Time Machine Co-ordinates VILIV4896167

Today we go to June 1, 1967- the date Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band was released....

In 1966, the American musician and bandleader Brian Wilson's growing interest in the aesthetics of recording and his admiration for both record producer Phil Spector's Wall of Sound and the Beatles' album Rubber Soul resulted in the Beach Boys' Pet Sounds LP, which demonstrated his production expertise and his mastery of composition and arrangement.  The author Thomas MacFarlane credits the release with influencing many musicians of the time, with McCartney in particular singing its praises and drawing inspiration to "expand the focus of the Beatles' work with sounds and textures not usually associated with popular music".  McCartney thought that his constant playing of the album made it difficult for Lennon to "escape the influence", adding: "It's very cleverly done ... so we were inspired by it and nicked a few ideas."   Martin stated: "Without Pet Sounds, Sgt. Pepper never would have happened ... Pepper was an attempt to equal Pet Sounds." (Wiki)

Rolling Stone's Langdon Winner adds:


The closest Western Civilization has come to unity since the Congress of Vienna in 1815 was the week the Sgt. Pepper album was released. In every city in Europe and America the radio stations played [it] ... and everyone listened ... it was the most amazing thing I've ever heard. For a brief while the irreparable fragmented consciousness of the West was unified, at least in the minds of the young.

None of the songs were released as singles here at the time... in fact, three of them were specifically banned on the BBC- A Day In The Life ("...I'd love to turn you on..."), Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds ("a coded LSD reference"), and Being for the Benefit of Mr. Kite! ("Henry the Horse" being code for heroin).  But one of them with be on one of our Panel lists...

"Wait... are you saying there's more than one Panel list??"

As a matter of fact... the website that I usually go to was down all weekend for maintenance- so I went to my "back up site" and it had about 50% bad links.  So I combined their good ones with those of Billboard and Cashbox, and anything with a top ten spot got on the list.  That gave me a whopping 33 songs... so Wednesday, the main site came back to life- and it gave me a very similar 33 songs!  So either way, we have one big whopping list, with the same winner- just not as close on one as the other!  So what I plan on doing is give you all the songs, with where they finished on the "combined chart" mentioned as I go down the main chart- but I will leave those places for the top six "main site" list out, so you'll STILL have to guess.  Oh, come on, it'll be great!  Plus, I'll have not one, but two 6D stories- and neither of them for the REAL 6D victim (and how I managed that)!


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First, let me introduce you to the first of two M10 debuts- at #10, the latest from Sunflower Bean...






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Hey, I just got a letter from Percy Sledge... He said, "I am very thankful for the honor of being y'all's POTM... But ain't no way I'm touching THAT hot mess!"   Can't say as I blame ya, buddy, because now it becomes MY hot mess!  I thought briefly about giving you a quick list of the songs that were on the "combined" list and not the regular one- until I found out that would add SEVENTEEN songs- which means we had 50 between the two lists!  So you will get the official Panel list, plus where each was on the henceforth named "c-list".

First we have a song which, for pete's sake, wasn't even released- The Beatles with A Day In The Life.  Best song on the list, and I can't even give you a chart position...

Next comes a song Laurie and I didn't really know at first- the Everly Brothers with Bowling Green.  A song that sounds as if they got the lyrics straight from the "Visit Kentucky" website, it was 87 on CB.

Frankie Valli had Can't Take My Eyes Off You at 29 and on the c-list it was (redacted- one of your choices!)

Every Mother's Son with Come On Down To My Boat was 39 on CB.

The Mamas and the Papas were at 5 on CB and (redacted) on the c-list with Creeque Alley.  Another of your choices!

Next up is a song called Dance Dance by the Fourmost Authority.  Other than the fact it was a local hit somewhere and is a pretty good tune, all I know about them is this off the YouTube video:

As with many of my videos, I don't know much about this group. It appears that the group was a five piece band from Utah, and some of the members seem to include Ron Lemaster and Theron (Mr. T) Holloway.

Next up is Lou Rawls masterpiece IMHO- Dead End Street.  It was falling to #54 this week.

Oscar Toney, Jr, had For Your Precious Love at 78 on CB.

Dyke and the Blazers, an outfit out of Buffalo, had the original recording of Funky Broadway- it peaked next week on Billboard at #17 on the R&B chart, but was nowhere to be seen on CB.

Billy Joe Royal comes next with The Greatest Love, nowhere to be seen (again!) on CB, and listed as peaking at #117 on Billboard.

Then comes CB's #3 this week and (redacted, another choice!) on the c-list, The Young Rascals and Groovin'.

The Tremeloes at #12 on CB, #18 on the c-list with Here Comes My Baby.

Ray Charles is at #69 with Here We Go Again.

Next, #7 on the c-list and #10 on CB, Paul Revere and the Raiders with Him Or Me- What's It Gonna Be?

The Happenings are #5 on both CB and the c-list with I Got Rhythm.

The Shondells and Tommy James are actually on the Panel List twice- I Think We're Alone Now which peaked in April, and Mirage, which is #11 on CB and #12 on the c-list.

The Grass Roots are #33 CB and #21 c-list with Let's Live For Today.

The Doors are debuting at #94 CB and tied for 22 on the c-list with Light My Fire.

Music Explosion's Little Bit Of Soul is at 30 CB and (redacted) c-list.

Then comes yet another obscure beyond belief band called the Berrys with a cover of Wilson Pickett's Midnight Hour.  The sum of what I found about them is:

Formerly known as The Viscount V, this youthful outfit were part of a vibrant garage and soul scene in Albuquerque, New Mexico. Originally issued on Lindy Blaskey's Lavette label, their legacy comprises a lightweight cover of Midnight Hour backed by a mournful garagey ballad.


At #58 we have the first big hit by the Bee Gees- New York Mining Disaster 1941.

Then comes Englebert Humperdinck's Release Me- a fave of my Mom's- at #4 both on CB and the c-list.

Another of your choices- Aretha Franklin's Respect- #2 on CB, and redacted from the c-list.

The Turtles were at #13 CB and #3 on the c-list with She'd Rather Be With Me.

Way down at 84 so far on CB and 29 on the c-list, Janis Ian's Society's Child.

In its third week of descent down the CB chart to #32 this week, Frank and Nancy Sinatra with Something Stupid.

At #8 on CB but (redacted) on the c-list (thus one of your choices), Jefferson Airplane and Somebody To Love.

Two votes from Australia for Petula Clark and This Is My Song, another April peak.

A vote from Beantown for the Standells and Try It, which charted nowhere else.

Procol Harum's A Whiter Shade Of Pale got a vote despite being about 3 weeks out from its national debut.

The Association had just hit #40 CB with Windy, a song the c-list had at #13.

And that is at long last, the list.  For your voting pleasure if you haven't been writing them down, are Somebody To Love, Groovin', Can't Take My Eyes Off You, Respect, Little Bit Of Soul,  and Creeque Alley.  They hold 62% of the possible 112 votes.

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Just since this has been such a long, drawn out effort, here's your second debut, and your second old man in the countdown.  Here's 74- year old Boz Scaggs with the first single off his new lp Out Of The Blues:





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6D story #1:  This starts with Tommy Chong, of all people.  Prior- apparently just prior- to his meeting up with Cheech Marin to do improv, he was in a band called Bobby Taylor and the Vancouvers.  From Aaron Kayce's article on Harp Magazine:

Although Chong admits he was the least talented member of the band, he says he was “the unofficial leader” because he cut the checks.

The rumor is that the Vancouvers featured Jimi Hendrix for a stint, but Chong is quick to dismiss this fabrication. “First of all, Hendrix was never in the band. That was a big Bobby Taylor lie. You gotta remember Bobby Taylor exaggerates to the point of distraction; I think he even had the Beatles opening for us or some bullshit. Bobby is a professional liar: I love him to death and he can sing, but Hendrix was never in the band,” says Chong. “We only played with Hendrix one time [in London] and it was probably the most profound musical experience I’ve ever had.”

Chong wrote their one pseudo-hit, called Does Your Mama Know About Me- which was amazingly covered by Diana Ross on the Supremes' Love Child lp.    That was the time period after Motown lost Holland-Dozier-Holland for their writing team and put together a new staff that included R Dean "Indiana Wants Me" Taylor, who co-penned the hits Living In Shame and the title cut from that album, along with what would have been the 6D victim had we done the c-list- the Temptations and All I Need.

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Stat pack:

I knew 38 this time around.

At #101 was a pretty amazing story, a cover of Only Love Can Break A Heart by Margaret Whiting.  This grand lady of music had started charting as a 16-y-o in 1942 and had collected 14 top tens before the Martin Era 2.0 even started!  This, however, would not be among the 2 top 40s she managed after 1955.

The #67 in '67 was the debut week for the Fifth Dimension and Up Up And Away.

Another mention for the Tremeloes, as they had Silence Is Golden at the top.  Also on the British chart were Panel Picks Groovin' (#36), I Got Rhythm (33), Release Me (23), and the REAL 6D tune which I failed to do a story on, Arthur Conley's Sweet Soul Music (13).

And the  biggest mover?  Well, that was a tale unto itself.  See, first I thought it was Spanky and Our Gang's Sunday Will Never Be The Same (#10 on the c-list), as it moved up 32 spots from #52 to 20.  Then I thought it was Little Bit Of Soul, which moved 33 notches from 63 to 30.  THEN, I was sure it would be Windy, which blew up 35 spots from 70 to 45.  But no, it wasn't any of these.  It was the Fifth Estate, with Ding Dong The Witch Is Dead (24th on the c-list), rocketing 37 places from 60 to #23!

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So somehow or another- it involved a blank spot in my notes that shouldn't have been there- I managed to fool myself into thinking the 6D was yet another great song that we've yet to mention- Neil Diamond's Girl You'll Be A Woman Soon (22 on the c-list).  This tune was off his last lp for his first record company, Just For You.  And thanks to the big falling out they had, which let that outfit to release singles without permission from Neil, it became one of the most charting lps in history (at least until Glee! came along, lol).  Among the charting hits were:

Of course, our 6D "victim", which was a #10 Billboard hit;
Thank The Lord For The Nighttime, which hit #13.
Cherry Cherry, a #6 with included the ubiquitous voice of our old friend Ellie Greenwich;
The three singles released without permission:  Red Red Wine (#62), Shilo (24), and Solitary Man (21);
And a song took to the top by both the Monkees and Smash Mouth, I'm A Believer!

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And with that, the rest of the M10:

Where Did You Go To, Gilbert O'Sullivan?  (Told ya that was coming...) Our other senior citizen moves from 4 to 8 with his latest.

The two debuts from last week each move up 3- Phantogram's Saturday to #7, Shilpa Ray's Shoot This Dying Horse to #6.

Eleanor Friedberger falls back after 3 weeks at #2 with Make Me A Song, to #5.

Two of the three debuts from three weeks ago move 2, Cullen Omori's Four Years to #4, Family Of The Year's Let Her Go to #3.

And Caroline Rose slips after a couple weeks at the top to #2 with Jeannie Becomes A Mom.  Which means we have a record tier at the top...

...as illuminatti hotties becomes the second act, after Melody's Echo Chamber, to chart their first three songs on the M10 to #1!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  Their song Shape Of My Hands  also is up 2 spots.

And now, the Panel list...


Three songs got 5 votes for 4.5%- Creeque Alley (which charted 14th on the c-list), Little Bit Of Soul (15th), and Can't Take My Eyes Off You (9th).

One song got 5.4%- Somebody To Love (6th).

The runner up, with 9.8% was Respect (2nd).

And number one, with a whopping 33% of the Panel vote, and a 223-207 win on the c-list (the "electoral college"?)...

...the Young Rascals and Groovin' !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Wow, what a mess!  Tune in next week and see if I can top it in 1968!