Time machine co-ordinates VIXXXIII61322861

All right, my keyboard and Blogger just combined to make me very irritated.  Let us hope I can recover as I start completely over from scratch yet again.  BTW, for you computer geeks out there, how about inventing a keyboard in which all possible keys that can totally erase everything you do by accident are on the side, bottom, or somewhere where you CAN'T ACCIDENTALLY HIT THEM.  Thank you.


So, today we are in February 28th, 1961- and it is the start of the Vietnam Era, according to the Dept. of Veterans Affairs.  At least, if you served in-country- otherwise, get to the back of the line until May of '64 when LBJ escalated.  So why today?  I have no clue.  The closest thing I could come to it was that tomorrow Dean Rusk tells our ambassador in Saigon that the conflict is now a top priority for newbie President JFK.  Oh, and the NY Times claims to have an answer, but if you wanna read it, you have to sign up for a free account, and that ain't gonna happen.

"And look, the dumb b******s misquoted me!"

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And with that, we return to what I hope will be a further-incident-free Time Machine.  This week, it's time for the monthly Song of February (well, the song of February isn't monthly, but you know what I mean), a fun Don and Phil story...

"Wow, you mean we're on the show again?"
"No, dipstick, he's just gonna talk about us."
"But can I go to the buffet?"

...and Percy Faith, along with 2 new debuts that promise a big M10 shakeup in the making!  So settle in, and... watch those darn keys!

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Debut #1 is in our number ten position, the second single from Agnes Obel's new lp Myopia...





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Welcome in, Mr Faith!  Nice to have you here!

Really?  I won this once before, and you never had me in...

Well, yeah, but you inspired me to do that big instrumental countdown that week, and...

I mean, by the letter of the law, you are in violation of your corporate rules...

"Corporate rules?"

HB:  He's quite correct.  You really should have guests sign a waiver if you do not have them on...

Bellbottom, don't I pay you to help ME...?

PF:  Look, I'm sure it was just an oversight, and not that you dislike Canadian immigrants...

Canadian... look here, I have two of my top all time songs are from born Canadians- yours, and No Time by the Guess Who!

PF:  And yet, they have NEVER been on your show...

Because they NEVER WON THE PANEL!  What the heck, Bellbottom, get a waiver for this week's winner, and have Nardole get the Guess Who in here NEXT WEEK!

HB:  That would require a substantial bending of the corporate...

BEND them.  Anyhow, MISTER Faith, would you like to continue?

PF:  Well, quite frankly, your attitude is a bit disappointing...

I do apologize.  Bellbottom, take care of the man.  Don, Phil, you're on!

Don:  You mean it?  We're on?

Why not?  You're not Canadian, are you?

D:  No, I think we're Episcopalian...

P:  Don, you simpleton...

So this week, 17 contestants came from 39 stations, everything from this week's Cashbox #1, Lawrence Welk's Calcutta, to a future hit getting started at #129, Linda Scott's I've Told Every Little Star.  And it was a tight race between four songs, one of which busted away at the end.  Boys, let 'em know who are in the final four!

P: Wait, you don't go through the whole list anymore?

Nope, short and sweet and room to kibitz- and that has already been done by the legal eagles.  So have at it!

P: Well, okay... so pick from these songs:  Debuting on Cashbox at #37 this week, Elvis Presley and Surrender; Jorgen Immelman with Apache at #27...

D:  No, pick from MY songs- Chubby Checker and Pony Time at #7, or Marty Robbins with Don't Worry at #13!

P:  Say, the top ten didn't get much action...

No, outside of Pony Time, the top ten collected a total of 4 votes between the nine of 'em!  Which means if we had time to do a 6D (which we don't), it would be Smoky and the Miracles with Shop Around at #2!

Now, let'a cue up the other debut at #8!  I told Laurie this one may well be the third piece of a new Iron Ceiling- a new single from Beauty Contest reigning champ Brooke Annibale...





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Okay, hopefully you remember the deal with the Song of... list.  Combining top fives from Billboard and Cashbox, blah blah blah... ties broken at MusicVF blah blah blah...  And we present you what Elvis named the Dirty Dozen, although there's really nothing dirty about them.  Here are the bottom 11 out of the Dirty Dozen for February...

12- A recent POTM, the Silhouettes with Get A Job, the winner of 1958.

11- Gene Chandler with Duke Of Earl, the winner of 1962.

10- Amazingly enough, the Osmonds with One Bad Apple, which won 1971.

9- Barbra Streisand, from back when I could stand her (read: prior to 'Theme From A Star Is Born'), with The Way We Were, the winner in 1974.

8- Mark Dinning and a joke song that no one took as a joke- Teen Angel, the winner in 1960.

7- The winner in 1976, Paul Simon's 50 Ways To Leave your Lover.

6- The Platters and The Great Pretender, the winner in 1956.

5- Elton John with Crocodile Rock, the winner of 1973.

4- The Righteous Brothers, You've Lost that Loving Feeling, the winner of 1965.

In case you hadn't noticed, for a change, these songs all won their years.  Only four yearly winners didn't make the top 20, a record for this feature!

3- The previously mentioned Lawrence Welk and Calcutta, the 1961 winner.

2- Paul and Paula, Hey Paula, winning 1963.

Now, I'm saving the winner for the end (which we're almost to), but I will tell you this- it won by a whopping 12 points, the biggest margin we've had yet!

"An' we all know who that means the winner will be..."

I'd argue with ya, King, but I'll just say, the year is 1964.  You can do the math.

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So while playing some of the week's songs last Saturday, I looked up one of them- the Everly's Walk Right back- and got this interesting story on its composition from the man who wrote it, Sonny Curtis (from an interview with Jim Liddane of the International Songwriters Association):

Well, I wrote most of that one Sunday afternoon, while I was doing my basic training in California, just after I went in the army, although I had the guitar riff for a while, and then, Lady Luck stepped in. I never was much for guns, and still am not really into them, but out of 250 men in our unit in basic training, six of us fired expert, and I was one of the six!

Anyway, for firing expert, they gave me a three-day pass, and I went straight down to Hollywood, and the Crickets were there, and so were Don and Phil, who were doing some acting classes for movies — they had just signed for Warner Brothers. So, J.I. (Jerry Allison of the Crickets) told me to sing the song for Don — actually I had only one verse written — and Don called Phil down, and they worked out a gorgeous harmony part. So, they said, 'If you write another verse. we'll record it'.

Anyway, I went back to base, and wrote a second verse, and put it in the mail to them, and next morning, I got a letter from J.I. to tell me that the Everlys had already recorded the song before they got my letter — they had simply recorded the first verse twice! And that's the version that was released, and that's the version that was the hit!

The joke is that Perry Como and Andy Williams and a whole bunch of others including myself, recorded the song with the second verse included, but when Anne Murray did it in 1978, she just did the same as the Everlys, just the one verse — and that was a big hit all over again — so maybe the second verse was never meant to be!

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A quick reconnoiter of the stats and it's off to the M10!  Bill Black's Combo make the TM for a second week by grabbing big mover for Heart Of Stone, moving 32 from 97 to 65.  The UK top dog is Petula Clark's Sailor, a song first written in German, and was a hit in French and English for Petula.

And, we have 5/6ths of an instrumental battle on this week's 

First, the Theme from Exodus, which was charting by Ferrente and Teicher, with Montovanni also on the charts this week (this is that combined deal on CB), plus, I threw in a later cover with lyrics by the Duprees, subtitled This Land Is Mine.

Laurie:  The instrumentals were both nice, but there was more emphasis on the pianos by F and T.

Chris.  (My reaction listening to the Duprees version) "Wow.  Just Wow."

BTW:  I hadn't noticed it when I cued up our contest, but the version by the Duprees had lyrics by none other than Pat Boone- and HIS version was on this week's chart at #74!

Second up is a tune that was SUPPOSED to be called Tell The World- but the record company (in what's getting to be a common theme on TM) put the labels on the wrong sides, and so it charted as Wheels.  Here too, we have the charting versions- both of which were Panel contestants!  The main hit was by the String-A-longs at #6; the secondary was Billy Vaughn's crew at Billboard's #43; and I kicked in for fun a later cover by the Ventures.

Laurie: a hard pick, the song doesn't do much for me.  3-way tie.

Chris:  One of the things I hate is that 'rubber band' sounding stuff, like what Stevie Wonder does on Higher Ground and others.  Annoys the crap out of me.  The older two both do it, the Ventures do not, so I vote for them.  Otherwise, I have to go with Laurie on it not doing much.

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Rest of the M10:

Agnes Obel had a twofer, with former #1 Broken Sleep at #9.

Then come the 'parade of droppers': i don't wanna by Pet Shop Boys, 3 to #7; White Reaper's Might be Right, 3 to #6; and Caroline Rose from the top to #5 with Feel The Way I Want.

Caught in the upwelling is Fertile Crescent's Onion Garden, up 3 to #4.

Then come the other two legs of the possible Iron Ceiling in the make, Anna Burch from 10 to 3 with Party's Over, and Real Estate from 9 to 2 with Paper Cup.

And the new, if perhaps temporary, #1....

Ozzy and EJ with Ordinary Man!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Our song of February?  Of course it's....

The Beatles, with I Want To Hold Your Hand!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

And this week's Panel race?

Marty Robbins got you 10.2%...

Both Elvis and Jorgen got you 12.8%...

But the winner, taking the last 4 votes to ring up 23.07%.......

....Chubby Checker and Pony Time!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

So of course that means next week we'll have the Guess Who on, 2 years before they had a Canadian OR American hit, in 1962!  Be here!

Wednesday Bible Study- the end of all things-Colossians

This week I travel to Colossians 4, which is just chock full of interesting stuff, none of which is the part the Lord put on my heart as I read it one last time this morning.  For example, one of the main things I have taken to heart is the description by Paul of his friend Epaphras:

Col 4:12  Epaphras, who is one of you, a servant of Christ Jesus, greets you, always struggling on your behalf in his prayers, that you may stand mature and fully assured in all the will of God. 
Col 4:13  For I bear him witness that he has worked hard for you and for those in Laodicea and in Hierapolis. 

"Always struggling", because prayer is a struggle.  There are so many competing distractions!  At work, I try to listen to a Christian station on my headphones, but some days, it is a struggle to remained turned just the right direction.  I've had to train myself to 'listen through the static', and prayer is a lot like that, too.  I am trying to be a better Epaphras as a result of this chapter.

Another thing was the list of friends itself.  Among them are Onesimus, the runaway slave that Paul commended to his former owner Philemon in the book of the same name, as well as Philemon's son Archippus, speculated to be the pastor of the church that met at Philemon's house, for whom the following instruction is given:

Col 4:17  And say to Archippus, "See that you fulfill the ministry that you have received in the Lord." 

And that makes you wonder if, like many young men, Archippus was having struggles in the faith; in that same line of thinking I note Demas, who would later be accused of abandoning the faith for the 'present world' (2 Timothy 4:10, estimated to have been written just 2-4 years later), and Mark, whom Paul rejected as fit for service after abandoning the first missionary trip; but now, he had changed and so had Paul, as Paul tells them:

Col 4:10  Aristarchus my fellow prisoner greets you, and Mark the cousin of Barnabas (concerning whom you have received instructions--if he comes to you, welcome him), 

Indicating the rift between them was well known- and Paul was working to fix that knowledge with new information.

But no, this morning the Lord led me on a new line based on a well-known verse set:

Col 4:5  Walk in wisdom toward outsiders, making the best use of the time. 

Col 4:6  Let your speech always be gracious, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how you ought to answer each person. 

"Seasoned with salt."  I was curious here, even though Jesus Himself explained the metaphor (Matt:5:13), so I dug a little bit.  I found that there are a couple of bits that needed to be understood.  First, several commentators mention that the area around Colossae was known for producing salt from a salt lake, which also made Colossae a famous mineral spa of the day.  The other was the connection between the metaphor and a Greek term "Attic Salt" (as in, salt from Attica in Greece, not from a home's attic).  Attic salt is defined as:

Refined, delicate wit. Also known as attic wit.

Wit here meaning closer to wisdom than the current, more humorous definition.  But the commentators also go on to say that the particular phrase "Seasoned with salt" is only found here in the Bible, and as I looked into the translation of "seasoned"...

From a presumed derivative of G142; to prepare, that is, spice (with stimulating condiments): - season.

Which doesn't lend much to the story, but when you look at that G142...

A primary verb; to lift; by implication to take up or away; figuratively to raise (the voice), keep in suspense (the mind); specifically to sail away (that is, weigh anchor); by Hebraism (compare [H5375]) to expiate sin: - away with, bear (up), carry, lift up, loose, make to doubt, put away, remove, take (away, up).

"To expiate sin; to lift..."  I think these are both parts of the whole being tried for.  To remove the sin from the speech, to use speech that REMOVES sin, that, if I may stretch the metaphor, lifts the sin like a detergent "lifts the stain" from an article of clothing.  Remember, in 4:5, Paul specifically states that he is addressing how to deal with NON-Christians.  That he is also struggling with how to do this is another section of the Chapter I noted...

Col 4:2  Continue steadfastly in prayer, being watchful in it with thanksgiving. 

Col 4:3  At the same time, pray also for us, that God may open to us a door for the word, to declare the mystery of Christ, on account of which I am in prison-- 

Col 4:4  that I may make it clear, which is how I ought to speak. 

And that whole line tells me two important things:  First, no matter who you are, it's a daily struggle.  And two, how very far I have to go on this issue...

Wednesday Bible Study-the end of all things- 2 Chronicles

This chapter- the 36th of 2 Chronicles- is going to have a familiarity to you if you were with me for a previous study I did on the last kings of Judah.  Since even I don't exactly remember when or where that was, let me bring you up to speed with the historics of this chapter before I hit the "what to learns".

The last good king of Judah, Josiah, has just failed to heed a prophecy given him by Necho, king of Egypt, and got himself killed for it.  This brings on the first of the four last kings, Jehoahaz, whom "the people made king" (in verse one of our chapter).  However, his popularity with the people didn't follow the line of succession (he was a younger son of Josiah)- and he wasn't popular with Necho, who replaced him on the way back from... well, let's just simplify and say, on the way back from where he was going when Josiah tried to interrupt him.  So Necho carted him off to Egypt (more on the fates of the kings later), and replaced him with the proper successor, older brother Jehoiakim, three months later.  Jehoiakim lasted 11 years, playing off the two great powers of the era- Egypt, which had been an ally to fallen Assyria, and Babylon, which had destroyed Assyria with her allies, and was now looking to pay Egypt back for its opposition.  Jehoiakim bet on Egypt and lost, and Nebuchadnezzar came to Jerusalem with a proposition- hand over your king or die.  Again, the shorter version of the story is that he got Jehoiakim's dead body in return, and Nebby put Jehoiakim's son Jehoiachin in charge.  That was at the end of what was known then as "campaigning season", and the army of Babylon returned home.  But three months later, Nebby came back, deposed Jehoiachin (our second three month king), and elevated another half-brother of Jehoahaz and Jehoiakim, Zedekiah (who would be our second 11 year king), to the throne.  And it was Zedekiah's foolish back and forth between Babylon and Egypt that led to the final destruction of Jerusalem.

Now, I saw in my reading three important points in the story, and I'm going to go from least to most important.  First point will be, God judges character.

Jehoahaz, as we saw in v1, was popular, more so than the 'legitimate' king, Jehoiakim.  The Jews say this was because POLITICALLY he was similar to his father Josiah.  Perhaps spiritually too, but the popularity, I think, must have turned his head.  Why I say that is, though his final fate like that of the others is left MOSTLY blank in the Bible, UNLIKE the others, the Jews have no idea what happened to him after he was taken to Egypt, either.  He was not heard from again- from popularity to totally being wiped out of the reach of history.  When God puts something in the story- or leaves it out- it's for a reason.  To be totally erased seems a fitting punishment for someone who let popularity go to his head.

Now Jehoiakim we've studied through the Jews before.  He, according to them, did everything he could to not only be evil, but to top the evil of his grandfather Ammon and his great grandfather Manasseh.  And part of that evil was leaning on Egypt, despite the previous warnings of the prophet Isaiah that Egypt was a 'broken reed'.  As a result, Nebuchadnezzar came demanding the king, and according to the Jews, they had him killed and thrown over the walls- some stories even say his body was wrapped in the hide of an ass.  Point being, his contempt for God led him to the most miserable of ends.

Now I want to pause here and remind you of what we learned in Proverbs about the simple, the fool, and the scoffer.  Which Jehoahaz was, we don't get to learn.  Jehoiakim was the fool; he said in his heart, 'there is no God'.  While he had a chance to repent (an 11-year long chance), he did not take advantage of it.

So next up was sonny-boy Jehoiachin;  he was said to have "done evil in the sight of the Lord", but no elucidation in the Bible itself.  He got three months on the throne; during those three months, someone told Nebuchadnezzar,  "A dog brings forth no good progeny," - meaning that the son would be no better than the father.  Nebby took this advice and deported young Jehoiachin to Babylon,  where the Jews say he repented in prison, as his great-great grandfather Manasseh had, and was thereafter treated well.  He represents the simple- the one who did evil because he knew no better, and later repented.

And finally that brings us to Zedekiah, Jehoiachin's uncle, Josiah's son by a different mother.  I'm not sure how they figured he'd be any less of a 'doggie', but on the throne he goes.  And Zedekiah was an intriguer- despite 'swearing an oath by his God' to Nebby, Zedekiah played with both Babylon and Egypt.  The one thing he was dead set against, though was listening to God, and thus Jeremiah plead with him and the people from a cistern (Jeremiah 38).  But, as the chronicler said:

2Ch 36:13  He also rebelled against King Nebuchadnezzar, who had made him swear by God. He stiffened his neck and hardened his heart against turning to the LORD, the God of Israel. 
2Ch 36:14  All the officers of the priests and the people likewise were exceedingly unfaithful, following all the abominations of the nations. And they polluted the house of the LORD that he had made holy in Jerusalem. 
2Ch 36:15  The LORD, the God of their fathers, sent persistently to them by his messengers, because he had compassion on his people and on his dwelling place. 
2Ch 36:16  But they kept mocking the messengers of God, despising his words and scoffing at his prophets, until the wrath of the LORD rose against his people, until there was no 
remedy. 

No remedy.  Because the scoffer, remember, knows there's a God; he simply doesn't care.  I find it interesting that this made Zedekiah a 'flip-flopper' between Egypt and Babylon- and his final fate was actually explained hundreds of years later in Revelation...

Rev 3:14  "And to the angel of the church in Laodicea write: 'The words of the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the beginning of God's creation. 

Rev 3:15  "'I know your works: you are neither cold nor hot. Would that you were either cold or hot! 

Rev 3:16  So, because you are lukewarm, and neither hot nor cold, I will spit you out of my mouth. 

Rev 3:17  For you say, I am rich, I have prospered, and I need nothing, not realizing that you are wretched, pitiable, poor, blind, and naked. 

And so goes Zedekiah to the most horrible fate of all;  he had his whole family killed before his eyes, then was blinded so that that sight would be the last he'd see, and then lived to a ripe old age in a Babylonian dungeon- a virtual living death.  Each king, thus, was judged according to his character.

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My second capture is a bit more tenuous, but bear with me.  Observe verses 20-21:

2Ch 36:20  He (Nebuchadnezzar) took into exile in Babylon those who had escaped from the sword, and they became servants to him and to his sons until the establishment of the kingdom of Persia, 

2Ch 36:21  to fulfill the word of the LORD by the mouth of Jeremiah, until the land had enjoyed its Sabbaths. All the days that it lay desolate it kept Sabbath, to fulfill seventy years. 

To fulfill the Sabbaths they hadn't kept.  So as I woke up this morning, I did some quick calculating, and 70 years worth of Sabbaths would equal about 492 years worth of Sabbaths ignored.  If you figure in that SOME Sabbaths were kept, maybe during the reigns of David, Solomon, Jehoshaphat, Hezekiah, and Josiah, you COULD make a case that God had kept a meticulous count of every Sabbath messed up by the people SINCE THE DEATH OF JOSHUA.  So WHY on earth was keeping these sabbaths so important?  Again, observe:

Exo 20:8 Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy.

9 Six days shalt thou labour, and do all thy work:

10 But the seventh day is the sabbath of the Lord thy God: in it thou shalt not do any work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, thy manservant, nor thy maidservant, nor thy cattle, nor thy stranger that is within thy gates:

11 For in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day: wherefore the Lord blessed the sabbath day, and hallowed it.

Keeping the Sabbath is the VERY FIRST example God gave us to follow; in not keeping it, the people were in effect refusing to follow ANY of God's example.

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To get the final, most important lesson, we have to take a step back to Josiah.  See, Necho was heading north to help the Assyrians when Josiah, for some ill-understood reason, stood against his passage through the valley of Meggido ('Armageddon').  And God warned him against this, through Necho:

2Ch 35:20  After all this, when Josiah had prepared the temple, Neco king of Egypt went up to fight at Carchemish on the Euphrates, and Josiah went out to meet him. 

2Ch 35:21  But he sent envoys to him, saying, "What have we to do with each other, king of Judah? I am not coming against you this day, but against the house with which I am at war. And God has commanded me to hurry. Cease opposing God, who is with me, lest he destroy you." 

But Josiah didn't listen; he did what HE wanted, he tried to take control of the situation FROM God, and failed.  And look what happened:

Each following king was either elevated illegitimately ( in the case of Jehoahaz) or put there by a foreign power.

Each following king was deposed by a foreign power.

Each king (with the exception of the later-repentant Jehoiachin) got his name CHANGED by the foreign power- Shallum became Jehoahaz, Eliakim became Jehoiakim, and Mattaniah became Zedekiah.  Each was a name more intimately connected in translation to the God they were growing increasingly farther from- in a way, they were being mocked for their actions BY the names they were given.

The main point of the chapter is the sorry end of things when we try to keep the control in our lives that we should be surrendering to God.  Think about it.  in 22 years and six months they went from

2Ch 35:18  No Passover like it had been kept in Israel since the days of Samuel the prophet.

to

2Ch 36:16  But they kept mocking the messengers of God, despising his words and scoffing at his prophets, until the wrath of the LORD rose against his people, until there was no remedy. 

MWN- Stupid but fun edition

I thought tonight might be nice for a stupid headline edition, and was originally going to go with most stupid.  However, when the first site I was on included headlines like, "McDonald's worker punched by customer over free cup of water: report", and "Tattoo-obsessed woman who went blind after inking eyeballs claims extreme procedure was 'worth it' " I decided it would have to veer away from sheer nonsensical violence and the obviously mentally disturbed, and figured, let's find "stupid that doesn't have to work so hard for a laugh".  Admittedly, it's a challenge on a day when yet another headline blares, "Trevor Noah thinks President Trump could make comedians' jobs 'harder' ", but here goes...

ITEM 1:  Fox News

"Mrs. Dash is changing it's name"

And I thought, here we go with the people so uptight, they'll fight the gender war over whether a spice is Mrs, Mr, or Ms.  Sure enough...

Apparently, Mrs. Dash is now a single woman.

Following a 37-year union since the salt-free seasoning products hit store shelves in 1983, the brand is back on the market and no longer a missus, parent company B&G Foods Inc. announced last week.

This spring, the salt-free brand will reintroduce itself by the shorter name “Dash.”

Of course, the idea actually behind the change is how the spice can " elevate their cooking quickly and simply — in a dash" (the corporate press release says.). 

And the one hang up?  They have to keep the website a Mrs.- Proctor and Gamble still have Dash.com listed for Dash detergent, which I wasn't even sure was still being made (and whoever is making it, it ain't P&G anymore), and ranks #462 among powdered detergents on Amazon.


CNN:  ....

Aww, fuhgeddaboudit.  These mooks have no sense of humor.


Mirror Online:  The event isn't funny, but the headline sure is...


"Princess Anne’s dog trainer and neighbour of Boris Johnson's dad shot DEAD in suspected 'murder-suicide' in sleepy Somerset village where PM grew up"


Follow-up headline suggestion:  "Queen's fourteenth cousin twice removed's masseuse has illicit affair with Winston Churchill's, laundrymaid's, great grandson's ex-valet".


Moscow Times:  Finally, a scandal that's believable...

"Sanders Blasts Russia for Reportedly Trying to Boost His Presidential Campaign"

See, this is why the DNC really doesn't want Bernie to win:  All their Russian meddling" schtick against Trump goes right out the window.  And really, this headline allows me to let CNN in for a Cameo:


CNN:  Take 2


"How Russia is splintering America's Democracy"

Oh, because they are supporting Trump.  Oh, wait....


The Asashi Shimbun, Japan:  Come again?

"Medical staff responding to virus bullied in the workplace"

"Hey, get off, stop dogpiling me!  This is bullying!  HELP!  Boss!!!"

Hopefully, the staff will respond positively, because bullying a virus is no laughing matter.


Deutsche Welle (Germany):  So there, nyah!

"India: Taj Mahal's tombs cleaned for first time in 300 years for Donald Trump"

Note:  Barack Obama visited India twice, and got nothing but this crappy t-shirt...

NewsAU (Australia):  This is what makes in-flight intoxication bad for all of us

"Drunken mum, daughter in plane ‘riot’"

Meet 56-year-old Karin and 34-year-old Carrie Parkes.  Seems that they got their drinking privileges taken away on a flight to Morocco after calling an attendant the "C" word, and proceeded to down a bottle of Gordon's pink gin (65 proof) they had snuck aboard.  After throwing a punch at the cabin manager, he went to the flight deck and begged the captain to divert.  The captain basically told him to cinch up his boys and handle it.  By the time he returned to the cabin, it was engulfed in a brawl involving the women and "15 to 20 men".  The captain diverted.


Xinhua:  C'mon, these guys are less funny than CNN...

And finally... taking a chance here, never really tried these guys for funny...


al-Jazeera


"A Bernie Sanders presidency could be a nightmare for Saudi Arabia"


What, he's running there, too?

Time Machine co-ordinates VICXXXII61222160

Well it was a quiet Sunday on February 21st, 1960, so what's on TV tonight?  ABC was featuring Maverick with James Garner, followed by The Lawman with John Russell.  CBS had Lassie.  NBC opened with Overland Trail with William Bendix and Doug McClure, followed by a live anthology show, Sunday Showcase, this week doing "An American Soldier" with James Whitmore as Ulysses S Grant and Melvyn Douglas as Mark Twain.  Meanwhile, back in 2020, you get Superstore and Young Sheldon...

"OH, BOY!  Superstore!"

Welcome to, not a night around the old black-and-white, but Time Machine, where we have two new M10 debuts, a special twist on the crazy covers game, another look at a forgotten music legend, and Ritchie Valens!  Let's La Bamba our way to the dawn of a new decade!

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First up, our opening debut on the M10 at the leadoff slot, one of four ladies on this week's countdown that own 10 #1s between them- and three belong to Anna Burch...





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Welcome to our show, Ritchie!  Thanks for coming!

De nada, Cristobal.  It's better than that damn cold bus!

Well, bud, there are worse things than cold buses...

In that weather?  I'd just as soon sing in hell...

Careful what you wish for...  Anyway, this week has eleven contestants from 34 stations, with one runaway winner.  You know the gig?

Si, Jefe.  You gonna tell us what you will about the guys that didn't get votes, an' I read off the Quesos Grandes...

Yep, and my only tale to tell here is about the vote for one Joe London and his song, It Might Have Been.  It was a Canadian vote for a supposed Canadian folk singer, but the ONLY bio data I found for him at all was, "Born Joe Ulan in NYC, 1938".  Allegedly it charted on Cashbox, peaking at #65 (112 on Billboard), but I'll be darned if I could hunt down when.  Ritchie?

Why you ask me?  I don' lissen to Canadian folk songs...

No, no, do the finalists...

Oh, si, lo siento!  You get 3 choices this week- vote for one of these guys...

Percy Faith and Theme To A Summer Place at #4...
Jim Reeves an' He'll Have To Go at #6...
And the Numero Una, Mark Dinning and Teen Angel!

Thanks, Ritchie!  Enjoy that bus ride...

Bus, mis juevos!  I'm catching a ride on a plane tonight.  I hate planes, but as cold as it is, I bet I'll love this one!

I'm thinking not so much...

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So we're playing songs from this week last Friday when we stumbled upon Bill Black's Combo doing a number, and I was looking up their story as the song played.  I discovered the guitarist of the trio was one Reggie Young.  Not a household name at all, but wait till you hear the list of songs this dude played on!  In fact...  let's do the "top tens featuring Reggie Young" countdown!  See if it pops your eyes like it did mine!

#10- Dusty Springfield, Son Of A Preacher Man
#9s- Billy Joe Royal, Down In The Boondocks and Danny O'Keefe, Good Time Charlie's Got The Blues
#7- Merilee Rush, Angel Of The Morning
#6- Elvis, Don't Cry Daddy
#5s- Dobie Gray, Drift Away; Willie Nelson, Always On My Mind; and BJ Thomas, Hooked On A Feeling
#4- Neil Diamond, Sweet Caroline
#3- Elvis, In The Ghetto
#2- Box Tops, Cry Like A Baby (playing the electric sitar)
and 4 #1s- Box Tops with The Letter, Elvis with Suspicious Minds, Billy Swan with I Can Help, and BJ Thomas with  (Hey Won't You Play) Another Somebody Done Somebody Wrong Song!

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Before I play you the song debuting at #9, I want to say this as clear as I can.  This is THE stupidest video that ever made me almost cry... the ending is just gross enough to get me to the edge without tumbling over.  Speaking of acts with a #1 under their belt, here's Real Estate...





God's truth here, when I went to fetch the embed, I had to watch it again.  I did cry, and Misty got up in my lap to comfort me.  True story...


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So a theme evolved in the crazy covers this week, and we decided to go with it.  Each song, with a slight exception, had the one on the chart this week, a cover that charted at some point, and one far more famous version that NEVER GOT RELEASED.  Here are those three songs, on...

First song, Midnight Special (yes, the song used as the theme by the show):
The charting version this week:  Paul Evans at 33, eventually going to #16
The other chart hit: Johnny Rivers, hit #20 in '65
Never released: CCR in 1969

Laurie: I didn't think I was going to like CCR with the slow start, but after it picked up, I'll go with them.
Chris:  Johnny, I love his old Whiskey a-go-go stuff.

Second song:  Money (That's What I Want)
This week: Barrett Strong, at 41 on his way to #23
Other: Flying Lizards, a new wave act that hit #50 in '79
Never released: The Beatles

The issue here became John Lennon's screaming vocal for the Beatles on this pick.  Laurie didn't like it because of that and took Barrett; I took it FOR that reason, saying, "The only time I've ever liked a John Lennon cover."

Third song:  Chattanooga (or Chattanoogie) Shoe Shine Boy
Chart this week: Freddie Cannon, this week at 67 on the way to 34
Other: Red Foley, the signature version which hit #1 in 1950
Never Released:  Well, this time it was released, and it spent one week at #24 in the top 30 of 1950, by Frank Sinatra.

Again, this would be 'opposite reactions to the same thing":

Laurie:  Sinatra sounds like he's trying to sing like Sammy Davis Jr.  I vote for Freddie Cannon.
Chris:  Sinatra sang it swing, and added a lot of fun bits.  I loved it!  Cannon was flat, especially if you were expecting something along the lines of Palisades Park.

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A brief Stat Pack before we come down to cases: 

The big mover for the week belonged to Pat Boone, whose Welcome New Lovers jumped 37 spots from 100 to 63.

The week's Cashbox debuts included one future big hit- Paul Anka's Puppy Love at #92.
Surprises?  The future #1 for the Penguins, Earth Angel, was treading water in the bubbling unders, still stuck at #115 after 4 weeks.

In the UK, Anthony Newley's version of Why was at the top- while Frankie Avalon's American hit was pausing at #18 after having spent the first 3 weeks of the decade at the top.

And my favorite of the week?  Well, it wins the Panel contest...

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The M10 this week:


How about those ladies I mentioned earlier?  Well, I can't say yet for one of them, but Agnes Obel (3 #1s) slips to #5 with Broken Sleep, and Mo Kenney (2 #1s) moves up a pair to 8 with Ahead Of Myself.

Fertile Crescent also goes up 2 to #7 with Onion Garden.

It refuses to leave just yet... Huey Lewis and While We're Young spends a 2nd week at #6, its ninth on the chart.

The Pet Shop Boys don't wanna climb anymore, holding at #4 with i don't wanna...

White Reaper takes a step back to #3 with Might Be Right... just like on Billboard, where last week's Alternative #1 slips back to #2.

Ozzy and Elton jump from 5 to #2 with Ordinary Man.

And still at #1, the third for this lady...

...Caroline Rose with Feel The Way I Want!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


And the POTM? 

Jim Reeves got you 11.7%...
Mark Dinning gets you 14.7...

...but your winner, with a whopping 44.1 %...

...Percy Faith and A Summer Place, one week away from the start of an 8-week run at #1!

Join Percy and I next week as we creep ever closer to the year of my birth... 1961, and one to go!

Wednesday Bible Study-The end of all things- I Chronicles

This week, the alphabet takes us to Chronicles, and this is for First Chronicles.  The fast catch up:  in the previous chapter (28), David has explained to Solomon that Solomon has been given the task by God to build what would become the first Temple.  There were three parts to this explanation:  That David doesn't get to build it because he was a "man of war"; that David has pretty much assembled everything he would need; and that God had given David exact plans- because, like the Tabernacle before, it was meant to be a simulation of the threshold of Heaven.  Solomon was also warned the price and reward of obedience:

1Ch 28:9  And you, my son Solomon, know the God of your father, and serve Him with a perfect heart, and with a willing mind. For Jehovah searches out all hearts, and He understands every imagination of thoughts. If you shall seek Him, He shall be found by you. But if you forsake Him, He will reject you forever. 
1Ch 28:10  Watch, now, for Jehovah has chosen you to build a house for a sanctuary. Be strong and act. 

So one of the characteristics Solomon would need is 'a perfect heart'.  But what does that mean?  Well, the next chapter gives us an idea, but let's have some fun first.

The middles verses of the chapter (29) have amounts of metals donated by David and by the congregation.  According to best guesses, along with my trusty calculator, here's how much these would be in today's dollars:

David's gold- 3,000 talents $4.57 BILLION 

David's silver- 7,000 talents $120.78 million

'The fathers' gold- 5,000 talents $7.6 billion plus 10,000 daric coins $4.2 million

'The father's silver- 10,000 talents $172.5 million

Bronze- 18,000 talents $60.4 million

Iron- 100,000 talents $1.9 billion

Total from David- $4.69 billion

Total from the Fathers- $9.56 billion

Total- $14.25 billion- or .006% of the current national debt...

Okay, enough of that, let's get to what we should learn from this.  And that starts with verse 9...

1Ch 29:9  And the people rejoiced because of their willing offering, for they offered willingly to Jehovah with a perfect heart; and David the king also rejoiced with great joy. 

The people were joyous BECAUSE they gave to the Lord!  And they gave WILLINGLY, which is what gave them the joy!  Now, let's dig the word "perfect" a bit more- it translates to "complete".  So how does giving willingly make them 'complete'?  Think about the post I did a bit back about how I had a theory that the tithe was to be a tenth because our ten fingers would remind us that our hands were made to GIVE.  If that's the case, and they gave willingly, then by this giving, they COMPLETED God's purpose for them!  They were complete with God for one brief, shining moment, and it completed them.

But it was also about the attitude with which they gave.  David goes into an extensive prayer before God, praising Him for all they were able to do, and then- just like I did with the monetary value- he scales it back to reality:

1Ch 29:13  And now, our God, we are giving thanks to You, and giving praise to Your glorious name; 

1Ch 29:14  yea, for who am I, and who are my people, that we should be able to offer willingly in this way? For all is of You, and we have given to You out of Your hand; 

1Ch 29:15  for we are strangers before You, and settlers, like all our fathers; our days on the land are like a shadow, and there is none abiding. 

1Ch 29:16  O Jehovah our God, all this store that we have prepared to build a house to You, for Your holy name, is out of Your hand, and all is of You. 

Can you imagine raising $14.25 billion- enough gold alone to build a Statue of Liberty and a fifth- and then saying, "But what is that compared to You"?  That is humility.  And combined with obedience and willingly giving, it set the stage for the amazing nation that Solomon would build.

Still, a prayer comes down to what we ASK of God.  David had first praised God, then humbled himself and the people before Him- and now it was time to get to what he was going to ask.  What would you ask at this point?  Repayment of your giving by God?  Maybe a bit of something in next week's paycheck?  But David asks something more valuable...

1Ch 29:18  O Jehovah, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, our fathers, keep this forever for the intent of the thoughts of the heart of your people, and prepare their heart toward You; 

1Ch 29:19  and give a perfect heart to my son Solomon, to keep Your commandments, Your testimonies, and Your statutes, and to do all, even to build this magnificent house, for which I have prepared. 

Three things he asked of God:  To keep the people just as holy in their hearts and minds as they were in that moment; give that same heart and mind to his successor; and to make of Solomon an obedient servant of God, as David himself had strove to be.  Everything he asked of God was more submission TO God.

Two more points before we are done.  The prayer wasn't finished; after worship and praise, humility, and request, now it was time to worship again, for all God would accomplish for them...

1Ch 29:20  And David said to all the congregation, Now bless Jehovah your God. And all the congregation blessed Jehovah, the God of their fathers, and worshiped Jehovah, and bowed to the king. 

1Ch 29:21  And they sacrificed sacrifices to Jehovah, and offered burnt offerings to Jehovah, on the next day after that day: a thousand bulls, a thousand rams, a thousand lambs, with their drink offerings, and sacrifices in great plenty for all Israel. 

(Don't get me started on calculating prices for all that livestock...)

And then, the reply from God for their perfected prayer...

1Ch 29:25  And Jehovah magnified Solomon to a height in the eyes of all Israel, and gave to be on him the majesty of the kingdom, such as had not been on any king over Israel before him. 

Of course, the epilogue from this story is- you have to stay on that path, and despite God's largess, Solomon stumbled there a bit.  The people strayed from that perfect moment.  And in the end, David's dark prophecy to Solomon came true.  Perhaps Solomon could have used a Paul to remind him to not act as if he had already apprehended, but to continue striving.

The doggie life

I got dumped on my butt again this afternoon.  I can tell you one thing:  Scrappy dumped me on my butt about once every two years, usually while making our first springtime inspection of The Green Hole.  Misty has probably topped the total in just the few weeks that we've had her.  At least three times, it's been while we play "don't eat the peg" in the back yard.  She's adopted a plastic stake outside as a 'keep away from daddy' toy.  We chase each other around- she always wins-and I typically hit a mud slick just right.  Today, I had the stake and she basically hip checked me, just enough to send my trailing foot sliding, and once it starts, it's over.

Yesterday, it was a combination of mud, a leash belt that was either mishooked or loosened as she spun me in circles barking at a girl and her two dogs, and the ever-present mud.  The belt came loose from me, I tried to reach for her leash, and there goes that trailing foot again.  To her credit, even though the whole thing was caused by her desperation to see the doggies, she went NOWHERE.  Just looked at me until I had my wits back together, grabbed her leash, and attempted re-hooking.

A few times, it's been her amazing excitement over snow.  She runs like a madman (or woman), stops, grabs a bite of snow from at least an inch below the surface like most dogs would snap at a juicy steak, and shoots off like it was an Underdog super-energy pill.  The first good snow, our first walk was a lot like water skiing for me.

Waiting for permission to grab the piece of BabyBel

I admit that we are still trying to build our relationship.  Don't get me wrong:  we're constant companions, love each other dearly.  But... Me and Scrappy had become 'same person: dog version, human version'.  That took 10 years.  It takes time.

And... well, she's a girl.  That means, a lot of either yeah, not interested, or I want attention NOW.

Scrappy was like me, old and set in his ways.  You could set a clock by his idiosyncrasies.  I never know what's next with her.  Her way of saying, "There's people outside that you should look into," "I want some of that attention NOW", and "I really need to go out and relieve myself" are virtually indistinguishable.  Last night, she got bored with me and went upstairs.  After a few minutes, I called out, "Misty!" What are you up to?"  She runs down and right up to me.

Cue five minutes of barking at me.  Well, maybe not five, but certainly until I got up and chased her around.

One look at the slobber on my legs tells one, Misty is one of the sloppiest eaters I've ever met.  Worse than me!

Right now, she's midway between "I am about ready to come get some attention" and, "Y'know, that game kinda wore me out."  She has a really funny way of doing things.  A walk that wouldn't have fazed Scrappy overmuch will leave her willing to settle for a more sedate night the next day. Of course, Scrappy burned of the "all-outs" after about a hundred feet, where Misty is 'all engines full' for better than a mile.  She might eat her food over the course of an entire day, unlike our former "moo pig". Then suddenly, after eating  a few mouthfuls, she becomes, "Spasmodico, Doggie of Doom", and tears through the house looking a lot like Ryan Newman last night.


Well, she's been patient, so I better get this wrapped up so I can be ready for the next wave of destruction- or just pay her some mind before she gets moody.  Because, she's... well, she's Misty.

Martin World News- Best Nation edition

So the news looked a lot same-old-same-old, and I decided, what do I get when I type in the search, "World's most _ nation"?  Answer?  Not as much as if I'd have come up with stuff myself.  However, I did find SOME fun stuff, which I will share... right after I feed Misty...


Okay, so the first thing I found was some long drawn out CCSU study on literacy.  It was based on per capita studies on Newspapers (Finland), libraries (Estonia), years in school coupled with money spent on schools (Brazil), assessment scores over time (Singapore), and % of homes with computer access (Netherlands).  In these categories, the US came in 12th, tied for 29th (ouch!), 9th, tied for 12th, and 23rd.  23rd, in % of computers?  I call BS there.

Long story short, Finland was declared most literate.  A key attribute if you are going to live in the country with the longest winter.  Books for reading, newspapers to get the fire started.  Amazingly enough, despite being no higher than 9th in any category, the USA came in 9th.


Next thing I found was population- not exactly the most exciting categories, but hang on.  China and India are 1-2, with well over 1.3 BILLION people each.  The US is third, but- you could fit three more US's in between the US and India...

Newsweek and US News and World Report had a couple of lists that are kinda interesting when put up against each other.  The NW was the most powerful nations... the USN was the BEST countries, by quality of life, etc.  The US got the most powerful, natch, but slipped to 7th on best.  Russia and China were 2-3 on the power list, and not surprisingly nowhere to be seen on the best list.  Germany took 4 on power AND best; the UK nabbed 5 and 6, respectively.  France got a 6 on power and boned on best... Japan got 7 on power but a #3 on best.  Israel got #8 on power, followed by South Korea and Saudi Arabia.  Switzerland took best in show, Canada got 2nd, Australia 5th, and it was Sweden, the Netherlands, and Norway 8, 9, and 10.  Which reminds me, Finland also got happiest country, beating out Denmark 2 years running.  Apparently it has nothing to do with alcohol, though, ruining an easy joke for me, but leading me to the discovery that there are 7 nations who top 90% in beer as a percentage of total alcohol consumed- Kiribati, Brunei (100% each), Papua New Guinea, Samoa, the Solomon Islands, Vietnam, and Guinea; of course, the two heaviest drinker nations, Tunisia and the Maldives, easily beat all seven put together for per capita alcohol.  The US was about 47% beer drinking; Canada came in just over 45%, Australia, 39%, and the UK at 35%.

A site called Visual Capitalist came up with a way to combine a bushel basket full of stats into a "Brand strength index" for nations, and then cross-bred that with GDP to get the most valuable "Brand" nations.  The US won that one too, ahead of China, Germany, and Japan;  the index itself was won by Singapore, trailed by German speaking Europe (well, just about; Switzerland, Netherlands, Germany, and Luxembourg).


At this point, I decided to ask the direct questions that were most important:

Most chocolate consumed:  Switzerland
Most pizza: Norway (US #2)
Best beer:  Belgium (US #2 again)

Most obese:  Surprisingly, these countries had to stand in the shadow (see what I did there?) of Nauru.

National champion Pole Vaulter 15.3 inches...

And two out of three web sites proclaim Venezuela as the prettiest girls...  although, I'm guessing you better like them thin....

Time Machine co-ordinates VICXXXI61121459

You know, I'm thinking that going to Valentines' day 1959, I might get a sappy love story or a celebrity marriage or something.  What did I get?  A $3.6 million heroin seizure in New York, and a German-born PhD at the National Weather Service noticed a warming trend that may have been the start of "global warming".  However, Dr Helmut Landsberg did go on to say in 1970 that he "was skeptical of the risks of man-made global warming, arguing that computer models were unreliable and that the impacts of projected warming would be minor." (from Wiki, in an article in Science magazine).

"Vas, you don't tink global varming is romantic? You must be French."

Anyway, welcome to this week's Time Machine, with Rick Lewis and Bill Horton from the Silhouettes, two new debuts- one a band's first original single, the other a two-time number one lady, how to get from Tommy James to Mitch Miller in our 6D, and all the usual fun and games.  Bundle up, kids, spring ain't here yet!


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That first debut I mentioned was at #10, and is a new stand-alone from the owner of the biggest hit in M10 history- here's Mo Kenney...




So for those as unenlightened (as I was), Cat Power is a female singer in much the same vein as this song, from what I can tell, and Willie Deadwilder is an 18 minute-and-change song by Cat Power, which I might listen to a bit later, but I do want to get the post done sometime tonight.

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So welcome to Rick and Bill from the Silhouettes!

R:  Good day, nice to meet you!

You guys became a big touring act, despite what becomes basically a one-hit-wonder status...

B:  That's all we get?  But we toured with all the stars!

R:  Yeah!  With  Sam Cooke, Jackie Wilson, the Royal Teens, Paul Anka, Lavern Baker, Jimmy Reed, the Everly Brothers, Roy Hamilton, Frankie Avalon, the Crescendos...

I know, but the story goes that you guys kinda got done out of an even bigger chance by your manager...

B:  You got that right!

R:  Yeah, our manager got us scheduled to sing it on “Dick Clark's Saturday Night Beechnut Show” and, at the same time, receive a gold record award for “Get A Job.” Unfortunately, right before the show, Kae Williams got into some kind of fight with Dick Clark and that, as they say, was the end of that! (Modified from Marv Goldberg's R&B Notebook)

Dick was certainly a kingmaker back then... fortunately, he had a good ear for music, somewhat unlike our 6D victim coming up.

R:  Mitch really wasn't much our thing.

B:  Yeah, little kiddie stuff an' all.  

Well, anyway, your list is 10 songs from 21 stations, and it ended up being a tight two-way race.  And there was some pretty big one vote wonders on the list.

B:  You got The Coasters on that one-vote list with Charlie Brown?

R:  Yeah, but look here, they got the Big Move- they went from 62 to #19- 43 spots!

B:  An' the Platters with Smoke Gets In Your Eyes, too!

Number 2 and number three- The Platters, along with the Crests and 16 Candles- were both classics. Just not their week.

B:  So if the vote was a two song race, why come you got 4 songs in the final?

R:  To drum up suspense, Bill... right, Chris?

You bet, give the masses a little more to guess about.

B:  Okay, Rick, here, you give the finalists.  I'm gonna hit the BUH-fay!

R:  I hear that they got some kinda good casserole down there, get me a plate!

Ummm...

R: So here are your final four this week!  Choose from...

Richie Valens and Donna at #4...
Lloyd Price and good ol' Stagger Lee at the top...
Bill Parsons and All American Boy at #10...
An Petite Fleur, the Little Flower, by Chris Barber at #9.

A note here I WAS gonna have Bill read, on that song at #10... it was co-wrote and performed by Parsons and Bobby Bare... but when the label put the packaging together, they somehow credited it to Parsons when it was actually Bobby's single!  Anyway, thanks, Rick, and thank Bill for me... but you might want to think twice about that casserole...

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That there is known as an Ondioline, and it was basically a sort-of 'moog before the moog', and made the surreal keyboard sounds on songs like Tommy James and the Shondells' I Think We're Alone Now ( and the reversed track Mirage).  It was invented by one Georges Jenny, and was perfected in the later fifties.  He was doing a radio interview about it one day when an aspiring keyboardist named Jean-Jacques Perrey heard it and pretty much begged for Jenny's phone number.  He offered to be Jenny's 'demonstrater' for the machine in return for it's free use (as it was a bit expensive even then).  Perrey wowed the inventor so much, he became Jenny's 'presenter' at trade shows and the like- as well as becoming a star session man on records that featured it.

One such tune is one of my all time favorite instrumentals- Kai Winding's More (from Mondo Cane).  Which is where our story goes to Sesame Street...

Bob from Sesame Street was Bob McGrath, and back before Big Bird, he was an aspiring 'teen idol' who was tremendously popular... in Japan.  While much of what he did in Japan were traditional Japanese tunes- in Japanese, including a command performance in front of the Prime Minister, Eisaku Satō, and his daughter, accompanied only by a bamboo flute!  There were even fan clubs, known as “Bobu Magulas”!  And he enters OUR story because his boss and mentor helped him put out an lp in which he sang More (yes, there were lyrics), along with a lot of other tracks.



Awesome job, Bob!


The name of the lp gives away the name of that boss- Mitch Miller Presents Bob McGrath.  And it was Mitch Miller and his Gang- with Bob McGrath in the chorus- that was at #5 without a Panel vote, with The Children's Marching Song- better known as Knick Knack Paddy Whack.

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The other debut on the M10 belongs to a west coast, formerly 12 man- now down to 8- ensemble calling themselves Fertile Crescent.  Their very first original song comes in at #9...







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So this week we did a three headed Crazy Cover, featuring a current week hit, along with a version from 18 years before, and one from 6 years later!  The original belonged to the Andrews Sisters...

...who took their Apple Blossom Time to #5 in 1941.  Competing with them is recent POTM Battle of the Century Year Week contestant, Tab Hunter...

...who sat at #41 this week on his way to #31.  And finally, with a performance of #52 in 1965, our own... Wayne Newton!

"YAY, It's ME!  I'm back and... wait?  Only #52??"

Sorry about it, buddy, let's see what our expert panel says...

Laurie:  I have to go with Tab, because of the tempo.  The girls were too slow for me.

Chris:  C'mon, you gotta ask?  Of course the Andrews, but I will say that Tab did a FAR FAR FAR better job on this than on Young Love, IMHO.

W:  Hey, what about me!  My tempo was up, just like Tab's!

L:  Yes, his tempo WAS fast...

C:  Truth is, buddy, the recording we heard, you were kinda slurring your words...  every time I tried to get into it, I'd hear, "I'll Be WISHH you..." and I couldn't do it.

"I told you, ya gotta lay off that sauce, man..."

W:  Just a doggone minute!  I was NOT slurring my words!  That's called stylizing, it was my style...

E:  Well, you learned that style from Foster Brooks...

Okay, guys, let me get in the only other two notes I have before we hit the rest of the M10.  One of them you'll like, King- your One Night/I Got Stung two sider was #1 in the UK...

E:  That's burnt, man!  LOVE YOU, ENGLAND...

And the other is that, despite it being Valentine's day, two Christmas songs were still charting!  David Seville and his little rodents with The Chipmunk Song were still at #32, and the Harry Simeon Chorale's The Little Drummer Boy was at #80, though each took sizable falls this week (Seville 13, the Chorale 34).

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The rest of the M10:

Nada Surf slips another spot to #8 with So Much Love.
Eleven weeks now for Tennis, as Runner drops from 4 to 7, putting the duo now at a tie for 5th all time in the M10...
Huey Lewis spends week #8 at the 6 spot, down one with While We're Young.
Ozzy and Elton move up 4 to #5 with Ordinary Man.
The Pet Shop Boys are up 2 to #4 with i don't wanna...
Agnes Obel slips from the top to #3 with Broken Sleep...
Up one to runner-up for White Reaper's Might Be Right...

And the new #1- her third...

...Caroline Rose with Feel The Way I Want!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


And the Panel pick?

Well, 9.5% each for the designated cannon fodder, Bill Parsons and Chris Bender...

23.8% for the runner up, Lloyd Price...

And winning with 28.6%...

....Richie Valens and Donna!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

So tune in next time to see Richie Valens do something he's never done before... make it to 1960!  Be there!