Time Machine co-ordinates VICXII55071277

Well, I would have to say that July 12th, 1977, is the most 'nothing happened' day in the HISTORY of Time Machine!  I went through 12 pages of Google and the closest to a noteworthy event is that TOMORROW, Somalia declares war on Ethiopia.  Wikipedia sagely adds to that, " starting the Ethio-Somali War."  Which I'm sure none of us would have got without being told.

But speaking of history, our co-ordinates tell me this is the 550th overall post under the Time Machine aegis.  That means almost a quarter of all my posts are under that banner- 21.79 %!  And that means- well, it means nothing, but it makes for small talk until I figure out how to bring this lead in to a drizzling end...

Hey, doofus, just tell 'em about the chicks, man!

Right you are, EP!  This week we have the Starland Vocal Band as our POTM-es, and that means the lovely Taffy Danoff and Margot Chapman will be here!  Plus, this is the week that we do the top summer hits of the 60s, two new M10 debuts, King Leg makes the all-time top ten, and we take you on a trip to- Tannu Tuva!  Is that a tropical island?  Not exactly...  But you'll see why we go there on the 6D, of all things!  Let's have at it!


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All right, let's bring out the Starland Vocal Band!  We have Bill Danoff, Jon Carroll, and... uh, fellas, where are the girls?

B:  They decided to skip to do the beauty parlor thing...

J:  Yeah, you know how that is...

Are you freaking kidding me?  Last week I get Toni the Tiger and a manikin with a hat, and I look forward to these two beautiful women on my set ALL WEEK, and karma does me like this?

Damn, this is too funny, y'all!

Shut up!  Ahem, my apologies, it's been a rough week...

B:  I get ya.  After a week like this, me 'n' Jon are kinda glad to shake 'em for a little bit...

J:  Yeah, all that Afternoon delight is good 'n' fine, but sometimes you'd RATHER just go fishin'!

Sigh... I guess... well, we better get on with this.  Only 14 contestants from 38 stations.  This week, your're gonna get 2 2-vote songs among the 1-vote wonders, and then the finalists.  Here's your list.

B:  Okay, so I see here we start off with Meri Wilson and her novelty song Telephone Man at #27...

J:  I can't say I ever really liked that one...

B:  From the look on Chris's face, I'm guessing we're all in agreement...

Elvis:  You sure he ain't still just steamed about the girls?

No, fathead, I don't like the song, either.  Would you mind tending the concessions, please?

E:  See, yer still sore...

J:  The next song on the list is the Commodores with Brick House.  This was an ahead-of-release album cut, and the single wouldn't hit big till November.

B: Now this here song is a first for the show, according to this.  Two weeks ago, in 1975, this tune was in the Panel Picks at #1 in Australia.  Last week, in 1976, it was charting in the USA, but not on the Panel.  This week it's back, in 1977, because it's #1 in South Africa- John Paul Young and Yesterday's Hero.

J: Wow, he sure gets around!  Our first song with 2 votes is this week's Australian #1- Dr Hook covering the Rooftop Singers' hit Walk Right In.  It's at #80 on the Cashbox chart.

B: Johnny Rivers gets a vote at #53 with Swayin' To The Music.

J:This next one is not only on the Panel, but it is a CB debut at #82 and is the UK's #1 song this week- Hot Chocolate and So You Win Again.

B: The other 2-vote song is Rita Coolidge with (Your Love Lifted Me) Higher And Higher at #15- uh-oh, I see that look in Chris's eyes again...

Possibly the most overplayed song of my lifetime.  I never liked it, and our local stations made sure every day to remind me how good and sick of it I was...

J:  Now, Chris, one man's trash, another man's treasure!  Kenny Nolan had Love's Grown Deep at #32...

B:  Black Betty by Ram Jam was at #31...

J:  ...and I Just Wanna Be Your Everything by Andy Gibb was at #8.  That's it for the loser's bracket.

So that leaves us with a 4-song final- and it wasn't really close.  Guys?

B:  Yeah, pick from Alan O'Day's Undercover Angel at #2...

J:  ...Shaun Cassidy's Da Doo Ron Run at #1... there's that eyeroll again...

Yep.  Never really cared for it when the Crystals did it, but SC's version was an affront to my ears...

B:  I get the feeling you're just not in a very good mood today!  Anyway, also we have Fleetwood Mac with Dreams, falling this week to #34- that MIGHT just be a clue...

J: ...and Peter Frampton with I'm In You at #6.

Thanks, fellas, give my best to the ladies...

...'Cause HE sure couldn't, hee hee...

Didn't I run you outta here once??  Anyway, so Alan, Shaun, The Mac, and Peter are your choices, see how you do at the end.  Because right now, its time for the first slice of the top summer hits of the 60!




18 (tie), It's Now Or Never, Elvis Presley, 1960

     (tie), I Get Around, Beach Boys, 1964

     (tie), Honky Tonk Women, Rolling Stones, 1969

17- A Hard Day's Night, Beatles, 1964

And finally, half of a 6-way tie for 11th...

11 (tie), Quarter To 3, Gary US Bonds, 1961

     (tie), I'm Sorry, Brenda Lee, 1960

and (tie), Cathy's Clown, Everly Brothers, 1960.


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Our two newbies on the M10 are a bit up in the countdown.  The first comes in at #7- and it's brand new from Russia with love, Alkonost:





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So what is a Tannu Tuva?

Up until 1911, this remote place on the map was a part of Imperial China, but became part of Mongolia when it broke away during the first revolution.  The Tuvan people, though, tried to get their own independence, but Russia claimed a protectorate during WWI from 1914 until their own revolution in 1917.  It basically became independent then, first as the name I remember from my old Colliers Atlas, and then from 1926 on as the Tuvan People's Republic.  As you might guess, the new Soviet Union had a lot of influence at that time, and in 1944, the were finally absorbed as a constituent republic of the USSR.

And we care why?  Because Tuva is the home of something called Tuvan throat singing- a skill I don't quite grasp, where you can sing two separate notes simultaneously!  Not many non-Tuvans had even heard of it, let alone do it.  But in 1984, a dude by the name of Paul Pena was exposed to it- and was so fascinated, not only did he learn how to do it, he taught himself Tuvan so he could go there himself and compete for a prize in their 1995 symposium, winning an award and becoming a fan favorite, earning the nickname  "Cher Shimjer" (which means "earthquake") because he naturally singer lower than most Tuvans.

Still don't get what the deal is?  Well, Paul Pena (who was blind by the age of 20) on his 2nd lp, titled New Train (which was recorded in 1973 but wasn't released until 2000 because his record company was stupid) recorded the original version of the song that is at #3 this week in 1977 without a Panel vote- Steve Miller Band's Jet Airliner.  A lot of different lyrics, same essential story.  Kind of a Joe Cocker without all the gravel.  The throat singing... well, that'll be an acquired taste.


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Let's have the next chunk of the top summer hits of the 60's, starting with the other half of the 11th-place tie...

11 (tie), Sukiyaki, Kyu Sakamoto, 1963.

     (tie), Fingertips, Pt 2, Little Stevie Wonder, 1963

     (tie), Windy, the Association, 1967

And now, a 4-way tie for 7th:

7 (tie), Everybody's Somebody's Fool, Connie Francis, 1960

    (tie), Rag Doll, the Four Seasons, 1964

    (tie),  I Can't Help Myself (Sugar Pie Honey Bunch), the Four Tops, 1965

and (tie), Mrs, Robinson, Simon and Garfunkel, 1968.


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If you thought new entrant into the M10 all-time top ten King Leg channeled Roy Orbison on the big hit Seeing You Tonight, wait until you hear this... at #6 this week...







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Let's swing through the Stat Pack for this week, starting with the song I HAD at #1.  You see, I was keeping a top ten at this point, and in Cashbox's top ten there were not one, not two, but three songs that I had at the top on my list at one point or another- Barry Manilow's Looks Like We Made it at #5, I'm In You at #6, and I Just Wanna Be Your Everything at #8.  I'm going to guess that Barry, who was at my top for a considerable length of time, was probably at his last of 3 or 4 weeks at the top, with Frampton sneaking a week afterwards and before Andy Gibb took over for a month or so.

The #77 in'77 was a dude named Bruce Foster, who wrote a Beatles tribute called Platinum Heroes while sitting in a laundromat.  I gave it a bit of a listen, a little too Shaun Cassidy for my taste.

The big mover was the Zodiac dating service extravaganza known as Float On by the Floaters, up 17 from 90 to 73.

The #101- and it was at its peak- was Johnny Taylor with something called Your Love Is Rated X.

And the major debuts this week included BJ Thomas's nice cover of the Beach Boys' Don't Worry Baby at 100, Heatwave and Boogie Nights at 98, Bob Seger and the boys with Rock 'N'Roll Never Forgets at 83, Fleetwood Mac's Don't Stop at #75, and Leo Sayer with another of my eyerolls for this week, How Much Love at 70.


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All right, here are the last of the top summer hits of the 60s BEFORE the #1...

6- Herb Alpert, This Guy's In Love With You, 1968

4 (tie), (I Can't Get No) Satisfaction, Rolling Stones, 1965

   (tie), Tossin' And Turnin', Bobby Lewis, 1961

3- In The Year 2525, Zager and Evans, 1969

And 2- Roses Are Red, Bobby Vinton, 1962

And one clue- #s 1 and 2 are both from that same year... just like me.

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The rest of the M10:

Piroshka falls from 5 to 10 with Everlastingly Yours.

Last week's 2 debuts each up one spot- Frankie Cosmos and Windows to 9, Silversun Pickups and Simpatico at 8.

Foster The People and Imagination up a pair to #5.

And with the 7 points that come with spending its tenth week on the M10 at #4, King Leg's Seeing You Tonight, not only knocks Moonlight Baby out of the all time top ten, but knocks a bunch of others out of the way, climbing into the #4 all time position.  Anything better than 7th next week will put it into 2nd.

Maybird moves into the third spot with Keep In Line, but they may need dynamite to get any farther!  With its 4th week at #2- with a week at the top thrown in as well- Agnes Obel and Riverside.

And a third week at the top for...

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


And the tops of the 60s summer songs?

...Ray Charles and I Can't Stop Loving You!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

And the Panel?  Well, Da Doo Ron Ron, Fleetwood Mac, and Peter Frampton combined totaled 31.57%... but the winner, with 36.84%....

...Alan O'Day and Undercover Angel!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


So next week is our time change, as we go back to 1955, and bring Alan O'Day and the biggest summer hits of the 70's with us!