Time Machine week 29

News seems to be taking the day off on June 19th, 1974.  Steve Busby of Kansas City throws his second no-hitter (a much less eventful one than that which we saw Dock Ellis throw); the Summer Music festival in Central Park featured UK folk outfit Steeleye Span, Bonnie Raitt with John Hall of yet-to-be-famous Orleans, and a band called Howdy Moon, whose best claim to fame was that one day member Jon Lind would co-write Boogie Wonderland;  and Yekaterina Furtseva, the "most influential woman in Soviet politics" (mostly, it would seem, in controlling the arts and promoting her favorites) was bounced from the Supreme Soviet.  Two months before, a rousing affair led to charges of extravagance and a hefty fine; four months later, she was dead, allegedly of heart failure, but rumored to be a suicide-in-lieu-of-exposure of more corrupt dealings.

Doing some digging, I found out that she was the one that approved Lee Harvey Oswald's stay in Russia.

Hopefully things will be a little bit more exciting on our Time Machine trip through music, which features:the crooners on the summer 100; oh, and speaking of the summer 100, all four panel picks are on the list, and so is a pick from my son KC; finding our way to Joni Mitchell via Keith Richards; Johnny Cash does Dylan; the President does the Bottom's Up; and Kiss rocks the unknown song!  Hop in, tovarich!


The panel this week contains a lot of familiar names:  CKLW Detroit, WPOP Hartford, KBEQ Kansas City, WIXY Cleveland, WAKY Louisville, KTKT Tuscon, WNHC New Haven, WCOL Columbus, and yes, KPOI Honolulu, along with WMPT Williamsport PA, KTSA San Antonio, and WHYN Springfield MA.  They came together for 24 tunes, including 7 number ones.  That list included Gladys Knight and the Pips with On And On on CKLW, the Carpenters' I Won't Last A Day Without You in beautiful Hawaii, and Louisville, which is rapidly getting a rep for being "WAKY", and the upcoming unknown song.  The panel's top four:

Fourth, with 16 votes and the #1 from Columbus, Wings with the current national #1, Band On The Run.  This song claims the #77 spot on the summer 100.

Third, with 20 points and the #1 from Connecticut, a song at #2 nationally, the Stylistics with You Make Me Feel Brand New.  These guys sit at #58 on the summer 100.

Second by a 35-28 margin, with the #1 votes of Kansas City, Cleveland, and Springfield, the nation's #5 song, Bo Donaldson and the Heywoods with Billy Don't Be A Hero.  They are at #51 on the summer 100.

And at number one this week... the #44 song on the summer 100.... stay tuned.


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As I mentioned, WAKY is getting a rep here for being the oddballs of the bunch.  They had last week's unknown song too, as well as the only votes for Mountain's Mississippi Queen and Bobby Sherman's take on Hey Mr. Sun.  This week, as well as having the only vote for ZZ Top's La Grange, they have at #1 a song that was actually Kiss's first 45- last February.  But Kiss put it as the b-side of their second single- which would stall at 83 on Billboard, and was 82-on-it's-way-to-79 this week on Cashbox.  That song was called Kissin' Time- but, to be different, Lousville was playing the b-side:






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So as you noticed by now, I'm floating the summer 100 out there a dozen at a time, and I have about another four weeks of doing that before I have a top ten extravaganza.  In the meantime, I give out the ones that appear in the story, any other ones from that year (which in 1974's case, means Paul Anka and Odia Coats Having My Baby at #83), any little lists I can make up, and a desperation guest pick if necessary.  This week, I do have that guest pick- not from Laurie, but my son KC.  He was excited to find his random pick land on a song he had downloaded on his phone- from 1966, the #71 Summer In The City by the Loving Spoonful!  He was a tad less excited to discover it was the Spoonful, as the source he downloaded from claimed it was Three Dog Night.  People uploading songs to the net ought to do some fact checking.  I myself have found that Boston did Carry On Wayward Son....


And the other half of the equation, the "any little lists" part, has the list of what I would term Crooners.  Now, I put in this category the "Las Vegas-y" acts, and one of them already got featured- Wayne Newton's Daddy Don't You Walk So Fast at #86.  Also making my crooner list:

Tom Jones, who put What's New Pussycat (1965) at #94;
Frank Sinatra, who put Strangers In The Night (1966) at #78;
and the top crooner-

  Dean Martin, who landed Everybody Loves Somebody (1964) at #69!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

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And with that, let's hit the Bottom's Up!

10- Helen Reddy kicks us off, with some help from her daughter Traci, with You And Me Against The World, which was at #57 after three weeks.

9- Roberta Flack Feels Like Making Love, and she says it at #58 after 2 weeks.

8- The kings of the Bottoms up have to be the Guess Who.  Having already made this list in weeks 23, 24, and 27, they're back again in week 29, with Star Baby- which peaked two weeks before at #30- sitting at 62 in a whopping 17 weeks!

7- David Bowie is at #63 this week with Rebel Rebel, after 4 weeks.

6- Elton John is here with the #67 on the summer 100, and at #66 here- Don't Let The Sun Go Down On Me.  This is the first of 3 debuts.

5- Another repeater here is Andy Kim, who has Rock Me Gently  at #70 after 2 weeks.

4- Here we have the #43 song of summer, Paper Lace's The Night Chicago Died, at #78 after two weeks.

3- Our second debut belongs to Chicago, who really hadn't died at all, with Call On Me at #80.

2- The runner up this week is the third debut- Rufus featuring Chaka Khan with Tell Me Something Good at #84.


And the top bottom?

Dickie Goodman's novelty mash-up, Mr President, at 88 in week #3!!!!!!!!!!!!

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So as promised, our six degrees begins with Keith Richards.

And actually the only thing he had to do with the whole thing was having the good taste to marry Patti Hansen.  This actress was in the movie Hard To Hold, which was a Rick Springfield vehicle.  Rick, of course, did the soundtrack to the movie, which included the #20 hit Bop Till You Drop from 1984.  The b-side of that record was a hit on the adult contemporary chart- a duet with a lady named Randy Crawford called Taxi Dancing, which climbed to #16 there.  Randy had made a big name of herself singing lead on the Crusaders' top 40 hit from 1979, Street Life.  Amongst the Crusaders at one point were a couple of gents named Larry Carlton and Joe Sample.  These two were also members of a jazz-fusion outfit called Tom Scott's LA Express, and that group were the backup musicians on the Joni Mitchell lp that contained her hit Help Me- which sat at #12 nationally this week but got no help from the panel.


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And the endgame approacheth- time for the shuffle ten!

At number ten, Gerry Rafferty claims his third shuffle ten with a tune that hit #12 in 1978- but was at my number one spot- Right Down The Line.

Another of those songs attached to a certain young lady in my mind is at #9- Donnie Iris and his #29 from 1981, Ah! Leah!

Seals and Crofts land their fourth shuffle ten here at #8 with a song they took to number six in 1976, Get Closer.

A band we'll be seeing a lot in the summer 100 (just not with this song) is the Rolling Stones, who land at our #7 with their number six from '64, Time Is On My Side.

Johnny Cash and June Carter land the first of two country classics on the shuffle ten this week.  Hitting #4 country/#58 pop in 1965, they cover Dylan's It Ain't Me Babe here at our #6.

That other country classic is Merle Haggard's top dog from 1969, Okie From Muskogee, at #5.

Christian singer Keith Green lands his third shuffle ten with a song from the lp I used to have, a song called by CBN one of his ten best- 1977's You Put This Love In My Heart.  It hits #4 here.




Dion takes the #3 slot with his top dog from 1961, Runaround Sue.

Runner up this week, my baby Yvonne Elliman with the Gibb brothers' song Love Me, a #14 hit from 1976.


And our number ones?

Panel says...

Gordon Lightfoot with Sundown!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

In addition to almost being the first 45 I bought at the store, it also is our #44 summer 100 song and the national #3 this week.

And, shuffle says.....

Huey Lewis and the News with I Want A New Drug!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

This was a #6 off the great lp Sports in 1984.  And if the Martin Era went out that far, likely a summer 100 of its own.


The next two weeks we hit late seventies, with '77 next week and '79 after that.  Then it will be back to the sixties!  See ya then.