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...