Time Machine co-ordinates VIXLIX48342061

Today we fly to April 20th, 1961- and a good deal more comfortably than Harold Graham, who today made the first test flight in this:

 attr. Dave McLear from Roxburgh, Scotland

This is the Bell Rocket Belt, which propelled one on superheated steam.  Today it propelled Harold 121 feet in a 21-second burst.

Now you have a comfy seat in the Musical Tardis, which is, of course, propelled by music!  Among the stories this week:  Two new M10 debuts- and not by any strangers; Lenny Welch, the in-between guy (?), stars in the 6D- though the victim is not himself; yet another children's favorite makes an appearance; and was the Iron Ceiling the BEST top three of all time? Plus, a runaway winner in the Panel vote! All this and Johnny Horton, too!  Ready to blast off?  Good!

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First up, let's bring in Mr Johnny Horton!  How are ya, John?

Jes' fine, padner!  So what's up?

Well, I thought I might first point out that you were pretty much king in the early sixties, with 3 top 4 pop hits and 3 #1 country songs!  Darn impressive.

Aw, shucks, it's just all about findin' a good story ta tell, and tell it good.

I was surprised to find you had an early hit about Alaska, separate from the North To Alaska movie, called "When It's Springtime in Alaska (It's Forty Below)"!  Had you ever been to Alaska?

Naw, but the movie weren't there, either, so I figure it don' matter much.

True, true.  It's not like you're really here, either...

Wait, what're you gettin' at?

Nothing, John.  Now here's the list- 12 contestants from 31 stations.  Have at it!

Well, okay...First off, he have Mr Gene Daniels with A Hundred Pounds Of Clay.  Good tune.  It was at #5 on Cashbox- was this Country and western or pop?

Pop, John.

All righty.  Next, we have Jorgen Ingman- I think he's a foreigner- with Apache.  Say, that's instrumental that goes kinda like... (plays a few notes on his guitar)

Uh, yeah, I think so.

Then come them pretty Paris Sisters with Be My Boy.  It.. what's this here?

I couldn't find it on the charts of the week.  It peaked at #56 sometime in '61.

Ah.  So then comes Blue Moon by the Marcels.  That's that doo-woppy stuff.  It was at #1 this week, so it's probably pretty big.

Then comes, Hey, Look Me Over by Peter King.  It didn't do so well.  This here says that it peaked at #109 in March.

It's still a pretty famous tune.  You should look it up, I bet you all remember it.

Who you talkin' to?

The audience...

You think you see an audience out there, boy?

They're just as real as you, Johnny.

O...kay...  Linda Scott is next with I've Told Every Little Star at #11.

Ernie K-Doe's Mother In Law was at #3.  I bet that boy got slapped for that one!

The Edsels- why you'd wanna call yerself that, I dunno... they were at #21... SOMEtime during the year... with Rama-Lama-Ding-Dong.

Ah, here's a good one- Del Shannon's Runaway was at #2.

Then comes Roy Orbison with Running Scared at #16.

Okay, this says, "let Chris do this one..."

Yeah, this is one of those issues we get with early Cashbox- they combine all the versions of a song floating around that week to get an overall score.  The tune we have up is called Wheels, and the most popular version was by an outfit called the String-A-Longs.  However, the Panel station(s) voted instead for the other version, by Billy Vaughn.  Together, CB had them at #15.  In Britain, the String-A-Longs' version was at #20.  Which reminds me, a take on A Hundred Pounds Of Clay by Craig Douglas was #34 in its debut week, which means the only Panel Pick in the picked version on the Brit chart was Blue Moon at #12.  Okay, Johnny, take us home...

All righty, the last song is Brenda Lee at #14 with You Can Depend On Me.  Back to you, Chris-TOE-fer!

Thanks, Johnny!  So like I said at the top, this was a close race for about half a minute, and not for long thereafter.  But in the interests of giving you choices, the top three-  Blue Moon, Runaway, and Mother In Law are the choices- and the winner beats them both a combined 16-6!  Make your pick, and find out at the end of the day...


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Debut #1 is from Sara Tudzin's illuminati hotties, from the upcoming lp Kiss Yr Frenemies- and it comes in at #7...






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This week will likely be the end for the Iron Ceiling- which truly just about made me cry!  To get over it, I asked the question to myself, "Right now, the IC songs have a combined 188 chart points- has any set of three ever BEAT that? "  Well, in 138 weeks worth of M10, only 4 sets top that- and three of them featured Mo Kenny's Unglued and the Derevolutions' Something Good!  When combined with Dent May's Picture On A Screen, that set spent 3 weeks as the top three, and ended up with 202 chart points!  Second was the same duo with Alvvays's Your Type, which garnered 198 points, and fourth saw them team with Tom Petty's Walls (No. 3) for 189 points.  The only other set that beat the Iron Ceiling were the combo Quiet Corners by the Jayhawks/ Believe You're Mine by Nada Surf/ Madness by Lucius with 193.  Interesting that Lucius and Alvvays should be involved in this- considering what's going to happen in the M10 this week...


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So a little bit ago, I called Lenny Welch " the in-between guy", and now I'll tell you why.  I found a curious thing about his hits other than the big smash Since I Fell For You.  He recorded a lot of covers- and they were many times the donut hole between two bigger versions.  For example:

In 1960, he squeezed his take on You Don't Know Me (#45) between Jerry Vale's #14 in 1956 and Ray Charles's #1 in 1962.

In 1964, he squeezed his Ebb Tide (#25) between the first big hit done by Frank Chackfields and his orchestra (#2) in 1953 and the Righteous Brothers' 1965 #5 hit.

In 1966, he bubbled under with Rags To Riches (#102) between Tony Bennet's 8-week #1 in 1953 and Elvis' #33 in 1971.

In 1973, he managed only a #25 on the AC chart with Since I Don't Have You- which the Skyliners took to #12 in 1959 and Don McLean reached #23 with in 1981.

And perhaps the oddest of the in-betweens, he charted Breaking Up is Hard To Do at #34 in 1970- between Neil Sedaka's up-tempo original (#1 in '62) and the Welch-like slow ballad remake (#8 in '75)!

And what, pray tell, does ANY of this have to do with the 6D song?  I'll tell you.

The first fame for songwriter Paul Gayten was with this tune, by his trio featuring a rather obscure young lady named Annie Laurie...

After that, he leaned towards writing and production, and discovered Clarence "Frogman" Henry- whom Rush Limbaugh introed to a generation of his followers by using Clarence's hit Ain't Got No Home for his "homeless updates" bumper music.  That was also Clarence's first hit, and the one where he did one verse "like a frog" and earned his nickname.  But it was his biggest hit- another Gayten production called (I Don't Know Why) But I Do- at #4 that was the highest charter without a Panel vote.

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Our second debut, at #6, is a lady we met when she, kd lang, and Laura Viers combined for the #1 Honey And Smoke.  Form an upcoming lp called Hell On, this is Neko Case:







"I died and went to work"- favorite line of the year!


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Stat pack:

I had only a crappy 14 I knew- but they were good ones! 

Big mover was Shep and the Limelites with Daddy's Home, a 55-notch rocket from 96 to 41!

The #61 in '61 belongs to hard luck Chuck Jackson and his I Don't Want To Cry.  I might have, though- the man wrote songs that became big hits for others, including Michael McDonald's I Keep Forgetting, and Ronnie Milsap's Any Day Now- but his own chart resume shows 2 top 40's and 15 tunes that stuck at #90 or below...  On the bright side, he did have some fame as a member of the Del-Vikings, so there is that...

Buzz Clifford had our #101 this week with a rather odd version of The Three Little Fishies, featuring Shep and the Limeliters!

And the UK #1 this week was Elvis with Wooden Heart.  This song, which never charted here, was only ever released as the flip of Blue Christmas. 


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And the remaining M10:


The last stop for IC member Twenty Two by Sunflower Bean is likely this week's #10, down 4.


The two claim jumping debuts got Melody's Echo Chamber stuck at #9 with Breathe In Breathe Out.


Lemon Glow also falls 4 spots to #8- albeit, with a week more (9) under its belt than the other two, that puts it into a tie- ironically, with Something Good- for 11th all-time.


The Shacks hustle up 5 to #5 with My Name Is.


Roseanne Cash moves up a spot- and with those hellions coming, it might be the last I say that- to #4 with The Walking Wounded.

Mikaela Davis gives the IC one last week in the top three at #3 with Little Bird- which matches Keep It Warm for 7th all-time.

Alvvays has 7 M10 hits- but only one #1 so far.  Not My Baby has its sights set on changing that, moving up a spot into the #2 slot.

And the flip side of that story- the new number one belongs to an act that has now hit the top 4 of 5 attempts...

attr Peter Larson

... Lucius with Eventually!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!



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Shame on you if you didn't get this week's winner!  Remember the tease...



 ...Plus, a runaway winner in the Panel vote...

So of course the winner, with 51.6% of the vote...

...Del Shannon and Runaway!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Next week, where were you in '62?  I was about two weeks away from a date with a doctor at the Parkview maternity room...