Time Machine co-ordinates VICXLX65312475

 

Today we go to December 4th, 1975, where "it pays to go with the first instinct" almost got proved to tragic extent.  Seattle's Alaska Way Viaduct was constructed in 1952 with a hard, fast rule:  NO potentially hazardous cargo, because of the incline that it had that would send whatever the cargo was spilling down the ramp and possibly trashing anyone in the tunnel.  Time and money in the right places chipped away at that rule until, on the day in question, Truck driver Richard Baker, with a fuel hauler and an additional tanker along behind, decided to take the ramp 7 mph over the speed limit in the rain, hit a guardrail which jerked his tanker and detached the trailing tanker, which then hit a concrete post and sent 3,600 gallons of flaming gasoline everywhere.

Nobody was killed- except for power downtown when the fire burned through the concrete and melted trunk lines within the viaduct.  But yeah, let's just run hazardous loads anywhere the hell we want, right, Union Oil?

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Welcome to a "hot" Time Machine- well, at least if you think our POTM Carl Douglas is h... oh, what did you do this time, Nardole...

Well, sir, it's an understandable mistake on my part... you see, in addition to CARL Douglas on last week's chart, there was also a CAROL Douglas...

Yeah, way down debuting at #92, while the winner was at #8... didja stop and think it would be somewhat unlikely that the song at #92 would WIN?

Sir, Mr Presley has had me so busy with his Christmas party and the Beauty Contest and all...

Refresh my memory.  Who cuts your checks?  No, never mind.  So CAROL Douglas will be our likely confused guest this week, and we might just as well bring her out, as there are NO M10 debuts this week!

Thank you, and yes, I'm a bit confused...

Well, first off, I've been checking out your bio, and what a fascinating start to a career!  Your mom was the 'seed' of a famous Cab Calloway song, "Minnie the Moocher"; your cousin was Sam Cooke; you went to school and did jingles with Bernadette Peters

Interesting, yes, successful, not so much.  Plus, becoming a mom at 15 didn't help.

Still, you had a lot of people in your corner! James Earl Jones and Cicely Tyson you co-starred in a play with...

Well, I was a down-cast character... but it did help the resume...

And it didn't hurt to have Meco of Star Wars fame producing your hit, Doctor's Orders.

"Star Wars?"

You haven't got to that point.  So, basically, we've plucked you out of time to chit-chat with and then have you read off the finalists for this week's music Panel.

Why me?

Because the winner from the week before gets to be the next week's guest.  Kung Fu Fighting won last week, so...

But wait!  That wasn't me, that was CARL Douglas...

Yes, everyone knows that except for a bald headed Delloran with a detachable head, who I have had the questionable wisdom to hire as a major-domo, so...

N:  I thought the word you used was, 'gopher'...

Glorified gopher, I always add 'glorified', don't I?  Anyway, this week's Panel had just 12 contestants from 50 stations, and the winner really crushed the opposition, so you out there that guess are either going to be 'right' or 'not even close'!  Carol, would you introduce the finalists...

I... I guess so, that's why I'm here, so you say!

Your choices are...

KC and the Sunshine Band, That's The Way (Uh-huh Uh-huh) I Like It at #1 this week on Cashbox... say what week is this?

Same week you were in, in 1975...

Ah, so you just go forward one year every week!

Now you've got it!

Which means you'll probably bring in Casey Stengal next week...

N:  You should probably stick to the script, Ms Douglas...

No, let her go, that was great!  Read on!

The next finalist is Island Girl By Elton John at # 3.  He'll be represented next week by his cousin, Felton John...

HAH!  You're killing me!

The third finalist is Fly Robin Fly by Silver Convention at #2.  Maybe Bobby Day singing Rockin' Robin?

Hee hee, or perhaps he'll go for Fairport Convention...

Or maybe the Shriners' convention...

BWAH HAH HAH!  You gotta stop!

N:  Yes, please...

And the final finalist, The Way I Want To Touch You by the Captain and Tennille at #6... who would he bring in there?

Oh, THAT one he'd get right.  Toni likes to chase me around the room.  Anyway, there's the top four- and the winner laps them, heck, it lapped the field!  So while you think that over, let's hear from our gracious guest star....

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Berry Gordy, according to Casey Kasem, rejected 100 songs written by this man before he finally took one- and the man made it Motown's first Million seller! The man- Smokey Robinson; the song, Shop Around.  One of the players among the Funk Brothers backing that song was baritone sax man Mike Terry.  Like Smokey, Mike has a lot of credits to his name, one of them he shares with tragic star Donny Hathaway.  In 1967, the two (with Donny playing piano) were on a single by a girl group who early on boasted Martha Reeves as a member, the Fascinations.  This song was called Girls Are Out To Get You, and it got to #92.  It was written by a dude who didn't often chart songs that low- Curtis Mayfield, who earns the 6D award this week with a song he gave to the Staple Singers- Let's Do It Again, #4 without a Panel vote.

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Overseas if you Please had a Canadian flat tire this week- their chart magazine mysteriously had a gap between October 25 and December 13th, and when they came back they reset without the missed weeks.  The two Canadian songs on the Panel were both finalists- The Way That I Want To Touch You and That's The Way I like It, so you pick.

In Australia, it was ABBA's Mama Mia, a tune that doesn't hit here until July of next year, though SOS is on the Panel and currently falling.

New Zealand had Johnny Nash with a non-charter here called Tears On My Pillow.  Hey, Elvis, what's the word on Johnny coming for the Christmas party?

EP: He'll be here- you heard it here first!

All right, so be here Christmas Eve- 3 short weeks from now- for the second annual Christmas Party and Beauty Contest! Anyway, South Africa was topped by a dude that was hard to track down.  Allegedly his real name was Moshe Naim, living in France and "a friend of (Salvador) Dali".  He went by the name Columbos (Or Columbus, and it's unclear which was right and which was the misspelling), and his song, a hit in France by an Israeli couple whom he covered, was called Milky Ways.

Finally, the UK top dog was Queen's Bohemian Rhapsody, which was about a month away from debuting here.

And, our big mover, 32 spots from 98-66, was a former POTM, CW McCall's Convoy.

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And the reshuffled M10 this week:

10- Roseanne Cash, Crawl Into The Promised Land, dropping 4.

9- The Four Seasons and The Girl I'll Never Know, down 3.

8- Acres Wild and Mirrorball Stars, down 4 in week #7.

7- Jason Isbell and the gang with Dreamsicle, up 3.

6- Alice Cooper up a pair to 6 with Rock And Roll.

5- Just like before, Ron Keel's Ghost Riders pause at #5.

4- Also in week #7, former top dog No Going Back by Yuno- going back down 1.

3- The big move from 9 to 3, Michael Sweet and At A Loss.

2- Holding here, Purr's Avenue Bliss.

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

...M.A.G.S. with Smile!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

And that final four?

6% for the Captain and you-know-who, thank you Jesus...

8% for Island Girl- darn, I was looking forward to meeting Felton John...

10% for Silver Convention- which is a shame, because my pageviews always went up when I put their picture up, for some reason...

But your winner, with 58% of the vote...

 ...KC and the Sunshine Band, (just not with THAT song) and That's The Way I Like It!!!!!!!!

Next week, we go to 1976- then I MIGHT take a week off to get that party JUST right!