Time Machine co-ordinates VICL6317356

Today we go to July 3rd, 1956- another of those "nothing happening here" days, apparently, as I was forced to look at one of those "if you were born on" sites- a very lousy news-gathering procedure, fer shure- and this is what I got:

On 28.August.1955, Sunday, your father has produced the semen that will be half of you soon.

He produced 1000 sperms every second of his life and you will be lucky one out of 500 million sperm he sent on their way in the conceivement. You may find interesting to know that if he had drunk (or not drunk) coffee on this Sunday morning, you might be born completely as someone else (for instance in the opposite sex) as Caffeine changes the speed of male sperms.

Ugh.  On the other hand, if your particular sperm had been born today, you'd be due May 9th of next year.  Or something like that.

Anyway, welcome to a near- 4th of July Time Machine!  Here at the lovely Dominion of Misty, it is hot and dry, and with the proclivity of neighboring additions and fireworks, this may well be the last TM before we are rendered homeless from a wildfire (unless it rains between now and then, which would seem to be an event on  the Noah or Elijah scale of miracles), so let's enjoy Perez Prado as POTM and see what else we can come up with- hopefully nothing that involves more biology...



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I have a sneaky live plan on Independence Day celebrating, so before we go there, let me do a 6D!  And I want to do it now because there are NO M10 debuts and I thought I would throw in a song to play that went with the 6D.

His name was Ira Kosloff, and he was a hard man to find anything about.  He was the co-writer of 6 songs.  One of them was our 6D victim; the others had various very small successes, none of them on their own passing #24 on the charts.  I decided to play the other five songs with Laurie the other night, and we agreed (I know I agreed) that I liked EVERY ONE of the five better than the big hit.  There was one I liked the most, and I will play that tune- right after I tell you about the other four.

Venus De Milo, recorded by Bob Manning and Orchestra- it peaked at #29 in 1954.
Love Me Again- its most famous appearance was as the b-side of Bell Bottom Blues by Alma Cogan, a #4 UK hit in 1954.
I Spoke Too Soon, a #24 hit for the Crew Cuts in 1954.
Heartaches At Sweet 16, the b-side of Kathy Linden's 1959 #11, Goodbye, Jimmy, Goodbye.

And the one I'll play for you, which I don't believe was ever released; the Viscounts first recorded it, but I fell for the cover by Skeeter Davis...





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Senor Prado, how nice to have you along!

Gracias, Mr Martin!  A lovely, er, ship you have here!

Yeah, you'll have to excuse the mess, those Fleetwood Mac Kids really tore the place up last week.  So are you up for playing a new game- even if I fall flat on my face doing it?

Well... si, bien!  

Okay, so what I am going to do, with no real preparation beforehand, is I'm going to look at the Martin Era 2.0 charts for Billboard and Cashbox this Independence Day week... and if they have different number ones, YOU get to pick your favorite!  Sound good?

But, Senor Martin, que if I no know the song?

Relax, it's a Time Machine!  We'll merely stop time, have you listen to the songs, and then start things back up to make your pick!

This ees no dangerous?

The only danger is if I don't find any they differ ON...

Ah.  Then eet will be jour fault?

Si.  So let me fire up the charts, and let's see how it goes.... (flips levers... smoke rises... Perez coughs quietly, growing fear in his eyes...)

Okay, so 1955 should be an easy one!  Cashbox has Les Baxter's Unchained Melody, while BB has your Cherry Pink and Apple Blossom White...

I take my song. How you chain a melodia, anyhow?

Er, yes. Next up... 1962, my birth year!  Here it was CB playing David Rose's The Stripper, vs Billboard's Ray Charles doing I Can't Stop Loving You...

Is a very good song for Ray, but I like the Stripper, she is more fun...

She sure is!  Our next year is 1965, where CB puts up the Byrds' Mr Tambourine Man against BB's I Can't Help Myself (Sugar Pie Honey Bunch) by the Four Tops...

I like the Tops... makes me more want to dance!

I'm glad I made you pick these instead of me on this one, amigo!  Next song battle... the very next year, where BB puts up Frank Sinatra's Strangers In The Night against the Beatles and Paperback Writer...

Oh, I like Sinatra for a long time.  I take him.

1969 then gives us Henry Mancini's Love Theme From Romeo and Juliet against Elvis's In The Ghetto...

Oh, I like Mancini, the soaring, rising...

"I don't know if I like your attitude, amigo!  Just because it's an instrumental..."

PP:  You know what they say, Senor Presley- busca la etiqueta de la unión*...

(* "Look for the union label...")

Next year, and we're almost to the end, is 1976, where it's Afternoon Delight by Starland Vocal Band on CB and Wings with Silly Love Songs on BB...

Ai, I don' know on this one, ese!  I think I take the first one, for the girls...

EP:  I bet Chris would too, seein's as he's got that crush on Taffy Danoff...

We should have HEEM pick his winners too, si?

EP:  Yeah, that'd be a good idea...

Just hold on a sec, pahdners... let's see if we have one more contest... and we do!  BB has the Rocky Theme (Gonna Fly Now) by Bill Conti, vs CB and Alan O'Day's Undercover Angel...

EP: He'll take the instrumental again...

PP:  I'll take the instrumental again...

EP:  See, toldja!

All right, so I will follow your suggestions and pick MY winners...  Right after Horace Bellbottom gives us the Panel situation this week!

AHEM, yes, this week the survey of 31 stations gave us 15 contestants to choose from.  Of these, only three had 3 or more votes, and thus become your finalists.  Please choose from:

Miss Gogi Grant with her #1 this week, The Wayward Wind...
Er, Be Bop-A-Lula by Gene Vincent and his Blue Caps at #12...

And the last contestant, I have to make mention that its position on Cashbox was due to the combining of 2 versions.  The song was entitled Moonglow and Theme From Picnic.  On the Billboard charts of this week, Morris Stoloff was at #3; George Cates was #9.  On Cashbox, both versions were at #2, but it was the George Cates version that got the votes necessary to make the finals, and thus his version is your finalist.

I should note also, that Laurie and I put them to the

test, and we both took Cates, for the same reason:  That constant brush on the cymbal got annoying.  Cates' version was much cleaner and more enjoyable for us.

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At this point, I've left us a lot to clean up here, so hang on tight!  First off, our big mover this week was Be Bop-A Lula, climbing 22 from 34 to 12; our charts from the English Speaking World show Pat Boone's I'll Be Home on top in the UK ( it peaked at 5 here at the end of March), and Kay Starr ruling Australia with the Rock And Roll Waltz (which hit the top a few weeks before).

That song that Ira Kosloff had the big hit with?  Elvis's I Want You I Need You I Love You....

EP:  That damned thing?  I never liked that chopped up, rushed out thing either! Uhm,  I mean, hey wait a minit?  Whaddya mean, ya didn't like MY song?

Anyway, the Panel didn't like it either, and it got no votes from Cashbox's #6 slot.

And this week's M10...

 Badfinger's Baby Blue redux tumbles from 6 to 10.

The War And Treaty hold at 9 with Jealousy.

The Jayhawks' 2020 hit, This Forgotten Town, gets shoved from 3 to 8 this week.

The Explorer's Club are still at 3 songs on the chart.  One Drop Of Rain up one to #7.

Blackberry Smoke's Midnight Rider up one to #6.

Margo Price shoots up 5 to #5 with Letting Me Down.

Explorer's Club #2:  Can't Find The Time reverses course and moves back up one to #4.

The Jayhawks' 1995 hit Bad Time slips from 1 to 3.

Also reversing course are the Shacks with Smile Now Cry Later, back from 4 to #2...


And the #1... seems we still are waiting on one more from...

...the Explorer's Club, at the top with Didn't Want To Have to Do It!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


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Hey, jou no forget to make your picks!

Alright, alright, let me see here...  Perez, I take you over Les Baxter... I guess I'll take The Stripper over Ray... You can't beat those Four Tops vocals, Levi Stubbs, man... we part company at Paperback Writer, one of my favorite Beatles tunes... definitely In The Ghetto... Silly Love Songs, so there!  And Undercover Angel, if for no better reason than the Rocky theme continues to be overplayed, while the broccoli gods have let off on Alan O'Day.  Satisfied!

PP: Si!

EP:  Yep!

Good!  Would one of you like to pick up the Panel winner?

PP:  Por favor, you do it, Senor Presley!

EP:  Okay, li'l feller!  So we have a 2 way tie for loser... Moonglow an' Be Bop-A-Lula both got 9.7%, and yer winner with 22.5%...

... Gogi Grant an' The Wayward Wind!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Nice job, bud!  Next week, Gogi Grant and 1957!  (Barring the wildfire, that is...)