Time Machine week 101

Today is January 3rd, 1972.  At 1:30 AM, President Nixon called Miami Dolphins head coach Don Shula- whose team had just blanked the defending Super Bowl champ Baltimore Colts 21-0 to go to their own first Super Bowl- and gave him a play featuring Paul Warfield to run in next week's Super Bowl against Dallas.  (The play was used;  it was broken up.)  Later on, Nixon's nominee to Hugo Black's vacated Supreme Court seat, Lewis F. Powell, was sworn in.  The article I found made a point to mention, "and began drawing his $60,000 salary as a government employee".  The current associate justices, at least as of 2009, receive $208,100; which amounts to a $4002 raise every year.  Now I haven't been working 37 years yet;  but if I got a $4002 raise every year, I'd be making $119,024 right now.  Just saying.

Damn it, Henry, I thought that would work...

Welcome to a singular and not very special Time Machine as we welcome the New Year and ramp up for the stay-tuned-for-time-and-date-in-your-area Beauty Contest III.  This week: what you didn't know about Apollo 100; the Singing Dogs; a bad week for top 40 debuts, birthday songs, and a brand-new mini-feature; and a six degrees that starts with a Three Dog Night and ends with Radar getting slaked.  What?  You'll have to read on to find out!

We lead off with the one thing that will be full-size this week- the tops of the other charts!  Let's start in France, where a song called L'avventura by a husband wife duo known as Stone and Eric Charden.  Eric Charden was the son of a French father and Tibetan mother, born in Vietnam just for a bit of spice.  His wife, who took the stage name Stone, was born Annie Gautrat, and met her husband while competing in, of all things, a "Miss Beatnik" contest.  The duo became huge in France after L'avventura, hitting #1 three more times and the French top ten a total of 9 times. 

And Annie "Stone" Gautrat is the first sign up for the 2015 beauty contest!

Australia and New Zealand both have Imagine at #1 this week; Germany and South Africa both still have a week of Mamy Blue to go; the Netherlands still have How Do You Do at the top; Switzerland is still topped by Soley Soley; Ireland has yet another of their showbands at the top- this time it's Larry Cunningham and the Country Blue Boys with Slaney Valley.  UK still shows Benny Hill at the top, and Canada with Family Affair.

Turning to the local US charts, both Minneapolis stations, along with WLS in Chicago and CLKW and WKNR in Detroit have American Pie at the top; KQV Pittsburgh still has Once You Understand at the top; and KHJ from Los Angeles has Brand New Key on top.  WCFL went with a year end 1971 chart this week, and KDWB Minneapolis becomes MIA.  The three subcharts remain the same, with AC topped by An Old Fashioned Love Song, R&B with Family Affair, and Country with Kiss An Angel Good Morning.

This week's Cashbox chart has eight debuts, of which I'll feature 4.  At 100 is the Bach take-off Joy by the band Apollo 100.  Put together by Tom Parker, who also arranged Mac And Katie Kissoon on their version of Chirpy Chirpy Cheep Cheep, among the players were drummer Clem Cattini, who was also the drummer on the Tornados 1961 #1 Telstar, as well as guitarist Vic Flick, who was lead guitarist on the world famous James Bond Theme, first introduced in the 1962 film Dr. No.  He also played on many a well known hit, including most of Tom Jones' big hits, as well as Los Bravos' Black Is Back.

At eighty-three, Joe Cocker hits with Feeling Alright.  As this is one of his few songs I can abide, I'll refrain from noting his similarity to the next act, the Singing Dogs.  They hit at 72 with their take on Jingle Bells.  Conceived and mixed by one Don Charles, this was actually part of a b-side they had in 1955 with their a-side hit Oh, Susanna, which hit #22.  The song was cut from a medley and re-issued (and wiki messes up and has that re-issue at 1973).  The "singers" were Pearl, Dolly, King, and Caesar; they were joined in '56 by Pussy, and recorded another tune, Hot Dog Rock and Roll.

Top: Pussy, Pearl, Dolly.  Bottom: King, Caesar.

Finally, the highest of the notable debuts belongs to Rod Stewart and the Faces with Stay With Me.  That brings us to the birthday songs this week, and I have the sad duty to announce that we have hit a new low there- only THREE birthday songs.  The 30 and 35 weeks, Cashbox took the week off;  at 40, Redbone hits with Come And Get Your Love; turning 45, Johnny Cash and Daddy Sang Bass; and turning 55, Annette Funicello and the Afterbeats (who have been lost to history) with Tall Paul, the first top ten female rock and roll song.  Blow out the candles (but not too hard)...


The big mover is (barely) in the top 40; the big dropper, falling 30 from its peak at 56, is BB King's Ain't Nobody Home, from the lp BB King In London.

Our 45 at 45 belongs to the Harper Valley Mom herself, Jeannie C. Riley, and is called The Girl Most Likely.  This would be her peak on CB, beating her Billboard peak by ten.  It was a #1 country song, though, knocking birthday tune Daddy Sang Bass out of the top spot.  It was co-written by Margaret Lewis, who hit the hot 100 on her own with an answer to Bobby Goldsboro's Honey, called Honey (I Miss You Too), in 1968.

We rack up just 2 top 40 debuts this week.  The first, claiming the big mover slot with a 60-to-40 jump, Three Dog Night with a song that will feature in the upcoming six degrees, Never Been To Spain.  The other, just a little late, is John Lennon's Happy XMas (War Is Over), jumping from 42 to 36.  And if that's not disappointing enough, I decided that starting this week, I was now going to announce any top 40 song that begins it's descent that week- kind of an "almost but not quite" with out the subjective choosing of who gets mentioned.  And outside of the top ten, only one song begins its descent this week- Neil Diamond's Stones, falling from 13 to 18.  It stopped at 14 on Billboard.

I should mention at this point the "Id Like To Teach The World To Sing" race.  While the Hillside singers managed to creep up 3 to #26, it was the New Seekers that took the initiative, climbing 11 to land at #21 and in the lead.

Two songs enter the top ten, two fall out.  The droppers are Respect Yourself (10 to 13) and Have You Seen Her (9 to 14).


And right off the bat in the top ten, our six degrees victim.

An Old Fashioned Love Song (dropping from 4 to 10), I believe I mentioned in the past, was written by Paul Williams with The Carpenters in mind- but Richard rejected it.  So it was given to Three Dog Night, who put it on the lp Harmony.  It was the first single; Never Been To Spain was the second.  Like Joy To The World, it was written by Hoyt Axton.  This time, I branch off to another of his compositions, Greenback Dollar, which hit #21 in 1962 by the Kingston Trio.  This was after original leader David Guard resigned and was replaced by John Stewart.  John went solo in '66, but didn't achieve pop stardom until the late 70s with Bombs Away Dream Babies, which had his big hit Gold with Stevie Nicks and Lindsay Buckingham of Fleetwood Mac helping out.  Another voice on that song was Mary Kay Place, who had many credits (starring on Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman, co-writing on M*A*S*H), but my favorite credit of hers is when she played on M*A*S*H Lt. Louise Simmons, who was the one who "slaked" Radar after a bit of poetry reading.

"You don't give a girl a chance, do you?"

Donnie Osmond takes another remake into the top ten.  Last time it was Steve Lawrence's Go Away Little Girl; this time, it's Freddie Scott's Hey Girl, climbing a pair to #9.

Al Green leaps 7 to #8 with Let's Stay Together.

Dennis Coffey moves up another spot to 7 with Scorpio.

Sonny and Cher also move up a notch to 6 with All I Ever Need Is You.

Sly and (some of) the Family Stone slip a pair to 5 with Family Affair.

David Cassidy edges up one to #4 with Cherish.

Melanie roller-skates down two to #3 with Brand New Key.

American Pie is at #2 this week, a 4-spot jump.

And at the top this week....

Michael Jackson and Got To Be There!  I guess he got there, LOL!

Next week?  I don't know, tune in and see!