Time Machine co-ordinates VXIV42233184

With a very unpleasing sneezing and wheezing, the Musical Tardis slams and bangs and like a calliope crashed to the ground, we land in 1984.  And it's March 31st, 1984- which means that we are one sad day away from the death of HOFer Marvin Gaye- shot by his father after stepping in between mom and pop during a fight.  Later it will be learned that Marvin Gay Sr was suffering from a brain tumor that may have contributed to the violence.

Even at 45, gone too soon.

This week, we are still stuck beyond the Martin Era, and in the Orwellian year of 1984 we'll hit the new oldest number one, the new widest margin in our POTM election, and a clash of the movies on the 6D!  So climb in and find out What's Going On, you might see How Sweet It Is, because It Takes Two to enjoy Time Machine, and Ain't That Peculiar?



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So our Panel this week was a 54-strong list who nominated a surprisingly low 10 songs for the top.  And to discuss them, I give you this week's President, Gentleman Jim Reeves.


Dankie! Ons eerste liedje vandag... 

Whoa, wait!  Is that Afrikaans you're speaking?

Why yes.  I was very popular in South Africa, and did several records in their language.

In fact, I just read that.  In fact, I read where you were one of only three artists in the Republic to record on their rare 16 2/3 RPM records!

That's right.  It was myself, Elvis, and Slim Whitman...

And that sounds like the set up for a punch line.  So before we get too far afield, maybe you could do the list... in English?

Of, course.  We start our group with Phil Collins and Against All Odds, which was at #10 this week on Billboard.

The Pointer Sisters were at #8 with Automatic, the low lead vocal by Ruth Pointer.

Someone calling himself "Weird Al " Yankovic is at #9 with Eat It.  I understand it's a comedy recording.

The top song on Cashbox is Kenny Loggins with Footloose.  Is this that, "Footloose and Fancy Free" song?

Um, no...

Oh well, I guess you get out of touch with music recorded 20 years after your death...

...and so you'd better pick up the pace before someone finds out I sprung you for the afternoon...

You're quite right.  A sweet young child named Cyndi Lauper is at #3 with Girls Just ... er, Wanna Have Fun.

Lionel Richie is falling at #18 with Hello.

Van Halen steps out from their usual with a song called Jump at #4.

Wait, how do YOU know about Van Halen in.. you know..

What, you don't think we get musical acts up here?  Anyway, at #8 was the German language hit by Nena, 99 Luftballons.

A young man calling himself Rockwell is at #2 with Somebody's Watching Me.  Sounds like a gospel song.

And Willie Nelson- he's still around? - and Julio Iglesias are at #39 with To All The Girls I Loved Before.

Thanks.  Now as I have already let the cat out of the bag that somebody won BIG this week, it may seem a bit useless to give out clues, but there are actually 4 songs that stayed fairly close, until a LOOOOONG winning streak at the end of my survey put it way outta reach.  And those four were:

Van Halen
Kenny Loggins
Cyndi Lauper
and... Rockwell...

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Our only debut this week comes from somebody already in the M10- the OLDEST somebody in the M10.  Because when I was looking about and found the Four Seasons' cover of Walk On By, I also found this gem off the 1964 lp Rag Doll, and it comes in at #10 this week.






And this brings up an interesting (at least to me) item- Marcie is the 198th song to hit the M10.  We might see #200 as soon as next week...


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1984 was a year when the weeks a song stayed on the chart were growing longer and longer.  In fact, this week's chart had 8 songs that had passed the 20-week mark- some you might remember, others maybe not:  Shannon with Let The Music Play was at week 20, Kool and the Gang with Joanna and Deborah Allen's Baby I Lied at 21, Yes and Owner Of A Lonely Heart at 22, Madonna's Holiday at 23, Elton John at 25 weeks with I Guess That's Why They Call It The Blues, the Romantics with Talking In Your Sleep at 26, and Matthew Wilder's Break My Stride at a whopping 29 weeks.

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So like I said, I had to dig into our past episodes to see what kind of margins our POTMs were winning by, because this one was so big.  Of course, we have had 2 elections go into a run off, with the Jackson Five winning the closer of those.  On the other side, we have had 3 winners claim 50+% of the vote:  Elton John had a 51.8% margin;  The Monkees collected 52%;  and Rod Stewart marked up 52.3   This week's winner made those elections look close- he/she/they collected a 59-11 margin!


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So we all remember the recently deceased Chuck Berry; how about his "cousin" Marvin?  Well, you know about Marvin and the Starlighters if you watched Back To The Future (which, amazingly to normal humans, I have not), because Marty McFly sang with them!  This soundtrack also featured Huey Lewis and the News on a couple of tracks, which was why he declined the simultaneous invite to do the Ghostbusters theme.  Another act allegedly asked to do this movie was Fleetwood Mac's Lindsey Buckingham, but he declined because he already had one movie theme to his credit (National Lampoon's Vacation's Holiday Road) and didn't want to be typecast.  So it went to Ray Parker Jr, who came up with the familiar "Who ya gonna call"- perhaps so familiar because it had ripped off the beat from our 6D victim, Huey's I Want A New Drug (which was at #5 with no votes this week).  So Huey sued Ray- and they settled.  17 years later, after the statute of limitations on speaking ran out, Huey had a little to say about the whole thing:

"The offensive part was not so much that Ray Parker Jr. had ripped this song off, it was kind of symbolic of an industry that wants something — they wanted our wave, and they wanted to buy it. ... [I]t's not for sale. ... In the end, I suppose they were right. I suppose it was for sale, because, basically, they bought it."


And that was enough to get Ray to sue Huey.  I don't know how that one turned out ( I did find an interesting speculative article on the whole ordeal, but since Norton is giving me the gray "We don't know about this site" icon, I won't link it) but Ray ended up suing the movie company later on for not getting what he was due from the movie, either.  So either he is a sue-a-holic, or doesn't watch his back very well.

Interesting side note:  the author of that article speculates that M's Pop Musik had that bass line first, "but you don't see him going around suing everybody".  Nothing new under the sun, I guess.


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Before the M10, our last bits of business:  The #84 for '84 was a tune I first heard on the old Friday Night Videos show (hands up who remembers that fondly?), the debut week of the Scorpions and Rock You Like A Hurricane.  In the UK, the top dog was Hello; and the highest song here that charted there was Somebody's Watching Me, 2 here and 26 there.



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And now, the M10.

POWERS slips back to #9 with Heavy.

Work Drugs moves up 2 to #8 with Giving Up The Feeling.

Next, a pair of one-notch climbers:  Real Estate with Serve The Song at 7, and Barry Manilow with his medley at #6.

In the other direction, the Pretenders' former #1 Let's Get Lost falls one to #5.

And so does Tom Jones with I Know at #4.

Chicano Batman leaps 3 to #3 with Passed You By.

Melody's Echo Chamber ends their 2-week hold on the top spot with Crystallized.


And that brings us to the #1s.  First, the new oldest song to hit #1 on the M10-

  ...the Four Seasons, "Featuring the sound of Frankie Valli", and Walk On By!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

They beat by a year the former oldest, Jack Wood's Born To Wander.

And the new biggest winner on the Panel vote...

...Kenny Loggins with Footloose!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


Next week's destination, in honor of our possibly having the 200th M10 debut, we will be in the year of the 200th ME song in the Cashbox top ten- whatever that is!  Excuse me, I have a bit of research to do....

Newspage Go!

I had a time deciding whether to call this a Newspage Go! (Which is generally a make-fun-of-the-headline thing) or a Martin World News (which is more story related), but I went with this mainly because I think I saw enough just on the FoxNews front page to last a lifetime  fill a post.  So let's get started with:

First HL: This is some Bernie Sanders math

Critics to Ivy Leagues: 'Taxpayer gravy train needs to end'


Explain, if you would, why Ivy League schools, set up already with enough endowments to cash out $2 million to every student, received an additional $41 BILLION from 2010-5- from us good hearted taxpayers.  Not only that, they don't get taxed on the investment gains from those $119 billion in endowments- that nets them a tax savings of almost another $10 billion.  In the meantime, HOW MANY community colleges have we had go by the wayside because the government refused to keep throwing them a bone over some arcane rule violation?  Guess that when you consider 12 presidents- 9 of the 20 since William McKinley- were Ivy Leaguers, it shouldn't be awfully surprising.


Second HL:  The views expressed aren't necessarily those of the dog

Man mauled to death by dog during BBC interview


The Sun really does a pretty bad job on the link through of what happened when, mostly because no one wants to talk until the lawsuits to come are settled.  But the basics are this:  A man and woman BBC film crew were doing some kind of documentary.  They were interviewing one Mario Perivoitos, a UK resident of Cypriot descent.  Mario was a bad guy of some shade; his dwelling was banned from having non-resident people over as he has a habit of maintaining a public nuisance.  Suddenly, Mario's Staffordshire bull terrier attacked him.  He was shouting, "Let me out of here!" though the door was locked from the inside, and when neighbors called police they had to crowbar the door open.  The interviewers were supposedly inside with him, so I don't know how this works.  Upshot of it all is reporters are talking to the cops but no one else, Mario died at the hospital, and the neighbors will be having a party this weekend to celebrate his demise.


Third HL: This will look so good on the resume you'll need

Woman called 'weird freak' on receipt

In another bout of English joie de vivre ,  A cashier at a restaurant in Yorkshire didn't think much of a customer wanting to "un-supersize" a meal.  The lady wanted to get a child-size omelette for her 11-month old child, explaining there was no point in getting a full one as he was just trying out regular food.  The cashier, after trying to get her to "just order a regular" omelette, rang up the order- and another girl near her and she shared a laugh.  The hubby, wondering what was so damn funny demanded to see the order.

Everyone else in the UK soon got to see THIS "receipt" from the store's GM:

Unfortunately today one of our staff acted in an incredibly unprofessional way and we are extremely sorry. It is not the high level of service that we know our customers expect from us and which we expect from our staff. We have made a direct apology to the customer concerned and will be taking up the matter internally with the staff involved.


Fourth HL:  I'm thinking the problem lies with you


Police: Driver runs out of gas after stealing squad car

Meet South Dakota's pride Troy James.  James had run out of gas and called the police for assistance.  Upon arriving, the deputies noted he was "acting bizarrely" and decided to TRY and detain him.  But Troy yanked the cop behind the wheel out and took off, leading various police departments on a merry chase, ending some 140 miles later- when he ran out of gas.



Fifth HL:  And for dessert...

Indonesia man swallowed whole by python, reports say

Yep, a 23 foot long reticulated python swallowed whole an Indonesian palm-oil farmer.  The 25 year old Akbar (last name unknown) disappeared the day before, but wasn't missed because his wife was exchanging family gossip a village or two over.    A search party soon found the python, no doubt in a food coma, with Akbar's boots up in it's neck region and his head... well you can figure that one out.  An uncle dropped by the next day and found no one around- and called out the posse.  Mrs. Akbar found out about her husband's demise the old fashioned way- on the news.

Because yep, somebody shot a video of the villagers cutting the python open.  And no, I ain't watching it.


Last HL:  "...yelling, 'Stroke! Stroke! at all hours..."


Allman Brothers Band guitarist's wife charged with 18 counts of aggravated assault with a firearm


Mrs Dickie Betts claims that since they live near the practice area for the Sarasota Crew rowing team, the practice has 'destroyed her life.'  So Tuesday, she sat on her porch and aimed her trusty shotgun at about 100 kids and coaches, threatening to shoot them all.  Donna Betts then called 911 on them, which might not have been her smartest move as she ended up in police custody.  On further thought, though, maybe it WAS her smartest move.

And now, short and sweet

After yesterday's long winded post on politics, I feel much better and am ready to share with you the important stuff:

Bushes on Ground Hog Road blooming

Cat:  Get this dog outta here!
Scrappy: (whines):  I just wanted to sniff her butt...

Scrappy wanted to have me cross THAT to get him closer to something he was "tracking."  That would be a "no".

Did see some more little flowers along the way

Third circle to this spot:  still "no"

And at the barn, sniffing around the bumpy moss

The one and only health care post

I am not going to pretend to be an expert on the misnamed Affordable Care Act, but I can see by observation it is a big failure.  Failure because it is supposed to be affordable, and if you think it is any more affordable than COBRA you are kidding yourself.  Good thing it wasn't called the "Easy Care Act", too, because if you have ever made the mistake of getting on the government website to price things, you quickly find out, in the great scam tradition, signing on means (to them) you are signing up.  The only thing I ever saw comparable to the "health.gov snare" is run by the sites that promise you next day loans at 30% interest- trust me, just looking means you have to call them and explain to them why you are NOT interested.  And why would the government want to set up an "exchange" like this?  Well, how about because the whole thing is a gigantic Ponzi scheme, in which young people pay in and the older and sicker reap the benefits.  Except that the young people were smart enough to stay away in droves, so that every passing year, the older and sicker pay more and more.

And God forbid that you work for one of the princes of industry like Wal-Mart, who deal with the odious requirements for employers by just not giving anyone enough hours to rate company-purchased health insurance.  Because then you can either pay between $200-500 a month for this state's plan, or you can watch your tax refund get gobbled to the tune of a $700 penalty.  Look, if I didn't have work insurance, I'd be basically working for rent, gas, insurance, and lights.

I get that it has helped some people out.  But a GOOD law would do it without screwing someone else.  So all it has accomplished is to play musical chairs with who's getting tooken.

And that brings us to the recent attempts to pass a better version.  Was it better?  Debatable.  While as it was written, Laurie would get back to feeling like the taxes she pays actually meant something, others would lose their "musical chair."  But it was a start.  And sometimes you have to take it one step at a time.  However, this effort tripped and fell face first without a step, and I'd like to throw out some thoughts as to why that was.


First, The Donald.  Some people are saying that he just learned a big lesson on deal making when you aren't the biggest dog in the room.  Some are saying he threw a typical tantrum and quit when he didn't get his way.  Some are saying he never WANTED it to pass, just to show that he tried so that when the Ponzi scheme finishes falling apart, he can lay the blame where it rightly belongs and say, I told you so, and start from scratch.  My thoughts:

If it is the first, one must consider it is also the second.  A much better bill SHOULD have been crafted, time should have been spent with all parties involved, and it should have been passed.  The whole "I'm giving you till Friday" thing makes me question his integrity in wanting it to pass in the first place.  Of course, that's giving him credit for not being a big bully and just simply picking up his balls and jacks and going home.  If it is the former, I have to say, I don't appreciate Washington DC playing poker with our lives and would just as soon someone drop a nuke on the whole shebang and let us start over running things from, say, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.  If it's the latter, we're in for a very messy four years.

Second, Speaker Ryan.  I have to say that the good Congressman is rapidly approaching Boehner levels with me.  A good Speaker, say a Lyndon Johnson or a Newt Gingrich, knows how to work the floor- kiss the right asses, jerk the right lapels, and avoid embarrassing tableaus like this one.  Here we have to ask, was the task too great, the Speaker inadequate to the task, or did he really not WANT to work for it?  While the first is a possibility, I think the real debate here is over the second and third choices.  And I suppose it will depend on what we see from Ryan in the future to tell for sure.  Would I put it past him to sink the legislation in order to sink Trump?  Not on your life.  What better way to cloak himself in glory for a 2020 Presidential run than to say he saved the nation from the worst effects of a failed Trump Presidency?  (NOTE TO PAUL:  I'd sooner vote for Bernie Sanders right now than you.  Should this be your end game, don't expect your conservative base to fall all over themselves to anoint you.)


Third, the alleged Freedom Caucus.  All-or-nothing is just going to get everyone a big pile of nothing.  Do you really think you won something here?  A quick check of Wiki's latest list shows I have no one from Indiana to yell at- but Marlin Stutzman, I wouldn't bother trying to get your old seat back.  Frankly, I am sick to death of establishment vs Trump, sick to death of establishment vs conservatives, and sick to death of you.  If you can't quit playing The Game long enough to care about what YOUR PEOPLE really need, what's the point in voting for you?


Fourth, the Democrats.  Truthfully, I don't think they are qualified to even be considered here.  Start with Nancy Pelosi.  She said- and here's the full quote- “We have to pass the bill,” she said, “so that you can find out what is in it — away from the fog of the controversy.”  Matthew Yglesias of Vox.com apparently thinks that is enough different from the "truncated version" we know so well that it holds up her integrity.  I DON'T.  The controversy was caused by the rush of the mammoth bill to a vote before any but the crafters knew what it was about.  If the only way to learn what was in it was to pass it and let it start screwing people, then it did not deserve to be passed.  But did ANY Dem have integrity enough to say, "Hey, whoa, pahdner"?  Nope.  Because Dems align right behind the party line, no matter what- thus Hillary could get away with co-opting the DNC, get away with massive security failures, get away with screwing Bernie Sanders, and they all just got in line and voted for her anyway.  The one thing that makes me mad about Dems venting about Trump is that they would have gleefully voted for him had he run as a Democrat against, say, Ted Cruz.  Because that's what Dems do.  When they show me an iota of backbone about what's right and wrong despite the party line, I'll give them due consideration.  Ditto the Freedom Caucus.  You guys want to become your own "little Democrat party"?  See how well that endears you with your voters.


So there you have it.  The media wants to know how everyone is "assigning blame" in this mess.  Well, this is how I'm assigning blame.  Number one, first and foremost, an American electorate that is THIS stupid.  How stupid?  Look at the people we have put up there to run for President lately.  George W Bush.  Al Gore.  John Kerry.  John McCain.  Barack Obama.  Hillary Clinton.  Donald Trump.  And experts want to tell me James Buchanan was the worst President ever.

Number 2, ANYone we have elected in recent memory.  Every last one of them would rather play The Game once they cross the Beltway than give a flying fig for any of us out here.

And number three, myself.  For not being rich enough, charismatic enough, good looking enough, to get myself elected.  For being too lazy, too uninformed, too afraid to stand up when I should have.  For being too willing to just say, fooey, it's just politics.  Because in the end, all you "me"s out there, we have no one to blame but ourselves.

Sunday Message: Going to Trenzalore

Ten: I won’t remember either so you might as well tell me.
The Doctor: Tell you what?
Ten: Where it is we’re going that you don’t want to talk about.
The Doctor: I saw Trenzalore. Where we’re buried. We die in battle among millions.
Ten: That’s not how it’s supposed to be.
The Doctor: That’s how the story ends. Nothing we can do about it. Trenzalore is where you’re going.
Ten: Oh, never say nothing. Anyway, good to know my future is in safe hands. Keep a tight hold on it, Clara.
Clara: On it.

Ten: Trenzalore. We need a new destination, because… I don’t wanna go.

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“I assure you: When you were young, you would tie your belt and walk wherever you wanted. But when you grow old, you will stretch out your hands and someone else will tie you and carry you where you don’t want to go.” John 21:18


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In a bygone age, when you were about to meet your end, they said you were heading for your Waterloo.  For Doctor Who fans, the destination is now Trenzalore.  And it struck me that both Peter and Paul ended up at their personal Trenzalore- Rome.  The place they knew they would die.  And while we know precious little about Peter's trip, we know that Paul didn't fear the journey- in fact, he demanded it.


…11If, however, I am guilty of anything worthy of death, I do not refuse to die. But if there is no truth to their accusations against me, no one can hand me over to them. I appeal to Caesar!” 12Then Festus conferred with his council and replied, “You have appealed to Caesar. To Caesar you will go!” Acts 25:11


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What was it that made these two real heroes willing to go where the fictional ones feared to tread?  Because they knew that where they went, where they had the opportunity to go, Christ was leading them.  He had a job for them, in that moment, and they had a DESIRE to do it.  You would almost want to say, in man's understanding, that they knew they were the ONLY men for the job....

But that wouldn't be true.

They thing that triggered this thought-line was the story of Esther.  Sometimes a person wonders what this book, the only one in the Bible to not directly mention God, is even doing in the cannon.  It is a particularly Jewish book, not really a doctrinal book, and such was the reason 1 and 2 Maccabees were bounced from the Protestant text.  But there is one crucial verse, upon which the whole book swings, which is the true core of this book.  And that is when Mordecai asks Esther to go to Trenzalore:


7 And Mordecai told him of all that had happened unto him, and of the sum of the money that Haman had promised to pay to the king's treasuries for the Jews, to destroy them.

8 Also he gave him the copy of the writing of the decree that was given at Shushan to destroy them, to shew it unto Esther, and to declare it unto her, and to charge her that she should go in unto the king, to make supplication unto him, and to make request before him for her people.

9 And Hatach came and told Esther the words of Mordecai.

10 Again Esther spake unto Hatach, and gave him commandment unto Mordecai;

11 All the king's servants, and the people of the king's provinces, do know, that whosoever, whether man or women, shall come unto the king into the inner court, who is not called, there is one law of his to put him to death, except such to whom the king shall hold out the golden sceptre, that he may live: but I have not been called to come in unto the king these thirty days.

12 And they told to Mordecai Esther's words.

13 Then Mordecai commanded to answer Esther, Think not with thyself that thou shalt escape in the king's house, more than all the Jews.

14 For if thou altogether holdest thy peace at this time, then shall there enlargement and deliverance arise to the Jews from another place; but thou and thy father's house shall be destroyed: and who knoweth whether thou art come to the kingdom for such a time as this?


We all face points at which we have the choice to do that "something extra" for God; and many times, we tell ourselves, "Well, there are others more qualified to do this, get out of the way and let them do it."  But, what if this is the reason we are led to such a position- God giving us the chance TO do the thing?  It wasn't that Peter or Paul HAD to die in Rome or the Church would collapse;  God would have chosen another for the honor.  But they wanted to do it, for, as Paul put it, the prize that awaited them.

When the Doctor at last went to his Trenzalore, he got an unexpected gift- 12 more lives.  When we face our Trenzalore, we add "prizes" TO our eternity.  The apostles looked past the current fame to what awaited ahead.  They trusted Jesus, and He TOLD them what waited ahead was better.  And OUR Trenzalore doesn't even have to be about death, or pain.  It can be as simple as showing Christ in Your life to someone else.  Don't be afraid to go!

Assorted pics from the past week

Ground Hog Road getting busy again

"I KNOW you're in there..."

A dip in the pond, so to speak

The first of the new towers going in early in the week

Scrappy figures out the ground hogs like to hide under the boardwalk

The kids come over for a walk on a beautiful Friday

Peanut in his new stroller.  Almost rolled right into the canal.
Me:  "Geez, Jessica woulda killed us!"
KC:  "Yeah and you'd have took pictures of it and put them on FB, with the headline, ' Baby gone wild, crashes in ditch. Film at 11' ".

The tiny flowers are starting... we've finally rounded the corner

And an escapee daffodil in the woods!

When we jump this log, we know we've made 1/2 mile

Scrappy was convinced there was something in this log- and he was right!

Tucked in the back, a baby possum!

Then, we ran into some deer...

Later, we clambered down to an area we haven't much explored- the creek right off the back trail.

Dead ahead is where the deer were hanging out

And ahead that way is The Spot.  Scrappy unsuccessfully tried to force a 'back door' to it.

There's something you don't often see in the middle of the woods....

And the first two towers are up!

The socceristas are blooming....

And Mich's wonderful portrait of Scrappy is now hung!

Time Machine Co-ordinates VXIII42132460

Somehow trapped outside the Martin Era, we have slingshotted into March of 1960, and landed one day short of the day that Oliver Cromwell's head was buried.  What, you say?  Yes, Cromwell, in addition to being a buzzkill at parties, was so unpopular amongst the GP of England that he was dug up after his 1659 death; his body was dumped in the sea (or a pit, no one's really sure), and his head, after touring the country on a pike, was passed around until finally coming into the possession of a certain family from 1815, and they finally got tired of passing him around and had him planted somewhere in Cambridge.

Legend has it whoever displayed the head never worried about mice or cockroaches in the house.

Well, this week has a lot of somber news before we begin.  You all have heard about the recent passing of Chuck Berry by now, and we'll deal more with that in a bit.  Also this week we lost Boston drummer Sib Hashian, who collapsed onstage during a Legends cruise.  I hope that both of them were happy with where their lives had led, because in music as in other lines, it's easy to lose the life while concentrating on the career.  Just today I saw an article on M10 artist John Mayer, musing on what he'd missed out on.  From FoxNews:

John Mayer is approaching 40, and he realizes he didn’t do everything right during his years in the spotlight.

Mayer, who has a reputation as a womanizer, spoke to the New York Times about his new album, “The Search for Everything,” and the rocker admitted he has some major life regrets.

“I wish there was somebody to throw me the 40th,” Mayer told The Times. “I want the baby with the protective earphones [by the stage].”

The guitarist added, “I’m right on time for my career, and I’m running late for my life.”


Okay, now, let's shake off the melancholy and get to some fun music and trivia, starting with:


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The first of three debuts this week.  At #10 we have a new release by a group called Work Drugs...





Their lp, One Foot Off The Merry-Go-Round, comes out this summer.


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And now for our Panel picks.  26 stations gave us 11 candidates- and in the end, two of them duke it out in a run-off this week!  The contestants, if you will...

Brook Benton and Dinah Washington with Cashbox's #3 this week, Baby You've Got What It Takes.

Toledo's Johnny and the Hurricanes with their #12 instrumental, Beatnik Fly.

Jackie Wilson with Doggin' Around, which would enter the bubbling under end of things at 125 next week.

Jim Reeves with the national runner-up, He'll Have To Go.

Hull, Quebec hadn't yet got the memo about the holidays being over- they had Harry Simeone's Chorale with The Little Drummer Boy still at the top of their charts.  Needless to say, that's a clue.

Connie Francis' two sided hit Mama/Teddy, which were at #s 9 and 35.

Paul Anka and Puppy Love, at #5.  Hey, BTW, keep an eye on me so I don't slip in a $ instead of an # like last week...

Brenda Lee with Sweet Nothings, at #6.

Percy Faith and orchestra with one of my all time top 5, the Theme From A Summer Place.  It was #1 on CB this week- in fact, it was on week 5 of an eight week run, and kept Jim Reeves out of the top spot for three of those weeks.

Johnny Tillotson with a nifty doo-wop tune, Why Do I Love You So, stuck at #39.

ANNNNNNNNNNNNd Bobby Darin with Wild One, at #4.

And here with your opening clue , our POTM this week, Ms Joan Jett!

Yeah, I thought you were lettin' me do the Chuck Berry thing.

The day's still young.  You never know.

I WANTED to do the Chuck Berry thing.

You know, a lot of POTMs would LOVE the chance to do two features...

Awright.  So the clue is, there are six acts that got multiple #1 votes- Connie and Brenda, that fox Bobby, the Hurricanes, and Percy and Reeves.  And two of 'em tied, forcing a run-off- the #1 and 2 songs!  So you get ta pick from Summer Place and He'll Have To Go.  So place your bets.

See, that wasn't so bad, was it?

Yeah, but I wanna do...

Okay, okay, ladies and gentlemen, Joan Jett with a bit of a Chuck Berry tribute!

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One of the great things about Chuck's music is that it was so accessible.  Everybody with a guitar played Chuck's tunes back in the day.  The Beatles, in fact, covered most of his songbook at one point or another, most famously Rock'N'Roll Music.  They didn't release it stateside, but topped the charts with it in Finland, Norway, the Netherlands, and Austria.  It was also covered by another band he heavily influenced, the Beach Boys, who took it to #5 on Billboard.

Of course, the Beach Boys more famously covered his #2 hit Sweet Little Sixteen- although they changed the words to Surfin' Safari and got sued over it.  That Murray Wilson was a real peach.

Johnny Rivers was also big on covering Chuck, hitting #12 with Maybelline, and #2 with Memphis.

His songs had a few covers hit big on the country charts, too.  Buck Owens took Johnny B Goode to #1, and Emmylou Harris took C'est La Vie (You Never Can Tell) to #6.

Over in England, he also had a lot of covers, with Jimi Hendrix, Peter Tosh, and Judas Priest all doing Johnny B Goode, and Don Lang and his Frantic Five- along with as varied of acts from Gary Glitter to AC/DC- doing School Days.  And over here, a couple last covers to mention:  Linda Ronstadt went top 20 with Back In The USA, and Chris' favorite CB cover- ELO hammering out Roll Over Beethoven!   So if you judge a man by the company he keeps- just look at all the talent that wanted to keep company with him...

Well, done, Joan.  And now, the second debut, coming in at #8, I give you the new tune from a Philly group called Real Estate...





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Our 6D victim this time was the song without a vote sitting at #7- the Platters and Harbor Lights.  The fascinating thing about this tune came when it first came out in the fall of ten years before- 1950.  Between September and November, no less than 6 different versions were on the charts basically at the same time.  Three of them were Billboard top tens- Sammy Kaye and his Swing-and-Sway boys at #1, racking up 25 weeks on the chart; Guy Lombardo, who spent 20 weeks and peaked at #2; and Bing Crosby, who took it to #10.  With Ray Anthony, who peaked at #15, these four were all combined as one chart-topper on CB which held the top from November 11th until December 23*, and spent 11 more weeks in the top ten after that.

Also, Billboard charted versions by Ralph Flanagan (who worked sometimes as an arranger for Sammy Kaye) and organist Ken Griffin, who would pass just 5 years later.  They both peaked at 27 on BB, and I found no trace of them on CB.

*That run for the gang of four was interrupted one week- December 17th when Phil Harris- band leader, comedy artist, and the voice of 70's Disney characters Baloo the Bear, O'Malley the Alley Cat, and Robin Hood's Little John, broke onto the top with The Thing, which if you are interested, you can listen to here.  What was amusing as I listened was the YouTube comment speculation of what the "thing" was- including " Kanye West & the Kardashians, U2, Coldplay, Nickelback, Rascal Flats & Justin Bieber all rolled into one", a picture of President Trump, a "penis in a box" ("No because his wife didn't want it either"), an embarrassing party pic of Spongebob Squarepants, a gun, a bag of marijuana, and "Jumanji".

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As we are starting to run long this week, I'm going to combine a bunch of untied ends up in one shot here.  The top song in the UK was one of my brother's all time favorites, Johnny Preston's Running Bear (which was on the way down at #44 here).  The 60 at #60 was Della Reese with Someday (You'll Want Me To Want You)... and a new feature I'm thinking of starting, "What happened to the guy at #101? " That guy this week was Wilbert Harrison with a sequel to his song Kansas City, called Goodbye Kansas City.  Wilbert was in a bit of trouble at the time- you see, he had released KC on the Fury label, but he was still under contract to Savoy Records.  It would create conditions that would keep him off the charts for almost a decade.  In any event, Goodbye KC was the exact same tune as Kansas City- just with the words changing, having him abandon all his crazy women to return to New York.


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And now, the rest of the M10.

#9 is the slowly falling former #1 by Chicano Batman, Friendship (Is A Small Boat In A Storm), which slips 3 spots.  But don't grieve for them because their NEW one comes in at #6:





Barry Manilow, in between all of this, moves up a pair to #7 with the New York City Rhythm/On Broadway medley.

POWERS holds at #5 with Heavy.

The Pretenders et al drop 2 more to #4 this week with Let's Get Lost. (NOTE:  I just caught myself twice hitting that darn dollar sign...)

Tom Jones climbs another spot to #3 with I Know.

The Four Seasons edge up to the runner up spot with Walk On By.


And the number ones?  M10 says...

Melody's Echo Chamber for a second week with Crystallized!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

And now, the battle at the top of the Panel Picks... we had a tie at 23% each, which means I do a run-off election to see who got the most votes at #2!  And by a 7-3 margin, the winner is....

...Jim Reeves and He'll Have To Go!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


So, I can't tell you for sure if our musical Tardis is going to break back into the ME real soon... but I can say next week's journey will be a little... Orwellian...