Posts
Today we go to October 18th, 1967, and I have a trio of fun things that happened:
First, the Venera 4 Soviet probe landed on Venus- and they immediately claimed that it transmitted all the way until impact. However, after it was pointed out by scientists worldwide that many components of the craft would have melted in the 530+ degree F temps on the way down, the Soviets quietly removed the claim from subsequent reports.
Second, The American League allowed owner Charles O Finley to move the Kansas City A's to Oakland for the next season. Missouri Senator Stuart Symington, who had the dubious pleasure of negotiating with Finley, named Oakland, "The luckiest city since Hiroshima."
Third, The Jungle Book by Disney came out today. We all went home singing 'The Bear Necessities' along with Phil Harris's Baloo.
 |
| "Wow, I made Time Machine? Do I get in the Beauty Contest?" |
No, but there will be news about that upcoming, along with one HUGE countdown that I will have to do myself, for reasons to be disclosed shortly; a 6D that once again sent me off somewhere other than a 6D; and a NEW, that's right, NEW contest between Elvis and the Beatles!
 |
| "Yeah? I better win this time, son..." |
*****************************************************************
Ahem, first, though, allow me to explain the absence of The Association as guests this week. In researching the, er, 'bit', we discovered that their active website carried a disclaimer that contained items such as : 'Reproduction of material' etc, 'is in violation of intellectual property', etc. Rather than deal with their admonitions in the usual manner (i.e., ignoring it), we have rescinded the invitation at this time. We felt it only wise considering this blog is still in Facebook 'double secret probation'. We appreciate your understanding.
***************************************************
All right, thanks Horace, and with that I get to do this 29-song from 110 stations list, starting with the one vote wonders:
Nancy Sinatra's Lightning's Girl, at #23;
Van Morrison's Brown Eyed Girl at #9 (is this gonna be a pattern?)
Elvis: If it is, I'm leaving!
Nah, you wanna stick around for the Beauty Contest announcement, bud! Anyhow, next is the Hollies with a South Africa and Rhodesia only release, That's My Desire;
Small Faces and Itchycoo Park, which doesn't hit nationally till next month;
The Ohio Players' Beg Borrow And Steal at #63;
The Last Word at #76 with Can't Stop Loving You;
Booker T and the MGs covering Groovin' at #33;
The Bee Gees and Holiday at #48;
Fantastic Johnny C's Boogaloo Down Broadway at #88;
Bill Cosby's Little Ole Man (Everything's All Right/Uptight) at #7;
Scott McKenzie's San Francisco (Wear Flowers In Your Hair), which peaked in July;
Brenton Woods's Gimme Little Sign at #8;
Hey Baby by the Buckinghams at #11;
The Cowsills with The Rain, The Park, And Other Things at #49, the week's big mover after a 25-notch jump from 74;
Linda Ronstadt and the Stone Poneys and Different Drum, which somehow gets a vote despite the fact it won't hit big until January;
...and finally a local act from San Bernardino called The Light with Music Box.
Whew! Time for our musical interlude for the week. New at #10 on the M10, here's Amber Bain AKA The Japanese House...
******************************************************
Which brings me to an announcement on the Beauty Contest- it is officially on for early next year, as I have finally gotten around to gathering a list of contestants, of which Ms Bain is the 68th. Which, after the passing of the dog that drew the winner, I really wasn't sure of. But it is on, in some way, shape or form. Maybe I will let Wayne Newton do it, who knows.
******************************************************
Anyway, back to the also recei-
Hey, what about that Beatles Contest thing?
Chill, King, right after the also receiving votes songs, 'kay?
Well, all right....
So, the ARV list begins with Bobby Vinton's Please Love Me Forever at #39;
and Sam and Dave's Soul Man at #20; with 2 votes each.
Robert Knight's Everlasting Love at #59;
Vicki Carr's It Must Be Him at #18;
the Soul Survivors' Expressway To Your Heart at #15;
and Englebert Humperdinck's The Last Waltz at #28, all with 3 votes;
Strawberry Alarm Clock's Incense And Peppermints at #44;
and the Esquires with Get on Up at #29 with 4 votes!
Now? NOW?
Okay, already! So I had this idea the other day- I wonder, if you took the Beatles off the board, what songs WOULD have hit #1 without them? Then I thought, why not see how many songs Elvis kept from the top, too! So this is your contest- who blocked the most songs from the top of the Cashbox charts? I will give you a (non-helpful) clue: The Beatles songs involved numbered 8, and Elvis had 7 songs involved- but several blocked more than one song!
All right, I got this one, I KNOW I got this one! Everyone, vote for ME!
Sigh....
********************************************
And now, before I give you the Panel finalists, here's another fun bunny trail. Our 6D victim is the song that won our Song of September, Bobbie Gentry's Ode To Billy Joe, at #5 without a vote. Now I noted that Wiki says an outfit that mainly caters to the indie scene, Pitchfork (dot)com, had the song 'in their 200 greatest songs of the 60s'. Since it didn't say WHERE, I went to the site, whose 'search' function is about as messed up as Billboard's. I looked at some of their other lists, like best songs of the 2010's ( I had heard 7, 2 of them more than once) and best lps of the 2010's ( I knew songs off of 5 of them, including Leonard Cohen's You Want It Darker and Tame Impala's Currents). So I tried searching on good ol' Google, and found the Pitchfork 60's list which was eclectic to say the least. Before I share the top ten, I have to tell you a few things. First I went down their list, separating the tunes into 'I agree' (77), 'I disagree' (23), 'maybe' (22), and I don't know it (78). When I say eclectic, the original Doctor Who Theme was at #76! Bobbie and Billy Joe ended up at #144. But here, here are Pitchfork's top ten of the 60's:
10- Desmond Dekker and the Aces- Israelites
9- The Who, I Can't Explain
8- Johnny Cash- Folsom Prison Blues, live
7- Beach Boys, Wouldn't It Be Nice (they were VERY Beach Boys-heavy, which is nice to see)
6- Ronettes, Be My Baby
5- Beatles, A Day In The Life
4- Bob Dylan, Like A Rolling Stone
3- Sam Cooke, A Change Is Gonna Come
2- I Want You Back, Jackson 5 (which I put in the disagree pile only because it was more a hit in 1970)
And at the top?
With their second one from Pet Sounds, the Beach Boys and God Only Knows!!!!!!!!!!!!
**************************************************************
All right, choose from these finalists this week:
The Association (again), with Never My Love at #1;
The Box Tops with The Letter at #2;
Lulu with To Sir With Love at #3;
...and believe it or not, a complete sweep of the Cashbox top 4 with the Young Rascals and How Can I Be Sure!
****************************************************************
Here is the quick sweep of the Stat Pack:
The UK #1 was the Bee Gees, but this time with Massachusetts.
The Grass Roots claimed the #101 with Wake Up, Wake Up.
Your #67 in '67- could it be anything else but the Jimi Hendrix Experience and Purple Haze!
And my favorite? Not a hard choice, even if it fell this week from 3 to 10, Bobby Vee and the Strangers with Come Back When You Grow Up.
Okay, let's do the Elvis Vs Beatles Contest, one at a time for each. In order of blockage, we have:
Leslie Gore's You Don't Own Me, blocked by I Want To Hold Your Hand;
Carl Perkins's Blue Suede Shoes, blocked by Heartbreak Hotel.
Dawn (Go Away) by the Four Seasons, blocked by I Want To Hold Your Hand and She Loves You AT THE SAME TIME!
Hugo Winterhalter's Canadian Sunset, by Don't Be Cruel.
Bobby Vinton's Mr Lonely, by I Feel Fine.
Bill Doggett's Honky Tonk, also by Don't Be Cruel.
The Temps and My Girl, by 8 Days A Week.
Jim Lowe's The Green Door, by Love Me Tender.
Jewel Aiken's The Birds And The Bees, also by 8 Days A Week.
The Elegants' Little Darlin' for 6 weeks by All Shook Up.
James Brown with I Got You (I Feel Good), by We Can Work It Out.
Billy Williams, I'm Gonna Sit Right Down And Write Me A Letter, by Teddy Bear.
Crazy World Of Arthur Brown, Fire, by Hey Jude.
The Brothers Four with Greenfields, by Stuck On You.
Mercy with Love (Can Make You Happy), by Get Back.
Johnny Tillotson, Poetry In Motion, by Are You Lonesome To-Nite.
CCR, Bad Moon Rising, also by Get Back.
Floyd Cramer's The Last Date, also by Are You Lonesome To-Nite.
The Poppy Family, Which Way You Going, Billy, by The Long And Winding Road.
uhhh...
That's it, Elvis... you lost again...
 |
| "no... it can't be... not again..." |
***************************************************************
Let's move away from this sad scene and do the rest of the M10...
Quiet Hollers up one to #9 with Loup (Hide It Away)...
Holding at 8, Foster The People's Pick U Up...
Slipping to #7, Dolly and company with God Only Knows...
Up a spot to 6, M83 and Feelings...
Also up one to 5, Barbara Lewis and Straighten Up Your Heart...
And the top 4 holds...
White Reaper at 4 with 1F...
Silversun Pickups at 3 with Neon Wound...
The Explorer's Club with The Sun Ain't Gonna Shine Anymore at 2...
And at #1...
...Geowulf and Lonely!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
And the Panel?
The Rascals got 7.2%...
The Association got 13.6%...
The Box Tops scored 16.3%...
And the winner, with 25.4 %....
Lulu, who becomes the 69th Beauty Contestant, with To Sir With Love!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I am beat, I am hungry, I'm slipping downstairs to brave the balogna casserole, see you next week in 1968!
No comments:
Post a Comment