Time Machine co-ordinates VICX54862875

Today we journey to June 28th, 1975- the day Rod Serling took one, two, three heart attacks before dying...

"Top THAT one, Tom Petty..."

As well as a famous day in Indian history, as Indira Ghandi declared her "this place is so messed up, let's just call an emergency and throw all my enemies in jail" emergency- which would last until 1977-, and started censoring the press.  Here, the Indian Express newspaper showed the world how to REALLY protest censorship....

...a blank editorial.  Better than a thousand words.


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Boy have I got some 'splainin' to do THIS week, Lucy!  The 1975 Panel this week returned an election SO bad, I'm just gonna TELL you who won!  But in wanting to replace that with something a bit more exciting, I just couldn't decide- and the more I tried, the longer the list of things got!  So here's Bo Donaldson to give you the lowdown on just WHAT is going to happen!

Hiya, gang!  So Chris came up with a plan so mad, so crazy, it's off the rails!  He's gonna do ALL the ideas he came up with!  Groovy, huh?

Yep, I'm going to spring everything on you, just not all at once... but over the next few weeks!  Tell 'em what is coming up for their reading enjoyment, Bo!

You bet!  Tune in in one week for- the biggest summer songs of the ENTIRE 1950s!

Tune in in two weeks for the biggest summer songs of the entire 1960s!

Tune in in three weeks for the biggest summer songs of the entire 1970s!

Tune in... Hey, how come you're not doing the entire 1980s?

Well, that's a pretty good question, especially considering I brought you here from 1974!  But the reason is- let's face it, a lot of the 1980s really sucked...

...um, the TM legal department needs a word here...

The statement about the 1980s 'sucking' is only in regards to music, and is the personal opinion of the host, and doesn't reflect the opinions of Time Machine Inc, its subsidiaries, or any other employees...

Speak for yerself, Bellbottom!  I think they sucked too...

You sir, were dead for the entire decade, and so your testimony is NOT admissible...

Okay, let me rephrase... most of the back half of the eighties I abandoned popular music for country.  And what I heard I didn't like much of.  So I didn't bother with the eighties.  Bo, tell 'em what they get in the fourth week down the road...

Yes, sir!  Tune in in four weeks for- Chris's Mythical Top Ten!  He's mentioned it, pointed out some of it... but you'll get to see just what ten songs they are.  And here's a clue... there are TWENTY-TWO of them!  How can that be?  Find out in four weeks!

Thanks, Bo!  Now, before we get to what we're doing this week, this one goes out to a friend who got some really bad news... from my heart to hers...






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Bo, we haven't yet told them THIS week's special... and we aren't going to just yet.

Why is that, Chris?

Because you are going to read off the contestants that got clobbered this week first- the 13 songs that managed to get 18 votes between them!  Then at the end, I'll let them in on who won this week.

Okay!  So with one vote each, we had:

The Laurenco Marques song of the week, Donovan with a song called Rock And Roll Souljer...

Major Harris and Love Won't Let Me Wait at #3 on Cashbox...

Elton John with a song that hit #1 back in APRIL, and was still on the charts at #57- Philadelphia Freedom...

Frankie Valli and Swearin' To God at #14...

Roger Whitaker's The Last Farewell at #29...

From South Africa's chart, ABBA with a song that wouldn't chart until May of '76 here, I Do I Do I Do I Do I Do...

From Australia, another one that won't chart here until '76, John Paul Young's Yesterday's Hero...

One that won't even hit the CB chart until the July 4th weekend, Elton John again with Someone Saved My Life Tonight...

The Carpenters and Please Mr Postman at #13...

And America's Sister Golden Hair, falling this week at #20.

I have to mention that TWO of the Mythical Top Ten are in THAT list!

That leaves us just three more songs on the 'also showed up' list.  one of them got two votes- Linda Ronstadt's When Will I Be Loved at #14;

And the two runners up with three votes were Michael Murphy's Wildfire- the #2 song...

And Van McCoy and The Hustle at #7!

So now you know who lost... but the winner?  Let me just say 2 things- first, it is this week's #1 song on Cashbox... and second, it jibes with the way I remember summer '75 a LOT better than the national charts did!


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So one of the things I said to myself in trying to make this week special was, "Let's look at the 6D song and see if we can get something good from it!"  And I was right!  Our 6D this week was Jesse Colter's I'm Not Lisa, which of course is a country crossover song.  So I said to myself, "Is there a list of the biggest country crossovers?"  Answer, of course not, so I made on myself!  Rules:  Had to be a #1 both on the pop chart (using Cashbox) and Country (using Billboard), and of course, in the Martin Era 2.0 (1955-77).  So, by combined weeks at the top, here are the 25 biggest country crossovers of the Martin Era!

With one week in each: Why, this is John Denver squared, doing it with both I'm Sorry and Thank God I'm A Country Boy.

3 weeks: All with 2 on Country- Glen Campbell's Southern Nights, Freddy Fender's Before The Next Teardrop falls, and Billy Swan's I Can Help.

4 weeks: Two of 'em had 3 weeks country- Jeannie C Riley's Harper Valley PTA and Glen Campbell again with Rhinestone Cowboy- and the other two had three pop- Elvis both times, with (Let Me Be Your ) Teddy Bear and Jailhouse Rock.

5 weeks: Lynn Anderson did 4 country with Rose Garden; Charlie Rich did 3 country with The Most Beautiful Girl.

6 weeks:  Elvis had 4 on pop with Hound Dog.  An asterisk goes to Crystal Gayle's Don't It Make My Brown Eyes Blue- she landed her two pop weeks outside the ME 2.0, but her three country inside, so I said, "Why not?"

7 weeks: The only one heavy on the country side was CW McCall's Convoy, which had 4 weeks there... the Everlys got 4 pop with All I Have To Do Is Dream, and Jimmy Dean got 5 weeks pop with Big Bad John.  This begins the top ten.

8 weeks: A two-way tie for 8th place to the Everlys and Bye Bye Love (7 country), and an even split for Bobby Goldsboro's Honey.

9 weeks: a three-way tie for 5th with Elvis and Don't Be Cruel (6 pop), Sonny James's version of Young Love (7 country), and the Everlys again with Wake Up Little Susie (also 7 country).

14 weeks:  The Browns snag 4th with The Three Bells, 10 of those weeks country.

17 weeks: Ten weeks country for Tennessee Ernie Ford and Sixteen Tons in third place.

19 weeks: A nearly even split, 10 country, nine pop, for the runner up, Johnny Horton's Battle Of New Orleans.

And the champion, with an incredible 17 weeks on the country chart and 22 overall....

...Elvis and Heartbreak Hotel!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


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Time for our one M10 debut, the brand new single from Foster The People:







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The stat pack this week shows:

At #101, the Hollies and Another Night.  It would hit a Billboard peak of #71, one of 4 non top 40 charters for the band in the nine year gap between the big hit The Air That I Breathe and their cover of Stop In The Name Of Love.

At the #75 in '75 was Bobby Vinton with Wooden Heart, one of the 10 songs that would miss the top 40, charting between 45 and 113,  after My Melody Of Love to close his charting career.

Big mover gets Freddy Fender another mention, as Wasted Days And Wasted Nights moved 22 spots from 73 to 51.


The song I would have had at #1 was Wings and Listen To What The Man Says at #6.

And the UK top dog was the #16 song on Cashbox this week, 10cc's I'm Not In Love.

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The rest of the M10:

Okey Dokey and Dent May slip three to #9 with Thick And Thin.

Seven weeks on for Idlewild, with You Held The World In Your Arms slipping a spot to #8.

Taking that spot was Piroshka's Everlastingly Yours at 7.

Moon Taxi gives yet more ground, falling 2 to #6 with Now's the Time.

Geowulf holds at 5 with I See Red.

Surprising even me, Maybird jumps from 9 to 4 with Keep In Line.  But from here, there's not much room for them...

King Leg holds on to #3 with Seeing You Tonight.

Agnes Obel slips a spot back to #2 with Riverside.

Well, It isn't the longest M10 hit ever- The Derevolutions clocked in at 8:59 with It's A Derevolution Baby, and Duran Duran hit 7:04 with Paper Gods- but at 7:03, it's the longest #1 by 1:16!  The new M10 #1...

...from 1973's ELO 2, ELO and Mama!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

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And now, it's time to reveal who it was that lapped the field, capturing 55% of the vote!  And it's the song that played all summer long here... and then played the whole autumn in a Spanish version!  It is...

...The Captain and Tennille with Love Will Keep Us Together!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


So that means... oh dear Lord, that means Toni Tennille will be back next week...

Nardole:  Sir, should I set out some traps?  Maybe a deadfall?  Or some bologna casserole?

No... no... we're gonna hope that she'll be a bit better behaved than last time...

Wednesday Bible Study: Q is for Quirinius

Since the whole point of this week's study is the accuracy of the Bible, I feel I should start with the just-learned by me fact that there are indeed 2 Biblical persons who start with the letter Q, and neither gets much of a mention.  Quartus is one of Paul's 'buddies' in Corinth when he penned Romans.  Quirinius is a proven historical figure.  But according to those who don't believe, Luke gets his dates wrong and 'invalidates the whole Bible'.


Luk 2:1  In those days a decree went out from Caesar Augustus that all the world should be registered. 
Luk 2:2  This was the first registration when Quirinius was governor of Syria. 
Luk 2:3  And all went to be registered, each to his own town. 

Most of you know this line; this is why Joseph had to (we assume) hoist 9-months pregnant Mary up on a donkey and cart her to Bethlehem, as they were both of the lineage of David and thus had to go to HIS home town.  But Biblioskeptics point out, but Jesus was supposedly born while Herod the Great was alive, and he died some ten years before the 'census when Quirinius was governor'.

Let's look to the facts, ma'am, and get to the bottom of this.

First off, let's take just a quick look at the credibility of the sources.  Luke was trying to build an unbiased account to prove where Jesus fit in in the historical narrative.  The seculars lean on Josephus, a former Jewish rebel who was trying to ingratiate himself with Rome after the city of Jerusalem was destroyed in AD 70-71- by which time he had 'turned traitor.'

Luke wrote his Gospel some 20 years before Josephus began to write his Histories of the Jews, and was in Judea gathering information; Josephus was writing from a comfortable traitor's bed in Rome.

The earliest extant fragment of Luke dates from 175-225 AD.  The earliest copy of Josephus is 11th century- a millennium later.

And Luke has had many things questioned by 'historians' which he was proven right on by archaeology.  I want to go to one of those next.

From wiki: There are major difficulties in accepting Luke's account: the gospel links the birth of Jesus to the reign of Herod the Great, but the census took place in 6 CE, nine years after Herod's death in 4 BCE; there was no single census of the entire empire under Augustus; no Roman census required people to travel from their own homes to those of distant ancestors; and the census of Judea would not have affected Joseph and his family living in Galilee, there is no time in the known career of Quirinius when he could have served as governor of Syria before 6 CE, the Romans did not directly tax client kingdoms, and the hostile reaction of the Jews in 6 CE suggests direct taxation by Rome was new at the time.

Au contraire, mon frere!  First off, let's look at this notion of the 'no census that required people to travel.'  From BibeHistory.net:

The following is a record of a census taken in the year 104 A.D. which contains similar wording to that found in the Gospel:

      "From the Prefect of Egypt, Gaius Vibius Maximus. Being that the time has come for the house to house census, it is mandatory that all men who are living outside of their districts return to their own homelands, that the census may be carried out  . . . "

       Another census was uncovered from 48 A.D. which also records a return of the people to their native land for the census. It reads as follows:

      "I Thermoutharion along with Apollonius, my guardian, pledge an oath to Tiberius Claudius Caesar that the preceding document gives an accurate account of those returning, who live in my household, and that there is no one else living with me, neither a foreigner, nor an Alexandrian, nor a freedman, nor a Roman citizen, nor an Egyptian. If I am telling the truth, may it be well with me, but if falsely, the reverse. In the ninth year of the reign of Tiberius Claudius Augustus Germanicus Emperor."

So not only do we see that there WERE censuses that required people to return to ancestral homes, but that there were SEVERAL of them!  The main problem secularists have is that Josephus links the census in Luke to the one in 6 AD, when Quirinius HAD taken the place of the deposed Herod Archelaus.  But, in point of fact, Luke mentions this census in Acts:

Act 5:36  For before these days Theudas rose up, claiming to be somebody, and a number of men, about four hundred, joined him. He was killed, and all who followed him were dispersed and came to nothing. 

Act 5:37  After him Judas the Galilean rose up in the days of the census and drew away some of the people after him. He too perished, and all who followed him were scattered. 

Act 5:38  So in the present case I tell you, keep away from these men and let them alone, for if this plan or this undertaking is of man, it will fail; 

Act 5:39  but if it is of God, you will not be able to overthrow them. You might even be found opposing God!" So they took his advice...

Here Luke is recounting the speech of the teacher Gamaliel urging the Jews to let Peter and John off.  Judas the Galilean revolted because of the census that WAS taken in 6 AD.  But Josephus was in error about that being the SAME census.  Josephus was a sloppy historian more interested in what fit his narrative, and didn't bother to check his sources, which apparently Luke did...

Two well-respected leaders from the early church, Justin and Tertullian, also believed that a record of the census, along with the registration of Joseph and Mary, could be found in official documents from the reign of Augustus Caesar. In their writings they mention that if anyone were to question the Lord’s virgin birth they should go and checkout the Roman state records for themselves.

So, but, they say, Quirinius STILL wasn't governor of the area until after Herod Archelaus was dumped by Rome, right?  Guess again.  The problem was with what exactly a 'governor' meant... here, wiki, prove the point:

His name was stated the earliest in the inscription from 12 BC discovered in Antioch Pisidia known as Res Gestae ('The Deeds of Augustus Caesar by August') 10, stating: "A great crowd of people came together from all over Italy to my election,... when Publius Sulpicius (Quirinius) and Gaius Valgius were consuls."[12] Two other inscriptions also found in Pisidian Antioch (Inscriptiones Latinae Selectae 9502 & 9503) mentioned Quirinius as a Duumvir, when Marcus Servilius was a Roman consul in 3 AD.

So Quirinius had SOME kind of power in the area at the very least several years before the birth of Jesus.  From Cold Case Christianity:

Interestingly, archaeological discoveries in the nineteenth century seem to confirm Quirinius (or someone with the same name) was also proconsul of Syria and Cilicia from 11 BC to the death of Herod. Quirinius’s name has been discovered on a coin from this period of time (as cited by John McRay in Archaeology and the New Testament), and on the base of a statue erected in Pisidian Antioch (as cited by Sir William Ramsay, The Bearing of Recent Discovery on the Trustworthiness of the New Testament). Quirinius may actually have ruled Syria during two separate periods and have taken two separate censuses. This is consistent with Luke’s account. In Luke 2:2, Luke refers to the “first census taken while Quirinius was governor of Syria” (describing Quirinius’ rule as the governor’s procurator), and in Acts 5:37, Luke describes a second census taken most likely between 6-7AD (as described by Josephus) when Quirinius was the formal governor of the region. Both Josephus and Luke link this second census to an uprising under Judas of Galilee. Only Luke’s sources were present during the actual events; as a result, Luke’s description of two separate censuses is reasonable.

Think, Pilate and Herod of Jesus' time- a Roman official over the shoulder of a native ruler.  Quirinius served in this role until AD 1, when Augustus ( the former Octavian) sent him to Armenia to teach Augustus'  grandson the ins and outs of administration.  Then, Augustus recalled him at Archelaus's fall to take over as formal governor- and his first act was the census that Judas of Galilee rebelled against, coming so soon after their complaints finally dethroned the hated Archelaus.

   So why didn't God have Luke just EXPLAIN all this?  Because, God tells us that He will be found if you DILIGENTLY SEEK Him.  I realize archaeology isn't everybody's idea of diligently seeking- but you know, it wasn't God's idea for everyones' 'diligent seeking'.  Some of us seek through prayer, some through service, some through history.  But God leaves it just enough open that those who WANT to know can find out, and those that choose not to can ignore.  See, God gives you a free-will choice: seek or ignore.  Those that seek, God will reach out to; those that don't...

Mat 13:13  This is why I speak to them in parables, because seeing they do not see, and hearing they do not hear, nor do they understand. 

Mat 13:14  Indeed, in their case the prophecy of Isaiah is fulfilled that says: "'You will indeed hear but never understand, and you will indeed see but never perceive. 

Mat 13:15  For this people's heart has grown dull, and with their ears they can barely hear, and their eyes they have closed, lest they should see with their eyes and hear with their ears and understand with their heart and turn, and I would heal them.' 

Mat 13:16  But blessed are your eyes, for they see, and your ears, for they hear. 

Mat 13:17  For truly, I say to you, many prophets and righteous people longed to see what you see, and did not see it, and to hear what you hear, and did not hear it. 

Martin World News

Today I was all set to rant about several situations at work that left me wondering if anyone in the corporation making more money than myself were capable of dressing themselves in the morning.  But moments after coming home, I saw something that changed my mood.  Remember "red", the chipmunk I told you about yesterday?  He was sitting in the middle of the porch as I passed the back door.  As I stopped to look at him, he decided to take off- and ran right into the butt of a blue jay who was sharing a mid-afternoon snack with him.  Right. Into. His. Butt.

After that, I decided I had to have fun with life, and share it.

So I looked around and decided our best bet was an old-fashioned weird news segment.  Ready?  Here we go!


Item 1- And it glows in the dark, too!

A lady in Canada shared with the world that her UK cousin had a birthday request that was just a bit too hard for the cake maker.  Novelist Harriet Alida Lye said her cousin had asked for a Mariah Carey themed cake, but the order taker, no doubt a former librarian, misheard the order, and the cousin instead received...

...a Marie Curie cake!  Easy to confuse the two (except for the thighs, I guess), and since they would both need to lip-synch any Mariah Carey song, no harm done.  Mariah herself, approved as well, tweeting, This could've been me if only I hadn't failed remedial math  happy birthday Siobhan!!


Item 2- I bet they gave him the 6 degrees at the station

This here gentleman from Vermont was interested in looking for a clip from the sitcom Saved By The Bell- unfortunately for him, he was not saved.  It seems that his search had several flaws, including:

-he was driving at the time
-he managed to sideswipe another vehicle while searching
-it was a police cruiser
-he at first didn't notice he'd done it, then thought about it, stopped, calculated the money he wouldn't be saving with Geico, and fled the scene
-he got caught about a mile down the road.

In case you're curious, apparently the clip involved Screech making a very good spaghetti sauce, so maybe he was just hungry.

BONUS:  His name?  Kevin Bacon.


Item 3- Let's see those damn squirrels top that!


A power outage affecting the electric train system in Japan's southern Kyushu district May 30th, left 12,000 people stranded and 26 trains cancelled.  Recently, an investigation into the cause of said failure has been released.  The culprit?

They determined the cause was a single tiny slug that found its way into some sensitive equipment.  He managed to crawl onto a live cable in a supposedly sealed box, shorting out the system and his life as well.  Now I just looked up an article titled, "Survival Food: 5 Ways to Eat Snails and Slugs", and 'Frying in an electrical box" was not there, so don't get any ideas.


Item 4- Also accepted:  'I don't know, but the teacher lost all of hers'


So a mom, I'm guessing in the UK since I cribbed the story from Mirror Online, has a child with dyslexia who goes to a private school specializing in learning disabilities.  And she had to be thinking the school had some not-so-good experience in such disabilities after her daughter brought home a test with the following question:

"Janell had 15 marbles.  She lost SOME of them.  How many does Janell have now?"

Seriously?

Later on, Mom spoke with the teacher.   "I spoke to her teacher today and found out the answer to her homework question was to 'come up with her own answer.'

"Her answer, the question mark, was not considered wrong."

Of course, Mom posted the whole thing on FB, and among the comments, I had to agree with this one:

" I hate that kids who at 7 or 8 years old are being expected the no one is wrong garbage. While still learning fundamentals of math. Math is math not theology."

On the other hand, this one made me scratch my head.

 "And they wonder why we have kids with literacy and numeracy problems."

Numeracy is a word.  Who knew?

Picture post!

From Saturday and Monday walks...

Wild strawberries comin' in

Juicy level: A.  Flavor level: D.

Raspberries too!  Much better!

Geese at the Swamp.  Needless to say, the frogs were staying indoors...

Guarding the bridge, singing his little heart out.

Just standing there, holding his hands together.  I think he was waiting on the bus.

"All by my- sellllllf...."

Now here I have to share the story of sitting outside Saturday morning.  I had just filled the bird feeder, and threw some down for the chips and the lazy birds.  Two of them came up:  Chip, above, a regular who lives in the shed, and "Red"- bigger, bushier tail, and redder on the gluteus.  They kept chasing each other off, but after I went in to get something and Red almost followed me in (not intentionally, I believe), Chip had the show to himself.

At a certain point, I went in and got a sandwich and a bag of chips.  Chip was fine with me just sitting there, or talking to him- but eating he didn't know what to make of.  So he climbed up the middle post of the fence.  And STARED at me.  Just like that for a good 3-4 minutes, until he decided my food didn't affect him, and back down to eat he came.

And really, it wasn't so much eating as stuffing his pouches as full as they go, and then dumping it- somewhere- and returning for more.


Later Saturday the kids came over and we had a great time playing catch and basketball and being chased around by Peanut and his vicious brand new shark flip-flops...

Today was a bit gloomier, but still I went...

Remember the pic of Scrappy looking into the hollow log?  The log has hit hard times, too...

Black squirrel

Finally snapped a froggie, first this year

Sunday Message: Lord's Prayer pt 7

Now we come to what I see as the simplest but most practical section of the Lord's model prayer:

Mat 6:12  and forgive us our debts as we also forgive our debtors. 

As this one SEEMS easy-peasy, I just want to point out two things.  One is, we need to invoke the Kalko rule, if nowhere else, on this one.  So important is this line, that in memorizing it, we forget about what goes with it right after Jesus finishes the prayer:

Mat 6:14  For if you forgive others their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you, 

Mat 6:15  but if you do not forgive others their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses. 

Note that this is the only part of the prayer that requires an action on our part- we MUST forgive FIRST, to be forgiven.  One thing I saw as I looked at the original words was that 'we' is described as 'only used as emphatic'; WE is ALL of us.

Another thing I noted is that the original prayer uses the terms 'debtors' and 'debts', which has the exact meaning we give it- a debt is something owed- although, in a figurative sense, it also includes 'a fault'.  But when Jesus further elucidates, the word changes from debts to 'trespasses'.  And that word carries the following meaning:

From G3895; a side slip (lapse or deviation), that is, (unintentional) error or (wilful) transgression: - fall, fault, offence, sin, trespass.

And that G3895?

to fall aside, that is, (figuratively) to apostatize: - fall away.

Draw from this that when we sin, we accrue a debt to God.  And our only means of paying is through Jesus.

I guess the only other things to add is, 'how soon' and 'how many'?  And these are both spelled out for us:

How soon: Mat 5:23  So if you are offering your gift at the altar and there remember that your brother has something against you, 

Mat 5:24  leave your gift there before the altar and go. First be reconciled to your brother, and then come and offer your gift. 

How often: Mat 18:21  Then Peter came up and said to him, "Lord, how often will my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? As many as seven times?" 

Mat 18:22  Jesus said to him, "I do not say to you seven times, but seventy times seven. 

Time Machine co-ordinates VICIX54762174

Today we arrive in June 21, 1974, and y'know, PC is a funny thing.  Today, Judge W Arthur Garrity ordered Boston schools to desegregate- at the tip of the federal pike, as the law passed for the same purpose by the State Legislature had gone ignored for NINE YEARS.  It was as simple as racial hate- and it wasn't so simple.  From an article by WBUR:

Some facts are not in dispute. Boston schools were segregated. Some schools in Roxbury were 90 percent black. In South Boston, nearly 100 percent of the students were white.

The Boston School Committee said that was just the way it was; it's where people chose to live. But black parents in the city wanted more for their kids.

"This all started in the black community," (Jim, author of a book on the subject) Vrabel said, "because although the schools were not providing a good education for anyone, they were providing a particularly bad one for students in the black community."

Some white schools lacked libraries and cafeterias. Some black schools lacked classrooms, books, even teachers. In the mid 1960s, just one Boston school teacher in 200 was black.

"The reason Boston schools began to deteriorate was that the school system became less of an educational system and more a patronage system," Vrabel said. "Teachers and administrators were hired based on who they knew rather than what they knew."

This is a fascinating article, and I would love to go on, but that isn't our purpose here.  Instead, let me juxtapose this huge story with what Wikipedia, that bastion of liberalism, has to say about today:

Károly Polinszky becomes Hungary's Minister of Education.

That's it.  Wow.

Károly Polinszky : more far reaching impact than mere integration...
"Hey, don't pick on me!  The bastards at Wiki only gave ME a 19-word bio!"

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Okay, time to leave this scene and head for music, as we have Sir Paul McCartney on the show (well, you know, but pretend it is), along with two new M10 debuts, a 6D that brings us info on the supergroup that was MFSB, not to mention the Godfather of Disco!  Get on the bus- er, the Musical Tardis- and let's go!


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Let's open with one of our debuts- and in usual M10 style, we work our way backwards!  Before Maybird came out with their #1 Don't Keep Me Around a few months ago, they put out a 2017 EP called Unraveling.  From it, here they are with our debut at #9...






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Paul McCartney accepts the POTM for himself and Wings this week!  After 7 times with the Beatles, this is the first time apart from them.  How does it feel?

Well, you know after a while, and you got all these different awards and gold records and such, but... has John won one yet?

No, sir, not solo...

Oh, well, in that case, it's a right honor, and it just goes to show that all that political nonsense, it does grate on one's nerves after a while, wot?  Let's just have some fun!

So we won't be mentioning Give Ireland Back To The Irish, then?

My, look at the time.  We'd best be about this, how big is the queue?

17 songs, 48 stations.  Here's the one-vote wonder list...

Ah, yes... We have, from Laurenco Marques, a version of Gypsy Man by local act the West Coast Giants...

Ray Stevens with The Streak at #8... that's about that running about starkers fad, innit?

Yep.

He doesn't do the song thus, does he?

No- he pretty much uses cartoons...

Good idea.  Oh, here's Cliff Richard's old bird, Olivia Newton-John, with If You Love Me at #9...

KISS with Nothing To Lose... did not chart?

Their first single, and a popular song at their shows.

Maria Muldaur and Midnight At The Oasis, #28...

Hughes Corporation, Rock The Boat, # 6...

Gladys Knight and the Pips, On And On, #19...

Good heavens, The Night Chicago Died?  This is by Paper Lace, some lads from  from Nottingham, and it is at #78 in its second week on the list...

Ah, here's a vote from South Africa for a fine tune, Andy Williams with Solitaire- and it din't chart in the states?

'Fraid not.

Pity, that... Finally, we have Elton John and Harmony- you say this was a b-side in the states?

Yep, a big hit everywhere else, but here they put it as the flip of Benny And The Jets.  Interestingly enough, this was a vote from WBZ in Boston, and they had his Don't Let The Sun Go Down On Me at #2, and Candle In The Wind at #3!

They certainly did love him!  Are you ready with the next queue?

Yeah, here's your also receiving votes list.

Thank you, and with 2 votes we have Marvin Hamlisch and The Entertainer at #22, and with three votes each, William DeVaughn and Be Thankful For What You've Got at #4, as well as You Make Me Feel Brand New by the Stylistics at -seriously?  The #1 song doesn't make the finals?

No, but both of those 3-vote songs will be involved in the 6D coming up.  And now...

Yes, let's have a look at the finalists... Hmmmm... You may choose from John Denver and Annie's Song at #22...

Bo Donaldson and the Heywoods with the song they stole from Paper Lace, Billy Don't Be A Hero at #3...

Ack, here we are for another shot at it, with Band On The Run at #5...

...and Gordon Lightfoot and Sundown at #2!

Okay, thanks again, Paul!  So it's John, Bo, Paul, or Gordon this week, and it was a pretty solid win this week.  Though not a romp by any means!

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Our 6D song was the O'Jays with For The Love Of Money at #7.  This record- in fact most of their hits- were backed up by the Philly Sound's musicians of choice, MFSB- who had their own hit with TSOP (The Sound Of Philadelphia).  Several other acts depended on them in the early 70's as well- the Stylistics (there's one mention), William DeVaughn (there's another), the Spinners, the Delfonics, and Harold Melvin and the Bluenotes, for a few.

A lot of these guys had been around together a long time- clear back to Barbara Mason's Yes I'm Ready!  Among them were Earl Young, founder of the Trammps (Disco Inferno), and possibly the first to do disco-style drumming, on the Bluenotes' hit The Love I Lost;  Norm Harris, the cousin of Major Harris (Love Won't Let Me Wait), as well of the second leg of a very popular producer/arranger triangle with Young and fellow Trammp Ronnie Baker; Bobby Eli, who took songwriting honors for the above mentioned Major Harris tune, as well as the Main Ingredient's Just Don't Want To Be Lonely; and TJ Tindall, whose guitar credits included Lou Rawls' You'll Never Find Another Love Like Mine and the Jacksons' Enjoy Yourself, along with 30 hits and 38 gold and platinum records.

But where you really hit the meat of the story is the Godfather of Disco, Vibraphonist/percussionist/producer/arranger Vincent Montana Jr....

This dude has an amazing backstory which I can't begin to cover here- as an up-and-coming kid, he was cool enough to sit in with Charlie Parker!  Let me steal just one story about him from an interview by Bernard Lopez...

Vince recalls a time when he was wheeling in his vibraharp into the studio and saw Leon Huff sitting patiently in the lobby. Leon was a songwriter and piano player and both were friends so Vince Montana asked what he was waiting for to which Leon replied "I've been waiting for four hours to show Bernie Lowe (then head of the studio) some music I've been working on." He then asked Vince that if he saw Bernie, to tell him that he has been waiting and could he please see him to which Vince replied "Don't worry, some day you'll own the building." Sure enough Leon teamed up with Kenny Gamble to form the legendary Philadelphia International record label and now owns the studio.

Huff's future partner Gamble would come into the studio and sing backup along with his future wife Dee Dee Sharp. Vincent Montana says the whole experience was almost like magic and they never stepped on anyone else's toes. Who could argue when such great talents as Norman Harris on guitar, Ron Baker on bass, Leon Huff on piano, Earl Young on drums and Vincent Montana on vibes were creating music? These were just a few of the many session musicians that made up the rhythm section of the "Philly Sound." Others included the late Larry Washington who played congas and who many of today's DJ/remixers unknowingly sample.


Montana would later split with Philly Int'l over royalties, taking much of MFSB with him to his new-founded Salsoul Records, and eventually hitting the chart with the guys again as the Salsoul Orchestra.  So anyway, Wiki has this list of the songs he's known to have played on.  I suspect it's not complete, but even not complete I count 22 top 10 pop records!  I thought I would share with you the top ten- keeping in mind that his MFSB brethren played on some, most, or all of these, as well...


7-(4-way tie)

-Spinners, I'll Be Around, #3 (as are the others)
- Harold Melvin and the Bluenotes, If You Don't Know Me By Now
- Stylistics, Betcha By Golly Wow
-O'Jays, Backstabbers

6- Eddie Holman, Hey There Lonely Girl, #2 (so too the next one)
5- Cliff Nobles and Co., The Horse
 and at the #1 spot on the charts...

3(tie)
-Love Train, O'Jays
-MFSB, TSOP
2- #1 3 weeks, Billy Paul, Me And Mrs Jones

And the rabbit in my hat that really blew me away, with 5 weeks at the top...

...Frankie Avalon's Venus!


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Next debut is at #8, and it's a bit of a supergroup as well, drawing its members from shoegaze vets Lush, new wavers Modern English (I'll Melt With You), and alt-rockers Elastica (Connection)!  They call themselves Piroshka, and they chart with a song I have been trying to shoehorn in since the end of April, no lie!  I had a choice of live videos, but as Bobby G pointed out a couple weeks back, live doesn't make up for not turning up the vocals.  Which gives the choice of a still photo or a lyric vid, and I chose the lyric one- even if it gets a tad 'flashy'.  From the lp Brickbat (which will explain why that keeps coming up)...







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Stat pack time!

Big mover, 21 spots from 69 to 48 for James Brown and My Thang.

The #74 in '74  was Smokey Robinson's third solo effort, It's Her Turn To Live.  It didn't get this high on Billboard; Smokey didn't dent the pop chart very successfully until he finally had a big hit with Cruisin' some 6 years later.  Before that, he averaged charting solo about #58, with only 3 top 40's out of 13, plus 7 no-shows.


Our #101 this week was Curtis Mayfield's Kung Fu.  The UK #1 was good ol' Gary Glitter with Always Yours.

The notable debuts included Don't Let The Sun Go Down On Me at #66, Chicago's Call On Me at 80, and Rufus and Chaka Khan with Tell Me Something Good at 84.

And what would I have had at the top?  Not a hard choice this week- this was often a member of my childhood 'mythical top ten'- Steely Dan at #14 with Rikki Don't Lose That Number.


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The remaining M10:

I presume but haven't checked that this is a record- a third week at #10 for Pure Bathing Culture and Veil.

Idlewild tumbles in week 6 from 3 to 7 with You Held The World In Your Arms.

Okey Dokey and Dent May move up one to 6 with Thick And Thin; Geowulf gains 3 to #5 with I See Red.

Moon Taxi clings to #4 for a second week with Now's The Time.

King Leg, satisfied with one week at the top, slips to #3 with Seeing You Tonight.

ELO is at #2, up 3, with Mama.

And at #1- a month shy of three years since her first #1...

...Agnes Obel and Riverside!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


And the POTM vote? 

Annie's Song got you 10.4%...
Sorry, Paul, Band On The Run got 12.5%...
Sundown netted you 14.5%...

But the winner, with 25% even...

...Bo Donaldson and the Heywoods and Billy Don't Be A Hero!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


That is a wrap- no muss, no fuss this week!  See you next time for 1975!