So a while back I did this post, which attempted to profile the 15 write-in eligible candidates for President here in Indiana. I thought, now that I finally got ahold of a mostly-complete list of the votes for independents, I might see how they did. Of course, it mattered little in Indiana, because they register no votes for anybody but the big three- Trump, Clinton, and libertarian Gary Johnson. So I'm guessing some states' reporting policies are different from others. But to the best of my abilities, I will certify these results.
Now the three candidates that I could only find "from Indiana" about, obviously they totalled nada. Ditto for Matthew "None of the above" Roberts, Mayor Denny Jackson of Milton KY, and- sadly- self-proclaimed election winner Cherunda Fox. These worthies find themselves in a 1,748-way tie for 33rd.
Yes, the FEC says that 1,780 candidates filed intents to run. Along with the 32 candidates that actually got votes that counted, several famous names dotted the list, including perennial candidate Mickey Mouse, former Presidents George Washington, Abraham Lincoln, and Bill Clinton, along with the possible Jorge Bush; foreign leaders Vladimir Putin and Kim Jong Un, Capt. Jean-Luc Picard, and of course Jesus Christ. They were joined by a plethora of odd names such as "Touchy the Serial Killer Uncle Clown", "Dog Eating Maniacal Fish Brained Ugly Commandant Be Electe Moose Look-alike Fool That Will", "Coffee and Donuts" (not sure if that is one name or a Prez/VP ticket), and several others that were too crude or too stupid to bother with, including several variations of "Deez Nutz". A handful of dogs and cats filed as well.
Not surprisingly, Jill Stein from our list, who people actually had heard of, polled the highest at 1.2 million. There were 19 names that didn't appear on the Hoosier list, headed by 5th place finisher Evan McMullin, the former CIA running under the "Better For America" banner, who tallied 438K. Eighteen of the CRV (candidates receiving votes) actually polled votes from more than one state, including Constitution Party guy Darrell Castle, who made 6th with 173K. The former superdelegate and failed Dem primary warrior Roque De La Fuente got 8th, just ahead of Nevada's "None of these candidates" option, which polled almost 29K.
Our Board Of Building Appeals guy from Kent, OH, Richard Duncan, finished 10th; then we have to drop to 17th, where Communist Monica Moorehead rolled up an impressive 3,860 votes. Her comrade, socialist Mimi Soltysik, was 19th, and last election's 8th place finisher, Tom Hoefling, came in 21st. The last of the candidates that made the Indiana ballot (much good that it did them), Boston U. prof Lawrence Kotlikoff (the "Purple Plan" guy) and Joseph "Joe Exotic" Maldonado, came in 23rd and 25th- and their combined total would have been good enough to bump them to... uh, 22nd.
A couple of names I just HAVE to call to attention. And I have a face to one of them...
That's Dan Vacek, candidate of the Minnesota Legal Marijuana Party (but you coulda guessed that one, right?), who came in fairly high (lol) at 11th with 13K votes.
The other I hadda look into for his party affiliation. Nutrition Party candidate Rod Silva, owner of the Muscle Maker Grille and guest on Undercover Boss earlier this year, is running on a platform of "addressing serious issues taking place at home here in America, like the increasing rates of obesity, diabetes, high blood pressure, hypertension, cholesterol and other health-related complications – all resulting from poor eating choices." For his trouble, Silva (whose running mate was a Rich Silva), pulled in at 29th. The last guy that got votes was former Libertarian Frank Atwood, running for the "Approval Voting Party", which thinks apparently that you should be able to "approve" any number of candidates from a large ballot, and the one with the most approvals wins. Frank was approved by 309 voters, trailing Pacifist Party candidate Bradford Lyttle by 27 votes.
In the past, I have shared with you my personal Life Verse, and what it means to me. It is from 1 Samuel 7, and goes like this:
1Sa 7:12 Then Samuel took a rock and set it up between Mizpah and Shen. He named it Ebenezer [Rock of Help] and said, "Until now the LORD has helped us."
For me, this has always meant that when I hit those low, struggling points in life, to look back at what has gone before- how God has helped me through bad times now passed. But there is more to memorials than just a marker to remember the past. I'm going to present to you three verses that will open us up to what that second component is.
First, from Joshua 4, the crossing of the Jordan by Israel:
Jos 4:1 The whole nation finished crossing the Jordan River. The LORD had told Joshua,
Jos 4:2 "Choose one man from each of the 12 tribes.
Jos 4:3 Order them to pick up 12 stones from the middle of the Jordan, where the priests' feet stood firmly. Take the stones along with you, and set them down where you will camp tonight."
Jos 4:4 Joshua called the 12 men whom he had selected (one from each tribe).
Jos 4:5 He said to them, "Go to the middle of the Jordan River in front of the ark of the LORD your God. Each man must take a stone on his shoulder, one for each tribe of Israel.
Jos 4:6 This will be a sign for you. In the future your children will ask, 'What do these stones mean to you?'
Jos 4:7 You should answer, 'The water of the Jordan River was cut off in front of the ark of the LORD'S promise. When the ark crossed the Jordan, the river stopped flowing. These stones are a permanent reminder for the people of Israel.'"
Jos 4:8 The people of Israel did as Joshua had ordered. They took 12 stones, one for each of the tribes of Israel. They took them from the middle of the Jordan as the LORD had told Joshua. They carried them to the camp and set them down there.
Second, from Matthew 26:
Mat 26:6 And when Jesus was in Bethany, in the house of Simon the leper,
Mat 26:7 a woman came to Him, having an alabaster box of very precious ointment, and poured it on His head as He reclined.
Mat 26:8 But when His disciples saw it, they were indignant, saying, To what purpose is this waste?
Mat 26:9 For this ointment might have been sold for very much and given to the poor.
Mat 26:10 When Jesus understood it, He said to them, Why do you trouble the woman? For she has done a good work on Me.
Mat 26:11 For you have the poor with you always, but you do not always have Me.
Mat 26:12 For in putting ointment on My body, she did it for My burial.
Mat 26:13 Truly I say to you, Wherever this gospel shall be proclaimed in the whole world, that which this woman has done shall be spoken of also, for a memorial of her.
And finally, that which will tie it all together, from Philippians 3:
Php 3:13 My brothers, I do not count myself to have taken possession, but one thing I do, forgetting the things behind and reaching forward to the things before,
Php 3:14 I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.
In the first passage, we see that the physical symbol was to remind them to DO A FUTURE ACT. To teach the next generation the WHY of the memorial.
In the second, the action BECAME the memorial. Certain of the disciples were getting too attached to the works, to the here and now. Jesus saluted her for acting for the future, for the bigger picture.
And in the third, Paul went a step beyond, realizing that any memorial he set himself was just a step on the way to the TRUE GOAL which lie ahead.
Memorials can be a tricky thing if used improperly. I wonder if Elijah thought the victory over the prophets of Baal would be HIS memorial; but when Jezebel ignored it, he was made to flee, depressed and seemingly alone. And when God had restored his strength and calmed his fears, He didn't say anything about resting on his laurels- He gave Elijah NEW tasks to do.
Think about taking a trip to see, say, Gettysburg. You go through a lot to go and observe the memorial, but it's not the whole goal. When you plan such a trip, you don't generally plan to stay; you plan to go there, do all that vacation-y stuff, AND come back home. That's what a memorial has to be for us- a waystation, where we do the things we came there to do, AND continue on to the final goal. And the verses above each contain a facet of that. The memorial reminds of us of an action, our action in response becomes the memorial, and the string of memorials remind us the goal is still ahead. The memorial should never tell us, "I have accomplished"; it should teach us TO accomplish, encourage us to do the next thing. And if the Lord has blessed it, maybe we'll get to set up the NEXT memorial- before moving on.
Today we pop up on Veterans Day, 1963. John Kennedy and John-John lay a wreath at the Tomb of the Unknowns, while somewhere near Detroit, Gordie Howe celebrates breaking Maurice Richard's 11- year old lifetime goal-scoring record the night before; and in Austria, we find out that the SS officer who arrested Anne Frank's family has been working as a Vienna police inspector- until Simon Wiesenthal caught up to him. He turned him in, and the police suspended him early in October- but it took until today, when the Communist Party newspaper found out and broke the story, that anyone else knew about it.
Maybe they shoulda sicked Gordie on him....
Anyway, welcome to Time Machine, as that 100th/400th anniversary looms ever closer. This week, a new nation gets represented on the M10; a song in the UK 10 is one which has had a LOT of remakes- but never charted higher than 11 here; and it's kinda tough to have a How Low Can You Go list when there are so MANY of them plying their trade in the Panel list! So keep your stick on the ice, and let's slide into this, shall we?
Our lovely and vivacious Panel consists this week of: WGH Newport News VA; WCOL Columbus; WJET Erie PA; WGR Buffalo; WKNR Detroit; WSAI Cincinnati; KMEN San Bernardino; KLIV San Jose; KFWB Los Angeles; WWHY (sounds like a stutter) Huntington WV, KDWB Minneapolis; and WABC New York. They piled up 25 different songs, including 2 versions of Louie Louie- The Kingsmen's version, just starting its climb at 79, and a version by Paul Revere and the Raiders that Cashbox lumped in with it. The low charter was fun to figure up: Cincy's #4, Billy Stewart's Strange Feeling, had peaked at 79 2 weeks ago and fell off last week; the classic by the Murmaids, Popsicles And Icicles, wouldn't join the charts nationally till next week at #102 (but San Bernie had it at #2); and three songs in the bubbling under range were on the Panel's lists. Dean and Jean, who were actually a couple of kids from Dayton named Brenda Lee Jones and Welton Young, were 123 nationally and #4 in Buffalo with Tra La La La Suzy; The recently-passed Bobby Vee was at #131 nationally and #4 in VA with Never Love A Robin; and the lowest was Teresa Brewer's He Understands Me, #5 in Columbus but #145 on CB.
Other than that, there weren't any songs I knew on the BU chart, but a lot of famous and soon to be famous names- Lou Rawls, Joan Baez ( who had We Shall Overcome at 136), Tony Orlando, and Ben E King to name a few. But let's get on the high side of the chart, starting with the number one vote getters that missed the Panel Four: the Temptations topped Buffalo with It's All Right; The aforementioned big hit version of Louie Louie in Detroit; The Beach Boys with Be True To Your School (which BTW I find much better without the cheerleaders, on the Endless Summer version) in San Bernie, and the also previously mentioned Popsicles And Icicles, which in addition to being #2 in San Bernie was #1 in San Jose. And that Panel Four?
With 14 points and the #1 from Erie, Leslie Gore and She's A Fool, the national #11.
With 18 points and the # 1s from WV and Minneapolis, Nino Tempo and April Stevens with Deep Purple, the national #1 this week.
And keeping together two songs I've always associated with each other- with 21 points and the #1s of Columbus and Cincinnati (lotsa geographical stuff this week), the national #4, Dale and Grace with I'm Leaving It Up To You.
So here's your guessing game this week: The Panel's top song is either the national #2 or 3. It has 31 points and 3 #1 votes. But is it the CB #2 Jimmy Gilmer and Sugar Shack, or the #3 Village Stompers with Washington Square? The answer... coming later. But you knew that.
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Our first of two M10 debuts, landing at #10, is an LA act called Empty Houses. Lead singer Ali Shea brings us their tune Daydream:
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I'm going to dig into the UK ten early because I found some interesting factoids about this particular song (and I never got around to doing a 6D on the high charter with no Panel love, Ray Charles' Busted -appropriately enough- at #7). That song started out as an Italian hit called Uno Dei Tanti (roughly One Of Many), and had English lyrics written by the famous team of Leiber-Stoller. That song is called in English I (Who Have Nothing). It first made our charts in our target year by one of those famous names I mentioned, Ben E King, who charted at #29 pop. The next time it charted, in 1966, it was by Terry Knight and the Pack- Terry Knight being the infamous producer-manager of Grand Funk Railroad- and the Pack was built around GFR founders Mark Farner and Don Brewer!
In '69 a lost-and-forgotten singer named Linda Jones took it to 116; and the next year it would get charted twice. Once was by a band called Liquid Smoke and they took it to #82; the other was the biggest hit version here, by Tom Jones, who peaked at #11.
In 1972, it charted once by a band called Warhorse with an interesting backstory...
This is singer/actress Marsha Hunt, best known for being the mom of Mick Jagger's first child, Karis. She had just put a band together to back her that included Nick Simper, a founding member of Deep Purple. But, alas, that whole "mother of Mick's child" thing happened, so the assembled band sans Marsha named themselves Warhorse, and they charted the song- so I am told, though I know not where nor how high. Then in 1979's height of disco, the truly freaky Sylvester had a big dance hit with it, that peaked at #40.
American Idol winner Jordin Sparks hit with it in 2007 on her ep of songs she did on the show, peaking at #80 (of course this being a much different era of charting.) and Tom re-did it in 2010, and it hit #140. As for the version on the UK chart, it was a non-charter here by Shirley Bassey, which sat at #8 this week.
And while she's our subject, let's have her say a few words to open the UK10:
I think men are afraid to be with a successful woman, because we are terribly strong, we know what we want and we are not fragile enough.
And I'm guessing John Farrar's quote last week wouldn't have went over too well with HER, either! So let's get on with the other nine...
10- One of the records we used to play as kids- generally at 78 rpm, because it was HUGELY funny- Trini Lopez and If I Had A Hammer. It peaked at #3 here in September.
9- Also peaking here in September, this time at #6, the Crystals with Then He Kissed Me.
8- Weren't you paying attention? Cheez...
7- Chuck Berry's Let It Rock, together with the flip of Memphis Tennessee, which had hit our charts back in February of 1960 (yes, 3 years ago and change), peaking at #64.
6- Our #6 in the USA- which got a grand total of one #3 vote from WABC- the Ronettes with Be My Baby.
5- The Tremeloes with one of their many big hits in the UK that never came here, Do You Love Me.
4- The Searchers with Sugar And Spice, which would climb to #44 in the US of A in June of 1964.
3- A two sided hit from Roy Orbison: Blue Bayou (which was #37 this week here) and Mean Woman Blues (which sat at #12).
2- The Beatles with She Loves You, just a few months away from it's American debut- and was 5 weeks past a four-week run at the top, but 3 weeks away from a second, 2-week tour at the top.
And tops of the pops?
...Gerry and the Pacemakers, with a tune that would peak at #65 here way off in July of '65- You'll Never Walk Alone!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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And since our two features were a bit of a mash this week, it's time for the M10! Bring on the band for debut #2- and the song at #9....
Baywaves, believe it or not, is from the Spanish capital of Madrid! They call their style "Hipnopop"- I call it more of the retro-psychedelia that I really like.
Lucius manages not only to hang on for a 7th week, but pulls Pulling Teeth back up to #8!
And in between the debuts and the "where the action is" top five, we have the sargasso sea of "same place as last week"- Tangerine's Wild At Heart at #7, and Geowulf's Saltwater at #6.
Dinosaur Jr slips from the top to #5 with Love Is, the two week #1.
Buffalo Springfield move up one spot to #4 with their 1966 tune Do I Have To Come Right Out And Say It.
Agnes Obel has Golden Green at #3 this week- putting it even in points with her #1 Familiar and ahead of it by one with 8 weeks on the chart!
Two Door Cinema Club must feel like gravity is losing it's hold, rising into the runner up slot with Lavender.
And the #1s? M10 says...
...Radiation City with Come And Go- the sixth song to make #1 on their second week on the M10!
And who did you take at the Panel's #1? I'll bet about all of you chose the right one...
... Jimmy Gilmer's Sugar Shack!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Well whattaya know? My list of random years runs out next week with 1971!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Be here for the penultimate Time Machine !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
So here we are. No more need to establish our positions or cry about our sacred cows, because either you have voted, you're about to and know who you're voting for, or you don't give crap, and all are equally okay at this point. No more need to post memes, unless they are truly, truly funny...
...instead, I thought perhaps we should sit back, reflect, and think about what the world will be like tomorrow.
The sun will rise...
Lovers will love....
Birds will sing...
Animals will go about their business....
And the faithful will give thanks, because God is still in His Heaven, and their salvation is still assured. And no voting machine can take any of that away.
So let's all pull in our claws. What's done is done. (or soon will be...) It's time we gave up all the...
Today (actually Sunday, time travel and all) we decided on our walk to give you guys the evidence in the Case of the Mysterious work on the Greenway Trail. Unfortunately, I came up with the idea after we had hit the fenced-off entrance to the north end of our section- but since someone cut that open Friday night or saturday, it's all good. Let's proceed with the evidence from there, shall we?
#1: These "structures" (thus the 'str' spray painted on them) in the canal, approximately every 500 feet- so far from the bridge across Woodbridge's stream to the south end.
#2- a pile of ties, presumably to create more "structures" the rest of the way north.
#3- Rubber tracks across concrete areas to prevent damage to man-made "structures", at least
#4- a small area on the north end of the soccer fields stripped and leveled.
#5- Fencing the length of the soccer fields- with a couple small gaps so the little kids game could play Saturday
#6- pallets of plastic drainage tile... now we're getting somewhere! Could it be Purdue has finally figured out the need for proper drainage after their fields "flooded" last year?
#7 Proper protections for monuments.
#8- a gap in the fence near the main well, with utility flags all the way to the well.
#9, Another stripped and leveled area, just north of the main IPFW fields
#10- trail blocked by more ties and two bulldozers...
...but with a convenient platform to get us past them.
#11- the entire canal staked out with stakes variously noting "right of way", "wetlands", and "flood plane"
Because that always works with us...
If we never paid attention to the yellow barricade...
#12 - construction bridge at south end, complete with construction equipment. Because barricades are expensive!
I remember a vulture this summer that coulda used that sign back then...
#13- conveniently located porta-pot
#14- Aha! AEP access road! Too bad we were 0-fer-5 on protective equipment
Kids at the river. Irrelevant but thrown in to distract.
#15- Last clue- south canal is staked out for future "improvements", too.
Down at the pond.
"Harold, why aren't we over there with the Joneses and Smiths?" "Because they voted for Trump. And who gave THEM last names?"
We have reached that section of the season where the trail disappears...
A couple of weeks ago, God taught me something in private I have been trying to find a way to share with you. It's about who will listen, and who won't.
I was surprised to learn that there were people who were disinclined to believe in what I spoke of in my Sunday posts that still read them, rather than just saying, "I can skip this one," and moving on. Reading, and then considering themselves "bashed in the head" by my religious beliefs. Or perhaps scrolling past and considering the mere fact that I wrote of my faith "bashing them in the head", I don't know.
I don't spend a lot of time trying to lead horses to water here. I plant a seed, and pray that the Spirit will lead those who are looking for something to it. What I want to accomplish is the encouragement of others- and to let God touch who He will with it. But I have still prayed for those I know to be resistant, that the Spirit might crack open their hard hearts and open them to life beyond their selfish shell, their blindness to the call. But with a certain person, God basically told me to lay off.
Why?, I wondered.
Because we have a tendency to look at things all wrong. I had an old church friend that never could get that people could be saved on their deathbed, despite quoting to him the parable about the lord who paid workers hired at different times the same pay. How could they get the same benefit as he, who believed his whole life? Because God doesn't look through the lens of time, like we do.
And this other person I was referencing, he had made a choice long ago. And such a person who makes that choice, well, he doesn't make that choice at the END of his life, Somewhere in his life, in some measure of finality that we cannot understand- and he refuses to- he makes an irrevocable choice, and God takes Him at His word. And we can't tell when that is. We are IN time, and we look for signs that something has suddenly changed. But God looks OUT of time, and the things He might do for the man who is saved on His deathbed, they don't EVER happen for the man whose made the choice. And though we are told to pray for all men, those prayers won't ever do that man any good.
And sometimes, God just tells us to stop.
Today, I was listening to a sermon on two passages that I had never before considered to be that closely connected- the story in Mark about the Transfiguration, and immediately after the father who had the demon possessed son. I can't honestly say I connected with what the preacher was trying to connect in the two, but what I did connect with was that both parts of the story start with a basic misconception.
In the Transfiguration, the passage starts with Jesus explaining that some listening to Him would not die "until they saw the Kingdom of God coming in power." So everyone starts wondering, "What? are you telling me that there is someone from 2,000 years ago that's still around, waiting for the end of the age? But then you go to the NEXT chapter, and see that just six days later, Peter, James and John DO see that in the Transfiguration. Then in the next story, they come down the mountain and see the rest of the disciples getting heckled by the scribes because they couldn't heal this man's son, who was daemon-possessed.
Jesus asks what's going on, they man explains what was happening to the boy- and adds that the disciples couldn't cure Him. At this point Jesus exclaims, "Oh faithless and perverse generation! How long must I put up with you?" And I at least have always figured He was addressing the disciples in particular there.
But I was wrong. Look at what REALLY happens next:
...If you can do anything, please have pity on us and help us." Mar 9:23 Jesus said to the father, "Why did you say 'if you can'? All things are possible for the one who believes." Mar 9:24 Immediately the father shouted, "I do believe. Help me to believe more!"
The reason the boy wasn't being healed wasn't because the disciples didn't have faith- although the AMOUNT of that faith later comes into question- but that the FATHER didn't have the faith! It was when the father admitted his failing- and prayed for help- that healing became possible.
Now, what do these things have to do with the topic?
Well, first it's a lesson in misconceptions. We put ourselves in a certain part of "the story"- and that part might not be the one containing the point. We blame the disciples because, well, shouldn't they have known better? But the interaction was between Jesus and the father.
But at another level, the father wouldn't have even come to the disciples had he not had SOME faith, however misdirected. The scribes, who had NO faith, could have healed him just as well if they HAD any faith, but wasted their time chastising the disciples for not being able to do what they had no desire to. I stumbled on to a chat board in researching this post in which some atheist was chastising Christians for "not being able to defend their faith", an argument I ceased fighting long ago, having learned that in order to discuss the topic, both sides have to be willing to hear the other, and no atheist I've ever come across has enough courage of his convictions to say, "what if." But one person put that very thought in the wisest possible way:
thats what i ve been saying of recent. We ve argued enough with all these atheists. It is the holy spirit that does the work of soul winning and not our arguments. lets discuss other important things that will inspire us. Satan is deceitful, he can cage us in useless arguements so that we wont have time for other things that will help us grow spiritually.
"Satan is deceitful, he can cage us in useless arguments". Exactly. And one of those useless arguments CAN be praying to God for a soul that chose his path long ago. And sometimes, God tells us to give it up. It isn't "abandoning someone before the deathbed", even if it feels like it to us. There was something in Deuteronomy that caught my eye about understanding these things. It was 29:29-
The secret things belong unto the LORD our God: but those things which are revealed belong unto us and to our children for ever, that we may do all the words of this law.
Today we bop over to November 4th, 1978. In Dominica (AKA third rock from Antigua) they are celebrating getting their independence from the UK last night; in Iran, the revolution that toppled the Shah kicks off today...
...but the BIG news is tonight's the night you got to watch the made for TV version of HG Wells' The Time Machine. It starred John Beck (best known for an extended now-I'm-dead-now-I'm-not bit part on Dallas) and Priscilla Barnes (best known for not being as good as Suzanne Somers but less sucky than Jenilee Harrison).
ACCURACY ANNOUNCEMENT: I got the date from the Rotten Tomatoes site- and they had it WRONG. The Time Machine actually premiered on the 5th, which meant that rather than missing it for The Love Boat, I likely missed it for All In The Family and Alice. But why correct when you can't get a better lead in, amIrite?
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Welcome to this week's Time Machine, where we have a virtual tie on top of ol' Panel, a guest-video to kick off the 6D, and two M10 debuts- in the top five, and 50 years apart in age! I might not be as pretty as Priscilla Barnes, but at least you won't be driven around time by a guy with a cheesy porn mustache!
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As I try to figure out how to make this all make the most sense, let me introduce this week's Panel: WHB Kansas City; KFMB San Diego; WRKO Boston; KTKT Tucson; CIHI Fredericton NB; WLBZ Bangor; KYYX Seattle; KRLA Los Angeles; KFRC San Francisco; WLS Chicago; WSYL Buffalo; and WAVZ New Haven. They collected 21 different songs, and three of them had already dropped off the national charts: The Village People's Macho Man (Chicago) and the Cars' Just What I Needed (San Diego) dropped three weeks back, and Meatloaf's Paradise By The Dashboard Lights (Bangor) fell 4 weeks back- and shame on them for missing the memo! Otherwise, the low charter this week would be Summer Nights from Grease, which was on its way out at #71- but fear not Travolta and Newton-John fans, this story is NOT over- just paused for a bit.
They also collected 3 songs at #1 that didn't make the Final Four- Linda Ronstadt's Back In The USA (Tucson), Gerry Rafferty's Right Down The Line (Fredericton), and Ambrosia's How Much I Feel (New Haven). And who DID make the P4?? Well...
At #4 with 17 points and #1s from Chicago and San Fran, the national #3, Exile's Kiss You All Over.
At #3, with 23 points and the #1s from Boston and Bangor, the national #4, Anne Murray's You Needed Me.
And how's this for the tightest race ever- just 2 points ahead of that, two songs that had 25 points! One of them had four #1 votes (Seattle, KC, LA, and Buffalo) the other had just San Diego's. So, that means the one with 4 is our winner, the other our runner up. But was it the national # 5- Stevie Nicks and Kenny Loggins with Whenever I Call You Friend- or the national top dog- Nick Gilder's Hot Child In The City? Place yer bets, and find out at the end of our merry journey!
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As I mentioned before, we have this week a debut from the sixties- and that is the first time in exactly six months, when Jimmy Ruffin's Farewell Is A Lonely Sound came off the UK list and onto the M10. Well, in a bit o' irony, the research for the six degrees led me to another Jimmy Ruffin tune- a song that made #13 in the UK in 1980 when covered by one Dave Stewart, with vocals from the Zombies' Colin Blunstone!
At that time Colin was into covers (as was Dave- who is David L Stewart, as opposed to Annie Lennox's spear carrier David A Stewart), and he had charted also with a remake of the oft-covered hit Tracks Of My Tears (reaching #60). Others charting that song were the UKs Go West (#16 over there), Aretha Franklin (who charted it as the b-side of another cover, The Weight, and hit #76), Johnny Rivers (who had the highest charter at #10), Linda Ronstadt (who did it best IMHO and hit #25), as well as the original by Smokey Robinson and the Miracles, who hit #16. That was on their highest charting lp, Going To A Go-Go- a song that they not only charted, but was covered by the Stones in 1982. The flip side of their hit was a live version of 1978's Beast Of Burden- which, at #7 this week was the highest charter that got no Panel love.
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And now, our debut from 1966, which comes in all the way up at number 5! I came across it trying to research the 13th Hour Glass song Indecision last week- it was the original they covered, though they considerably shortened the name. Ladies and gentlemen, I give you the M10 debut of- Buffalo Springfield:
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So since the UK 10 has a distinctly "Grease-y" feel to it, I thought I'd bring in John Farrar, an Australian expat based in the UK and writer of some of the big hits from the movie (as well as a lot of other ONJ stuff) to give us words of wisdom for our lead in. But as you will discover, these words have some very questionable wisdom- and I wonder how hard Olivia hit him when SHE heard them...
“Always bear in mind that boys are naturally wiser than you. Regard them as intellectual beings, who have access to certain sources of knowledge of which you are deprived, and seek to derive all the benefit you can from their peculiar attainments and experience.”
Uh-HUH. And he's been married (to a WOMAN) for 47 years. Anyway, this would be a GREAT time to...
10- A lot of never-charted here (most with good reason) on this week's list. The first is by punk band Sham 69, a tune called Hurry Up, Harry.
9- After the Sex Pistols broke up, John Lydon AKA Johnny Rotten formed Public Image Ltd, a "post punk" band who screamed their way here with the imaginatively-titled Public Image.
8- Michael Jackson and his brothers' Blame It On The Boogie, which just debuted here in the US of A at #89 this week.
7- A tasty duet between Dean (Ariel) Friedman and New Yorker Denise Marsa- who was not credited on the label and for about a year and a half was "the mystery girl"- called Lucky Stars. Somehow, didn't chart here.
6- ELO's Sweet Talkin' Woman, which had peaked over here back in April.
5- A song that tied for 5th on the Panel this week, and was #2 nationally- Donna Summer's version of McArthur Park.
4- Boney M, a youth reggae band who made their name here with Rivers Of Babylon, charted this week in the UK- but not back here- with Rasputin.
3- The Boomtown Rats, known here for I Don't Like Mondays, with a good enough song that kinda drug a little long IMHO, Rat Trap. Another non-charter.
Now Chris, I thought you said this was going to be a Grease-y list? Settle down, because the movie holds BOTH the top spots! First, a song I really liked but wasn't released here, John Travolta's Sandy at #2. And the tops of the pops?
...John and Olivia with Summer Nights, which had already hit the top here and was going down.
Which brings us to the M10- and shortly, that other debut. But first...
One more week for the big three- last time, the Explorers Club was 5 with Quietly, Lucius as 4 with Pulling Teeth, and Shakes was #3 with Tranquilize. This week they ALL take five steps back, to #s 10, 9, and 8 respectively.
Tangerine's Wild At Heart and Geowulf's Saltwater swap spots, the former dropping to 7 and the latter rising to #6.
You heard number five. And that means the next debut is one of the four highest in M10 history! Allow me to introduce Cameron Spies, Elizabeth Ellison, and Radiation City with the debut at #4:
Two Door Cinema Club moves up a fast 5 to #3 with Lavender.
Agnes Obel holds at 2 in week #7 with Golden Green.
And tops of the charts here! M10 says...
...for a second week, Dinosaur Jr with Love Is... !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
And have you made your pick? The song that got the 4 #1 Panel votes and thus the winner of the tie is....
Nick Gilder and Hot Child In The City!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Stop in for week #98 next time when we travel to.... 1963!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
A lone man looking for means of expression in a tsunami of information. Seeking truth justice and the American way in the perspective of a Nixon conservative. And the Commissioner of the free world's smallest and best fantasy football league.
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