Time machine co-ordinates VIXI43871467

Follow me to July 14th, 1967- the summer before my kindergarten year- as we see the release of Bee Gees 1st, the third lp by the band but first for UK and North American release.  Featuring new hire Vince Melouney on lead guitar- the same position as he had on recent Panel pick Billy Thorpe and the Aztecs- the lp had four songs counted on their greatest hits albums later on:  New York Mining Disaster 1941, which hit #14; that 45's flip, I Can't See Nobody; the #16 Holiday; and the #17 To Love Somebody.  The album went top ten and springboarded their HOF career.

"Long before we started wearing THIS crap..."

And this is one of those odd episodes of Time Machine, in that there are NO M10 debuts- but I have a couple of videos to make up for that; also, the stations on the panel and # of candidates record falls yet again- though the race isn't quite so close; and just for fun, the surprising songwriting career of- Charlie Chaplin?  Plus, how they say Meathead in the UK! All that and more, right this way!


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And now, a few words with our POTM, Domingo "Sam" Samudio- once known as Sam the Sham!

What follows is some quotes from various interviews he has done since leaving the music world.

" `Woolly Bully' kicked Beatle butt!" he said. "I was told at the time we had the first certified million-seller recorded by an American during the British Invasion. `Woolly Bully' is a true blessing. The song has enabled me to live an anonymous life when I've chosen to do so, for which I'm very thankful."

"Rock 'n' roll is not for the fainthearted," Samudio said by way of explaining his long absence. "I avoided burning out by walking away. Because I'd try something else, another style, and my record company people would say, `No, Sam, give us another "Woolly Bully." ' I had no choice; I had to leave."

"One night we were docked at Del Carmen when a drunk captain came aboard," he recalled. "He looked at me and said, `Sam the Sham!' I didn't flinch. I asked him why he called me by that name and he told me, `You look just like Sam the Sham, only I know he died with Otis Redding in a plane crash.' I said I'd heard that story, too."

"I ran out of hope, ran out of dope, got to the end of my rope and knew if I didn't change I wasn't gonna make it," he said. "One night on the floor of my Hollywood apartment in the heat I said, 'Lord, let me up. If you just take this desire away, I know I need to change.' And there was no thunder or lightning, just a soft voice in my heart saying, 'I gave you a talent, and look what you've done with it.' "

I am told he is in various ministries now, but when I tried to nail down further info on "samthesham (dot) com, I found- believe it or not- a Japanese porn site.  Wooly Bully indeed...


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And next, let's do the #101 song this week.  Why?  Because it's one of the two videos I'm running this week!  With a name more famous, perhaps, than their body of work, and a story of tragedy almost equal to that of Badfinger, here is Moby Grape, with what would become their biggest hit:





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And now, the Panel, with 88 stations- and 22 candidates this week!

The "butt-whipped " Beatles with a song still 2 weeks from hitting the Cashbox national chart, All You Need Is Love.

Van Morrison with a bubbling-under (this week, that is), Brown Eyed Girl.

Frankie Valli with the National #1, Can't Take My Eyes Off You.

An all-timer for me, at #88 in its 2nd week, Bobby Vee and Come Back When You Grow Up.

Every Mother's Son was at #7 with Come On Down To My Boat.

Fifth Estate was at 21 on the way down with Ding Dong The Witch Is Dead.

Sonny and Cher with a song that would peak in September, It's The Little Things.

Stevie Wonder was #12 on CB with I Was Made To Love Her.

The Doors were at #11 with Light My Fire.

Music Explosion's A Little Bit Of Soul was at #3.

The Grass Roots were at #5 with Let's Live For Today.

Bettye Swan was at #24 with Make Me Yours.

Davy Jones of the Monkees was solo with My Dad.  The only place I found this released was on the B-side of a Japanese single, Dream Girl, but somehow Edmonton found it.

Scott McKenzie was in San Francisco wearing flowers in his hair to celebrate being at #4 on CB.

The Tremeloes were at #27 with Silence Is Golden.

Janis Ian was at #16 with Society's Child.

The Bar-Kays had Soul-Finger at #29.

A song we will be revisiting soon- Petula Clark's This Is My Song- got a vote despite peaking in April.

Jefferson Airplane was at #14 with White Rabbit.

Procol Harum was at #15 with Whiter Shade Of Pale.

And finally, the Association was at #2 with Windy.


Now, four contenders made it close for a while before one pulled away.  But which one was it?  Your choices are Whiter Shade Of Pale, Windy, Light My Fire, and Can't Take My Eyes Off You- the top two national hits, plus two not in the top ten!  Which will you choose?


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Next up, the next five on our list of the Biggest Acts of Summer ME 2.0!


And we start at #30 this week with...

...Simon and Garfunkel!


At number 29- proving that MY bias didn't creep into the list...

... Aretha Franklin!!!!

At #28, and for quite a while early on a top fiver...

...Brenda Lee!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Next up, a 26th place tie! And the first one, a man who rode just ONE hit into the countdown...

...former POTM Johnny Horton!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


And you can't get in better company than the man he's tied with....

...the Chairman of the Board, Frank Sinatra!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


Next week will lead off with a tie between a pair of HOFers!


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So while perusing this week's UK chart, I happened upon one of the cooler stories I have shared on TM!  At #3 was the Monkees with a tune called "Alternate Title".  Now, I KNEW that meant the original title got banned somehow, so I did some digging.  The original song title- which the record company thought might be too risque for the UK- was Randy Scouse Git, which Mickey Dolenz says is English for "Horny Liverpudlian Jerk."  He had copped the phrase from an English sitcom wherein a conservative head of family often faces off with a "socialist layabout" son-in-law.  Sound familiar?  Well how about if I tell you that that show was Till Death Do Us Part- which Norman Lear turned into All In The Family!  And what Mickey cribbed as "Randy scouse git", Archie Bunker turned into "Meathead"!  And here is that tune- Randy Scouse Git AKA Alternate Title:





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So, here's the remains of the Stat Pack this week-

The UK #1 is Whiter Shade Of Pale, which is #15 here.

And the #67 in '67 is Give Me Time by Dusty Springfield, which was the flip side of her bigger hit The Look Of Love.

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Our 6D victim this week is the #6 Don't Sleep In The Subway by Petula Clark.  This was off her lp These Are My Songs, an oddly ill-named title since there were such a plethora of famous names on the writing credits list.  Felix Cavaliere of the Rascals was one, as she covered Groovin'.  Another was John Phillips of the Mamas and the Papas, along with Francis Lai- who would go on to score the movie Love Story- and Michel Legrand, uncle of Victoria Legrand of Beach House.  But the most surprising name I saw was Charlie Chaplin-

-yep, THAT Charlie Chaplin!  Not surprisingly, he did the music end of things (with some help from other composers as he never learned to write music) and not the lyrics.  But his comps hit the top 40 no less than three times:

Eternally, which Vic Damone took to #12 in 1953;

Smile, which Nat King Cole took to #10 in 1954;

And the song that we mentioned in the panel picks the single released by Petula before Subway, This Is My Song, which she took to #3 in 1967.

Oddly enough, Clark- who was Chaplin's neighbor in Switzerland- was second choice to a dead man for the honor.  Chaplin wrote it for Al Jolson, and Chaplin refused (allegedly) to believe he had died long before until someone sent him a picture of Al's tombstone.

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And the sluggishly moving M10:

Beth Ditto returns to #10 after a week at 9 with In And Out.

Springtime Carnivore is moving down in threes, landing this week at #9 with Midnight Room.

Amber Mark slips a notch to #8 with Can You Hear Me.

Alkonost was the big mover this week, going from #10 to 7 with Mouth.

Quiet Hollers was up 2 to #6 with Funny Ways.

And the top five remain the same- And Mine Alone, Messin' With Me, Monaco, Two High, and the two-week #1:

courtship. with Sunroof!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


And the winner of this week's Panel vote...

...the Association with Windy!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

The band gathered 22.7 percent of the vote, beating Frankie Valli's 13.6.

Next week, 1968!  It'll be a riot!