & the Raiders”. Was to young to go, back then, but when in the area a few years ago I noticed that dance hall building looked abandoned but was still standing. I’m sure the Vancouver kids would come across the Border to attend back then. Anybody remember the name of the place?
I remember playing that “Richard & The Young Lions” song on KPUG, but by that time it was an oldie!
August 24, 2021 at QZVX
Jason Remington says:
The Village West ? http://www.pnwbands.com/villagewest.html
August 24, 2021 at QZVX
John Christopher Kowsky says:
I think you are absolutely right, young man!
August 25, 2021 at QZVX
Steven Smith says:
The big ones were Village West, Beacon Ballroom, Forest Grove near Blaine-Birch Bay, and Point Roberts had The Breakers.
October 15, 2021 at QZVX
John Christopher Kowsky says:
Another song that has been living rent-free in my brain from the Sixties (I believe) was “100 or Two”, by the Springfield Rifle. Weren’t they a Northwest Band?
October 15, 2021 at QZVX
Steven Smith says:
Yes…you got that right. They were PNW band.
http://pnwbands.com/springfield.html