Time Machine week 35

Today is August 7th, 1973, one day after Stevie Wonder was put into a coma when his cousin rear-ended a flatbed truck and the end of it came through the windshield and struck him in the head.  For more details, you can check Stevie's fan site here.  He would spend four days in a coma and two weeks in the hospital.  Apparently there was no truth to the rumors that he was in fact driving.

Also this day, a creepy unsolved mystery:  CBers in the New Mexico area heard a call from someone purporting to be a 7-year old named Larry.  Larry said he and his father were hunting when their truck tipped over (at least we know Stevie wasn't driving), killing his father.  Larry's calls continued for a few days, changing channels in apparent panic as the signal strength faded.  A search was organized (and according to the stories I read, "organized" is stretching the term), but nothing was ever found.  Eventually it was declared a hoax, and no one ever heard from Larry or his father again.

Stevie, however, recovered from his incident.

Welcome to another round of Time Machine, and this week we have- A top ten inside the shuffle ten; a tight three way battle in the panel picks; another unknown song so unknown I couldn't find it... it's like it's "alien" or something; and a six degrees led off by 1947's Next Great Star!  Who is it?  Give ya a clue- he married Miss Ellie!

MY Miss Ellie???  WTH??!?

So gather 'round, y'all, and we'll get on with this week's gusher of music!

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Our panel this week includes WGRO Buffalo, KOL Seattle, old friend WDGY Minneapolis, KAFY Bakersfield, WWDJ Hackensack, WHB Kansas City, WLLL (because all the good letters were taken) Lynchburg, old friend KPOI Honolulu, WBBM Chicago (which I've never known as anything but all-news), WXKY Sarasota, old friend WIXY Cleveland, and old chum, er, CHUM Toronto.  This daring dozen gave us 21 different songs and 9 number one votes, including Bobby "Boris" Pickett's  Monster Mash (Toronto), The Carpenters' Yesterday Once More (Chicago), Bloodstone's Natural High (Honolulu, of course), Jim Croce's Bad Bad Leroy Brown (KC), and Say Has Anybody Seen My Sweet Gypsy Rose by Dawn (Buffalo).  The top four was highlighted by a 30-26-20 finish, that went like this:

With 15 points and the #1 from Hackensack, Diana Ross and Touch Me In The Morning, the national #1.

With... well, you know the points from here, and the #1 from Sarasota, Wings and Live And Let Die, the national #2.

With number ones from Seattle and Cleveland, the national #3, Maureen McGovern's Poseidon Adventure theme, The Morning After.

And at #1.... stay tuned.

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The unknown song I unfortunately chose was actually the #7 on Sarasota this week, it was called Barroom Sweeper, and it was recorded by a southern rock band called Mose Jones.   Actually this was the first incarnation of Mose Jones, and had been signed by Al Kooper and his fledgling Sounds of the South label- the label that would first sign another struggling young band, Lynyrd Skynyrd.

Mose never hit the charts in either incarnation.  A couple years after their first group folded, most of the originals got together, this time under the producing aegis of Buddy Buie of the Atlanta Rhythm Section.  In fact Mose Jones II's song Alien was recorded by ARS, who took it to #29 (it was their last chart hit).

Here is Mose Jones II with a cool tune from their 1978 lp:






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And now, Bottom's Up!

10- Roll Over Beethoven, this time by ELO, leads us off at #48 in it's 13th week.

9- Paul Simon, also in his 13th week, dropping to #49 with Kodachrome.

8- Cher was in her 4th week at #54 with Half-Breed.

7- The Isley Brothers were in their third week at #55 with That Lady.

6- The Edgar Winters Group was in their second week with Free Ride, at #69.

5- Rod Stewart's cover of Twistin' The Night Away was at #70 after 2 weeks.

4- Coven, in a week full of movie themes, has One Tin Soldier (the Legend Of Billy Jack) at 75 in it's sixth week.

3- If you thought Looking Glass (Brandy) was a one-hit wonder, you should listen to their second hit, which was at #77 after five weeks:




2- Joe Walsh holds this spot with his hit Rocky Mountain Way, at #83 in its second week.

And the top bottom, and our only debut this week...

America with... Muskrat Love!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  It was at 89 this week.


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And now, presenting the Next New Star of 1947...

....Howard Keel!  Howard got the title for his lead performances in Carousel and Oklahoma!, the first to sing both leads on stage in one day!  He was so popular that he was the first pick for the lead Gene Kelly got in Singin' In The Rain.  Gene sang that 1929 song in the 1952 movie, but it was dutch artist Taco who put in on the charts in 1983 after hitting #1 with Puttin' On The Ritz.  Singin' didn't do near so well- it never charted here, and its high water mark was a #49 peak in Germany.  Now Puttin' On The Ritz was also an old classic, written by Irving Berlin.  Berlin had another pop connection when his God Bless America was recorded by, of all people, Frank Zappa and the Mothers Of Invention!  That was on the lp Uncle Meat, which also had one of its four sides dedicated to variations on a song called King Kong.  And that was the song the Mothers were in the middle of when "some stupid with a flare gun" burned the concert arena in Montreaux down, leading Deep Purple to write and record the song which was at #8 nationally this week- but got no love from the panel- Smoke On The Water.



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And now, the shuffle ten!

If you go back to week #9, you'll see the video to our number ten- a band I discovered en route to other things, Fraser and DeBolt, with a song called Them Dance Hall Girls.  If you've forgotten it, refer to my post here.

The Cars pick up their second S10 with the b-side of their first single- I'm In Touch With Your World, the back of Just What I Needed, which hit #27 in 1978.

Gene Pitney finally claims a S10, this week's #8, with 24 Hours From Tulsa, a #3 hit in 1963.

Pablo Cruise's biggest hit, the #6 Love Will Find A Way from 1978, is their second trip into the S10, landing at our seven spot.

Charlie Daniel's Uneasy Rider, which had three votes and 7 points from the panel this week and peaked at #9 in 1973, is our number six.

Our five hole is filled by Utopia's Abandon City, an lp cut from 1977's Oops, Wrong Planet ( the same lp which had the original version of Love Is The Answer, which England Dan and JF Coley would take to #10.) Todd Rundgren et al claim their second S10.

Our number four claims my second all time video hit- aHa! with Take On Me.  The #1 hit in 10 nations, 2nd or 3rd in five more, was number one here as well.

Speaking of England Dan and JF Coley, one of my top ten all time, their Nights Are Forever Without You, is at our #3.  It hit #10 as well in 1976.

And our number two brings up another one of those "how many versions of this song hit the charts?"  And the answer is ten different versions have charted.

Of what song, Chris?

It charted 4 times in 1949:  Burl Ives took it to #21; Vaughn Monroe's orchestra took it to the top, and it was the top song of the year; Bing Crosby took it to #14; and Peggy Lee hit #2 on the "most played by DJs" chart.

What song, Chris?

The Ramrods took an instrumental version to #30 in 1961; Lawrence Welk also instrumentally hit with it, #87 in that same year; the Baja Marimba Band as well, going to #52 in 1966.  The Outlaws took a southern rock version to #31 in 1980...

...ummm, Chris?

And two versions hit the country charts.  Roy Clark took it to #27 in our year of 1973... and the last one...


CHRIS!!!!!


Oh, yeah, our number two on the S10 was also a #2 country hit for Johnny Cash in 1979- Ghost Riders In The Sky.

And now, the number ones...

Survey says...

... the Stories with Brother Louie!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

This interracial rocker was the week's #5 on Cashbox.

And, shuffle says...

CCR with Bad Moon Rising!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

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Next week we hit the end of this cycle of years with 1978!  See you then!