So today, after stopping myself from moving my grandson's birthday up one month, I thought it still might be fun to look at what made news tomorrow- October 1st- through the ages. (Or to put it another way, "If the best I can get off Fox News is, 'Susan Olsen tells why she despised being Cindy Brady', the news is not going to be worth going through.") So sit back while I reprogram the Tardis to find the humor in history, and away we go! (Jo-Anne! Get that seat belt on!)
331 BC
Alexander the Great and Darius III fight their final battle at Gaugamela. I believe that this may have been the birthplace of Gargamel, but the name similarity could well be a coincidence.
"You idiot! Isn't it bad enough you mix me up with Garfunkel?"
Alexander's last butt-whupping of Darius had netted him, among other items, Darius's wife, mother, and two of his daughters. As Darius tried to talk his way out of the fight, he sent three negotiation attempts. The first time, he got snotty and demanded Alex leave Asia and give back the family. Not surprisingly, that didn't go well. The second attempt, Darius felt his genitalia a bit more in the wringer, and upped the ante. He offered the hand of a daughter (of which Alexander already had possession of the whole body), all the territory up to a certain river (of which Alex was a good 1,000 miles past), and perhaps a ransom for the ladies. The third try, he thanked Alex for his kind treatment of Mama (wife wasn't mentioned), re-iterated the "hand of daughter" thing, moved the "you can have all the land up to" line closer to where Alex actually was, offered him a co-kingship, and offered the current equivalent of about $16-and-a-half million of silver. But no, Alex wanted to fight, and after a hotly contested battle, Darius adjourned somewhat early and later got stabbed in the back (figuratively and literally) by one of his own guys.
366 AD
Pope Damasus (possibly NOT pronounced "Dumb-a$$-is") was named Pope. Well, naming might be a bit rough. You see, just 50 years after it became legal to BE a Pope, he secured his election by allowing his "proper society" supporters to hire thugs to massacre his opposition. Apparently a master of bribing his way INTO said society, he also took advantage of things by being a bit of a ladies' man, earning him the nickname Auriscalpius Matronarum, "the ladies' ear scratcher". He got around the 305 AD prohibition of bishops marrying by just having adulterous affairs. Apparently he did manage to combine brutality and lasciviousness with actual good works, and put St Jerome onto the job of composing the Latin Bible known as the Vulgate. 1553
Queen Mary (Tudor) ascends the throne of England. She earned the sobriquet "Bloody Mary", not for the drink (since vodka was just starting to get some legs in Russia and Poland, and tomato juice was 'invented' in 1917), but for her barbecuing skills. In her just-under five years at the helm, she held a roasting on average every 6th day- of course, the grill-ee was generally a Protestant, and no word on whether baked beans or coleslaw were available.
1800
A secret Treaty between France (under Napoleon) and Spain sent the vast territory of Louisiana back to France, who lost it to Spain after the British beat the French in the French and Indian War, in which the Redcoats and the Colonists beat the title characters, so of course Spain ended up with 1/3 of North America out of the deal. However, since Spain ran these territories with all the skill of a Big Three Automaker exec, they were soon in debt up to their pesos, and wanted to unload land for cash. Or at least more advantageous territory. So they ended up giving up 828,000 sq miles of America PLUS "...six ships of war in good condition built for seventy-four guns, armed and equipped and ready to receive French crews and supplies" , all for a vague promise of "Tuscany, or something from the Pope" so that the King's son-in-law would have somewhere to go after France gobbled up his Duchy of Parma. Of course the problem was, France hadn't yet finished their latest butt-whupping of Austria in order to POSSESS Tuscany. Which explains the "secret" part.
"Ah, don' get-a so mad at me. I had to sell-a the damn thing for $18 bucks a sq mile. I coulda got $35 for Tuscany, easy."
1908
The first Ford Model T hits the salesfloor. It would become the 8th biggest selling car of all time, right between the Volkswagen Passat, and the Honda Accord.
" 'Passat'? What the hell is a Passat?"
1946
Mensa, the club for the high of IQ, is founded. Figuring a bunch of really smart people don't need a lot of rules, the founders didn't start with a whole lot of organization. However, one of the founders soon figured out the problem with that:
However, (Roland) Berrill and (Dr Lancelot) Ware were both disappointed with the resulting society. Berrill had intended Mensa as "an aristocracy of the intellect", and was unhappy that a majority of Mensans came from humble homes, while Ware said: "I do get disappointed that so many members spend so much time solving puzzles."
Ironically, during my time at Arden Corp, the home of Mexican labor in Ft Wayne, I learned that Mensa was a slang term for a female of questionable intelligence. So there is that...
I woke up at 530 Saturday morning to go to the bathroom. Knowing I wanted to work on this post and a Bible Study post, I said to myself, "God doesn't want me to get up THIS early; He'll be happy to work with me at 700. " I was half right, because I returned to bed to listen to a message from Tony Evans that impacted both. And now, here I am at 600 to tell you the two things that impacted this post from that message, that started in Isaiah with the words, "In the year king Uzziah died". First, that YOU go through "years that king Uzziah died" to get a clearer view of God. Second, that when Isaiah said that "Woe is me, I am undone...for my eyes have seen the King, the Lord of Hosts...", the word undone means unraveling, and my story today began with me unraveling.
You see, I am working to apply the lessons of the Fear of Jehovah, and the progression I have been explaining in the Wednesday Proverbs study; and I came to a point the other night in which I felt I was unraveling. Because, I know that the key starts with humility- and I am learning that humility isn't a straight-ahead thing, it's a 360 degree thing, and I'll never get all the facets of it in this lifetime. And I confessed that I was getting lost in trying to understand it. And to my prayer, God answered, "Just see the way that Job did it."
So I went to the passages where God finally spoke to Job. You have to understand as I tell the story, Job thought he was fighting God- but if you read the first chapter, you see he's fighting Satan. How Job lost that is how I lost it.
In those passages, God tells the stories of Behemoth and Leviathan. If you read these passages, you know that Behemoth is a perfect description of what we used to call a brontosaurus- a dinosaur. And Leviathan is a "sea serpent"- perhaps the World Serpent of Norse legend. Wait, are you saying... no, you can read about the FACT that God is representing here on your own this time. What caught me for the first time was the allegory behind it. You see, one of the Bible verses that I always found the most puzzling was the very last line of God's Leviathan story- "He is the king of all the children of pride." A sea serpent is this? But this time I saw a verse very early in the Behemoth story- "He is the first of the works of God."
My friends, the great power and invincibility of the two monsters God describes is an allegory on the monstrous power of Satan. Ezekiel 28 gives you the impression of Lucifer being one of the "first of the works of God"; and Satan is certainly the true king of the children of pride. And through this story, God describes the utter impossibility of beating Satan on your own. About halfway through these two stories is a section on which both stories spin:
Job 41:8 Put your hand on him; remember the battle; you will not do it again! Job 41:9 Behold, his hope has been made false; will he not be cast down at the sight of him? Job 41:10 None is so fierce as to dare to stir him up. Who then is able to stand before Me?
This passage tells us two very powerful things: The secondary is the application to Job. All this time, Job thinks his struggle is with God. But we know it is with Satan, and he's getting whipped by Satan. And God tells Job, "If you can't beat Satan, how do you think you WOULD fare against ME?" Fact of the matter is, we can't beat God, and we can't beat Satan.
What we CAN do is give the battle to God, which is the main point God is telling Job- and us: "Remember the whipping you are getting in this battle? DON'T FIGHT THIS FIGHT AGAIN!"
And this really applies for me. Not long thereafter I learned a lesson I already knew from experience. God WILL win your battle with sin. YOU will not. And you have the choice whether God fights it or you do. I think Job 41:9 is becoming my 2nd life verse.
So how does this tie in to my unraveling, and God's response? Well, this revelation was a gift, for going where God directed to find my answer in this question. And the answer I got was this. Job found all of humility in simply seeing how much greater God was than himself. Job discovered this in the vivid, tangible description of how Job was no match for Behemoth/Leviathan/Satan. And in the intangible add on: "But he is no match for ME". As great as your problems, your demons, your losses, are to you, they are no match for God. And when you think on how powerful THEY are- and that can be a pretty vivid thought-that tells you how much greater our God is to defeat them so easily.
Today we go to September 27th, 1964- and for a change, I didn't have to go far for our big news of the day. Today, the Warren Commission released their report that claimed Lee Harvey Oswald was a "lone ranger" in his murder of JFK. Let me just say this about this report- I have heard enough about lying politicians as I type this, on September 26th, 2019, to last me. Ready to move on.
"But you still like me, right? Say you still like me..."
Well, Justice Warren, my attorney Horace Bellbottom advises me not to comment. That should tell you what you need to know there...
At any rate, let's get on with the decompressing atmosphere of the Musical Tardis, where this week we have yet again an all-time top ten M10 newbie (and another lined up right behind it), another pretty big Panel winner, Bobby Vinton as POTM, and an actual legit 6D! And let's kick things off with this week's one M10 debut!
Silversun Pickups have released two singles from their latest lp, called Widow's Weeds. Neither the earlier M10 hit Simpatico nor their new debut are among those singles. In this wonderful age of technology, I am my own A&R man! Coming in at #8...
Nice to be here again!
This is your third time as POTM- in fact, you were the very FIRST President of Time Machine, way back with My Melody Of Love!
But the first for Blue Velvet- which is convenient because I haven't done this other song you named yet...
Tis, true, tis true. And this is without a doubt my personal favorite.
Yeah, it was first done by Tony Bennett in 1951, got to #12. The writer, Bernie Wayne, actually suggested me doing it for my blue-themed album.
And I'm glad he did! Anyway, we have 17 contestants from 56 stations, so you have a pretty big job here...
I'm ready, let me have the alphabetical list...
Uh, we don't do it alphabetical anymore. I start you with the one-vote wonders, then give you the rest who don't make the finals, and then the finalists.
Lose your dictionary? (chuckles)
Listen, you try doing a show with Elvis, a fictional lawyer, and a leftover from the 2017 season of Doctor Who and see if you don't try to find easy ways out...
Yeah, I see your point! Okay then, one vote wonders it is! Before I get started, though, I wanted to say I'm really sorry about you losing your dog...
Thanks, man.
Have you figured out what you're going to do about not having him for the Beauty Contest?
Well, I'm kicking around a "Christmas with Bill Haley", post... maybe I'll just let him do the draw...
Y'know, maybe you could have Wayne Newton do it... you haven't had him on in a while, and he's kinda puppy dog-like...
"I sure am!"
Food for thought, I guess. He has been sending a lot of letters to the staff...
"And I've been meaning to speak to you about that... perhaps a cease and desist order would suffice..."
Oh, let's not get litigious quite yet. Bobby, would you mind...
Oh yes, right. The one voters... Newbeats, Bread And Butter, at #2 on Cashbox... Hondells, Little Honda, #33... Beatles, I Should Have Known Better, peaked last month at #53... Honeycombs, Have I The Right, #70... Chad and Jeremy, A Summer Song, #29... Nashville Teens, Tobacco Road, #37.... Supremes, Where Did Our Love Go, #6... Beatles, If I Fell, #66...
I should put in here since it IS 1964, that this week's Beatles total includes If I Fell at #66 as Bobby said, And I Love Her at #46, Slow Down at #36, Matchbox at #20, and A Hard Day's Night at #16.
Herman's Hermits, I'm Into Something Good, a stealth vote for a song that doesn't hit the US charts until the 10th of next month... The Butterflies, which contained 2 of the original Crystals, and had Ellie Greenwich in the background, on Goodnight Baby at #74... And the Kinks, just starting out at #130 with You Really Got Me. Now the also-receiving votes group are just 2- The Shangri-Las with Remember (Walking In The Sand) at #7 with 3 votes, and Gale Garnet's We'll Sing In The Sunshine at # 15 with 2. And now, your finalists! Please choose from... J Frank Wilson and the Cavaliers and Last Kiss at #31 with a bullet... Roy Orbison and Oh Pretty Woman at #1... Martha and the Vandellas, Dancing In The Street at #8... ...and Manfred Mann, Doo Wah Diddy Diddy at #4! All good choices!
Yes, they are! Thanks a lot, Bobby! Now, let's turn our attention to...
I would be remiss with all the talk of that original M10 chart back in 2015, what with both Status Quo and Saint Asonia returning recently for the first time since then, to not mention the song that really made me decide to do an M10, the song oddly enough at #2 that week. That was NRBQs Riding In My Car, from 1977. The next week, it would become the 2nd M10 #1. Now that song, from their lp All Hopped Up, was on Red Rooster records- a label that was their own, which they used when they weren't trying to get on a big label. They founded it after Columbia dropped them, came back to it when Mercury dropped them, and again after their one effort on Bearsville (best known for Todd Rundgren and Utopia). Bearsville was founded by one Albert Grossman, a promoter who first put together Peter Paul and Mary. They almost were not the Biblically sounding PP&M; they were almost Peter Dave and Mary, with a folk star by the name of Dave Van Ronk. Dave's voice was found to be to "idiosyncratic" to flow smoothly into that act. Dave however, was a budding star, and had created a progression for a certain well known and old folk-blues tune. Let Dave tell this story...
I put a different spin on it by altering the chords and using a bass line that descended in half steps—a common enough progression in jazz, but unusual among folksingers. By the early 1960s, the song had become one of my signature pieces, and I could hardly get off the stage without doing it. Then, one evening in 1962, I was sitting at my usual table in the back of the Kettle of Fish, and Dylan came slouching in. He had been up at the Columbia studios with John Hammond, doing his first album. He was being very mysterioso about the whole thing, and nobody I knew had been to any of the sessions except Suze, his lady. I pumped him for information, but he was vague. Everything was going fine and, "Hey, would it be okay for me to record your arrangement of (REDACTED)" Oh, shit. "Jeez, Bobby, I'm going into the studio to do that myself in a few weeks. Can't it wait until your next album?" A long pause. "Uh-oh". I did not like the sound of that. "What exactly do you mean, 'Uh-oh'?" "Well", he said sheepishly, "I've already recorded it". (from his book, The Mayor Of McDougal Street)
The song in question? Why that would be the song at Cashbox's #3 this week without a Panel Vote- the Animals' version of House Of The Rising Sun.
Brian Poole and the Tremeloes- a band that didn't really make it here until Poole left- had our #64 in '64 with Someone, Someone.
Dean Martin had a hit in the making at #101 this week- The Door Is Still Open, which would eventually go top ten.
Little Honda nailed the big hole-shot, going up 38 spots from 71 to 33.
And since that "stealth vote" for I'm Into Something Good was from the UK, no surprise that it was also tops on the UK official charts.
And my favorite, had I been doing a top ten back then (which, at 2 years old, I may well have been, knowing me), would have been this week's Cashbox #10- Gene Pitney's It Hurts To Be In Love.
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Well, here's the news I haven't touched on yet- the Iron Ceiling 2.0 has been broken up. The original, back in March of '18, spent 7 weeks with at least one of them in the top 3, 5 of those weeks with at least 2, and 4 weeks with all three; the new one also had a seven week run- still going- with at least one, 5 of those with at least two, and 3 weeks with all three, so pretty comparable. And just like then, that means some places on the all-time list get changed. We'll hit that as we go.
#s 10 and 9 switch places this week- Dolly Parton and For King And Country go to #9 with God Only Knows, and the Rubinoos go to #10 with January.
The Orwells drop 4 to #7 with Last Days In August- and into a 6th-place tie all time.
White Reaper sneaks up another spot to #6 with 1F.
Geowulf drops from 2 to 5 with He's 31- and if it holds that spot next week, it will join the 6th place all-time tie. They also climb 2 spots to #4 with Lonely.
Saint Asonia batters its way into the #3 slot with The Hunted.
The lone survivor of the fall of IC2.0 is Joy Downer's Stranger Places, slipping to #2.
In June of 1966, the Walker Brothers took this song to #14 on the Cashbox charts. In March, the UK chart saw it leap from #10 to #1 and stay there for 4 weeks. And here, a version of that same song hits the top, shattering the IC 2.0 with a 5-to-1 leap. The new #1...
The Explorer's Club with The Sun Ain't Gonna Shine Anymore!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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Your Panel winner:
Last Kiss and Dancing In The Street netted 7.1% each...
Manfred Mann cobbled together 10.7%...
But our winner, with a whopping 46.4%...
...the Big O with Oh Pretty Woman!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
BTW, anybody notice we're a mere 9 weeks from the TM empire's 600th post? That would put it right around the Thanksgiving episode...hmmm... Do we give thanks (easily done), or come up with a "biggest turkeys" list (also, easily done)? Ah, a worry for another week. Next week is 1965! God willing, see you then!
This week as I delve into the "Fear of the Lord" verses in Proverbs, I want to tackle the third column on my list- the "buts". Each one of these verses, as I said before, have either a contained-within, in the surrounding verses, or implied "and" or "but" with them. Last time, we looked at the "ands" and saw how God is building us a progression from reverence to knowledge to wisdom to reward. Let's see what we can glean from the "buts". I'll do this like last week, posting the pertinent verses and going from there.
Pro 1:7 The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge; fools despise wisdom and instruction.
I find it ironic here, given that the FEAR of the Lord is respect and reverence towards Him, that the verb in the 'but'- despise- actually comes from a word that means, "to disrespect". So truly, our first definition of the Proverbs version of 'fool' is someone who disrespects God, and therefore avoids the instruction that would make him wise. I truly believe that atheists don't so much disbelieve in God as disrespect Him. And their actions politically bear that out.
Pro 8:13 The fear of Jehovah is to hate evil; I hate pride and loftiness, and the evil way, and the perverse mouth.
Here we are given four of the qualities that this disrespect leads to. The word for pride suggests lifting yourself up as majestic. Which reminds me of the story of Lucifer....
Isa 14:12 "How you are fallen from heaven, O Day Star, son of Dawn! How you are cut down to the ground, you who laid the nations low!
Isa 14:13 You said in your heart, 'I will ascend to heaven; above the stars of God I will set my throne on high; I will sit on the mount of assembly in the far reaches of the north;
Isa 14:14 I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will make myself like the Most High.'
Isa 14:15 But you are brought down to Sheol, to the far reaches of the pit.
So basically, the fool does more than say in his heart, "There is no God"... he makes one of himself. I remember that Ben Franklin quote (at least in Bewitched... apparently an anonymous proverb);
Darrin Stephens (Dick York): Mr. Franklin, couldn’t you defend yourself?
Benjamin Franklin (Fredd Wayne): No, that might be unwise, Sir. The man who defends himself in court has a fool for a lawyer and a jackass for a client.
How much more the man who has himself as a god?
Pro 9:10 The fear of Jehovah is the beginning of wisdom; and the knowledge of the Holy One is understanding.
Pro 9:11 For by me your days shall be multiplied, and the years of your life shall be increased.
Pro 9:12 If you are wise, you shall be wise for yourself, but if you scorn, you alone shall bear it.
What the boldened line is saying is, that when you are wise, you are creating a blessing for yourself. You don't make God better, stronger, or more glorious, but you draw closer to Him. Conversely, if you scorn God- make fun of Him (for example, as I have seen on social media, "an invisible man in the sky")- you're going to be on your own before Him someday. And while believers have an advocate in Christ, as Zerubbabel did in the prophecy of Zechariah, the scorner, the fool, he will stand alone. And Satan, who deceived him in the first place, will then accuse him before God.
Pro 10:27 The fear of Jehovah prolongs days, but the years of the wicked shall be cut short.
We pretty much covered this last time- that this is not referring to physical life on earth. Plenty of evil men lived long lives on earth. But where life will have a fulfillment for believers after death, the unbeliever is going to face an endless, monotonous moment:
Isa 66:22 For as the new heavens and the new earth which I make stand before Me, declares Jehovah, so your seed and your name shall stand. Isa 66:23 And it will be, from new moon to its new moon, and from sabbath to its sabbath, all flesh shall come to worship before Me, says Jehovah. Isa 66:24 And they shall go out and see the dead bodies of the men who have rebelled against Me; for their worm shall not die, nor shall their fire be put out; and they shall be an object of disgust to all flesh.
Yep, that's where Jesus got His "if an eye offends thee" quote from Mark 9; I used the original to get a better sense of what was meant.
Pro 14:26 In the fear of Jehovah is strong trust, and His sons shall have a hiding place. Pro 14:27 The fear of Jehovah is a fountain of life, to turn away from snares of death.
This time I took these two verses together, because the implied 'but' is seen by looking at both of them- they have nowhere to hide from the snares of death.
Pro 15:32 He casting off correction despises his own soul, but he who hears reproof gets understanding.
Pro 15:33 The fear of Jehovah is instruction in wisdom, and before honor is humility.
A couple of interesting phrases here. Where the KJV uses, "refuses", this from the LITV gives us a better picture with "casting off"; the original meant 'to loosen', and this gives me the sense that once you cut yourself off from correction (remember this is the term that comes from a word for 'chastisement'), you're adrift. Hmm... adrift; nowhere to hide; all alone before God. (As opposed to Christians, who are ANCHORED in Christ.) The other phrase I found interesting is that it is two different words translated as "despise" or "despises". Where the first one amounted to disrespect, this one boils down to "to spurn". And I said to myself, "Isn't that about the same as "scorn"? " So I looked them up:
Spurn: reject with disdain or contempt.
Scorn: feel or express contempt or derision for.
Okay, so basically one is verbal, one connects that with ACTION. This is more than simple disrespect, this is conscious rejection. And, they are doing it TO THEMSELVES. Just like with wisdom and scorning, they don't hurt God with their rejection, but themselves.
Pro 19:23 The fear of Jehovah tends to life, and he rests satisfied; he shall not be visited with evil.
To find the negative here, we need to dissect the positive. "Rests", translated "abides" in the KJV, is a specific word implying staying somewhere overnight. This person will have nothing to fear in the dark. The fool will have no such protection. Are we talking robbers, natural disasters, or fires here, as they happen to everyone? No, but we are talking about the worries and anxieties that haunt us overnight. The closer you come to God, the farther along in the progression, the less these things will come up.
And finally, our overarching verse:
Pro 23:17 Do not let your heart envy sinners, but only be in the fear of Jehovah all the day.
Pro 23:18 For surely there is a hereafter, and your hope shall not be cut off.
And here is the central point these all make. GOD HAS SOMETHING BETTER FOR YOU. God isn't about the short game here on earth; let the evil succeed, live long, prosper. In the end, they are cut off, adrift, and don't care that there IS a hereafter, and their souls will pay a fearful price if they continue to spurn God.
I feel like there SHOULD be a tie-together post next, but I don't know right now what else God wants. Tune in next week, where we will either do a finale to this, or move onwards in Proverbs.
Realizing I have been negligent of late in doing oddities like Newspage Go! I looked about and saw that this is going to be a great day for just enjoying the headlines without bothering to read the article (or at least not until after the fact). So let's start right off, suspend your disbelief, and let's do this!
Fox News #1: I really didn't need to know what Demi Moore's mom did at night
Headline: "Demi Moore’s horrifying revelation about her mom and $500"
Bullet commentary: Per hour or for the night?
Truth: Turns out Mom sold Demi to a drinking buddy. I don't feel so bad about insulting Mommy Dearest now.
Fox News #2: When a Slurpie just won't do
Headline: "Camel's testicles bitten by woman at Louisiana truck stop petting zoo: authorities"
Bullet commentary: Everything's better with Frank's Red Hot....
Truth: Stranger than fiction. Her dog slipped leash and got into the camel enclosure. When she crawled under the fencing to retrieve him, the camel sat on her. She bit him to get him off.
CNN #1: At least age discrimination isn't a factor
Headline: "All trips through this 178-year-old travel operator are canceled. What to know"
Bullet commentary: People stopped living to 178 in the days of Abraham. So unless you were booking trips to Ur, Haran, or Sodom, you're probably better off. Especially the Sodom trip. It's a pain in the butt.
Truth: The operator was Thomas Cook, who was born in 1808 and founded his company in 1841 to "to carry temperance supporters by railway between the cities of Leicester, Nottingham, Derby and Birmingham. " Which would make him actually 201.
CNN # 2: It's the landing that's the bad part
Headline: "Father and son die after falling off cliff"
Bullet commentary: Dad: "And if all your friends jumped off a cliff, you'd probably jump right off after them!"
Son: "Prove it..."
Truth: They drove an ATV to the edge, got off to enjoy the view, shoulda set their parking brakes...
CNN #3: I could see if it was HOW she got it
Headline: "Natasha Lyonne's clap won Twitter on Emmys night"
Bullet commentary: I have seen some sick stuff on Twitter, but never knew gonorrhea was popular...
Truth: Fandom was just amused that she applauded like a sea lion kneading bread.
BBC #1: Curable by a big greasy breakfast, or perhaps a bloody Mary
Headline: "Hangovers are 'illness', rules German court"
Bullet commentary: Well, the Germans DO average 294 bottles of beer a year each, so they would know...
Truth: A company selling an 'anti-hangover' drink had to cease and desist, because the court's close-cropped definition of 'illness' fit hangovers, and the law says they can't make claims to 'cure illness' without proof.
BBC # 2: ...and he has a $#!tH0L3 aim, to boot
Headline: "Two wounded after Haiti Senator opens fire"
Bullet commentary: I was going to go for something on the lines of, "Shooting off your mouth isn't just for the US Congress anymore", but the truth beat the hell out of my bit.
Truth: Claims he was shooting at protesters who were threatening him. Victims: an AP reporter and a security guard.
Moscow Times #1: Define, "make a difference"...
Headline: "A Russian Ethnic Group Leader Set Himself on Fire. But Will It Make a Difference?"
Bullet commentary: Well, other than making an ash of himself...
Truth: I have to say, I found the end of the story pretty fitting:
"Then, at 9:36 a.m. on Sept. 10, Razin lifted a lighter to his chest and set himself on fire. Witnesses say he didn’t utter a sound, even when rushed to the hospital, where he was pronounced dead before lunch. (NOTE: As long as our priorities are straight...) “One moment you’re saying good morning to your friend, the next you’re sprinting out of the building with a fire extinguisher,” said Leonid Gonin, a senior aide to local United Russia deputy Alexei Zagrebin, who had known Razin for years. “It’s hard to put into words.”
And, finally...
Moscow Times # 2: In 1,000 words or less
Headline: "Why Is Russia So Unproductive?"
Today we journey to September 20th of 1963, where right off I found this interesting bon-mot on wiki:
At the United Nations, U.S. President John F. Kennedy proposed a joint moon mission between the US and the Soviet Union. The Soviet Union Communist Party newspaper Pravda reported the speech, but commented that the idea as "premature". Kennedy would die two months later, and Soviet Chairman Khrushchev would be deposed within 13 months, and the United States would proceed alone in its lunar program.
Wow, there's a reminder that nothing's permanent...
"But even though we're dead, we can still do Time Machine, right?"
Well, of course you can, and that takes on a new angle today, as we will be eulogizing two legends of the biz whom we lost in recent days: Eddie Money and the Cars' Ric Ocasek. In the meantime, we have a couple of POTM guests who are still very much alive- the Four Seasons' Bob Gaudio and Frankie Valli! Plus a not-very-tight (but closer than last week) Panel race, and if I have room I'll do a LIVE 6D- or maybe just tell an amusing story, we'll see.
"Maybe we WILL see, maybe we won't..."
Uh-oh, Ray, you might want to keep the blind gags down, before Bellbottom comes out here with some legal minutiae... In the meantime, let's go right to the video...
Where we have, at #10, a song that originally hit #2 (or #1, I've seen both numbers) on the Hot Christian singles chart, but the act wanted to redo it for a video with a female lead- and the chose a great one! This is For King And Country, featuring Dolly Parton...
Eddie Money's No Control lp was a big part of one of my best summers. Everything was a winner on that tape. My Friends My Friends and Hard Life have special spots that live forever in my memories- funny stories that I've not time to go into here. I decided the best Eulogy I can give is to pick my best ten of his songs. Not surprisingly, that album has prominent parts in the list...
10- Get A Move On, from 1979's Playing For Keeps. In the days before a Mainstream Rock chart, it was a #46 Hot 100 hit.
9- Gimme Some Water, from the earlier in 1979 lp Life For The Taking. Boy, in hunting up the albums the cuts came from, I realize I could have done a top 20- and that's without really knowing anything he did after Can't Hold Back in '88...
8- Maybe I'm A Fool, the opening single from Life For The Taking, which hit #22.
7- Can't Keep A Good Man Down, from Life For The Taking.
6- We Should Be Sleeping, from Can't Hold Back, made #18 MSR, only #90 Hot 100- you should be ashamed!
5- It Could Happen To You, another gorgeous cut from No Control.
4- Shakin', from No Control. #9 MSR.
3- Of course, I had to have the title cut from No Control. The neat thing on this lp was how it bookended a song about his own near death-from-drugs experience, with the one about a friend he lost at my #2....
2- Passing By The Graveyard, his tribute to John Belushi. Brings tears most every time, and I wasn't a big Belushi fan...
1- Not surprisingly, his biggest hit Take Me Home Tonight, with Ronnie Spector. So well put together, this was the movie Titanic of songs for me.
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Frankie, Bob, nice to have you here again!
F: Very glad to be here!
Bob, I didn't realize this, but we have one of your compositions in the M10 this week...
B: Yes, The Explorer's Club has done an excellent job on The Sun Ain't Gonna Shine Anymore... F: I can't believe I bubbled under when I first did that... B: C'mon, Frank, we've talked about this...
I didn't even know you had done it before this, and I'm certainly going to give it a listen. Who knows, maybe you'll be the second to have an M10 hit with the original after a cover hit...
F: It was my FIRST solo single since we made the big time... NOBODY cared...
B: Frank... I cared. Really.
Me too. Here, why don't you start us off with the Panel list...
F: Oh, sure, give ME the loser's bracket... B: Oh, give it here, chrissakes, Frank. So with one vote each we have, Martha and the Vandellas with Heatwave at #5... The Surfaris and Surfer Joe at #85... Cliff Richard with a vote from Canada for his UK hit The Next Time... The Jaynetts and Sally Go Round The Roses at #9.... F: Okay, Bob, I'm sorry, let me do some. B: You sure, Frank? F: Yeah, I don't know what gets into me, I.. I hear the name of that song... and it's like the sun ain't gonna shine... (sob)... B: Best let me do the rest... F: (nods) B: So we left off with The Beach Boys and Little Deuce Coupe at #27... Inez and Charlie Fox and Mockingbird at #14... A local Seattle hit, Goin' Back To Granny's by the Viceroys... And Los Trabajos Indios with Maria Elena at the bubble-under spot of #137. Frank, you wanna get the next? F: Sure, so we're doing the, uh, the others receiving votes here... with two votes we have... wait! You put this in here to make fun of me!
B: Put WHAT in? F: Cry Baby by Garnett Mims at #22! B: Oh, fertheluvva... F: Here! Take the stupid list, I'm leaving! B: Sigh... I suppose I better go with him... sorry about all this. I really thought he was over that bubbling under thing.
I understand... needless to say, I think the "Trini Lopez- If I Had A Hammer" 6 Degrees is shot to hell, so let me try and get the list done.
More also receiving votes- Jimmy Gilmer and the Fireballs with Sugar Shack got 2 at #104...
and 3 for an Australian act called the Atlantics with the catchy number Bombora. Which leaves us with your finalists this week...
The Angels with My Boyfriend's Back at #1...
My favorite of the week, Bobby Vinton with Blue Velvet at #2...
The Beach Boys with Surfer Girl at #6...
and ironically enough, Ronnie Spector and the song from which Take Me Home Tonight was built, Be My Baby at #23.
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Our high debut comes up at #6- and it is the third single from the new lp (and second in the countdown this week) by Geowulf...
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The best investment my Dad and I ever made together was one day at a garage sale, we got the Cars debut vinyl and a swivel rocker for $5. The chair lasted until the night of Dad's wake... when my drunken sister managed to fall out of it and break a leg (the chair's, not hers). The lp lasted even longer, and much like with Eddie Money, I joked with Laurie that a top ten list from them would basically be this album and maybe one song. And yeah, it actually ends up being seven plus three others! Here we go...
10- Bye Bye Love, from the debut lp (henceforth noted by DA). "It's an orangey sky... always it's some other guy... it's just a broken alibi...
9- Tonight She Comes, a #7 hit from their 1985 Greatest Hits.
8- You're All I've Got Tonight, from the DA.
7- Moving In Stereo, from the DA.
6- Just What I Needed, that very first single, which had a far bigger impact than the #27 it charted at back in 1978.
5- My Best Friend's Girl, the second single which peaked at #35. "Suede-Blue eyes..." I'd like to see that...
4- All Mixed Up, from the DA, and I thought the most appropriate for his passing.
3- The Dangerous Type, from the second lp, Candy-O. I thought this had been released, but apparently not. It did get play on AOR.
2- Good Times Roll, the third single from DA, which just missed the top 40 but got big AOR play, and still does.
1- Touch And Go, the lead single from the third album Panorama. It charted here at #37, but I loved the video with the merry go round. Funny thing I see here is, while they were struggling to get top 40 airplay here, they collected 8 top tens in France, with Touch And Go the biggest at #2.
In Beatles time, the UK was one year faster, and She Loves You was the #1 this week.
This would have been fun if Frankie hadn't got all bent earlier- a song originally written and recorded by Bob Dylan, charted at #12 in couple of years by the Four Seasons under the non-de-plume of The Wonder Who?, but this year- this week in '63, actually, Peter Paul and Mary (who would eventually go top ten with it) were at #101 with Don't Think Twice, It's All Right.
The big debut is by an act that always seems to get a measly vote or two everytime we pass this way- Sunny and the Sunglows with Talk To Me, which shot up 33 from #95 to #62.
The #63 in '63 was Mel Carter- the guy who hit big with Hold Me Thrill Me Kiss Me- and When A Boy Falls In Love, which would peak at #44.
And the big debut of the week was Dion with Donna The Prima Donna at #74.
Oh, and Bellbottom passed me a memo: "Last week, our host inadvertently credited Venus In Blue Jeans to Frankie Avalon. He places the blame on the "clown school of a job" he has, though it must be noted he only worked there two days during the week in question. The actual singer was Jimmy Clanton. We apologize for any inconvenience." Thanks loads, Horace.
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The rest of the M10, including the mini-Iron Ceiling we have going on:
The Rubinoos get pushed down a spot to #9 with January.
Mikaela Davis, a big part of the original Iron Ceiling, slips from 6 to 8 with Other Lover.
White Reaper bounces up 3 to #7 with 1F.
That song that made Frankie Cry moves up 4 to #5...
Saint Asonia beats its collective head against the ceiling for a second week at 4 with The Hunted.
The Orwells have now spent 7 of their 9 weeks on the chart inside the top three- and Last Days In August at #3 will join the all time top ten, as long as they don't fall to #10, next week.
Geowulf might soon join them with He's 31, in a second week at #2 after 3 at #1... unless they knock themselves out of the way, that is...
And that means a second week at the top for...
....Joy Downer and Stranger Places!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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And the Panel pick?
Both the Beach Boys and the Ronettes net 7.5%....
The Angels got ya 13.2%...
But our winner, with 39.6%....
...Bobby Vinton and Blue Velvet!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Next week 1964- and late enough that we might hear something besides the Fab Four!
Today I'm going to take on Part 2 of that look at the "Fear of the Lord" verses we find in Proverbs- 8 of them, plus an overarching 9th verse. To review, here's the core of last week's study:
Fear of God is the beginning of knowledge, and knowledge of God is understanding. Understanding = wisdom plus instruction- a heart that doesn't scoff, and a mind that is willing to learn. And that also starts with the fear of God. Thus, you HAVE to start with the sacred reverence towards God. That sets you on a twofold path: wisdom, to be open to learning the more about Him, and knowledge, the instruction itself. Both of these are "despised" by fools...
This week we take on the second thing I noticed about these verses- they all have either an "and" attached to them- whether it be in the verse itself, the verses surrounding it, or implied by the passage. What I will do is re-post the verse, with whatever added section is needed to show this idea.
First verse: Prov. 1:7:
Pro 1:7 The fear of Jehovah is the beginning of knowledge; fools despise wisdom and instruction. Pro 1:8 My son, hear your father's instruction, and do not forsake the law of your mother; Pro 1:9 for they shall be an ornament of grace to your head, and chains for your neck.
"Chains" of course meaning "a necklace", or perhaps an "Olympic medal"? An 'ornament of grace' is better worded 'a wreath'; What we have here is a facet of what Paul said in both 1 Corinthians 9 about running to win the race, and in Philippians 3 about not having yet attained...
12 Not that I have already obtained this or am already perfect, but I press on to make it my own, because Christ Jesus has made me his own. 13 Brothers, I do not consider that I have made it my own. But one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, 14 I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.
The prize is the upward call of Christ; the reward awaits; and it is won through seeking out knowledge of God.
Second verse: 8:13:
Pro 8:13 The fear of Jehovah is to hate evil; I hate pride and loftiness, and the evil way, and the perverse mouth.
Pro 8:14 Counsel and sound wisdom are mine; I am understanding; I have strength.
Pro 8:15 By me kings reign, and leaders decree righteousness.
Pro 8:16 Rulers and nobles rule by me, and all the judges of the earth.
Pro 8:17 I love those who love me, and those who seek me early find me.
We will, Lord willing, dig deeper into this chapter one day, and there I will point out that, to me, Wisdom (the speaker here) is actually the Holy Spirit. Hating evil and reverencing God leads to the Spirit's blessing in many areas: Being able to advise, the support of the truth (for so do counsel and sound wisdom translate), understanding, and His power. Last week, I mentioned this is an 'action' verse; as you set yourself against evil, understanding of God will increase. If you have any doubt of this, ask yourself: How many of our current leaders do this, and how many of them 'rule righteously'? But notice something deeper here: v14 speaks to one's character; then goes in 15 and 16 to what even the world might consider success;and finally in 17 to a deep, loving relationship with God. It is a progression, and it REQUIRES the progression of reverence-knowledge-action.
Third Verse: 9:10:
Pro 9:10 The fear of Jehovah is the beginning of wisdom; and the knowledge of the Holy One is understanding.
Pro 9:11 For by me your days shall be multiplied, and the years of your life shall be increased.
Pretty self-explanatory, and common sense. Even our media grasps this one:
Fourth verse: 10:27:
Pro 10:27 The fear of Jehovah prolongs days, but the years of the wicked shall be cut short.
Pro 10:28 The expectation of the righteous is joyful, but the hope of the wicked shall perish.
See, this explains the apparent contradiction of "but Chris, even good people die young..." Our expectation, our HOPE is what extends life, because our hope is in the home Christ said He is making for us in heaven. Our extended life is not only joyful, but unlike the cut-off condition of the wicked, it is PERMANENT.
Fifth verse: 14:26:
Pro 14:26 In the fear of Jehovah is strong trust, and His sons shall have a hiding place.
Let's common sense this one. What do we need to hide from? The things that make us fear (human fear). If we reverence God through the steps of reverence-knowledge-action, we develop that love, that trust bond, and the mere knowledge of God is enough to shield us from anxiety. We will be safe in Him, if we GROW in Him.
Sixth verse: 14:27:
Pro 14:27 The fear of Jehovah is a fountain of life, to turn away from snares of death.
Sin brings death, and they both set snares throughout our lives. With all the death I've seen this summer, I can attest to that: snares of depression, sorrow, despair; turning to sinful distractions, reacting in anger. Anything to get us to say, "Damn you, God, it isn't fair!" But to REFUSE that attitude and reverence God, God reveals that HE is that source of life, Christ is that living water. He says to us, as He said to Martha:
Joh 11:25 Jesus said to her, I am the Resurrection and the Life. The one believing into Me, though he die, he shall live.
Joh 11:26 And everyone living and believing into Me shall not die to the age, never! Do you believe this?
Seventh verse: 15:33:
Pro 15:33 The fear of Jehovah is instruction in wisdom, and before honor is humility.
If you remember last time, we said this verse makes perfect sense when linked to 8:13. You're not going to make step #1 of the journey with pride and loftiness, thinking only of yourself. God returned Job's blessing only when he humbled himself...
Job 42:5 I have heard of You by hearing of the ear, but now my eye has seen You;
Job 42:6 Therefore, I despise myself, and I have repented on dust and ashes.
Hey, look at that- Job went through our PROGRESSION: he reverenced God, he learned of God, and then God manifested Himself to Job! And then he did THIS progression- he humbled himself before God, and received honor. Have you begun to understand- we are looking at a bunch of facets to ONE path?
Eighth verse: 19:23:
Pro 19:23 The fear of Jehovah tends to life, and he shall rest satisfied, he shall not be visited with evil.
All I can do here is picture the story of Lazarus and the Rich Man, and the final state of the poor beggar:
Luk 16:22 And it happened, the poor one died and was carried away by the angels into the bosom of Abraham. And the rich one also died and was buried.
Luk 16:23 And being in torments in hell, lifting up his eyes, he sees Abraham afar off and Lazarus in his bosom.
Finally, our overarching verse, 23:17:
Pro 23:17 Do not let your heart envy sinners, but only be in the fear of Jehovah all the day.
Pro 23:18 For surely there is a hereafter, and your hope shall not be cut off.
Let me just ask you this: If you have been open to following all this, then you recognize this book has a LOT of wisdom and common sense in it. Do you think the phrase, "Surely there is a hereafter" is anomalous? If the wisdom is there, surely that statement is true; and if that statement is true, do YOU want to be with Lazarus, or with the rich man? And you can laugh, and say, "Well, I'm not rich, and I have never treated someone as he did Lazarus." Well and good, but there's a point you MIGHT not be considering:
Luk 13:1 And some were present at the same time reporting to Him about the Galileans, whose blood Pilate mixed with their sacrifices.
Luk 13:2 And answering, Jesus said to them, Do you think that these Galileans were sinners beyond all the Galileans, because they suffered such things?
Luk 13:3 No, I say to you, But if you do not repent, you will all perish likewise.
Luk 13:4 Or those eighteen on whom the tower in Siloam fell, and killed them, do you think that these were sinners beyond all men who lived in Jerusalem?
Luk 13:5 No, I say to you, But if you do not repent, you will all perish likewise.
And what is that repentance? Jesus was talking to the Pharisees mere moments before, about their refusal to see Himself as Messiah. He told them:
Luk 12:56 Hypocrites! You know to discern the face of the earth and of the heaven, but how is it you do not discern this time?
This time- His time. The repentance they needed was to see what was right in front of their faces- that Jesus was the Son of God. And that is where our progression leads. Next time, we look at the "buts" in these verses.
So I really haven't had the muse for a post this week, but since that's never stopped me, let me talk about nothing at all for a while:
ITEM: So we're all kinda patiently awaiting word on the latest of my vast array (this will make 2) of grandkids. Apparently this one wants to be like his dear ol' dad- who took 14 hours to finally peak out of his warm surroundings.
ITEM: Just saw a new post on FB. Wasn't a baby announcement.
ITEM: So I have officially notified the Miami Dolphins that I am declaring myself a free-agent fan. Their lack of anything resembling an effort is the worst I have seen in my entire life, easily beating the winless seasons of the Lions and Browns of recent memory. I have shared with the NFL that I am available for fan duty, NY Jets need not apply. I have tried various less than serious ways to determine a new team, including most players on the roster named Martin (Houston has 2), most players with my birthday (one each for the Browns, Jaguars, and Chiefs), and even adding up the players from colleges I like and subtracting those from colleges I hate (Which gave me a solid win for the Ravens, but there is some controversy as I was sticking players DEN for Denver and TEN for Tennessee in the same slot.) I'm leaning towards the two teams which employ the two Heisman winning QBs from my beloved Sooners- Cleveland and Arizona- but as these teams have a track record of being run in as dimwitted a fashion as the current Dolphins, I'm a bit gunshy.
ITEM: I was going through the spam comments in the blog filter, but really didn't want to do a whole post on that. Among the things I will mention:
- I have two different comments in Russian (Cyrillic). One is for getting a Domino's Pizza promotional code; the other wants me to get a code from "Papa Jones".
- Several comments in what Google Translate tells me is Persian (aka from Iran). One said along the lines of, "You look like you're holding a plane ticket". The next was like, "I'm leaving this plane ticket right here." The third was a big paragraph on orthodontia.
- two of the newest ones briefly tried to interest me in a sex toy; one of them then went back and forth between sex and comparing Donald Trump to the dictator in China (complete with wanting Trump to ban Winnie the Pooh); the other was mainly talking about some weird sexual fantasy, briefly interrupted by trying to wean themselves from "ortho try cyclen".
- other such patchwork comments included ways to get rid of earwigs, comparing "girley" shows to "minstrelsy" shows, lace wigs, and crocheted wild animals.
- The rest were basically the usual "wholesale NFL jerseys (No Dolphins, please)", "online casino games", "great article, I've bookmarked your page", and "there seems to be a problem with your browser."
ITEM: I definitely considered doing a MWN post on "items that are not news", since Fox had stories about Lori Loughlin's daughter taking her bird-flipping post off instagram (glad to see she's putting that fine USC education to good use), the Navy making some astonishing admittance about UFOs, and a guy who just had surgery to remove what appears to be a horn from his head- all in their first ten stories.
ITEM: 2 more posts on FB. Just a friend and I communicating through GIFs.
ITEM: Apparently last weekend, our neighboring high school's brand new bleachers were vandalized by the visiting team, some of it the idiot students posted on social media. Before the social media part was public knowledge, I wondered how it was that students who presumably don't COME to games with tools and such were able to hand-remove the bolts they were supposedly removing. Today, the victimized school announced that "some bolts may have been left behind by the contractor", and alleged burn marks were identified as "oxidation" not noticed by said contractor while assembling the bleachers. I'm thinking if they hadn't blamed it on the kids right off, they might have had a bit of a lawsuit on the contractor. But seeing's as nobody from the school inspected the bleachers after completion and before actual use, that ship has no doubt sailed.
(BTW: The two schools in question are two of the 3 or 4 richest in the area.)
ITEM: Just sent Laurie for McDonalds. Have a good evening!
This week, another friend lost her fur baby. The next morning, I began to talk it out with God about all the loses around me this year. I wondered if it was just that this has been a very bad year... or if MY loss just made me notice the others more. Maybe, it's a cyclical thing, I thought. Years that I have it "good", others are where I am now, or worse.
Not much of a comfort, there.
And I thought about Jarrid Wilson. He was an associate pastor at Greg Laurie's Harvest Church, with a ministry for people struggling with suicidal thoughts, because he fought them himself on a daily basis.
Jarrid lost that battle himself. Shortly before, he posted this:
“Loving Jesus doesn’t always cure suicidal thoughts. Loving Jesus doesn’t always cure depression. Loving Jesus doesn’t always cure PTSD. Loving Jesus doesn’t always cure anxiety. But that doesn’t mean Jesus doesn’t offer us companionship and comfort. He ALWAYS does that.”
And as I prayed again for his wife and young family, it struck me hard.
Not every victim of this depression survives.
Not every addict gets cured.
Not every Bahamanian who cried out to God for protection from the storm got it.
And it struck me again.
Jesus didn't heal every leper.
He didn't raise up every death he encountered.
He didn't calm every storm.
Sometimes, He cried.
Happy endings. That thought made me think of Joseph, who we've been studying in depth for a few weeks. Sure, he ended up ruling Egypt, he became LIKE Pharaoh. Emphasis, though on became.
But while he was JOSEPH, what happened to him?
He was loyal to his father, and gained the hatred of his brothers.
He was gifted by God, and rebuked by his family.
He was cast into a terrible situation, losing family, father, everything he loved.
But he pulled it together, made a success of himself, and what happened? One lie brought it all down.
But he pulled it together, and even in his trial remained true to himself, his God, his faith. He helped others.
His reward? To be forgotten and ignored.
That is our life on earth. The being lifted up out of prison, washed and shaved, dressed in the fine robes and getting the keys to the kingdom? That's the NEXT life.
In these days, we have to remind each other that this is true.
Not every suicide survives. Not every addiction is broken. Not every mortal life is saved.
But EVERY life has a shot at the happy ending. And THAT ending isn't here.
Well, here we are in the strangely familiar territory of September 13th, 1962- a familiarity I'll explain in just a little bit. However, for the moment, today a US District Court ordered the University of Mississippi to enroll negro James Meredith, an act the governor concluded was tantamount to genocide (thus proving the rationality of racism), the Cuban Missile Crisis was beginning to, er, blow up, and little Christopher Martin was just days from being 4 months old. Awww!
(I would scan in a picture of Baby Chris now, but none seem to exist. Perhaps in a couple of weeks when we hit "toddler Chris"...)
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This week, a former two-time M10 #1 returns to the countdown; an eerily familiar landslide in the Panel; Bobby Vee gets to play MC; and a bit of a look at where the M10 stands with the Martin Era 2.0 as far as acts having multiple #1s. And that story about the weird coincidence that almost made me SCRAP this year! Let's toddle along!
Starting off, I have a debut of a new single by a band that calls themselves White Reaper. At #10....
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Welcome to the show, Mr Bobby Vee!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
My pleasure, sir!
"Sir"- I like that. Nice to get RESPECT for a change. So, you are a man who certainly had kind of a 'Forest Gump' career...
Um... afraid I don't get the reference...
No, but that's okay. What I am referring to is, well first, you started your career as the emergency replacement for Buddy Holly on the show he was killed flying to attend...
And scared stiff, and too stupid to know it at the time!
And your early band once had Bob Dylan for a member...
Bob who?
He was going under the name of "Elston Gunnn" with three 'n's'...
Oh, yeah... piano player... said he just came off the road with Conway Twitty, and played a weekend with us- till he found out we weren't making much bread...
And, you were in Dick Clark's Cavalcade of Stars show that got cancelled in Dallas the night John F Kennedy was assassinated...
Wait, what? The President was killed?
Nardole, make a note to go heavy with the "spoiler remover" on this one...
N: Yes sir. Perhaps I should have gotten him a little later on...
Don't worry it. Bobby, you got a grip now?
Man, I don't know... that's a lot of news to digest...
Okay, Bob, now listen, I need you to focus. Look over there on the wall. See that sign?
Yes... yes, I see it...
Well, there you go. Nothing to worry about. Do you think you can handle reading the Panel list now? It IS only 10 songs, from 49 stations...
Yeah, I got it. So you have the Monster Mash by Bobby "Boris" Picket and the Crypt-Kickers at #57 on it's 2nd week on Cashbox- what's this? 'on it's FIRST run...'
Well, that particular song hits the charts three different times. This was at the start of its first trip.
Okay. Then you got Tommy Roe and Sheila at #2... The Four Seasons at #1 for the first of 6 weeks with Sherry.... Nat King Cole, a merry ol' soul, with Rambling Rose at #5... The Springfields, which was Dusty and her brother Tom, at #30 with Silver Threads And Golden Needles... The Beach Boys and Surfin' Safari at #36... Elvis and She's Not You at #4... Frank Ifield and I Remember You at #60... Frankie Avalon and Venus In Blue Jeans at #29... and Chris Montez and Let's Dance at #23! Now the only ones to get multiple votes here are the top three. So guessers, pick from Sheila, Sherry, or the Monster Mash!
Nice job, Bobby! Now, if you would, kindly go with the little bald guy and we'll get you fixed right up...
I HAVE a name, sir....
See what I mean? Respect. Maybe I should do another Rodney thing....
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Four years ago yesterday, the randomly- travelling second volume of Time Machine was on episode # 40, doing this very SAME week. Back then we had a lot different look and features- for example, we didn't do the #62 in '62. Imagine my surprise when I saw this week's 62/62, and said, "I remember doing this! WTH!" I began to think I had done this whole thing a lot more recently than 4 years ago.
And I was right. And wrong.
11 months ago in this volume's 508th episode, I was also in 1962. But it had a different runaway winner (and this week's is a BIG runaway winner- it missed lapping the field TWICE by one vote), and that song at 62 this week in September- Chuck Jackson's I Keep Forgetting (the original by the singer later on of Bustin' Loose, covered by Michael McDonald even further on), was at 62 on the way UP this week- and would be at 62 going DOWN that week in October! So, having established that, I said, "Well, that's okay, carry on", and here we are!
And because it's gonna be key to the next feature's genesis, let's go ahead and play the brand new single coming in at #9! A tasty tribute cover of the Walker Brothers' hit, here for the first time since November of 2016, The Explorer's Club....
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The Explorers Club had two #1 M10 songs in 2016- California's Calling Ya and Quietly. Which got me thinking, how many acts have had multiple #1s over the now 4 year-and-two weeks of the M10, and how does that compare to the national charts of the Martin Era 2.0? You know me with researching such oddities, so here we go...
The M10 has had with this week 114 #1s by 82 different acts. That includes 2 acts that have hit 4 times (Beach House and Lucius), 6 that hit 3 times (the Decemberists, Dent May, Melody's Echo Chamber, illuminatti hotties, ELO, and Anna Burch), and another fifteen (look 'em up yerself!) that did it twice, for a total of 23 multiple acts- accounting for 28% of the total # of acts. On the side, it also gives us an average of 2.56 weeks per #1.
Now the ME2.0's first four years and two weeks would take us from May 14th of '55 to May 30th of '59. And I decided to run the numbers for both Cashbox and Billboard. Here's what we come up with.
Cashbox logged 63 #1s over the period, by 46 different acts. They had a total of 6 acts hit the top multiple times for 13% of the acts. The top dog, not surprisingly, was...
...Elvis, with 9 #1s, followed by the Platters with 4, the Everly Brothers with 3, and Les Baxter, David Seville, and Pat Boone chipping in 2 each. That gave CB an average of 3.33 weeks per #1.
Billboard was pretty similar; they had 55 #1s by 40 acts, but only five multiple #1s: Elvis with 10 or 11, depending on the way you count the double-A-sides, the Platters with three, and and Boone, the Everlys, and Seville with two each for 12.5%. Billboard averages out to 3.82 weeks per song.
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Now here's an oddity: We're going to start AND end the 6D with a song that hit the top ten in 3 different versions each! I don't know as these are the only two examples, but it's gotta be pretty close. The first one of these is You Keep Me Hanging ON. Shortly after the Supremes took it to the top in '66, Vanilla Fudge peaked at 6 in '67- and then Kim Wilde took it to the top again in 1986!
Kim is the daughter of Marty Wilde and Joy Baker (who once had a trio with pre-Moody Blues Justin Heyward called the Wilde Three). Joy was a member of a 16-girl vocal ensemble called the Vernon's Girls, who were popular in the UK. And they covered our other three-timer, a song that hit #3 for Kylie Minogue in 1987, and #1 for Grand Funk Railroad in '74, as well as #1 a few weeks back for our 6D victim- Little Eva's The Loco-Motion, which sat at #3 without a vote this week.
BTW, The Vernon's Girls and Little Eva went head to head with this in '62; Little Eva wins in a knockout, peaking hers at #2 while TVG stalled at #47. Sometimes more isn't better.
The Vernon's Girls- Joy Baker "front row left". I have no idea who the guy in the inset is. Could be Clark Kent, in which case I'd question him about using that x-ray vision...
The Big Mover was Dickie Lee and Patches, from #49-19 for 30 spots.
The legendary Bo Diddley was our #101 this week with You Can Judge A Book By Its Cover. It would climb to #48.
My would-have-been-favorite... well. let's just say it's the Panel winner and leave it at that. (If you know me, you know I just gave the winner away.)
The only 'big-name' debut this week was Chubby Checker's Popeye The Hitchhiker at #97, although around this house we would add Jimmy Dean's Little Black Book at #75.
And the UK #1 is the Panelist at #4- Elvis and She's Got You.
Status Quo takes their name too literally, with Liberty Lane stuck at 7 for a third week.
Mikaela Davis slips from 4 to 6 with Other Lover.
Springtime Carnivore spends another week at 5 with Name On A Matchbook.
Climbing 2 to #4 before hitting what might be a new Iron Ceiling is Saint Asonia with The Hunted.
The Orwells slip one to #3 in week #8 for them with Last Days In August.
At least for the moment, Geowulf slips to #2 with He's 31 in their 7th week.
And the new #1 is....
...Joy Downer with Stranger Places!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
And the Panel? Well if you took... heck, if you took EVERYBODY else, you got your butt whipped, much less anybody else! The winner this week in '62, my favorite of the week- and one of the top 2 all time- and moving this week from #12 to #1, with 65.3% of the vote...
....Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons with Sherry!
Okay, a storms coming in, time to save this before we go down! Next time, 1963!
A lone man looking for means of expression in a tsunami of information. Seeking truth justice and the American way in the perspective of a Nixon conservative. And the Commissioner of the free world's smallest and best fantasy football league.
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