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Friday, June 5, 2015

Time Machine week 27



It's Time Machine week 27, we're going to '72, there are 27 songs in the panel list, and I had Laurie randomly pick a song on the top 100 of summer and she, unwittingly, picked #72!  Any numerologists out there?  Anyway, as we come in for a landing, we find G Gordon Liddy chewing out James McCord because that infamous wire tap of his on Larry O'Brien's phone wasn't giving them anything useful- and his team wasn't going to get any more money "because the job should have been done correctly the first time".


And we won't talk about who the idiot was that hired you...


And now that I have spent my teaser at the beginning of the post, how about I just add that the unknown song has a very familiar voice, the panel's #1 is the summer 100's #90, and what the Cardigans, No Doubt, Matchbox 20, and Green Day have in common- besides being music acts that hit on the alternative charts in the 90's!  So ready your listening device and let's be about this thing!


The panel this week features KAAY, Little Rock; KCBN, Reno; WFSO, St. Petersburg; WDGY, Minneapolis/St Paul; WIXY, Cleveland; WHB, Kansas City; WCRV, Washington, DC; WDRC, Hartford;  WLOF, Orlando; KXOX, St. Louis; CHUM, Toronto; and KFIV, Modesto.  As I may have mentioned, they collected 27 different songs, including 4 songs from the summer 100- The Cornelius Bros and Sister Rose with Too Late To Turn Back Now (#89), which had one vote; Bill Withers' Lean On Me (#96), which also got one vote; and one more, which you'll learn shortly in the panel top four.  Also in the group were a record 4 songs that got #1 votes without making the panel four-  Free with Little Bit Of Love, a song that did not chart nationally, but sat at #1 on the St Pete chart; Joe Tex's I Gotcha, which was on top in Kansas City;  Troglodyte (Cave Man) by the Jimmy Castor Bunch, on top in Orlando; and The Royal Scots Dragoon Guard with their version of Amazing Grace, in Toronto.  And in the panel four:

Number four, with 13 points and the number one of Modesto, the week's national #4, Dr. Hook's Sylvia's Mother.

Number three also had 13 points, but had #1s from Minneapolis and DC, the national # 7- and the summer # 100- Gallery with Nice To Be With You.

Number two, with 20 points- 5 points back- and the #1s of Little Rock and Reno, the national #12, Neil Diamond's Song Sung Blue.

And at #1... stay tuned.


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The unknown song this week had a very known personage in it.  Python Lee Jackson was an Australian band formed in 1965.  After a string of minor hits down south, the band broke up in 1968.  But several members ended up travelling to the UK, and they reunited under the PLJ name just 10 months later.

There they were discovered by famous Brit DJ John Peel (no known relation to Emma), and went into the studio.  There were a handful of songs that lead singer David Bentley didn't think he could do justice to- so the studio called in a ringer- Rod Stewart.  And Stewart sang on their biggest hit, which was at #4 on the St Pete chart this week- when it had been re-released on the success of Stewart's You Wear It Well.  It would peak at #56 on the US charts- might have done better with a little name recognition...





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This got me wondering if there were any other Aussie acts on the summer 100.  And the sad truth is, there are just two acts that can claim Australian "origin"  the Bee Gees and little brother Andy.  They were born in the UK, and moved to Oz when Barry was 12, the twins were 9, and Andy was 5 months.  They returned to Jolly Ol' about 8 years later, so the Aussie claim is tenuous, but it's all we got.  The Brothers hit the summer 100 with How Can You Mend A Broken Heart (20) and Jive Talkin' (21) appearing back to back.  Andy made it with I Just Want To Be Your Everything (24), and one more... and this is as good a time as any to let you know I'm not giving out the top ten until the very end! (And yes, that means he's in it...)

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And now, Bottom's Up!



And here with this week's best of the bottom, I give you Scrappy Beagle!



"Thank you, father.  And hello, everyone, I welcome you to this segment and hope you will enjoy my take on them...

Number ten is a song that Daddy mentioned earlier, Too Late To Turn Back Now, a concept I do not understand.  I can go in any direction, and I get Daddy all tangled..hmm?  Oh.  It is at #59 in it's third week on the chart.

Number nine is a song Daddy likes to sing at work, but usually forgets the order the words go in.  It's called Day By Day by Godspell, and after 4 weeks it is at #61.

Number eight is by those guys Daddy really likes, the Guess Who.  They are at #70 after three weeks with Guns Guns Guns.

Number seven has horses in it.  I saw a horse once at the Dairy Queen in Grabill.  It scared the crap out of me!  Anyway, the song is Conquistador by Procol Harum (a name I hear they got from a -yukkk!- cat), and after 2 weeks it is at #75.

Number six Daddy says is in it's second time in the countdown and after 12 weeks it is only at #76.  It's called Layla by Derek and the Dominoes.  The really high guitar parts hurt my ears.

Number five is  a guy, but he's got a girl's name!  Alice Cooper.  Or maybe he's just a really ugly girl, I'd have to sniff his butt to be sure.  He's at 78 after two weeks with School's Out.

Number four is another guy that Daddy likes, Bobby Vinton.  He's at #80, and it's a debut, whatever that is.  How many weeks, Daddy?  Oh, THAT's what debut means. Oh, the song is called Sealed With A Kiss.

Number three is also a debut- heck, all the rest of them are!  Some guy named Harry Nilsson did a goofy song called Coconut, and it starts out this week at #84.

Number two is by a lady Daddy says has been on Time Machine before, but she's not been in the part of the Beauty Contest I pick yet.  Her name is Donna Fargo, and she's the Happiest Girl In The Whole USA.  Hm?  Oh, that's the name of the song!  It's at #86.

And the number one?




Argent with Hold Your Head Up!  Aroooooooooo!!!!!!!!!!!!!"


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Thanks, Boofus!  Great job!

Next up, we have a six degrees that starts with an answer to the question in the teaser- those acts all got screwed by Billboard on a song because of the way the numbers were figured.  If you remember a few weeks back when Natalie Imbruglia's Torn was #1 on the shuffle, I mentioned that it charted so low because at the time, Billboard only counted physical units on the hot 100, not downloads.  They changed the rules near the end of the song's run, but the four acts mentioned got completely boned on their songs- No Doubt's Don't Speak, Matchbox 20's 3 AM, Green Day's When I Come Around, and a song called Lovefool by the Cardigans.  The Cardigans other well known hit was a "duet" with Tom Jones  covering the Talking Heads' Burning Down The House, which hit #7 in 1999.  The original was a #9 hit in 1983.  The Heads made their first dent in the US charts in 1978 with the #26 Take Me To The River, a song Al Green made big.  His co-writer was Mabon "Teenie" Hodges, who also played guitar on our six degrees victim- #3 on Cashbox this week, but no love from the panel- Al's Look What You've Done For me.

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1972 had a few other hits on the summer 100.  Alone Again Naturally by Gilbert O'Sullivan was at #27, Looking Glass's Brandy was at #49, Luther Ingram and If Loving You Is Wrong (I Don't Want To Be Right) is at #53, and guess who's at # 86?




Yep, Wayne Newton with Daddy Don't You Walk So Fast!!!!!!!!!!!!  (You knew I had to use that picture again someday!)

And as I have been letting you in on 12 songs a week, and we are one short, here comes the song Laurie picked seemingly randomly-  Tommy James and the Shondells at #72 with Hanky Panky!

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And now, the shuffle ten:

A song I mentioned on the lead in to the summer 100, the Kinks are at #10 with Sunny Afternoon, a #14 hit in 1966.

The Bay City Rollers ended at #9 on the 1976 charts as well as on this week's shuffle ten with Money Honey.

Number eight is the Outlaws, a too-ignored band with their 1975 #34, There Goes Another Love Song.

The Beach Boys are the second act to get five shuffle tens, and they do it with their 1967 #12 Heroes And Villains.

And yet another appearance for the Cornelius Bros and Sister Rose, this time with their #3 from 1971, Treat Her Like A Lady at #6.

And at #5 is a single that we wore the grooves off as kids... Johnny Horton's The Battle Of New Orleans, a number one in 1959.

Three Dog Night claims their second shuffle ten with the song at #4- their #4 in 1974, their last really big hit, The Show Must Go On.

Barry Manilow places his fourth shuffle ten at #3 this week- his #11 from 1978, Ready To Take A Chance Again.

Susan Jacks and the Poppy Family are at our runner up spot with a song that hit #9 in Canada and #29 here, That's Where I Went Wrong.


And at number one?  Let's see if I get this right this week, as I called both of them shuffle #1s last week!

Survey says....



The number 90 song of summer, Sammy Davis, Jr, with The Candy Man!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

And, shuffle says...  



...the Cyrkle with Red Rubber Ball!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


This song hit #2 in 1966, while Candy Man was the #1 nationally this week as well.

Tune in next week when we travel to... 1970!  

15 comments:

  1. Hi, Chris! I honestly can't say that 1972 was my favorite year in music. There was too much soft rock and easy listening for my taste. Thank goodness for Alice Cooper. :) I enjoyed hearing Python Lee Jackson featuring the distinctive lead vocal of Rod Stewart. Speaking of Aussie bands, I recently posted about Stonefield, the rock band made up of the four Findlay sisters. I love their classic Deep Purple inspired sound. Do you remember Big Pig, the Australian funk band that had a U.S. hit with "(I Can't) Breakaway"? Their edgy music video was a hit on the MTV style station where I worked.

    Thanks, Chris, and have a great weekend!

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    1. I hadn't heard of either of those bands, I'll look into them later tonight.

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    2. Okay, Listened to them- perhaps unfairly sandwiched between the Outlaws' There Goes Another Love Song and Green Grass and High Tides, but...

      Big Pig: Had a vaguely familiar sound, as if I might have heard it before, but there was something that also screamed at me: "TRIO- Da Da Da." A most unpleasant comparison, but the background vocals alone made up for that.

      Stonefield: I tried Through The Clover. Tried it first accoustic, and quickly moved onto a live set. You may want to recommend me a song that gives a better impression of their overall sound.

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    3. Hi again, Chris!

      Why don't you check out my post on Stonefield? It contains the official music videos for their best songs:

      http://shadydell.blogspot.com/search?q=stonefield

      Take care, good buddy!

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    4. Just got looking at ythe wiki on them... funny that it mentions them playing on the John Peel stage after just doing the Python Lee Jones story! I'm listening to Black Water Rising right now, definitely like this one better than Through the Clover.

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  2. More Scrappy! More Scrappy! The time machine was just made for a music savvy beagle who sass.

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    1. Yeah, give him a big head. Whatdyathink? More Scrappy on Bottoms up or another feature?

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  3. I used to have Godspell on cassette. I still know the words to Day By Day.

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    1. I sure could have used that song today....

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  4. To my knowledge this is the first time I've ever heard a song by Python Lee Jackson, which seems odd since I've always been intrigued since Lee Jackson is my real name. I guess I was also confused thinking that the group was actually under the helm of Lee Jackson, bass player with the group The Nice--I thought they were all the same. Now looking up on Wiki I see this is not the case. So where did the Lee Jackson part come from?

    I was going to make a joke that this group was Rod Stewart just recording under a different name, but then when I looked on Wiki I saw that was him singing on the cut you featured.

    I'm so confused now, but I was confused before so I guess everything is as it was. Arlee Bird is still Lee Jackson and Lee Jackson is still Lee Jackson and I'm still not totally sure about Python Lee Jackson.

    Arlee Bird
    A to Z Challenge Co-host
    Road trippin' with A to Z
    Tossing It Out

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. After a half hour of digging, a source mentioned "a legend that someone made up a name and chalked it onto the wall of a Sydney, Australia, blues club.." From there, everyone thought the name was so cool that somebody decided to name a band after it. That from Billboard, Oct 7, 1972. Another link I found, http://www.gluonics.com/rod-stewart/python-lee-jackson.shtml, says Stewart was just supposed to do a guide vocal at Peel's request, "To teach him how to sing it." The vocal was so good they never changed it, and Rod had forgotten about it . It was backed with "a really bad version of the Temptations' Cloud Nine, with me singing the wrong words." And apparently changed to Doin' Fine on the title. Hope that untangles it for you!

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  5. Are there any numerologists out there? Heck yeah. 9. The number of completion. It's also considered the humanitarian number when applied to personality traits. However, 9 is about endings. Finishes. Completion. The getting something done number.

    I see that you shouted out about The Cardigans. Never was a big fan of Lovefool, and never heard the other song you mentioned, but I love The Cardigans. And they've gotten more play than you think, I do believe. In point of fact, they are the group on my Soundtrack post on Monday. And Wednesday. Strange, I know. But that's how it worked out!

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    1. Hah! I knew that would bring you out! 'Round here, where we what listened to alternative were a minority, Lovefool was the only noise they made. Within a couple years our station went belly up and my car at the time lost it's antenna and the only music I got was a Christian P&W AM station.

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  6. I love this post. Matchbox 20 and Dr Hook in same post. Awesomeness!

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  7. Chris:
    --You tell Scrappy that he did an exemplary job with the "bottoms up" this week...(he deserve s treat or two for that).
    Lots of great songs there, too!
    --Nice job w/ the six degrees, too...Talking heads is a group I "grew" to like...hadda ease me into their music...the videos on the OLD MTV helped with that...heh.
    --Agreed that 1972 DID have it's share of REALLY good hits all over the charts. ( "mini-golden era" perhaps?)
    --Johnny Horton - My God, I think I STILL have that vinyl...(gonna look later on)
    --Wow - Sammy Davis Jr. AND "Red Rubber Ball"...whatta team'up for the top spot.
    Can't wait for NEXT week and 1970 (year I graduated from high school) That should be very cool.

    An excellent ride this week.

    Keep those hits comin' up there, brother!

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