Time Machine co-ordinates VILXV50692860

Today we go to Fenway Park on September 28th, 1960, where, on the anniversary of his becoming the last man to hit .400 19 years before, Ted Williams played his last game.  The game started out with a bit less than a bang- Baltimore starter Steve Barber had a rough start to say the least.  He issued 3 walks- one to Ted- a hit batter, and a wild pitch that scored a run and ended his day very early.  Ted would not fare as well against long reliever Jack Fisher, hitting two loud flies.  Baltimore would build a 4-2 lead, but in the 8th Ted got one fly a little bit longer- his 29th homer of the year, and 521st and last of his career.  In the ninth, fellow outfielder Willie Tasby hit a ground ball with the bases loaded that the Oriole second baseman Marv Breeding booted for an error that let the tying and winning run in- a walk-off error.

Ted rounds the bases for the 521st time.

In the meantime, Fidel Castro celebrated his "revolution" victory by announcing "Committees For the Defense of the Revolution"... "a collective system of revolutionary vigilance," established "so that everybody knows who lives on every block, what they do on every block, what relations they have had with the tyranny, in what activities are they involved, and with whom they meet."

So tell me what it is you like about Socialism again...


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Welcome to this week's TM- and my notes are a real mess, so I have no idea what we are facing this week, other than 2 new debuts and a new #1 on the M10, and a special guest on the Panel picks!  I believe it WILL be a hit...


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Let's kick it off with a blast from the past, brought to the future as a public service!  Debuting from, yes, 1993's Secret Messages, another song at #8 by ELO!





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This week, I have brought from the mists of the past, the pages of fantasy, a special guest for the Panel picks- Mack The Knife!  Good to meet you, sir!

Howya doin'?

Very well- at least I hope!  So you know what we're about here, right?

Yeah, yeah, I got it.  What's it pay?

Excuse me?

Hey, paisan, I don' do nuttin' for free...

Oh, um, well, I'll put you in touch with our paymaster after the show.  Kid named Presley, out of Memphis right now...

Bene, Bene.  He better be flush...

Oh yeah, he makes good scratch.  Here's the list.

All righty, I have a list of 'One vote wonders' first.  Ya got Richie Allen wit' Stranger From Durango, an' it's at #123 this week.  #123?  

Then ya gots Jivin' Gene wit' Going Out Wit' The Tide.  It didn't even chart.  What's up wit' this stuff?  You gotta buncha losers here...

Well, some town somewhere thought they were pretty good.

Meh.  Anyway, next we gots- HEY!  Howcum Bobby Rydell singin' a great Italian tune like Volare gets just one vote?  

I don't know, fella.  He was at #14, maybe he was just still climbing...

(NOTE: actually he was falling.  You wanna tell the guy that?  I didn't think so.)

RRR... Okay, we got Roy Orbison- that's that kid wit' the shades- and Blue Angel at #58.  Say, how many of these tunes are there?

21, from 38 stations.

Geez... So den ya gots Bill Black's Combo doin' Don't Be Cruel at #27... Bob Luman wit' Let's Think About Living at #31... as long as ya don't owe me money, Bob, yaknowwhatImean?

Sam Cooke is at #5 wit' Chain Gang, a subject sorry to say I'm familiar wit'... Jimmie Rodgers and The Wreck Of The John B at #64... 

I should mention that that is an ancestor of the Beach Boys' Sloop John B...

No ya shouldn't.  It ain't healthy to go inneruptin' me...  Maurice Williams an' the Zodiacs are at #70 wit' Stay... Here's anudder one what didn't chart, Jamie Horton an' Robot Man... The Shirelles are at #71 wit' Tonight's The Night... an' Joe an' Ann  peaked on the R an' B chart at #14 wit' Gee Baby... whooda hell are Joe an' Ann?

Well, they were friends with Dr John, who played keyboards on the song...

Whooda hell is Dr John?

He'll get famous later on.  Now, here are the two-vote wonders, and then everyone else will be the guessing songs.

Two vote wonders, what kinda... aw, give it here.  Hey, is this that Presley paisan who owes me money?

Sure is.

'E better hope he made enough offa It's Now Or Never at #6 to pay me... AN' I'm gonna talk to him about changin' the words to a nice Italian song like O Sole Mio...  Anyway, next we gots Bobby Vee an' Devil Or Angel... guess ya know which side 'a that I come down on, heh... he was at # 11... Den ya gots the Drifters an' Save The Last Dance For Me at #9- mooks hate hearin' THAT line from me, hah hah!  Oh, an' the Ventures wit' Walk Don't Run at #8... somethin' never brought up in connection ta me...

Okay, so that leaves us with the 4 actual contenders here to pick from...

What, I gotta pick 'em now?  I ain't no bookie...

No sir, you just read 'em, and everyone else picks.

Make that, I read da picks, an' den youse all vote for who's I TELL you- capeesh?

Uh...

Okay, so you AIN'T gonna vote for Jimmy Charles an' A Million Ta One at #7.  That's his odds a' winnin' this thing!


An' ya AIN'T gonna vote fer Chubby Checker an' The Twist at #1.  I don' care it's #1, you AIN'T votin' fer it.

Nextly, youse AIN'T  votin' fer that idiot Larry Verne an' Mister Custer at #4.

You ARE gonna vote for my babe Connie Francis an' My Heart Has A Mind Of It's Own at #2.  "Cause I like her FACE, gotta problem wit' that?  Din't think so.  Just don't be tellin' that ol' Lucy Brown what I said.  What Happens in da Time Machine STAYS in da Time Machine, Capeesh?

Yep, Got it.  Now while I swiftly drop Mack off in Memphis- right near Sun Records- Why don't you guys listen to Debut #2- the second time in for Escondido at #7...






A far cry from the Astrid Gilberto-sounding Darkness back last November, eh?


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Let me eliminate a bunch of chicken scratches from the page by doing the Stat Pack next!


One thing I would have liked to have talked more about- but was afraid- was the Wreck Of The John B.  This song, according to my research has been recorded 36 times- under 13 title variations!  I still think the Beach Boys did it best...

The #60 in '60 was Della Reese with And Now- I looked up and it didn't get much farther, but I don't understand why- this was a DYNAMITE song!

Our big mover was another pretty solid tune- Frankie Avalon with Togetherness, leaping 31 spots from 96 to 65.  In an unusual twist it charted the same on both Billboard and Cashbox at its peak- #26.

A novelty act called the Playmates, known best for a tune called Beep Beep, was at the magic #101 with Wait For Me.  That peaked at #37.  I'm just glad they did a bubbling under this time, because we had yet another 3-song tie at #100...

I knew a shockingly-low 16 of 100 on our charts- but a more respectable 14 of 50 on the Brit charts, which included Panelists The Twist (49), Volare (22), Walk Don't Run (17), and Let's Think About Living (29), and the #1 was the instrumental by Cliff Richard's Shadows, Apache.


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Okay, that brings us to another 6D that becomes a composer story.  At #3 was Brook Benton with Kiddio- first recorded by a dude more accustomed to the composer-credit line named Teddy Randazzo.  When I looked at his MusicVF top ten, I got some real surprises...

A main writer for Little Anthony and the Imperials, his 10th biggest was their hit I'm On The Outside Looking In.

#9 was a Brit hit by an act called Cupid's Inspiration called Yesterday Has Gone, a cover of another Little Anthony hit.  And really good, as I am sampling it right now.


#8- and #6- were versions of the song Pretty Blue Eyes, the lower a Brit hit by Craig Douglas, the higher the US version by Steve Lawrence.

#7- and #4, and #3- were versions of the hit Hurts So Bad; the lower was the Lettermen, the higher by Linda Ronstadt, in between was Little Anthony.

#5- and #2- were versions of Going Out Of My Head, the lower by the Lettermen (in medley with Can't Take My Eyes Off You), the higher Little Anthony.

Now, given the time frame for all of those, ready for the shocker at #1?

...Deniece Williams' 1982 hit It's Gonna Take A Miracle!  I always loved that bass...

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The rest of the M10:

ELO had two spots on this countdown, with Buildings Have Eyes at #10 in week #8.

Also sliding down was beach House with Equal Mind at #9, and the Jayhawks with Come Cryin' To Me at #6.

Eleanor Friedberger gets a one notch rise with Everything at #5.

Blackberry Smoke finally moves out of the top spot with One Horse Town at #4.  It would have been #3, but was kept away by the same girl that knocked Elvis Costello off the chart last week- Anna Burch's What I Want, moving 6 large from 9 to 3.

Breaking the old record of 3 out of 4 weeks at #2 by Keane's Somewhere Only We Know, Vanessa Carlton spends her fourth consecutive week at #2 with Lonely Girls.  "Always the bridesmaid...", no wonder she's lonely!


And that means our new #1 is...

...Leon Bridges and Beyond!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


And the Panel winner- despite what Mack says- with 15.7 % of the vote-

...Chubby Checker and The Twist!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Stop by next week, when we go to 1961, and...


There might not be a next week fer you, paisan...


AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Wednesday Bible Study: What's in a name?

Today's verse kinda scared me to tackle at first.  I'll explain why in a second.  First, let me give you two versions of it.  You see, this is where, in Mark's Gospel, Jesus appoints the Twelve.  Mark explains that He appointed them, and then explains a bit about what they were to do.  So, if you look in the ESV- and a handful of other versions- v16 repeats the tag line that Mark used in verse 14:

Mar 3:16  He appointed the twelve: Simon (to whom he gave the name Peter); 

But if you go to the literal translation (YLT) or the KJV, they drop the add-on:

Mar 3:16  And he put on Simon the name Peter; 

Now, why would this snippet of a verse worry me?  Because many of the commentators take this moment to mention that Simon was NOT given the name Peter when he had his God-given revelation about who Christ was, but according to John 1:42, it was when they FIRST met; and this brings up the whole battle with Catholics over whether Peter was supposed by Jesus' "On this rock" statement to be the first Pope.  A battle which is fruitless because a) you can't make a definitive case JUST from the text there- at least not easily- and b) a Catholic will just plug their ears and go "la-la-la" when you try anyway.  It's a societal and not a salvational question anyway- at its base- and very, very divisive and controversial.  However, God has shown me another way to look at this verse- and maybe by extension prove the point as well.

My thought after meditating on the concept was, "While Jesus goes on in the next verse to give James and John a nickname for the 2 of them, there are only four characters (that I can think of) that God actually renames;  Peter and Paul, and Abraham and Jacob."  And there is a big whopping relation here.  Actually several.

Let's start with our subject, Peter.  His original name is Simon, and he is the only one of the four that ever uses both simultaneously.  (Because while "Simon Peter" has a certain amount of panache, "Saul Paul" sounds like an Annette Funicello record.)  Simon is the same as the OT Simeon or the modern Shimon.  It comes from the fact that Leah named Simeon in honor of God hearing her- thus Simeon/Simon equals "hearing."

But God told me to dig a little deeper in a certain spot- the blessings that Israel/Jacob gave his sons at the end of his life.  Here, you see that Simeon and Levi, because of their violence to the Shechemites, were cursed in their anger to be scattered among their brethren.  How appropriate then that Jesus would give Simon a new name, and a new mission- to GATHER a people to Him.

Simon Peter is comparable to Abram/Abraham in that God STARTED the building of His people with Abraham, just as Christ started the building of His Church with Peter.  Now look at the names.  Abram meant "high father"- which you might say was a glory to the man- while God's new name, Abraham, meant "Father of many nations"- which switches the glory to God.  Peter, likewise, goes from Simon- connected with the shame of the son of Jacob- to "Rock", a building block to God's glory.  And just to graze the Catholic thing, regard:  Abraham was respected by the Jews forever, and still is.  But that respect lies WITH ABRAHAM, and does NOT go on to build a line in which, say, "Jesse, father of David, was the 112th Abraham of the line"- even though Hebrew culture had a bent to do just that sort of thing.  Therefore, I believe that Peter was "the Rock", and not the first of "the Rocks."

And now, let's look at the other pair.  Jacob literally meant "heel grabber", not only describing the birth of himself and Esau, but the way he supplanted Esau from the birthright of Isaac.  So you can't say that it was a very positive naming.  His struggle with God, doing it HIS way and having to have God's will done in him the hard way, gave him the new name of Israel- he who wrestles with God.  And so he and his descendants would do, as he was the one who birthed twelve sons from whom the Twelve Tribes were born.  Note that his father and grandfather only ever had two sons- he did what they COULD NOT.

Now Paul's original name, Saul, means "asked."  Interesting that the original names of Simon and Saul describe our own relationship with God- we need to ask, and we need His hearing.  The name Paul, that Jesus gave him, means "little"- and this is not just a play on his stature.  Where Israel- and the people named for him- were and are prideful and struggle with God at every stop, Paul- and those who follow his teachings- make themselves LITTLE, or submissive, before God.  And just like how Abraham became the starting point, the father, of his people but Jacob got the ball rolling, Peter was the foundation of the Church, but Paul took it on the road and expanded it beyond the wildest dreams of the twelve men selected way back at the beginning of this post.  Peter and Paul HAD to be renamed by Jesus- they were the Abraham and Jacob of the New Testament!

One final thought.  Simon and Saul were Hebrew names.  Peter was the Latin form of the Greek Cephas, and Paul was a Latin derivative of a little used Greek word for "restrained", taken to the Latin as "little".  BOTH men had names changed from the "merely" Hebrew to a mix of Latin and Greek- the world beyond Israel.  Even the language is a symbol that God intended the knowledge of Himself to sweep the Gentile world.

Just some thoughts...

So normally about this time of the week, I'm trying to find something entertaining in the news (or what passes for it), but all the news is about Congressional character assassination, and I don't feel like playing.  While I'm sure if I looked around, I could find an overweight Russian guy half-naked and doing something silly in public, but I ain't feeling it today.  So this is going to be a little bit of "bullet-pointing" on a variety of subjects serious and not.

One thing I just want to get clear.  I read many of the "#whyIdidntreport" tweets this last week, and I completely understand.  I can truly see why so many do not.  HOWever, I believe Judge Kavanaugh's accuser is both lying and bought and paid for.  I believe she is just a delaying tactic being used to see how nutless the GOP in Congress is (Answer:  Pretty nutless).  I believe that every time a Democrat wheels a last minute accuser out like this, they demean every one of those who legitimately were attack by mongrels that make me sorry to be a male, and I have a hard time believing that so many swallow this BS up and don't ever call out the Dems for the lying bastards they are.  And right there is a BIG part of why I'm staying off the news pages today.


So let me move on to something else.  Last night, my fellow cutter on 2nd shift let the FB world know that she had not one, not two, but three rolls of fabric with constant, annoyingly tiny to big and ugly, yet minor snags on the good side of the fabric.  While my first reaction was, "What a surprise, Daioke is one of the single most unprofessional vendors to ever disgrace China, and I can't believe that Notting Hill Fabric is dumb enough to licence these losers," I had to try and encourage her, so I made a comment along the lines of, "Steady now, they prolly work hard for that 2 french fries a week they get paid."  When I came in, I took a panel she saved as an example and laid it on the quality guy's desk, noting that there were three such rolls back there.

Later, I was informed that they preferred an old hand like me look into how bad they were.  The SECOND panel I cut was bad enough I would have rejected it.  I took it to quality guy, asking how much time he really wanted me to waste.  He showed it to our nearby salesperson- and they PASSED it.  I showed it to the show and pack leads, told them it was "passed", and they were in shock.   Moments later, I caught about my fifth snag in 8 or nine panels, called over New Big Boss.  He looked, took a picture, said, "Keep going."  I said, "Fine, I just didn't want MY name attached to this stuff."  I thought the rolls should have been stuck in a box, sent to China, attention our guy at Daioke, labelled "SUPPOSITORIES".  When my partner came in, I was on yet another roll with more snags.  I told her the story and advised her, "When you see a snag, (covers eyes)."

What do you suppose the over/under on recuts will be tomorrow?  Especially on the six hot ones I was just starting on at the end of the day.

Normally I am far more professional than this.  But despite the boasting, we're in one of those "quality be damned" cycles we go through until enough customers bitch enough times.  It goes around, it comes around.



Moving on, I am reading a new book at lunch, The Unknown Universe by Stuart Clark.  It is science the way it should be, and I am enjoying it thoroughly.  Anyway, one of the things in astrophysics I have struggled to understand is why all of the sudden the Moon had to have been an early chunk of the Earth that was broken off.  All I ever heard on the subject was the many ways they have failed to figure out just how this occurred.  But this guy actually explained it in a way I understood- the farther you get from the sun, the more certain isotopes of certain elements change their concentrations.  Kinda like a fingerprint on how far away and how long ago a body formed.  And the oldest moon rocks are a dead match for ancient Earth rocks.  So it had to come from the early Earth.


But how?  He went through each of the popular theories- and why evidence and observation has shot each one down, at least for now.  And when I went back to work, I was mulling it over, and I heard the still small voice say...


"I took a rib..."


God took a "rib" from the ancient Earth?  Makes perfect sense, so much of life as we know it depends upon the Moon being in the exact place, the exact distance, the exact speed and angle.  Now think about this:  Just like Adam and Eve, husband and wife, God's plan is for the man to lead- while the woman balances him, slows him down, brings beauty to his life.  I'll let you all mull this over...


And finally, I got a scam e-mail the other day that amused me greatly.  It was from the "International Police Agency, located at George HW Bush International Airport, in TEXTAS."  That's right, Textas.  You know, that big, funny shaped cell phone located south of OK Lahoma...

Sunday Message- the backside of the idol

This week, something happened at work that made me take down all my personal pictures down- by my choice.  It was an anger thing, and didn't reflect well on me at first.  But as I calmed down, I began to see that it was a good thing.  It taught me a lesson on insidious pride I would not have caught otherwise.  And then this morning, Dennis Miller taught me that it just might have to do with idolatry as well.

He taught a lesson that included an incident in his church's past.  Shortly after he became established- dare I say, comfortable?- he had them take a Cross down from the sanctuary.  He wanted worship and God to be the focus, not a decoration however significant.  At least one member of his church told him, "If you take that Cross down, I don't know if I can worship here."  He told them, "That is idolatry."

A good friend once told me, "I can worship from my fishing boat."  And that's the way it should be- place shouldn't be what you worship, just where.  But we try to look for the familiar- a crucifix, a stained glass window, a statue of a saint.  And that can lead us into bad places, as our own comfort level with the "object of focus" grows bit by bit.  Remember when the Israelites angered God in the desert, and He sent snakes to kill them?  Moses cried out for them, and God had him make a bronze serpent on a pole, that whoever looked at it might be saved from the venom.  This was a foreshadowing of Christ; the serpent on the pole was Jesus, become sin for our sake, on the Cross to remove that sin.  But they got comfortable with lugging it around even after the snakes, until hundreds of years later...


2Ki 18:4  He (Hezekiah) removed the high places and broke the pillars and cut down the Asherah. And he broke in pieces the bronze serpent that Moses had made, for until those days the people of Israel had made offerings to it (it was called Nehushtan). 

It had become an idol.  Something it was never meant to be.  Now this name Nehushtan isn't really a name- the ESV struggled in the translation.  When I switch to the YLT, you see who really named it- and what he called it:

2Ki 18:4  he (again, Hezekiah) hath turned aside the high places, and broken in pieces the standing-pillars, and cut down the shrine, and beaten down the brazen serpent that Moses made, for unto these days were the sons of Israel making perfume to it, and he calleth it `a piece of brass.' 

Or, as we might say, a hunk of junk.

Here are two of my favorite pictures that I took down.  Were they idols?  No, that they were not.  But what they did was make me comfortable in my work space.  Made me feel, in a small sense, at home.  Gave me joy and encouragement.  But... they also began to give me a sense of "pride of place"- a sense that got big enough that I got mad about something I really shouldn't have been more than #smh about.  I felt violated in a place where I had no right to feel so.

It was after I gave the anger to God, and began to try and calm down- about 24 hours later, to my shame- that I remembered the words of Jesus...


Luk 17:7  `But, who is he of you--having a servant ploughing or feeding--who, to him having come in out of the field, will say, Having come near, recline at meat? 
Luk 17:8  but will not rather say to him, Prepare what I may sup, and having girded thyself about, minister to me, till I eat and drink, and after these things thou shalt eat and drink? 
Luk 17:9  Hath he favour to that servant because he did the things directed? I think not. 
Luk 17:10  `So also ye, when ye may have done all the things directed you, say--We are unprofitable servants, because that which we owed to do--we have done.'

And that was exactly the attitude I was losing by being surrounded by the trappings of home.

One thing I am trying to remember and teach is, "God won't change the situation.  He WILL change your attitude about it."  Because God isn't trying to give us a perfect world, He's trying to prepare us for Paradise.  I was trying to change my situation- albeit in what should have been a fairly innocent way- and my attempt was guiding my attitude, not God.

Do you have something that spells "comfort" to you?  A picture at work, a song when you're sad, a place you go or thing you do when it all builds up?  I'm not saying take it down, throw it out, it's evil evil evil!!!  I'm saying, are you taking God with you when you go to it?  Because the plain, undecorated, unobvious backside of an idol is STILL an idol.

Time Machine co-ordinates VILXIV50592159

Today, we "drive-in" to September 21st, 1959, to observe the birthday of... the Ford Falcon....

We had one much like this, but I believe it was a '64 or '65

...and the Plymouth Valiant...

As well as the conception (the bill creating it was passed in a package of bills) if not the creation, of the Food Stamp....

The Valiant would transform in '76 into, ironically, the Volare- which of course is the song that won the POTM last week!  Unfortunately, I'm not doing schtick in Italian Domenico Modugno had "other commitments" this week and won't be able to join us, but hopefully I can keep you entertained- and I have one good story and a 7D (Chris, don't you mean 6D? Not this week) that assure that!  Plus a new debut on the M10, the Label feature has a tremendous battle, and Cashbox is back in play!  Hop in, buckle up, and away we go!


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So yeah, we er, couldn't get Domenico in, but I did find out an interesting fact about him!  Apparently, he used the money earned from Nel Blu Di Pi... uhm, Volare, to buy a hot new Ferrari- and promptly wrecked it.  Which led our friend Allen Sherman to add a bit about the crash in his tune America's A Nice Italian Name...

I know a man who wrote a song, "Volare"

He gotta cash. A lotta cash.

He took-a da cash and bought a new Ferrari.

He made a crash. His fender smash.

Ouch!  So let's look at the 12 contestants from 34 stations we have lined up this week, starting with the one-vote-wonders...

And I'm going to start out with an Australian contestant, Rock'N'Rollin' Clementine (which was an interesting listen) by Col Joye and his Joye Boys.  Col was a pioneer in Australia- his song Oh Yeah Uh Huh was the first nationwide #1 in Australia!  He had a lot of hits down under and was noted for philanthropic endeavors.  And in a story that highlights the principles of both good guys sometimes finish first AND kids don't do this at home:

In 1990, while pruning a neighbour's tree with a chainsaw as a favour, Joye slipped and fell six metres onto brick paving below, striking his head and falling into a coma, as well as sustaining serious lower back and shoulder injuries. Initially given a poor prognosis, he eventually recovered to start performing and touring again in 1998, and in 2008 celebrated his 50th Anniversary in show business.

I would have given him the poor prognosis for going up the tree with the chain saw....

Anyway, we were low on 1-votes and high on 2-votes, so I'm going to do 'em together.  The Coasters got 2 for Poison Ivy, #13 on CB this week; Lloyd Price's I'm Gonna Get Married at #4 had but one, as did one of my favorite instrumentals, Santo and Johnny's Sleepwalk at #2.  Also with one vote is one of the biggest acts in Panel history- by numbers, anyway- the Mormon Tabernacle Choir's take on Battle Hymn of the Republic at #41.  The remaining 2s were Sandy Nelson's Teen Beat at #31, the very entertaining Caribbean by Mitchell Torock at #30, and Phil Phillips with Sea Of Love at #3.

That leaves us with four contestants to pick from- and warning, the winner had as many votes as the other three combined!  Choose from:

Mack The Knife by Bobby Darin at #5;
Mr Blue by the Fleetwoods at #46 and soaring, the week's biggest mover from 88 to 46;
Put Your Head On My Shoulders by Paul Anka at #11;
and this week's chart-topper, the Browns with The Three Bells!


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I have to apologize to Elvis Costello this week.  I was as close as I can physically come to having him inked in on the chart this week, when I heard this next song- and out he went, to make room for a young lady by the name of Anna Burch, who comes in at #9...

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1959 was a very even year for the Top Labels on the year's Hot 100 feature.  EIGHT labels had either 6 ( Mercury, RCA, Chancellor, MGM, and Imperial) or 5 (Arco, Columbia, and ABC-Paramount) songs chart.  But going by average placement, one of the fives beat the best of the rest by almost 6 spots!  The winner this time, with a 26.4 average chart position...

...ABC-Paramount!

And it was all Paul Anka (Lonely Boy at #7, Put Your Head On My Shoulder at #20, and It's Time To Cry at #51) and Lloyd Price (Personality at #9, I'm Gonna Get Married at #45) who did it!  Overall, that gives us 68 different labels in the first two years we've done this, and so far MGM's 13 is just ahead of RCA and Capitol with 12.


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Meet Sherman Edwards.  A prolific composer, he co-wrote with the late great Hal David the tune that took our 7D this week- Sarah Vaughn's Broken Hearted Melody.  Now, you might ask why it's a 7D and not a 6D this week, and the reason is one of those statistical oddities that I love so much.  You see, 17 of his comps charted on our hot 100- and 7 of 17 charted at a multiple of SEVEN.  Five of them actually charted AT #7 on Billboard- Broken Hearted Melody (#6 on CB), Dungaree Doll by Eddie Fischer with Hugo Winterhalter's Orchestra, Joanie Somers' Johnny Get Angry, and versions of Wonderful Wonderful by both Johnny Mathis AND the Tymes;  Elvis had Flaming Star hit #14; and the Fleetwoods took Outside My Window to #28!  I had no way of connecting one of his most familiar hits- See You In September- since the Tempos fizzled at 23 and the Happenings took it to #3.


But then I remembered- September is Latin for "SEVENTH month"....


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Stat Pack time!

So you already know about the big mover; the #59 in '59 was one of those CB "combined" chartings, this time for Conway Twitty and Carl Mann with competing covers of Nat King Cole's Mona Lisa.  Looking at it the Billboard way, Conway would finish at #29, and Mann at #24; each was better than the combined #31 on CB.

They had a three-way tie at #100 on Cashbox this week.  I find it amusing how they fell the same week(s) on Billboard.  The eventual biggest hit was Jimmie Rodgers with Tucumcari, which CB would stop at #32- it debuted at #88 on Billboard this week.  The second was the Fireballs with their instrumental Torquay; peaking eventually at #39 on CB, it wouldn't debut on BB until the next week when it came in at #87.  The lowest of the three was actually highest on BB this week- Johnny Ray's last charting hit, I'll Never Fall In Love.  Peaking at #76 in just a couple weeks on CB, it had already came on last week on Billboard at #99, jumped eighteen big notches this week to #81- and would fizzle out at #75 there.

Our British charting Panel picks were The Three Bells at #19 and I'm Gonna Get Married at #26.  I knew 7 of the UK 30, not including their #1, Craig Douglas's cover of Only Sixteen.  I knew 27 of 100 on the American chart.

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The remaining M10:

Dorothy slips from 6 to 10 in week #7 with Ain't Our Time To Die.

Cullen Omori ain't exactly climbing, but he ain't going away either- A Real You holds at #8.

Another 7-weeker is ELO's Buildings Have Eyes, sliding to 7 from 4 last week.

Eleanor Friedberger moves up 3 to 6 with Everything.  She should get married to someone with a shorter name- maybe if she ever got out of those darn PJs...

Or put the knife away.  That would be good, too...

Beach House has to settle for a #3 this time- Equal Mind slips to 5 this week.

The Jayhawks are at #4 with Come Cryin' To Me, up one spot.

Leon Bridges took 5 weeks on the shuffle just to get to 10, but when he moves, he shoots up 7 to #3 with Beyond.

Holding at #2- again- is Vanessa Carlton with Lonely Girls.

And that means a three time #1 for...

....Blackberry Smoke and One Horse Town!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


And your Panel winner, with 32.3 %  of the vote...

....Bobby Darin and Mack The Knife!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


Next week, we break into the 1960s again!  Be there!

Wednesday Bible Study: When in doubt...

And we enter the New Testament with a fun verse from Jesus's baptism!

Mat 3:16  And when Jesus was baptized, immediately he went up from the water, and behold, the heavens were opened to him, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and coming to rest on him; 
Mat 3:17  and behold, a voice from heaven said, "This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased." 


And yes, I stuck verse 17 in for a reason, as we will see in a bit.  But first off, let's establish our cast of characters.  Obviously, we have Jesus and John the Baptist, along with big cameos by God the Father and the Holy Spirit.  But this wasn't everybody, because look at the preceding verses...


Mat 3:5  Then Jerusalem and all Judea and all the region about the Jordan were going out to him, 
Mat 3:6  and they were baptized by him in the river Jordan, confessing their sins. 
Mat 3:7  But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming to his baptism, he said to them, "You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the wrath to come? 

So this wasn't any private ordeal, and that factors in also in a bit.  Now that I have set my stage here, let's look for the importance of the verse.

First thing we see is, "He IMMEDIATELY WENT UP from the water."  Why is this important?  First of all, to establish that the following didn't happen after Jesus grabbed a towel and a dry tunic and got off by Himself- the crowd WAS there for what happened.  Secondarily, the commentators conclude, this was to let those who believe in non-immersion baptism that Jesus just didn't go out ankle deep for John to sprinkle a handful of water on Him and say good enough.  I don't buy that as critical.  While I do believe Jesus was immersed, and that "policy" should be to follow His example, the idea that it is critical I think is disproved in many places.  For example, in Africa many places replace water baptism with sand, because the rivers aren't safe.  The thief on the Cross never got baptized... and on and on.  Let's get back to more important matters.

Next thing on the list is the phrase, "He saw the heavens opened..."  he WHO?  Jesus?  Not so much a miracle for Him.  Most of the commentators believe that the "he" was John (though no doubt Jesus did see it as well), and I think 3:17 proves that.  "THIS is my beloved Son", not "YOU are my beloved Son".  And because I think this is the MOST important part of this... I'm going to move on for a minute.

Then, "the Spirit of God descending like a dove and coming to rest on Him".  Luke describes Him as "bodily descending";  This was no flame of fire as was seen at Pentecost.  And I think the reason for that is the symbolism.  Perhaps a deeper symbolism than I want to get into here about the Nature of the Spirit.  To the commentators it is symbolized by Noah's dove, who came back to deliver the olive branch symbolizing peace- and this was symbolic of Christ being the means by which peace would come between Man and God.  They also mention the way a dove would "hover before alighting"- which brought to  my mind in Genesis 1:2, "and the Spirit of God hovered over the waters."  Which gives me even more confidence that the Spirit is revealed as Wisdom in Proverbs 8:

Pro 8:23  Ages ago I was set up, at the first, before the beginning of the earth. 

Pro 8:24  When there were no depths I was brought forth, when there were no springs abounding with water. 

Pro 8:25  Before the mountains had been shaped, before the hills, I was brought forth, 

Pro 8:26  before he had made the earth with its fields, or the first of the dust of the world. 

Pro 8:27  When he established the heavens, I was there; when he drew a circle on the face of the deep, 

Pro 8:28  when he made firm the skies above, when he established the fountains of the deep, 

Pro 8:29  when he assigned to the sea its limit, so that the waters might not transgress his command, when he marked out the foundations of the earth, 

Pro 8:30  then I was beside him, like a master workman, and I was daily his delight, rejoicing before him always, 

Pro 8:31  rejoicing in his inhabited world and delighting in the children of man. 

But enough bunny trails.  On to the meat.

Now, I am going to give a caveat to what I said earlier- while Matthew records the Voice saying, "This...", Mark and Luke both record, "You...".  I wasn't there, and I wasn't privy to the vision.  Neither were the masses, because nobody is quoted as saying, what was that, as they were in John 12 in a later incident:

Joh 12:28  Father, glorify your name." Then a voice came from heaven: "I have glorified it, and I will glorify it again." 

Joh 12:29  The crowd that stood there and heard it said that it had thundered. Others said, "An angel has spoken to him." 

Joh 12:30  Jesus answered, "This voice has come for your sake, not mine. 

But I am going with the "This" for right now, and here's why:  This was John's assurance that he was NOT led astray, that Jesus was indeed the Christ.  Not because it proved anything to John, but because of what it teaches us.

Think with me:  Once John was imprisoned by Herod, he had a crisis of faith.

Luk 7:20  And when the men had come to him, they said, "John the Baptist has sent us to you, saying, 'Are you the one who is to come, or shall we look for another?'" 

So, even after seeing this tremendous vision, and hearing the Voice itself, John doubted in a time of trial.  Why would he do that?  Answer these next two questions, and I will give you the answer to this one.

John came in the "spirit and power of Elijah" (Luke 1:17).  And remember what happened after Elijah's great victory in the Lord on Mt Carmel?  That's right, he was handed a severe trial, and he faced doubt.  He brought down fire from God.  Why would he then doubt?

The Israelites got their baptism by passing through the Red Sea.  They got manna from heaven, they were led by a Cloud by day and a Pillar of Fire by night.  From where they were camped waiting for Moses, they could see the fire and hear the rumbling on Mt Sinai.  Why did THEY doubt?

Answer:  They and we are HUMAN.  And as humans, we tend to doubt under stress, even if we have ironclad proof before them and us.

That's why God didn't say He was "Well pleased with both of you".  Even though Jesus said, 

Luk 7:26  What then did you go out to see? A prophet? Yes, I tell you, and more than a prophet. 

Luk 7:27  This is he of whom it is written, "'Behold, I send my messenger before your face, who will prepare your way before you.' 

Luk 7:28  I tell you, among those born of women none is greater than John. Yet the one who is least in the kingdom of God is greater than he." 

Because even the greatest can doubt.  In fact, it would seem it's a precondition for greatness.  But any of us can restore that faith.  In their hard times, both Elijah and John got answers- because they ASKED.  That's what I think is most important on this one.

Pleasant valley Monday

So, as much as I'd like to go on about how stupid a certain political party thinks I am to believe a BS story they pulled out of their butts and how much that party will never ever ever never get a vote from me again even if the other parties were running Sadaam Hussein, Idi Amin, and Slobodon Milosevic (come to think of it, that might be their slate), I'll just walk away and show you some pictures.  Last Tuesday it was cool enough to actually take Scrappy a nice walk, and here are some of the results:

Scooter the bird...

And off we go!

...and into the wild...

There is still some floral color...

I actually got a pose without begging...

And here we have the legendary Condiment Packet Tree...

"Yeah... now I remember why we don't go down this way that often..."

These flowers we full of butterflies just going nuts...

First surprise:  Somebody has been watering and feeding somebody up here... second surprise, Mr Water Obsessed walked right past it.

Then I thought I might add for the FB deprived my annoncement of GREAT news...

"Golden Monkey- real beer for real Americans- Back at Kroger!"


Not long afterwards, my lovely niece sent congratulations, along with pointing out, "You need a haircut."   My response...

"Yeah?  Which one?"

And Sunday, FB sent me a pic of my progeny going for a bike ride...

I asked, "He looks pissed.  You fall down much?"

Sunday Message: wrappings

This week I heard a sermon on Lazarus and his "resurrection" (and there is a good reason why I put that in quotes, bear with) that mentioned the things that his rising from the dead and Jesus' own had in parallel.  But the thing that struck me, where the preacher didn't go, was the big difference in the two.

And that is the wrappings...


Joh 20:3  Peter, therefore, went forth, and the other disciple, and they were coming to the tomb, 
Joh 20:4  and the two were running together, and the other disciple did run forward more quickly than Peter, and came first to the tomb, 
Joh 20:5  and having stooped down, seeth the linen clothes lying, yet, indeed, he entered not. 
Joh 20:6  Simon Peter, therefore, cometh, following him, and he entered into the tomb, and beholdeth the linen clothes lying, 
Joh 20:7  and the napkin that was upon his head, not lying with the linen clothes, but apart, having been folded up, in one place; 

Joh 11:43  And these things saying, with a loud voice he cried out, `Lazarus, come forth;' 

Joh 11:44  and he who died came forth, being bound feet and hands with grave-clothes, and his visage with a napkin was bound about; Jesus saith to them, `Loose him, and suffer to go.'

You see?  Lazarus was still bound by his grave clothes;  Jesus had PASSED RIGHT THROUGH His.  Why the difference?  Because of the TYPE of resurrection.

Jesus died and was immediately given His new body, because, that day of His death, He WAS in paradise.  The new body could be seen and disappear at will, pass through grave clothes, be recognized and unrecognizable to mortal eyes- and yet, be touched, be held, take in food and drink.  This is the body we are promised when we die the literal death.  But we also have a figurative death, and this is what Lazarus' "resurrection" teaches us.

You see, Jesus raised Lazarus knowing he would eventually die in this body again.  And this is US in a microcosm.  Before we know Jesus, we are dead in the tomb of our sins, wrapped in the bindings of mortality and our fallen nature.  Jesus called Lazarus to RENEWED life- but he was still in the same old body.  He was SAVED from the death of sin, but still WRAPPED in that mortal flesh AND the sin that it entails.  This is us.  We are dead in sin.  Christ comes, calls us from the tomb.  We live a new life- BUT we are still wrapped in the mortal flesh, still wrapped in sin.

Before I "wrap" this up, I want to tie it to another part of Scripture.  Another Minister brought up this text in 1 Corinthians:

1Co 10:1  And I do not wish you to be ignorant, brethren, that all our fathers were under the cloud, and all passed through the sea, 

1Co 10:2  and all to Moses were baptized in the cloud, and in the sea; 

1Co 10:3  and all the same spiritual food did eat, 

1Co 10:4  and all the same spiritual drink did drink, for they were drinking of a spiritual rock following them, and the rock was the Christ; 

1Co 10:5  but in the most of them God was not well pleased, for they were strewn in the wilderness,

1Co 10:6  and those things became types of us, for our not passionately desiring evil things, as also these did desire. 

The parallels here:  God through Moses had brought Israel "out of the tomb" of Egypt and into a new life, baptized into it through the cloud and the crossing of the Sea.  But they were STILL wrapped in their sin.  All of the ways that God was faithful to them, and yet for such a vast majority of them, their dealing with the "wrappings" were to grumble and complain, and never was the first instinct to trust God.  And because of that attitude, that "new life" met a sad end for all of them- they never saw the land of promise.  God well named the nation- do you remember what Israel means?

Gen 32:27  Then the man asked, "What is your name?" "Jacob," he answered. 

Gen 32:28  The man said, "Your name will no longer be Jacob. You have wrestled with God and with men, and you have won. That's why your name will be Israel." 

Always wrestling with God, fighting Him at every turn.  So back to our story.  Did you note how Lazarus was to get out of his wrappings?

Jesus saith to them, `Loose him, and suffer to go.'

This will sound hypocritical of me, but it really isn't.  Because I hear the Word of God from many Men of God, I have Laurie and you all to help me with this-  YOU NEED OTHERS TO UNWRAP YOU.  You need to be where other believers have an effect on your life, and I certainly praise God for all of those who provide that for me!  And just like the cloth coiled around Lazarus, this isn't going to be a painless process.  Four days with these bands infused with aloes and ointments, you think that's not gonna leave a mark coming off?  I realized that this morning as the Pastor I listened to hit me right between the eyes with an attitude of mine- an attitude that he put in a column marked, "Things God hates."  And the closer to free you get, the more that peeling's gonna hurt.  But in the end you will be free- and when you die the NEXT death, you'll pass right through the wrappings, like Jesus did.

And if that example of pain in growth isn't enough, how about when I throw into the mix sacrifice.  Follow me on a brief speculation.  You have perhaps heard the Parable- or is it?- about the "other" Lazarus and the rich man, who both die but go to separate places.  Now, I have heard it pointed out that this may have actually happened, because in NO OTHER parable does Jesus give a name as He did this Lazarus.  Consider if this was the SAME Lazarus.  Then, after a mortal life of misery and pain, he achieves paradise- only to have Jesus call him away from it, to make a point to US.  Would you want to make THAT sacrifice?

Maybe you won't ever be asked to.  But just maybe you'll be asked something just as hard.  Would you be willing, if it meant getting these cursed wrappings off?

Time Machine co-ordinates VILXIII50491458

Once again we have to dodge our way into September 14th, 1958, narrowly missing the first launch of the German Mohr rocket, designed by Ernst Mohr.  The 51/2 foot long rocket held 165 pounds of propellant that shot the cone ( or "dart") 31 miles up after a 2-second burn.

At 2,684.324 MPH, it was 46 1/3 times as fast as the Chevy with which Speedy Thompson won the NASCAR Richmond 200 that same day...

Faster than a speeding Chevy... although an average of not quite 58 MPH is hardly speeding...

Welcome to a brand new Time Machine episode, featuring Debbie Reynolds, Jack Keller (another composer) on the 6D, a new feature, and a run off in the Panel picks!  Boogity boogity boogity, let's go... er, listening!


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Two debuts this week, and the first one has been eating its way slowly up the M10 shuffle for some time, and finally makes a second M10 hit for Leon Bridges...







Leon places his second hit at #10 this week.

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Ladies and gentlemen, Debbie Reynolds!  It's a real honor to have you here!  I've had a crush on you since the first time I heard Tammy!

Why, thank you!  Did you like the movie?

I, uh, don't know if I've ever watched...

Oh... well, have you watched any of my other films?

Lemme bring up the list... um, I believe I've seen Divorce American Style...

That's it?

Um, I'm not a big movie guy... oh wait!  Charlotte's Web!  I loved that movie!

I was the voice of a SPIDER...

I watched your TV show...

Which I gave up because they were selling ads to cigarette makers...

Everybody did.  I can still sing a lot of the jingles-  "This is the L&M moment..."

I'd have rather you learned from the anti-smoking PSAs...

Actually, I remember most of them too.  "To get right to the heart of the matter, where there's smoke... there's danger of heart attack."  Actually, the one about the gunslinger "Johnny Smoke" used to scare hell from me.  Prolly kept me from being a future smoker...

Great!  I'm sorry if I was rough on you...

Not a thing.  So this week, we have a normal (or what passes for it) list, with 9 contestants from 22 stations.  Here's the list...

Thank you!  So you have here the "one vote wonders"... Marty Robbins hit #26 in May, but was #1 in Australia this week with Just Married.

Dion and those cute Belmonts were at #37 with No One Knows...

Doris Day was at #19 with Everybody Loves A Lover...

And Nelson Riddle with a version of Volare which did not chart nationally.

And that leaves five possible winners:

The Everlys with Bird Dog at #2...

Tommy Edwards with It's All In The Game at #4...

The Elegants with Little Star at #3...

Nel Blu Di Pinto Di Blu, also known of course as Volare, by Domenico Modugno, at #1...

...and Robin Luke with Susie Darlin' at #10.  And you get to pick which two TIED for the most #1 votes!

That's right, Debbie!  We had a tie with 5 votes each for two of these hits, and your first job is to pick which two!


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Something new that got my curiosity after last week's discussion with the Platters was how the label competition went back then.  So, from here in, every week I will go to MusicVF's top 100 for each year, check out the labels and see who did best.

This year, 1958, 46 different labels were represented among MVFs top 100, and I decided to see by both number of hits and chart positions who did the best!  Now single record labels would do best in a average place contest, so I limited my mathematics to those who got at least 4 records placed.  Now, Capitol had the most records place with 9, but they didn't get started till #18, and their average was brought down by hitting the #100 song too.  Which left the race for best between the three companies that tallied 7 hits- Cadence, MGM, and RCA.   RCA also kinda shot themselves in having their votes split between RCA and RCA Victor, which would have netted them a combined 10.  But when I averaged out the positions, the winner at 29.42 was... MGM!  Their seven records were:

The year's top song, and Panel contestant, It's All In The Game;
Conway Twitty's It's Only Make Believe;
Connie Francis with Who's Sorry Now;
Sheb Wooley's The Purple People Eater;
Connie Francis again with My Happiness;
and again with Stupid Cupid;
and finally the legendary (and obscure) Marvin Rainwater and Whole Lotta Woman.

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Our other debut makes #3 for this young lady, her second from this year's lp Rebound- Eleanor Friedberger coming in at #9:





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So speaking of labels, I found a bit of a controversy involving the 6D song.  You see, it lead me to composer Jack Keller, who has a ton of stuff to his credit, most of which was with lyrics from Howard Greenfield.  In fact, here's the shortlist of his hits:

Connie Francis had Everybody's Somebody's Fool (#1), My Heart Has A Mind Of Its Own (#1), and Breaking In A Broken Heart (#7);

Bobby Vee's Run To Him (#2);

The Chordettes and Just Between You And Me (#8);

Bobby Sherman's Easy Come Easy Go (#9);

And a little ditty by Jimmy Clanton called Venus In Blue Jeans, which really started me on the whole trip- and yet, when I pulled MVF's list of the biggest Jack Keller credits, Jimmy Clanton was not there- but the English cover by Mark Wynter was!  So after fighting with a broken link, I found that, while Wynter's version was credited to Greenfield/Keller, Clanton's original was credited to Greenfield and Neil Sedaka!  So back I went to wiki, where the article clearly states that it was a Greenfield/Keller comp.  And the PICTURE of the record on wiki just as clearly shows...

...Greenfield and SEDAKA!?!  I have no clue what the real deal with this was all about, but it all came from Clanton having the 6D victim at #4- Just A Dream, which Clanton wrote himself- or possibly with help from his manager, Cosimo Matassa, no one knows for sure there, either...


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Ready to see if you are still in the game?  If you picked the Elegants, Robin Luke, or Tommy Edwards, go sit down.  If you took Bird Dog or Nel blu di..., oh heck, Volare, go to the final round!

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Stat Pack:

With Cashbox still down at research time, I had to go to Billboard, which this week in 1958 was only 7 weeks along on their official Hot 100.  That gives us a #58 in '58 of Bobby Darrin's Splish Splash, which was on the way down after... well, seven weeks that we know of...

And they don't have the Bubbling under where I can get it, so #100 was the Four Lads with Enchanted Island- which would eventually sail to #29.

I knew 20 of our 100- and 11 of the UK 30,  not including the #1 When by the Kalin Twins- though Panel run-offers Volare (#10) and Bird Dog (#16) made their list.

And our big mover, which I almost forgot because I didn't write it very big, was Tony Bennett's Firefly with a 44-notch move TO #44.

BTW, I just checked and Cashbox has risen from the dead yet again, and will hopefully still be up when I get to making next week's post...


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And the rest of this week's M10:

Cullen Omori's A Real You and Elvis Costello's Unwanted Number flip places to 8 and 7, respectively.

Dorothy slips just one to 6 with Ain't Our Time To Die.

For the second time in 3 weeks, the #10 moves up to #5- this time, it's the Jayhawks and Come Cryin' To Me.

And from there, everybody holds their spots!  ELO stays in 4th with Buildings Have Eyes, Beach House at 3 with Equal Mind, Vanessa Carleton at #2 with Lonely Girls, and a second week at the top for...

...Blackberry Smoke and One Horse Town!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

And the Panel run-off winner, with a run-off score of 4-2...

...Domenico Modugno with Volare!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


See you next week, Lord willing, with 1959!