"Hands of the Clock" was a hit for Canadian band Life in 1969. It was written and produced by Neil Sheppard.

Background

The group's debut single, "Hands of the Clock" bw "Ain't I Told You Before" was released on Polydor 540.009 in 1969. Both sides were written by Neil Sheppard.^[1] With a strong response to the single in the United States, it was noted in the September, 1969 issue of Billboard that it would be released in England on Polydor.^[2]

Charts

The single was in the Recommended Canadian Content section of RPM Weekly on May 26. It was also picking up in Montreal and Ontario.^[3][4] By June 9 it was charting, having just entered the Canadian Content Chart at #9. It also made its entry into the RPM100 Chart at the #100 spot.^[5][6] By July 14, the group appeared on the RPM Weekly cover.^[7] Their single was also at its second week at #4 on the RPM Canadian Content Chart.^[8] It had also moved up from #48 to #43 on the RPM100 Chart.^[9]

Stateside it was making some progress an Billboard wrote in the August 2 issue that "Hands of the Clock" by Life, "Laughing" by The Guess Who and "When I Die" by Motherlode were three Canadian produced singles that were either in the Billboard "Hot Hundred" or "Bubbling Under".^[10]

The song eventually got to #19 on Canada's RPM chart.^[11]

References