Sunday Message- Disaster

My message today is, do you read the news?  Typhoon Haiyan went into the record books this Friday as the strongest storm ever to make landfall.  When it hit the central Philippines, it had winds estimated at 195 MPH with gusts well over 200.  In other words, people who lived in anything from concrete buildings to mud huts sat through a 12-hour long F4 tornado.

In the coastal city of Tacloban, the local officials estimate 10,000 dead IN THE CITY ALONE.  The strongest point in the city, the airport, looks like Joplin after their storm.  Many have described the damage as reminiscent of the Banda Aceh, tsunami, because a 10 to 13 foot storm surge came at least a mile inland.

The city at ground zero, Guiuan- a town of 47,000- hasn't been reached yet and at last report is STILL underwater.

I don't have to tell you that even now horror stories are trickling out of an area where even hardened relief workers are saying the damage is "off the charts", "apocalyptic", "the worst I've ever seen".

There are a lot of ways to help.  The organization I sponsor a child through, Children International (Children.org) has a page for donations, as does, I believe, Save The Children.

If worship is putting faith into action and giving your best, as Dr. Jeremiah pointed out this morning, here is a chance for you to do just that.  A fallen world, fallen because of the sin of man, brings forth disasters.  Faith doesn't go around crying, "Why does God allow such things to happen?"  Faith gets up and does something about it.  Even if what that entails is getting your blessed, dry, and healthy butt off your wallet to share your bounty.  The estimated (close to ) half-million displaced men, women, and children now have nothing.

Time Machine week 93

It's November 8, 1971.  And guess what just came out today?

Did you get it?  These are the symbols contained in what is commonly known as Led Zeppelin IV, the band's true masterwork.  The track list read like a greatest hits lp- in addition to Stairway To Heaven, the most played song never released as a 45 (although it did get sent around to radio stations as an ep)-  it contained the hit singles Rock N Roll, Misty Mountain Hop, and the airplay hits Black Dog and Going To California.  The symbols were designed by each band member because they had decided to give the record no title.  In the upper left is Jimmy Page's; though they were not meant to be letters, the lp's occasional nickname Zoso comes from it.

Welcome to yet another adventure in the Time Machine as I do some Beatles fun in honor of this being the week, back in 1968, that Hey Jude was knocked out of the top spot after an 8-week run.  So to start this off, and in lieu of the usual teaser, I am going to give you a list.  Each of these songs was parked at either #2 or #3 during Hey Jude's reign.  The game?  You tell me- which one knocked the Beatles off?  Here are the choices:

The Crazy World Of Arthur Brown's Fire
1910 Fruitgum Company's 1-2-3 Red Light
The Bee Gee's I've Got To Get A Message To You
Jeannie C. Riley's Harper Valley PTA
The Rascals' People Got To Be Free
O.C. Smith's Little Green Apples
Mary Hopkins' Those Were The Days

As a bonus, one of these was #1 before Hey Jude, and thus the only other one to hit the top on the Cashbox charts.  Get that one for bonus points!  Answers at the end of the show.  Be honest- let me know how you did!

As usual we start with what was number one around the world- and the only real change here was Canada giving the nod this week to Gypsies Tramps And Thieves.  Detroit continues to be topped by Have You Seen Her; LA, One Chicago station (WLS) and one Minneapolis station (WDGY) rate the Theme From Shaft first; the other Windy City station (WCFL) is still stuck on Yo-Yo; while Pittsburgh agrees with Canada on Cher's hit (which was our #1 last week), while the other Minneapolis station, (KDWB) has Coven's One Tin Soldier at the top.  Three cheers for Jinx Dawson!

This is kinda getting a Halloween-y feel to it, yes?

Finishing here, the AC chart is still topped by Peace Train, the R&B by Inner City Blues, and the new Country #1 is the third this year by Sonny James, this one called Here Comes Honey Again.  Bet you thought I was gonna say "Boo-Boo", dint ya?

The hot 100 had 13 debuts this week, but only two caught my mentioning fancy.  At #75, newly minted MHOFers Three Dog Night with An Old Fashioned Love Song; and in a nod to good buddy Stephen T., the Beach Boys crack the 100 at 90 with Long Promised Road.

What we lack in debuts we make up in songs celebrating a birthday- 22 of 'em, if I counted right!  Turning 30, we have Olivia Newton-John's Twist Of Fate, The Police with my fave of theirs, Synchronicity II, Duran Duran  with Union Of The Snake, and Yes with their blast from 90215, Owner Of A Lonely Heart.

Turning 35, we have Billy Joel's My Life, Elton John's Part-Time Love, Leif Garrett (yes, Leif Garrett) with I was Made For Dancing, The Jackson's Blame It On The Boogie, the Talking Heads with Take Me To The River, a studio band called Chanson with a disco tune called Don't Hold Back.  Chanson had among its two leaders one James Jameson, Jr., whose dad was one of the legendary Funk Brothers and played guitar on songs from Jr. Walker's Shotgun to the Sylvers' Boogie Fever.
Oh, and one more turning 35- one of the most beautiful songs ever, IMHO- from the Kiss- Paul Stanley lp.





Turning 40, we have John Lennon's Mind Games (sounds like a set up to a punch line), and Stevie Wonder's Living For The City.  At 45, we have the Lettermen with Put Your Head On My Shoulder, and certainly the opposite end of the vocal spectrum, Joe Cocker's version of With A Little Help From My Friends.  Hitting the big 5-0, The Beach Boys again with the teenage prayer In My Room, The Kingsmen with the drunken anthem Louie Louie, and Joey Powers' one-hit wonder Midnight Mary.  Turning 55,  we have Elvis' two sided hit One Night/I Got Stung, along with Billy Grammer's hit from the Great Fifties Countdown, Gotta Travel On. And turning 60 (can you even fathom that?) Dean Martin with That's Amore.  Blow Out The Candles...

The big dropper this week was Kris Kristofferson's Loving Her Was Easier (etc., etc.), falling 32 spots to land at 65.  The big climber?  Well, I thought it was going to be a tie between Sly Stone's Family Affair (at 56) and Dennis Coffey's Scorpio (at 67), both moving 25 spots... but somebody in the top 40 beat that by two spots.  Stay tuned for details!

Our 45 at 45 this week is a song called From The Teacher To The Preacher.  If you don't recall it, well, it peaked at 40 on CB the next week, and stalled at 57 on Billboard.  But the names you might know, for it was a duet.  The male lead was Gene (Duke Of Earl ) Chandler.  And his partner was one Barbara Acklin, perhaps less known for her biggest hit (Love Makes A Woman, 45 pop/3 R&B) than for her biggest writing credit- the top song in Motown this week, the Chi-Lites' Have You Seen Her!

Another addition to the Beauty Contest roster...

And now, Professor Martin's Beatles statistics.  I was actually digging for something else when I had to stop and marvel at the incredible dominance of the Beatles during their run on the charts, from when I Want To Hold Your Hand debuted on January 11th, 1964 till The Long And Winding Road dropped off 348 weeks later.  During that time frame, the Beatles were at #1 19.2% of those weeks.  But more than that- they were on the top forty 68.4% of those weeks, and in the hot 100 71.5% of them!  But the first 145 weeks were even more incredible.  On October 29th, 1966, they had they're first long (their longest actually) absence from the 100- seventeen weeks, until the end of February 1967.  Prior to that, they had three absences of a combined 13 weeks.  In that 145 week period, they were #1 28% of the time, in the forty 90% of the time, and in the hot 100 91.7 % of the time!

So I wondered where they averaged when they weren't #1.  Of course, to get a fair reading of this, I had to decide how to score the weeks they were out of the 100, because to not count those weeks would only make them sound MORE incredible.  So what I did was an imperfect solution:  any week they were off the 100, they got a "101".  I then took the highest chart position of the other weeks.  Going by this admittedly flawed but entertaining design, I found that, for their career, when the Beatles weren't at #1, they averaged being at #44.4.  But if you isolate that first 145 weeks, that average position becomes...

12.  Now THAT is chart success!

Just think how good we could have been had we took it serious, mates!

The top 40 beckons, and four tunes answer the call.  Paul Anka comes in with only his second top 40 since 1963, Do I Love You, up ten to land at 40.  Next comes the week's big mover- and it's a poem reading.  Radio and TV personality Les Crane, perhaps the Father of radio talk shows, reading Max Ehrmann's 1927 poem Desiderata.  (Les' other noteworthy accomplishment- he was Ginger's hubby!  He was married to Tina Louise 1966-74.)

But you still gotta wonder if Bob Denver was getting any...
 

Oh, um, Les' prize-winning jump this week took him from 62 to 35.  Also entering the top 40 this week, Aretha Franklin's Rock Steady went from 42 to 28, and the many-times-mentioned Have You Seen Her gets national love, climbing from 41 to 21.


One, and ONLY one, song moves into the top 40, and one falls out:  Do You Know What I Mean, from 10 to 11.


Marvin Gaye is that entry, moving up a pair to #10 with Inner City Blues (Make Me Wanna Holler).

Al Green slips a pair to #9 with Tired Of Being Alone.

Cat Stevens chugs up a notch to #8 with Peace Train.

The Carpenters drop 3 to #7 with Superstar.

The Free Movement becomes constipated, holding at #6 with I Found Someone Of My Own.

And at 5- the six degrees victim!

The Osmonds' Yo-Yo (dropping from #3), written by Joe South, was first recorded by Billy Joe Royal, bubbling under at #117 in 1966.  It wasn't one of his three big hits; one that was, though, was Cherry Hill Park and that nasty Mary Hill.  That song was arranged and produced by Buddie Buie, who was the guitarist and main writer for the Classics IV.  He would go on to found and manage the Atlanta Rhythm Section.  His drummer there was Robert Nix, who had done the in-studio drumming on some of the Classics IV's songs; and in addition, was co-writer of... Cherry Hill Park!  That six degrees was more of a roundabout than a boulevard, eh?

John Lennon moves up 4 notches to #4 this week.  Imagine that!

Isaac Hayes' Theme From Shaft moves up 2 to #3.

Rod Stewart holds in the runner up spot with Maggie May.

Which means our #1 song is...


HOLD IT!!!!!  Aren't you forgetting the answers to the Beatles trivia question way back up there?

No, but if you're going to be impatient...

If you chose Fire, Red Light, Got To Get a Message, Little Green Apples, or the Rascals... go sit down.

If you took Harper Valley PTA... take the bonus points.  Hey Jude knocked Riley out of the top spot.

Which Means the winner is...


HOLD IT!!!!  If you just mention the #1 song now, and the winner of the trivia next, you can put up a picture without having to put up that stupid warning sign like you always do for repeat #1s!

Good idea!  #1 this week, Cher with Gypsies Tramps And Thieves!

And the song that knocked Hey Jude from #1...

... Mary Hopkins with Those Were The Days!

And that's a wrap!  See you next week!

Scrappy, alive and... well...

Scrappy is back to status quo ante and doofy as ever.  So I thought I'd give him the camera for yesterday's walk...

This is where we have to climb up to get to the Plex...

And daddy calls this "Groundhog Road."  I think it's because we see a lot of groundhogs on it.  I don't know what the lines are for.  Daddy muttered something about "idiot cross-country runners", whatever that means.

Then we come around a corner, and there's the woods up ahead!  I'm so excited I could just poop!  In fact, I think I will...

Then Daddy brings me here and says, "Find the trail, Boofus."  Yeah, right.

(Note from Daddy:  Don't let him fool you.  He knows just how to find the trail.)

Here's where we go in.  It looks like an opening to Daddy, but to ME...

At this point, though, the plan derailed.  Soon as we were in the woods, he smelled something, tossed the camera aside, and literally drug me through the woods.  First stop...

The fallen log that he never knew existed last time we were here, but had to spend five minutes sniffing every nook and cranny this time...

...as well as the entire adjoining area.  He was sure something had come this way... I was sure I wished I hadn't forgotten Stick.

I did manage to get him back on the straight and narrow for a moment... but soon we were tear-assing through the forest primeval again.

These are a couple of examples of what he considered trails during the mad rush.  Finally, I caught a glimpse of what he was smelling...

See him center left?  Anyway, we lost track of him soon later, though Scrappy still led us down a twisting road.  That led us to the usual odd fungi...

... and eventually to the author of Scrappy's grand tour...

Of course, by this time, our hero was oblivious.  To which both the buck and I said, "Thank God."

The sad case of Richie Incognito

The story itself is all over the place.  Richie Incognito is out of a job, because he told a teammate he would stalk his family and "s#!t in his mouth".  And this is sad, why?  Because on so many levels, it never should have come to this.

Start with the man himself.  He is nothing but a bully, and from what we've learned about his father's comments about the situation, the nut didn't roll far from the tree.  He was kicked off not one, but two major University football programs.  Neither Nebraska nor Oregon are known for booting players just because they are sociopaths.  Remember Lawrence Phillips?  LaGarrette Blount?  So getting kicked off of either team is quite the accomplishment.

He found a home in the NFL, of course.  Things like this can be overlooked, ask Bill Belechick.  In St. Louis, he quickly became "the dirtiest player in the league" , well known for twisting ankles and biting arms of players unfortunate enough to be in a pile with him.  But then one day on national TV, he threw a punch at a player, and shouted at his head coach when he was thrown out of the game as a result.

The Rams then got smart.  They dumped him.  But up stepped the Miami Dolphins.

And now, a teammate has to get mental help, others have complained about situations that outside of football would have been termed "robbery", "extortion", and "assault".  But Owner Stephen Ross, GM Jeff Ireland, and Coach Joe Philbin say they knew nothing about it.

I say, you didn't WANT to know.

Once upon a time, the Dolphins were built on a foundation of integrity that sprang from owner Joe Robbie and Coach Don Shula.  They were a team of talent, but also of respect.  The stadium they play in was first called Joe Robbie Stadium in honor of the man.  Then came Wayne Huizenga to buy the team; the stadium gets a new sponsor's name about every two years.  That used to piss me off but not now.  Joe Robbie, were he still alive, likely wouldn't want his name on the place now. I'm sure new owner Stephen Ross could give a rat's ass.  I am amazed that Don Shula, still Vice-Chairman, really wants his name on this letterhead.

General Manager Jeff Ireland is a total idiot.  Besides his removal from the team of everyone who can actually catch a ball in the last two seasons (Brandon Marshall, Davonne Bess, Anthony Fasano, Reggie Bush, even... ugh... Tedd Ginn), he is best known for choosing Daunte Culpepper over Drew Brees and asking potential draft choice Dez Bryant what was up with his mom being a hooker.

Coach Philbin says this is against everything he is trying to do.  That the victim, second year player Jonathan Martin, never came to him or the team's "leadership council" about what was going on.  Um, Joe, Incognito was ON the leadership council.  If that was the team's idea of leadership, why WOULD he come to you?

And the team?  Oh, they knew nothing about it, but were going to look into it-  until ESPN's Adam Schefter blew the lid off the story.  That's when Incognito went to twitter and challenged his accusers- and Schefter by name- to "Bring it!"

And then, Martin gave everyone a voice message with Incognito saying all those horrible things, and calling him a "half-nigger"  Apparently Incognito's African American sidekick, Mike Pouncey (You know, one of Aaron Hernandez' former accomplices bosom buddies) found it funny.  Apparently many players on the team are more upset that Martin told on Incognito than what the a-hole did.  Among those are probably not the younger players who have been "donating" so that Incognito, Pouncey, and others can go out on the town.

But Ross, Ireland, and Philbin didn't know this kind of thing was happening.  Is this a football team or the damn White House?  I call BS on each of you.  Except maybe Ireland; he might have been too busy lining up more draft picks that have moms who'll give him a $20 tumble.

IMHO, the NFL should fine heavily the Dolphins for ever spending money on this piece of subhuman trash.  The should suspend everyone from the top down just like they did with New Orleans.  Incognito should be banned period.  In an age where hazing and bullying has been on everyone's minds and tongues, this is a blow to the reputation of the league and the team that SHOULD NOT be ignored.

In case you didn't realize, this is hard for me to write.  I have followed the Dolphins as my #1 team for over 40 years.  I made it through bad coaches like Dave Wannstedt and Cam Cameron.  I made it through Nick Saban's realization that it's a lot less expensive to assemble a good team in the college realm, where you don't have to pay players above the table.  I even made it through starting QB Cleo Lemon, and drafting Ginn with a waste of a tenth overall pick.  But this....

My heart is definitely out of the equation.

I challenge you, Stephen Ross, and Joe Philbin, to tell me WHY I should give a damn about the team when you obviously didn't.

Oh, and Richie?  Schefter OWNED you.  It wasn't hard.  All one needed was a brain.

Sunday message: Worship

When we have a nice, leisurely morning to get up, Scrappy gets in my face and presses his forehead into the bridge of my nose, looking down until I rub his neck, and then he licks me- eyes, nose, whatever.

This is the difference between praise (the licking) and worship (the head thing).

You see, the morning sermon was on why worship was important.  And I said, "Hold the phone, I'm in more need of what worship is.  If it's so darn important, explain THAT to me!"

And God said, "Well, you have a concordance."  Yes I do, the big ol' Strong's ten-pound concordance.  For those of you that have never worked with the "BOSTPC", let me explain to you that it takes each word in a KJV Bible and gives you the original Greek (NT) or Hebrew (OT) root.  So many times, the trick to using it is figuring out what the word you find in your translation is translated in the KJV, then finding the root in the index.  This case, though, I was looking for one word- worship.  I envisioned a variety of meanings that I could almost string togother in a "worship rosary" to help me start the morning with worship.

When I saw what I found, I saw why God told me to go to the concordance.

You see, there are three words for what worship done right is, and 7 for what it is not.  Let's look at what it is not.  The only OT word for what it is not is used in Jeremiah 44:19, where the prophet is scolding the men of Israel for "not knowing" that their wives are making cakes for the "queen of heaven" (Catholics:  does it not bother you that the Church borrowed it's term for Mary from the OT term for the fertility goddess?  It did me.).  Literally, here worship was a carving out of an object, making a symbol to worship.  The worship does not occur without you creating something.

In the NT, we start with a word found in Luke 14:10 that describes winning the esteem of men.  Worship is not just to "esteem" God, even if you esteem Him more than all others.  It doesn't go far enough.

The next one is found in Colossians 2:23, where Paul warns them against "affected piety";  in other words, worship is not something you can fake for show.

Next one comes from the temptation of Satan where he demands Christ worship him.  This was actually a combination of words that seemed to indicate, "Get in my face and look,"  Or to put another way, "Look at me!  See how great I am!"  This might be what Satan is looking for, but it isn't what God is looking for.

Next, comes from Acts 17:23, when Paul talks to the Athenians about "what you serve in ignorance."  They were covering their bases, praying to every act of nature, every facet of divinity they can imagine, never really knowing the nature of what they served.  God wants worship to begin with knowledge of Him.

Next comes from Acts 7:42, where Paul admonishes those who have been abandoned to the worship of the host of heaven (i.e. astrology and mythology).  The word literally means, "do the service", and references going through the ritual with no idea of what it means.  (There goes the rosary plan!)

Finally, the last one connects to both Mark 7:7 (where Jesus quotes scripture about the empty reverence of those who put the dogma of man ahead of the Word Of God - another shout out to the Catholics, perhaps?) and Acts 18:13 (where Paul lectures about those whose worship follows what men say and is contrary to what God commands.

So worship ISN'T anything we make, is more than simple esteem, can't be faked, is more than just telling God how great He is (a big fat oops for me), is not done in ignorance or by ritual, and isn't just doing what the "worship leader" says on Sunday.  But what is it?

The first OT word, found in too many places to list, means, to depress (push down, not make sad), or to prostrate yourself.

The second OT word means, "to fall down".

The lone NT word means, "to crouch, as a dog licking his master's hand."

So go back to what I said at the beginning.  Scrappy gets as close as he possibly can, pushes his down-looking head against my nose so hard it's as if he's trying to COMBINE OUR BRAINS (think about the implications there), and stays there until I act, which moves him to lick (or praise).

Worship was a whole lot simpler to conceive, and harder to do, than I thought.

Down and out in Scrappyville

Our story seems to have begun two days ago.  As per usual when I get home (and if you recall the lead-in from the latest MWN, you know that day was machine breakdown-a-rama), Scrappy wanted to go for a walk.  But I noted he had a limp- not unusual for him.  He sleeps on my bed which is two-and-a-half feet up- which he jumps without any help (won't take it).  He pulls against his leash with the leg he's limping on; and of course, he's getting old.  So it wasn't a surprise that he might be gimpy this day.  So I decided to just go to the bark park.  Here, he met up with a pair of younger dogs that were run run run.  He wore himself out trying to keep up with the, er, young pups, but showed no real ill effects that night.  The next morning (yesterday), though, he came in from his morning bathroom trip acting strange.  Wouldn't go upstairs, wouldn't jump up on the couch or chair, and when he tried to sit, he was visibly uncomfortable, bending over when he tried.  He wouldn't lay, just kept wandering around, whining.

Now Bobby G, and probably a few of you others, know the story of our last dog, Fred.  The last day of his life scarred me in ways I cannot heal from.  When I went to go to work, he followed me to the door- which he never does- looking at me as if to say, "Help, Daddy."  I had thought he was bound up.  I told Laurie to try giving him some olive oil, and take him for a walk, which would help- but of course, this was the day it just HAD to rain ALL day.

So in this frame of mind I went to work- and with the cutter down (a long stupid other story), I was sewing on the box stitcher- a slow, boring process, perfect for sitting and worrying.  At 10, Laurie called and said he was very sore around his butt, and she was pretty upset- compounded by the fact that she had called the work # first and left a message, which my boss in the midst of every machine in the plant falling apart, forgot about.  I told her to call the vet.  She called back with a appointment time, and I lit out of work like, as my dad used to say, "a bat out of Zulu."

Yes, that's a real place.

The vet looked him over and found nothing in his stomach, colon, or any of the places I was worried about.  She had been told about the day at the hump'n'dump and theorized he overdid it.  He must have muscle pain, as there seemed to be nothing structurally wrong.  She prescribed him anti-inflammatory pills the size of VWs and asked us to call the next day.

That day is today, and Scrappy started it out about 80%.  He had gone from needing an ice cream bar to get him to go upstairs the first afternoon to refusing help and getting up on the bed himself that night to up and down with only mild hesitation this morning.  He's pretty much back to normal tonight, but doggies are masters at hiding pain until it's too late.  So we're watching him closely, but it is nice to have the old Scrappy back.

Now, if we could just convince him he's not a young pup anymore...

TimeMachine week 92

Our mixed bag of what happened on our target date this week, November 1, 1971, leads off with a piece of... er, literature... released today that was more famous for what it represented than anything within its pages.  The Anarchist's Cookbook, a compilation on things such as making bombs and attacking telecommunication systems, was a one-finger salute to the establishment by William Powell, who has since become an Anglican Christian and disavowed the tome.  In fact, he tried to get it taken out of print for years, but the publisher refused.  In 1991 that publisher was bought out, and of the several thousand books the new publisher acquired in the deal, Cookbook was the ONLY one they dropped.

Also, the Eisenhower Dollar was first released to the public.  Never saw one?  Not surprising; it had nearly a 100% "extinction rate" (meaning it was sold first to collectors and they never spent it again).

And finally, this is the cover date for one of the great books in comics history:

Avengers (first series) #93, part of the game-changing Kree-Skrull War storyline, illustrated by the great Neal Adams, written by Roy Thomas, and the origin point of dozens of later storylines.  The Kree-Skrull storyline stretched from #89-97, and was so popular that back in the day, my mom was able to get ONLY the first episode.  I paid $20 about 15 years ago for my copy.  On today's comics price guide, a near mint copy will run you $340 or more.


Welcome to Time Machine, where we deal with super hits rather than superheroes.  This week, the 7th class of the Martin Hall Of Fame; not one, but two songs that clear at least 19 spots to hit the top ten; the penultimate (AKA second-to-last) episode of stars of the 50 states; the great cover battle; and just for fun, the Fantastic Four!  Up, up, and away!!!!!

Frankly, Sue, I fail to see the need for our presence in a MUSIC blog...

We start out with number ones across the land- at least where Mamy Blue hasn't taken over!  In the Netherlands, the Scots band Middle Of The Road (who brought us the original of Chirpy Chirpy Cheep Cheep earlier this year) hits the top with their song Soley Soley. If nothing else can be said for the band (the song is really pretty good), the lead singer, Sally Carr, is worth a nod in the next TM Beauty Contest:

 The only other change internationally was the Great White North exchanging one Osmond for a bunch, as Yo-Yo took over the top spot.  Around the US of A, it stacks up like this.  Both Detroit stations place Have You Seen Her at the top;  Pittsburgh, LA, both Minneapolis stations, and one Chicago station has Gypsies Tramps and Thieves at #1, while WLS stubbornly holds out for Yo-Yo.  Peace Train is now on top of the AC charts; Six degrees accomplice from last week Denise LaSalle's Trapped By A Thing Called Love is at the R&B #1; and Lynne Anderson's How Do I Unlove You holds onto the Country title.

Which, then, brings us to the hot 100 debuts for this week.  And what a lot- out of 20 new tunes, I'll feature 8 of them- Dennis Coffey and the Detroit Guitar Band come in at #91 with Scorpio; The Stylistcs' classic You Are Everything is in at #90; Diana Ross' UK #1 I'm Still Waiting comes in here at #87; The Who also debut with a classic- Behind Blue Eyes at #82; Sly and the Family Stone- who will be having a few mentions today- come in at #81 with Family Affair; David Cassidy's solo cover of the Association's hit Cherish comes in at #74; and Michael Jackson comes in with a solo hit at #59, Got To Be There.

That brings us to our birthday song feature.  Turning thirty this week, Hall and Oates' Say It Isn't So, Elton John's I Guess That's Why They Call It The Blues, and... uhhh.... Madonna's first top 40 single, Holiday.  If only we knew then...

Turning 35, we have Two of the songs I absolutely HATED the most back then.  One was Neil Diamond and Barbra Streisand's You Don't Bring Me Flowers; the other, Chic's Le Freak.  This was soon after our local station started airing Casey Kasem's American Top 40.  It had debuted on the BB chart at #37, and I couldn't stand it instantly.  It wasn't (yet) airing here, and when the next countdown had got in the 20's without it, I thought, "Good, it died a quick death and went away."  But I hadn't done my math right, and I was totally surprised when Casey played it at #6!!!  I don't dislike it near as much now- something I really can't say for Neil and Babs.  Also turning 35, The Cars' My Best Friend's Girl and Bob Seger and the band's We've Got Tonite (which I liked until Kenny Rogers and Sheena Easton butchered it for me).

One song turns 40- Jim Stafford's tender love song Spiders And Snakes.  Turning 45 we have Glen Campbell's Wichita Lineman, the recently featured Jose Feliciano's Star Spangled Banner, Stevie Wonder's For Once In My Life, and Judy Collins' Both Sides Now.  Finally, hitting the big 5-0 we have the Beach Boys' Be True To Your School and the Singing Nun's Dominique.  Blow Out The Candles...


Before we get to the really good stuff, let's refer to the map...

We are almost done with the highest charting acts of the 50 states, and this week we had to do some real stretches...

South Dakota- the best I could do here (no offense) is Shawn Colvin, who sang background on Suzanne Vega's 1987 hit Luka, and charted her own hit in 1997, Sunny Come Home.

Tennessee- Aretha Franklin, who'll also have a big part in something around the corner, with 72 hot 100s and 18 top tens.

Texas- the aforementioned Kenny Rogers, who in solos and duets charted 29 hot 100s and 8 top tens.

Utah- Cahmann, you know this.  Donny Osmond, solo and with Marie, had 24 hot 100s and 8 top tens.

Vermont- again, we make a colossal stretch of the rules and point out that Rudy Vallee is Vermont-born.



That brings us to the 45 at 45- the #45 song 45 years ago.  This week it belongs to a Detroit outfit called the Fantastic Four with their song I Love You Madly.  This band had been on local label Ric-Tic before Motown bought them out, and outsold even Edwin Starr there, charting an R&B #6 with The Whole World's A Stage.  This tune was their only chart hit for Motown, though they stayed together until they lost two founding members- "Sweet James" Epps and Cleveland Home- in 2000.  One of the remaining brothers was still trying to reforge a new FF as late as 2010.

Okay, I'm Reed, you're Sue... no, you can be Johnny... You're just a thing, man!

Big mover time!  Going up- Have You Seen Her by the Chi-Lites shoots up 46 spots to #41; going down, Bill Withers drops 29 to #42 with Ain't No Sunshine.



One of the songs that gets into this week's top 40 is the Isley Brothers' cover of War's Spill The Wine.  Which got me thinking- I see an awful lot of covers done by two R&B acts in particular- the Isleys and Aretha Franklin.  So I got looking into it.  The Isleys picked an eclectic mix of songs to cover, including:

Love The One You're With (original hit 14 on BB, their cover 18)
Spill The Wine (which missed the BB top 40 at 49, while the original hit #3)
Lay Lady Lay (Yeah, that one surprised me, too; I also learned that Dylan wanted to give it to the Everlys, but Phil thought he sang "lay across my big bad breasts" or something like that, and turned him down- he never knew the right words until Dylan's single started playing.  He hit #7; the Isleys hit 71.)
It's Too Late (original #1, theirs 39 R&B)
Summer Breeze (original #6, theirs 60).

Aretha had a much larger assortment of covers, along with original singles that songwriters would record later like You Make Me Feel Like A Natural Woman.  She also had a string of hits that had charting b-side covers.  Here are a few of her a-side covers:

(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction (original #1, hers didn't chart in the US)
I Say A Little Prayer (original 4, hers 10)
The Weight (original a classic despite only charting at #63; hers 19)
Eleanor Rigby (original 11, hers 17)
Bridge Over Troubled Water (original #1, hers 6)
Ain't Nothing Like The Real Thing (original #8, hers 47)
What A Fool Believes (original #1, hers 17 R&B)
Jumpin' Jack Flash (original #3, hers 21)
Everyday People (original #1, hers 13 R&B).

So Aretha did a little better against the originals than the Isleys did, but not near as well as the queen of covers, Linda Ronstadt:

When Will I Be Loved (original 8, hers 2)
Heat Wave (Hers 5, original 4)
Tracks Of My Tears ( one of Aretha's b-side covers; Aretha charted at 71, the original at 16, Linda at 25)
That'll Be The Day (original 1, hers 11)
Blue Bayou (original 29, hers 3)
Back In The USA (both peaked at 16)
Ooh Baby Baby (original 16, hers 7)
Hurts So Bad (hers 8, original 10)
I Knew You When (Original 14, hers 37).

And that's how you cover a song!

Speaking of the top 40 (which I did at the beginning of that bunny trail), let's look at our 5 debuts this week.  Up 10 spots to land at 40 is Bobby Sherman with Jennifer.  That Isleys cover of Spill The Wine moves up a pair to #39.  Coven hits with One Tin Soldier, up 11 to #36.  Up 11 spots to 34, a DJ by the name of Freddie North with his only top 40 hit, She's All I Got.  And finally, storming up from 52 to 30, Bread with Baby I'm-A Want You.


And Nowwwwww the 7th class of the Martin Hall Of Fame!  For those who aren't in the know ( and have been inexplicably unable to scroll up and click on the MHOF page), the MHOF has acts arranged by these titles:  Top names, top men, top women, not so rock'n'roll, personal favorites, and golden oldies.  This class of the MHOF features:

Top Names

With 10 top 40s and 3 #1s, Sly and the Family Stone!
With 7 top forties, 2 #1s, and a lasting influence... The Byrds!
With 21 top 40s and 3 top dogs... Three Dog Night!

Heh heh... 3 "top dogs" for three DOG night... it was a joke, right?

Top Men

With 6 top forties and a LOT of writing and production credits... Todd Rundgren!
With 9 top forties, a man I couldn't believe I hadn't put in yet... Tom Jones!

Top Women

With 21 top 40s and 4 #1s... Cher!

Not so R'N'R

With 33 top 40s and 3 #1s... Paul Anka!

Personal

With 5 top 40 hits... Pablo Cruise!
With 6 top 40s and a top dog... Bill Withers!

Golden Oldies

With 12 top 40s and a classic #1.... Gary Lewis and the Playboys!
And, with 5 top 40s... The Orlons!

And there you have the 7th semi-annual class of the MHOF!  Congratulations to one and all!

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Three songs jump in- two of them REALLY jump in- so three fall out.  The droppers:  Thin Line Between Love And Hate (10 to 11), Sweet City Woman (7 to 22), and If You Really Love Me (9 to 27).

Lee Michaels takes a 6-spot drop, and that hurts.  Do You Know What I Mean?

Cat Stevens claws his way into the top ten, with an unspectacular (this week) 6-notch jump to #9 with Peace Train.

From 29 to # 8, John Lennon with The Internationale  Imagine.

Al Green is not only Tired Of Being Alone, he's tired of going up.  He slips from 6 to 7.

The Free Movement freely moves from 8 to 6 with I Found Someone Of My Own.

From 24 to #5, Isaac Hayes with Theme From Shaft.  I always kinda liked Bart Simpson doing it at karaoke.

Yer damn right...

The Carpenters slip from 3 to 4 with Superstar.

The Osmonds lose their runner-up slot, sliding to 3 with Yo-Yo.

The three week reign of Rod Stewart and Maggie May is over, it slips to #2.

And that means, Minneapolis, LA, Pittsburgh, and Chicago told you so! the new #1...

...Cher, with Gypsies Tramps And Thieves!



Next week, more Reed Richards (not really), more Sally Carr (you never know), and more fun (guaranteed)!