Time Machine co-ordinates VILXII5039757

Today, we land in September 7th, 1957- and the night that the world first met the NBC Peacock.

This still pic debuted on the show Your Hit Parade, where a cast of singers, which at this point included recent Panel contestant Giselle McKenzie, re-created the top seven songs of the week.  Now me, I remember better the animated version that debuted on the western Laramie a few years later.  I also remember this much later, "trimmed down" version:

so trimmed down, in fact, that I remember Jay Leno making the joke that "henceforth, it will be known as the NBC Capon..."


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And with a "Ba-dum-DUM!" we open this week's Time Machine, which will have a couple new M10 debuts as we ACTUALLY hit the list's 4th year;  A guest shot from the Platters, and the greatest hits of Kal Mann (who?)!  So shake a tail feather and let's get at things!

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Say hello to Karen Groteberg!  No, she's not a member of the Platters, but she IS the lady in the Jayhawks, and I bring her up because she sings lead on their latest M10 hit, debuting at #10....





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And now, welcome Herb Reed and Zola Taylor of the Platters!

Um, I'm not interrupting anything, am I?

Z:  Oh, good heavens, no!  

H:  Nah, just part of the act, my friend...

S'okay, I was just teasing.  So you were with the band from the beginning, and built a hall of fame career with songs like My Prayer.

Z:  Actually, Buck Ram brought me in a bit later.

H: Buck is the one that got us in with Mercury Records, and he's the one that made them release our songs on their regular label instead of their purple label for colored acts.

It still amazes me that anyone was stupid enough to believe that records should be segregated.

H:  Well, it was a lot like what you been tellin' us about your time.  People scared a what they say, that they might offend someone.  A lotta hate...

Z: It's just a wonder that they didn't have pink labels for the ladies...

Not to mention that musicians in general were a group often taken advantage of.

H:  Don' I know it!  Now, the way you all got things set up, singers are just in it for the money after a while.  Groups like us had to LOVE what we did...

Very true.  Okay, so this week is just like the last couple.  With only a handful of charts, I gave points for the chart positions of any of the songs that hit #1 8 of them in all on 11 stations.  And the chart positions are from Billboard this week, since as of last Friday the Cashbox archive has been down yet again.  So have at it you two!

H: Ladies first, Z.

Z:  Thanks, Herb.  Our first tune is Paul Anka's Diana, which is #2 on Billboard.

H:  I got Jimmie Rodgers an' Honeycomb, it's the #9 song.

Z: Buddy Knox rocks on Hula Love, which was all the way down at #49, but with a bullet!

H:  Heh, I like that, 'Knox rocks!'  Johnny Mathis is at #21 with It's Not For Me To Say.

Z: That there's a MAN, ladies!  At a REAL low #92 on it's way up to a peak of #52, we have Ron Goodwin, with one of the versions of Swingin' Sweethearts floating around out there...

H: Debby Reynolds is up next, at the top this week with Tammy...

Now there's a WOMAN, guys!

Z:  Hee hee!  Next up is Buddy Holly and the Crickets and That'll Be The Day at #5.

H: An' the last contestant is the Killer hisself, Jerry Lee Lewis an' Whole Lotta Shakin' Goin' On at #4.

Thanks guys!  So gang, here's your deal.  Three songs had 2 #1 votes apiece, but only TWO of 'em got in the top three point-wise.  So you try for which two of them will battle for the top, and I'll let you know if you're still in the game in a bit!.


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Okay, I gotta see our guests off, 'cause I got some spoilers ahead.  In the meantime, listen to the new debut at #8 from the new lp  Look Now from Elvis Costello and the Imposters...









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So I saw a story about later days for Ms. Taylor that was so crazy, I just had to share!  From wiki...


(Frankie) Lymon's troubles extended to others after his death. After R&B singer Diana Ross returned "Why Do Fools Fall in Love" to the Top Ten in 1981, a major controversy concerning Lymon's estate ensued. Zola Taylor, Elizabeth Waters and Emira Eagle each approached Morris Levy, the music impresario who retained possession of Lymon's copyrights and his royalties, claiming to be Lymon's rightful widow; Lymon had neglected to divorce any of them. The complex issue resulted in lawsuits and counter-lawsuits, and in 1986 the first of several court cases concerning the ownership of Lymon's estate began.

Trying to determine who was indeed the lawful Mrs. Frankie Lymon was complicated by more issues. Waters was already married when she married Lymon; she had separated from her first husband, but their divorce was finalized in 1965, after she had married Lymon. Taylor claimed to have married Lymon in Mexico in 1965, but could produce no acceptable evidence of their union. Lymon's marriage to Eagle, on the other hand, was properly documented as having taken place at Beulah Grove Baptist Church in Augusta, Georgia, in 1967; however, the singer was still apparently twice-married and never divorced when he married Eagle. The first decision was made in Waters' favor; Eagle appealed, and in 1989, the Appellate Division of the New York State Supreme Court reversed the original decision and awarded Lymon's estate to Eagle.

However, the details of the case brought about another issue: whether Morris Levy was deserving of the songwriting co-credit on "Why Do Fools Fall in Love". Although early single releases of "Why Do Fools Fall in Love" credit Frankie Lymon, Herman Santiago and Jimmy Merchant as co-writers, later releases and cover versions were attributed to Lymon and George Goldner. When Goldner sold his music companies to Morris Levy in 1959, Levy's name began appearing as co-writer of "Why Do Fools Fall in Love" in place of Goldner's. Lymon was never paid his songwriting royalties during his lifetime; one result of Emira Eagle's legal victory was that Lymon's estate would finally begin receiving monetary compensation from his hit song's success. In 1987, Herman Santiago and Jimmy Merchant, both by then poor, sued Morris Levy for their songwriting credits. In December 1992, the United States federal courts ruled that Santiago and Merchant were co-authors of "Why Do Fools Fall in Love". However, in 1996 the ruling was reversed by the Court of Appeals for the 2nd Circuit on the basis of the statute of limitations: copyright cases must be brought before a court within three years of the alleged civil violation, and Merchant and Santiago's lawsuit was not filed until 30 years later. Authorship of "Why Do Fools Fall in Love" currently remains in the names of Frankie Lymon and Morris Levy.

And that's without going into all the lawsuits that Herb went through to get the Platters' name back!


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Kal Mann wrote the 6D song- which, I hate to say it, was Elvis's Teddy Bear at  #3...

"Yeah, Ah'll just BET you hate to say it..."

Which got me looking into Mann, who with various partners wrote the lyrics to a TON of hit songs!  So I waddled on over to MusicVF, where I got the definitive list of the top songs of Kal's career, and doing just this top ten left a TON of good music off the list!  Anyway, here's the top ten songs penned by Kal Mann...

10- The Dovells, Bristol Stomp, which hit #2...

9- The Orlons, Don't Hang Up, #4...

8- Chubby Checker and DeeDee Sharp, Slow Twistin', #3...

7- The Orlons, The Wah-Watusi, #2...

6- DeeDee Sharp, Mashed Potato Time, #2...

5- Chubby, Limbo Rock, #2...

4- Bobby Rydell, Wild One, #2...

And the three #1s...

3- Charlie Gracie's version of Butterfly...

2- Andy Williams version of Butterfly...

and at #1...

That's right, Elvis and Teddy Bear, which is were the whole thing got started!


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So if you guessed Jerry Lee, Debbie, or Jimmie Rodgers, you would have the three with 2 #1 votes... but only two of them landed in the top on points, with Jerry Lee trailing both Buddy Holly AND Paul Anka!  So pick from Tammy or Honeycomb, and see if you get a winner!

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So we're still in the 'slim pickins' side of our stat pack.  I knew 15 of 40 in the US and 8 of 30 in the UK, including the British chart topper, which was Diana.  Outside of that, I can only give you the big mover, which was...

The lovely Jane Morgan and the Troubadours with Fascination, zooming up 31 spots to #32. 

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The remaining M10:

Quiet Hollers hangs in there at #9 with Addicted.

Cullen Omori moves to #7 with A Real You.

The Jayhawks' other tune, Backwards Women, goes backwards from 3 to 6 in it's 9th week.  That is something only 26 other songs have done- 7.8% of the songs ever to hit the M10.  Only three have beaten that, and one was the Jayhawks with Quiet Corners!

Dorothy still says Ain't Our Time To Die, but it is time to fall from #2 to 5. 

And on that subject, last week's top dog, ELO's Buildings Have Eyes, drops to #4.

Beach House follows a familiar path, going up from 5 to 3 with Equal Mind.

Vanessa Carlton leaps 4 to #2 with Lonely Girls.  And we might be approaching a new Iron Ceiling with the new #1...

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

And the winner of the Panel, with a 367-349 margin....

....Debbie Reynolds with Tammy!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


Next week, Debbie and me and 1958!