Time Machine week 68

It's May 17th, 1971.  With much of the world recovering from celebrating Chris Martin's birthday the day before, much is quiet.  Perhaps in belated honor of the occasion, Paul McCartney released his long-awaited solo lp, Ram.  Washington State either passed a law or added to it, I couldn't really determine which, that added (or included) gender as a basis upon which an employer could not discriminate- in either event, they were the first state to extend such protection to women.  And the responsibility for protecting people from unnecessary radiation exposure from household electronics passed from the purview of the Public Health Service to the FDA.   Not sure how the Food and Drug Administration latches on to household radiation, but I assure you the birthday cake WAS NOT radioactive.

Welcome to a very  somewhat kinda special Time Machine, in which we'll meet and greet the spring '13 class of the Martin Hall Of Fame!  We'll also test out a brand-new feature- and since that packs a lot of unusual stuff into the show, I decided to have Laurie pick one of the usual features to actually do this week.  She picked Where Are They Now, and hit one of my favorite singers in the bargain!

So let's start off with a couple of categories worth of MHOF inductees.  Two new acts in the category of golden oldies:

With twenty-one top 40 hits and the mammoth #1 Mac The Knife, Bobby Darin!

And with 5 top 40's, one of the best doo-wop bands of all, The Duprees!

Moving off to the Chris' Choice category:

With 8 top 40s and a #1 to his credit, Harry Nilsson!

And a newer, modern-rock act with 8 top 40's and a #1 on that chart, Better Than Ezra!

ah oh, it was good, livin' with you....

Our hot 100 this week had 16 debuts, of which I shall cast the spotlight on five.  Coming in at 98, the Five Man Electrical Band comes down from the great white north to give us Signs.  Just one spot higher, the Fortunes with Here Comes That Rainy Day Feeling; Hamilton, Joe Frank, and Reynolds come in at 85 with Don't Pull Your Love; just one spot above that, Carole King with It's Too Late.  And after a bunch of newbies who's names made me think I was losing my memory, we have at 56 the Osmonds with Double Lovin'.

We kick off our birthday songs with a pair of not so big but still great hits that turn 30- Linda Ronstadt's Easy For You To Say, and Gary Portnoy with the Cheers theme, Where Everybody Knows Your Name.  Turning 35, Walter Egan's one-hit wonder Magnet And Steel, Steve Martin and the Toot-Uncommons with (can you guess?) King Tut, Quincy Jones' Stuff Like That (sung by Ashford and Simpson and Chaka Khan), and for those of us that enjoy disrespecting other peoples' faith, Billy Joel's Only The Good Die Young.  (Can't wait to see how that "crying with the sinners" works out for you, Bill.)

Turning 40, Three Dog Night's Shambala, Pink Floyd's Money, Paul Simon's Kodachrome, ELO's Roll Over Beethoven, and something that caught my eye- a tune called Love Music by Sergio Mendes and Brasil '77.  It seems Sergio has changed the band's name a few times, originally having been Brasil '65, and '99 and 2000 later on.  Why in 1973 he decided to make it Brasil '77, though, I don't quite know.

But go back to 1968, wherein lie the songs that turn 45, and you'll see he was at Brasil '66 with The Look Of Love.  Also turning 45 are Aretha Franklin's Think and the Animals with Sky Pilot. And turning 50 this week, the incomparable Bobby Vinton with Blue On Blue.  Blow out the candles...

Our next category is Not Quite Rock'N'Roll.  And there we have:

With 10 #1s on the country charts, the late  great George Jones!

And with 15 top 40s and 3 #1s, Percy Faith and Orchestra!





Last week I used the phrase "45s on 45" and said, hmm, sounds like a good title for a feature!  So this week I kick off the first 45 on 45, where we'll look 45 years ago to 1968 (when I was a young and innocent 1st grader) and see what's at #45.  This week, we get a song that has been featured in a long forgotten six degrees- Richard Harris singing MacArthur Park.  Harris was a wild 'n crazy film star, who'd had big roles in movies such as Mutiny On The Bounty and Camelot, and decided to do a few records.  He expressed this to songwriter Jimmy Webb, whom he met at a fundraiser.  Webb thought him kidding, but a few weeks later Richard popped around looking for songs.  He picked MacArthur Park- an autobiographical song about the end of the relationship between Webb and Linda Ronstadt's sister -which had been turned down by the Association.  Harris rode it all the way to #2- but his other three releases never got past #41.

However, I'm going to have to find a better PLACE for it, because this is where the WATN feature comes in!  (What about the big dropper/big climber?  Be patient...)  This week begins the feature's shift to the #51 slot, where we find the first single by Boz Scaggs, We Were Always Sweethearts.  Despite the talent of the man, popularity has always been hit and miss.  The biggest hit being the 1975 lp Silk Degrees.  After 1980's Middle Man, he went into a hiatus of about 8 years before his next lp, Other Roads.  That album had his last top 40 hit, Heart Of Mine (peaked at 35), and came soon on the heels of the OD death of his son Oscar.  It would be another 6 years before 1994's Some Change, which began a very productive time- he would put out ten lps between then and now; the latest, Memphis (which was released in March and peaked at 17), after a 5-year drought.  In between growing grapes and making wine with wife Dominique, he's been on tour with The Dukes Of September Rhythm Revue, which is himself, Steely Dan's Donald Fagen, and former Steely Dan mate and Doobie bro Michael McDonald.

All right, you wanna know about the big movers?  Right after I give you the new inductees to the girl's wing of the MHOF!

With 5 top 40s and a #1, Yvonne Elliman!!!

With 20 top 40s and 4 top dogs, the late Donna Summer!

And, with 11 top 40s and a #1, Leslie Gore!



First, I'd like to thank the...uhh...WHOSE hall of fame?

The big mover up actually was kept out of the top 40 by the big dropper!  Up 21 spots (beating out a pair of 20's) to #41 was Rainy Days And Mondays by the Carpenters, kept out of the top 40 by Paul McCartney's Another Day falling 29 spots from 11 to 40.  Another first here on TM!!

Newbies in the top 40 this week include Paul Humphrey and the Cool-Aid Chemists with their hit Cool-Aid, climbing 34 to #39.  Not familiar with Mr. Humphrey?  Among his accomplishments as a jazz drummer and sideman, he was the drummer for Lawrence Welk from 1976-82.  New MHOFer Yvonne Elliman cracks the forty hard, with her version of I Don't Know How To Love Him blasting up 14 spots to #38 (while Helen Reddy's climbs from 37 to 31). After ten weeks- a space so long, I forgot it was in the countdown- The Cornelius Brothers and Sister Rose finally make the 40, climbing 12 with Treat Her Like A Lady.  The Partridge Family blast up 19 with I'll Meet You Halfway.  Diana Ross' cover of Reach Out I'll Be There moves up 14 to land at 34, and her former bandmates, the Supremes, come in at 33, up 17, with Nathan Jones.  Finally, with one of the songs that moved up 20, the Chi-Lites with (For God's Sake) Give More Power To The People at 29.

 

 

 

The Men's category brings us three more new members:

 

With 47 top 40's and 10 (count 'em) #1s, Stevie Wonder!

 

With 14 top 40s and 4 #1s, George Harrison!

 

And with 21 top 40s and 2 #1s, Glen Campbell!

 

 

I think I need a small vacation... but it don't look like rain...

 

Before we move on, here's an almost but not quite shoutout to our favorite victim of cannibalism, Timothy by the Buoys.  They held at 13 these past two weeks.  So, Bobby G., do you think that the rest of the band will turn into Wendigoes?

 

Dropping from the top ten this week, I Am... I Said (7 to 23) and Power To The People (10 to 15).


And now, the Big Name category!

With 15 top 40s and 3 #1s, Simon and Garfunkel!

With 29 top 40s and 2 top dogs, The Miracles!

And finally, with 17 top 40s and a #1, The Spinners!!

And there you have them, the class of 2013a!

So let me get this straight... there's no cash prize?
 

And now, a somewhat familiar top ten...

New MHOFer Stevie Wonder drops back to ten with We Can Work It Out.

Up five notches to #9 are the oh-so-politically correct Rolling Stones with Brown Sugar.

The Doors are up to #8, a 4-notch climb for Love Her Madly.

Daddy Dewdrop climbs a spot to #7 with Chick-A-Boom (Don' Yew Jes' Luv It).

See if you can guess the key word from here:

Bread                 HOLDS at 6 with If.

Aretha Franklin HOLDS at 5 with Bridge Over Troubled Water.

The Bells           HOLD at 4 with Stay Awhile.

Ocean ebbs a notch to 3 with Put Your Hand In The Hand.

The Jackson Five move up that notch to #2 with Never Can Say Goodbye.

And at #1 as they say in Estonian (more or less)...

 

 

 ....Kolm Koer Ohtul koos Rõõmu Maailma!!!!!

 

 

(Which is either "Three Dog Night with Joy To The World", or "why is your dog copulating with my sofa?")

 

 

Stay tooned for the sequel, "101 Ottomans..."

 

See you here next week with a slightly more normal Time Machine... I guess... just in case, you should bone up on your Afrikaans!