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... |
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...
I love Jessi Colter. She was the wife of Waylon Jennings and he was one of my favorites. Dedication song: xoxoxoxoxo
ReplyDeleteBack atcha!
Delete"...a lot of the 80s really sucked..." SO true! ☺ Looking forward to your summer lineup. Sounds interesting! Although not much of a country music fan, I do like Freddy Fender and Charlie Rich (still have their 70s albums). And, Heartbreak Hotel! One of Elvis' best songs, for sure. Captain and Tenille, though....:P Foster the People's "Imagination" was fun. I liked the psychedelic, animated image in the video as well. Sorry about your friend. :( James Taylor has a beautiful voice, but that video wasn't available in Canada. Have a good weekend!
ReplyDeleteI like this "video not available in your country" crap about as much as I like green beans...
DeleteThe Captain and Tennille were riding high. Not anymore.
ReplyDeleteToo soon?
I didn't know that about Rod Serling. Dude sounds as reluctant to die as Rasputin.
It might have been spread out over a couple of days, but this made a better one liner. He actually had the third one in the OR during surgery. Remember, kids, cigarettes kill!
DeleteChris:
ReplyDelete---Your trip to 1975 didn't let me down.
I remember that about Serling. Great writer.
---You mentioned SO many of those crossover (pop/country) tunes that I heard around our house daily.
Mom was the country fan. Dad liked instrumentals, Sinatra, and big bands, while I was all over the place (rock, classical, country, some pop).
Figured Elvis would top the list...(again).
I will say that much of the music we enjoyed started "going away" during the mid-late 70s...with a few exceptions in the hard rock genre.
---I do like what you have planned over the next several weeks. Sounds like fun.
---Glad you gave us the answer this week. I probably would have missed picking the Captain and Tenille.
---As an aside...yes, that "video (song) not available in your country" is total BS.
Any "Region designation" only applies to DVDs...HA!
Whatta bunch of mooks!
Anyway...very good ride this week.
Keep those hits comin' up there, brother.
Glad you enjoyed the crossovers... so many of those #1 C&Ws I would have loved to have snuck in but for they never got #1 pop and that would have made the list REAL unruly...
DeleteAll this good info and the only thing I have to add is that I always loved the James Taylor tune you linked. I'm a bit of a lyrics nut and I laser focus on some of the poignant ones. In this song, I've always thought the lines leading into "...well maybe they can live without her..." were kinda bittersweet.
ReplyDeleteNothing lasts forever...indeed! Thanks, Chris!
A little something about that choice... a million years ago, when I was taking night classes in college, I spent an entire summer that that song would come on just at a certain point on the way home. Remember it so vividly... and I believe that it was God's wanting me to remember it so I could play it for that friend this week. 30 some years later.
Delete