A few weeks back, several of the pastors I listened to entered series about Joseph. And as I began listening, I felt challenged: "Name 25 lessons you can draw from Joseph". Now, God knows me pretty well. It wasn't a matter of me actually getting 25 things on a list (though I DID come close), but to encourage me to pay attention and garner from his story the lessons I REALLY needed. Here is where I start to tell the story.
After all the weeks and all the sermons and all the prayer and digging, I think I can boil it down to two things.
1- He kept his CENTER of attention on God.
2- He had to get to a point of COMPLETE reliance on God before God could use him as He wanted.
For those who like to keep it simple, you might want to jump off here, because I'm about to go digging. For the spiritual spelunkers here, follow along.
Joseph was raised in a family of, let's be honest, reprobates. Judah got his daughter-in-law pregnant. Reuben slept with his stepmom. Levi and Simeon lied and murdered their way to revenge. Not to mention whatever it was that caused Joseph as a teen to give a "bad report" to his father Jacob about them...
Gen 37:2 These are the generations of Jacob. Joseph, being seventeen years old, was pasturing the flock with his brothers. He was a boy with the sons of Bilhah and Zilpah, his father's wives. And Joseph brought a bad report of them to their father.
(And we won't go into what some of the Jewish writers said it was, other than "not kosher"...)
But Joseph, who was a "retirement child" for Jacob, got the teaching of God from his father, and took it to heart- REALLY took it to heart. Even when his brothers threw him into a pit, ate their lunch laughing, and sold him to slavers, and he had "every reason" to abandon God (as they had), he did not. Thus it was, when Potiphar's wife offered him a little more of the "delights of Egypt" than she should of, he was still God-centered...
Gen 39:7 And after a time his master's wife cast her eyes on Joseph and said, "Lie with me." Gen 39:8 But he refused and said to his master's wife, "Behold, because of me my master has no concern about anything in the house, and he has put everything that he has in my charge. Gen 39:9 He is not greater in this house than I am, nor has he kept back anything from me except yourself, because you are his wife. How then can I do this great wickedness and sin against God?"
So there is his God-centeredness. But now, think of all the distresses he went through. In the pit, he counted on his brothers to release him- they did not. He perhaps counted on Jacob to save him from the Egyptians- he did not, because he thought Joseph was dead ( another nice mark on the brothers' resume). He thought Potiphar would believe him about the incident with his wife, because he trusted him with everything else- he did not. And then, when he thought he might be saved from prison by the word of the cupbearer he befriended...
Gen 40:14 Only remember me, when it is well with you, and please do me the kindness to mention me to Pharaoh, and so get me out of this house....
Gen 40:23 Yet the chief cupbearer did not remember Joseph, but forgot him.
And for 2 years, he waited- on top of the time already served for the crime he didn't commit. How many of us would be saying at this point, "But I would've, had I known..."
Not Joseph. And when it became apparent that only God would ever get him out of the mess, he stayed God-centered. And God got him out.
End of story? Close, but not quite. Because I wanted to see how the example applied- I wanted to see a bit further. And in doing so, I discovered that there is a wonderful process here in applying this to my life- and in Part two- which will be a special Wednesday Bible Study - I will show you the Five Guys method to applying this.
Here we are in November 16th, 1967- and back to the plane crashes...
Not this plane (because basically there was nothing left of the one in question by the time of its notoriety), but a similar one serving as Aeroflot flight 2230 from Yekaterinburg to Tashkent crashed today. Investigation showed that first, the plane had one engine catch fire, the prop wouldn't feather (move out of the way of the airflow) which made it bank and go up- and then the artificial horizon failed, and the pilots aimed it right into a plowed field. 107 people died in this one.
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But happier times are on the horizon, as here comes Time Machine! the Beach Boys in town, another big list, another new debut, a Panelist you may know if you are from around here, and details on the Beauty Contest and another quick approaching anniversary! Strap in, no need for flight insurance!
So first off, I cheated a little bit this week and went to the much easier to manipulate Cashbox year-end chart for our Label contest, and while Atlantic bagged the most hits with 8, there was no contest as to our position winner:
Yes, Capitol for a third straight week! This time they got there on two Beatles hits (All You Need Is Love at 43 and Penny Lane at 45), plus Bobbie Gentry's Ode To Billie Joe at 4 and Aretha Franklin and Respect at 11. As far as overall hits, Capitol is up at 56 so far, followed by Columbia at 48, RCA (who got shut out this week) at 45, MGM at 44, and Mercury well back at 30.
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This week, Carl Wilson of the Beach Boys joins us! How are ya, Carl?
Groovy! So, like, Dennis came last time, right?
Yes, and he was stoned, and got the munchies and left. Didn't really do much of the show...
Yeah, he's kinda like that. So how come me?
Well, you did sing Good Vibrations, which was the winner last week... and, well, Brian...
Yeah, gotcha. So like, let's do this!
Okay, this week we have 32 contestants from 89 stations...
Wow, man, that's a lot. Can I like, go get a soda and come back for the big finish?
Sigh. Really? All right, but could you please manage to make it back in time?
Will do, buddy. See you in a couple...
I have a bad feeling about this... anyway, here's the one-vote wonders:
A studio outfit called Le Cirque- and virtually all I know about them is that Leon Russel was PROBABLY in on the recording- with a song called Land Of Oz, a no-charter.
Next up is actually our #67 in '67- a band called the Sunshine Company out of LA, who would eventually crack the top 40 with Back On The Street Again. They were supposed to release as their first single Up Up And Away- but the Fifth Dimension beat them to it.
Vicki Carr was at #5 with It Must Be Him.
Cher was at #59 with You Better Sit Down Kids. You too, Sonny!
Another offbeat band called the Last Word peaked last month at #81 with Can't Stop Loving You.
George Hamilton IV (not the tan guy) peaked at #6 Country with HIS version of a song called Break My Mind. Also getting a vote was another version by singer/writer Bobby Wood, a session man best known for writing Talking In Your Sleep and Half The Way for Crystal Gayle.
Next one I'm going to throw in because I KNOW I know this song, and this version somehow- but it never charted, and the hit version never cracked the top 50- but it got a vote and I love it! This is the lead singer from Music Explosion, Jamie Lyons, with...
Another non-charter this week was producer Bobby Patterson and the Mustangs with Let Them Talk.
Small Faces were just starting at #95 with Itchykoo Park.
Robert Knight with a song I always swore was Stevie Wonder, Everlasting Love, at #15.
Guess what? Our big mover of the week gets a vote too! The Fantastic Johnny C with Boogaloo Down Broadway, another song I haven't heard in so long I forgot I knew it, was at 39, leaping 29 spots from #68.
Procol Harum's Homburg was at #37.
Human Beinz with Nobody But Me was at #97.
Crap! Al Martino is back, p.o.ed because we couldn't find his song last week, with More Than The Eye Can See, a #54 peak in October.
The Soul Survivors get a vote for Expressway To Your Heart at #7.
The Temptations are at#16 with It's You That I Need.
AND Linda Ronstadt and the Stone Poneys round out the OVWs with Different Drum at #91.
In the also receiving votes category, we have:
With 5 votes apiece, Engelbert Humerdinck with The Last Waltz at #21, and Bobby Vinton's Please Love Me Forever at 8.
With 4 votes, Dionne Warwick with I say A Little Prayer at #23.
3 votes go to the Who's I Can See For Miles (17), The Bee Gees with their new debut Massachusetts (64), Gladys Knight and Der Pipsters with I Heard It Through The Grapevine (45).
And getting 2 votes were the Association with Never My Love (20), Michigan garage act the Soulbenders with Hey Joe (DNC), and Sam and Dave's Soul Man (the #1, for crying out loud).
Nardole, any sign of Carl?
Ummm... not yet...
Okay, well we'll give him a little time and come back to our big four contestants.
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Next up, because it's the time of year I finally start compiling the Beauty Contest list, I also decided, let me go back even further and see just how many POTM elections we have had. Are you ready for this? We are at election #94! Which means that right in the middle of our holiday hijinks, we'll be hitting the 100th POTM! 94 elections, 93 different songs (the Monkees won twice with I'm A Believer), and 77 acts have been awarded the Laurels. That means, of course, we've had several multiple winners:
Our current winner the Beach Boys, along with Johnny Horton, the Fleetwoods, Elton John, the aforementioned Monkees, Bobby Vinton, and the Bee Gees have all won twice...
The Rolling Stones, the Everly Brothers, and Elvis have won three times...
And, not surprisingly, the Beatles have bagged FIVE POTMs...
Y'know, that Jagger guy was right last week about the Beatles...
And as I followed up, I found that, without this week, we have so far 79 beauty contestants, from Ma Rainey to MY mom, from Pia Zadora to Peg Bundy! And we might just have another one THIS week yet! Stay tuned!
Nardole...
No...
Sigh.
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Because of Frankie Valli's solo contract, there were a handful of Four Seasons songs on which the Four Seasons were not credited. One of them was one of my faves, The Proud One, which was credited to Frankie alone- and peaked at #68 for him. Or them. At the other extreme of our 6D this week, we have a song that was credited to a group- when it was the lead singer recording solo! And at the far end of the whole thing, we have two people on a song that was actually credited as two people! Here's how we get there...
The Proud One was covered by the Osmonds, and it was their last top 40. Earlier, they did a song called Love Me For A Reason, and when it peaked at #10, it was their last time in the top ten. It was co-written by one Johnny Bristol, who was best known for his Barry White-ish sing Hang On In There Baby, which made it to #8. He was also the writer of Someday We'll Be Together, the last #1 of the 60's, and the last credited to Diana Ross and the Supremes. The Supremes, as was often the case, were actually nowhere near the studio when this song was recorded, though.
Johnny B had actually recorded that song first- as Johnny and Jackey with duet partner Jackey Beavers- but it didn't chart and he got involved in the writing and production end of things. One song he produced, along with partner Harvey Fuqua- was our 6D victim- Marvin and Tammy with Your Precious Love, at #6 without Panel Love...
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All right, let me get to the M10 debut of the...
Hey, man, I'm back! I better make it quick, though- I think that Balogna Casserole was rancid or something...
Oh, jeez, here, read fast...
Okay! You get to pick from The Cowsills and The Rain The Park and Other Things at #4- Strawberry Alarm Clock and Incense and Peppermints at #2- The Monkees and Daydream Believer debuting at #56- and (uuurp) Lulu and To Sir With... where's the bathroom?
Nardole!!!
Come along, Mr Wilson, step lively...
As he was saying, the fourth contestant is Lulu's To Sir With Love at #3. And now, our debut at #10, from the lovely ladies of Lucius...
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Let's kick off our stat pack with a real oddity- Ft Wayne's own WOWO was a Panelist this week! Here is WOWO's top ten:
10- The Last Waltz
9- Just Loving You, Anita Harris
8- Peaches and Herb, Love Is Strange
7- Elvis, Big Boss Man...
6- The Doors, People Are Strange
5- Spanky and Our Gang, Lazy Day
4- Neil Diamond, Kentucky Woman
3- The Rain The Park And Other Things
2- To Sir With Love
And FTW's #1...
...Bobby Vinton's Please Love Me Forever!!!
In other statsy stuff, the UK top fifty included Panelists The Last Waltz (5), I Can See For Miles (10), Daydream Believer (42), Soul Man (25), Massachusetts (2), and Homburg (14). And their #1 was the Foundations with Baby Now That I Found You. I knew 17 on their list, and 42 on ours (go ME!) And thanks to so many of our stat categories being IN the Panel Picks, all I have left is the #101 was Tony Bennett covering For Once In My Life.
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The M10 remainders:
A lot of "moving up one notch" this week, including Elvis Costello's Burnt Sugar Is So Bitter (9), The Derev's Research Cognitivity (8), Bad Wolves' Remember When (5), Alkonost's Paporotnik (4), and Blackberry Smoke's You Got Lucky (3).
Moving down were seven weeker Frankie Cosmos and Apathy (3 to 6), and last week's top dog, ELO's Surrender (to #2).
One song stayed in place- Anna Burch's 9-week charter What I Want (7).
Which means we have a new #1- and a new BC contestant-
...Roseanne Cash with Not Many Miles To Go!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
And the Panel win... yes, Nardole?
Sir, a Mister Love is wondering, "Just what the hell you did to my cousin?"
Tell Elvis to handle it. He makes that crap. Don't know why these idiots keep eating it...
I believe he pays them five quid a plate...
Wow, less than $7 American to go through hell. Any way...
If you took the Monkees, you got 7.8% of the vote...
If you took Lulu, you got just shy of 9%...
The Cowsills netted you 11.2%...
And the winner, with 15.7%...
...the Strawberry Alarm Clock with Incense and Peppermints!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Be here next... yes, Nardole?
I thought I should inform you that Ms Cash was already a contestant...
Drat. Oh well, maybe we'll hit #80 next week in 1968!
So, last week we came upon a verse- or verse-set- that lead to a study more of the Old Testament than of the new. This week, in Galatians, we have much the same sort of thing- and that will lead to my main point later on.
For now, we look at the verses at hand. This is, if you know your Bible, what I call the "Oh, foolish Galatians!" chapter, as that is how Paul begins it. Their foolishness is that Judaizers have come into their midst and made them start to live by the Law instead of faith. Paul points out to them the two problems with that:
1- Anyone who lives by the Law is bound to keep the WHOLE LAW. 99% does not give you a passing grade.
2- They were NOT saved by the Law- they were saved by Faith.
The main problem here, and one that Paul will preach on often- without faith, the Law is a wedge that Satan uses to tell you you've lost the fight. Satan uses the sin you know- the one that fells you often- blows it out of proportion (remember the "elephant in the room" Sunday Message?), and makes you lose out on your ministry. If I may, let me go to the chapter in Proverbs I read just before composing this:
Pro 24:16 for the righteous falls seven times and rises again, but the wicked stumble in times of calamity.
Even in the Old Testament, the righteous knew to live by faith. But what then about the Law? Here is were we come to our verses- and I want to thank Laurie for pointing out a great Dennis Miller sermon which pointed me in the right direction:
Gal 3:15 To give a human example, brothers: even with a man-made covenant, no one annuls it or adds to it once it has been ratified.
Gal 3:16 Now the promises were made to Abraham and to his offspring. It does not say, "And to offsprings," referring to many, but referring to one, "And to your offspring," who is Christ.
Gal 3:17 This is what I mean: the law, which came 430 years afterward, does not annul a covenant previously ratified by God, so as to make the promise void.
Now, how does Paul mean this? The Law came 430 years after the Promise to Abraham, which was the covenant made by God with Abraham in Genesis 15. It was a covenant made just as the custom was for men to make with each other in that day- EXCEPT that when it came time to pass between the offerings together, God put Abraham into a trance, and walked ALONE through them- indicating that no matter how men followed the covenant, God would be faithful and carry it out. After establishing this, Paul reminds them that the culmination of the covenant was Christ, who establishes the new covenant based on the old.
And the Law? It came later, to help Moses lead a group, some of whom would believe and some would not. Because it was not based on faith but authority, it needed rules and regulations. For those of faith, they would come natural. For the rest, it needed spelled out.
Now, you have the fledgling Christians in Galatea, having been saved by faith, being told there are rules to this thing. Rules that the Patriarchs never lived under, rules that the kings never lived by, and rules that the "scholars" had morphed into something never intended, despite being warned by every prophet worth his salt. But they were not saved BY the rules- they were saved by the PROMISE.
Now, I want to make an observation given me by God that is waaay pertinent here. A few months back, I discovered the "controversy" swirling around about the teachings of Andy Stanley, the son of Dr Charles Stanley of In Touch Ministries. The controversy seems to stem from Stanley the Younger's teaching that if we want to gather today's lost, today's millenials, into the Church, we must "unhitch from the Old Testament." Too many rules, too much archaic customs, too many differences between the actions of the old and new covenants- that was my sense of his point.
I will admit to not following his sermons and looking into his point. So what I am about to say is based just on his pull quotes, and in particular the one above about unhitching, on its surface.
THAT is one of the dumber things ever said from a pulpit.
It came to me this week that both last week's verse and this week's show us that the Bible is just like a sermon. The OT is the LESSON; the NT is the APPLICATION. You can't teach application without lesson; the listener, without a reasoning before hand, will respond to the application with, "Why should I?" IT REDUCES THE APPLICATION TO A SET OF RULES.
Is Andy Stanley a modern Judaizer? I don't know, but application without lesson is what gave us the Pharisees. That is why I have enjoyed this so much- we are finding the lesson to the application. And this week, the application is this:
Yes, I stumble, yes I fall. And if all I have is Law, that is enough to defeat me. But we have faith, we have The Promise. And so, we can rise again.
Here we sit tonight, playing the M10 suffle and parying for a world that seemed so well described when I just read Psalm 120:
Psa 120:1 A Song of Ascents. In my distress I called to the LORD, and he answered me. Psa 120:2 Deliver me, O LORD, from lying lips, from a deceitful tongue. Psa 120:3 What shall be given to you, and what more shall be done to you, you deceitful tongue? Psa 120:4 A warrior's sharp arrows, with glowing coals of the broom tree! Psa 120:5 Woe to me, that I sojourn in Meshech, that I dwell among the tents of Kedar! Psa 120:6 Too long have I had my dwelling among those who hate peace. Psa 120:7 I am for peace, but when I speak, they are for war!
I can release it all to Him as I am cooled by Blackberry Smoke singing You Got Lucky, or picked up by the Derevs doing Research Cognitivity. But I threaten to turn this into a Tuesday message, so let me just finish with, "God is good, all the time..."
So anyway, I haven't done much Martin World News-wise lately, and frankly, there hasn't been much MWN-worthy news out there lately. I did just find a list of the "states whose winter sucks the worst." For my Australian friends, here is what a "sucky winter" means here:
Anyway, here are the top ten suckiest winter states:
10- Massachusetts
9- Montana
8- Idaho
7- Wisconsin
6- South Dakota
5- Maine
4- North Dakota
3- Alaska. Yes, Alaska. They'd prolly be higher, but you have to expect sucky winters that far north.
2- Michigan. Say YES! to Michigan!
And of course, 1- Minnesota. KC tells me the story of going to his first Vikings game and walking the "short 10 blocks" from the hotel to the stadium- in 20 below temps. And you wonder why I am a Miami Dolphins fan? Makes me wonder what all the attraction is for the large and unruly Somali community up there.
Oh, BTW- Indiana made #16, better off than New Hampshire, Ohio, Illinois, Wyoming, and Iowa, but not as well off as Pennsylvania (#23).
I haven't bitc- er, complained about work much lately. It might not be much better, but it IS improving, with prayer and patience. Except for we have a nagging problem of our "corporate scheduler" who can't seem to keep straight which jobs she released when. I did want to let you know that the race is on- the replacement for the Haney WILL arrive first quarter 2019! My prediction is, it better make it early in the quarter, because I've doubts that this machine will make it TO 2019. My own machine gets the golden toe second quarter as well.
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Ah, the new #1 is playing. Sorry, wait till Friday. Tempo, baby.
Today we go to November 9th, 1966, and "witness" one of the most famous events that never happened...
It all began on October 12, 1969, when Russ Gibb, a DJ for Detroit's underground station WKNR-FM, received a phone call by a man named "Tom," who claimed that some Beatles records contained hidden clues suggesting that Paul McCartney had actually died. The evidence for a conspiracy revolved around the theory that Paul had been decapitated in an automobile wreck after he left Abbey Road studios in London, where the Beatles recorded their music. Paul had apparently left upset over an argument with the other Beatles, took his Aston Martin sportscar, and perished in a horrible accident that killed him.
This accident supposedly took place at 5 a.m. on November 9, 1966, and was caused by a hitchhiker named Rita who Paul had picked up along the road. The arrival of an impostor in November 1966, then, could have explained why the Beatles stopped touring that same year (it would have been too easy to spot a fake McCartney performance on stage) and started to grow moustaches (the face was almost identical, but not perfect: it needed some disguise).
However, this terrible secret generated in the remaining Beatles, John Lennon, George Harrison, and Ringo Starr, a strong sense of guilt and induced them to insert many hints and clues to the truth in their songs and album covers.
This of course started all the back-masking, "I buried Paul" crap that even led to Batman getting involved...
And 52 years later, Paul is one of the last two left. Oops! Welcome to Time Machine, and a POTM appearnce from Mick Jagger, who's also still alive! Plus, the biggest Panel in history! Quick, Robin to the batmobile the Musical Tardis!
I'm giving Mick a break from this massive Panel list- 30 songs from 116 stations! Was it a close race? Well...
Anyway, let me start off with the anomalies that crop up on most Panels in limited quantities, but really went wild here:
A local band from (queue Captain Obvious) El Paso called the El Paso Premiers had a very tasty number on the list called This Is The Beginning. Worth a look-up IMHO.
Aussie star Johnny Young got in with a tune called Stepback. Not bad, either!
Actually getting two votes was another pretty good lost song from Ronnie and the Daytonas called I'll Think Of Summer. It hit Billboard's Bubbling Under at some point at #123.
Richard and the Young Lions peaked in July with a tune called Open Up Your Doors. The band included future writer of Tie A Yellow Ribbon, Larry Brown, and the song hit #70.
Al Martino makes the oddity list despite being at #68 on the Cashbox chart with The Wheel Of Hurt- an oddity because I couldn't find the video to listen to it anywhere!
One chart had the Monkees at 1 and 2- and NEITHER one was ever released! The one that got the vote was the tune I Wanna Be Free- the Theme From The Monkees was at 2.
Another Aussie vote went to a band called the Twilights with Needle In A Haystack- lead singer future Little River Band front guy Glenn Shorrock.
And the final anomaly belongs to Columbus OH band Fifth Order with the garage-y Going Too Far.
Then we get to the rest of the one hit wonders:
Herman's Hermits got a vote for No Milk Today- and it was a Euro vote, as that song wouldn't climb our charts until next April. In the meantime, they WERE charting with Dandy at #8.
Tommy Roe's Sweet Pea, I guess I shoulda stuck it among the anomalies, as it had peaked back in July.
Eddie Floyd had Knock On Wood at #64.
I really have to wonder why Sonny went along with some of the titles to the songs he charted with. He had a solo hit with one called Laugh At Me; he had one with Cher charting at #29 this week called Little Man (with her singing to him).
Go Away Little Girl by the Happenings was at #14.
Bobby Darrin was at #9 with If I Were A Carpenter.
And Percy Sledge was at #49 with It Tears Me Up.
Which brings us to the rest of the also rans:
Tommy Roe again with Hooray For Hazel at #7 and 3 votes.
The Supremes with You Keep Me Hanging On at #24 had 6 votes.
David Ruffin and What Becomes Of The Brokenhearted was at #13 with 5 votes.
Also with 5 votes was the #15 tune, Mitch Ryder and the Detroit Wheels with the Devil With A Blue Dress Medley.
The Left Banke had Walk Away Renee at #2 this week- but just 4 votes.
Peter and Gordon and the lovely Lady Godiva were at #45 and 2 votes.
James and Bobby Purify were at #22 with I'm Your Puppet and 4 votes.
The Loving Spoonful and Rain On The Roof was #11 and 2 votes.
The New Vaudeville Band were at #16 and 6 votes for Winchester Cathedral.
And finally, the Four Tops and Reach Out (I'll Be There) was at #6 with two votes. Whew!
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So before we get to the final 4, how about we take a break and listen to this week's new M10 debut at #10- from Elvis Costello and the Imposters:
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And now, Mr Mick Jagger!
Yeah, I wonder if I'm in me right mind comin' back here again, but... what can I do for you?
Well, I knew neither you- nor any guest in their right mind- would want to tackle that brobdingnagian list of ours, so I thought maybe we could talk about the 6D together.
Oh, that's that thing where you dig up dirt on the bloke that didn't get a Panel vote. Hard to believe ANYbody didn't get one this week.
I know, right? So let me start this with a question: What do (outside of being musicians) the following acts have in common: Cliff Richard, David Bowie, Jeff Lynne, John Lodge of the Moody Blues, Queen, David Gilmour of Pink Floyd, Jeff Beck, Paul Rodgers of Bad Company, Ray Davies of the Kinks, and Chrissie Hynde of the Pretenders?
That's a right mob there! It could be about anything. Let me... wait, I know- they're not ME!
Well, that, and they were all winners of the Ivor Novello Award for outstanding Contributions to British Music.
Oh, that lot. Those buggers don't like the band for some reason.
Yeah, I noticed you guys got shut out.
Oh, not so! Keith and I got some songwriting award in 2005...
Oh, yeah. Did you see John Lennon had like 15 awards?
Why does it always have to do wtih the bloody Beatles?
Well, because one of those wins was for writing the song She's Leaving Home, which was one of only three songs they recorded on which NONE of them played instruments.
Yeah, well, they could get away with that rubbish. You know what we would've sounded like without instruments?
Breeding season in tomcat alley?
Oh, you're a fine one...
So anyway, She's Leaving Home was also the only Beatles tune not orchestrally arranged by George Martin. For this one, Paul used Mike Leander...
Uh-oh. I know where this is going...
... who also was the arranger on your first song to use a horn section...
Please, tell me it's not us...
And that song is our 6D victim- Have You Seen Your Mother Baby, Standing In The Shadow, at # 4 without any Panel love.
ARRRRGH!!! Why do I ever come here!!!!!????
Wait! Don't you want to know the other two songs the Beatles didn't play instruments on?
No! No no no!
But they were Eleanor Rigby and...
SLAM!
... and Good Night, from the White Album. Hee hee...
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Before I forget, here are your final contestants! The Beach Boys with Good Vibrations at #10; The Monkees and Last Train To Clarksville at the top; ? and the Mysterians and 96 Tears at #5; and Johnny Rivers and Poor Side Of Town at #3. Better get yer choices in quick!
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Stats and labels next!
The Capitols, who gave us Cool Jerk, were our #101 with We've Got A Thing That's On The Groove. It would peak at #65- and that was the next-highest they ever got.
The #66 in '66 was a song just about to flame out right there- Lorraine Ellison with Stay With Me.
Out of the Cashbox hot 100, of which I knew 31, the Hollies had the big mover with Stop Stop Stop going from 73 to 46 for 27 spots.
On the British charts, the Panel scored with Good Vibrations (15), No Milk Today (7), What Becomes Of The Brokenhearted (43), Lady Godiva (23), Little Man (33), Winchester Cathedral (5), If I Were A Carpenter (13), and their #1, Reach Out (I'll Be There). Despite all those, I only knew 15 of their top 50 hits.
And probably for the first time ever on the label game, the winner of the best position also had the most on this year's MusicVF top 100 with 8, and an average position of 29.2! And that winner is...
Capitol! They won behind 3 from the Beatles (Eleanor Rigby 49, Yellow Submarine 13, and Paperback Writer 5), 3 from the Beach Boys (Sloop John B 26, Barbara Ann 22, and Good Vibes 6), and Lady Godiva at #93, and the Seekers' Georgy Girl at #20!
A crowded field sees the Derevs only go up 1 to #9 with Research Cognitivity.
A trio of former #1s drop- Sucker's Prayer from 4 to 8, What I Want from 6 to 7, and last week's #1- Frankie Cosmos with Apathy- to #3.
Bad Wolves move up 2 to 6 with Remember When.
Alkonost holding at 5 with Paporotnik.
Blackberry Smoke and Amanda Shires move up 3 to #4 with You Got Lucky.
Roseanne Cash slides into the #2 slot with Not Many Miles To Go.
And with that we note that it is a happy and sad day for ELO. First...
....they take their second #1 with Surrender...
But second, founding member and cellist Hugh McDowell passed away on the 6th at the age of 65.
His passing, on November 6, was confirmed by his former ELO bandmate, Mel Gale. McDowell was 65. He performed on the band’s recordings throughout the mid-to-late ’70s as they ascended the worldwide albums and singles charts. Gale, a fellow cellist in the group, wrote on his Facebook page on November 7: “I’m sad beyond words to have to pass on the news that my old friend and fantastic cellist Hugh McDowell passed away last night after a long illness.
“We met in our mid teens and were close until we left ELO in 1980. He was a beautiful free spirit, had such a natural gift as a cellist and just a lovely bloke.” (Best Classic Bands)
But now, on at last to the Panel Winner! If you took 96 Tears, you got 6% of a crowded field. If you took the Monkees, you netted not quite 9.5%. Johnny? You got 11.2%. But the winner, with a whopping 25%- an act that traditionally sucks on Panel votes-
The Beach Boys!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
This week we have a short and to-the-point verse- but there is a tremendous lot of things packed around it. In fact, so that you see where we are (other than the "duh, we're in 2 Corinthians 3:16" line), I'm going to give you the lead in verses as well:
2Co 3:12 Since we have such a hope, we are very bold, 2Co 3:13 not like Moses, who would put a veil over his face so that the Israelites might not gaze at the outcome of what was being brought to an end. 2Co 3:14 But their minds were hardened. For to this day, when they read the old covenant, that same veil remains unlifted, because only through Christ is it taken away. 2Co 3:15 Yes, to this day whenever Moses is read a veil lies over their hearts. 2Co 3:16 But when one turns to the Lord, the veil is removed.
Now the ESV makes it seem easy to grasp. Maybe a little harder if you use the Literal Translation ( which is a bit different yet from Youngs):
2Co 3:16 But whenever it turns to the Lord, the veil is taken away.
With the "it" of course being the heart. Now in studying this, I came across a few questions that I have no answers to, and I'm not really sure if it matters, but let me float them out to see what you think.
1- "not like Moses". The inference is that Moses was not bold, but that can't be what Paul means here. Moses had gone before God Himself, both on the mountain and in the tabernacle. What Paul is referencing is what happened after God gave Moses the Law on Sinai:
Exo 34:29 And it happened as Moses was going down from Mount Sinai, the two tablets of the testimony being in Moses' hand as he went down from the mountain, Moses did not know that the skin of his face had become luminous through His speaking with him.
Exo 34:30 And Aaron and all the sons of Israel saw Moses. And, behold! The skin of his face had become luminous. And they were afraid to draw near to him.
So close was Moses to the presence of God, that God's glory literally lit Moses' face- and it scared the people. Moses was bold in going to Him; the people couldn't even handle the afterimage of it! This is a part I don't recall happening to Charlton Heston, but it's been a while.
Curiously, the commentators seem to all have one main point they make about the veil that Moses was thus forced to wear:
Concerning the duty of the ministers of the gospel to use great plainness or clearness of speech. They ought not, like Moses, to put a veil upon their faces, or obscure and darken those things which they should make plain. (Matthew Henry's commentary)
Which, while a valid point, I don't know that is a valid point as far as what Moses did. To read this, you assume he covered his face in front of the Hebrews AT ALL TIMES until the glow died off. However, as I read the passage:
Exo 34:32 And afterwards all the sons of Israel drew near. And he commanded them all that which Jehovah had spoken with him in Mount Sinai.
Exo 34:33 And Moses finished speaking with them, and he put a veil on his face.
Exo 34:34 And as Moses came in before Jehovah to speak with Him, he took off the veil until he went out. And he would go out and speak to the sons of Israel that which he was commanded.
Exo 34:35 And the sons of Israel would see the face of Moses, that the skin of Moses' face had become luminous. And Moses would put back the veil on his face until he went in to speak with Him.
You see, Moses gave them the Word of God WITH UNCOVERED FACE- only putting on the veil afterwards. And when he would go to speak with God again, he would uncover himself to God- and then go to the Sons of Israel STILL uncovered, until he had told them what God wanted them to know. They NEVER received the Word veiled from God's glory- but because of the hardness of their hearts, they never took it in.
Which brings me to two more points to ponder. HOW did their hearts get hardened? Did God do it, as he (seemingly) did to Pharaoh? Or was it as Paul would say to the Corinthians in the next chapter:
2Co 4:3 And even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled only to those who are perishing.
2Co 4:4 In their case the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelievers, to keep them from seeing the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God.
So, did God do it, or did the Devil? Well, my opinion is that THEY had to choose whether to face the glory of God, and they chose to hide from it, so God allowed the veil to descend, and Satan used it to blind them. And us, if we hide from the glory.
Second point to ponder, what DID Moses see? Was he looking at the FACE of God?
Joh 1:18 No one has seen God at any time; the Only-begotten Son, who is in the bosom of the Father, He has declared Him.
Exo 33:20 And He said, You cannot see My face. For there no man can see Me and live.
So what DID he see? The verses before that Exodus passage give us a clue...
Exo 33:18 And he (Moses) said, I beseech You, let me see Your glory.
Exo 33:19 And He (God) said, I will make all My goodness pass before you, and I will proclaim the name of Jehovah before you. And I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and will have mercy on whom I will have mercy.
And at the big moment...
Exo 33:21 And the LORD said, "Behold, there is a place by me where you shall stand on the rock,
Exo 33:22 and while my glory passes by I will put you in a cleft of the rock, and I will cover you with my hand until I have passed by.
Exo 33:23 Then I will take away my hand, and you shall see my back, but my face shall not be seen."
Now note in v 19, how God mentions proclaiming His name? It was more than just a name He declared:
Exo 34:6 The LORD passed before him and proclaimed, "The LORD, the LORD, a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness,
Exo 34:7 keeping steadfast love for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, but who will by no means clear the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children and the children's children, to the third and the fourth generation."
One last thing on this: How great is the glory of God! Think about it, here we have a people who saw an entire sea split in two for them to walk across, and shrugged it off with a, "but Egypt has fresher meat" (Exodus 16:3 for the un-Martined version), but when confronted with the afterglow from one man who got a glimpse of the back of God's hands, they cower in fear!
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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