Time Machine week 86

One of the advantages of being a Time Lord- or a blogger- is you can write ahead, in little chunks, and schedule.  That is what is happening on today's TM because my back is messed up somewhat and I don't wanna spend a whole lotta concentrated time working on this (Because I can't spring for the gorgeous blonde secretary to take dictation here).  At any rate, by the time you see this, we'll be in August 19th, 1972- the early morning on which the first Midnight Special appeared after Carson on NBC.  John Denver was guest host, performing Take Me Home Country Roads, and was joined by Andy Kaufman, Argent (Hold Your Head Up), Mama Cass (duet of Leaving On A Jet Plane with John), Harry Chapin (Taxi), the Everlys (All I Have To Do Is Dream), the Isleys (Pop That Thang), Helen Reddy (I Don't Know How To Love Him), Linda Ronstadt (Long Long Time), War (Slippin' Into Darkness), and David Clayton Thomas doing some solo stuff.  Wolfman Jack was of course there, and they themed on getting young people to vote.  According to my best stats, it didn't help- voting under 30 dropped slightly in '72, and those that did still voted for Nixon.

Even on trial I still got it...

And we welcome you to the Time Machine of the week the M10 completed its first full year!  This week we'll celebrate with a couple of specials, three new debuts, and when the six degrees became the tops of the pops!  Let's dive right in and discover the Pompatus of Love, shall we?

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The Panel this week who managed not to vote for the most popular song in the UK (and #6 here) consist of:  KQV Pittsburgh; KGGF Coffeyville; WKLO Louisville; KSTN Stockton; WSTP Salisbury NC; WOLF Syracuse; KSO Des Moines; WMEX Boston; KGY Olympia WA; WDGY Minneapolis; KRED Eureka CA; and WTIX New Orleans.  They collected 26 different songs, including five that got #1 votes- but not much else- and didn't make the Panel Four.  Those would be:  Mel and Tim's Starting All Over Again (Louisville), the O'Jays and Backstabbers (North Carolina), Mac Davis' Baby Don't Get Hooked On Me (Iowa), Chicago's Saturday In The Park (Olympia), and Elton John's Honky Cat (NOLA).  Our low charter section is a bit down from last week;  Stockton had the Eagles' Take It Easy at #2, notwithstanding it left the big chart in July; and Arlo Guthrie sat at #70 with City Of New Orleans.

And the Panel Four, which included 2 songs that got NO #1s, looks like this:

Without a #1 vote and 13 points, the national #3, Luther Ingram's (If Loving You Is Wrong) I Don't Want To Be Right.

Without a #1 vote and 15 points, the national #2, Looking Glass and Brandy.

With 22 points and the #1s of Stockton and Minneapolis, the national #5, the Hollies and Long Cool Woman (In A Black Dress).

And at the top, with 5 number ones and 34 points, the national top dog.... stay tuned.


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Our first debut this week, which sits at #10, is the latest from a founding father act of Alternative.  They formed in the mid-eighties, broke up just before the new millennium, and reunited with the original lineup in 2005.  They are Dinosaur Jr, and they are here with this gem:




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Well, one of the things I have been wondering about is the Panel's #1 picks.  You see, I wondered if this week's #1 hadn't been #1 before (it had not), but I learned some fun facts about the Panel's top picks I thought I'd share.

First off, who's been there most.  Well, that top spot goes to the Beatles- and maybe Elton John.  The Beatles have 5 Panel #1s to their credit- She Loves You in week 13; Get Back in week 25; Yesterday, week 46; We Can Work It Out/Day Tripper, week 58; and I Want To Hold Your Hand just 3 weeks later.  Now, EJ also topped five times, but one was a repeat:  Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds, week 6; Crocodile Rock, week 10; Goodbye Yellow Brick Road, week 53; and Philadelphia Freedom in weeks 19 and 70.  More on the repeat offender list in a bit.  So you could give EJ a demerit for the repeat; but since Neil Sedaka's Bad Blood (week 72) was an uncredited duet with Elton, I figure it's a wash.

Nobody else had more than two tunes in the list- and five of these were repeat offenders, too!  And the really weird thing about the repeat offenders- their repeats, save Philly Freedom, all came back to back!  The first repeater was George Harrison's My Sweet Lord, and there's a funny story about that one- it back-to-backed itself!  On Dec 18th, 2015, I did 1970 and it won.  I then skipped the next two weeks (as it was Christmas and New Years Day), and when I resumed, it was January 8th, I was in 1971- and George was still there!

Then came weeks 66-7 when the next two repeaters struck.  Week 66 was the second time for the very song George got sued for copying on My Sweet Lord- the Chiffons and He's So Fine!  They had also hit in week 16- the first time was the week of March 13, the second the week of April 1st.  And on week 67, Bobby Goldsboro hit for the second time (the first was wk 21) with Honey.  Those episodes were from the weeks of the 8th and the 24th of April.

And our last two repeaters came just a little while ago, weeks 83-4.  In week 83, the Stories' Brother Louie hit for the second time, the first week 35.  Those weeks were prolly the closest to being the same week- July 29th and August 7th.  The next week, the Lovin' Spoonful had their repeat of Summer In The City, first time week 37.  The Spoonful won for the weeks of August 5th and August 21.

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Debut #2 comes to us from a band with the unusual name of M.A.G.S.  Leader Elliot Douglas named the band after his grandma Maggie- it was supposed to be just Mags, but someone else had the name, thus the abbreviation.  Kinda like Alvvays is actually Always with the slight adjustment.  Anyway, here's the song at #9...






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So now that we're at the one year mark, who tops the M10?  Well, the latest top ten by points includes one song still on the chart!  There are 13 songs that have broken the 50 point mark (10 for #1, 9 for #2, etc.)  so a couple miss this countdown.

10- Nada Surf, Believe You're Mine, the highest song without a week at #1.
9- Telekinesis, Lean On Me (1 wk at #1)
8- Agnes Obel, Familiar (2)
7- Two Versions Of Tomorrow, Eleanor Friedberger (3)
6- Lucius, Madness (1)
5- Flo and Eddie, Keep It Warm (3)
4- You'll Always Be Lonely, Tangerine (4)
3- Beach House, Space Song (2)
2- Beach House Traveller (4)

And at the top-

The Jayhawks and Quiet Corners And Empty Spaces (4)!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

So the top ten collected just under half of the #1 weeks.

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So now that we've gone through the Bobby G list of composers (got any more, buddy?) I thought we'd go a little more current-events and get a quote from former London mayor and all around madman Boris Johnson:

My chances of being PM are about as good as the chances of finding Elvis on Mars, or my being reincarnated as an olive.


With or without pimento?

Okay, so let's get to the UK ten this week.

10- Country legend Faron Young had a #3 country hit- but only #92 on the big board- with Four In The Morning.

9- The Bee Gees were at #32 here with one of my faves, Run To Me.

8- Back in June, Cashbox had Sylvia's Mother by Dr Hook at the top.

7- Rod Stewart was climbing at #72 with You Wear It Well.

6- The Partridge Family was at #26 on the way down with Breaking Up Is Hard To Do.

5- Hot Butter and the instrumental Popcorn was at #42 here.

4- Donny Osmond hit #3 in April with Puppy Love.

3- the first of two US non-charters- Hawkwind and Silver Machine.

2- Novelty studio band Terry Dactyl and the Dinosaurs had their one hit wonder over there with Sea Side Shuffle.

And at #1, the tops of the pops- but with no Panel Love-

...Alice Cooper and School's Out!

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Debut #3, coming in at #8, is by a band so obscure all I really know about them is that they are from the North Island of New Zealand!  Introducing Shakes...






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And with that, we are ready for the REST of this week's M10:


7 and 6 are long timers finally dropping!  The Monkees, who surged to a second peak of #3 last week, slide to 7 with You Bring The Summer.

6 is the M10's #8 all time- Agnes Obel and Familiar, dropping a pair.

5 and 4 each climb a notch- Quilt's Roller to 5, and Acres Wild to 4 with Pastel Waves.

Our big mover this week is Phantogram with Fall In Love.

And, as I told Laurie, that fast a move prolly means that Marlene Gold and the Pom Poms will be a bridesmaid this time, with 1-2-3 still stuck at #2.

So, the #1s...


M10 says its 28th and final #1 for year number one is...

...the Explorer's Club and California's Callin' Ya!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


And the Panel's non-repeat pick?

Gilbert O'Sullivan... Alone Again, Naturally!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Next week, two more new specials to celebrate the 2nd year of the M10- and 1967!

The year this bad boy- the first car I drove- came from!  (No I did NOT drive it new, silly.  I was behind the wheel with Dad working the pedals though, very soon later...)