Step into my time machine week 75... and mind the cargo...

...because I have a few things I'm going to add before we get to the main of things. 

First off I have some sad/exciting news.  We got a letter yesterday from Children International that the boy (I should say young man now) we sponsor is leaving the program.  He is old enough (turning 18 on the 28th of December) and has a job, so time constraints are keeping him from participating in other facets of the program.  So we say goodbye to Oscar Rafael Say Cumez...

(God, he was an 8-year old who weighed as much as my 4-year old daughter when we started sponsoring him!)

..and hello to Denilson Efrain Aguilar Sican!

Denilson is 10, born on December 29th ( the day after Oscar!).  Like Oscar, dear ol' dad is nowhere to be found, but mom at least is there, working as a maid.  Unlike Oscar, they have a cement floor, some electricity, and running water- none of which Oscar had at the beginning.  He has a younger sister, Sucely, and seems to be (relatively)better off than Oscar was at 8.

Next item: another twist on the scam e-mail thing.

Greetings,

I know you would be surprised to read from someone relatively unknown to you.My name is Captain Prieve Sullivan, I am an American soldier serving in the military with the U.S. ARMY USARPAC Medical Team,which was deployed to Iraq at the beginning of the war in Iraq.
I would like to share some highly personal classified information about my personal experience and role which I played in the pursuit of my career serving under the U.S 1st Armored which was at the fore-front of the war in Iraq.
Though, I would like to hold back certain information which i intend sharing with you for security reasons for now until i hear from you.I will be vivid and coherent in my next message in this regards,meanwhile, could you send me an email confirming that you have visited the site and that you have understood my intentions? I will like you to get back to me
I will await your thoughts via my email.
Thanks,
Yours
Capt. Prieve Sullivan USARPAC

Okay, first of all, pick a more common name than Prieve.  Second, why me, and why would I want your classified info?  Do I LOOK like Julian Ass ange to you?  Third, while it's nice of you to promise to be coherent, somehow I think this will be too great a challenge for you.  Thanks, but no thanks.

Now onto the show! This week, well, I don't know how we top all this, but stick around and see what happens.  Besides, we have a new top dog that I'm sure you'll want to meet.

Seven debuts come into the hot 100 this week, and they start with a favorite of mine- Burton Cummings of the Guess Who, Canada's greatest contribution to history (outside of military deeds), with a solo single, Stand Tall.  It comes in at 93.  At 89, the lovely and talented Yvonne Eliman with Love Me; in at 86 is the remnants of the 5th Dimension, Marilyn McCoo and Billy Davis with You Don't Have To Be A Star.  And so high up I almost missed it, at 48, Peter Frampton (who still has the week's #1 lp) with Do You Feel Like We Do.  Happy 35th birthday to all of you!  Other birthdays include Yes' Your Move and Chicago's Questions 67& 68 turning 40; Dandy by Herman's Hermits turning 45; Johnny Cash's I Walk The Line turning 55; and Tommy Edwards' classic It's All In The Game turning 60! Blow out the candles...

After peaking at 65 a couple weeks back, our old friend Popsicle Toes tumbles 21 spots to 90 this week for the biggest drop.  Our big gainer awaits in the top forty.

The nominations for the R&R HOF came out this week, which means (among other things) it's time to send me any nominations for the next class of the Martin Hall Of Fame.  You can find the previous, nay, founding class here, here, and here.  Here's what I think of this year's group of R&RHOF nominees:

Definites: Heart, Red Hot Chili Peppers, the Spinners, War, Donovan.
Um, Maybe:  Donna Summer.
This is a Hall of Fame, isn't it?(i.e. first requirement- fame): Joan Jett, Rufus with Chaka Khan, Guns N Roses, the Cure, the Faces.
Not so fast, my friend: Eric B. and Rakim, Beastie Boys.
Who?: Laura Nyro, Freddy King.

Today we're in the 4s in the look at #1s of other years.  This week in 1994, Boyz II Men were #1 with I'll Make Love To You.  Not surprising, this; in a fearsome example of why I had abandoned pop music by this point, Boyz II Men had the #1 song 29 of the 43 weeks between Sept. 3rd of 1994 and June 24th of 1995, with only two or three other acts interspersed within.  Sorry guys- I know the Beatles, I've listened to the Beatles, and you are no Beatles.  In 1984 it was a slightly more palatable act at the top- Prince with Let's Go Crazy.  The aforementioned Spinners, along with Dionne Warwick, were on top in 1974 with Then Came You.  Roy Orbison was on top in '64 with Oh Pretty Woman.  And the top song this week in 1954 was the Rosemary Clooney version of a song from the musical The Pajama Game, Hey There.  A note for Laurie- this song was written by Richard Adler and Jerry Ross, who also wrote Hernando's Hideaway!  To everyone else, you'll have to google that one, we're over schedule.

At 49 this week is a recent visitor to Ft Wayne, Rick Springfield, with his song Take A Hand.  All the bio you could want is in his current bestseller autobiography, Late, Late At Night.  If that ain't enough, a documentary about the relationship over the years between he and his fans, An Affair Of The Heart: The Journey Of Rick Springfield And His Devoted Fans, had its first screening in Malibu this Monday past.  And if that still ain't enough, he's headlining a cruise with his pal Doug Davidson (Paul from the Young And The Restless) and his first band, Zoot (reuniting after 40 years).

What about this week's countdown, you say? Well, our top 40 debuts this week are 5:  at 40, up 3, are the Beach Boys with It's OK; at 39, leaping 13, are the Bee Gees with Love So Right;  at 36, up 8 is a song I have on a recent CD purchase, the Brothers Johnson (the BJs?  No, I don't think so...) with Get The Funk Outta Ma Face; at 35, up 7, is Firefall with You Are The Woman; and at 31, moving up 29 to take the prize as biggest mover- the Captain And Tenille with Muskrat Love.

One in the top ten, one out- the dropper being I'd Really Love To See You Tonight, from 10 to 17.

Earth, Wind, And Fire enter the top ten in the leadoff spot with the trumpet-driven Getaway.  Holding at 9 is Dr. Hook with A Little Bit More.  Dropping five to #8 is Wild Cherry's former top dog Play That Funky Music. Then comes five straight songs that move up one spot: at 7, Orleans and Still The One; at 6 Chicago and If You Leave Me Now; at 5, Cliff Richard and Devil Woman; at 4, Rick Dees and Disco Duck; and at 3, Walter Murphy and A 5th Of Beethoven.

That brings us to a six degrees feature on our #2 song, KC and the Sunshine Band, who slip a spot to 2 with Shake Your Booty.  The first successful songwriting effort for the dynamic pair of  Harry Casey and Robert Finch was a song called Where Is The Love, which was recorded by Betty Wright (who was best known for Clean Up Woman).  This is not the same as the song of the same name by Roberta Flack and Donny Hathaway; that tune was written by one Ralph McDonald, whose rather large list of songwriting accomplishments included Just The Two Of Us, for which Grover Washington's horn got top billing and Bill Withers' vocals got squat.  Bill, of course, had several hits of his own, including Ain't No Sunshine, which was on the lp Just As I Am.  I bring this up because their were a couple of notable names that played on this lp.  The guitarist was Stephen Stills; and the drummer was Jim Keltner, another one of those "I've been everywhere" guys.  His list of drum credits include songs from Gary Lewis and the Playboys' She's Just My Style to Dylan's Knocking On Heaven's Door, from Gary Wright's Dream Weaver to Steely Dan's Josie, in addition to being the drummer for the legendary Travelling Wilburys under the pseudonym Buster Sidebury.  So there you have it- KC and the Sunshine Band  to the Travelling Wilburys in however many steps that was.

And that just leaves us one more bit of business- the new #1 song this week!  May I present to you....

Boz Skaggs with Lowdown!!!

Whew, we're back!  See ya tomorrow for the sixties countdown, and be sure to float me some MHOF suggestions!