Time Machine co-ordinates VIXLVI47932358

Today we go to March 23rd of 1958- and watch NASCAR driver Gwyn Staley, who was running fourth in the race at Richmond and third in convertible standings, roll his car 3 times, hit a fence, and come up top-down.  Suffering catastrophic injuries, he was DOA at the hospital.  He was a few months shy of 31 years old.

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Oh, but cheer up, it gets better, because this is Time Machine, and Andy Williams is here!  (Sorry, no bear though...)

"And no cookie, either!  Not now, not ever, NEVER!"

  This week, the Panel has a runaway winner for the first time in quite a while, a 6D that involves two of the Archies suing each other, (and speaking of Archie, guess who takes the "most M10 hits" lead back?), and the difference between Jimmy Velvit and Jimmy Velvet- and who he or they might be!  Plus, who was the "Girl with the Giggle"- and why was she the highest paid UK female singer of her era?  No laughing matter this- or maybe it is!  Let's find out!

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NOTE:  Next week, due to a "project" that will be seeing me "internet incommunicado" next week for a spell, you will only get an M10 update Thursday AM- NO TIME MACHINE next week.

I know, I know, but you'll survive.


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So let me get our first of 2 M10 debuts cued up.  At #9, the second hit from the lp Nudes, here's Lucius:





And as the header says, this is a cover of a song from 2015 by the Australian act Tame Impala.  The lp this was from, called Currents, was a #4 hit in the US.

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I am very excited and happy to have Andy Williams on the show this week!  How are you, sir?

Confused.  I thought your assistant said this was a Bob Hope Special...

Did my "assistant" look a lot like Elvis?

Come to think of it, yes... and I would have sworn the woman with him was Kay Starr...

That explains it.  Elvis has become quite the little prankster on this show, and I wondered if he might have stowed away from last week.  Anyway, what we do here is, you get an alphabetized list of the songs that got number one votes on various local charts this week.  You read them off, and the fans guess off which one got the most, and the singer is next week's guest- which is how you got here!

What song did I win with?

Butterfly.

Oh, that.  I thought Charlie Grace did it much better.

At any rate, here is your list.

All right, let me... well, here's Pat Boone with A Wonderful Time Up There... what's this?

That's where the song was charting on the Cashbox chart.

Oh, I see.  So Pat was at #20 this week.  You wouldn't think he'd have much of a chance, being that low...

You'd be surprised.

So then comes, the Monotones with The Book Of Love.  They were at #49, in their first week in the chart.

Young Laurie London is at #31 with He's Got The Whole World In His Hands. I recorded that one once.  What's this notation?

That means that the song was our biggest mover this week.  It went up from #51- a 20-notch jump.

Ah.  The Chordettes- lovely girls- are at #5 with Lollipop.

Can't argue with the man there...

Buddy Holly and the Crickets were at #17 with Maybe Baby.

Don Gibson had the country crossover O Lonesome Me at #39.

This next song says you have a story about it?

Yeah, I thought I'd put that on the list so you don't think I have to go to the bathroom.

Excuse me?

I'll explain later.  Anyway, the next song is Sugartime by the McGuire Sisters- which was former A's owner Charlie Finley's favorite song, if anyone cares... The reason I bring it up is that while the McGuires were #21 on the UK chart, there were also two OTHER versions of the song on their list.  One was by Jim Dale at #29, who would go on to, among many other things, write the lyrics to the Seekers' big hit Georgy Girl, and much later became the narrator for the Harry Potter audiobooks!

What's an audiobook?

Andy, the audience I am talking to is 60 years in your future.  If you ask about everything...

"You'll explain later."

Yep.  Anyway, the other version at #22 was by one Alma Cogan.  She'd been recording since '52 and by this point had 4 UK top 10s to her credit.

"Cogan was one of the first UK record artists to appear frequently on television, where her powerful voice could be showcased along with her bubbly personality and dramatic costumes. Her hooped skirts with sequins and figure-hugging tops were reputedly designed by herself and never worn twice. Cliff Richard recalls: "My first impression of her was definitely frocks – I kept thinking, how many can this woman have? Almost every song had a different costume. The skirts seemed to be so wide – I don't know where they hung them up!" Cogan topped the annual NME reader's poll as "Outstanding British Female Singer" four times between 1956 and 1960."  (from wiki). 

Oh, and John Lennon had an affair with her, just before her untimely death at the too-young age of 34.  Back to you, Andy!

She was a striking woman, that's for sure.  Chuck Berry was at #2 with Sweet Little 16, as we finally see the upper part of the charts here.

Tequila by the Champs was the #1 on Cashbox.

And finally, one of my favorites on the list, the Four Preps with 26 Miles, Santa Catalina.  It was at #4.  Back to you, Chris!  

Thanks, Andy, and I just wanted to let you that you were one of my Mom's favorites, and she passed it on to me.

Well, you give that wonderful woman a kiss for me!

Would that I could, my friend, would that I could.  Anyway, like I mentioned at the top, We have a runaway winner, who got almost half the vote- but as you don't know which one, guess from Tequila, Sweet Little 16, Lollipop, and 26 Miles, and we'll let you know a bit later on.

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Debut #2 I  have to give props to M10 artist Mikaela Davis.  She had it on her personal Spotify Playlist (which, by the way, is an eclectic mix of '60s and '70s and today that would remind you of me) and I had overlooked it in my perusal of this lp.  From Antisocialites, I give you the seventh M10 hit for Alvvays...





Not My Baby, the 291st song of M10 history (2.4 % of which are Alvvays songs), comes in at #8.

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So how did two of the Archies end up suing each other?  Was it Archie and Reggie finally having it out?  Did Jughead forget to pay someone back for a cheeseburger?  No, actually it was Ron Dante and Jeff Barry.  On the hit Jingle Jangle, Barry did the deep parts, while the "female lead" was actually Dante's falsetto.  The lawsuit comes in much earlier, and it was caused by one of my top ten stupidest songs of all time (someday I'll have to compile that list)- the Detergents and their parody Leader Of The Laundromat.  The leader of the Detergents was Dante, and one of the angry writers of the mocked song Leader Of The Pack was Barry, who sued over lack of permission.

And this connects to our 6D victim through co-writer Paul Vance, who also had to his credit Brian Hyland's Itsy Bitsy Teenie Weenie Yellow Polka Dot Bikini, as well as the actual 6D victim.  Now THAT song was a bit of a milestone.  Backed up by the Ray Charles Singers, it would win the 1959 Grammy for best male vocal, and become the FIRST 45 to be certified Gold- 60 years ago on the 14th of this month!  At #3 on Cashbox without a Panel vote- Perry Como's Catch A Falling Star.

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Stat Pack!

Speaking of Perry Como, he had the #1 on the UK chart this week with Magic Moments.

Our #58 in '58 brings up a bit of a story as well.  It was a tune called We Belong Together by doo-woppers Robert (Carr) and Johnny (Mitchell).  It was covered a bunch of times, by acts including Ritchie Valens, the Bellmonts, Peaches and Herb, the Fleetwoods, and Los Lobos- and two others.  In 1961- a local Dallas singer going by the name of Jimmy Velvit had a local chart hit with it; later on, his manager and he had a falling out.  So the manager decided to record it himself, but use the "Jimmy Velvit" name.  He printed off a limited run, but there was some mix up that I didn't quite get that led to most of those records being destroyed.  He re-pressed them- with the label makers making the honest mistake of changing the name to "Jimmy Velvet"- and this time it would "take off", reaching #75 on the Billboard charts.  Thus, this song was covered by both Jimmy Velvit and Jimmy Velvet- in the same year- but not the same person.

I knew a whopping 16 this week!


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The remaining M10:

Dinosaur Jr got held at #10 with Hold Unknown.

Easy come, easy go for the Moondoggies, with Easy Coming back down a spot to #7.

Shilpa Ray moves back down a pair to #6 with Rockaway Blues.

Holding at #5 is Dan Croll's Tokyo.

Major Murphy hits the Iron Ceiling, moving from #9 to #4 with the Beatles-esque No. 1.

"The Iron Ceiling"? Yes, because the reign of the top three shows no sign of abating!  At #3 for a third week, Sunflower Bean and Twenty Two.

By the narrowest of margins again, Beach House slides down to #2 with Lemon Glow.

And the new #1....

...Mikaela Davis and Little Bird!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

And the Panel pick?  Well, the Four Preps and the Chordettes managed 4% each...

Chuck Berry got 21%...

And the winner with 45.8% of the vote....

.... the Champs and Tequilaaaa!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Remember, be back in two weeks for The Champs ( or some facsimile thereof) and 1959!  Next week, an early M10 update before CWM goes black for 24 hours......