Time Machine week 13

It's July 18, 1972- and not July 8th, which will soon come into play here!  Today, Anwar Sadat of Egypt gives the world a shock by giving his Soviet military advisors the ole heave-ho.  It was part of dismantling the Nasser hold overs that held his plans back, including the head of the old Secret Police and a vice-president who was tucked in bed with the Russians.

Welcome to Time Machine for this week, the week that saw The Who hit the charts with Join Together, as well as two songs from opposite ends of the spectrum make their first appearance- Helen Reddy's feminist anthem I Am Woman, and Rock And Roll Part I from later to be convicted pedophile Gary Glitter.  This week, the Top Top Ten from 1964; the HistoryOrb.com fail that gets us a really decent story; and a new #1!  Let's have at it!

First off, beings as this is the fiftieth anniversary of the Beatles pretty much owning the pop charts, I have to warn you that the Top Top Ten this week is from one of the 16 weeks (you read that right, 16) that the Beatles were NOT in the top ten this year!  Now, those 16 weeks produced 10 acts hitting number one, so the game o' the week is this:  I give you the ten acts, you give me for full credit the act we'll see at #1 on OUR top ten week, or the four who also were in this week's top ten for a half-point, or the TWO acts of the bunch who actually hit #1 with a song different from the one they were in this week's ten with!  A total of FIVE points on the line!  Here are your choices:

Bobby Vinton
the Zombies
Roy Orbison
The Kingsmen
The Supremes
Gale Garnett
The Shangri-Las
Manfred Mann
The Beach Boys
The 4 Seasons

And I'll even give you a chance to double or nothing- this week's ten has the FIRST act to be on its second TTT- and they are NOT on that list!  Find out in a bit.

Back to the main top 40 from this week in '72 for a moment to talk about who's new in that top forty!  First off is James Brown with Honky Tonk, an instrumental not near as obnoxious as his usual fare, moving ten to #40.  Nilsson moves up a meager 3 spots to #39 with Coconut.  Al Green moves up ten to #36 with I'm Still In Love With You (the usual Let's Stay Together clone).  And at #33, up 8 spots, is this one from the Grass Roots:




Meanwhile, our high debut for the week belongs to the Hollies, with Long Cool Woman making a 17-notch move to #26 with Long Cool Woman.

Which gave me the idea of saluting the biggest move within the countdown- and this week that belongs to Sailcat's Motorcycle Mama, which climbed 21 spots to #47.  We'll be seeing them in the top 40 next week... "...if the chain don't break."

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Now onto my semi-libelous accusation against HistoryOrb.com, whom I am busting for the second time on Time Machine.  You see, something very interesting happened on the 8th and 9th of July, 1972... but they claim it happened on the 18th.  But it was too good to leave out, and since we can't go back in time (who says?), I'll just have to share it now.

On the 8th and 9th of July, Pocono Raceway in New York played host to 200,000 screaming rock fans for what was known as the Concert 10.  I found the group list and thought, boy the first day kinda sucked.  Then I dug deeper into the story.

Leading off the rain-bothered first day was a band called Mother Night.  They were a semi-local NYC band in the style of Blood Sweat and Tears and Chicago  playing one of their songs, I found them to be a bit funkier than either one.  One name associated with this band was guitarist Eddie Martinez, whose playing you got to hear on a handful of hits- including David Lee Roth's California Girls and Robert Palmer's Simply Irresistible.

Next came British folk singer Claire Hamill, who was a whopping 17 at the time.  While she never pierced the singles charts, her pretty voice (on the song I listened to) seemed to have elements of all the folk songstresses of the day.

Third up were a band Scrappy might have loved- the Groundhogs.  They were a British outfit who had three top tens Over There, including a tune called Thank God For The Bomb.  To me, there biggest hit (called Split) and TGFTB make me think of what would have happened if the Grateful Dead and Steppenwolf went on tour together, got stoned, and mixed their set lists.  In short, bizarre but enjoyable.

The halfway mark was a band called Ramatam, which was a three piece formed by Mike Pinera (who was the driving force in Blues Image), Mitch Mitchell (late of the Jimmy Hendrix Experience) and guitarist April Lawton, who was later outed as a transsexual.  But could nonetheless really play guitar, as I learned on their song I Can Only Love You.

Next up was a Poughkeepsie band called Bull Angus.  Billed as a "psychedelic blues band with progressive overtones" , the song I listened to sounded a lot like a combo of Grand Funk Railroad and Emerson Lake and Palmer.

They were followed by Cactus, who had the strongest pedigree thus far.  Founded by former Vanilla Fudge members Tim Bogert and Carmine Appice, they had tried to found a new supergroup in '69 with Jeff Beck and Rod Stewart, but Beck had a traffic accident that put him out of action, and Rod joined the Faces.  So they "settled" for former Detroit Wheel Jim McCarty, one-time Amboy Duke Rusty Day, and a xylophonist borrowed from the Buddy Miles Express (which McCarty had also been part of), Adele Smitchell.  This group had fractured before this concert, though, and it was Bogert, Appice, and some unknowns that took the stage at Pocono.  A lot like Foghat in their song.


Closing out day one (technically, at 10 PM) was Edgar Winter, whose brother, blues legend Johnny Winter, died this week.  According to Wiki, Edgar stole the show.  Day two brought out the heavy hitters (at least, the ones they had after Badfinger and Black Sabbath cancelled out):  Emerson Lake and Palmer, who took the stage at 4 AM after a rain delay; Rod and his Faces; Humble Pie;  and the J Geils Band.  Three Dog Night, playing from 7:40 AM closed out the show with an hour-long set.  You want more name-dropping?  One of the main promoters was Irving Reiss, who owned Candygram.  Tickets were $11, and 90,000 were sold in advance.

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So let's dig into that Top Top Ten from the second week of October, 1964.  If you chose, Bobby Vinton, The Kingsmen, the Four Seasons, the Supremes, or the Zombies, you are outta there!  Here we go:

10- When I Grow Up To Be A Man, the Beach Boys.  This earns you 1 out of 2 points for "act on the top ten with song other than their #1".

9- GTO, Ronny and the Daytonas.  Did you know Ronny's (AKA "Bucky" Wilkin) mom, Marijohn Wilkin, wrote PT 109 for Jimmy Dean, and the gospel classic One Day At A Time?

8- The House Of The Rising Sun, The Animals.  One of the three big ones for me on this list- a list a little weaker than the others so far.

7- It Hurts To Be In Love, Gene Pitney.  The first act to have more than one song on the TTT, so if you picked him, double your score!

6- Bread And Butter, the Newbeats.  This one did NOT get a point from me, sorry!

5- Remember (Walking In The Sand), the Shangri-Las.  This is your other "not the one they hit #1 with" tune.

4- Dancing In The Street, Martha and the Vandellas.  What can you say?  A classic.

3- We'll Sing In The Sunshine, Gayle Garnett.  A half-pointer for eventually hitting #1.  And my favorite, by a hair over Gene Pitney.

2- Doo Wah Diddy Diddy, Manfred Mann.  Another half-pointer that would hit #1 the next week.

And the #1 from that long-ago week-

.... Roy Orbison with Oh, Pretty Woman!!!!!


Last bits of business before we hit the top ten for this week:

The You Peaked list holds us but one tune- David Cassidy's How Can I Be Sure, which stopped at 15 last week.

And with three new top tens, three drop out:  Nice To Be With You (6 to 12); I Need You (8 to 21); and Amazing Grace (10 to 29).


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The Eagles score their first top ten this week, moving up a pair to 10 with Take It Easy.

Donny Osmond strikes again, moving 4 to #9 with the Nat King Cole cover Too Young.

Up three to #8 is the other teen powerhouse, Michael Jackson, with I Wanna Be Where You Are.

Neil Diamond tumbles another three to #7 with former top dog Song Sung Blue.

Luther Ingram moves a notch up to #6 with If Loving You Is Wrong, etc.

Wayne Newton still ain't slowing down for his kid, as Daddy Don't You Walk So Fast jumps from 9 to #5.

Last week's #1, Billy Preston's Outa-Space, is outta time, falling to #4.

The Cornelius Bros and Sister Rose nudge up two big spots to #3 with Too Late To Turn Back Now.

Catering to the low-brow taste, Jimmy Castor's Bunch move up to the runner-up spot with Troglodyte (Cave Man).

And our new top dog this week....

...Bill Withers and Lean On Me!!!!!!!!!!!!

Tune in next week, perhaps HistoryOrb.com will be back on the right page.... or not...