Time Machine # 58

You know, that was the first time I hit enter after typing the title and it actually put me on the post instead of trying to publish a blank screen?  No, but if you hum a few bars....

Today is March 8th, 1971 and you know what happened tonight...

That's right, the "Fight of the Century"- Ali-Frazier I at Madison Square Garden!  Ali got dumped on his ass in the last round, but got back up- only to lose the decision.  "A White Man's Decision", was the analysis from the ever-sensitive Muhammed Ali.  That's what his swollen jaw was thinking, too.

Welcome to another hard-hitting Time Machine episode.  This week, a six degrees that explores how the instrumental Frankenstein got its name, the very spotty career of Murray Head, a cameo by the Groovie Ghoulies, a lookback on the man who got his first job in music the same day as his buddy Perry Como, the long-awaited return of the almost but not quite shoutout, and a new number one!  Touch gloves, go to your corner, and wait for the bell!

First, another bit of sad news.  Or two.  Jewel Akins died last Friday at the age of 79.  He was in a band called the Turnarounds, who were offered a chipper little song called The Birds And The Bees.  The rest of the group hated it, so Akins recorded it solo, and hit #3.  Also, Alvin Lee, the guitar virtuoso who played lead on the Ten Years After classic I'd Love To Change The World, passed Wednesday.

So onto the hot 100 debuts of this week.  A whopping 21 debuts this week, but I'm going to mention 5 of them.  If you remember a while back, I mentioned the hit Mathews' Southern Comfort had in the UK with their cover of Woodstock- and it comes in at 98 this week.  Helen Reddy's take on the JCS song I Don't Know How To Love Him comes in at 86.  And at 85 we have a song ripped from the immortal Sabrina and the Groovie Ghoulies...

...Daddy Dewdrop's Chick-A-Boom (Don' Yew Jes' Love It).  Daddy was actually one Dick Monda, who threw together a band to play a song for the cartoon which included Tom Hensley (who became Neil Diamond's musical director) and Butch Rillera ( who later joined Redbone).  Trying to re-create the Archies' success, the song was released two years after its cartoon debut.  I think it was done on the show by the Mummies and the Puppies, but don't hold me to that.

I always kinda hadda thing for the one with the long pink hair- even if she wad dead and had one eye.

We still have a pair of powerhouse debuts to go.  At 73, Three Dog Night debuts with one of the biggest hits of the decade- Joy To The World.  And way up at 48, Paul McCartney hits with Another Day.

Which leads us to the birthday section.  Turning 30 this week is Jon Anderson's country crossover Swingin', along with one you may not know- Robbie Patton (with some help from Stevie Nicks) and Smiling Islands.  Tipping the scale at 35 years old, Jefferson Starship's Count On Me and Player's This Time I'm In It For Love.  Turning 40 this week, War's The Cisco Kid, the aforementioned Mr. Diamond with Cherry Cherry, and Stealer's Wheel, with the dulcet tones of Gerry Rafferty, and Stuck In The Middle With You.  The new 45-year olds include the Monkees' Valleri, Donovan's Jennifer Juniper, the first entry for the Moody Blues' Nights In White Satin ( it would have to chart twice more before becoming a big hit), and Hugo Montenegro's orchestra with the theme to The Good, The Bad, And The Ugly (and for you youngsters, that was a Clint Eastwood movie and not Obama, Pelosi, and Reid).  And finally, turning 50, the Chordettes with Lollipop (lollipop, oh, lolly lolly lollypop...)  Blow out the candles...

Our big mover was James Brown with Soul Power, up 20 notches to 46.  The dropper of the week was Joe Simon's Your Time To Cry, falling 24 to 54.

And moving into our #50 spot, the Where Are They Now spot, we have Murray Head with his song Superstar.  Murray has an extensive recording career- in fact, he is still recording and touring.  However, he has only made the charts twice- with this song and the big 1984 hit One Night In Bangkok, which (according to his website) hit #1 in 12 nations, including Austria, Germany, the Netherlands, and Switzerland.  However he has kept busy; he landed some movie parts in the UK and is currently an in-demand actor on British TV.  In 2012, he released an lp called My Back Pages- covers of songs by others that were "flagposts" to different stages of his own life.  Including sixties hits like One Two Three, Gimme Some Lovin' and the title track, he ranges into (somewhat) more recent songs like Dust In The Wind and Beds Are Burning.

Getting his kicks above the waistline for 30 yeras...

The top 40 gained six new tunes this week.  Brewer and Shipley come in at 40, up 14, with One Toke Over The Line.  Andy Williams brings the second version of Love Story's theme into the top 40, up 17 to #39.  Cat Stevens' Wild World climbs 11 to 38.  Chicago joins the 40, up 10 to #37, with Free.  Sammi Smith's country crossover Help Me Make It Through The Night is up 10 to #33, and it's Marvin Gaye with the high debut, jumping 16 to #28 with the classic What's Going On.

Our lookback takes us to the big mover this week in 1954, and yet again it is where the song peaked.  The name of the song is Hold Me, the singer Don Cornell, the leap from 43 to 27.  Cornell was born Luigi Varlaro in the Bronx.  Fighting off bullies led the aspiring musician to a boxing career, in which he was 27-0 before his mother's pleas to return to music took effect.  He got his first job in music the same day that his buddy got his first job in music- the buddy being Perry Como.  In 1941, Sammy Kaye heard him on the radio, and soon hired him as his new lead singer.  But when he introduced "my new singer, Lou Varlaro" , he was booed for the crime of being Italian-American in 1942.  Thus without warning, the next time Kaye introduced him as Don Cornell- and the name stuck.  He soon went solo and embarked on a career that only ended with his death in 2004.  He had 16 top tens- and though he never got a top dog, he hit #2 4 times.  His biggest hits included It's Not Fair, Hold My Hand, and I- for 40 years the only one-character title song in history.  That career, by the by, began after a stint as a decorated ETO bomber pilot in WWII.  In the midst of all this the man sold an estimated 50 million records.  A far cry fromSir Hubert Pimm, eh?

I looked for a pic of him boxing, but no such luck.

For the first time in a while, I have some almost but not quite honorees to mention.  Judy Collins' Amazing Grace peaked at 13 last week, dropping to 23 this time.  The Grass Roots' Temptation Eyes climbs its last notch to #18 this week; and Henry Mancini's version of Love Story holds at #11.  Next week, we'll have three versions in the top 40!

Three songs move into the top ten, three fall out.  Dropping are I Hear You Knocking (7 to 14), Scotty, stops growing (8 to 16) and Mr. Bojangles dances away again (9-26).

Wilson Pickett claims the leadoff spot with Don't Let The Green Grass Fool You, up a pair to 10.

Tom Jones powers his way to #9, up from 15, with She's A Lady.

Jerry Reed is up 2 spots to #8 with Amos Moses.

And our six degrees is at #7.

Sweet Mary moves down a pair for one-hit wonders Wadsworth Mansion.  This Rhose Island band was led by Steve Jablecki, who died in 2005 and has a statue in his honor in his hometown.  A bar band that got lucky, they toured extensively for their one lp, including with the Edgar Winter Group.  The players of the instrumental #1 Frankenstein ( so named because it was a patchwork of pieces stitched together from an even longer work), they were also known for the hit Free Ride.  This, along with much of the lp They Only Come Out At Night, was written by Dan Hartman.  Dan hit first with the dance hit Instant Replay, and later much bigger with I Can Dream About You, a #6 hit in 1984.  That tune was from the Michael Pare flick Streets Of Fire, and was originally written by the late Mr. Hartman with Hall and Oates in mind.  They declined it at the time because "they didn't do covers", but included it on the 2004 cover lp Our Kind Of Soul, with somewhat changed lyrics.  Of course by then their last top 40 hit was fourteen years gone, so mayhap they should have done it sooner.

The Partridge Family blast up 8 spots to #6 with Doesn't Somebody Want To Be Wanted.

Gordon Lightfoot moves up a spot to #5 with If You Could Read My Mind.

The rest of the top ten is "change partners and dance".  Lynn Anderson's Rose Garden slips to four, while CCR moves that notch up to 3 with Have You Ever Seen The Rain.

And the Osmonds drop to runner-up with One Bad Apple after three weeks at the top.  And that Means, moving up that notch to the new # 1 song...

...the Jackson Five with Mama's Pearl!!!!!

Ain't no fight, that was fun!  See ya next week!

Time Machine week 57

It's March first, 1971.  Today the Senate lunchroom was empty.  Not because of another recess, or trying to avoid sequestration.  The Weather Underground, not the website, but the terroist wannabes, set off a bomb- after politely calling in a warning a half-hour earlier- in the Capitol Building, equivalent to twenty pounds of dynamite.  The Big Bang Theory was that it was a protest of the invasion of Laos.  Sure, don't do anything to end the Vietnam War with a victory.  Nothing was hurt but some glass panels and artwork.  I don't know which amazes me more- that these losers could get a bomb in the building, or that security couldn't find it in a half hour.

Before I start musing about what good might be accomplished these days in such a situation, let me say, welcome to Time Machine.  This week, one song takes a slow boat to the top ten;  Gary Puckett keeps the customer satisfied; the guy that beats out Perry Como and Eddie Fisher; the long and short of debuts; and Jimmy Seville, we hear you knocking, but you CAN'T come in!  Come on, let's have a blast!

This week we had 10 hot 100 debuts, of which I drew a complete goose egg!  I'm sure we'll catch up to some of them in the top forty- someday- but for now, we must skitter helplessly on into the birthday songs for this week.

Turning thirty is that guy who won't let you watch his songs on Youtube, Prince with Little Red Corvette, along with Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers with Change Of Heart.  Thirty-five years old this week, Atlanta Rhythm Section's Imaginary Lover; turning 40, the FIRST run of the Beach Boys' Sail On Sailor, along with Billy Preston's Will It Go 'Round In Circles.  Four songs turn 45, and one of them is one you might not know, and if you don't, go get a listen- Orpheus with Can't Find The Time.  The others, Gary Puckett and the Union Gap (who will be coming up again shortly) with Young Girl; the Box Tops with Cry Like A Baby; and The Mighty Quinn (The Eskimo) from Manfred Mann.  And finally on this week's short list, Hank Williams, Sr.'s version of Kaw-Liga turns 60.  (it hit #1 on the country charts for 14 weeks; Hank Jr made it to #12 in 1980.

Poor old Kaw-Liga, he ain't never been kissed...

The big mover is a tune by Chicago called Free; it moves up 24 to #47.  Bread gets the big dropper, down 39 to #73 with Let Your Love Go.

And that brings us to the Time Machine retail department, where we find Gary Puckett keeping the customer satisfied, which is the name of his second solo effort at #50 this week.  Of course that's Cashbox numbers; Billboard peaked it at 71, ten shy of his other solo charter, I Just Don't Know What To Do With Myself.   Where did it all go wrong for Puckett and the Gap?  They had a short but great string in the late sixties with songs like the aforementioned Young Girl, Lady Willpower, and Over You- all of which were co-written by producer Jerry Fuller from CBS.  But the band wanted to do it's own stuff, and Puckett "resented having to sing Fuller's power ballads."  So abandoning the man that helped them hit #2, #2, and #7, they then hit 9, 41, and missed the chart altogether with their last three singles.  By 1971 the band was broken up, though they played sometimes as Puckett's backup band in his solo career.  That too was a dissappointment, and by 1973, he was studying acting and dance to build a stage career.  But in 1981, he was talked into making a comeback tour, and has been on the oldies circuit ever since, including a 2010 tour with the Association and the Lettermen.  He, his wife Lorrie, and his 2 stepdaughters live in Clearwater, Florida.  And on June 20th, 2010, the man who named his band after a town just a few miles from his hometown of Yakima, Washington, finally played for the first time in Union Gap, Washington.

...and I guess there's just no getting over Jerry...

The top forty gains a whopping eight new songs this week.  Moving up two is the morbid classic DOA by Bloodrock, an eerie look at a fatal car accident told by one of the unsuspecting victims.  A seventeen notch jump for the Fifth Dimension lands them at 38 with Love's Lines, Angles, And Rhymes.  The Guess Who climb 8 to 37 with Hang On To Your Life.  James Taylor's Country Road also moves eight to #36.  Another eight notch climber is the Mike Curb Congregation, led by a man who is going to make a great six degrees with all his connections, with a song from Kelley's Heroes called Burning Bridges; it lands at #34.  Aretha Franklin jumps 15 to #32 with You're All I Need To Get By; up a big 21 are Santana with Oye Como Va coming in at 28.  And finally, George Harrison's second solo single, What Is Life, shoots from 46 to 24.


This week in our lookback segment, we had to throw out the #1 mover this week in 1953, the already featured Perry Como, and the #2, Eddie Fisher, and go to #3- a man who moves up from 32 to 21 with a song called Rachel.  That man is Artie Wayne.  And he was much bigger after the modest success of his song.

As a songwriter, he was first noticed by Bobby Darin, who brought him to the attention of Don Kirshner.  His songs have been covered over 250 times, but that wasn't the end of things, as he became involved in the publishing end of music.  As well as a producer who worked with acts from the Shirelles to the Guess Who.  As a manager, he discovered young singer Sissy Spacek.  His company broke the Jesus Christ Superstar soundtrack in the US of A, and was responsible for signing Rick James to A&M.  He taught songwriting to a couple of generations; his early pupils included Partridge Family writer Tony Romeo, and Gypsies Tramps and Thieves co-writer Bob Stone.  In 1983, he opened the Songwriter Motivational Course, among whose graduates is John Barnes, who was Michael Jackson's co-writer on most of the Bad lp.  Wow, speaking of good six degrees candidates!

Two songs join the top ten, two drop out.  The droppers (and boy, do they drop) are:  Knock Three Times, from 9 to 22; and If I Were Your Woman, from 10 to 29.

Jerry Reed moves up from 16 to 10 with Amos Moses.

Next up is a song that took its good sweet time moving up into the ten.  On the one hand, it moved 14 spots once; and 11, and ten.  In between, it had a 7, 4 sixes, a 5, two 4's, a 3, 2 twice, one 1, and two weeks that it didn't move at all.  Despite it all, it makes it into the top 10 with one of those 4-notch moves:  the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band with Mr. Bojangles, in its eightteenth week.

Bobby Goldsboro didn't watch Scotty grow this week; he held at #8.

And that brings us to that long-threatened six degrees.

Dropping 3 to #7 is Dave Edmunds with I Hear You Knocking.    This was a remake of a blues song written by Dave Bartholomew, who also wrote My Ding-a-Ling which Chuck Berry took to #1.  That lovely song with the scarcely hidden meeting was roundly attacked by British morality crusader Mary Whitehouse, who tried to have it banned but failed.  She was much more successful in keeping Alice Cooper's School's Out of the music show Tops Of The Pops.  Ironically, Mary, who died in 2001, never learned that her crusade should have been turned upon the shows host- one Jimmy Seville, who has become famous post mortem as one of the most prolific sexual predators in UK history.  And that is a six degrees NOBODY wants to be linked to.

Gordon Lightfoot moves a notch to 6 with If You Could Read My Mind.

Wadsworth Mansion holds at 5 with Sweet Mary.

Have You Ever Seen The Rain?  CCR sees it at #4, up a pair.

Lynn Anderson slips a spot to 3 with Rose Garden.

The Jacksons move up to runner up with Mama's Pearl.

And for a third straight week.... the tops of the pops is...

... One Bad Apple by the Osmonds!!!!

That's it for another trip!  Watch you step exiting, and pick up that candy wrapper!

Time Machine week 54.

Today is February 8th, 1971.  A rather peaceful day, with the biggest news- the opening of NASDAQ- hardly earth-shaking.  However, 6 hours and 42 seconds into tomorrow, that's exactly what the news will be- a 6.6 earthquake that hits in the San Fernando valley in SoCal, commonly known as the Sylmar quake.

The quake killed 65, severely damaged two hospitals (including this one), collapsed two interchanges, and missed crumbling the Lower Van Norman dam enough to unleash a catastrophic torrent by 6 feet.  The quake, which scienists consider a precursor to the Northridge quake some 23 years later,took out a hospital building that was just one month old, and led to greater earthqake prepareness in California building codes- as well as inspiring the film Earthquake three years later.

Welcome once again to Time Machine, where we delve into questions such as:  What band counted  as members a famous actor's dad and a stock broker?  What singer who was saved, and then died, here in Fort Wayne gave us the big hit The Cincinatti Dancing Pig?  And what lp containing a top ten song this week had among the artists on it people responsible for a soap opera theme, a movie theme, and a TV show theme?  Paddle faster, friends, I hear banjos! 

We have 11 debuts this week on the hot 100, of which three merit our attention.  The Carpenters come in all the way up at #48 with For All We Know; Andy Williams comes in at 94 with the theme to Love Story (Where Do I Begin); and Mike Brewer and Tom Shipley with One Toke Over The Line at #99.  Our birthday songlist wouldn't be so exceptional if it weren't for one year claiming  half of the tunes!  Turning 30 this week are Journey's Separate Ways and Dan Fogelburg's Make Love Stay; turning 40 are the Stylistics with Break Up To Make Up, Vickie Lawrence's The Night The Lights Went Out In Georgia, and the Guess Who with one you make have to Youtube (but you won't regret it), Follow Your Daughter Home.  Turning 45 are Gladys Knight and the Pips' The End Of The Road, the Delfonics' La La Means I Love You, and Blue Cheer's Summertime Blues.  Turning 55 is Connie Francis' Who's Sorry Now.  But wait, you say, what about the songs that turned 35 this week?  Why, there are NINE of them:
Rod Stewart's Hot Legs;
Andrew Gold's Thank You For Being A Friend;
Gordon Lightfoot's The Circle Is Small (not a happy song, but the music cheers me)
Parliament's Flashlight;
Jackson Browne's Running On Empty;
Styx's Fooling Yourself (The Angry Young Man);
The Trammp's Disco Inferno;
Roberta Flack and Donnie Hathaway with The Closer I Get To You;
and Waylon 'n' Willie with Mommas Don't Let Your Babies Grow Up To Be Cowboys.

You're going to need a lot of breath to blow out all those candles...

There was a savage battle for the biggest dropper this week; Ray Price dropped 44 notches to 74 with For The Good Times- and finished second.  The big dropper was Stoned Love, falling half the countdown from 21 to 71.  Big mover?  Come back during the top 40 debuts.

The Where Are They Now contestant this week is a song called I'm So Proud by the boys that brought you Everybody Plays The Fool, the Main Ingredient.  The band that took their name from a coke bottle began with three men who called themselves the Poets, then the Insiders, before that pause that refreshes led them to their permanent moniker.  Just before they hit big, lead singer Donald McPherson contracted a fast-striking leukemia and died in 1971.  The survivors soldiered on by hiring a new singer- Cuba Gooding, Sr.  He was the voice on the hits you knew and loved.  Still, success wasn't for long, and they broke up for the first time in 1977, with Luther Simmons becoming a stockbroker and abandoning the biz altogether- except during some of the reunions of the group.  They were reborn in 1979, 1986, and 1999.  Original Tony Sylvester passed in 2006; Simmons retired once and for all, and Gooding, Sr. still leads the band today.

Before I go on, a sad note.  Reg Presley, lead singer of the Troggs on the party classic Wild Thing and the beautiful Love Is All Around, has passed at the age of 71.  Born Reggie Ball, he had his name changed by his agent- and had to find out about it in a magazine.

It's time for the top forty debuts, and Jerry Reed kicks it off with Amos Moses, climbing 11 to #40.  Next is a band called McGuinness Flint, an English supergroup fronted by Manfred Mann bassist Tom McGuinness and John Mayall drummer Hughie Flint, with a song that would go top ten in the UK, When I'm Dead And Gone.  It edges up 2 notches to 39.  The Four Tops climb ten with Just Seven Numbers (Can Straighten Out My Life) at #38.  Up eleven spots to 34 is Wilson Pickett with Don't Let The Green Grass Fool You.  and the high debut/biggest mover is CCR with Have You Ever Seen The Rain, up a big 30 spots to #33.

I'm going to do my lookback a little different now that I'm moving into the 50's.  Each week I'll find the biggest mover in the countdown and salute the main artist. There was a tie this week in 1950, and I'll take the higher charting, leaping from 37 to 9.  Red Foley, who was in that spot with Chattanoogie Shoe Shine Boy.  Red had a chart career from 1944-69, mainly on the country chart where he hit the top ten times.  He hit the top ten on the pop charts 4 times, including the curiously named Cincinatti Dancing Pig, which made it to #7.

The story of Red's death was fascinating, and I'm lifting it from wikipedia for your benefit.

On September 19, 1968, Foley appeared in two Opry performances in Fort Wayne, Indiana sponsored by the local Sheriff's Posse that included Billy Walker and 20-year-old Hank Williams, Jr., son of his long-time friend Hank Williams. Before the second show, according to Walker, Foley came to his dressing room and Walker shared his faith in Christ: "[Foley] said, 'Do you think God could ever forgive a sinner like me?' He began to tell me all the rotten things he had done in his life and I looked him in the face and said, 'Red, if God can forgive me, He can forgive you.' I prayed with Red, he went out and the last song he sang was "Peace In The Valley". He came over to side of the stage and said, 'Billy, I've never sung that song and feel the way I do tonight.'" Foley suffered respiratory failure that night and died in his sleep, prompting Hank Williams, Jr. to write and record (as Luke the Drifter, Jr.) "I Was With Red Foley (The Night He Passed Away)". According to the song, which charted that November, his last words were, "I’m awful tired now, Hank, I’ve got to go to bed." The moon that night was blood red, in remembrance to the great singer. Foley had sung "Peace In The Valley" at Hank Sr.'s funeral. Red Foley was interred in Woodlawn Memorial Park Cemetery in Nashville.

Three songs climb into the top ten, three drop out. Perry Como slides a pair to 12 with It's Impossible; My Sweet Lord drops from 6 to 15.  And One Less Bell To Answer falls from 8 all the way to 25.

Elton John falls a notch to 10 with Your Song. 

Diana Ross moves to #9, up a pair, with Remember Me.

And sliding a notch to #8, our six degrees victim.

Barbra Streisand's Stoney End lp included a lot of name- and rep- players.  Among them:  Randy (Short People) Newman; Eric Weissberg, who wielded one of the Dueling Banjos; Perry Botkin, Jr., one of the duo who gave us Nadia's Theme (The Young And The Restless); Hal Blaine, from Elvis' Wrecking Crew; Larry Knechtel who would soon join Bread; and Larry Carlton, who played lead guitar on Mike Post's Hill Street Blues theme.  The title song was a composition by the late great Laura Nyro, who probably holds a record for most songs written to hit the charts when she herself never topped #92.  That was with, ironically enough, a cover of the Drifters' Up On The Roof.  That #1 was written by Carole King and Gerry Goffin, and Carole played piano on the Drifters' single.

The Osmond Bros leap from 16 to 7 with One Bad Apple.

That handsome sod Dave Edmunds hits #6, up 6, with I Hear You Knocking.

Holding at 5, Gladys Knight and the Pips with If I Were Your Woman.

Also stuck at 4, King Floyd's Groove Me.

The Bee Gees drop 2 from the top dog spot to #3 with Lonely Days.

Holding in the runner up slot, Dawn with Knock Three Times.

And the new #1, climbing from #3....

Lynn Anderson with Rose Garden!


Okay gang, shake'r easy, and I'll see you here next week!

Time Machine week 53

It is the first of February, 1971.  We are stuck between the fading glow of Apollo 14's launch ( and the subsequent round of lunar golf played by Allan Sheppard) and Canada's announcement that they were going to officially recognize Red China.  (You'd have thought that after 22 years, they might have at least seen a picture!)  AAAnyway, Here it is Thursday night( for me), and while I haven't had the energy to bloviate much around here as I get used to the new job, I'll doggedly trudge on through this weekly bout of musical longing.  This week, a big birthday week, with no less than a baker's dozen of HUUUUGE hits celebrating birthdays.  Also, a song debuts twice, neither one by the act you know it by; Bridget the Midget; the only time a father hit the top forty AFTER his daughter had already done so; a look back that includes the last name nobody wants; and we connect the Fifth Dimension on six degrees to the Four Seasons, and we do it through Louis Prima!  All Aboard!!!

Commander, look out!  Your drive is heading for that Time Machine!

We open probably the biggest birthday week in Time Machine history with the hot 100 debuts for this week.  Among the 16 debuts are 5 of the best known hits of the era- Tom Jones' She's A Lady (56), CCR's Have You Ever Seen The Rain (63), The Temptations' Just My Imagination (66), Ike and Tina's cover of Proud Mary (86), and Janis Joplin's Me And My Bobby McGee (88).  In addition to these monsters of the midway, the Guess Who hit with Hang On To Your Life at #79.  And in an oddity, the same song debuts by two different acts- and I'd bet you've never heard either one, even though you know the song.

The first act, debuting at 82, is the Collective Consciousness Society, or CCS, a studio instrumental group whose closest brush with TM-style fame was bass player Herbie Flowers, who played the recognizable bass line on Lou Reed's Walk On The Wild Side.  The other was "King" Curtis and the Kingpins.  The "King" was best known as a side man, notably as the sax player on the Coasters' Yakety Yak, and with the Kingpins were Aretha Franklin's back up band on her Live At Fillmore East lp.  What is the song, you ask?  Believe it or not, it was Led Zep's Whole Lotta Love.

Baby, I'm not foooooolin'....

Now let's see the other classics that celebrate birthdays this week.  Turning 30, three more huge hits- Kenny Rogers and Sheena Easton popping up We've Got Tonight, Hall and Oates with One On One, and Greg Kihn's Jeopardy (even though it hit #1 still probably better known by Weird Al's parody I Lost On Jeopardy)- along with Jefferson Starship's Winds Of Change and Stephen Bishop's It Might Be You (from the movie Tootsie).  Turning 35, we have Barry Manilow's Can't Smile Without You, and three hits off of Saturday Night Fever- If I Can't Have You by Yvonne Eliman, Boogie Shoes by KC and the Sunshine Band, and the Bee Gees' Night Fever.

Turning 40, another huge hit, Dawn with Tie A Yellow Ribbon, along with Bread and their most beautiful ballad Aubrey, Johnny Nash's Stir It Up, Jim Croce's One Less Set Of Footsteps, and Deodato's 2001 theme, Also Sprach Zarathustra.  Turning 45, The Four Tops with their excellent cover of Walk Away Renee and Kenny Rogers (again!) and the First Addition with the hippie ballad Just Dropped In (To See What Condition My Condition Was In).  Yeah, Yeah, ohhhh yeah.....Turning 50, one of the biggest hits for the Kingston Trio, Greenback Dollar, along with Ruby And The Romantics' Our Day Will Come.

Turning 55 was another big hit- the biggest hit Johnny Cash ever had on the pop charts- Ballad Of A Teenage Queen.  And rounding it all up, 60 years ago Patti Page first brought us The Doggie In The Window.  Take a DEEP breath, and blow out the candles....

The high and low climber feature is a real mess this week, and we're going to sweep it into the top forty.

The Where Are They Now feature is Bridget The Midget- actually, that is the song at #50 courtesy of Ray Stevens.  Ray has such a long and varied career, from the ridiculous (see above) to the sublime (Everything Is Beautiful, Misty), that I am going to go straight to the "now".  Ray in recent years has become the balladeer of the Tea Party, ripping into the left (and some of the center) with YouTube hits such as Throw The Bums Out (on healthcare), Come To The USA, God Save Arizona (illegal immigration), The Nightmare Before Christmas (non-PC Santa gets thrown in jail), Grandpa Voted Democrat (voter fraud, natch), and The Global Warming Song.  In addition, he spent the last two years compiling the greatest comedy records of all time into The Encyclopaedia Of Recorded Comdey Music, a massive 96-song, 8 CD labour of love.  And who would know better?

With trepidition we venture into the top forty, where we find first the week's biggest dropper, the Chairmen Of The Board's Pay To The Piper, which is also one of of our two that drop out of the top ten, falling 30 spots from last in the top ten to last in the top forty.  I finally whittled the highest climbers down to a pair of 12-spot risers ( after wading through a half-dozen that climbed ten).  Wadsworth Mansion takes one of those spots climbing into the forty from 43 to 31 with Sweet Mary, while the Jackson Five move to 26 with Mama's Pearl.

The other entrants into Airplay Alley are: The Grass Roots with Temptation Eyes, going from 42 to 38; Liz Damon's Orient Express (so named because the Hawaiian's original backup singers were all Asian) and their one hit wonder, 1900 Yesterday; and (Do The) Push And Pull by a gentleman named Rufus Thomas, climbing nine to #32.  Rufus, who hit the top ten in 1963 with Walk The Dog, became the first man to chart for the first time AFTER his daughter had- his offspring Carla Thomas hit the top ten two years earlier with Gee Whiz (Look At His Eyes).

Our lookback brings us to a crooner by the name of Dick Haymes.  Dick (whose brother Bob also had some songwriting and acting credits) hit the charts from 1943-1956, scoring 35 top 40s, including 19 top tens.  He was at his best right at the beginning of his career; his debut was the #2 hit It Can't Be Wrong, his second was his lone #1, You'll Never Know; and his third was the #7 In My Arms.

He was also successful in duets, his main partner was a lady named Helen Forrest.  Their act hit the top ten seven out of eight releases (the eighth made #12), the biggest of which was Long Ago (And Far Away).  Having been born in Argentina, he at first got out of service in WWII because of his Argentine citizenship.  But Hollywood gossip queens Louella Parsons and Hedda Hopper began to question his patriotism, so he went to a recruitment office an was promptly 4F'd for hypertension.

Like many of his contemporaries, he also got in front of the camera, though not very often.  He was the lead in the 1945 musical State Fair, and much later did a guest shot on ADAM-12.  In later years he filed for bankruptcy, and it was no surprise as the man was married SIX times.  The first was to a "dame" who lied about being pregnant and he had it annulled after learning the lie 3 months later.  Among the others were Rita Hayworth and an actress by the name of Joanne Dru (she was the female lead opposite the Duke in 1949's She Wore A Yellow Ribbon).  Her real last name was LaCock, and if you know your TV trivia, yes, that would make her the sister of one Peter Marshall.

Do you SERIOUSLY think I would work around the likes of Rose Marie and Paul Lynde as "Peter LaCock"?

The other of our dropping pair is Immigrant Song, falling 5 to #14.

Perry Como croons into the top ten, climbing 6 notches to #10? It's Impossible.

Elton John slips a notch to 9 with Your Song.

The Fifth Dimension slides 5 to #8 with One Less Bell To Answer, our six degrees victim.

The song was written by the late great Hal David and Burt Bacharach, actually intended for a young lady named Keely Smith.  She was a half-Irish-half-Amerindian jazz singer who had her best success singing with Louis Prima.  Among the many songs they hit with was a Cole Porter tune called I've Got You Under My Skin, which among it's many incarnations was the 1966 version by the Four Seasons that hit #9.

Annnd our first contestant for the third annual TM Beauty Contest...

I didn't say Barbra Streisand had a butt of rock.  I said she had Stoney End, climbing 7 to #7.

George Harrison slides from 2 to #6 with My Sweet Lord.

Climbing a pair to #5 Gladys Knight and the Pips with If I Were Your Woman.

King Floyd holds at 4 with Groove Me.

Lynn Anderson rises 3 to #3 with Rose Garden.

Dawn joins the list of acts mentioned twice this week. with Knock Three Times slipping out of the top dog position down to #2.

ANNND our new #1, up 4 (count 'em, 4) spots to take the top spot...

The Brothers Gibb, who make five acts mentioned twice, with Lonely Days!


Glad you made the trip, hope the golf ball did you no permanent damage, and see you next week!

Time Machine Volume 2 is One Year Old!

It's January 25th, 1971, and the world is seeing ups and downs.  On the up side, Charles Manson and three of his "babes" are found guilty today of the Tate-LaBianca murders.  On the down, Idi Amin takes over Uganda in a coup.  One thing's for sure- if you weren't aware the sixties were over before...

Welcome to the first birthday celebration of Time Machine!  In addition to (actually in place of) much of our usual program, we present the second annual Time Machine Beauty Contest!  Also this week, a music festival that featured rain outs, nearly electricuted bands, the Hell's Angels, pelting the audience with oranges, and an uninvited guest who saved the day; a birthday song list that includes both the ridiculous and the ironic (so what's new there?); and a hot 100 debut in the top 40!  Plus, lots of cute chicks!  Strap in, amigos, and let's fiesta!

I want to take a moment to re-iterate what I told ya'll a day or so ago.  Our beauty contest contestants include any woman who got their picture in this year's TM episodes.  I decided (at long last) to show just the top contestants- since there were 43 of 'em- but I will mention them all. 

First, I have a hall of fame entry- someone so beautiful, so wonderful, they are just in a class of their own.  and that would be...

Laurie, who got in on her birthday last year.  You really think I'm gonna lump her in with the G.P.?

Anyway, I split them into four categories.  The first and "lowest" group I call the "also receiving votes" category, and they include: (in no particular order)

Dee Dee Sharp, who got on for a six degrees that brought up her hit Mashed Potato Time.
Tina Fey, who got on for her birthday falling on post day... and got voted down more for her political stands than her looks.

Roberta Flack, who made the Martin HOF last time around.
Carol Channing, who "squeaked in" during a six degrees.
Dixie Lee Jones, a member of Original Caste, who made a Where Are They Now from their tune One Tin Soldier.
Prudence Farrow, who made it in during the Beatles-in-India six degrees.
Leslie Gore, who gets in from a funny bit a few weeks back.
The Shirelles, who made it from the songs in the top ten when Laurie and I were hatched, er, born.
Elaine and Ellen, the mysterious chicks from The Neighborhood.
And the prize winner from this group, Edith Bunker from the All In The Family Trivia answer.

Beauty is more than "skin deep".

As I mentioned in the teaser, our highest hot 100 debut is in the top 40.  The only other one out of this week's eight I'll mention is Sammi Smith's country crossover Help Me Make It Through The Night, which comes in at 93.

Our birthday song list is a long one, and starts with another of those songs that changed the face of music.  Turning 30 this week is the first salvo from Michael Jackson's Thriller, Billie Jean.  Along with it comes, Night Ranger's Don't Tell Me You Love Me, The Thompson Twins' Lies Lies Lies, and- ironically- the song that would eventually knock Billie Jean out of the top slot, Dexy's Midnight Runners and Come On Eileen.  Turning 35 we have Kansas' Dust In The Wind, Linda Ronstadt's Poor Poor Pitiful Me, The late Bob Welch's Ebony Eyes, and Chuck Mangione's instrumental Feels So Good.  Oh, and a funny little pair at the bottom of that week's chart, one you'll know, and one maybe not- at 97, Eddie Money's Baby Hold On; and at 98, Karla Bonoff and I Can't Hold On.  Almost as good as the time that Rick Springfield's Jesse's Girl was followed by Jesse Winchester's Say What!

Turning 40 this week we have Seals and Crofts' beautiful Hummingbird, David Bowie's Space Oddity (better known by its first line- "Ground control to Major Tom..."), and one you might not know, but one of America's early hits, Don't Cross The River.  Turning 45 are Sam and Dave's original to the ZZ Top Cover I Thank You, along with the immortal Sitting At The Dock Of The Bay by the sadly mortal Otis Redding, 1910 Fruitgum Company's Simon Says (Hmm, 45 year old bubble gum), and the Association's Everything That Touches You.  Finally, I have to say that the fourth week in January 1958, which was only marginally warmer than it is right now, was a ridiculous time to release this song that turns 55- The Royal Teens with Short Shorts.  Blow out the candles...

Our second group of contestants I termed "Honorable Mention".  They include:

Kitty Wells, who was in the list of those who passed away last year.
Patti Page, who led off this year's list.
Gayle McCormick, who headlined the group Smith.
Tammi Terrell, whose passing was on one of our lead ins.
Betty Grable, who got in on the lookback spotlight on Harry James.
Gloria Bunker Stivic, who shared the All In The Family pic with mom Edith.
Judy Boyd, who also made it in under the Beatles-in-India six degrees.
Judith Durham, who got in on the HOF action with the Seekers.
Shaun Stoney Murphy, Meatloaf's partner on his debut lp.
Lynn Anderson, who'll be getting another accolade a little later.
And Skeeter Davis, from the big end of the world episode.

Okay, so it wasn't the end of the world...

Moving onto our top forty entries this week.  Gordon Lightfoot sneaks up 3 to #40 with If You Could Read My Mind.  At 35, Judy Collins' Amazing Grace comes in at 35, up six.  Bread rises (here we go with this again) 9 spots with Let Your Love Go.  The Osmonds not only grab the high debut, but the biggest mover again this week, with One Bad Apple climbing 26 spots to land at #31.  Which reminds me, the Partridge Family's I Think I Love You dropped 32 to #47 for the biggest dropper, edging out Van Morrison's Domino (22 to 53) by one notch.

And the song that debuted in the top 40?  The Jackson Five with Mama's Pearl, coming in at #38.

An almost but not quite shoutout for Ray Price, whose signature tune For The Good Times peaks at 13 this week.  Which brings me to the second highest, or "almost but not quite" category.  Here we find:
Jinx Dawson, the sexy "witch" from Coven.
Ann Margaret, caught dancing during the Andy Williams tribute.
Dawn, which got downgraded because of the ugly one with the mustache.

You try spraying him out, and soaking him out...

Dinah Shore, Who made it in on a recent six degrees.
Shelly Fabres, who along with Gloria Stivic and the next lady were the only three I found swimsuit pics of.
Shirley Jones, who definately was more than just a "mom of 5".


And when we're NOT singing...

Diana Ross, who was a frequent guest in the charts.
And Polly Browne, who led Pickettywitch into the top 40.


Two songs join the top ten, two fall out.  The droppers are Stoned Love (5 to 11), and Black Magic Woman (6 to 12).

The Chairmen Of The Board hold at 10 with Pay To The Piper.

Immigrant Song, the topic of our six degrees, slips a notch to 9.

Immigrant Song was written around Led Zep's trip to Reykjavik, Iceland, and was first played during their set at the 1970 Bath Music Festival on June 27-29th, 1970.  This was a well-named festival, because it was raining as if the cow was on the flat rock almost the whole time.  Among the players and highlights:

Donovan, who was there as an attendee, took up the challenge when many bands couldn't get through the congested country lanes, playing all by himself for 2 1/2 hours while artists and equipment trickled in.  Jefferson Airplane cut their set short after getting shocked by their mics in the rain, and the Moody Blues, who were specially helicopterred in, couldn't play at all.  The Byrds, though, went on through a 90-minute accoustic set- said to be their first ever accoustic set.  Country Joe was there without the Fish, and John Mayall without the Bluesbreakers.  Pink Floyd was there, and Santana played an hour set.  Fairport Convention was escorted to the stage by the Hell's Angels, and while the Angels were not so impressed with FC, they were delighted when Steppenwolf played the next set.  Johnny Winter did his classics, and Frank Zappa and the Mothers of Invention made it through their set complaining of the cold, and during their song Calling Any Vegetables, hurled oranges into the crowd- at least one of which was thrown back with the cry, "We're the inventors, now!"  Canned Heat survived by being extremely stoned (and proud of it) during their set, and Dr. John closed the show early Monday morning, and at one point nearly left the stage when an announcement asked for a doctor for an emergency in the crowd (after all, they called for a doctor).  Oh, and Led Zep led off their set with the first public playing of Immigrant Song, just six days after the trip to Iceland that started it all.

Elton John moves up one to 8 with Your Song.

Gladys Night and the Pips come in at 7, up 4, with If I Were Your Woman.

Remember Lynn Anderson? She moves from 12 to 6 with Rose Garden.

The Bee Gees climb a deuce to 5 with Lonely Days.

The top four remain the same, with Groove Me at 4, One Less Bell To Answer at 3, My Sweet Lord at #2...

And now, the finalists of the Beaty Contest!

Mariska Veres of Shocking Blue...

Morgana the kissing bandit...

The former Mrs. Andy Williams, Claudine Longet...

Karen Carpenter...

Star of stage and screen Connie Sellecca...

The face and voice of the Poppy Family, Susan Jacks...

Former Mrs. Harrison and Clapton, Patti Boyd...

The incomparable Mia Farrow...

And Susan (Laurie Partridge) Day.

 

 

And truth be told, as I type this, I haven't made up my mind!  I will say the last five are my top five...

 

I had Laurie pick her picks, and the only two of her picks in my finalists were Karen Carpenter and Mariska Veres!  So let's have Scrappy pick 'em... how, you ask?  Let's line up five french fries and see which one he picks!

 

 

 

 

Annnd he takes the middle fry, so our winner is... Patti Boyd!!!!

 

 



Yeah, man, we agree... ya got a brownie, dude?

 

And at #1 again this week... Dawn and Knock Three Times!!!!

 

 

Happy birthday to us... happy birthday to us... come right back here next week... we'll kick up a fuss!

 

Time Machine week 51

It's January 18th, 1971.  Today, Canadian music achieved its independance from the US of A with the launching of the CanCon law.  From this point on, from 6 AM to midnight, 30% of all songs played had to have 2 of the following four qualifications:

-Music composed entirely by Canadian(s);
-Artist is Canadian;
-Record is produced in Canada;
-Lyrics are entirely by a Canadian(s).


This allowed Canadian artists who would have otherwise been overwhelmed by US products to blossom, enriching both sides of the fence.  Ironically I found this info on a site called Censorship in Music.  Makes you wonder how much our music landscape would have been changed by such a law if it where enacted in January of 1964....


In any event, this is a slightly less irritating Time Machine- and next week will bring us to the end of TM vol. 2's first year!  I'm not sure how I'll celebrate... how about another round of the Time Machine Beauty Contest?  Let me know what you think.  This week though, we have 4 top forty debuts, 3 new top ten songs, 2 hot 100 debut mentions, and a messed up Where Are They Now! (Do that to the tune of Twelve Days Of Christmas and it's much catchier!)  Also, a cameo by one of my favorite 80's heroes, another cameo by a star (kinda) from the early days of M*A*S*H, and the war that was Fleetwood Mac.  Plus, a new top dog!  Hop in, you hosers!

While there were 16 hot 100 debuts, I had to reeeealy stretch to find a couple to mention.  Coming in at 95 was Henry Mancini's theme from Love Story, and at 93 was a tune called Mixed Up Guy by a dude named Joey Scarbury.  Remember him?  Let me help- he hit #1 with Believe It Or Not, the theme to the TV show The Greatest American Hero!

And he thought he was mixed up back then.... (Connie Selleca, William Katt, and Robert Culp.  She made any show worthwhile... I was a Hotel fan, too!)

 

Our Birthday song segment is almost back to normal, at least.  Turning 30 this week are Lionel Ritchie's You Are and m'man Joe Jackson with Breaking Up In Two.  Rita Coolidge's cover of The Way You Do The Things You Do lead off the tunes turning 35, along with Lou Rawls' Lady Love, a cover of What A Wonderful World by Art Garfunkel with Paul Simon and James Taylor, and Van Halen's cover of You Really Got Me.  Turning 40 are the incredible Moody Blues with I'm Just A Singer (In A Rock And Roll Band), Roberta Flack's ode to Don McLean, Killing Me Softly, Sweet's Little Willy, Gladys Knight und der Pipsters with Neither One Of Us.... and occasional M*A*S*Her Loudon Wainwright III (Cpt. Calvin Spaulding) with his lovely sonnet, Dead Skunk.

Ol' dead skunk in the middle of the road... stinkin to HIGH heaven...

Turning 45 this week are the theme from The Valley Of The Dolls by Dionne Warwick, and the Bee Gees with Words.  Hitting the big 5-0 are the Four Seasons with Walk Like A Man, Eydie Gorme's Blame It On The Bossa Nova, and a young lady who had a major feature here a few short weeks ago- Skeeter Davis' The End Of The World.  And turning 55 are the Silhouettes with a song that will be sung to me now (My assignment with Vera Bradley ended tonight), Get A Job, along with Paul Anka's You Are My Destiny.  Blow out the candles...

We have a double whammy this week- both the big climber and big dropper are in the top 40.  Sigh...

And if that wasn't bad enough, we have a repeater in the Where Are They Now slot- Candi Staton with He Called Me Baby at #50.  Oh well, just think, in 5 months we'll be switching to #51.  Why?  Because some idiot decided to tie the feature song to my age! So, in 2063, the WATN song will become the #1 song!  Only by then I'll probably be more busy doing Where Am I Now?

 

 

 

Thus we move on to the look back feature, and this week we shed light on a fellow by the name of Vaughn Monroe.  Vaughn was a New Englander who was voted Most Likely To Succeed in high school, and graduated from the Carnegie Institute of Technology.  He simultaniously launched his band leading and running a restaurant/nightclub called The Meadows near Boston in 1940, and by 1946 he was hosting a show we've mentioned before- the Camel Caravan- from the Meadows.

In 1941 he recorded (but never released) what became his signature song- Racing With The Moon.  A trumpeteer and baritone, he had various nicknames over his powerful voice, of which my favorite was "the voice with hair on its chest".  He chalked up 55 charting hits, with 24 top tens and 5 #1s.  His peak might have been 1949, when he released his biggest #1, (Ghost) Riders In The Sky in April and his second biggest, Someday, back-to-back in August.  He was offered Rudolph The Red-Nosed Reindeer but turned it down.  Gene Autry took it to #1, which Vaughn thought was appropriate since his version of Ghost Riders had buried Autry's version.

At one point in 1944, he had to replace his trombone player and ended up teaching himself to play.  It was shortly after the two big hits that the big band era began to dry up, and he broke up the band in 1953.  He was a licenced pilot, and claimed that the only time he was ever late to a job was when he was blown 50 miles off course one time and had to land in a cabbage patch.,  Vaughn Died in 1973 after a stomach surgery.

 

 

Four top 40 debuts this week, but first, let's get our big dropper- Tears Of A Clown, falling from 17 to 34. A recent WATN feature, Joe Simon, moves up 1 spot to 40 with Your Time To Cry.  Moving up 3 to 39 is James Brown with Get Up, Get Involved.  At 36 is our big mover, Bobby Goldsboro with Watching Scotty Grow, and he grew 26 notches from #62.  And our highest debut- and almost our big mover- is John Lennon, who shoots from 56 to 35 with Mother.


An almost but not quite shoutout to Three Dog Night, who hold at 13 this week with One Man Band.

Three songs join the top 10, three fall out.  The droppers are: I Think I Love You (7 to 15); Does Anybody Really Know What Time It Is (5 to 16); and after a one week stay, Domino (9 to 22).

Climbing 5 to lead off the top ten, The Chairmen Of The Board with Pay To The Piper.

Up a pair to #9, Elton John with Your Song.

Led Zep's Immigrant Song holds at #8.

The Bee Gees get their second mention today, with Lonely Days blasting in from 12 to 7.

And dropping 2 to #6, our six degrees victim.

And once again, it's not exactly a six degrees that awaits Santana and Black Magic Woman.  I was a bit surprised to find that it was written by Peter Green, and Fleetwood Mac took it to #37 in the UK in 1968.  When Green's mental problems pushed him out of the group, the song was sung on tour by his young protege/rival, Danny Kirwan.  An 18-year-old guitar virtuoso with a huge drinking problem and temper to go with it, it was his talent that inspired Green to compose Fleetwood Mac's #1 UK instrumental Albatross.  But Kirwan's temper and rivalry inflamed things to the point where it virtually became a him-or-me situation; and to everyone's surprise, Green left.  Kirwan had it no easier in a year-and-a-half sharing the band with replacement Bob Welch.  This time though, it was Kirwan who went when the only remaing bandmate speaking to him, Mick Fleetwood, said two words:  You're fired.

Kirwan did a handfull of solo albums before the drinking turned him into a homeless wretch, one of which had a very interesting back-up band.   Shortly after Kirwan left, it looked like the band was going to dissolve.  Their manager talked Mick into fulfilling a touring contract by playing with a completely new band he labeled Fleetwood Mac (since the manager claimed he had the rights to the name).  At the last minute, the manager said, Mick backed out and subsequently claimed he never heard of the other FM.  The tour collapsed, and the fake FM continued on (sans success) as Stretch.  And it was Stretch that backed Kirwan on his lp Midnight In San Juan.  One member of Stretch was Dave Terry.  Terry pre-Stretch was "Elmer Gantry" (complete with preacher's hat and cape) in the band "Elmer Gantry's" Velvet Opera.  Terry post-Stretch was with the Alan Parsons Project, singing lead on songs such as Psychobabble.

Terry AKA Elmer Gantry on the left.  This is almost a Sinclair Lewis cameo!

 

The Supremes climb one to #5 with Stoned Love.

King Floyd dashes up 6 spots to #4 with Groove Me.

Holding at 3 yet again, the 5Ds with One Less Bell To Answer.

George Harrison finally lets someone else play, dropping a spot to 2 with My Sweet Lord.

And the #1 song, moving up a notch...

 

Dawn with Knock Three Times!!!!!!

See, there's a couple candidates for a beauty contest- and I DON'T mean the one in the middle!  Be sure to put your 2 cents in in the comments, and we'll see you next week!

Time Machine week 50

Welcome to a very irritating (to me) Time Machine.  What makes a Time Machine post irritating to its "labor of love" author?  Let me tease the ways.

-One hot hundred debut worth mentioning- and it has debuted before, and will debut again;

-a six degrees that never gets past the first degree;

-three biggest movers and 2 biggest dropper;

-four birthday songs;

-one of the slowest moving songs ever to hit the top 40 (you thought Yellow River was bad...);

-and 60% of the top ten DOES NOT MOVE!

Oh, and the opening teaser?  The most notable thing I found about January 11th, 1971, was that the NEXT day, the first sound of a toilet flushing  was heard on TV.  Remember what show that was on?  Answer coming later.  (Gotta have SOMETHING to keep you here!)  So climb in, and... no really, climb aboard... please?

First off, let's deal with the debut that wouldn't die.  If Cashbox had been up and functional this time last year, we would have seen the original entry into the countdown of Superstar, the theme from Jesus Christ Superstar, performed by Murray Head and the Trinidad Singers.  It spent 7 weeks attempting to climb the charts, giving up at #67.  This week it starts its second attempt at #99, and in March, it will give up a second time at #50.  In about 9 weeks it will begin a third climb that will finally bring it into the top 40.  So while Jesus was dead three days before resurrection, JCS will be resurrected twice, making three journeys before reaching the light of day.

That said, and noting that it was one of only 4 hot hundred debuts on the week, we move onto the birthday songs.  In 1983, Cashbox took the first two weeks of the year off, so we'll likely have a mess of birthday songs next week.  In 1978, we follow up a no debut week with a 6-debut week, the most noteworthy of which turning 35 were Natalie Cole's Our Love and Dave Mason's Let It Go, Let It Flow ( which was most noteworthy for being the title cut from the lp that brought us We Just Disagree).  At least turning forty are a couple of classics- the O'Jays' Love Train and Emerson, Lake, and Palmer's Lucky Man.  And turning 45 is the Cascades' Rhythm Of The Rain.  Blow out the candles...

As our debuts dwindle, our big movers multiply like rabbits.  Going up, twelve notches apiece, to claim the big climber spots, are Charles Wright and the Watts 103rd Street Rhythm Band with (seriously)  Solution For Pollution, at #66; Emitt Rhodes, a one-hit wonder who is actually back in the studio trying for #2 as we speak, with Fresh As A Daisy at #69; and one you've actually heard of, The Osmonds' One Bad Apple at #77.

"We've got to pitch in.... to clean up America..."

The big droppers both fell 20 places- Flaming Ember's recent top 40 I'm Not My Brother's Keeper, and Andy Kim's Be My Baby.

At #50, our Where Are They Now is one of the great American groups, Grand Funk Railroad with Mean Mistreater.  The original band started with Mark Farner and two fellows who had connections to ? and the Mysterians, Don Brewer and Mel Schacher.  Craig Frost was added just as the band came into national prominence, but it was short lived.  A hard fight to rid themselves of their producer contributed to their first breakup in 1976.  Farner went into a solo career, while the others for a short while formed a new band named after their hometown of Flint.  From 1981-3 they reunited without Frost, who went on to become a longtime member of Bob Seger's Silver Bullet Band.  After they split again, Farner went on to some success in contemporary Christian music, while Brewer would go on to the Silver Bullet Band as well, replacing Dave Teegarden (of Teegarden and Van Winkle fame).  In 1996-8 they reunited again, and play together from time to time.  Farner actually continues to tour with his band N'rG, while Brewer and Schacher with help from former .38 Special-er Max Carl and former Kiss guitarist Bruce Kulick continue to tour as Grand Funk Railroad.  Frost continues whenever Seger tours with the SBB, and Brewer joined them on tours in 2006-7 and 2011.  Farner had to have a pacemaker installed in October 2012.

 

 

One thing that actually went right on this is that we had a decent crop of top 40 debuts.  Eric Burden and War came in at 40, up 9, with They Can't Take Away Our Music.  At 37, up 7, is Runt, AKA Todd Rundgren, with We Gotta Get You A Woman.  Little Sister, who earlier hit with You're The One, move up 7 to 36 with Somebody's Watching You.  Up a big 9 spots is Dave Edmunds, at long last, with I Hear You Knocking.

And then there's the debut at #39.  It debuted in the hot 100 eleven weeks ago at 95, stayed there the next week, and then began an old, slow soft-shoe up the charts- 7 spots, then 5, then 6 three weeks in a row.  Then all of the sudden it looked like it was finally going to hang onto the bullet, jumping 10, and then 11.  Last week it again slowed, moving up 3 to 41, and this week it climbs two spots to #39.  Who is this?  Mr. Bojangles by the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band.  (Should have caught that from my lyric clue- "the old soft-shoe".)

Our lookback is one of the great ladies of music who became one of the great ladies of TV- Dinah Shore.  She was born Frances Rose Shore, and had to choose between developing her musical talents and her degree in sociology from Vanderbilt. She did auditions all over New York, usually doing a popular song called Dinah- and a DJ who forgot her name called her "the Dinah girl", and the name stuck.  Despite being turned down in auditions by Benny Goodman and both Dorsey brothers, she managed to hook onto a radio show, singing with Frank Sinatra.  That got her noticed by Xavier Cugat, and she sang with his band for a while.  That opened the door to a 1940-60 career that boasted 4 #1s and 30 top tens.  Her home life stabilized by a 19-year marriage (1943-62) to western star George Montgomery, she racked up a streak in 1946-7 in which she hit the top ten 9 times, including the #1s Gypsy and The Anniversary Song.

She began doing variety and music shows through the sixties, and she had two long running shows in the 70s- Dinah's Place (1970-4) and Dinah! (1974-80).  She became almost as famous for a long relationship with Burt Reynolds.  Her biggest hits were 1944's I'll Walk Alone (from the movie Follow The Boys) and 1948's Buttons And Bows.  Ironically, her last charting single was I Ain't Down Yet- which hit #103 in 1960.

Burt and "the Dinah girl".

Two songs enter the top ten, two drop out.  Falling are Tears Of A Clown (7 to 17) and No Matter What (9 to 32).

Bluesman King Floyd moves up a pair to #10 with Groove Me.

Van Morrison also climbs two to #9 with Domino.

Led Zep rises two as well with Immigrant Song, to #8.

The Partridge Family arrests their fall this week, climbing back up a notch to #7 with I Think I Love You.

My intended six degrees victim was the first of six straight songs that hold their place from last week, the Supremes.2 with Stoned Love.  While couldn't find a good link up to anything, I did learn some very interesting things about the song itself.  It was supposed to be Stone Love, and represented the kind of solid love that would be needed to keep two people together (or end the Vietnam War, which was the songwriter's original intention).  That songwriter was a teenager named Kenny Thomas, who had participated in a talent search on CKLW.  Motown producer Frank Wilson went to his house, and Kenny played the song to him on a guitar with only two strings.  They then played it for Supreme Mary Wilson, and with a little arrainging they recorded a demo.  Of course, Berry Gordy pitched one of his famous bitches that he didn't like it, but they got the song recorded.  At this point some idiot at the record factory enters the picture, putting Stoned Love instead of Stone Love on the label.  Which of course got it instant popularity in the counterculture and problems with radio stations playing it because it was "a coded reference to drugs".  But quality rises to the top, and here we are in the top ten.

Now I wanna tell ya--of a great love--ohh
It will light up
It will surely light up--darkened worlds
If you just believe...

Stoned Love, Mmm..
Oh yeah
A love for each other will bring fighting to an end
Forgiving one another
Time after time doubt creeps in
But like the sun lights up the sky with a message from above
Oh yeah, I find no other greater symbol of love--

Yep, sounds like a drug song to me.

With everybody holding their places from here on, I'll just remind you:  Does Anybody Really Know What Time It Is by Chicago at 5, Santana's Black Magic Woman at 4, The 5Ds with One Less Bell To Answer at 3, Dawn's Knock Three Times at #2, and with a fourth week at #1...

George Harrison with My Sweet Lord!!!

And the show that had TV's first toilet flush?

Of course, Archie Bunker on All In The Family!  See you next week!