What is it about nice people that attract total idiots?Nice people are martyrs. Idiots are evangelists.

SOCK IT TO ME BABY!!!

Friday, May 6, 2016

Time Machine week 71



Well, we have arrived at May 6th, 1974, and it was yet another slow news day.  How slow?  The lead story for today is that the Philadelphia Phillies set their all time low attendance at Veterans Stadium, drawing 4,149 for a loss to the Padres, 7-6.  The rest of that series didn't do much either, as Phillies fans stayed away to the tune of only 13,000 and change for the whole three game series.  To put it in perspective, they drew that previous Sunday 41,000 to see the Dodgers.  But don't feel bad for the Phils.  It was 16 1/2 times what my A's drew for a game with Seattle in 1979, an attendance that night of 250.

No, this scene at the Vet was 1984.  But it prolly looked very similar...


So welcome to Time Machine for this week in the merry year of 1974- and this week we have some closing milestones on the M10- we will be one song away from 100 all time songs charted with our two new debuts- one of which you may have heard recently on a McDonald's ad!  Also, this list of all-time M10 hits to pile up 60 points + grows by 2 this week; and the question this week becomes, will the Jayhawks take the record with 5 weeks at the top?All this and a bonus six degrees video!  Get yer popcorn, grab a cold one, and batter up!

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The gang assembled for this week's Panel include:  WMYQ Miami, WKAP living here in Allentown PA, WAXY Ft Lauderdale, CFGO Ottawa, Canada, WPOP Hartford, WROM Rome (no, the one in Georgia, my friend), KROK Shreveport, WBZ Boston, WDRQ Detroit, KTKT Tucson, KHJ Los Angeles, and KYA San Francisco.  They collected a measly 16 different songs, including the low charting at #39 nationally Billy Don't Be A Hero by Bo Donaldson and the Heywoods (whose one vote was the #1 slot in Tucson), and the other #1 that missed the Panel Four, Wings with Band On The Run (whose only vote was the #1 in Boston).  And with that, here's the Panel Four:

With one #1 vote (Ft Lauderdale, natch) and 19 points, the national #7, Ray Stevens with The Streak.

With one #1 (Ottawa) and 22 points, the national # 5, Marvin Hamlisch and The Entertainer.

With one #1 ( San Fran)- and yes, that means the top dog got 7- and 26 points, a mere 19 behind the winner, the national #4, the Jacksons and Dancing Machine.

And at the top, with 46 points, the national #1 as well- stay tuned.

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First up, some new retro-soul on the M10.  The gent's name is Charles Bradley, and he's going through some Changes...





Charles comes in this week at #10.

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And now a few words from English footballer and worldwide star David Beckham:

I have got this obsessive compulsive disorder where I have to have everything in a straight line, or everything has to be in pairs. 


Well, what I have in mind comes in a straight line, and it is an even numbered set, so what say we...




10- This week's UK top ten leads off with a Stevie Wonder song that did not get released here, though in three years it would be the USA flip side to the #1 Sir Duke.  It was called He's Misstra Know It All.

9-  An American #1 that was on it's way down at #48 this week, Terry Jacks and Seasons In The Sun.

8- A tune that The Essex took to #12 in 1963, redone pretty faithfully by a band called Limmie and the Family Cookin', A Walking Miracle.  This didn't chart here, and they only once did graze the US charts.

7- In late March, this tune made it only to #54 here, and with US consumers that look at a title and pass on by, I can see why- the Chi-Lites and Homely Girl.

6- Roy Wood, who helped found the original ELO, and his band Wizzard chart here with a song not released here- Rock and Roll Winter.

5- Another did not chart here was by a band we're quite familiar with- the Bay City Rollers.  They held down this spot with Shang-A-Lang.

4- A folk duo ( and another act that barely grazed the US charts with a different song) called (Lenny) Peters and (Dianne) Lee were here with Don't Stay Away Too Long.  I can see why Lenny Peters might say that.  This cousin of Stones drummer Charlie Watts was blinded in one eye from a traffic accident at 5 years old- and then in the other when he was hit by a thrown brick at the age of 16...

3-


Sigh... yes, the Wombles again... this time with Remember You're A Womble.  Frankly, I'll stick with the Banana Splits...



2- The Rubettes hit #37 in August here with this tune, called Sugar Baby Love.  In a similarity to Strawberry Alarm Clock's Incense and Peppermints (and believe me, it is the ONLY similarity), the lead vocal on this, their biggest hit, was done by a guy (Paul DaVinci) who NEVER joined the act.

And tops of the pops....



A tune you may know well... Waterloo by ABBA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  It would make top ten here in August.

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I want to kick off  the six degrees this week with a tune I really love...  just in case you don't know it.  This is Duncan Sheik:






Duncan's big hit peaked at #16 back in '96.  And just how does he fit into our story?  Well, his sister Kacie Sheik...



...was in the 2009 and 2011 revivals of Hair, where she played the part of Jeanie.  This part was played in the original by one Sally Eaton...



...who in addition to her singing talents is a full fledged Wiccan priestess.  Not surprisingly, she was one of a handful of acts to perform at the first Earth Day, doing a song charmingly titled Sulfur Dioxide.  Opening the show was the Native American/Cajun band Redbone, who more famously had a hit with the highest charting song this week to get no Panel love, Come And Get Your Love.


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And that brings us to the M10!

You heard number ten- and it is the 98th song to hit the M10!  Next up is a song that MIGHT have dropped and opened the way for #100 this week- except that, as my FB friends know, I watched a certain video last weekend.  It was a video by the family of a good blogger friend who passed last year- a Mother's Day Mash Up, of some neat songs lip synched by my friend's Husband and Daughter.  It was fun, and really showed how well they are doing these months later-  but then I said to myself, "She'd be so proud..." and it all broke loose again.  I had been playing some music at the time, and when I returned to it, the next song that played was the tune at #9- Jimmy Ruffin's Farewell Is A Lonely Sound, spending a third week at #9.

At number eight, Rah Rah's Fix Me slips back a notch from #7.

I believe I mentioned two songs crossed the sixty point plateau this week.  One of them, putting it 5th all time, Is Madness by Lucius, dropping three to #7.

Our second debut- and 99th all time- I first heard on the recent McDonald's "Wedding Quarter Pounder" ad.  It came out in 2013 by a guy recording under the name of Telekinesis:





Lean On Me debuts way up at #6, and might have gone higher...

...but I had a third wave of falling in love with Emi Knight and the Strawberry Runners with When We Were Good, and it moved from #8 to #5.

And then there was the obstacle of the beautiful Ruth B, who moves up 2 more spots to #4 with 2 Poor Kids.

Carroll gets stuck with a second week at number three with Bad Water.

And now, it's time to answer the question- do the Jayhawks make history with a fifth straight week at the top?  The answer:




Quiet Corners and Empty Spaces- which pulls into 4th place all time this week- drops a notch to #2.

And at the top?  M10 says...




...Redspencer with Ride It Out... the 19th #1 song on the M10!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


And on the Panel....



...Grand Funk Railroad with IMHO the best cover ever- The Loco-Motion!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


With that, we wrap up another week!  Tune in next time for... 1978!

11 comments:

  1. I hollered, "Don't look, Ethel!" But it was too
    late. She'd already been mooned. Flashed her right there in front of the shock absorbers.

    Hi, Chris!

    I remember 1974 as a good year in music but, IMO, there was still too much miscellaneous schlock on the charts, such as the instrumental "The Entertainer." I wasn't very fond of the early recordings of The Jacksons either. When they, their voices and their material gained maturity, they gained me as a fan and a paying customer. Nor was I jazzed about Stevie's "Sir Duke" or any of his other releases from "The Wonder Years" of the 70s.

    Holy crap! I just listened to Charles Bradley! What an incredible retro style R&B cover of the Black Sabbath ballad "Changes." Shady sez Bradley's version is the new definitive- "six minutes in heaven." Bradley, who is a year older than Shady, imitates the pleading vocal style of "Mr. Pitiful" himself, Otis Redding. He also sounds like Wilson Picket did when that R&B giant sang ballads. Great find!

    I have told you before that I likey Terry Jacks' "Seasons in the Sun." I never heard Limmie and the Family Cookin' and their cover of "A Walking Miracle." It certainly is different and, as I listened, it very gradually grew on me. I never heard of "Don't Stay Away" by Peters & Lee. I returned to YouTube and watched a vid of the UK duo performing it:

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v6S0DWzds0w

    The moment I laid eyes on Dianne, I immediately began my mental checklist:

    * pale skin - check!
    * red hair - check!
    * hourglass figger - check!

    Please enter Dianne in your next Beauty Contest!

    I have always liked "Sugar Baby Love" by the Rubettes even though the lead was performed by session singer Paul Da Vinci. "Sugar Baby Love" was hot on the chart the second and third week of September, 1974, when I enjoyed my best ever vacay in Myrtle Beach, S.C. "Come and Get Your Love" by Redbone had faded off the chart by that time but was still being played on jukeboxes along the Grand Strand. Memories abound.

    "Waterloo" was my earliest favorite ABBA recording and remains a fave to this day. Check out the distinctively different glam/psych B side, "Watch Out":

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sbNjO4D1gcE

    I dig Duncan Sheik's "Barely Breathing" song and video. Please also enter sister Kacie Sheik in your next Beauty Contest. (The field is getting crowded and Scrappy might have a tough time picking a winner.)

    It was very cool of your deceased friend's husband and daughter to create a Mother's Day Mash Up in her honor.

    I also enjoyed the retro-jangle sound of Telekinesis and the clean, refreshing sound of the Aussie indie band Redspencer. Great sounds today, Chris!

    I don't care who you vote for in the presidential race but, for heaven's sake, do the right thing and also consider Liz Mace for your next Beauty Contest. She's my "Pick To Click!"

    http://vignette4.wikia.nocookie.net/meganandliz/images/a/a9/Wow.jpg/revision/latest?cb=20130119210147

    Have a Scrappy weekend, good buddy Chris!

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  2. Once again, in order:

    I used to change the words to "Up with People" to "Up with streakers". It was pretty funny back in the day...

    I thought the J5 were enough more mature by Dancin' Machine, and had more of the older Michael sound. But I'm still hung up on The Love You Save...

    Stevie's always kinda been an odd duck for me. Good enough to listen to, but none of them really worming their way into my heart or top ten. They were just there. Outside of You Haven't Done Nothing.

    IDK that Changes was a Sabbath cover! But I do know this guy can belt it out- and that video was an unusual- and powerful- way to get the point across. With all these great retro-soul acts out there, WHY are these kids listening to Kanye and Bieber?


    I think I kinda remembered Sugar Baby Love, but not well. Your ABBA flip side was pretty good- a little rough on the vocal, but the tune itself put me in mind of Shocking Blue...

    Kacie is entered by virtue of having her pick in the post! Although, I'm beginning to think that I may add a special Shady exemption for the gals you've requested... Now, I'll have to go back through your comments to find em all...

    I am really glad you liked those two M10 songs, as they will prolly be 1-2 next week. No guarantee on that, though... it's getting closer and closer to a big pile up at the top- and eventually I have another Ruth B song to wedge in there!

    I'm not sure who I will vote for in the Presidential race either- except that they won't be married to a former President, and NONE of them will make the Beauty Contest, lol!

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  3. "I'm not sure who I will vote for in the Presidential race either- except that they won't be married to a former President, and NONE of them will make the Beauty Contest, lol!"

    That's odd. I think Jane Fonda is still rather attractive. :)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. A beauty only skin deep IMHO.

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    2. Hey, Shady, I just looked it up- there are currently- with a little technical rule-stretching- currently 36 official candidates for the Beauty Contest, and 5 "Shady's picks" that aren't in by current rules- including the two mentioned this week. So I AM tracking them...

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  4. We have an election coming in a couple of months and have to say that I have no idea who I am going to vote for.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Geez, Charlie Watts had it tough. I barely remember the Banana Splits. A vague recollection of them so I think I may have watched them when I was little.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Well you were a bit more of a kid than I was back then...

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  6. Chris"
    --Yeah, Phillies fans are certainly a different breed. Loyal as hell ONE minute, and leaving empty seats the next.
    That picture HAS TO BE of the VON HAYES era!
    (still have his ball card, too)
    --Always liked The Entertainer - then again, I have loved SCOTT JOPLIN since I took a shine to classical music (THE ultimate oldies...lol).
    --Also REALLY like the Charles Bradley number...nice throw-back to better music from earlier times.
    --Seasons in the Sun...good song.
    --Can't say I've ever heard of the Wombles, but the BANANA SPLITS???
    (watched them every week) - Droopy, Bingo, Snork and Fleegle (not the musical order, sorry.) I liked the shorts they had like Danger Island (I am SO dating myself now...heh)
    --Waterloo...another good ABBA song.
    --Duncan Sheik - like the song. The video...not so much.
    --LOL...why am I NOT surprised with the EARTH DAY and musical HAIR connection?
    --I have to look around, I might STILL have the first REDBONE LP.
    --And, I will take Redspencer over Grand funk Railroad (as long as it's not Closer to Home - the only song of theirs I liked, believe it or not).

    Very good ride this week.
    (someone's been doing some class-A road work)

    Keep on rockin' up there, brother.

    (btw - you owe me a comment from Friday's post, not that I'm keeping track...heh heh heh)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Yep, right in the heart of the Hayes era...

      And on the Splits, you are on the OTHER side age wise from Elsie. I remember watching the show, but never could have recalled their names. In fact, when last the Wombles got mentioned (about a dozen UK top tens ago), I couldn't even remember the Banana Splits' NAME.

      Redbone's song at Earth Day was called Red And Blue, in case you're interested.

      Didn't like GFR??? JK, although I would say Closer To Home /I'm Your Captain is one of my faves as well.

      How I keep messing your posts I don't get- but you'll see that from the rather lengthy comment I just sent you.

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