No Time – The Guess Who | Top 40 Chart Performance, Story and Song Meaning
Chart Performance: Pop (#5); 1970
Story Behind The Song By Ed Osborne
What do you do when you’re called Chad Allan & The Expressions, and all the cool hitmaking bands in 1965 have names such as The Beatles and The Searchers? Well, maybe your record company holds a name-that-band contest by putting “Guess Who?” on the label of your single, except radio disc jockeys think that that’s really your name, and so there you are. Stuck. Just add “The” in front and be done
with it. Now, it’s 1969 and the Canadian group known as The Guess Who have placed their third single, titled No Time, on the charts in nine months. Like the previous double-sided hit, Laughing b/w Undun, No Time came from the second album, Canned Wheat Packed By The Guess Who. Written by band members Randy Bachman and Burton Cummings, No Time became The Guess Who’s biggest hit to date.
This content and all Song Meaning articles were created and written by Top 40 Contributing Editor Ed Osborne. © 2024 Ed Osborne. All Rights Reserved. In addition to these song meaning articles, Ed has written our “Year in Music 1960s-1990s” articles.
Produced by:
- Jack Richardson
Lyrics Written by:
- Randy Bachman
- Burton Cummings
Awards:
- Inducted to Canadian Songwriters Hall of Fame in 2005
- Won Governor General’s Performing Arts Awards in 2002
- Won SOCAN Classic Awards in 1998
- Won Juno Awards for most promising male vocalist and male vocalist of the year
Ed Osborne
Hi. I got my first record at age two and never looked back, spending a decades-long career in radio and the music business. Even after years of reading about and listening to all types of music, I am still fascinated by it. Apart from that, I’m endlessly intrigued by art, nature, and the inner lives of people (and dogs).