Today is Friday, August 13th, and as a Friday the 13th, I had a real battle deciding how to start this week's post. I know, I know, I'm supposed to be doing a Little Eva bit, but reading her bio was... sad, to say the least. Not a life you really want to have sport with. So I thought I might try doing things like we used to- what happened on August 13th in any of the years we are doing this week? Well, in 1965, Marty Balin, who owned a piece of a club called the Matrix, debuted the band he put together to be his house band- Jefferson Airplane. It was not the famous band that we would know later- Grace Slick was not in it yet- but they did have a singer I'd like to introduce to you- meet Signe Toly Anderson!
STA: Nice to meet you all...
So you were with the band a little less than a year, and missed out on "the good stuff"...
STA: Actually, I left because of the good stuff! My daughter, Onateska, was born in May of the next year... it was too hard taking her on the road, and I quit in October. It worked out well for them, and I went back to Oregon.
That name for your daughter's a mouthful...
STA: I think it was supposed to be Native American for Ladybug...
Well, just to give you a proper hello, let's play the first JA single, in which you and Marty do the singing...
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STA: Nothing off that first album charted, sad to say...
Things that don't chart are often better than the ones that do... So anyway, here's what we do on the show. I got through a random-generated list of years, pick out my favorites this week in that year, and name a winner based on where they ended up on their year's year end chart This week, I'm happy to say, we have a TIE! Two songs topped their year's year-end chart on Cashbox! We'll have some fun with that a little bit later, but for now, we're gonna lob off the two at the bottom (for the 6D and the Overseas If You Please), and the top six (to guess the winner from), and have you read off the 10 that landed in between.
STA: Groovy! So by the numbers, I see... the #73 in 1974, Blue Magic and Sideshow... the #71 in 1976, Keith Carradine's I'm Easy... the #71 in 1965, Beach Boys and California Girls... why didn't they ever do a song about California guys?
Um, 'cause they were guys...
STA: Hmmm, I suppose... the #70 in 1965 was Gary Lewis and the Playboys, Save Your Heart For Me... #67 in 1976, Vickie Sue Robinson, Turn The Beat Around... the #61 in 1965, the Four Tops and It's The Same Old Song... Maybe they should have done something newer, I mean, it might have gotten higher...
Speaking of which....
STA: Shhh! Don't tell on me! #51 in 1965, Mel Carter and Hold Me, Thrill Me, Kiss Me... #45 in 1976, George Benson and This Masquerade... #32 in 1965, The Righteous Brothers and Unchained Melody... #15 in 1956, Elvis and Hound Dog...
Elvis: You rang?
Where have you been all this time?
Elvis: Oh, I been helpin' Bellbottom with the 6 degrees, s'all... An' who might you be?
STA: I'm Signe...
Elvis: Well, of course y'are seein' me, I'm right in front of ya! Now what's yer name, honey?
You boob, 'sien-ye' is how you pronounce her name! Now kindly let her get that one last song on the list named...
STA: (giggles) You're silly! And the last song on this list is #13 in 1957, Paul Anka and Diana!
Thanks! And now, the M10 debut at #10, here's the next off of Rest In Blue from the late Gerry Rafferty...
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Elvis: Good stuff, man! You oughtta have him on the show!
We'll look into that... but i n the meantime, how about giving us the finalists?
Elvis: I thought the guest did that...
I believe she... 'nodded off'...
Elvis: Gotcha. Okay, yer finalists, in alfer... alphar.. well, you know:
Me first, from 1956 an' Don't Be Cruel...
Aw, then those goshdurn Beatles an' Help from 1965...
then Andy Kim an' Rock Me Gently from '74...
KC an' the Sunshine Band in '76 with Shake Your Booty... guessin' they never was on Sullivan...
Debbie Reynolds an' Tammy from '57...
...an' we finish with the Browns an' The Three Bells from '59!
Now, y'all gotta guess who was that two-way tie at the top- an' then who won it by checkin' where they finished on the Billboard year-ends! An' now, my good friend an' legal eagle, Horace -he's for us- Bellbottom!
HB: Good grief, Presley, I'm not running for office! At any rate, we start with the Boston band called Aerosmith and their song... if it can be called that... "Dude Looks Like A Lady". This song was the dividing line between the 6 top 40 singles they had had in the somewhat distant past and the 15 they would have there on. I mention the past, because it was nearly ten years since their last top 40, a cover of the Beatles' Come Together.
This tune was from the ill-fated Bee Gees/Peter Frampton movie- which I protested in no uncertain terms at its inception- Sgt Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band. The only good things from that entire disaster were this song and Earth Wind And Fire's rendition of Got To Get You Into My Life.
Well, and one other thing. During a day off in filming, the Brothers Gibb sat down and wrote three #1 songs. One day! One of them was their brother Andy's hit Shadow Dancing; the other two were to be on their upcoming album, Spirits Having Flown. They were Tragedy, and Too Much Heaven. The horn section from Chicago- most notably, one Lee Loughhnane on flugelhorn- played prominently on Too Much Heaven. And Loughnane wrote the 6D song- which, while not making the Cashbox top 100 for 1974, did place 98th on Billboard- Chicago's Call On Me.
Nicely done! And now, here's some fun debuting at #9 on this week's M10- from an upcoming lp due out in October, and some help from Japanese stars Chai- here is Duran Duran:
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Elvis: You ain't catchin' ME kissin' no dragon!
I bet not! So before we get to this week's M10, let me clue you in on who tied for the top this week! Did you take...
...our big buddy and Debbie Reynolds? Then you move on to the final round! Hey, and also before we do the M10, here's our rapidly-recovering Signe Toly Anderson with the Overseas If You Please!
STA: Yeah, sorry about that... new baby and all, you know... so here's what topped the chart this week in 1965- the year in which Smokey Robinson and the Miracles finished 98th with Tracks Of My Tears...
In the UK and Australia, the Beatles were #1 with Help!
In Canada, the Playboys and Save Your Heart For Me...
New Zealand, the year that got lost... who did that one?
No one... all the 1965 charts for New Zealand apparently disappeared...
STA: Wow, like an alien kidnapping thing... anyway, in South Africa, it was Elvis and Crying In The Chapel...
Elvis: YEAH! It's a sign! I can't be beat this week!
Maybe... anyway, here's the rest of the M10...
8- Sagittarius up 2 with 1969's In My Room...
7- Rafferty's Slow Down is down 2, and ties Challenge The Gods on the summer list...
6- illuminati hotties and Buck Meek up 3 with u v v p...
5- Redspencer up 2 with Big Deal...
4- the Ventures from 1969 with Theme From A Summer Place up 2...
3- Holding is courtship. and Fuzzy...
2- Down one is last week's topper, Weezer and Tell Me What You Want....
And to no big surprise, moving up 1 to take the top spot...
 |
| credit Jackie Lee Young |
....the Black Pumas and Wichita Lineman!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Now, before I give you the winner, just in case someone's keeping track:
Help! finished 11th in '65...
Shake Your Booty was 10 in '76...
The Three Bells came in 7th in '59...
...and Rock Me Gently took 4th in '74.
And the winner, taking the #2 on Billboard for its year, versus the other song being a shocking 12th....
Elvis: It was ME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Me, me, me! Oh, with Don't Be Cruel!!!!!
I guess it truly was an omen! Better be here next week- just 11 more to go!
Music to keep us going
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