Time Machine co-ordinates VILXXVIII52512575

Today, we venture to January 25th, 1975- and again, I found nothing really happening.  I did see something titled "Electric Light Orchestra and Pavlov's Dog", and I thought, "Hmm, what kind of psycho-social review do we have here?"  But when I hit the link...

...yes, Pavlov's Dog was the opening act!  A prog-rock outfit, they are actually still performing- despite three of their founders having passed the scene...

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ANYway, here we are for this week's TM, with Steve Miller guesting, a 6D that matches up two very different songs at each end; my best Grammy Records of the Year; believe it or not, another 3-debut week on the M10; and a third straight big rout on the Panel picks!  When the bell rings, everybody salivate er, cheer!


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So let me start out with our opening debut- this is a new act to the M10 but they've been around a while- I give you The Essex Green at # 10...





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Okay, so now, let's bring in our guest for this week, St- NARDOLE!! WHO IS THIS??

I am Ivan Petrovich Pavlov!  I vas told I vas needed on your program...

N: Isn't that who you... oh, wait, wait, I see!  I looked at the wrong line...

P: Is this man to be my subject?

Don't give me ideas.  Actually, tovarich, this is a music show, and...

P: I hardly think that we are THAT familiar.  You vill address me as Godspotin Pavlov...

Fair enough, Professor.  Um, well, what we do here is take a list of #1 songs...

Vat, forgive me, is a '#1 song?' Is it a first movement, or a...

Well, Professor, this is kind of a popular music thing, and...

Ah, I see, songs of the unvashed masses...

Uh, yeah... so we collect the votes that various places turn in, and have the audience guess at the winner...

Ja panimaju, my good man, I am game if you like...

Aw, heck, why not!  Here, first I give you the one-vote wonders- they're the ones that...

I grasp the meaning, I am after all an intellectual...

N:  Not after word gets out you were here...

Are you sure you wouldn't like me to 'work with' this man?

Sure is a strong word... anyway...

Ne za chta, my good fellow... So first we have Paul McCartney and the, er, Wings with Junior's Farm- it says, ' on its way down at #29 on... Cashbox?

The national over-all listing.

Ah, spasibo! That was the song from Laurenco Marques... the next one is from Australia.  Billy Swan with I Can Help at #65.

Then Linda Ronstadt is #5 with You're No Good.

Hmm... are these two a married couple?

Nope, sorry...

Very vell... the one is Carl Douglas vith Kung Fu Fighting... barbaric!  This is at # 28.

The other is Carol Douglas vith Doctor's Orders at #12.  He shall need the doctor to order him after the fighting, da?

Uggh...

Then we have the, er Doobie Brothers... should this not be the Brothers Doobie?

Probably has been, at times...

They are singing Black Vater at #18.  Then ve have from South Africa, Neil of Diamonds vith Longfellow Serenade... he sings to a poet?

Not exactly...

Ah, vell.  He is at ... oh, wait, he 'peaked' in the United States in October of... is this right? 1974?

Yeah.  Long story.

Ah... next, Donnie and Marie Osmond... ah, THIS is a married couple...

No, brother and sister...

How perfectly odd...  they are at #6 vith Morning Side of The Mountain.

And the Tymes are at #114 with Ms Grace...

...which is the #1 song in the UK this week!  This MIGHT be the first time a #1 UK song is a Panelist in the same week...  Here is the "also receiving votes" list.

But there are only three?  Very vell.  Vith two votes each, ve have Elton John vith Lucy In The Sky Vith Diamonds at #14... the Average Vhite Band vith Pick Up The Pieces at #9... und Neil Sedaka vith Laughter In The Rain at #3.

All right, Professor, and thanks for being such a good sport!

Ne za chta... tovarich!

And that leaves us a three song final, kids!  Choose from Barry Manilow and Mandy at #2; the Carpenters and Please Mr Postman at the top; and the Ohio Players and Fire at #10.  Easy peasy!

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Here's our second debut at #9- the second from the lp She Remembers Everything- for Roseanne Cash:





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So with all the Grammy talk lately, I thought I would look into the songs that have made Record of the Year.  59 of them, since the category started in 1959, and a varied amount of success on the actual charts.  While most (31) hit the top, there were 18 others that hit other places in the top forty, 2 that 'bubbled under' (below #100), and one- Paul Simon's Graceland- that never charted.  And I went through the list and came up with my Top Ten Grammy ROY winners!  First, here's the Honorable Mention 5:

Rosanna, Toto
Clocks, Coldplay
Bridge Over Troubled Water, Simon and Garfunkel
It's Too Late, Carol King
Somebody That I Used To Know, Gotye and Kimbra

And the top ten:

10- Aquarius/Let The Sun Shine In, Fifth Dimension, 1970
9- This Masquerade, George Benson, 1977
8- The Girl From Ipanema, Stan Getz and Astrud Gilberto, 1965
7- What A Fool Believes, The Brothers Doobie, 1980
6- Hotel California, Eagles, 1978
5- Love Will Keep Us Together, Captain and Tennille, 1976
4- Nel Blu DiPinto Di Blu (Volare), Domenico Modugno, 1959
3- Mack The Knife, Bobby Darrin, 1960
2- Mrs Robinson, Simon and Garfunkel, 1969
 

And the top one for me:

1- Theme From A Summer Place, Percy Faith!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

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Ok, I'm going to slam a quick sat pack in since I still have a 6D and the third debut to do!

First off, the label game this week goes to...

RCA Victor!  In a week of good scores, RCA-V racked up 4 songs for a 16.2 average position- David Bowie's Fame at #5, Morris Albert's Feelings at #23, and two from John Denver- Thank God I'm A Country Boy at #8 and I'm Sorry at 29!

Meanwhile, our biggest mover was the flip of a Panel contestant- Wings with Sally G moving 21 spots from 90 to 69.

The 75 in 75 was a familiar one to a lot of us- Dan Fogelberg's Part Of The Plan.

Not so the #101- Butter Boy by the 'original' all-girl group, Fanny, featuring Suzi Quattro's sister Patti.
 and I knew 10 in the UK- including Panelists Lucy In The Sky (39), I Can Help (12), Morning Side Of The Mountain (7), and of course the #1 Ms Grace.  In the USA, I knew 52 of 100.  Go me!

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And now, another newbie to the M10 at #8- this is Criminal Hygiene:





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So we start out in 1926, when the tune Tonight You Belong To Me was first recorded.  30 years later, it became a #4 hit for the sister act Patience and Prudence; and that same year, the Lennon Sisters backed by Lawrence Welk hit #15 with it.  Janet Lennon's 2nd hubby was John Baher, who with his brother Tom were members of the Ron Hicklin Singers.  Among the many things this group did were the backing vocals for David Cassidy on The Partridge Family's hits (while the Wrecking Crew played the instruments).  Hicklin himself did extensive overdubs on Gerry Lewis' voice on This Diamond Ring- a classic hit co-written by one Al Kooper.  Al also was a musician, playing keyboards and French horn on the Stones' hit You Can't Always Get What You Want.  Also on that track was a conga player going by Rocky Dijon- his real last name was Dzidzornu; and it was this gentleman who was the only other person involved in the recording of our 6D song- Stevie Wonder's Boogie On Reggae Woman, sitting at #5 but snubbed by the Panel.


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The remaining M10:

Dropping 2 to 7 is Charles Bradley and Luv Jones.

Moving up 4 to #6 is the first of last week's debuts- ELO's Point Of No Return. Moving up 3 spots each in front of them are the other two last week rookies- Animal House's Heavy at 5 and Liz Cooper and the Stampede at 4 with Outer Space.

And the top three hold:  Castlecomer with She's So High at #3, The Beths and You Wouldn't Like Me at 2, and a second week at the top for...

...the Decemberists and Travelling On!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

And how'd ya do guessing this week?  If you took the Ohio Players, you got 7.9% of the 38 votes...

The Carpenters?  They netted you 13.1%...

But if you wanted the winner, with a strong 39.5%, you took...

...Barry Manilow and Mandy!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

The man himself will be here next week (unless I keep my current assistant, in which case all bets are off) for 1976!