Time Machine co-ordinates VIXL4732974

Today we go to February 9th of 1974- a day fairly bereft of notable happenings.  Google tried to fool me with a story about the "Great Southeastern Snowstorm"- but sharp eyes noted that the storm happened in nineteen seventy-THREE, not '74 like I asked for.  I wish my eyes had been so sharp last week when I gave you the five picks to choose the Panel winner from and left out THE WINNER, Elton John!

Yes, and we're going to be discussing THAT in a bit...

Yes we are, because Sir Elton is the POTM this week, and he and I will be doing the Panel picks and HOPEfully I won't forget anybody this time!  Also this week, there's a "shadow" cast across the 6D; ANOTHER OT on the Panel picks; a topsy-turvy M10 that gave me all sorts of unexpected headaches; and the top half of the biggest acts in M10 history!  So grab a shovel, just in case, and hang on!

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I have two debuts by two bands so new that I barely have anything to tell you about them!  The first, we know a little more about:  they are from East LA, and call themselves The Tracks.  They are led by 25-year old hard-life survivor Venancio Bermudez, whose story includes watching his father literally drop dead from cancer right in front of him as a high schooler,  and working for 4 years in a tortilla factory to support the family- where he, as a legal resident, was harassed by the illegals that made up most of the workforce.  But life is better now, and his band comes in at #10:





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So today, as you know, we welcome in Elton John after his exciting OT win last week, to preside over another OT slugfest!  Nice to have you here, sir!

Oh, yes, suck up now.  After HOW long you've been embarrassing me with THIS picture...

I'm not sure why that picture would bother you;  It's not near as bad as SOME I could use...

Oh, good heavens!  How many times, though, have you called me "Sir Elton Duck" while using that picture?  Borderline libellous, I might say...

Did I mention that I have been doing a new feature featuring the stats of US-UK music aggregator MusicVF to show their biggest act of the year, and John Denver beat you this year of 1974, in the second closest contest ever?

John Denver?  Well, the close score tells you THAT was a fluke.

Except he rolled you over in 1975 as well- two years in a row...

AHEM, maybe we should just do this thing...

My thoughts exactly.  So this week we have 11 candidates from 37 stations, including another shot for you!

Well, that's only proper... hmm, I see John Denver is NOT on the list, so I guess we'll have a go.

First up is the spoken word open letter Americans by Byron MacGregor, at #2 on the Cashbox survey.

Next up is a delightful English actor, Max Bygraves, with a tune that was #1 in Australia called Any Dream Will Do.  Imagine it was a bit too classical for North American tastes...

I thought it was nice.

Next is... oh, good grief!  Benny And The Jets???  I hated that one more than Crocodile Rock!  You people have no taste.

And HOW much money did you pocket off those two songs?

Well, er... it was an early vote, as it hadn't charted and wouldn't get the top until April.  How on earth does that happen?

Well, some cities don't "get the memo"... some peek at it before they should...

Yes, quite.  Anyway, the #3 song on CB was Love's Theme by the Love Unlimited Orchestra.  Isn't that the one they use on golf matches here in the colonies?

Yeah, they used to anyway.

Another Aussie station has a vote for... Really?  Alvin Stardust?  The man is SO tacky.

Yeah, I know- he's made a couple of stop-ins here on TM.

This tune that the Antipodes liked was My Coo Ca Choo.  You lot never charted him, did you?

Nope.

Good thing, that.  Next is... Oh, the Lorenzo Marquez song this week is my good friend Sir Rod Stewart, with the Faces, and Pool Hall Richard.  The Faces never really gave it a go here, did they?

No, and this one didn't chart here, though it was at #24 in the UK, on it's way to a peak of #8.

Terry Jacks was at #10 with Seasons In The Sun.  Sad song.  You know, he actually had another in the top ten in the UK as well.

I do now...

Jim Stafford was at #9 with Spiders And Snakes.  Nice silly bit to balance out the last one.

The CB #1 was Barbara Streisand with The Way We Were.  Delightful woman.

I'll just say this was a great song and leave it at that.

Hm.  Harry Chapin was next, at #53, with WOLD.

And lastly was another good friend, Ringo Starr, with You're Sixteen, which was at #4.  And, if I may, the UK chart, in addition to Pool Hall Richard, had My Coo Ca Choo at #16, and Love's Theme at #20.

Thanks, Sir Elton.  Despite the rocky start, we had some fun.

I suppose so...

ANYhow, you all already know you had a tie at the top, so let me gather up the appropriate ringers...

...And the winner...

...AND the winner, and give you your choices.  Choose from Ringo, Barbara, Jim Stafford, Terry Jacks, and the LUO.

Oh, thank heavens you didn't say, "and Elton John."  Bad enough to get elected for Crocodile Rock.


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And now, how about the top ten acts of M10 history, fully updated for this week's chart!

10- The Jayhawks, with 105 points on three songs, most of them on the former Biggest M10 hit of all time, Quiet Corners And Empty Spaces.

9- A couple of weeks ago when I first made the list, this was the #8 act, but got passed last week.  With four songs including the #1 Beat Of My Drum, POWERS with 121 points.

8- And the act that passed them- Lucius with 2 #1s already and 135 points.

7- No surprise for Bobby G, as he correctly guessed Mo Kenney would have a spot.  She's piled up 148 points with three hits, 2 #1s.

6- With a big #1, followed by a #2, followed by a #3, Agnes Obel rolled up 154 points, just 2 less than...

5- Melody's Echo Chamber, with three #1s and 156 points.

4- There are just 4 acts with 5 or more M10 hits, and they are all at the top!  The "or more", with six hits and a #1, Alvvays.

3- Despite two songs still in the top ten this week, the Shacks hold out at #3 with five hits and 2 #1s, for 214 points.

2- Last week's man at the top, Dent May, with 226 points.

1- And even though I thought by now somebody might have caught them they still had enough juice to clear the field by 15 points- a total Dent has a chance of passing in the next few weeks.  But for now, still the M10's top act...

...with three #1s and 241 points, Beach House!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


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Our next act is so new, the virtual only thing I know about them is that it is a "indie supergroup" fronted by one JT Daly, who is a writer/producer for a big new act on the alt charts called K-Flay (which to this point has been interesting but just a bit dark for me), and has his own main band called Paper Route (which I have not yet dug into).  He has a female partner, an artist by trade named Nikki Barber (and that I found out just minutes ago), and together the call themselves the Voodoo Children.  And they debut clear up at #6 with their song...







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So I am going to start our 6D story with one Adrian Gurvitz.  His father was tour manager for Cliff Richard and the Shadows, so not surprisingly he is a musician.  His musicianship really isn't part of the story, save for that time period where he was asked to be vocalist and guitarist for a new band formed by former Moody Blues founder Grahame Edge.  Now Grahame was the writer of Late Lament, the poem read by fellow founder Mike Pinder on Nights In White Satin.  Pinder and a third founding Moody, Ray Thomas, were among a group of background singers on the Beatles hit I Am The Walrus.  Also appearing on that record, doing much of the deep-voiced "ooh ooh ooh eee eee ees" and other assorted parts, was an outfit called the Mike Samms Singers.  And Mike Samms was the deep background vocal on our 6D song- a song written by another Shadows' alum, John Rostill (yeah, the whole Shadows thing was a real stretch, but it worked).  That song, sitting at #5 this week without a Panel vote, is Olivia Newton-John's Let Me Be There.

I couldn't find the poster I used to have on my wall, but it looked a lot like this.  Thrown away after Physical came out.

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Stat Pack time!

I knew 42 0f the 100 this week.  One that I didn't was Johnny Mathis with the #74 in '74, Life Is A Song Worth Singing.  It would be his last to crack the 100 until Too Much Too Little Too Late in 1978.

The tune at 101 this week was the last time this act made it this high- Bobby Goldsboro's Marlena- not the same song that the Four Seasons had a hit with years before.

The UK was all about glam- Alvin Stardust was on the chart, the #1 was a glam band called Mud with a tune called Tiger Feet; and one of Gary Glitter's deals was #2.

Oh, and the OT pair?  If you didn't pick Ringo or Terry Jacks, you are out- although you should give yourself a pat on the back for Streisand, as she came up a loser in a 9-9-8 contest.

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And now, the remaining M10:

As I mentioned the Shacks were on twice in a topsy-turvy week that had NOBODY end up where I thought they would when I started figuring it up.  One of those tunes was Audrey, spending its 8th week on the chart at #9, falling two spots;  while Follow Me got caught in the squeeze and also dropped a spot to #5.

Also a victim of the capricious nature of this week's chart was BORNS, who I thought might be climbing but instead dropped 2 to #7 with We Don't Care.

Also dropping, though not AS surprisingly, was Dent May and Take Me To Heaven, getting squeezed out of a one-week stay at the top to #4.

Moving up 3 to the #3 spot, and a main instigator of all the turmoil, was the Decemberists and Severed.

The top was a virtual tie- thought I might have to flip a coin.  But I made a decision, and Lucius moves up but one to #2 with Neighbors this week.

And for the third time, (ironically, Dent May did it once), a song RETURNS to the top after a week or so absence; and this time it belongs to...

... the illuminati hottie, Sarah Tudzin, with (You're Better) Than Ever!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

  And the OT winner?  why that would be...

...Ringo Starr, as he rolled up a 4-1 win in the overtime!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

(But don't be too proud; had Barbara gotten that one more vote to go into the OT, she would have whipped them both in the OT... and so would the Love Unlimited Orchestra!)



Be here next time for- 1975, and Ringo!