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!