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

SOCK IT TO ME BABY!!!

Friday, August 19, 2016

Time Machine week 86



One of the advantages of being a Time Lord- or a blogger- is you can write ahead, in little chunks, and schedule.  That is what is happening on today's TM because my back is messed up somewhat and I don't wanna spend a whole lotta concentrated time working on this (Because I can't spring for the gorgeous blonde secretary to take dictation here).  At any rate, by the time you see this, we'll be in August 19th, 1972- the early morning on which the first Midnight Special appeared after Carson on NBC.  John Denver was guest host, performing Take Me Home Country Roads, and was joined by Andy Kaufman, Argent (Hold Your Head Up), Mama Cass (duet of Leaving On A Jet Plane with John), Harry Chapin (Taxi), the Everlys (All I Have To Do Is Dream), the Isleys (Pop That Thang), Helen Reddy (I Don't Know How To Love Him), Linda Ronstadt (Long Long Time), War (Slippin' Into Darkness), and David Clayton Thomas doing some solo stuff.  Wolfman Jack was of course there, and they themed on getting young people to vote.  According to my best stats, it didn't help- voting under 30 dropped slightly in '72, and those that did still voted for Nixon.


Even on trial I still got it...
And we welcome you to the Time Machine of the week the M10 completed its first full year!  This week we'll celebrate with a couple of specials, three new debuts, and when the six degrees became the tops of the pops!  Let's dive right in and discover the Pompatus of Love, shall we?


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The Panel this week who managed not to vote for the most popular song in the UK (and #6 here) consist of:  KQV Pittsburgh; KGGF Coffeyville; WKLO Louisville; KSTN Stockton; WSTP Salisbury NC; WOLF Syracuse; KSO Des Moines; WMEX Boston; KGY Olympia WA; WDGY Minneapolis; KRED Eureka CA; and WTIX New Orleans.  They collected 26 different songs, including five that got #1 votes- but not much else- and didn't make the Panel Four.  Those would be:  Mel and Tim's Starting All Over Again (Louisville), the O'Jays and Backstabbers (North Carolina), Mac Davis' Baby Don't Get Hooked On Me (Iowa), Chicago's Saturday In The Park (Olympia), and Elton John's Honky Cat (NOLA).  Our low charter section is a bit down from last week;  Stockton had the Eagles' Take It Easy at #2, notwithstanding it left the big chart in July; and Arlo Guthrie sat at #70 with City Of New Orleans.

And the Panel Four, which included 2 songs that got NO #1s, looks like this:

Without a #1 vote and 13 points, the national #3, Luther Ingram's (If Loving You Is Wrong) I Don't Want To Be Right.

Without a #1 vote and 15 points, the national #2, Looking Glass and Brandy.

With 22 points and the #1s of Stockton and Minneapolis, the national #5, the Hollies and Long Cool Woman (In A Black Dress).

And at the top, with 5 number ones and 34 points, the national top dog.... stay tuned.


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Our first debut this week, which sits at #10, is the latest from a founding father act of Alternative.  They formed in the mid-eighties, broke up just before the new millennium, and reunited with the original lineup in 2005.  They are Dinosaur Jr, and they are here with this gem:




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Well, one of the things I have been wondering about is the Panel's #1 picks.  You see, I wondered if this week's #1 hadn't been #1 before (it had not), but I learned some fun facts about the Panel's top picks I thought I'd share.

First off, who's been there most.  Well, that top spot goes to the Beatles- and maybe Elton John.  The Beatles have 5 Panel #1s to their credit- She Loves You in week 13; Get Back in week 25; Yesterday, week 46; We Can Work It Out/Day Tripper, week 58; and I Want To Hold Your Hand just 3 weeks later.  Now, EJ also topped five times, but one was a repeat:  Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds, week 6; Crocodile Rock, week 10; Goodbye Yellow Brick Road, week 53; and Philadelphia Freedom in weeks 19 and 70.  More on the repeat offender list in a bit.  So you could give EJ a demerit for the repeat; but since Neil Sedaka's Bad Blood (week 72) was an uncredited duet with Elton, I figure it's a wash.

Nobody else had more than two tunes in the list- and five of these were repeat offenders, too!  And the really weird thing about the repeat offenders- their repeats, save Philly Freedom, all came back to back!  The first repeater was George Harrison's My Sweet Lord, and there's a funny story about that one- it back-to-backed itself!  On Dec 18th, 2015, I did 1970 and it won.  I then skipped the next two weeks (as it was Christmas and New Years Day), and when I resumed, it was January 8th, I was in 1971- and George was still there!

Then came weeks 66-7 when the next two repeaters struck.  Week 66 was the second time for the very song George got sued for copying on My Sweet Lord- the Chiffons and He's So Fine!  They had also hit in week 16- the first time was the week of March 13, the second the week of April 1st.  And on week 67, Bobby Goldsboro hit for the second time (the first was wk 21) with Honey.  Those episodes were from the weeks of the 8th and the 24th of April.

And our last two repeaters came just a little while ago, weeks 83-4.  In week 83, the Stories' Brother Louie hit for the second time, the first week 35.  Those weeks were prolly the closest to being the same week- July 29th and August 7th.  The next week, the Lovin' Spoonful had their repeat of Summer In The City, first time week 37.  The Spoonful won for the weeks of August 5th and August 21.

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Debut #2 comes to us from a band with the unusual name of M.A.G.S.  Leader Elliot Douglas named the band after his grandma Maggie- it was supposed to be just Mags, but someone else had the name, thus the abbreviation.  Kinda like Alvvays is actually Always with the slight adjustment.  Anyway, here's the song at #9...






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So now that we're at the one year mark, who tops the M10?  Well, the latest top ten by points includes one song still on the chart!  There are 13 songs that have broken the 50 point mark (10 for #1, 9 for #2, etc.)  so a couple miss this countdown.

10- Nada Surf, Believe You're Mine, the highest song without a week at #1.
9- Telekinesis, Lean On Me (1 wk at #1)
8- Agnes Obel, Familiar (2)
7- Two Versions Of Tomorrow, Eleanor Friedberger (3)
6- Lucius, Madness (1)
5- Flo and Eddie, Keep It Warm (3)
4- You'll Always Be Lonely, Tangerine (4)
3- Beach House, Space Song (2)
2- Beach House Traveller (4)

And at the top-


The Jayhawks and Quiet Corners And Empty Spaces (4)!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

So the top ten collected just under half of the #1 weeks.

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So now that we've gone through the Bobby G list of composers (got any more, buddy?) I thought we'd go a little more current-events and get a quote from former London mayor and all around madman Boris Johnson:

My chances of being PM are about as good as the chances of finding Elvis on Mars, or my being reincarnated as an olive.


With or without pimento?



Okay, so let's get to the UK ten this week.

10- Country legend Faron Young had a #3 country hit- but only #92 on the big board- with Four In The Morning.

9- The Bee Gees were at #32 here with one of my faves, Run To Me.

8- Back in June, Cashbox had Sylvia's Mother by Dr Hook at the top.

7- Rod Stewart was climbing at #72 with You Wear It Well.

6- The Partridge Family was at #26 on the way down with Breaking Up Is Hard To Do.

5- Hot Butter and the instrumental Popcorn was at #42 here.

4- Donny Osmond hit #3 in April with Puppy Love.

3- the first of two US non-charters- Hawkwind and Silver Machine.

2- Novelty studio band Terry Dactyl and the Dinosaurs had their one hit wonder over there with Sea Side Shuffle.

And at #1, the tops of the pops- but with no Panel Love-



...Alice Cooper and School's Out!

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Debut #3, coming in at #8, is by a band so obscure all I really know about them is that they are from the North Island of New Zealand!  Introducing Shakes...






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And with that, we are ready for the REST of this week's M10:


7 and 6 are long timers finally dropping!  The Monkees, who surged to a second peak of #3 last week, slide to 7 with You Bring The Summer.

6 is the M10's #8 all time- Agnes Obel and Familiar, dropping a pair.

5 and 4 each climb a notch- Quilt's Roller to 5, and Acres Wild to 4 with Pastel Waves.

Our big mover this week is Phantogram with Fall In Love.

And, as I told Laurie, that fast a move prolly means that Marlene Gold and the Pom Poms will be a bridesmaid this time, with 1-2-3 still stuck at #2.

So, the #1s...


M10 says its 28th and final #1 for year number one is...


...the Explorer's Club and California's Callin' Ya!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


And the Panel's non-repeat pick?



Gilbert O'Sullivan... Alone Again, Naturally!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Next week, two more new specials to celebrate the 2nd year of the M10- and 1967!



The year this bad boy- the first car I drove- came from!  (No I did NOT drive it new, silly.  I was behind the wheel with Dad working the pedals though, very soon later...)

6 comments:

  1. Hi, Chris!

    Helen Reddy!!! "Slowly I turned... step by step... closer and closer." (That's a dated reference to an old comedy bit. Google it. I heard it a lot when I was a kid and Drew Carey still references it occasionally on The Price Is Right.)

    What happened to your back? I'm sorry you're ailing again, good buddy!

    I started working at an NBC-TV affiliate in 1971 and was working on August 19, 1972, when the pilot of The Midnight Special aired. When you check the lineup of guest artists it is shocking to realize how many of them have died: Denver, Andy Kaufman, Cass Elliot, Harry Chapin, Phil Everly, O'Kelly Isley Jr. and, of course, The Wolfman (along with Helen Reddy's career). I shouldn't poke fun at Helen because I just read that she is in a nursing home, possibly suffering from dementia.

    I saw a David Clayton Thomas show in the mid 80s and had drinks with him afterward. He told me his people would contact my people and we'd do lunch sometime. Never heard from him again!

    1972 was not my favorite year in music. There was too much country, too much easy listening, too much wimpy pop and too many teary-eyed ballads junking up the charts. Luckily, Alice Cooper was already starting to shake things up and Kiss was set to burst onto the scene to infuse music with excitement.

    Dinosaur Jr. (not to be confused with Terry Dactyl and the Dinosaurs or Disco Tex & the Sex-O-Lettes) was just heavy enough to suit me, but I wish they would have gone a little more reckless and wild. The skateboarding English bulldog was the best part.

    M.A.G.S. - Now that's what I'm talkin' about! See what they did there? They produce a wilder, less refined punk sound and me likey!

    Debut #3, "Strange Tides" by Shakes, was just weird enough to please my toddler sensibilities, so I give it a thumbs up.

    However I am p.o.ed at you, Christopher, because none of your debut acts featured a lead singing beauty contestant. This must never ever happen again! Remember: bands with babes, bands with babes (chant it with me) bands with babes... (That bulldog didn't cut it.)

    Bobby Goldsboro's "Honey"!!! "Slowly I turned... step by step... closer and closer."

    1967 was a berry berry good year in music and I can't wait to go there.

    Feel better soon, Chris, and have a Scrappy weekend!

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    1. I admit I hadda look it up...lol!

      Oh, my stupid back just needs half an excuse to go slightly off, and a tug from Scrappy to really mess it up. Still a bit sore today but made it through 8 hours of the usual.

      Helen with dementia is truly not a laughing matter, but with all her songs about the abnormal, maybe karmic.


      We had Gary Puckett on a local radio station today (Happy Together Tour hits Sunday). I thought, when they couldn't get him at the appointed time, "He's gonna be a turd" (Like DCT was to you). But he made it after a commercial break and was very interesting.


      I LOVED the bulldog! I agree with your debut assessments, but I apologize for not having a BC contestant in the bunch. Sometimes you have to settle for dogs, lol!

      "Honey"... yep, THERE it works!

      Glad you liked, don't forget next week is the year 2 M10 kickoff! Although I'm not sure I didn't save the best for first...

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  2. Chris:
    ---The Midnight Special started out as a good show, but seemed to suffer after a time.
    (attention-span-itis?)
    It was a good show to get a nice cross-section of music from that era.
    ---Happy 1st anniversary to the M10, too!
    ---Seems the panel was pretty busy with 26 songs in the mix.
    ---Love that Hollies song (we used to jam to that WAAAAY back in the day).
    ---Dinosaur Jr. got MY vote w/ that "sidewalk-surfin" bulldog!!! LOL.
    ---Figured the Beatles would be at the top of the panel #1s.
    ---The M.A.G.S. song wouldn't be that bad (to me) if it were a little LESS frenetic...heh.
    ---I think that's a pretty good average for the #1s on the M10.
    Like to see someone try to do better.
    ---Okay, Buster...how about all those BRITISH SCIENTISTS? Must be some good quotes there?
    ---LOL..."with or without pimento"...PRICELESS!
    ---Alright then - NEVER heard of Terry Dactyl (and the dinosaurs)...!
    ---Probably my favorite Cooper song (never was a fan...sorry)
    ---The NZ band (Shakes)...not bad, and I don't know why?
    ---Those are BOTH good picks for the #1 slot at the end of year-one of the M10...well done.

    And you drove that land-yacht? COOL!
    (the first year they put the tail lights in the BUMPERS (and still HAD real bumpers).
    Nice ride.

    And another nice ride in the CWM-TM.
    (must be the variable suspension)

    Keep those hits comin' up there, brother.

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    1. MS sure beat the crap out of the successor Friday Night Videos...

      Scientists? They Know NOTHING of music! Now Boris, him and Prince Phillip know music!


      Shakes is old-school '60s psychedelic with modern instruments, that's why!

      That "land yacht" cold get the needle (if not the car) to 60 in about 2 secs with a nice small block 327!

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  3. For some reason I've always considered 1972 to be one of my favorite years. I don't quite remember why that is, but maybe that's one reason it's a favorite. Perhaps the airing of The Midnight Special is one reason. I rarely missed that show and in those days I hardly watched TV at all. So many great performances by the artists of that era.

    I'm feeling kind of weird today and the debut videos didn't help much. I had to turn off the first two as my stomach started churning though I know it had nothing to do with the music. The last one by the Shakes was a bit more tolerable for me. Maybe I'd think differently tomorrow, but ultimately The Shakes would probably remain my favorite.

    Arlee Bird
    Tossing It Out

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    Replies
    1. Good thing you weren't watching Phantogram on last week's post...

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