Time Machine week 41

The musical Tardis spins this week into the riotous year of 1979, where we see that today-

-Greg Arama, former bassist of the Amboy Dukes, assumed room temperature after crashing his '76 Harley;

- The National Enquirer announced that Penny (Laverne) Marshall and Rob (Meathead) Reiner are getting a "nasty divorce", and that a miracle vitamin was going to eliminate tiredness (something sorely needed there, apparently);

- Filming started on the classic movie musical Xanadu;

-and Jimmy Carter watched Two Years Before The Mast at the White House cinema (yes, apparently there is a webpage that lists every movie Carter watched in the White House.  And what a valuable resource that is!

"Alan Ladd!  Watch out for the Captain, he's a communist!"

I hope I can make the music of the day a tetch more appealing.  This week:  The unknown song makes the Martin Ten- and it should, I went around the world to find it! Also, a tight three song race for the panel #1, a train wreck of a six degrees, and will we have a fourth new number one on the Martin Ten?  Suspense!  Adventure!  Romance!  Oh, wait... that was the movie again!


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Our panel features, through no choice of my own, 2 stations from Kansas City- KBEQ and WHB, along with the two Springfields (WCVS in IL, WHYN in MA), KTKT Tuscon, WKCI New Haven, CHUM Toronto, WKMI Kalamazoo, KFRC San Fran, CIHI Fredricton, New Brunswick (yep, hadda double up on Canada too), WRKO Boston, and from waaaaaaay out there, 2UE outta Sydney, Australia!  This group totalled 26 different songs and 7 number ones, including Maxine Nightingale's Lead Me On (Springfield IL), Chic's Good Times (New Haven), the Cars' Let's Go (Toronto), and the Commodores' Sail On (Kalamazoo).  Needless to say, the Sydney chart had some off the beaten path picks including the only votes for Kiss's I Was Made For Loving You at #2 and Peaches and Herb's Reunited at #5.   Two songs were totally unknown to me:  one was by an act called the Two Man Band, with a sports anthem which actually had it's beginnings in a WWI catchphrase, called Up There Cazaly.    Roy Cazaly was a 1916 footballer (if I remember right), and it was a call used to signal the men to leave their trenches back in the day.  The tune, composed by the two men, Mike Brady and Peter Sullivan...

No, not THAT Mike Brady...

...was the biggest selling Australian single at that time, hitting the quarter-million mark.  The other import, I'll be sharing with you just a bit later.

So before I lose track, here's the Panel Four:

With 12 points and no number ones, the week's #6 in America, ELO's Don't Bring Me Down.

With 22 points and the number ones of Tuscon and both KC stations, speaking of Australia- the Little River Band with Lonesome Loser, the national #9.

With 25 points- two behind the leader- and the #1 vote of Fredricton, Robert John with Sad Eyes.

And at the top, the national #1 as well... stay tuned.

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Researching the six degrees became a study in tragedy about halfway through- both in the tales and confirming them.  The train wreck was in the band Heatwave (ironic, as one of their biggest hits was The Groove Line).  They had no fewer than three members meet tragic ends... but not everyone was agreed on what happened.  But as I finally boiled it down, founding member Jesse Whitten was killed in a stabbing during being mugged (although some places just said "an accident".)  Lead singer Johnny Wilder (who also wrote the beautiful flipside of The Groove Line, Happiness Togetherness), he was injured severely in a car accident, but like Teddy Pendergrass soldiered on from  a wheelchair.  Then came the story of Mario Mantese, who is mistakenly described as a fellow car accident victim.  But the truth was far worse- his girlfriend stabbed him in the heart after a fight at a party.  Clinically dead for six minutes, he was in a coma for somewhere around a year, and awoke to find himself blind and paralysed.  He eventually recovered somewhat, but remembers nothing of the incident- although he does recall having a near death experience.

I also found a board where someone asked about a rumour that the whole band was killed in a plane crash!  Yeesh, who'd they piss off?

However, what brought me to Heatwave was main writer at the time Rod Temperton.  Rod was one of a pair of celebrity writers who got credits on the Michael Jackson lp Off The Wall, composing the title track along with Rock With You.  Another was Paul McCartney, whose first contact professionally with Michael was the song Girlfriend, which Paul claimed he wrote with Michael in mind (though he also recorded it with Wings).  The tragedy here was that after the several collaborations between him and Michael, Paul said they drifted apart, after suggesting that Michael- who had just bought the entire Beatles portfolio and the royalties therefrom- "give him a raise".  Michael never responded.

And what does all this have to do with six degrees?  Well, the first single off Off The Wall was Don't Stop Till You Get Enough, which might be the lowest we've gotten down the chart before hitting a song that got no love from the panel.  It was #14 this week- a rare occurrence that the top 13 all made the panel list!

" 'Give you a raise'... that's a good one!"

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Alright, cue the baby...

What, I gotta do the voiceover too, now?

It's Bottom's Up time!


10- One of my favorites by that guy that looks like me, Dave Edmunds, is Girls Talk.  It was at 69 in its 4th week.

"Yeah, but it works on me!"

9- Jimmy Buffett comes in at #9 with Fins, sitting at 71 after 3 weeks.

8- Kiss makes a second appearance this week.  I Was Made For Loving You was at 43 on the way down; but it's Sure Know Something that takes this spot, at 72 after 3 weeks.

7- A song that has gotten mentioned here before a time or to- the Crusaders with Street Life- is at 74 after 5 weeks.

6- JD Souther is at 78 with a debuting You're Only Lonely.

5- A nod to you hard rockers- Pat Travers' signature Boom Boom (Out Go The Lights) is at 79, also in that third week.

4- Van Halen takes this spot with their Beautiful Girl, at 80 after four weeks.

3- Bob Dylan debuts with his lead single off the lp Slow Train Coming, Gotta Serve Somebody, at 83.

2- Here's one of those little heard songs I learned on American Top 40 and remember mainly for the name of the singer- 16-year old France Joli with Come To Me.

Steady, Henry...

And the Top Bottom?

...Chicago's Must Have Been Crazy, which was on the way down after 14 weeks, at #89!!!!!!!!!!!!!


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That brings us to the latest Martin Ten!  And, soon, our unknown song!

10- King Harvest holds on by a thread at 10 with Vaea.  It drops 2 from last week.

9- One of those things I wasn't going to do is occurring right now!  Last week, I went with the big hit for Family Of The Year rather than the current hit.  This week, though, they both make the countdown, as the song off their latest lp called Make You Mine comes in at number nine.

8- The number three song on the Sydney chart was by a band called Racey.  They were actually a British act, and the song in question not only hit #2 in the UK and Ireland, but #1 in Australia and South Africa.  It scores it's way to the 8 hole here:





7- Castlecomer moves up a pair with their brand new single, Fire Alarm.

6- The Spandells take advantage of the updraft to move up a notch with The Boy Next Door at 6.

5- NRBQ slip, but only a notch, with the former top dog, Ridin' In My Car, at number five.

4- And the aforementioned big hit by Family Of The Year moves up one to number four:





3- Adam Lambert stays in place with Ghost Town, at 3 for a second week.


Now, the battle for the top spot was a tough battle for me... and truth be told, I wasn't really sure that I would keep it the way I wrote it down!  But I am, and that means Beach House holds at #2 with Space Song.


And the number ones?  Martin says:

...Weezer with Island In The Sun, for a second week!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

And Panel says....

... The Knack with My Sharona!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


1978 next week kiddies!  See you then!