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Friday, January 31, 2020

Time Machine co-ordinates VICXXIX60913157



Hey, Dino!



Yeah, Chris, whazz happenin'?

You like a good boxing match, buddy?

You betcha!  The hits, the sweat, the action... say, where's my stunt double, I'm gettin' a little hot!

Hey, don' worry, my brother, because we have a top card this week in the Time Machine POTM race... two versions of the SAME song went to OVERTIME!

So whaddya do?  Go extra inning or sumpthin'?

Naw, they have a run-off, my friend.  And we're at Blog ringside for all the action!

Well, who's a-fightin?  This I wanna see!

It's a big one, Dino!  Here on our stage, witness the titanic struggle between...















Sonny James... and Tab Hunter, doing Young Love!


Them?? This is a lightweight bout....

Why?  They each had as many number ones as YOU did...

Yeah?  How many other top tens did they have?

Well...

Yeah, "well..."!

Okay, so it's just a step above a one-hit wonder bout.  But, they both hit #1 on Cashbox, as well as the Billboard DJ's chart, so it's still quite a feat for them both to go the distance- and then some!

Okay, I'll give ya that.  So what am I supposed to do around here?

Well, howsabout letting the folks know what day and year we're in, and what happened today.

I don' wanna.  JUST kidding, ha ha!  Lessee here... oh, I really don wanna do this...

Why, what... oh.  Time Machine has a tradition of showing up around bad plane crashes, and this is one of the worst.  On January 31st, 1957, A Douglas DC 7B on its first test was struck by one of a pair of also-testing USAF F-89J interceptor fighter jets.  The radio operator on the fighter bailed, but the pilot went down with the plane.  The DC airliner broke apart over a school in Pacoima, CA, a junior high, with kids outside at recess.  Three were killed immediately when the plane blew up and all four engines buried themselves into the playground.  It was an incredible story you can read about here.

LA Times
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Man, that's the kinda story that'll sober ya right up...

I know, pal, I know.  But let's return to light hearted banter and fun- let's try having you tell us a bit about the other contestants?

Okay, so we got one, two...seven contestants from 15 stations, so ya did a bit better than last time!  Sonny and Tab got 5 votes each the first time 'round, so if ya do a little math, that means the rest of 'em got one vote each.  That bunch was Guy Mitchell's Singin' The Blues at #1 on Cashbox, Fats had Blueberry Hill at #6, Elvis debuted at #25 with Too Much...


As in, "It's too much to expect ta get a word in edgewise with you two lushes...
Harry Belafonte's version of The Banana Boat Song was at #3, an' was the big mover, jumpin' there from #19.  Say, I got a question...

Let 'er rip...

So I'm lookin' at the Cashbox chart for this here week, and it's got two separate entries for Harry and for the Tarriers at #3... but Young Love has one entry for Sonny AND Tab!  What gives?

Well, the way I understand it, Cashbox's normal policy at the time was to have any same song as one entry, showing all the acts doing it, most popular listed first, and the weeks each act got chart votes.  But, they reasoned, the Tarriers' song was titled "The Banana Boat Song", and Harry's was titled "Banana Boat (Day-o)" which made it different- until THIS week, when they decided to put them in the same NUMBER, but under the two different names.  The next week, someone said, "Hey, this is stupid!", and so the Tarriers went from 3 to 5, and Harry went from 3 to 7.

Good God, Jerry, I need a drink!  (pours, drinks, pours again) Anyway, the only other song  was Ol' Blue Eyes with Your Love For Me, a song that don' hit the main charts until 3 weeks from now!  An' there ya go!

Not bad!  So now, let me intro our one M10 debut this week.  Americans might only know them for West End Girls back in '84, but they've been around all this time!  By this morning, their new lp Hotspot has likely debuted at #1 in the UK, and their single comes in at #7 here- they are the Pet Shop Boys...





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Well, fine, I don' wanna dance either!  Whazz next?

Next, I'm gonna tell you about our 6D victim this week- starting with the connection between Clint Holmes' Playground In My Mind and Shelly Fabres' Johnny Angel.

Now, how are THEY connected?

I'll tell you.  They were both written by one Lee Pockriss, and Lee co-wrote Itsy Bitsy Teeny Weeny...

...yella polka-dot bikini, tha' she wore for the firs' time ta-day...

He was a co-writer with Paul Vance, who also co-wrote Johnny Mathis's What Will Mary Say.  He co-wrote that with Eddie Snyder, who co-wrote...

I know, I know!  Strangers in the night... exchanging glances...

Yep, and he co-wrote that with Charlie Singleton, who co-wrote the English lyrics for the song at #4 without any Panel votes... Pat Boone's Don't Forbid Me!

Hey, innit that a seven D... or is it eight?

It don't matter.  Here, tell 'em about this coinkydink!

So, it seems that the only other song that Chris an' the beautiful Laurie could do their 'crazy covers' act with was the song that was #1 by one guy in the UK, and #21 by another guy here!  The song was Garden Of Eden, an' it was a one hit wonder named Joe Valino what hit with it here.  But our boy got himself in a bit of hot water... while the song was going up the charts, a former girlfriend accused him of makin' her get an abortion, he got sentenced to 17 month on the pen, and the song, at #12 by that point, got yanked right off the shelves.  Meantime, Frankie Vaughn hit #1 in England.  Darn shame, Joe!

Well, with that lead in, It's a good time for our picks on these two songs.  First, let's go to the title bout:

Chris: Sonny, easy.  Tab sounds so flat.

Laurie:  Sonny has the better vocal.

'sfunny, because in the 14 weeks they were both on the Billboard charts, Sonny won the first five weeks- sticking at #3 in their sales chart- and Tab got all the rest, including 6 at #1!

I had to scratch my head at that one, too.  So on the Garden Of Eden:

Chris: I really didn't care too much for either, though Frankie beat Joe.
Laurie:  For me, too.

Funny thing is, I got telling myself, that Sinatra could have done this better, and wondered if he'd ever done it.  Looks like he didn't, but one person that did surprised me.  He was going by 'Paul Raven' at the time, but we all know him as our second favorite pedophile... Gary Glitter!

Hey, time's a-wastin' here, son!

Don't I know it!  So let me clobber the M10 really fast...

Black Starling slips 5 to #10...
Shelter Song slips 6 to #9...
Poor White Reaper!  They sit at #8 for a third week with Might Be Right...
Nada Surf moves So Much Love up 4 to #6...
Huey and the boys reverse course, moving back up 2 to #5 with While We're Young...
In The Afternoon slides 2 to #4...
Caroline Rose up 6 fast ones to 3 with Feel The Way I Want...
Agnes Obel slides up into the 2-slot with Broken Dreams...

And for a song that joined just 2 others in taking as many as 7 weeks to hit the top, it becomes the first to spend THREE weeks there...




...Tennis and Runner!

So who won the darn fight?  Did I pass out an' miss sumpthin'?

No, you're good I'm just getting to it!  It seems with only two exceptions, if Sonny was on your chart, Tab wasn't and vice versa!  But one of those exceptions tipped the battle, and the winner of our run-off by a 2-1 vote was...




Sonny James!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Good thing fer you!  Tab wouldn't a been too happy with you two for bashin' his version, an' he's pretty buff....



P-shaw!  I'd just sic Pat Boone in his leathers after him!  But not to worry, stop by next week for Sonny and 1958!

Wednesday, January 29, 2020

Wednesday Bible Study: A Deep Dig into Proverbs XIX


I am feeling called to move on from Proverbs for a while, and so I'm going to wrap up- for now- right here.  Still in chapter eight, as the Holy Spirit/Wisdom explains its history to us.  Once again, I have noticed a stairstep structure to vv 12-36- a bit harder to find than most- but instead of beating it out, I thought I'd just touch on some of the connections therein, so you can see how complete the love and ministry of the Spirit are.

1- What you find when you seek

Pro 8:12  "I, wisdom, dwell with prudence, and I find knowledge and discretion. 

Pro 8:35  For whoever finds me finds life and obtains favor from the LORD, 
Pro 8:36  but he who fails to find me injures himself; all who hate me love death." 

Seeking the Spirit equals life... failing to seek the Spirit equals death.  Rather simple when you hear it put that way.

2- Take what she has to give

Pro 8:14  I have counsel and sound wisdom; I have insight; I have strength. 

Pro 8:32  "And now, O sons, listen to me: blessed are those who keep my ways. 
Pro 8:33  Hear instruction and be wise, and do not neglect it. 
Pro 8:34  Blessed is the one who listens to me, watching daily at my gates, waiting beside my doors. 


The Spirit has it; we have to be willing to HEAR it.

3- The love of the Spirit

Pro 8:17  I love those who love me, and those who seek me diligently find me. 

Pro 8:30  then I was beside him, like a master workman, and I was daily his delight, rejoicing before him always, 
Pro 8:31  rejoicing in his inhabited world and delighting in the children of man. 
Pro 8:32  "And now, O sons, listen to me: blessed are those who keep my ways. 


Do you get that God is DELIGHTED when you SEEK Him?  Do you see that the Spirit's rejoicing was not just in creation, but in God's INHABITED world?


4- How better the spiritual than the mortal

Pro 8:18  Riches and honor are with me, enduring wealth and righteousness. 
Pro 8:19  My fruit is better than gold, even fine gold, and my yield than choice silver. 


Pro 8:27  When he established the heavens, I was there; when he drew a circle on the face of the deep, 
Pro 8:28  when he made firm the skies above, when he established the fountains of the deep, 
Pro 8:29  when he assigned to the sea its limit, so that the waters might not transgress his command, when he marked out the foundations of the earth, 
Pro 8:30  then I was beside him, like a master workman, and I was daily his delight, rejoicing before him always...

Both enduring forever and existing before anything you can desire....


5- And where does it start from?

 Pro 8:20  I walk in the way of righteousness, in the paths of justice, 

Pro 8:23  Ages ago I was set up, at the first, before the beginning of the earth. 
Pro 8:24  When there were no depths I was brought forth, when there were no springs abounding with water. 


"Ages ago" is a bad translation; what it is closer to is " (From) properly concealed, that is, the vanishing point; generally time out of mind (past or future), that is, (practically) eternity" (Strongs);  I love the term 'vanishing point', where man with all his science and all his theories CAN'T SEE PAST; and at that point was righteousness and justice.

6- My portion

Pro 8:21  ...granting an inheritance to those who love me, and filling their treasuries. 

Pro 8:22  "The LORD possessed me at the beginning of his work, the first of his acts of old. 


While we learned last time that "possessed" means rather 'poured out', the meaning still the same:  God pours out the Spirit to us AS our inheritance.


I good point, I think, to move on from Proverbs for a season.  My plan is to start a series I kinda think of as 'the end of all things'- trying to find something to take from the last chapter of each book in the Bible- even the ones that have just ONE chapter!  We'll begin that next time, God willing.





Monday, January 27, 2020

Martin World News- little places edition



So today I thought that I might revisit an old favorite with a new twist.  We're going to take a news look at the places in each area of the earth with the smallest populations!  And believe it or not, Antarctica is not the smallest on the list!  Here we go!

Pacific- Pitcairn Island
Population 50

This is essentially a big rock the size of Central Park, halfway between Chile and Tahiti.  Which means it's hard to get to.  The reporter whose story I am using here had to wait a year to get a seat on a 9-person boat that only comes every three months to finally get there, and I kinda doubt whether it was worth it for her.  The people were not very friendly to strangers- " In one case, it took (Rhiannon, the reporter) Adam six weeks of delivering freshly-caught fish every day — gutted and scaled herself — to an elderly woman’s door, before she reluctantly exchanged words with her. 

And being the only available and desirable woman on the island was fairly telling as well.  One young gentleman (or what passes for one there) tried to talk her into the Pitcairn version of a 'drive in movie', offering her choices of 'a rock-crusher, a bulldozer, or a tractor.'  And yet, even with its history of sexual abuse and cover-up, I found that Pitcairn is 'a highly sought after destination', and one cruise line of local import is having a ship built to start regular cruises by 2022.

Thanks to British Photographic Journal.


Antarctica
Population 200 (winter)

Of course the population here is mainly polar researchers, and other that digging deep holes to find out what percent of the atmosphere was argon gas 2 million years ago, they also are trying to figure out what's up with the accelerated melting of the Thwaites Glacier.  But what struck me curious was the way they were going about it.  No, not that they were going to send down a robot submarine called the Icefin to explore a cavern roughly the size of Manhattan- but how they were getting it down there...

The MELT project scientists flew out to the Thwaites Glacier a few weeks ago and are now camped out on its eastern ice tongue. They have melted and drilled out a 20-inch-wide (50 centimeters) access hole through the ice near its grounding line, Cutler told Live Science in an email. 

Because if I wanted to know why a big hunk of ice was melting, I'd melt a hole through it too.

Thanks to LiveScience.


Atlantic- Tristan da Cunha
Population (just released today!) 247

Tristan da Cunha is a group of islands in the center of a line drawn from Uruguay to the cape of Good Hope.  Their big news of late was the daring- and apparently futile- attempt to save a killer whale that beached itself after a fight with sharks, by a pair of 13- and- 12 year old boys.



They ended up getting it back in the drink by tying it to a boat, but soon it was right back.  The next day, it had disappeared.  The Tristan da Cunha News says they will post updates as available.



Indian Ocean- Cocos (Keeling) Island
Population 538

So here we have an island group owned by Australia, but due south of Sumatra, with a mainly Malay and mostly Muslim population.  It is marketed as "Australia's last unspoiled paradise" on one site... you can find it on Google, right below the site that tells the story of a 'trash survey' that found some of the islands littered with millions of pieces of plastic and assorted junk, including "a million shoes and 373,000 toothbrushes". 

Just pull up a chair- surely there's one somewhere around here...


Europe- Vatican City
Population 799

Well, the interesting thing I found here was the 'Vatican Insider' magazine publishing their top ten people of 2019 list.  This list included the man who grabbed the pagan Earth Mother idols being used in some 'indigenous worship' deal apparently approved by the current Pope and threw them into the Tiber;  a priest who ran into the burning Cathedral of Notre Dame and saved what Catholics believe to be relics of Christ's Crown Of Thorns; a 15-year old Polish boy who stood against an LGBT crowd trying to profane an image of Mary with just a crucifix he held aloft...

Oh, and Victor Orban, the right wing leader of Hungary who opposes George Soros and wants to shut Angela Merkel's  spigot of Muslim refugees off.  And, somehow, Kanye West.





Australia area- Norfolk Island
Population 1,756

Norfolk sits between Australia and New Zealand, and is known for its Norfolk Island pine trees.  It has also been known for a surprising way to get rid of its trash...

For decades, the remote island's official policy was to burn used cars and push them off a steep cliff into marine park waters, and unlike most mainland communities there is no household bin collection service.

Well, now local government has stopped (most) of this practice, shipping junk cars back to Australia.  But, that causes the next problem...



...cars are piling up, waiting on that trip to Australia, and some residents are a bit fed of it...

As a descendent of the original Bounty mutineers, Jim Taverner is passionate about his tiny rock in the Pacific.

"Put the cars back out in the ocean, let them break down and make a reef for the fish at a lot cheaper cost," Mr Taverner said.

Thanks ABC.net.

South America- Falklands
Population 3,198

Bad news here is on Sea Lion Island, an endangered penguin rookery, lost 180 out of 214 chicks during a January storm.  The remainder, not mature but old enough that the parents aren't looking after them anymore, are 'not doing so great'.

Thanks MercoPress.

Caribbean- Montserrat 
Population 4,989


This British territory didn't have much to give me, despite an active newspapaer online.  Whether you hit local, regional, or national, you get the same three stories- the Saturday earthquake in Puerto Rico, an alliance of Caribbean nations called CARICOM being mad that some of them were invited to a meeting with VP Mike Pence and others weren't; and that House vote that restricted Trump's war powers.  Methinks these terms don't mean the same to y'all...


Arctic- Faroe Islands
Population 52,122

Think, "What can I stick in that blank spot between Iceland, Scotland, and Norway", and you have the Faroes.  They have the big green news- their first Solar panel park.

From Climates To Travel:  "On the Faroe Islands, there is not much sun. Cloudy skies are the norm, however, the sun is relatively more frequent from April to July.  Yep, yer tax dollars, er, krones, at work...

Asia- South Ossetia
Population 53,532

Those of us old enough to remember the war between Russia and Georgia (the one by the Caspian Sea, not the one surrounding Atlanta) might recall that that war was over this little chunk of nothing wanting to break away from Georgia and join with their fellow terrorists Ossetians in Russia (who wanted to break away from Russia).  So apparently the latest is that Georgia erected a wooden observation tower to look into SO, which caused SO to declare a travel ban into the rest of Georgia (backed up by the Russian occupiers who are still there out of the kindness of their hearts), which has led Amnesty International to stick their noses in and demand the ban be dropped.  Meanwhile, Vladimir Putin belches and rubs his tummy.


Africa- Sao Tome and Principe
Population 201,784

This nation is a couple of islands and assorted rocks just under the Atlantic armpit of Africa.  And the latest news from there involves a dust-up between what passes for a government and one  Dr Isabel de Santiago from Lisbon University.  The government has filed a complaint against her for "lying."  Her lie?  Her  report - which has not been published yet - says some children are drinking alcohol because they don't have access to milk or portable water.  It criticizes the government for imposing taxes on milk imports, while promoting the purchase of alcoholic drinks like wine from overseas.



And finally...

North America- Belize
Population 408,487

So what's up in this little slice of Central America with a population about what the other places we hit are combined? Well, the first two local stories start with, "Another suspected drug plane found", and "Another weekend murder".  Welcome to another weekend in Ft Wayne, sounds like...

Sunday, January 26, 2020

Sunday Message: Why a tenth?



Try as you might, Google it any way you want,  two things you will not find an answer to, and they come from here:


Gen 14:14  And when Abram heard that his brother was captured, even then he led out his trained men, born of his household, three hundred and eighteen. And they pursued as far as Dan. 
Gen 14:15  And he divided against them by night, he and his slaves, and he struck them, and pursued them as far as Hobah, which is on the left of Damascus. 
Gen 14:16  And he brought back all the goods, and also brought back his brother, and also the women and the people. 
Gen 14:17  And the king of Sodom went out to meet him, after he returned from smiting Chedorlaomer and the kings which were with him, to the valley of Shaveh, it being the valley of the king. 
Gen 14:18  And Melchizedek, king of Salem, brought out bread and wine; and he was the priest of the most high God. 
Gen 14:19  And he blessed him and said, Blessed be Abram of the most high God, possessor of Heaven and earth; 
Gen 14:20  and blessed be the most high God, who has delivered your enemies into your hand. And he gave him a tithe of all. 


And those two things are:  Who is Melchizedek, and why a tenth was given.  And in this week, when virtually all the pastors I listen to are doing the "why to tithe mamba", it's been on my mind.  I have a theory, which I shall trot out here shortly, but first, a little background.

Virtually all that is said of Melchizedek is here and in Hebrews 7.  Here, he is not explained.  He comes out of nowhere, into the midst of the story where the King of Sodom comes to Abram saying, "Thanks for doing my job, how much do you want for it?"  His name makes him, by translation, 'King of Right"; his kingdom (Salem) makes him "King of Peace".  Is this pre-incarnate Jesus?  We don't know for sure.  In Hebrews, well, there's not a lot more detail; he described as 

Heb 7:3  without father, without mother, without genealogy, nor beginning of days, nor having end of life, but having been made like the Son of God, he remains a priest in perpetuity. 

And the only thing that tells us is that there is a POINT for God to stick him in there with no info in just that way.  The author of Hebrews goes on to explain him as "a type of Jesus", a theme throughout the Old Testament, but goes no farther.


And the tenth?  My first question is, why do you give an apparently arbitrary hunk of anything to a guy who apparently just came out and passed out sandwiches and a blessing.  If you trace the path of tithing on down the line, it seems to morph from a choice to a guideline, to a hardened, heart-less rule by Jesus' time on earth.  And thus it is that Paul teaches that you should give willingly, from the heart, whatever your heart tells you to give:

2Co 9:6  The point is this: whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows bountifully will also reap bountifully. 
2Co 9:7  Each one must give as he has decided in his heart, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver. 


So why a tenth now?  I can only tell you three things about that:

Personal experience:  My mind and heart was opened to a whole new level of faith and understanding when I did this obedience and continued in it.

Benefit:  One of the curious things I found in trying to trace down the words translated as 'tenth' and 'tithe' is that they seem to flow back into root words meaning 'to get rich', to 'accumulate by tenths'- and since God is already rich, it must be richness for us (keeping in mind that there are different manners of richness, and not all of them are about money).

The point:  And this is what started me on this journey- Allistair Beg musing, "Why a tenth?  I don't know.  Perhaps because man has ten fingers, it was easier to keep track of."  Which pushed me into what I called "my theory" earlier:

A tenth, so that the very fingers on our hands remind us that our hands were made to GIVE.

Friday, January 24, 2020

Time Machine co-ordinates VICXXVIII60812456



Today is January 24th, 1956, and today something that never should have happened occurred.  Today, Look Magazine proved that crime pays.  Two disgusting racists from Mississippi, who were acquitted for the murder of a 14-year old black teen who committed no crime, got paid $4,000 each for their confessions to the crime that they were acquitted of- and were never charged again...

On September 19, the kidnapping and murder trial of (Ron) Bryant and (J.W.) Milam began in Sumner, Mississippi. Five days later, on September 23, the all-white, all-male jury acquitted the two men of murder after deliberating for little over an hour. The jury claimed it would’ve reached its decision even more quickly–despite overwhelming evidence that the defendants were guilty–had it not taken a soda break. 

The only justice in this case was that both men died of cancer.  Trying to leave vengeance to the Lord prevents me from saying anything else.

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Sorry about that, but sometimes the news just isn't happy.  However, now we move on to the happier fields of Time Machine, in which we have for you the Songs of January, the typical slightly different Panel contest that comes from just not having enough Panelists, and a really slightly different "crazy covers" segment!  Plus- and I hope, Nardole, that it is not the 3-year old version from 1956, Gwen Dickey from Rose Royce!

Nardole:  I share your hopes, sir.  Excuse me a moment...

Uh-oh.  Anyway, we have two M10 debuts this week- and I'll be watching live as I post them, as I haven't had a chance to watch them yet!  The first, at #10, is from a lady who has two #1s under her belt here- Caroline Rose...








Well, on the BRIGHT side, at least she didn't have to get the YEAR right, too, eh, Nardole?

N:  Er, quite right, sir.  May I present to you, from 1977, a 21-year old Gwen Dickey...




And a pleasure it is, Gwen!

Thank you!  This is... a bit different...

From what I've been reading, your career has been a bit different!  Discovered by Joe Evans of Undisputed Truth to replace their female vocalist, swiped by Norman Whitfield to head up a band that had been called Total Concept Unlimited, had your name changed BY him, and then, just like that, a million seller!

Yeah, but it wasn't peaches and cream, for sure.  Norman ran things not in a fun way... the band hated me because he changed my name to Rose, and everyone assumed I was Rose Royce- even though that wasn't even the name Norman gave me- and they were just my backing band, instead of a band trying to become the new Temptations who got a female voice grafted onto them without a say in the matter.  

Wow.  So then, you just up and left?

Yep.  Norman even put out a reward for me, they couldn't find me at all.

Just shows how much you really don't know what's happening in the background of these songs- unless of course, it's Fleetwood Mac and they sing about it!

No, you just don't.  So, I can't say I know much about what you want me to do here...

Okay, well, normally it works like this:  I look at a big list of radio station music charts from back in the day, count up the number ones from that week, and whoever gets the most votes is 'elected President of Time Machine that week, and guests on the next show.  But this week we go back to 1956, which means I had 2- count 'em, 2- stations.  So what I do is I point out their top tens, along with those of the one Cashbox Chart and the three Billboard charts- store sales, jukebox plays and DJ plays on radio- and figure a winner that way.  But I have a better plan for you, my dear...

Hmmm... you wouldn't be getting fresh with me, would you?

Not that I haven't thought about it, but no.  See, this week we are doing a monthly special where I point out the top fives of the month, from both BB and CB, for the length of what we call the Martin Era 2.0, and come up with the biggest hits of the month.  And it's time to do January, and I thought maybe, since you would be a bit more familiar with a lot of them, you'd rather announce that list...

I'd be happy to.  Can I freshen up a bit first?

Sure, and while you do that, let me play the other M10 debut that I haven't watched the video for yet!  These guys have also been on the M10 before... this is new Nada Surf...







Okay, so the peril of "live blogging" is that, I woulda swore last night it was "official video", not official audio, but that's alright.  Nardole, is Gwen back yet?

No, sir...

You did show her to the ladies room and not somewhere else, right?

I believe so, sir.  Allow me to check...

Oh, fer the luvva... anyway, while we're waiting, let me queue up the crazy covers feature.  This week, as we really didn't have a reference to what was and wasn't a cover, let alone crazy, we picked the songs that, at this time Cashbox was combining two different versions into one entry, and see which one we liked better.  So let's go through these songs!  First we have...


EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!!!!!!

Okay, so I guess that means Nardole DID find Gwen in the ladies room... Anyhow, first we have a song called It's Almost Tomorrow.  The bigger hit, by Billboard standards, was by the Dream Weavers, who were at #8; the other was by Jo Stafford, who sat at #28.

Chris: I had to give this to Jo, because the vocalist on the Dream Weavers kept turning 'tomorrow' into 'tomawh', and it was just Elmer Fuddish enough to annoy me.
Laurie:  Jo, I didn't notice his 'tomorrow', I just liked her better.

Next, we have Teenage Prayer, which was at #9 by Gayle Storm, and #25 by Gloria Mann. 
Chris:  Gloria for me, her voice was more natural on the high parts.
Laurie:  Gayle sounded... "whiney".  I'll take Gloria.

Third, we had a tune called He, which Al Hibbler had at 15 on BB and the McGwire Sisters at 29.
Chris:  Al's a little too Perry Como for me, and if you know me, you know he never stood a chance against the McGwires.
Laurie:  If this was comparing two guys singing, or two girls... this is too 'apples and oranges' for me.  Sideways thumbs.

And finally, the Platters had the big hit with Only You, which was (like He) sliding down the charts.  They were at #16, and another version by the Hilltoppers was at #23.
Chris: I thought the Platters' vocalist did a must better version, with his inflections.
Laurie:  I didn't care for all the inflection.  I go with the Hilltoppers for their more even version.

Wow, the Platters get a thumbs down from Laurie, that's a BIG upset!  Ah, I see Gwen is back...

Sorry about scaring your assistant... what's his name, Noodle?

Close enough.  So you get to do what Elvis called the 'dirty dozen'- the top 12 songs of January.  And this is the most 70's-centric month we've had yet!

All right, so you have Dean Martin at #12, he had Memories Are Made Of This in 1956.
Danny and the Juniors were at #11 with At The Hop from 1958- was that one really that long ago?
#10 is the Monkees with I'm A Believer from 1967...

I would have bet money- and lost- that the Monkees were gonna take their second month in a row with that one...

At #9 is Guy Mitchell's Singing The Blues- which this says was #2 for December last time!
Number eight is Barry Manilow and I Write The Songs...
#7 is the only one on the list that came in second for its year.  The year was 1971, and the song was George Harrison and My Sweet Lord.
Number six is Frankie Avalon and Why from 1960.  No Annette?

No Annette.

I always kinda liked her!  Number 5 is BJ Thomas and Raindrops Keep Falling On My Head from 1970...
#4 is the one that won 1971- Tony Orlando and Dawn and Knock Three Times.
#3 is the Platters again, with Smoke Gets In Your Eyes, from 1959.
Don McLean takes the second spot with American Pie from 1972-  What on earth could have beaten that?

Well, right there's the winner...

I see that!  At number one, the Song of January...



...the Beatles and We Can Work It Out from 1966!!!!!!!!!!!!

Thanks for having me!  This was fun!

Not a problem!  Maybe you'll be back for the next Beauty Contest!

I've HEARD about that... you're not going to have that creepy guy on there this time, are you?  

No, I'll have Misty make the picks this time...

Hey, all right!  My first time on TM!
Then I'll see you then!

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Okay, so we haven't even got to the Panel picks yet and time's running out!  We had between our various top tens a total of 21 songs, but three of them stood head and shoulders above the rest!  So as not to give you an unfair advantage, I'll save their chart positions for the reveal, but here are your candidates:

The Platters yet again, with The Great Pretender
Good ol' Dino and Memories Are Made Of This
and Tennessee Ernie Ford with 16 Tons!  Pick quick, because we're ramming everything together now!

Stat Pack gets just 3 entries:  Roger Williams' Autumn Leaves would have been our 6D victim had we time, getting no votes from #16 on CB...
Big mover would have been my favorite for the week, Bill Haley and the gang with See Ya Later Alligator, up 12 from 25 to 13...
And 16 Tons was the #1 on this week's UK chart!


The rest of the M10 looked like this:
White Reaper stuck at 8 with Might Be Right...
Huey Lewis and the News slipping back to #7 with While We're Young...
Jeff Lynne's ELO at #6, down one with Goin' Out On Me...
PBC up 2 more to #5 with Black Starling...
Agnes Obel shooting up from 10 to 4 with Broken Sleep...
Temples move up 1 to #3 with Shelter Song...
And, stop me if you've heard this one before, MGMT's former #1 In The Afternoon at 2...
and at the top for a second week...

 


...Tennis and Runner!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


And our Panel gave 10 votes to #1, 9 to #2, and so on, so...

... third with 44 points, the Platters (#3 on Cashbox)....
...second with 48 points, Tennessee Ernie (#2 on Cashbox, #1 on the BB Jukebox list)...

So get ready for big fun next week, as our guest will be- with 57 points.... Cashbox's #1, along with the remaining #1s save for WJR Detroit....




...that little ol' wine drinker, Dean Martin!







Wednesday, January 22, 2020

Wednesday Bible Study: A deep dig into Proverbs XVIII



So I am going on past chapter seven- which is a fuller yet description of the fallen woman and her victims- and I want to start working on chapter eight and just why I believe Wisdom and the Holy Spirit are one and the same.  I want to do this as simple as I can- yeah, you've heard that before- and I'm going to start with one part that I've seen for a long time, and one thing that was just shown to me recently, and finish with one I just now (as I type) saw.


First, the number seven.  Seven is the symbol of God's completeness, and is shown in a lot of ways.  Take, for example, in Revelation:


Rev 4:2  At once I was in the Spirit, and behold, a throne stood in heaven, with one seated on the throne. 
Rev 4:3  And he who sat there had the appearance of jasper and carnelian, and around the throne was a rainbow that had the appearance of an emerald. 
Rev 4:4  Around the throne were twenty-four thrones, and seated on the thrones were twenty-four elders, clothed in white garments, with golden crowns on their heads. 
Rev 4:5  From the throne came flashes of lightning, and rumblings and peals of thunder, and before the throne were burning seven torches of fire, which are the seven spirits of God...


I don't believe that this means there are seven Holy Spirits in the sense we would think it; but symbolic that the Spirit is the COMPLETEMENT of God.  Because the lampstands also connect in Revelation 1 to the seven Churches, which weren't just physical churches in 100 AD or so, but ages of the Church down through to today.  Also, let us take one step ahead into Proverbs 9, since this whole soliloquy of the Spirit actually runs from 8:1 to 9:6:

Pro 9:1  Wisdom has built her house; she has hewn her seven pillars. 


Now, what actually those seven pillars were, I wasn't sure.  Lots of people have lots of answers; but this week I am reading in James 3....

Jas 3:17  But the wisdom from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, open to reason, full of mercy and good fruits, impartial and sincere. 


In a lot of ways, I'm finding James to be the "Proverbs of the New Testament", and here is another reason- Wisdom's seven pillars:

Purity- Here's a clue on our track, the word for "first" here is a combination of an intensifier with "before all".  Wisdom/Spirit is the pre-existing purity of God, and that purity is the base pillar.

Peaceable- This word in the Greek is the same as in Rom. 12:18 and Heb. 12:14; both times there it was connected with the phrase, WITH ALL MEN.

Gentle- Two good examples come from the commentators;  one contrasts this with those who are overbearingly strict on the Law, saying,  “Wherein not strictness of legal right, but consideration for one another, is the rule of practice” (Vincent's word studies), while the other uses 1 Thes. 2:7 to compare the feeling meant to

1Th 2:7  But we were gentle among you, like a nursing mother taking care of her own children. 


Open To Reason- Apparently this is the ONLY NT use of this phrase, which Wesley describes as "not stubborn, sour, or morose. "  This is one I am constantly working on, when I hear a preacher say something that I don't right off agree with, because I don't grasp the concept, but with prayer I come to see what they mean.

Full of Mercy and good fruits- The first thing that comes to mind here is James 2 (big surprise there), as he talks about not judging on the basis of wealth, then connects that to his famous speech on Faith and Works, with this verse:

Jas 2:13  For judgment is without mercy to one who has shown no mercy. Mercy triumphs over judgment. 


Impartial- Again, the only time in the NT, and 'very rare in classical Greek"; as I just mentioned, James was very clear on not 'dividing people up' (basic interpretation of the word) according to any of man's judgments.

Sincere- Other translations put it, "without hypocrisy".

Notice how, like many times in the Bible, the seven are like a stairway:  Sincerity going with purity, impartiality connecting with peaceability through that connector "with all men",  and mercy going with gentleness, and the openness to the Spirit's persuasion as the key block.  


The other thing I wanted to touch on in this message really solidified my thoughts on the Spirit/Wisdom connection.  And it starts with this verse:

Pro 8:23  Ages ago I was set up, at the first, before the beginning of the earth. 

That word, "set up" kind of sounds like Wisdom was something that was created by God, but let me show you two things:  One from the prophet Joel...

Joe 2:28  "And it shall come to pass afterward, that I will pour out my Spirit on all flesh; your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your old men shall dream dreams, and your young men shall see visions. 
Joe 2:29  Even on the male and female servants in those days I will pour out my Spirit. 

And the other, the Strong's translation of "set up"...

A primitive root; to pour out, especially a libation, or to cast (metal)

Not made at all, but POURED OUT.  I am not authoritative here, you are free to make your own judgments.  But I don't think these things are put there out of 'coincidence'.







Monday, January 20, 2020

Martin World News



So today I have decided it's time for another fun filled romp through the news pages.  Let's start with one I saved last night:

BBC:  He was better off as Winnie the Pooh

It seems I always have something involving Chinese president Xi Jinping.  Usually it involves his resemblance to Winnie the Pooh...



...but it got worse when he took a trip to Myanmar:

The translation gaffe came to light on the second day of Mr Xi's state visit to Myanmar.  On Saturday, Mr Xi met Myanmar's leader Aung San Suu Kyi to enhance bilateral relations.  In Burmese Facebook posts about their meeting, Mr Xi's name in English was translated erroneously.

How erroneously?



Facebook apologized for a 'glitch', saying that Pooh... er, Xi's name had not been entered into their translation database yet. 



Fox News- I bet they took that wrong turn to Albuquerque

So remember a while back when the news broke that China (boy, it's China Day at MWN!) and Vietnam were going to stop taking loads of TRASH from around the world?  And how happy activists were because a high percentage of the great trash island in the Pacific came from unsecured dumps near rivers there?  Well, it doesn't appear Plan B is working out very well, either...

Malaysia, like other Southeast Asian nations, has received shipments of unwanted rubbish since China banned the import of plastic waste in 2018. Now it is fighting back.  Since the third quarter last year, Malaysia has sent back 150 containers of plastic waste. Environment Minister Yeo Bee Yin said another 110 containers are expected to be sent back by the middle of this year.

Of the 150 containers, 43 were returned to France, 42 to the United Kingdom, 17 to the United States, 11 to Canada, 10 to Spain and the rest to Hong Kong, Japan, Singapore, Portugal, China, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and Lithuania, her ministry said.

Wow!  How about France and the UK being responsible for 57% of the containers?  Really would like to rub it in, wouldn't ya? 



Yeo said talks were ongoing with U.S. authorities to take back another 60 containers this year. Canada also has 15 more containers, Japan 14, the U.K. 9 and Belgium 8 of the 110 additional containers still being held at Malaysian ports, she said.

So now that score is USA 77, UK 51...

"If people want to see us as the rubbish dump of the world, you dream on," Yeo told reporters during an inspection at a port in northern Penang state.

I wonder if our buddy Mr Modi in India is sending out "Say No to the Ganges" cards yet?

Not so fast, my friend!  Let's go through the containers and see if I can score another great suit like this!"


CNN- Dance of the Headlines

I didn't hit on a main story here, but found a handful of questionable headlines...

Cory Booker was asked who broke his heart. He gave an emotional response

No, not an EMOTIONAL response???  Why would he get emotional over heartbreak?

Close second in this particular category:

Jennifer Anniston and Brad Pitt have people in their feelings

"You got your people in my feelings!"  "You got your feelings in my people!"  "Hey, they're delicious!"

Next, apparently this is a thing:

Tennis player Elliot Benchetrit told off by umpire for asking ball girl to peel a banana for him

I guess this is the start of the #minetoo movement...


This might be one of the more ill-timed headlines of the lot...

Aaron Rodgers:  Football is 'fun again'

Just how many times did the Niners hit you last night, son?



And now, the Moscow Times in pictures

In looking through the MT for fun stuff, I clicked on a feature called, "Meanwhile In Russia".  Pictures that go with short stories.  After I read a few, I said, "This is at least as good as CNN's questionable headline barrage!"  So here are a few:




This Russian kitty supposedly has healing powers.  But wait, that's not all!  The cat told his owner "in a dream" that he should let the feline heal others as well- for 20 million Rubles ($320,000) a pop, giving the money 'to a good cause'.  If this don't work out, the owner " may give away the cat for free."

Yeah, I bet you will.

Hey, you all heard last week how Putin might be claiming even more power?  Wait'll you see where he's aiming...



Wouldja believe starring in a mural depicting him as the Greek demigod Atlas?  I think you get a rent break if you live in this apartment building...


How would you like to be a Russian train engineer, an hour late to the station, and THIS was your excuse...



A camel was walking the tracks in front of you?!  The driver in question reported that the camel started at a 14 MPH clip, but when he blew his horn, that pace slowed to about 8 MPH... and as he kept laying on the horn, video footage shows the engineer then saying, "...“It’s about to drop and lie here...”


And finally, here's something that you don't often see in your grocery's liquor aisle- unless you were recently in Tyumen...


During their night out on the town, the carefree animals were spotted browsing the alcohol aisle at a local supermarket, tipping over two bottles in the process.

“Is this a pigsty or a store, people?” one shopper was heard saying as the pigs were filmed lapping up the spilled cognac.


Like I said, a really good day for a MWN post...

Sunday, January 19, 2020

Sunday Message: Why not both?



Wow, did I just walk into one of the most perplexing things I've ever hit in the Bible this morning!  If you have studied the Bible for years, you may know of it- it is James 4:5.  I'm going to assume you don't- as I didn't- and together we'll try to map out what's going on.

So I was reading in the ESV, as I normally do, and it is where I first come across the verse:

Jas 4:5  Or do you suppose it is to no purpose that the Scripture says, "He yearns jealously over the spirit that he has made to dwell in us"? 

And of course, my first reaction was, "From where was James quoting?"  And though this is a problem that none of the experts seem to agree on, I quickly found that it wasn't even the BIG problem here.  From the way it is written above, you get the sense of God yearning to jealously protect our soul from sin- and several verses in both testaments will go along with that, although not directly in the sense of a quote.  And that's okay, as Jesus Himself on several occasions gave us the principal of combining quotes to draw out God's full meaning.  BUT, when I started looking at other versions, a totally new way to look at it emerged:

Jas 4:5  Do you think that the Scripture says in vain, The spirit that dwells in us yearns to envy? (MKJV)

So here you get the sense that there is a spirit in man that desires things to the point of envy, which certainly fits with the beginning of James 4:

Jas 4:1  What causes quarrels and what causes fights among you? Is it not this, that your passions are at war within you? 
Jas 4:2  You desire and do not have, so you murder. You covet and cannot obtain, so you fight and quarrel. You do not have, because you do not ask. 
Jas 4:3  You ask and do not receive, because you ask wrongly, to spend it on your passions. 
Jas 4:4  You adulterous people! Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God? Therefore whoever wishes to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God. 

And if you go through all the versions on my e-Sword program, you get more or less an even split on which way it goes!  In researching this, I found that the experts agree on but one thing- it depends on which point you think James is trying to make.  Both make valid points, and both have Scriptural back-up to an extent.  And honestly, some translations make the whole thing even more confusing.  So, let's step over to the version from Young's Literal Translation:

 Do ye think that emptily the Writing saith, `To envy earnestly desireth the spirit that did dwell in us,' 


Yep, that was a lot of help.  But you know, there is a way to dope this out.  Let's invoke the Kalko Rule and look at the context.  I've already shown you what comes before, let me bring in the ESV of the second half:

Jas 4:6  But he gives more grace. Therefore it says, "God opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble." 
Jas 4:7  Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. 
Jas 4:8  Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded. 


Let's note right off the top how he is talking to his readers.  At the beginning, he names them an "adulterous people" (v4); at the end, he names them 'double minded'- in other words, his audience was playing both ends against the middle, blaming their sin on the desire for things that they either weren't bothering or were to ashamed to ask from God.

Immediately after that, James tells them first 'you can't go after these things and be a friend of God', and last, 'He WILL give you grace to turn away from these things.'    Inside this, he gives us another quotation, which appears more than once in Proverbs (Keep telling y'all, James is the NT Proverbs!)


So then, which version is it supposed to mean?  Well, which end of the spectrum are you at?  Are you at a point where you are open to the reason (remember last week) that God LOVES you, and His Holy Spirit yearns for you to be obedient?  Or are you at the point where YOUR spirit is concentrated on 'what everyone else has/is doing', to the point of envying those who have them, and leaving you out of God's friendship?

Every church at every time period has people of both types.  God needs to prick the hearts of those who have been saved but aren't quite at a point where they "consider His yearning" before they act; He needs to turn the hearts of those who are driven by their lusts and haven't yet seen the NEED of Him.  I'm figuring James had some of both in the church he was addressing, or he wouldn't be at this point.  See this, is why the Bible is a LIVING Word- it contains what EVERY reader needs, no matter where they are!  

Oh, and as for the quotes?  The best suggestions to me were:

For the first side:

Gen 6:5  The LORD saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every intention of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. 
Gen 6:6  And the LORD was sorry that he had made man on the earth, and it grieved him to his heart. 


And the second:

Gal 5:17  For the desires of the flesh are against the Spirit, and the desires of the Spirit are against the flesh, for these are opposed to each other, to keep you from doing the things you want to do. 
Gal 5:18  But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law. 


Because remember, Peter told us that the writings of Paul were already considered as having the weight of Scripture.

Friday, January 17, 2020

Time Machine co-ordinates VICXXVII60711720



Today is January 17th, 1977- and it is cold.  So cold, in fact, that the Dayton Daily News front page today looked like this:


How was it here in Ft Wayne?  Well, after spending 4 hours at -16 (not quite -27 C), we rose to a blistering high of ZERO.

Right now as I type, it's 30F.  Thank God for global warming!

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Welcome to this week's Time Machine, with CW McCall, two new M10 debuts, and a M10-record is tied... but Cashbox can top that! Also, a two time POTM winner becomes a 6D victim for a change!  Bundle up, and away we go!


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First off, I'd like to announce that a heavily 70s-centric  Song of January will be featured next week, God willing!  What song will join Ode To Billy Joe (September), Maggie May (October), Jailhouse Rock (November), and Daydream Believer (December) in our Martin Era 2.0 song of the month club?  Stay tuned!

Second, as I mentioned, we have 2 M10 debuts this week, and the first, coming in at #10, is brand new stuff from Agnes Obel...





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Now, the next thing I want to mention is that the new M10 #1 is...




....Tennis with Runner!  And why would I tell you this now?  Because this song joins Strawberry Runners' When We Were Good and Sweet's Peppermint Twist as the only M10 #1s (and there have now been 124 of 'em) to take 7 weeks to get to the top!  So naturally, I had to see what songs took the longest to make it from top ten debut to #1 in the ME2.0 on the Cashbox charts!  And we will get TO that... right after we look at the Panel picks with our POTM this week, "CW McCall" himself, Bill Fries!


Hi, howya doing?

Just fine, Bill!  Glad to have you here!  You have a list of 13 contestants from a mere 37 stations this time around, and the top group is VERY tightly packed!

So I see!  Well, let's get this Convoy rollin' by mentioning the imports that got votes this week.  Australia chipped in a couple'a votes- one for Chicago's If You Leave Me Now, an' the other for a Christmas song by an outfit called Ol' 55, called (I Want A) Rockin' Christmas.  And, from South Africa we got a vote for a pair of Dutch sisters with the Polish family name Kowalczyk, and go by the moniker of  Pussycat.  Their song was called Mississippi- boy, talk about gettin' around!

Bill, one of the things that I have to bring up for our fans is gonna sound awfully strange to them.  Tell us about your lyrics/music writing arrangement.

Yeah, so I just wrote the lyrics, and a buddy by the name of Chip Davis did the music.

And Chip Davis, for those of you who didn't know- like me- was the founder of Christmastime favorites Mannheim Steamroller!  Weird, wild stuff!  What else do you have on your list, Bill?

Well, I should mention that Chip's music with the Steamroller is more to my personal listening taste than the country-flavored stuff.  But, my life is better expressed in outlaw country, so there we are...

Anyway, 4 of the week's top ten- You Don't Have To Be A Star by McCoo and Davis at #2, Engelbert Humperdinck- glad I didn't grab a handle like THAT one when I come up with CW- and After The Loving at #5, Brick's fusion song Dazz at #6, an' Aerosmith's Walk This Way at #10, all got votes, but not enough...

Nope, but five songs jammed in within 3 votes of each other at the top of the poll, getting 26 of 37 votes!  Oh, and I do have one other freaky thing- a certain station, despite a top 30 of singles, had an ALBUM at the top spot on their chart- Stevie Wonder's Songs In The Key Of Life.  Making it more odd was the fact that while this lp topped their SINGLES chart, it was THIRD on their album chart!  More weird, wild stuff!  Okay, howsabout you let everyone in on our finalists, Bill?

10-4, Pigpe- er, Chris!  

Choose from:  Blinded By The Light, Manfred Mann's Earth Band, #12 this week;
Rose Royce, Car Wash at #1;
You Make Me Feel Like Dancing, Leo Sayer, #4;
The single from Stevie's lp, I Wish, at #3;
And Hot Line by the Sylvers at #7!

Okay, thanks, Bill, nicely done.

Catch ya on the flip-flop, good buddy!

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Our second M10 debut at #8 this week is a slightly older song- from the recent lp You Deserve Love, more music from White Reaper...




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So like I said, I got looking into the list of Cashbox hits in the ME 2.0 (for you rookies, May 1955 to September 1977) that took seven (or more) weeks to go from top 10 debut to number one.  Guess what?  There were 21 songs to take seven weeks- four of them in 1972 alone (Michael Jackson's Got To Be There, Al Green's Let's Stay Together, Looking Glass's Brandy (You're A Fine Girl), and the Hollies' Long Cool Woman In A Black Dress)!  8 of those were in the 50's (including the ME2.0's starting point, Rock Around The Clock), only 4 in the 60's, and a surprising 9 in the 70s.  HOWever, this wasn't the top:  FIVE songs took eight weeks to make it to the top!  They were:

Roger Miller's Autumn Leaves in '55;
Nelson Riddle's Lisbon Antigua in '56;
The Everly Brothers' Bye Bye Love in '57;
Walter Murphy's A Fifth Of Beethoven in '76;
and Rita Coolidge's (Your Love Has Lifted Me) Higher And Higher in '77.  No wonder I thought that song was SO overplayed!

BUT, that isn't the end- because ONE song took a staggering NINE weeks to go from top ten debut to #1- 



...Louis Armstrong's Hello Dolly!, which fought through eight weeks of three different Beatles' #1s in 1964!


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Speaking of the Beatles, the "fifth Beatle", George Martin, actually played piano on two tracks off America's last original lp, Hideaway.  Dan Peak of America claims that playing this lp's single, Today Is The Day, at a studio session in his home for Rod Stewart inspired Rod to come up with his much bigger hit Tonight's The Night.  The lead guitar was one of 5 #1s for session man Pete Carr.  The others?  Two from Barbara Streisand, Woman In Love and What Kind Of Fool, Luther Ingram's R&B #1 If Loving You Is Wrong I Don't Wanna Be Right, and our 6D victim, who won this POTM time-slot twice before Barry Manilow finally took her down- Mary McGregor's Torn Between Two Lovers.

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Stat Pack:  Big mover was Fleetwood Mac's Go Your Own Way, up 23 from 66 to 43; there were only three debuts in the Hot 100 this week, including the Bee Gees with Boogie Child at #88; the UK #1 was David Soul's Don't Give Up On Us, which had not hit the US charts yet; Our only crazy cover this week was Ringo Starr's cover of Hey Baby, which got both thumbs up from us; and the song that would have been #1 on my chart this week was our Panel finalist Blinded By The Light- or else Barry's Weekend In New England, which was climbing at #20 this week.

There, I finally won SOMETHING with that song!


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The remaining M10:

Texas Sun falls to #9 for the Khuarngbin/Leon Bridges combine.
RBC moves up 1 to #7 with Black Starling.
Seven weeks on for Saint Asonia's This August Day, slipping 2 to #6.
Jeff Lynne's ELO up a spot to 5 with Goin' Out On Me.
Huey Lewis holds at 3 with While We're Young, which means last week's #1- MGMT's In The Afternoon- drops to #2.


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And the Panel picks?

If you took Stevie Wonder or the Sylvers, you got 10.8%.

If you took Manfred Mann, you got 13.5%.

If you took Leo Sayer, you got 16.2%.

But the winner, with 18.9%....




...Rose Royce and Car Wash!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

So join us next week when Gwen Dickey and the band go way back to 1956, and you get to meet the Song Of January!