Time Machine co-ordinates VIXCII5405367

And we're back, and it's May 3rd, 1967- the day our heroic soldiers along with ARVN took hill #881 in Khe Sanh!

You betcha!

And if you weren't here yesterday, why not?  We did the 'one-vote-wonders'- all 20 of 'em- so we could get to the remaining 19 contestants of the biggest panel of all time!  And it was a helluva tight race this week, too!  Let's get right to the action, shall we?


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Starting us off is the week's lone debut!  At #10, here's newcomer Kelley Stoltz:






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All right, I am so excited, because I get to share the Time Machine mike with a former Beauty Contestant!  Ladies and ge...YES, Nardole?

Well, there was a slight problem... her husband, a Mr John Phillips, refused to let Michelle come on the show without him.  A 'package deal', he called it.  Naturally, I refused, knowing how you feel about the extra expense... But, if I may, I believe Ms Cass from yesterday is still down at the buffet...

Elvis:  You bet she is, and I can't get her outta there!  Y'all better do something about...

(Door opens, she enters, sucking down a rib...)

Cass:  Here I am, boys!  (munch munch).  I'll sure be glad to help out...

E:  Lissen, you've helped yourself to about as much...

Alright, hold it guys!  I have a solution that will satisfy no one but myself, and since I'm the boss, motion carries.  Here, Elvis...

E:  Hey, what...


You two do the Panel picks, I'll go...  order more supplies... yeah, supplies!  You guys have at it!

C: Oh, this will be SO fun!

Nardole:  Well, if you'll both excuse me, I must...

E:  (Whispering) You sit right down, Baldy, I need a chaperone!  I don't know if this dame is gonna strip me or eat me, an' I need backup!  (louder)  So let's get back to these here songs.  Ladies first...

C:  Sure King!  Can I call you King?

E:  Mr Presley will be fine...

C:  Oh, you are just the silliest thing!  So lets do this by number of votes, and with two votes, we start out with Lou Rawls and Dead End Street.  It was #40 this week.

Then comes an act called The Choir.  Chris left us a little note:  "These guys are the Raspberries before Eric Carmen joined."  Do you know what that means?

E: I don' understand half the stuff Chris says...

C: Anyway, their song was called It's Cold Outside, and it was at #121 this week.

Then, another 'bubbling under' with 2 votes- this time it's the Wildweeds and No Good To Cry at #112.  Chris has another little note- "guitarist Al Anderson later helped found NRBQ, and was on the M10 #1 Driving In My Car."

Alright, sweetie, why don't you do a few?

E: All right, and... hey, you got gravy on this paper!

C:  (chew, swallow) mmmsorry...

E:  Man, Baldy, gimme some gloves!  Next up, still with 2 votes, we have The Buckinghams 'n' Don't You Care at #9... Englebert Humperdinck and Release Me at #27... the Moving Sidewalks an' 99th Floor...

N:  Don't forget to read the note on that one...

E:  Shuddup, Baldy, I'm gettin' there!  "The Moving Sidewalks was the first appearance of ZZTop's Billy Gibbons.  Did not chart."  Happy?  Here, Darlin' you do the next ones...

C:  Elvis called me darling... (starts to swoon)

E: Don' let it get to yer head...

C: AHEM..  Sandie Shaw's Puppet On A String- which didn't make the charts here, but was #1 in the UK this week, is next.

The Hollies' On A Carousel was at #10...

The Five Americans with Western Union, they're at #22... 

And Aretha Franklin and Respect is at #17...

E:  Good grief, don' let her in here, she eats as much as you!  So now we got just three more losers today.  The Turtles got Happy Together at #5 with 3 votes, and a couple more with four- the Monkees an' A Little Bit Me, A Little Bit You at #3, an' Davey Allen an'the Arrows at #89 with Blue's Theme.  Here, you c'n have the finalists, I'm outta here!

C:  Bye, sweetie... he called me darling... Oh, look, Chris is back!

A little bit early by the looks of it.  Where are we at?

C:  Here, honey, it's just the finals now...

All right, and while Nardole escorts our guest back to her proper era...

C: Aw, I wanna stay!

N:  Come, along, ma'am.  I'm sure you'll be... PLEASE don't touch me there...

C:  Tee hee!  I slipped...

Anyway, here are your choices for POTM.  Choose from:  The Young Rascals and Groovin at #14... Frank and Nancy Sinatra with Somethin' Stupid at Numero Uno... Tommy James and the Shondells with I Think We're Alone Now at #6... Arthur Conley and Sweet Soul Music at #4... and the Supremes with The Happening at #2!  These five collected exactly HALF the 106 total votes.  Choose wisely, and we'll move on...


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Just to let you in on it, we had a record breaking 12 of our contestants make the UK charts this week!  Besides Sandie Shaw at the top, there was Somethin' Stupid (2), A Little Bit Me (3), Purple Haze (5), Release Me (8), Happy Together (12), The Boat That I Row (16), I Was Kaiser Bill's Batman (17), You Got What It Takes (35), Penny Lane (36), Sweet Soul Music (44), and On A Carousel (50).  Wonder what Purple Haze and some of the others are doing on there?  I TOLD you to read yesterday's post first!

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I have to get a big chuckle when I can use the 6D to connect the terms "professional wrestling" and "rinky dink".  And that is exactly what I get to do today, because a song that "The Happy Organ"'s Dave "Baby" Cortez did called Rinky Dink (which hit #10 in 1962) was the theme music for Saturday afternoon program Professional Wrestling in the UK.  (In their defense, wiki mentions that most viewers knew neither the name of the tune nor that DBC did it -mainly because he never charted over there).  Now he got a start in the business playing for a Harlem doo-wop act called Little Jimmy Rivers and the Tops.  And YOU have prolly never heard of them, as they never charted- but, as Maxwell Smart would say...

You see, they had this up and coming songwriter composing for them, and they almost got some play for one of his tunes called Puppy Love- not the same one you know...





But the next song he wrote for them, he suddenly decided this would sound better by a girl group, and She's So Fine became He's So Fine for the Chiffons.  And they missed out on a #1.

Now I haven't yet mentioned WHO that writer was, with due reason.  You see, he died suddenly right after He's So Fine, and another song-scribe, Lamont Dozier was in the audience to watch Ronnie Mack's Mom accept his award for the hit.  And it made him want to do something to commemorate him, somehow.  And he put that together with the fact that the record company was busting his chops to write a new song for Martha Reeves and the Vandellas, mix it together, and you get the #7 hit this week on Cashbox without a Panel Vote- Jimmy Mack.

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This week's stat pack brings us the following trivia:

Bad enough I didn't give Aretha much "respect" during the Panel fun, but she didn't get much on the charts either.  Her song took a 39-notch jump this week- but lost the biggest mover to Tommy James and the Shondells with Mirage, up 41 places from 79 to 38.  Of course, Aretha's 39 spots got her to #17, so there is that.

"Honey chile, you best hope I never get in that box of yours..."

Trust me on that!  Anyway, The #67 in '67 was Otis Redding and Carla Thomas with a tune called Tramp- and I looked it up, it was actually Carla calling Otis, basically, a hick, and not Otis calling Carla... well, I've gotten myself into enough trouble for one post...


There were huge upcoming hits at both #101 AND #102 this week!  The higher, Every Mothers Son with Come On Down To My Boat... the other, Frankie Valli's Can't Take My Eyes Off You.

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The remaining M10:

Easy come, easy go for Lily and Madeline, as Can't Help The Way I Feel slips to #9 in its 6th week.

ELO up a pair to #8 with Long Black Road.

Also up 2, Criminal Hygiene and Hardly News at #7.

J Mascis retreats 3 to #6 in week #6 for See You At The Movies.

And 7-weeker Dream Variations by Idlewild slips but a spot to #5.

And another easy-comer is Mara Connor's No Fun, pushed back a pair to #4.

Just like last time, I put their song on the chart not expecting much, and it has grown into a top hit.  Who?  The Dig, as Moonlight Baby climbs 3 to #3.  They really grow on me!

Surprising probably no one, Tame Impala's Eventually springs from #8 to #2.

Meaning a second week at the top for...

...Maybird's Don't Keep Me Around!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


And the Panel?  Ready for the tight results? 

8.5% of the vote to Sweet Soul Music...

9.4% to Somethin' Stupid...

10.4% goes to both Groovin' and I Think We're Alone Now...

Which means that with 11.3%, the winner...

The Supremes with The Happening!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


Well, hopefully we might actually get Diana to show up this time- third time's the charm, right?  See you next time for 1968!