Craddock Kids

Websites:  No
Origin: Toronto, Ontario, 🇨🇦
Biography:

Oct 18, 2024:

Hi Robert,

There were six in my family. 4 boys and 2 girls. The youngest was Cathy - and she was not involved with music due to her age.

The rest of us, Phillip, Tim, Tom, Ken and myself began singing at a very early age. We started on shows like Tiny Talent time. Our Mother taught us harmony with the Ukelele. She was an amazing teacher. She taught other kids as well and got them on a wide variety of television shows.

We graduated to television shows like: Tommy Hunter, Jamboree, Juliette. We were regulars on both Jamboree and Tommy Hunter. We must have done 100 voice-over commercials. We met a lot of people. We did live shows with Pat Boone, Herb Albert & the Tijuana Brass, Rich Little, Oscar Peterson and more.

My Mom and Dad got us to Ed Sullivan in 1966. We met with him and sang a roster of songs - which led to a live show with him. In 1967, Bobby Gimby wrote C-A-N-A-D-A. We were chosen to sing it. For a long while it was thought that many kids sang it, but truth is, it was us - overdubbed. We even recorded the French version along with another French Canadian girl. This led to a lot of Exhibition shows where we would be on 6 days a week a couple of times a day.

Perry Como's people called, and we were invited to be on his show. Out of all of our history for me, being on the Perry Como show was a blast. We were still quite young, so being in a swank hotel in New York was a big thrill. Even the rehearsals were fun. We sang a couple of songs with Perry Como and of course the Canada song.

Once this was over, we kind of stopped. I ended up doing voice over work until I was about 18, at which time I was tired of singing. My brothers by this time were into other kinds of music as well.

Phillip (youngest boy)
He started at 4 years old and stopped at about 10. One cute story with him is that when Perry Como spontaneously picked Phillip up, during the live show taping, Phillip said to him, "Mr. Como your breath smells like beer". Perry Como visibly laughed right through the end of the show. Sadly, at 19, he fell off the Scarborough Bluffs, (a major cliff in Toronto). He became quadriplegic. I cannot express what a nightmare this was. Paralyzed from the neck down for the rest of his life. We were told he would live 5 years. He lived 35 years.

Tim
Tim also started at 4. He was a good harmony singer, but often got us all in trouble. He was fun and mischievous. Tim married and divorced young and had one daughter, Brayden. He ended up traveling a lot in his teens and early adulthood. Sadly, he got leukemia and passed when he was 29. Needless to say, it was devastating.

Bonnie (moi)
I stopped singing when I was 18. I suppose I was the least satisfied with singing, as it interrupted school and any semblance of a normal life. Still, I did enjoy much of it. I ended up getting a degree in journalism and then went into television production. I worked at OECA for a couple of years before settling in Advertising as a Broadcast Producer. I was married for 26 years, and though divorced, remain good friends with my ex. I thoroughly loved my work for about 20 years and was able to do a good deal of traveling. Then I started my own product design company.

Tom & Ken
Tom and Ken were very close. Ken started a band, (he was a very good drummer), as did many kids back then. The garage band. They did covers and were quite good. They played around Toronto for a while. Our parents had divorced, and Tom and Ken were spending more and more time with our Dad in Vancouver. They both became Cable guys and stayed in this profession all of their lives. Ken passed away last year. Tom is actually in the hospital presently but getting out next week. He is good.

Cathy
While my youngest sister was 9 years younger than I, we began to really connect when she turned 16. We became very good friends as well as being sisters. She got "diabetes 1" when she and her husband got pregnant Her daughter, Madison is a lovely 21-year-old woman. It was an absolute shock to us all when she passed away last year - quite unexpectedly. To be candid, I will never get over it.

After we did the Perry Como Show, the Canadian shows kind of saw us as traitors. LOL. Going to the U.S. There were several articles, however, suggesting that Canadian newspapers did not even cover the fact that a Canadian group was going to be on Perry Como with Oscar Peterson. Our parents were not serious managers, and I credit my Mom for everything that we did. She was an absolutely remarkable woman and a damned fine artist. Some of her work was featured at the Art Gallery of Ontario during the King Tut exhibition.

One strange thing was that we were never called the Young Canada Singers. In all shows, including Ed Sullivan and Perry Como, we were just The Craddock Kids.

Man, it was so hoaky - but, for me, brought back messages of my childhood. I remember that the album was put together incredibly fast; within 2 weeks of returning from the Como show. We had cue cards with the words to the songs written out for us while we were recording, as we did not know most of them.

Ben McPeek was an amazing man. He did so very much for Canada. He was the first to recognize and sign The Guess Who. Quick, funny story about them. Ben McPeek called our Mom to say he was bringing The Guess Who over to our house because he was signing them. We were a family of 6. Most of the time the place was a wreck. My Mom went into super quick cleaning mode, with all of us helping. At the last minute she decided to shampoo the carpet in the living room. She used dish soap. Long story short, they arrived and my parents were talking with them & Ben, when Burton Cummings was moving his foot back and forth on the carpet. Tiny bubbles were rising each time he did it. All the group began to do this, and they laughed once they realized what our Mom had done. My Mom was great, and a bit nuts.

Robert, I hope this is what you were looking for. I guess it must be pretty clear that I have forgotten more things - and it is just because I finally got a hold of the Album that I was curious to hear us at such a young age. Thanks for sending me this album - I hadn't heard it for 55 years! I sure was not expecting your kindness and response.

I thank you most sincerely! Best wishes always.
-Bonnie Craddock Boden