Time Machine co-ordinates VICLIV6358760

I can just tell this "Blogger switch over" is going to be a cluster, so bear with:  (straightens shirt, wipes brow, punches dog, deep breaths, moves on)....

Today we go to August 7th, 1960, where the wheel stops spinning and comes up, Ivory Coast.  That is the nation given its independence from France today- something France does almost every odd-numbered day this August.  On the 1st, it was Dahomey (Benin since 1975), the 3rd it was Niger, Upper Volta (Burkina Faso as of 1984) on the fifth; It skips the 9th and goes to Chad on the 11th, the former Ubangi-Shari, now the Central African Republic on the 13th, the Republic of Congo on the 15th, and finally running out of former colonies with Gabon on the 17th.  They all....

Son, enough of this crapola.  Do I get a third week as POTM and beat the Beatles, or not?

Steady, King!  The truth is, this week's Panel came down to a big two-song battle between...

...Brian Hyland's Itsy Bitsy Teeny Weeny Yellow Polka Dot Bikini, at Cashbox's #1, and...

...your It's Now Or Never at #2!

Yes!  I have a shot!

So you do!  And to celebrate the possible record-setting victory, we're going to do things a little different this week- I'm going to take you inside the actual Panel deliberation, and see how it really works!  Brian will be right here with us to observe the battle, and we'll have all sorts of other...

We don't need nothing else!  We don' even need Hyland!  Let's just...

BH:  Now slow down, pal!  You don't know that you are gonna win- he said it was a big battle!  And besides, it ain't all about you...

EP:  Lissen here, Hyland, this here is MY gig, an' I don' need no johnny come lately ta...

ELVIS!  DOWN!

EP:  Yes, boss.

Before we get there- and we will do it soon, just to calm him down- There are other things to address and one of them is that the M10 had two new debuts this week- and they, to my surprise on the first one, are both covers!  That puts the percentage of covers all time occurring during this 'Cover Summer' to almost 46%!  Anyway, the one that surprised me was because I forgot that this song was first done- and hit #1- by a lady named Martika in 1988!  This time around, it's being redone by a band who already boasts 2 M10 #1s... at #10, here's brand new music from Silversun Pickups...

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So this week's 10 song, 36-station Panel had as its 6D victim Ray Peterson's Tell Laura I Love Her at Cashbox's #5 this week.  And when I looked into it, I saw... Hey, you two!  Knock It Off!

BH:  Sorry, Chris.
EP:  Sorry, boss.  But he started...

Put. A. Cork. In. It.  Or I'll scrap it right now.

EP:  Yes, boss.


AHEM.  So anyway, Jeff Barry has a co-write credit on this tune, and it's far from his only one, as I know I did on a previous 6D- he has 15 top 10 credits to his name, including #1s by Sean Cassidy (Da Doo Ron Ron), Manfred Mann (Doo Wah Diddy Diddy), the Dixie Cups (Chapel Of Love), the Shangri-Las (Leader Of The Pack), the Archies (for which he sang, on Sugar Sugar), and Olivia Newton-John (I Honestly Love You).  And this all got me thinking about who wrote the most top tens.  This question kept leading me back to a name I didn't recognize- a lady named Diane Warren.

While I didn't know the name, I knew a lot of the songs.  From about 1988 on, Diane had songs hit the top ten 30 times- including these outside-the-Martin-Era hits:

At #1:  Milli Vanilli's Blame It On The Rain, Aerosmith's Don't Want To Miss A Thing, Chicago's Look Away, Starship's Nothing's Gonna Stop Us Now, and Bad English's When I See You Smile.

At #2: Belinda Carlisle's I Get Weak, Chicago's I Don't Wanna Live Without Your Love.

At #3: Cher's If I Could Turn Back Time, DeBarge's Rhythm Of The Night.

And at #7, Michael Bolton's Time Love And Tenderness.

THAT is a serious pile of hits.  But it also got me to thinking about the Beatles...

EP:  NO!  Not them on my day!!

Relax, you big baby!  I've done some research on their writing prowess- but it's gonna wait until next week.    Right now...

BH:  Is it time for our contest?

Right after we do the other M10 debut at #9.  At this point you shouldn't be surprised that it's by The Explorer's Club- but you may be surprised to know that it is a cover of a song that peaked at #77 a long time back- a song that was the only solo hit for former Three Dog Night-er Danny Hutton...





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All right, friends- and you two- here's what we are going to do.  You are going to get a recorded look in at how the voting went for our two songs in question- the other 8 contestants edited out for time.  As you will see, it works a lot like the nomination process at a party convention.  At this point- with UNOBTRUSIVE comments by our two contestants filtered in- I turn things over to the Panel Chairman:


C: May we hear from our delegate from Arizona...

AZ Delegate:  Mr Chairman, from our great state, the city of Phoenix places it's vote for- Mr Presley!

EP:  Yes!

C:  Next, the delegate for our Canadian brethren from British Columbia...

BC Del.:  Yes, our province's showpiece city of Vancouver, casts one of its votes for- Mr Hyland...

BH:  (Gives raspberry to Elvis)

C:  And now, will our delegates from California please come up...  Los Angeles, you are first.

LA Del.:  Mr Chairman, fellow delegates, the City of Angels will cast its 2 votes for- Mr Presley...

EP:  3-1 me!

C:  And the other delegate...

SF Delegate:  Our city of San Francisco is not just another city, despite not having 2 votes, as our esteemed colleague does.  We have but one vote, and we cast it for- Mr Presley.

EP:  Now I'm rolling!

C:  Next, the delegate from Colorado...

CO del:  Sir, I have the privilege of representing Denver, and our 2 votes...

SF del:  How they get two and we only get one...

C:  (Bangs gavel)  Continue please...

CO del:  The two votes from Denver are cast for- Mr Presley.

BH:  This kinda sucks...

EP:  6-1, loser!

C:  The delegate from Illinois...

IL del:  The delegate from the wonderful state of Illinois casts Chicago's vote for- Mr Hyland.

EP:  Big deal.

C:  The Massachusetts delegate, please...

MA delegate:  The representative of the great state of Massachusetts, with the vote of the city of Boston, seat of liberty, casts its vote for- Mr Presley.

EP:  See? 7-2!

C:  Next, from Missouri...

MO del:  Yes, Mr Chairman, with the vote of the Gateway City of St Louis, for- Mr Hyland.

BH:  Yes!  Here comes the rally!

C:  Will the three delegates from New York State now come forward?  You first, sir...

NY del 1:  With the vote of the city by the lake, Buffalo, the city chooses- Mr Hyland.

EP:  Hmmmm...

NY del 2:  With the 2 votes of New York City, the city that never sleeps, we cast them for- Mr Hyland.

BH:  YES!  7-6!

EP:  UH-oh...

NY del 3:  With our 1 vote, the city of Syracuse chooses- Mr Presley.

EP:  Phew!

C:  Will the three delegates for Ohio come forward?  Starting with you...

OH del #1: The tire maker of the world, Akron, Ohio votes for... Mr Presley.

EP:  Now we're cooking!

OH del #2: The other city by the lake, Cleveland, Ohio, votes for- Mr Presley.

BH:  Crap!

EP:  10-6!  In the bag, now...

OH del #3:  The Queen city of Cincinnati, Ohio, casts its vote for- Mr Hyland.

EP:  Hmpf.

C:  Would our brother from Ontario please come forward...

ON del:  Sir, the province of Ontario brings the vote of  the mighty city of Toronto for- Mr Hyland.

EP:  Geez, here we go again...

BH:  10-8, pal!

C:  Next would be our candidate from Oregon...

OR del: Mr Chairman, I speak for our city of Portland, who casts its vote for... Mr Hyland.

BH:   OOOOOOOOHH....

C:  The state of Pennsylvania, you are next...

PA del:  Sir, the city of brotherly love, Philadelphia, home of the Liberty Bell, casts a vote for... Mr Presley.

EP:  Back up by 2 now...

C:  The province of Quebec, please...

QU del: Monsieur Chairman, ze vote for ze city of Montreal goes to... Mr Hyland.

BH:  11-10!  Ain't over yet!

EP:  Wanna bet?  Watch this....

C:  Will the delegate from Texas step forward?

TX del:  Mr Chairman, the great state of Texas casts a vote from San Antonio, home of the Alamo, for- Mr Presley.

EP:  THAT'S IT!  There's only one guy left and I'm up 2!

BH:  Congrats, Elvis!  No hard...

EP:  SHHHH!  I wanna hear him say it....

Wisconsin delegate:  ...and so Mr Chairman, the city of LaCrosse is proud to cast the final vote for- Mr Presley.

C:  Mr Presley wins the vote by a tally of 13-10.  Congratulations, gentlemen, on another fine job...

Congrats, Big Guy!  You are the first act to win 3 straight POTMs!  At least for another couple of months...

Wait, what?

Well, 1964-66 are coming up, and...

DON'T say it.  Don' even mention their names!

Well, stranger things HAVE happened... but anyway, let's hit the stat pack and finish with the M10.

You do that.  I'm off to have a peanut butter an' banana samwich.  Or 5. Brian, I'll buy!

BH:  Uh, maybe just a burger, thanks!

EP:  Good enuff!  Say, have you ever tried my bologna casserole?

With that, let me do up the rest of the show.  We had 2 songs tie for big mover at 20 spots:  Frankie Lymon's Little Bitty Pretty One from 72-52, and Chubby Checker doing The Twist from 42-22.  We did have a couple of thumbs up tunes picked out, but we're running way long, so maybe next time.  The other English #1s-  The UK had the original by Johnny Kidd and the Pirates of the later Guess Who hit Shakin' All Over; Canada went with Elvis yet again; and Australia was singing along with Jimmie Rodgers and Just A Closer Walk With Thee.  And my M10- careening swiftly towards its fifth anniversary- finishes out thusly:


The Explorer's Club goes back to back, its former #1 Didn't Want To Have To Do It at #8, down 1.

Another former #1, the Jayhawks and Bad Time, tumbles from 2 to 7.

Basia Bulat holds at 6 with Your Girl.

A bitter pill for the Jayhawks next- Bitter Pill gets pushed down a spot to #5.

With the hottest bullet imaginable, The Beths go from 9 to 4 with Jump Rope Gazers.

Brooke Annibale sneaks up one to 3 with Home Again; Dent May does the same to #2 with I Could Use A Miracle.

Which means a second week at the top for....

...Hazel English and Five And Dime!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


And with that, tune in next time when the man, the myth, the legend, Elvis and I do up 1961!