Time Machine co-ordinates VICXLII6225170

It's May Day 1970, and between this lead in and the 6D which I just finished researching, this is the day for very odd acronyms.  Today, a group called WHORE- World Historians Opposed to Racism and Exploitation- took over the Kent State campus after the President's announcement of the Cambodian invasion.  This, of course, would lead to a National Guard presence, and soon after the death of 4 of the protesters.

This week on TM, the 6D takes a back seat to the 5D, as the Fifth Dimension comes a calling; 2 new debuts including the Rolling Stones, and a lady who was last on the M10 chart almost 4 1/2 years ago; A tight, wild six way battle for the POTM; and a classic song takes a beating on the crazy Covers segment!  Hang on for a Stoned Soul Time Machine trip!


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So I was just reading up on how you all got started together- and I found that there was a beauty contest called Miss Bronze California- and that Marilyn won the whole shebang in 1962, and Florence won the talent portion in '63!

Marilyn McCoo:  Yes, it was set up by Belva Davis, who wanted to give young black girls like us a place to move forward from.

At the risk of breaking protocol, I'd like to say that you were both very good choices!

Florence LaRue:  Why thank you!  But the idea was more than just beauty.

I understand that; it was about showcasing ability, and giving a platform for success in the wider world...

Lamonte McLemore:  And 'whiter' world...

And really, you all broke that boundary as well, since your songs cut across all colors.

Billy Davis:  But did it?  How many of our 'diverse' audience, who loved white sounding songs like Wedding Bell Blues and Up Up And Away, even knew more soul flavored songs like Stoned Soul Picnic?

For my personal experience, I think that had more to do with programmers shoehorning 'soul' songs onto soul stations, and pop songs to pop stations.  In Ft Wayne, the only way to escape that was to turn to outside stations like CKLW.  Never was about race to me.  The reason I don't care for James Brown is the reason I don't care for Joe Cocker.  The reason I love Marilyn McCoo is the reason I love Karen Carpenter.

Ronald Townson:  Well put, baby!

Well, before this becomes a PBS documentary, perhaps we should get to the business at hand.  We had 29 songs from 77 stations this week, included amongst them a song I couldn't find anywhere (House Without A Roof by the Orbits), one that peaked back in February (The Tee Set's Ma Belle Ami), one that wouldn't peak till October (Simon and Garfunkel's El Condor Pasa), and a -sorry to say- horrifying rendition of A Little Bit Of Soap by Paul Davis at #114.  However, there were six songs that were rela... yes, something wrong?

BD:  Well, don't you usually give the guests a little more to do?

RT:  Yeah, I'm feeling a little left out...

LM: Oh, c'mon, you heard the man, he only has us on here because he wants the girls on his Beauty Contest on the holidays...

Now wait, that's not fair!

BD:  Notice, he didn't say, "not true..."

Okay, I have an idea in the interests of fairness.  Hey, Laurie!

Laurie: Yes?  

Tell our viewers- who's the handsomest of these three fellows?

RT:  Now, wait a minute!

L: Well, definitely not the one in the back left...

RT:  Now WAIT a minute!

L:  Hard to tell... I need a better look at the other guy in the back...

(Lamonte moves up)

L:  Hmmm... for me, the other guy in the back...

LM:  YEAH BABY!  Who's yer daddy?

BD:  Say, what was the point of this?

Well, now you can't complain about me having Florence and Marilyn in the BC this year, because you just had your own mini-reverse Beauty Contest!

LM:  YEAH BABY! Now who's yer daddy?

RT:  Oh, shut up, Lamonte!

MM:  Boys, let's just move on to the finalists...

Good idea, here's the list...

LM:  Here, I get two, because I won the beauty contest!  Choose from Norman Greenbaum's Spirit In The Sky, #1 on Cashbox...
FL: The Beatles and Let It Be at #4...
RT: The Ides Of March and Vehicle at #10... I dunno why I got the shaft, I ain't bad looking...
MM:  Of course you aren't, Ronnie... The Guess Who and American Woman at #3...
BD: The Jackson Five and ABC at #2...
LM: And me again, with The Poppy Family an' Which Way You Going, Billy at #22!

And as I was about to say before the wheels started wobbling back there, all six of them have somewhere between 6 and 10 votes!  While you think about that, here's the latest M10 hit for a girl whose last chart appearance here was 242 weeks ago, in the very first and second M10 charts!  Here's Angel Deradoorian...






The new lp Find The Sun was supposed to drop in May, but has been pushed back until September- 5 years after her last week in the M10.  Deradoorian is at #10 this week.

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In 2013, a man named Colin Dawson, 'King of the Roller Coasters', got an OBE from Queen Elizabeth II for his service as the Chief executive of BALPPA- the British Association of Leisure Parks, Piers, and Attractions.  And why do we possibly care?  Because in his youth, this same Colin Dawson was for a brief time the lead singer of the Detours- who, after his departure because he couldn't get along with Roger Daltrey, became the Who.  Also in this 'proto-Who' was of course, Pete Townshend, who enters our story because he- as 'Bijou Drains'- was bass player in the band Thunderclap Newman, on their hit Something In The Air.  This song was one of two featured in the bizarre film called The Magic Christian with Peter Sellers and Ringo Starr (and it don't get much more bizarre than that!).  The other?  Why, it's our 6D victim- Badfinger's Come And Get It, #7 without a Panel vote.

(NOTE:  At this point, I should mention that in perusing past lps by Albert Hammond Jr, one particular track comes to mind with my Magic Christian reference:  a little ditty named, ' Feed Me Jack Or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love Peter Sellers'.)

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And now, a veteran act making their first stop in the M10, in a single they felt appropriate for the times, here are the Stones at #9:






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So speaking (as I did with Paul Davis) of bad renditions, a song on this week's Cashbox caught my attention.  It's called Into The Mystic, and I knew the name because a lot of Van Morrison fans really like this tune.  Well, like anything else that scored in the 60's, Johnny Rivers did a cover of it, and it was at #81 this week in 1970.  We ran it through the old

and here's how it went:

Van:  (L and C): It just kinda laid there...
Johnny: (L and C) It just kinda laid there...

So I'd say it's safe to declare this contest a double-two-thumbs-down!

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Sat Pack:

The Beatles and Bill Preston were on top of the UK charts with Get Back.

The big mover, with one Panel vote, going up 22 from 75 to 53 was Viva Tirada by El Chicano.


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Chipper says goodbye this week, as Paper Cup drops off after 11 weeks and a #5 all time rating.  Besides the two debuts, the rest of the M10 goes like this:

Tennis falls from 2 to 8 after eight weeks with How To Forgive.
Jana Kramer moves up 3 to 7 with Untouchable.
Falling to 6, a 2 spot drop for Anna Burch and Tell Me What's True.
Climbing 3 to #5 is Brooke Annibale's Under Streetlights.
Caroline Rose up 2 to 4 with Do You Think We'll Last Forever?
Last week's top dog, Albert Hammond Jr's Set To Attack, slips to 3.
Black Joe Lewis moves into the 2-hole with Five Dollars.

And up from #5 to take the top spot...

...Maddie and Tae with I Don't Need To Know!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

And as for our six song pile up on the Panel...

Susan Jacks and the Poppy Family get 6.5%...
Both the J5 and the Ides of March get  7.8%...
Confused cowboy Norman Greenbaum gets 9.1%...
The Beatles get 11.68%...

But the winner, with 12.98%....

The Guess Who and American Woman!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  Who says they never win?


So tune in next week, with, Burton, Randy, and I- in 1971!