Time Machine co-ordinates VICXI5497576

Well, I couldn't find much for July 5th, 1976- other than America recovering from its 200th birthday, Palm Springs recovering from the idiot who threw two tear gas containers into the celebrating crowd, and the 103 hostages recovering from their rescue from Entebbe airport in Uganda after being freed by brave Israeli commandos.  So, fire 'em up!

And get ready for a packed show with the Great 50s Summer countdown, a tightly contested Panel vote, the Captain and Tennille, and two new M10 debuts!  But first, a word from Lawyer Horace Bellbottom:

Ahem, yes, in an effort to prevent any possible litigation caused by the infamous "80s sucked" comment last week, I have instructed our host to at LEAST give a top ten summer songs from the decade.  This will forthwith and ipso facto absolve Time Machine, etc, etc, of any liability.

So I went ahead and did the 80s, and a funny thing happened.  One of the reasons I've left the decades unmixed is that there were cycles in which songs charted in different ways.  And luckily for us, from 1985 on- the period where the most suckiness began- the songs entered and left the top five so fast that NOT ONE song made the Summer Top Ten after 1984!  So here, in the all-American form of a disclaimer, are the top ten songs of the Summers of 1980:

1- Every Breath You Take, the Police

2- Flashdance (What A Feeling)- Irene Cara

3- When Doves Cry- Prince and the Revolution

4- Betty Davis Eyes- Kim Carnes

5- Don't You Want Me- Human League

6- Eye Of The Tiger- Survivor

7(tie)- Electric Avenue- Eddy Grant

7(tie)- It's Still Rock And Roll To Me- Billy Joel

7 (tie)- Ebony And Ivory- Michael Jackson and Paul McCartney

10(tie)- Dancing In The Dark- Bruce Springsteen

10 (tie)- Stars On 45 Medley (Beatles Medley)- Stars On 45

10 (tie)- Ghostbusters- Ray Parker, Jr

And there you go!  Even a handful I liked!  But let's move on from that and start the M10 debuts this week with the song at #10, like the second, from an old friend- this time, from the upcoming Frankie Cosmos lp Close It Quietly:

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And now, the Captain and Tennille!  I... hey!

Uh... Hi, Toni... that outfit's a bit... um, daring...

I was hoping you'd notice!

Yeah, but... where's the Captain?

Right here!

That... is a manikin in a Captain's hat...

But he'll say just as much...

Well, that's true enough.  So are we ready to... uh, you have your own microphone, Toni...

But this is so much more... inspiring...

Yeah, let's go ahead and get to the countdown.  17 songs, 37 stations- but for you math majors, one station had both a daytime AND a nighttime top 20, so I counted both votes (yes, they were differ...)Hey!  Don't do that in the middle of a parentheses!

Sorry... (giggle)

Okay, here's the one-vote wonders, MS Tennille...

All right... at #14 on Cashbox's weekly chart this week in 1976 are the Brothers Johnson with I'll Be Good To You- isn't that one of YOUR favorites?

Yes... as a matter of fact, I was a bit torn for what would have been my #1 back then, between that and the Beach Boys' cover of Rock And Roll Music at #18...

Well, why don't we just say that, since the Brothers got a Panel vote, and Daryl's friends didn't, they get your #1, sweetie?

I suppose... and don't call me sweetie!

Aw, you grumpy... anyway, next is Dorothy Moore's Misty Blue at #5...

A South African vote for the Bellamy Brothers and Let Your Love Flow, which was #1 in May...

Eric Carmen's Never Gonna Fall In Love Again at #11...

Wild Cherry's Play That Funky Music at #70...

A Canadian vote for a group called Sweeney Todd and Roxy Roller...

Yes, for you real-timers, this was Nick Gilder's original band, and would hit #90 in August.

What was the song you said he'd come out with?  HOT child in the City? Sounds fun...

Would you don't?

Aw, grumpy!  (Giggle) Hall and Oates had Sara Smile at #13...

Gary Wright and Love Is Alive at #9...

Lou Rawls and You'll Never Find (Another Love Like Mine) at #37...

And Tina Charles and a #2 disco hit, I Love To Love (But My Baby Just Loves To Dance)...

About which all I can say is it beats Baccara...

Is everyone else in the Final?

Yes, ma'am.  Here's the finalist list...

Thanks, honey!  Choose from:

Andrea True and More More More at #3...

Starland Vocal Band and Afternoon Delight at #1...

Daryl and myself singing Shop Around at #7... I bet I know who YOU'RE voting for...

I bet you do-on't...

Well, here's a gimme- Australia had a certain amount of stations cast votes for ABBA's Fernando, which debuts here at the end of next month...

Queen and You're My Best Friend at #19...

Starbuck's Moonlight Feels Right at #8...

 and the Manhattans and Kiss And Say Goodbye at #4.

Okay, so choose from Andrea, SVB, the Captain and.. uh, her, ABBA (if you didn't get the clue), Queen,  Starbuck, and the Manhattans!  And if you are good, I might cut the choices down to two in a little bit.

Good like me...?

Oh, fer Pete's sake... cut that out!

Aw, grumpy...

Geez, here!  Watch the other M10 debut, the second time around for Silversun Pickups, at #9... and stop calling me grumpy!!





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All right, now that I'm alone at last, let me split the top 20 of the Summers of the 50's into three parts!  Your first part...

19 (tie)- Cherry Pink And Apple Blossom White, Perez Prado and Orchestra, 1955
     (tie)- April In Portugal, Les Baxter and Orchestra, 1953
17 (tie)- Moonglow and Theme From Picnic, Morris Staloff and the Columbia Pictures Orchestra, 1956
     (tie)- Jezebel, Frankie Laine, 1951
14 (tie)- Bye Bye Love, Everly Brothers, 1957
     (tie)- Hernando's Hideaway, Archie Bleyer, 1954
     (tie)- Here In My Heart, Al Martino, 1952


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So amazingly enough, where last week the song that played so strong throughout the summer 1975 won in a runaway, the song that played the most here in Ft Wayne through Summer '76 got NARY A VOTE from the Panel!  That would be Wings and Silly Love Songs.  And I noticed it got the number one song of the year nod from Billboard... and it made me wonder about songs that got #1 song of the year on both BB and Cashbox!  Well, Cashbox had a year-ending song list (which, since they published at the end of the year, both lists were compiled by around late September) from 1956 to 1995- and in that time they matched each other 12 times- or possibly 13.  Possibly?  Yes, because the Cashbox list had a mistake apparently in 1965.  They listed the Supremes with Back In My Arms Again at the top- a song which, according to archivist Randy Price, had no business being there, as comparable chart runs by other songs would have put it around #30.  Price says: " Clearly, the #1 ranking for “Arms” was either a major error or was based on criteria other than the record’s weekly chart positions."  Like, Berry Gordy gave 'em a lollipop...  Anyway, what was in second on the CB list?  The same song as the #1 on BB- Sham the Sham and the Pharaohs and Wooly Booly.  So I think that we can say 13, if not officially.

The other 12?

Domenico Modugno, Nel Blu Dipinto Di Blu (Volare) in 1958
Theme To A Summer Place, Percy Faith, 1960
I Want To Hold Your Hand, Beatles 1964
The Ballad Of The Green Berets, SSGT Barry Sadler, 1966
Hey Jude, Beatles 1968
Sugar Sugar, the Archies, 1969
Joy To The World, 3 Dog Night 1971
Tie A Yellow Ribbon Round The Old Oak Tree, Tony Orlando and Dawn, 1973
Love Will Keep Us Together, the Captain and you-know-who in 1975
Prince, When Doves Cry in 1984
(Everything I Do) I Do It For You, (speaking of sucky songs) Bryan Adams in 1991
and The End Of The Road, Boys II Men, in 1992.


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The second flight of Top Summer songs of the 50s are:

12 (tie)- Auf Weiderseh'n, Sweetheart, Vera Lynn, 1952
     (tie)- How High The Moon, Les Paul and Mary Ford, 1951
11- The Wayward Wind, Gogi Grant, 1956
10- Love Letters (In The Sand), Pat Boone, 1957
8 (tie)- Unchained Melody, Les Baxter and Orchestra, 1955
   (tie)- I'm Walking Behind You, Eddie Fisher, 1953
7- Song From Moulin Rouge, Percy Faith, 1953


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Have you been good?  Nice.  So I'll let you in on this- Shop Around, Fernando, You're My Best Friend, Moonlight Feels Right, and Kiss And Say Goodbye are NOT in the final two!  So...


NOT IN THE FINAL??? How COULD you???

EEEK!!  I didn't do it, the Panel did!  Anyway, so your choices are down to two- Andrea True or SVB!

Oh, I don't even care anymore.  How can you be so mean to me, after I did this...

Geez, button that back up!!!  I don't pick the winners!  Elvis, could you and Nardole please remove her...

"C'mon, darlin', I got sumpin for ya..."

Sigh... so how about we hit the Stat Pack?

The big mover was also Wings with Let 'Em In going up 22 from 78 to 53.

Harry Chapin's second release of the song Better Place To Be, his personal favorite, recorded live, hit the #76 in '76.  The studio version early in his career bubbled under at #118.

One night David Bowie and Iggy Pop... ingested something they shouldn't have, and Iggy swore the TV ate his girlfriend.  This somehow gave Bowie the idea for a song, and the result, TVC 15, was at #101 this week.

The UK had a pretty good R&B act called The Real Thing at the top with You To Me Are Everything.

And this week's major debuts included Elton and Kiki's Don't Go Breaking My Heart at 47, the Bee Gees and You Should Be Dancing (maybe they should speak to Tina Charles) at # 65, Fleetwood Mac's Say You Love Me at #93, and right behind it Boz Scaggs and Lowdown.


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Finishing off the 50s- except for #1:

5 (tie)- Kiss Of Fire, Georgia Gibbs, 1952
   (tie)- Bewitched, Bill Snyder, 1950
3 (tie)- Battle Of New Orleans, Johnny Horton, 1959
   (tie)- Rock Around The Clock, Bill Haley and his Comets, 1955
2- Little Things Mean A Lot, Kitty Kalen, 1954....

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The remaining M10 is all that stands between us and three #1s...

Moon Taxi stays afloat in week #8 with Now's The Time slipping 2 to #8...

Foster The People climb 3 to #7 with Imagination...

Geowulf sees red after falling a notch to #6 with I See Red...

Piroshka climbs two to #5 with Everlastingly Yours...

And a real familiar top four, and holding:

Maybird's Keep In Line at 4;

King Leg's Seeing You Tonight- one point away from the all-time top ten- at #3 in its 9th week;

Agnes Obel and Riverside at #2...


And still at #1-

ELO and Mama!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


And that leaves us with two #1s.  The biggest summer hit of the 50s was...

...Nat King Cole and Too Young!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

And the Panel winner, by a 23.7 % to 18.4 % margin...

Starland Vocal band and Afternoon Delight!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

So be here when Taffy Danoff and the gang join me for 1977, and the biggest hits of Summertime 60s!

What does Taffy Danoff have that I DON'T, Mister?

Well, she doesn't have drool on her blouse...