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!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!