Today, we go to June 14th, 1973- and the terrible disaster in Wageningen, Netherlands (get a picture of the map of the Netherlands in your mind, and stick a dart dead center). There, at the Wageningen University and Research, the Laboratory of Nematology was burnt to the ground...
And what is Nematology, you ask? Why, it's the study of...
...that's right, nematodes... On the bright side, the worm-fry was a rousing success, and no humans were injured.
Welcome to this week's Time Machine, and hopefully we'll get some good stuff from POTM Neil Diamond, we'll (yes, again) have a 'live' 6D, and one M10 debut- and it lowers the average year that the countdown's songs came out in to 2011!
Nardole: Um, sir, we have a problem...
Let me guess, no Neil Diamond...
N: Well, I had a bit of a head cold (which is a bit ironic, really*), and I thought you said, "Phil Diamond"...
Who the hell is PHIL Diamond?
N: Well, he has an acting credit... a movie in 1964... but I saw the director was Tony Orlando, so...
Tony Orlando? What did HE direct?
N: Well he did do this movie Phil Diamond was in, The Block... 'A twisted tale of prostitution, blackmail, and murder involving strippers at a sleazy "gentlemen's club". '...
And what else?
N: Let me see... there was Hot Nights On The Campus... Lust And The Flesh...
Do you think that MIGHT not be the same Tony Orlando?
N: I... yes, I am beginning to...
Well, that means I'm doing the Panel myself, on top of the 'live 6D'...
N: Does that mean you don't want Phil Diamond?
YES, that means I don't want Phil Diamond!
NOTE * "Nardole is introduced in the 2015 (Doctor Who) Christmas special "The Husbands of River Song" as the employee of the Doctor's wife River Song (Alex Kingston). In the course of the episode, he is decapitated, with his head ending up as part of a cyborg body." Hence, irony.
Anyway, while I get around to getting set-up and calmed down, here- since I have only one debut, let me play you the week's big mover, up 25 spots from 71 to 46 on this week's Cashbox chart- shout out to Tim Rowlison...
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Ah, that was nice! So let me start us out on our 24 song, fifty-three station total rout of a Panel board with the one-vote wonders.
The first was a song I really enjoyed at #75- Shirley Bassey and Never Never Never.
And being's we're in the early seventies, we'll no doubt be getting a Barry White bedroom song of the week for a while. This time, at #6 on CB, is I'm Gonna Love You Just a Little More Baby.
Then at #4, we kick you out of bed with Edgar Winters and Frankenstein at #4.
One of Donovan's later singles, he was at #57 with I Like You.
Top ten really getting hammered this week- another 1-voter was Elton John at #2 with Daniel.
The REAL Tony Orlando and Dawn were at #6 with Tie A Yellow Ribbon Round The Old Oak Tree.
Last week, we lost icon Dr John. As if in tribute, his Right Place Wrong Time got a vote at #15.
I told Laurie I found it amazing that a week that saw rock instrumental Frankenstein at #4 had at #5 the other great rock instrumental of that year, Focus with Hocus Pocus.
I'm a bit disappointed that SOMEbody voted for one of the all time muy disgusto songs- Lou Reed's Walk On The Wild Side, which had peaked in April.
Another missed the memo tune was Stevie Wonder's You Are The Sunshine Of My Life, which hit #1 last month. Not to mention Maureen McGovern was still a week out from the Hot 100 at #124 with The Morning After.
Recent POTM Paul Simon was at #12 with Kodachrome.
The vastly underrated Wildflower by Skylark was at #20.
And at #94, Charlie Daniels and Uneasy Rider.
The also receiving votes crew looked like this: With 2 votes were Jim Croce and Bad Bad Leroy Brown at #30; Sweet and Little Willy, which peaked last month; Deep Purple's Smoke On The Water at #50; George Harrison's Give Me Love at #8; the Tower Of Power and So Very Hard To Go at #65; and the Doobies with Long Train Running at #19. And we had a single three-vote song- Billy Preston and Will It Go Round In Circles at #11.
And that leaves us with a three song final- though not a close finish. Choose from:
McCartney and Wings, My Love, at #1;
Sylvia and Pillow Talk at #3;
or Clint Holmes with the song I voted for as 'the song I would have had at #1 back then', Playground In My Mind at #9.
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A few days back I played ELO's Roll Over Beethoven, always one of my favorites, from an lp which, oddly enough, I had never listened to- 1973's ELO II. And I heard a song there I just fell in love with. Debuting all the way up at #5 on the M10 this week, here's the song that drug the M10 average song age up to 8 years old....
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Hey, let me bring Elvis in here!
"Now whadda you want?" |
All right, then!
So we start out with Joe Puerta. Know him?
No, man...
Well, Joe started out as bassist and co-founder of Ambrosia, and wrote their hit Holding On To Yesterday. He would go on to be an original member of Bruce Hornsby and the Range...
That's after my time, son...
I know, but hang in there. Now I bring up Mr Hornsby because he co-wrote End Of The Innocence, the title cut to former Eagle Don Henley's 1989 lp. And I got there because a couple other really good songs on that lp and the one before it- New York Minute, All She Wants To Do Is Dance, Sunset Grill, and others- were written by or co-written by guitarist Danny Kortchmar...
Now, HIM I know!
Yep, Danny was a star guitarist for a lot of people, but his start came with Carole King and James Taylor...
Now, I got it from here. Him and James Taylor decided to teach us white boys how to write a blues song, an' they came up with Steamroller Blues...
Yep, and your version of it was at #10 without a Panel vote this week.
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Well, I've given out the Big Mover and the 'Chris's #1' for this week, so the rest of the Stat Pack:
Kris Kristofferson's great gospel tune Why Me is our #73 in '73. Many people know this song better for the chorus than the name...
Lord help me Jesus, I've wasted it so
Help me Jesus I know what I am
Now that I know that I've need you so
Help me Jesus, my soul's in your hand.
At #101 this week was a group I literally found nothing about, the Invitations, with a tune called They Say The Girl's Crazy (but the song was pretty good).
The main debuts this week were the Stories and Brother Louie at 88 and the Eagles and Tequila Sunrise at 96.
And the UK #1 was Leather Tuscadero herself, Suzi Quatro and Can The Can.
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The rest of the M10:
Pure Bathing Culture was stuck at 10 again this week with Veil.
A song that grows increasingly hard for me to make it through without tears, Tame Impala and Eventually, falls from 5 to 9 in week #8.
The other two last week's debuts, Geowulf's I See Red and Okey Dokey/Dent May and Thick And Thin, move up 1 spot to 9 and 8 respectively.
In week #9, the Dig and Moonlight Baby finally fall from 1 to 6- and in so doing move into 10th place all time.
Moon Taxi's Now's The Time and Idlewild's You Held The World In Your Arms flip spots to 4 and 3 respectively.
Agnes Obel takes her second straight four-spot jump to #2 with Riverside.
And that means the new #1 is...
King Leg and Seeing You Tonight!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
And on the Panel: A vote for Sylvia got you 9.4%...
One for Clint Holmes got you 11.3 %...
But yer winnah, with 28.3 %.....
Paul McCartney and Wings with My Love!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Nardole, that's PAUL- not Saul, not Raul, not...
N: All right, I have it!
Good, so maybe we'll see Paul and his band when we go to 1974 next week!
Great music and great memories
ReplyDeleteThank you! I think so, too.
DeleteChris:
ReplyDelete---Now that worm fry is something I never heard about until now.
---LOL...Nardole managed to muck it up with Neil Diamond...just brilliant. He DOES try (and IS very trying...heh).
---Wonderful Carpenters song. One of my favorites.
---Man, I had forgotten that Frankenstein came out THAT long ago. Love that album.
---The Morning After...used in the movie The Poseidon Adventure.
Good to know I actually remember MOST of those 24 panel songs, too. Lots of fine tunes there.
---Nice ELO find...quite mellow and easy on the ears.
---Very interesting 6D...did not know about Danny Kortchmar, but I DO recall the songs he wrote.
---Agnes Obel keeps moving up the M10 (and Idlewild's not far behind).
Glad that King Leg hit the top spot. I like that song.
---And after a couple misses, I NIT the panel pick with WINGS.
(just went w/ the song I knew the best)
Another very good ride this week.
Keep those hits comin' up there, brother.
Laurie used the same logic this week!
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