Time Machine week 91

 You know, these days it's pretty common to be able to look at a certain event or couple of events and say, "That's really where we've gone around the bend.  Especially if you focus on Washington.  But on this day, October 25th, 1971, we have a pair of bookend events which did the same thing back then.  That first event was the UN, led by the communist states therein and their lickspittle African remoras, throwing Taiwan out of the UN (which, as Taiwan pointed out, was against their charter) and shoehorning Red China into their place.  At this point, no matter what you may have thought of  Chiang Kai-Shek, you may have seen the world taking that slow turn into turning fantasy into reality.  But if it wasn't enough for you to admit we were slowly turning from reality to Bizarro World, guess what happened the same day?

That's right.  Walt Disney World in Orlando was dedicated.

I did NOT say, "Chiang Kai-SHREK"!!!

Welcome to another example of that trend, Time Machine for this week!  This episode, we have: 5 states who all have relatively good examples of native stars for a change; A band that was named something naughty without intending to be; a good example of a song that everyone's done; no six degrees, no 45 at 45, and why; and the finish of AUTUMN MADNESS!  So let's gather round and sing- T-I-M... E-M-A... C-H-I-N-E!!!!

So let's open up the floor to #1s around the globe, and deal with Mamy Blue one more time.  If the #1s globally don't seem to get updated much any more, here's why:  the version by Charisma will be #1 in South Africa the next 12 weeks; three more weeks in France for the Pop Tops; seven more weeks in Switzerland; Germany is one week away from starting its 10 weeks at the top.  In Australia, I need to mention a boo-boo I made- ever since this feature started, I have mentioned that the Band Daddy Cool had the song Eagle Rock at #1... but somewhere in all these weeks I wasn't looking carefully enough because it switched to the song Daddy Cool by the group Drummond!  Well, I got clued in last night when I found another source that not only explained that, but said that both were supplanted this week with Olivia Newton-John 's Banks Of The Ohio.  So I looked at the Go-Set chart (the Australian survey I had been using) and it said, yes, Olivia hits number one- but not till their chart of November 13th, by which Dayde's Mamy Blue had risen to #2! ay-yi-yi!  Everyone else holds steady with the song they had at the top last week, but I also have found a source for the New Zealand charts- and there, a local group called  The Rumour is at the top with L'amour Est L'Enfante De La Liberte (Love Is The Child Of Freedom).  The Rumour was led by twin brothers Shade and Gerald Smith.

Around the nation, Shaft remains at the top on WKNR in Detroit, but CLKW turns to The Chi-Lites' Have You Seen Her.  Everyone else is neatly divided;  LA, Pittsburgh, and Chicago's WLS have Yo-Yo at the top, and WCFL and both Minneapolis stations have Gypsies Tramps and Thieves at the top.

Wrapping up this segment, I note that the AC chart is topped by the Fifth Dimension's take on Never My Love, the R&B by the Persuaders' Thin Line Between Love And Hate, and country still by Lynn Anderson's How Can I Unlove You.

Moving on to the hot 100 debuts this weekI have to start by mentioning that Olivia's Banks Of The Ohio debuts here at#94.  Also coming in this week, Stevie Winwood redoes his 1968 hit with the Spencer Davis Group, Gimme Some Lovin', with his new band Traffic, and it hits at 93; The Chi-Lites come in at 87 with Have You Seen Her; Melanie comes in with Brand New Key at 76; and at 68, a song I knew by the Vogues is redone by Tom Jones.  Till hit for the Vogues at #27 in '68, but they were far from the first or the only in doing this tune.  Percy Faith (#63) and Roger Williams (#22) both charted in 1957; Tony Bennett took it to 35 on the UK charts in 1961; The Angels (famous for My Boyfriend's Back) took it to #14 in '61 as well; and Dorothy Squires, most famous for being the wife of Roger Moore from 1953-69, hit #25 on the UK charts in 1970.

Rog and Dot in1959- before she threw a brick through a window and tried to pull him through it after learning of an affair.

And that takes us to our birthday songs of the week.  First stop is thirty years ago, and we look first at my "big four" (for those who haven't been playing along, 4 songs that were 1-2-3-4 at one point on my personal chart and 1-2-3-5 on Billboard at the same time- we've been waiting to see how they fared on Cashbox.)  Total Eclipse of the Heart was #1, and Making Love Out Of Nothing At All was at #2... True, though, was hung up at 4, and One Thing Leads To Another was at 9.  Next week, the Fixx would move up to #7, but 1-2-4-7 was as close as they'd come to matching me or BB.  But as for the songs that first reached the chart this week, we had just one noteworthy- Big Country's In A Big Country.  Turning 35, we have Chicago's Alive Again, Alice Cooper's How You Gonna See Me Now, and the Village People's Y-M-C-A. 

Turning 40 this week are Elton John's Goodbye Yellow Brick Road; Loggins and Messina's My Music; Helen Reddy's Leave Me Alone (Ruby Red Dress); one of my all timer's Steely Dan's My Old School; Olivia yet again with Let Me Be There; and Brownsville Station's Smoking In The Boy's Room.  Turning 45, we have Bobby Vinton's I Love How You Love Me and BJ Thomas' Hooked On A Feeling; and turning fifty, Gene Pitney's 24 Hours From Tulsa.  Blow Out The Candles...


At this point I might do the 45 at 45... but this feature, like the six degrees I would do later, are victims of my rules this week.  That rule being, let's not feature the same thing over and over.  You see, last week's 45 at 45 would have been an Otis Redding tune, and this week would have been Aretha Franklin.  On six D, the rule is it has to be a song on the way down in the top ten.  The only song dropping that actually stayed on the top ten this week was Superstar, which I featured in a famous two-week long battle back here.  For those disinclined to go back, I told the story I found in several places about the song's origin, which then was disputed in comments by Steve Fischler of Magnolia Gold records, defender of all things Delaney Bramlett.  He apparently took umbrage that most sources credited a varying mix of involvement from Bonnie Bramlett, Rita Coolidge, and Leon Russell in writing the song, while Delaney jumped in to register it at EMI and gave himself credit.  In the course of the discussion, I answered a comment on the next week's TM, at which point he went back to the first week to answer it.  When he couldn't find the second post comments on the first post (DUH) he accused me of "deleting a lot of stuff".  I told him to get a grip and look in the right spot, at which point he disappeared and never returned.  So, no, we are not revisiting THAT whole scene.

Oh, nearly forgot- the big mover will be in the top 40, the big dropper is So Far Away, falling to 57, a 35-place tumble.

And speaking of tumbling, how about the former top 40 by the Nightliters, K-Jee?  Since it peaked at #39, it dropped to 54, a 15-spot drop.  But then, it went UP 3 to 51, up 3 again to 48, back down 6 to 54 (again), UP 1 to 53, and this week up again 4 spots to #49!  I wonder if it will ever make up its mind...


And now- Autumn Madness semis!  I finally remembered Laurie's votes, and its a good thing, because the other two voters did a complete split!

Summer Breeze vs A Summer Place (2-1 Summer Breeze):  This one is too hard to pick, so I'll go with the voters here.  Seals and Crofts move on.  (See, I am counting your votes sometimes...)

Wishing You Were Here vs We've Only Just Begun (2-1 for the Carpenters):  I'd just like to note that these two AND Summer Breeze were in the top 12 on the Great Seventies Countdown!  But under the concept of the desert Island, I have to go with Chicago here. 


In just a little bit... the championship!

We have 8 songs hitting the top forty this week!  At number 40, up 5, is a song by a band we did a feature on not long ago- 8th Day with You've Got To Crawl (Before You Walk).  At #39 comes the unusual story of the band Fanny.  Fanny was one of the first charting all-girl bands- in fact, they were the first to release an lp on a major label (Warner Bros).    But when the came up with a name, they were looking for a woman's name, something simple that would be like a "spirit" over them, encouraging them.  They came up with Fanny... but WB, like most of us Americans, made the connotation with a woman's butt.  WB used that as a marketing tool, much to the chagrin of twin sisters June and Jean Millington and their bandmates.  It was even worse in the UK- apparently they considered "fanny" a slang term for vagina, and the band became known as "outrageous feminists" which wasn't really the case.  Their tune, Charity Ball, comes in this week at 39, up nine.  A later footnote is that their last incarnation included Suzi Quatro's sister Patti.

At 38, up 9, are the Five Man Electrical Band with Absolutely Right.  The Grass Roots climb 14 to #37 with Two Divided By Love; Chicago is up 15 with Questions 67 & 68; Santana jumps 27 to #32 with Everybody's Everything; John Lennon leaps 37 to #29 with Imagine... But the big jumper this week, up a whopping 43 to land at 24, Isaac Hayes' Theme From Shaft.

And now, let us turn to the map...

This week on top charting acts of the 50 states, we have:

Oklahoma:  BJ Thomas, who rarely makes an appearance on TM without being mentioned twice, had 26 hot 100s and 5 top tens.

Oregon:  The Kingsmen, who with Louie Louie had 8 hot 100s and 2 top tens.

Pennsylvania:  Al Penwasser  Bobby Vinton, who also gets a second mention, had 44 hot 100s and 9 top tens.

Rhode Island:  The Cowsills were Rhode Islanders when they hit the big time; they had 8 hot 100s and 3 top tens.

South Carolina:  James Brown, with a whopping 96 hot 100s and 9 top tens.

Not THAT James Brown!  C'mon, Man!

Three songs enter the top ten, three drop out.  Falling are:  The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down (6 to 11), Go Away Little Girl (3 to 12), and Ain't No Sunshine (8 to 13).


ANNNND Now... the Autumn Madness finale!  64 songs started to be Chris' Desert Island choice, two remain-

Wishing You Were Here vs Summer Breeze

Only one of the voters had Wishing... the other two had Summer Breeze, but not to win.  For me, the ultimate song to be on the water with was always Wishing You Were Here... and it works when you're on the beach watching, too.  Chicago takes the AM crown!  Thanks to all y'all who helped out here!


The Persuaders move 2 spots into the #10 spot with Thin Line Between Love And Hate.

Stevie Wonder holds at 9 for a second week with If You Really Love Me.

The Free Movement move freely into the top ten, rising 3 to #8 with I've Found Someone Of My Own.

The Stampeders get stuck at #7 for a second week with Sweet City Woman.

Al Green moves up 4 to #6 with Tired Of Being Alone.

Cher leaps from 14 to #5 with Gypsies Tramps And Thieves.  Must have been the botox.

Lee Michaels moves up a spot to #4 with Do You Know What I Mean.

Superstar by the Carpenters (not by "Superstar" as I stupidly typoed last week) slides a notch to #3.

The Osmonds move into the runner up spot this week with Yo-Yo.

Which means that, for a third week at the top...

...Rod Stewart with Maggie May!!!!!

Next week, I MAY do my Martin Hall of Fame... haven't decided yet.  Come back next week to find out!