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Today, we are on July 9... but the year is a bit of a challenge. You see, as I let you in on last week, this is the new Volume 7 stage of Time Machine, and we're doing things a little different. What I...
Elvis: Hey, I just heard the Panel got laid off! What's going on?
You basically heard right. Here's the new deal. Each week, I'm going to use a handy dandy internet random number generator to pick 6 years out of the Martin Era 2.0- if you look at the co-ordinates this week, you'll see that this week it picked 1956, 1959, 1960, 1964, 1965, and 1977. From those years I'm going to do something similar to the past couple of weeks- I'm going to pull out my big favorites from each top ten, which will then be our 'contestants'. I will then rank them by their finish on that year's Cashbox top 100 of that year. I'll give you the top four or so to guess who wins, let you in on every one else...
Elvis: That'll mess up the other features, though, won't it?
Au contraire, mon frere! The big mover will be the biggest mover of ALL years; the lowest ranker gets the 6D; and the second lowest will be the year that we do Overseas If You Please for!
What about the guest? Same as always, or messed up like it has been?
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| "Well, I don't think anyone has called me messed up before..." |
EP: EEK! Ya coulda told be she snuck in behind me!
This, my friend, is Gwen Owens, leader of Hot, who won the last POTM award as such. Welcome to the show!
GO: Thanks!
Unlike a lot of acts out there, especially at the time period, you had a very interesting request of your producers.
GO; Yes, I didn't want to be a solo! "I did the backing vocals on the Wolfman Jack tour with Cathy Carson and Irene Cathaway. Shortly thereafter, Terry Woodford and Clayton Ivery, who'd been with me during the Motown South experiment, called me for a new recording session and I told them right away that there would not be any solo recordings, but that I would bring along two singers. They only said you will never be part of a group. I wanted to prove the opposite, and I did. Therefore they wanted us three in the studio. Just then, Irene decided to go on tour with another singer. That meant Cathy and I were alone in the studio. That proved no challenge for either Ivery or Terry, as they initially only wanted to record with me. So we recorded 4 songs and with these 4 songs we got a contract with Big Tree, which was a sub label of Atlantic. ”
But then you ended up as a trio...
“After the song was released, the label wanted to have a finished album as soon as possible. At the same time, we were hoping to find a third member for the group. We had no idea what cultural background the singer should have. Irene was Mexican, but we did not necessarily look for a Mexican again. We were sitting at our manager’s office when we all accidentally looked out the window and watched a woman- ended up being Juanita Curriel- walking across the street. I also do not remember what she was wearing, but her look was just amazing. Ed our manager just said if she is coming for the audition and sing can sing, she gets the job, she just looked amazing. You know how the story ends, after we were complete as a trio, we went back to Muscle Shoals to finish the album. "
***NOTE: to all of you that expect pure bull from me, the stuff in quotes is 99.44% Gwen from an interview with someone from Souldisco (dot) de from November 2018.***
GO: What was that?
Oh, a disclaimer, so I can chat with you without being sued, hopefully.
GO: So are you saying we're in 2018?
Actually, 2021.
Elvis: Careful, hoss. Ya don't want another Dorothy Moore on our hands...
True dat. Here, while we get Gwen acclimated, listen to the debut at #10 on this week's M10- the return
of courtship...
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I have no idea why pasting that up was so frustrating, but the preview says we're good, so lets move on! Here is the list of songs I pulled from the various top tens for your perusal. Gwen, read the list, if you would...
GO: Sure, why not? From 1956, you took the #1, Gogi Grant's Wayward Wind...
From 1959 this week, you took the #1 Battle Of New Orleans by Johnny Horton and the #7 Lipstick On Your Collar by Connie Francis...
From 1960 you took Connie again with Everybody's Somebody's Fool at #1, The Everly Brothers with Cathy's Clown at #6, and Roy Orbison with Only The Lonely...
Elvis: Please, Lord, not the Everlys again!
GO: From 1964, you took The Beach Boys and I Get Around at #1, The Four Seasons and Rag Doll at #3, and Astrud Gilberto singing The Girl From Ipanema at #10...
From 1965, you took the #1 Mr Tambourine Man by the Byrds, the #3 I Can't Help Myself (Sugar Pie Honey Bunch) by the Four Tops, and the #7 Yes I'm Ready by Barbara Mason...
And finally in 1977, you took #6 Peter Frampton's I'm In You, #7 Jimmy Buffet's Margaritaville, #8 Andy Gibbs and I Just Want To Be Your Everything, and #10 Barbra Streisand's My Heart Belongs To Me...
Elvis: YOU took Streisand?
Yeah, I always liked that one. So right now, we're gonna break for lunch, while Horace Bellbottom gives you an actual, prepared ahead of time, 6 Degrees...
You might well have added, 'illegible', to your list, as usual. All right, let us see...Once upon a time, Stevie Wonder issued the hit single, My Cherie Amour. Its flip side was called I Don't Know Why. This tune was covered by the Rolling Stones, and released in one of those, "we hold the rights to these, let's see if we can make some money" compilations so commonly released by former record labels. It was itself the b-side of a song called Try A Little Harder, on which they should have taken their own advice, as it just missed the top 40.
The album of misfit hits was called Metamorphosis, and it also contained a tune called Out of Time. In fact, while this single also peaked beneath the top 40, it was in fact Mick Jagger's vocals on top of an instrumental track first used by the man who had a big hit with it in the 60's in England, a chap by the name of Chris Farlowe. Farlowe evidently found his forte in covering others' songs- such as Out Of Time- but his judgment on originals offered to him was suspect. One such offering that he refused as too soft for him became the most covered pop song in history- the Beatles' Yesterday. Which brings us to this week's victim, the second most recorded song in history, as the lowest charting of the hot 100 of its year- The Girl From Ipanema, which ended the year at #77 in the year 1964.
Next, let us move on to the second M10 debut this week. Gerry Rafferty passed tragically too soon, but his daughter has helped engineer a second posthumous release of songs previously unreleased, an lp called Rest In Blue. The first single from it comes onto our countdown at #7...
...Johnny Horton's The Battle Of New Orleans!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Some great music here
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