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

SOCK IT TO ME BABY!!!

Friday, October 21, 2016

Time Machine week 95



It's October 21, 1974- a day, a month even, where apparently nothing much happened.  Even mighty wikipedia had but 2 items for the whole month, lol!  But I dig in the corners where most music bloggers won't go, and thus I found out that the events of Kent State had reared their ugly heads again.  Earlier in the year, the DOJ had been forced to reopen the case to see if the National Guardsmen had violated the civil rights of the protestors...


On October 21, 1974 the federal trial of the eight former National Guardsmen began in Cleveland before U.S. District Court Judge Frank J. Battisti. During the trial, the Justice Department presented 33 witnesses and 130 exhibits - mostly photographs of the events that led to the shooting of the unarmed students. The 12-member jury actually visited the Kent State campus where it heard simulated gunshots at the scene. The criminal defense attorneys for the accused guardsmen contended that they fired in self-defense. The criminal defense lawyers also argued there was insufficient evidence to convict their clients and urged the Judge to dismiss the criminal charges.

On November 8, 1974, Judge Battisti agreed with the criminal defense attorneys and acquitted all of the former guardsmen. Battisti ruled that the prosecutors had failed to prove charges that the guardsmen willfully intended to deprive the students killed and wounded of their civil rights. "At best, the evidence...would support a finding that the amount of force .... was excessive and unjustified," Battisti said. The jury was not permitted to reach a verdict because the Judge ruled that the evidence was legally insufficient to sustain a criminal conviction. (from DeThomasis and  Buchanan, Attorneys, crime news blog.)


At least there was no plane crash...

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Welcome to this week's Time Machine- and this week I have come up with a last minute special surprise (and I hope you play along!)  Also, a Yuuuuge rout in the Panel Four, a week off for the 6D just to honk John Lennon off, and a new #1- and an achievement only done twice before- on the M10!  I hereby gavel this trip to order!

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Hi!  Daddy says it's bad luck to not have a picture this far in, so he's letting me introduce this week's Panel.  Whatever a Panel is.  And why do I have to capitalize it?  Anyway, the Panel is this list of radio stations:  WFIL Philadelphia (home of Philly Steak sandwiches- yum!), WKAP Allentown, WHSR, Winchester High School, MA (which stands for something I can't spell), WHYI Ft Lauderdale, KGMQ Honolulu (kinda like a song! K-G-M-Q, Hon- o-lu-lu!), WCFL Chicago, KYA San Francisco  (IDK why Daddy laughs at those call letters every time), WPIX New York, WIXY Cleveland (and congrats to the Indians!  That's INDIANS, Canada!) , WHB Kansas City, CKLG Vancouver BC (I asked Daddy why I had to put BC and he said BeCause!), and WAKY Louisville, although I'm not sure why Louisville is any wackier than the other stations... Okay, back to Daddy!


Thanks, Scrappy, good boy!  So, the facts and figures here:  Different songs on the Panel list, a whopping 31; low charter, well, that's kind of a Hawaii story.  The only one of their 5 songs that was ON the chart this week nationally was their #1, Paul Anka and Odia Coates with Having My Baby, and that at #58.  #s 3, 4, and 5 (Rufus's Tell Me Something Good, Blue Magic's Sideshow, and Paper Lace's The Night Chicago Died) all peaked on Cashbox and Billboard in August, and the next newest, Clapton's I Shot The Sheriff, fell off last week.  The song that got no Panel Love (since I'm skipping past the 6D this week) was John Lennon and whatever combo of "band", "plastic", and "ono" he was using this week, with Whatever Gets You Through The Night, which was 9 nationally but got the bum's rush from the Panel.  But don't worry, he gets a spotlight on the special treat I'm planning, lol...

Anyway, 5 of the Panel's #1 votes didn't make the final four- which is surprising, since #4 only got 11 measly points!  Those, outside of Honolulu's, were:  Barry White and Can't Get Enough Of Your Love Babe (Ft Lauderdale), Lynyrd Skynyrd's Sweet Home Alabama (Chicago), Elton John's The Bitch Is Back (Vancouver), and Billy Swan's roller-skating opus, I Can Help (Louisville).

Which leads us to the P4:

With 11 points and the #1 from that high school in Massachusetts, The Spinners and Dionne Warwick with Then Came You, which was #18 on CB this week.

With 12 points and the #1 from Allentown, the national runner up, Bad Company  and Cant Get Enough Of Your Love (Dang, was there a title shortage?)

At #2, bereft of #1s but still managing 19 points, the national #5, Billy Preston's Nothing From Nothing.

And at the top, with 5 #1s and 34 points?  Stay tuned.  You'll honestly love it.


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On the way home, my wondering mind came up with the worst of inspirations- and I want you to play along!  I decided I was gonna figure out my top ten MOST HATED songs!  I tried to weed out those who just suffered from long term exposure (which saved Van Morrison's Brown Eyed Girl, which is really a pretty good song, and Hey Jude, whose overlong ending still JUST got bumped), and tried not to include songs that just TRIED to be annoying (with one notable exception).  I also have a handful of acts I really hate, and almost any of their songs would qualify for this list, so I just took the worst I could think of.  I will mark those songs with an asterisk so you know whose CD NOT to buy me for Christmas).  What I hope YOU will do is flood the comments with your OWN least favorite song of all time, and if enough of you play along, maybe we'll have some fun with it next week...

Here's hoping I don't get my typical "call to action" response...


So here we go with my "bottom ten"...


10- Andrea, The Sunrays.  I was scolded for my opinion of this song on another music blog once, but I still say this is the "how not to do it" for arranging Beach Boys-esque harmonies.

9- Bread And Butter, the Newbeats.  What made this screeching song even worse was it was on an oldies CD that somebody loaded into the player at my old job, and the speakers only carried the high pitch vocal channel- yep 25, seconds of near silence followed by "WEEEEELLLLL...."

8- Tiptoe Through The Tulips, Tiny Tim.  I know that there are people who defend the "artistry" of this tune.  Just. Don't.  One night at a local sports pub, they played this song like five times in a row and I told Laurie,  "This must be how they evacuate the place."

7- LA Woman, The Doors*.  I find the Doors monotonal, their lyrics often crude and disgusting, and just generally against the wishes of my ears.

6- Come A Little Bit Closer, Jay and the Americans*.  Better known as "Jay and the F'n Americans" around here.  I can handle Cara Mia, but after that, no thanks.

5- The Distance, Cake*.  Another band that thinks monotonal music is worthwhile.  I think it's no talent, but that's just me.

4- I Will Always Love You, Whitney Houston.  I swear she had to be singing this song into a mirror.  Just shut up and let Dolly Parton do it.

3- Basket Case, Green Day*.  I have sharpened my reaction time by turning this off , answering the opening line- "Do you have the time, to listen to me whine"- with "HELL NO."  I agree, though, they are truly American Idiots.

2- Now That I Found You, Michael Bolton*****.  Nails, chalkboard.  That is all.

And at the top?




And trust me, this wasn't awfully close for me.  Sorry bout it, walrus!


Now, here's your chance.  Tell me what song you think blows the most.  I live for your responses!


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But just to mend fences with John, I'll let him open our trip across the pond...


And God help Bruce Springsteen when they decide he's no longer God... They'll turn on him, and I hope he survives it. 


He'll survive, he's the patron saint of Democrat America these days.  Anyway, it's time to




10- David Essex was here with a tune called Gonna Make You A Star, which amazingly made the charts here (peaking at 105).  If you are expecting a classic like Rock On, look elsewhere.  If you want to hear the audition tapes for the guy not selected to be a Bay City Roller, here you go.

9- George McCrae with I Can't Leave You Alone, which wasn't terrible.  It would peak here in November at #50.

8- Andy Kim's Rock Me Gently, which was on the way down at #31 over here this week.

7- Gary Shearston had a hit in the UK with a cover of the old classic, I Get A Kick Out Of You.

6- The UK was right there with Hawaii- Having My Baby was top ten this week.

5- Peter Shelley, who if you remember was the original Alvin Stardust, with a tune under his own name called Gee Baby.

4- The afore-libelled Bay City Rollers with a DNC here called All Of Me Loves All Of You.  These may have been the failed auditions, too...

3- This is a tune that a dude on the first internet radio station I listened to played a lot- Sweet Sensation, who hit #14 in July with Sad Sweet Dreamer.

2- The antediluvian Quiet Riot, Slade charts here with Far Far Away.

And, tops of the pops?




...Jamaica's Ken Boothe with an interesting reggae version of Bread's Everything I Own!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


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And now, the M10!

Since I completely forgot to sneak in the debut video, we'll just do it here.  a duo from Australia now based in London, Star Kendrick and Toma Banjanin call themselves Geowulf, and their single comes in at #10...





Number 9 belongs to Benji Hughes, who slips a pair with Longshot.

Tangerine is stuck at 8 this week with Wild At Heart.

Joy Again manages a two-spot climb with Looking Out For You.

The former #1 for The Explorer's Club, Quietly, slides to #6 this week.  They are the second- ONLY the second act, besides Beach House, to make it to #1 more than once... and the THIRD gets there this week!

Dent May finally loses his grip, sliding to #5 with last week's top dog, Face Down In The Gutter Of Your Love.

Shakes reclaims one of the two spots it lost last week, with Tranquilize at #4.

Agnes Obel moves up 1 spot (which surprised me it wasn't 2) with Golden Green.

And interrupting my "carefully laid plans" for this week's top ten, Dinosaur Jr rockets to #2 with Love Is...

And at the top?  M10 says...



...Lucius becomes the third act to score a second number one, with Pulling Teeth!!!!!!!!!

And on the Panel (as if I didn't give it away...)




... Olivia Newton-John with I Honestly Love You!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Next trip, one step closer to that magic 100/400 with 1967!

15 comments:

  1. So much info; so little time. Seriously, though. I enjoy these blasts from the musical past, a lot. Most of us "old" people do. We remember when the songs first came out. ☺ Speaking of songs to hate, "Having My Baby" is right up there in my top five. Add anything by Olivia Newton John, "Rock the Boat" by Hughes Corporation, "Muskrat Love" by Capt. & Tenille, plus many more.

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    1. I appreciate your answering the call, Debbie! It is good to know that I am not alone in having artists where you just wanna throw the whole catalogue away (though with ONJ, I'd only do it from Physical on, lol)

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  2. Hi, Chris!

    Sorry I'm late to the potty, good buddy. On Friday I needed to rearrange my sock drawer. Yesterday I was once again the honored guest and keynote speaker at the annual Tony Robbins Invitational in Pacific Palisades, California. The title of my speech/sermon: Firewalk Your Way To Financial Freedom.

    I remember 1974 as one of the few good years of the Seventies in terms of popular music, but disco was on the rise and would soon take over and pollute the music landscape for years to come.

    It brings me down to be reminded of the Kent State massacre of 1970. As you know, I was at the main campus of Penn State at the time of the shootings. Verbal news reports were misinterpreted as stating that the incident took place at Penn State instead of Kent State, and frantic parents of PSU students jammed the telephone lines to check on the safety and well being of their sons and daughters.

    I have to agree with Debbie the Doglady that Paul Anka's "Having My Baby" is one of the worst groaners of all time along with anything by the Captain and Tenille.

    Did you read the recent article naming Starship's hit "We Built This City" as one of the worst records ever made? I don't mind the song and can think of a lot worse. I even used it in a promo I produced to coincide with the launch of our newly built music television station patterned after MTV.

    Now on to your Most Hated list. I agree that there needs to be a subcategory called Hate It Because It Was Overexposed. "Brown Eyed Girl" would Shirley be on my Overexposed list, but I don't get tired of hearing "Hey Jude." I would probably place "Bread And Butter" on my Overexposed list rather than Most Hated, but I like many other Newbeats singles a lot more than "B and B" which was their biggest hit. I can't imagine why you have a problem with Jay and the Americans and their hit single "Come a Little Bit Closer." It's a favorite of mine. I had lunch with Jay Black and was stage manager at an oldies show in which he and his next generation of Americans performed. That same show included Senor Wences, the old ventriloquist who appeared many times on The Ed Sullivan Show, and a surprise guest appearance by Elvira: Mistress of the Dark (a look-alike). I never heard of the Cake band on your Hate list. The girl group The Cake is one of my favorites. I absolutely agree with you on Whitney Houston's "Always Love You." It would be near the top of my Hate list, too.

    I STRONGLY DISAGREE with your choice of the John Lennon song "Imagine" to top your Hate List! It is a great song, one of my all time favorites, a song embraced by generations of peace loving people around the world. I also STRONGLY DISAGREE with your constant bashing of John Lennon. He is one of my heroes, one of my favorite artists, favorite people, favorite citizens of the world, an icon, a giant and a legend, and I am still bitterly mourning his death nearly 36 years after the assassination. Clearly you hate John and hate his music because you hate everything he stood for. I loved all those same things! You get your shots in week after week and month after month, Chris - about John, about Democrats, about liberals, about Obama, etc. etc. etc. Today I shot back because I am tired of reading your blog and being insulted and going away angry. Let's leave it at that and say no more and hopefully we can preserve this friendship, okay?

    I truly enjoyed your debut "Saltwater" by Geowulf. It has a dreamy retro psychedelic quality that suits my ears just fine. Star gets 5 stars for voice and beauty and should be entered in your next B.C.

    Debbie the Doglady isn't fond of girly voices and that explains why she doesn't care for artists like Olivia Newton-John. I like girly voices and Olivia is one of my favorite female artists. Libby's in the pipeline on SDMM so stay tuned.

    Thanks Chris, and have a Scrappy week ahead!

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    1. Umm... WHAT in what I said about Lennon today pissed you off. I made no editorial comments about WHY I don't like Imagine, and you are DEAD wrong about me hating all his songs or everything about him! I picked Imagine at the top for personal reasons WHICH I purposely didn't express on the current page.

      Also, you need to understand the key word here is MY blog. I don't always agree with your musical choices, but I have NEVER come there and said, you should take this song down for x,y,or z reason. Because it is YOUR blog. You tend to stay on topic-music- and that's fine. I didn't start this blog as a music blog, I started it as a blog for expression. Thus, I THOUGHT you were only perusing the walk picture posts and the music stuff. IN THAT CONTEXT, I have done nothing that should have upset you. Frankly, I thought I was rather well behaved this week.

      You need, if you wish to be a friend, to accept that we aren't always going to agree, #1, and #2, not everything is directed AT YOU. I have several friends who don't agree with me politically, and the only one who ever came to my blog and reamed me like this was Stephen T McCarthy, who did the same thing to you, and did it to me for the same reason you did- he could not accept a difference of opinion.

      I believe you WAY overreacted over a piffle. And if you believe music and politics should be kept separate, let's look at things here: The aforementioned Boss. Jackson Browne (who I like when he's not political and SCROLL past when he is). Den Henley. Elvis Costello, who threw a hissy fit because Israel refuses to mollycoddle terrorists. Hell, Al-Jazeera just did a piece on how Dylan shouldn't have gotten a Nobel prize because he turned Christian and wrote a song defending Israel. And let's not move onto the "New Madonna method for getting voters for Hillary." Point being, I do a real life blog, and real life will bleed in.

      So now, let the ball be in your court. I know that it is attitudes and not politics that breaks friendships. Thus I consider several liberals who vehemently disagree with me as good, dear friends. A friend takes a person AS THEY ARE. I take them as they are- in my opinion a bit misguided, able to hold their noses and accept things to achieve others, just as I have to on my side. You seem to be the only one who takes all things political personally. So you have to ask yourself: What does friendship mean to me? If you can't aaccept who I am, walk away. You are more than welcome to stay, I care about you and was genuinely worried when you didn't post or even leave a "usual warning" you weren't going to stop in. Because I care about you, even if I don't agree WITH you.

      Sorry I am not mentioning anything about the music here... being told I have to self-censor to maintain a friendship takes the enthusiasm out of it for me.

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    2. What we have here is.....

      failure (long pause) to c'mmun'cate.

      (Cool Hand Luke)

      You are overreacting to what, given your bias, you perceived to be my perceived overreaction. This post of yours was not by any means a friendship deal breaker and I do not take everything personally. I am not trying to put a muzzle on you or to get you to take down your blog. I was merely standing up for John Lennon, a great man that you have trashed repeatedly, not so much today, but in other posts, along with Democrats, liberals, Obama, Clinton and other people and principles that I care about. For many months I have controlled my urge to speak out and today I finally did. I'm sure you agree that I have a right to express my beliefs just as you do yours. In the interest of a fair and balanced discourse I expressed myself today because, year in and year out, the only viewpoint expressed here is yours and those of your conservative friends. I am proud to be your token liberal friend and I hope you will strive to preserve, protect and defend what we have. In my 8+ years of blogging I have made it a policy to refrain from discussing religion and politics for this very reason, Chris. It tends to turn friends against each other. I prefer to remain neutral and make everybody feel welcome and at home. You do things differently and have every right to, but you must also realize that you are turning off a portion of your audience in the process. I try not to look at your Sunday sermons and the political rants you post during the week, but I do see the headlines and first paragraphs in my reader and get the gist.

      I accept you as you are, Chris. I might not like your values and beliefs any more than you like mine, but you have every right to hold them and express them. I trust that you will grant me that same courtesy. I don't wish to make a habit of debating you and that's why I implored you to leave it be and focus on the music. You chose to disregard my request. Very well. The ball is back in your court. Are you going to demonstrate the degree of commitment to my blog that I have faithfully shown toward yours? If so, come on over. I have a new post ready and waiting.

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    3. Number one, NOBODY is a token to me.

      Number two, I don't feel I am overreacting here, for reasons expressed to you in our e-mail conversation. WHICH is how I thought we were going to discuss this, until I got your original comment here.

      Number three, This original comment was obviously sent for publishing, unlike other times you wanted to talk off record. You have seen this blog many times, you can't possibly believe I could NOT respond in the arena you chose to do it. I am more than happy to keep the remainders of this in the e-mail arena. But if you step on my tail, people, expect me to growl in the room you step on it in.

      And number four, I will be by. Wasn't really sure I was welcome, and didn't want this to have drag over there.

      And prolly I should add number five: Judge each post on its merits alone. If you hadn't have added a bunch of things together, you wouldn't have been so miffed. I could be bashed just as much by fans of the Doors, Jay and the F'n Americans (which I don't have a particular reason, just a personal nail on chalkboard thing), or Aretha Franklin and the Heavyweights. I don't really care, because this is my space. If you wanna say shame on me for not liking John or anyone else, just say, "Shame on you", and if you need a reason I will try to give it (as I have privately).

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    4. In the seminar world it is called a "stack attack." Many smaller upsets piled up over a long period of time until the dam finally broke. It is what it is.

      Yes Chris, you are certainly still welcome at Shady Dell Music & Memories. We can agree to disagree if you will simply let go of it now and move on. I already have!

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    5. I would have until that last e-mail. You attack my beliefs and tell me to let it go. But then, you attacked my friends? Game over.

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  3. Chris:
    Love the intro...well done, Scrappy.
    ---WFIL and cheesesteaks - great combo.
    ---The Night Chicago died...(and been dead ever since in many regards).
    Thank God for the CUBS this year...heh.
    ---Billy Preston (Nothing from Nothing)...sounds right for me these days.
    ---Have to roll with you on most all the "most hated"...let's say DESPEISED...sounds more intimidating, yes?
    The Doors...AGREED!
    Tiny Tim - novel act, interesting person - songs get weary quickly. How's that?
    ---Whitney Houston...THAT song was WAY overplayed (imho). Agreed again.
    ---I wouldn't have put IMAGINE at the top of MY list, but to each his/her own. I like the melody, but when you get into the words, it sounds more like pie-in-the-sky dreaming, because human nature will always beat that mindset down, sadly.
    Hey, it's just my opinion here. I'm an EARLY Lennon (McCartney) fan...sue me.
    ---In the UK...aside from Andy Kim, you lost me there.
    ---Geowulf...not a bad name or song.
    ---As for the M10 - you had more sliders this week than WHITE CASTLE...lol.
    Gotta love "Livvy".

    As to the comment section...(whew).
    Gentlemen, there will always be disagreement, but this IS Chris's blog.
    Whatever HE wants to post is up to him, and whatever we say or however WE respond is up to US.
    With that said, music should bring people TOGETHER (except for rap...lol).
    Let's keep a steady beat here, please.
    That's all I'm gonna say on this.

    And you keep those hits comin' up there, brother.

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    1. Thank you, Robert. I'll let you know more later.

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  4. Interesting exchange that somewhat eclipsed the post. Herein lies the danger of communicating with written words with nothing else to help us read them through.

    Though I do like the song "Imagine" as a song, having over the years thought through the sentiments expressed in the song I do think it's kind of unrealistic tripe--but you probably gathered as such from my post today. AS the decades have gone by the music of the Beatles has diminished somewhat in my mind though I still think it's pretty great and is deserving of its place in history.

    As far as songs that are my most hated, I tend to be a fairly forgiving and lenient listener of music. I can appreciate just about anything and the ones I'd probably put on my hate list would be mostly ones I don't know the name of, but primarily in the rap category. I guess if I thought hard enough I could come up with a few fun ones. But then I'd probably find something about them to like.

    As far as Al-Jazeera's piece about Dylan's Nobel prize, maybe they think Cat Stevens should get it for becoming Muslim and doing that dumb "Peace Train" song--it's about peace after all. Maybe I'd put that one on my hated songs list.

    Arlee Bird
    Tossing It Out

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    1. ..."that dumb Peace Train song..." LOL! See I like that song and you STILL made me laugh!

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    2. Good!--Keep laughing. And don't ever play that song around me.

      Arlee Bird
      Tossing It Out

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    3. Is Love Train by the O'Jays okay?

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    4. Now you're talking! "Love Train" is a great song as is everything else I've heard by the O'Jays.

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