Time Machine week 24

Well, now the Tardis has had not one, but two breakdowns.  I am trying to reconstruct this post loosely from memory, so sorry for the delay.

Problem number one, which I talked about in the original post, I basically said- "Long story short, don't use system restore to fix a problem that belongs actually to your ISP.  And if you do, a word of advice- Internet Explorer will come through it like a champ, where Google Chrome lays down and dies."

Problem number two- I completed, scheduled, and previewed last night's post.  When I closed down, there was another page of my post board- one where I had started, stopped to check something, and then came back to the post.  Blogger had somehow opened another window in which I hadn't finished.  I deleted that one.  But when I wondered why no one had commented yet, I found that Blogger had saved the partial as a draft, and COMPLETELY ERASED the finished one.  When I tried to bring it up from history, all I got was "error 403".

  So here we are, and I hope the repairs on the Tardis are successful this time... or it may just be time to tell blogger...

All of this combined with a relatively boring reception once we hit May 15th, 1971.  The world shaking events of the day included:  Postage stamps were hours away from going from 6 cents to 8 cents; Anwar Sadat was busy purging about everybody in the Egyptian government who may or may not have been involved in what may or may not have been a coup; and in Key Biscayne, President Nixon told Senator Mike Mansfield and the world at large what he thought of Mansfield's amendment to bring half of our military presence in Europe back home.  Days later, the rest of the Senate echoed those sentiments.

But this says... REJECTED?

And so, welcome to the stupidity-delayed Time Machine for this week.  Easier to type this time, as I am not trying to get the shuffle ten done!  In other teasers, the six degrees gets sat on; a fuzzy unknown song; 4 debuts in the bottoms up; and a surprise cult classic at the top of the shuffle ten!  With any luck, here we go!


The panelists this week include old hands KISN Vancouver WA, KHJ Los Angeles, CHUM Toronto, WLOF Orlando, and WSAI Cincinnati, along with WOKY Milwaukee, KAKC Tulsa, WASK Lafayette, WOLF Syracuse, WBUZ Fredonia NY, KEYS Corpus Christi, and KTLK, Denver.  They piled together a light 22 songs, but they were spread darn even on votes- in fact, seven songs scored in double figures!  One of the ones that did (but didn't make the top 4 was Neil Diamond's I Am I Said, which had the #1 vote from (surprise) Fredonia; another number one that didn't get the votes was Michael Jackson's Never Can Say Goodbye, which topped the LA chart but got just four other points.  That's the kind of week it was; in fact, the top dog got five number one votes- but just one measley fifth place point from anyone else!  Without further ado, the top 4:

Coming in at #4 with 13 points is the national # 3, Ocean with Put Your Hand In The Hand.

At #3, the national #11, with 16 points and the #1s of Corpus Christi and Cincy, Lobo's Me And You And A Dog Named Boo.

Our runner up, with 18 points and #1 love from Vancouver, Syracuse, and Tulsa, is the national #9, the Rolling Stones with Brown Sugar.


And at #1- stay tuned...


I have to say a few words about the station that gave Neil Diamond the #1 vote, WBUZ (an ominous set of call letters...).  They had Grand Funk's Feelin' Satisfied, the national #55, in their #2 spot; and at #4 they had a song which got a mention on a TM post a ways back... but wasn't even on the national chart yet!  The song Brownsville, by the curiously named Joy Of Cooking, would not make the charts until they came in next week- at #127.

That said, I'd like to note that our survey 4 are a bit... off from the national chart for a change.  The national #2 was the aforementioned Never Can Say Goodbye.  The #4, the Bells' Stay Awhile, managed only 3 votes and 8 points; #6, Bread's If, got 3 votes and 6 points; #7, Daddy Dewdrops' Chick-A Boom, got two votes and six points; And #8, the Doors' Love Her Madly, grazed the charts three times for 4 points.  But the national #s 11, 12, 17, and 23 were among those that got double figure points.  And the song at #5 nationally got no love at all.  But in researching it for the six degrees, I found a more interesting story.


The song in question was Aretha Franklin's gospel-tinged mauling of Bridge Over Troubled Water, which was at #5 on CB and would peak at 6 on Billboard.  Now, in 1968 the Grammys introduced a new category, Best performance by a female R&B singer.  And Aretha won that year with her #1 Respect.  And the next year with the #2 Chain Of Fools.  And the next year with the #13 Share Your Love With Me.  And the next year with the #11 Don't Play That Song (which is what I say everytime I hear Aretha come on).  And the next year with Bridge... and the NEXT year with the title cut from her lp Young, Gifted, and Black. And the next year with the #33 Master Of Eyes.  And yet again the next year with her #47 cover of Ain't Nothing Like The Real Thing.  That's eight years in a row, and even a dedicated Aretha basher (after watching a performance in the '90s with her rather oversized backup singers, I named them Aretha and the Heavyweights) has to admit that's a helluva feat.  But she wasn't done.  She collected a dozen nominations after being dethroned by Natalie Cole (This Will Be in '76 and Sophisticated Lady in '77), and won the award twice more in '82 and '88.  Yes, even I have to admit, that's heavy, man.

Listen, honey, how 'bout I come over there and sit on you 'til you get good sense?

 On to lighter matters now (nyuk, nyuk), and the unknown song, coming to us via the #2 vote they got in L.A.  They were three DC girls who came to Philly to start a recording career as the Passionettes.  They didn't really score with that name nor record company, but a move of one and a change of the other, to The Fuzz, sparked them on their way to their first hit.  They put together a concept lp of loving someone across the seasons of the year, and the summing up came at the end- the song they took into the pop charts.





The song was written by 19-year old leader Sheila Young- whom various sources misspelled as Shelia or even Seila.  (Reminded me of when My mom died.  Being Catholic, she had several masses said for her, but in a four week span, the church bulletin misspelled her name- Ursula- three different ways, including "Urusual".  These writers should have tried a tougher name!)  Their next attempt crapped out, though, and by 1972, Sheila, Val Williams, and the late Barbara Gilliam split up.


And now, Bottom's Up!

10- The Nitty-Gritty Dirt Band with Kenny Loggins' House At Pooh Corner, at #65 after three weeks.

9- That's The Way I've Always Heard It Should Be by Carly Simon, a song I liked a lot better until I really listened, and wondered why a college graduate ("My friends from college, they're all married now...") was still doing living at home and judging others for getting married! She's at 68 in her 4th week.

Boy you're out to offend ALL the women on this post, aren't you?

(You don't know the half of it Carly!  I was looking in my "beauty contest" folder for your picture, and when I saw a picture of Laurie, I almost said, "What's she doing in there?")

8- The Guess Who make their second straight BU, with Albert Flasher sitting at 69 after 5 weeks.

7- Another tune that had a recent mention on TM, Beginning Of The End with Funky Nassau, at 76 in its third week.

6- Our first debut belongs to Carole King, with It's Too Late at #84.

5- Debut #2 was Hamilton, Joe Frank, and Reynolds' Don't Pull Your Love at 85.

4- Texas band Rose Colored Glass with another TM previous mention- their cover of the Orpheus classic Can't Find The Time is at 87 after 5 weeks.

3- Fresh from last week's triumphant tour of Japan, John Denver's Take Me Home Country Roads spends its second week on the charts at 94.

2- The Fortunes debut with Here Comes That Rainy Day Feeling at 97.

And the top bottom?

Canada's Five Man Electrical Band with Signs debuting at # 98!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


And that brings us to the shuffle ten.


At ten we find second timer Neil Young with one of his best, The Needle And The Damage Done.  It was the flip of the #40 collaboration with Graham Nash, War Song, in 1972.


I sing the song
because I love the man
I know that some
of you don't understand
Milk-blood
to keep from running out.

I've seen the needle
and the damage done
A little part of it in everyone
But every junkie's
like a settin' sun.


Number nine is the classic from first timer Harry Nilsson, Without You, a #1 from 1971.


Number eight is another number one, this time from 1964, this time from two timer The Animals- The House Of The Rising Sun.


The Cranberries claim their first shuffle ten with a worldwide top ten, 22 pop/1 alternative from 1994, Zombie.  A chilling song of the aftereffects of the Irish civil war.

It's the same old theme since 1916
In your head,
In your head they're still fightin'
With their tanks and their bombs
And their bombs and their guns
In your head, in your head they are dyin'...


The Moody Blues claim their third shuffle ten at our 5-spot tonight, with the #39 from the lp Octave in 1979, Steppin' In A Slide Zone.


At 5 is the big hit from first timers England Dan and John Ford Coley, 1976's #2 Really Love To See You Tonight.


Michael Martin Murphey takes the # 4 slot with his crossover hit from 1982, the 1 country/19 pop What's Forever For.

Maxine Nightingale is also a first-timer, with her 1979 #5, Lead Me On.


Number two is one of those very special songs for me that I haven't a clue why it gets to me.  Rich Mullins, the late Christian singer/songwriter, first recorded it, and when he died in 1997, a group of singers put together a tribute lp the next year.  After Michael W. Smith leads it off with the powerful Awesome God, Carolyn Arends sings this tune... and I start the tears I never understand...





And as I wipe off the water (or at least I did when I first typed this), we are at the number ones.


Survey Says...

Three Dog Night with Joy To The World!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

And shuffle brings up a cult classic.  This song was originally done by an English group called the Ivy League.  Producer Gary Usher wanted to do this song, but was getting backtalk from the record company.  So he put together a studio band of Beach Boys touring alumni- Bruce (I Write The Songs) Johnston, Terry (I was buddies with Charles Manson) Melcher, and... Glen Campbell, who actually was the lead singer for this fictitious band- Sagittarius- and their song, My World Fell Down:





The record hit #70 in 1967, and sparked interest in an lp and tour- until the record company found out there WAS no Sagittarius.  But they managed to get Usher and a friend to record more material under the Sagittarius banner- that didn't do so well.


Hopefully, this one's a wrap, kids!  Next time- 1969!