Time Machine co-ordinates VIXCIII54151068

Today is May 10th, 1968, and we are coming in over Paris, and the "Night of the Barricades".  This was the culmination of weeks of communist-led protests against the DeGaulle/Pompidou government, and its ramifications led to DeGaulle finally allowing for the National Assembly to be dissolved and new elections held.  The results?  Despite his fears- which led him to leave the country for a day until assured of Army support- DeGaulle's party notched its widest margin of victory ever, once again proving that, while the left has bigger mouths, those mouths don't always coincide with popular support.  Politicians thinking they need to bow and scrape for Twitter hacks should keep that in mind.

"Naturellement, I knew I would win all along, ami..."

****************************************************

Ready for a different kind of Time Machine?  This week, I'm going to do a reveal of one of the top two Panel contestants first...AND I'm going to reveal the M10 #1 first, as well!  Chaos?  Madness?  No, just a couple of really good reasons for both!   PLUS:  Two new M10 debuts- both of them from friend suggestions!So don't drag your furniture out in the streets to protest- drag 'em to the computer to tune in!


*****************************************

Bobby Goldsboro- what's he doing here?  Well, we're at that time of 1968 where his massive hit Honey was charting- #1 this week on Cashbox.  In fact, there was a TITANIC struggle between this song and one other for the top spot on the Panel picks- the winner taking a 23-21 victory, decided on the last 2 votes!  So what we are going to do is have a double guess contest this week!  First, you'll pick from the Panel group just WHO that other contender is- and then, who won!  We'll be back with that in a minute, but first....


************************************************

But first, our first M10 debut at #9.  This was shared by a friend on Spotify, and was too catchy to leave out!  Plus, I found the video hilarious- with a surprise ending you won't expect!  Now, note to Bobby G- I'm guessing the song won't exactly trip your trigger, but you'll LOVE how the video ends!  For their first time on the M10, here's Skindred:





******************************************************

And finally, at long last, I welcome Diana Ross to the TM mike!  Nice to have you here!

Thank you... I'm sorry about our previous, well, monetary issues... it's a contract thing, you know how Berry is...


Not as well as you do!  But its good to have you here from an era that I had a pretty significant crush on you...

Aw, how sweet!  how old were you?

3... 4...

Um...

Anyway, with the current game, you'll be actually doing the Panel choices for one of the 2 contenders this week, so you do get to be a part of Panel history.

Well, thank you!  I'll do my best... I guess...

Okay, so we start off with the one vote wonders- and thankfully we have just 20 songs from 79 stations this week, so instead of 20 1-v-w's, we have nine.

All right... so we start out with this year's Eurovision runner-up, Cliff Richard with Congratulations.  One of his rare times back then to chart here... it peaked at #99 on Billboard.

Then comes this week's #4 song on CB, Gary Puckett and the Union Gap with Young Girl.

I've been considering doing a "what would I have had at the top then" feature, basing the 'educated guess' on what I liked back then and where it was that week.  This would have likely been my number one this week.

Very interesting... next up is Paul Mariat's lovely instrumental Love Is Blue, which was actually in its second week of dropping from the top 40, at #51....

Which is why THAT wasn't my choice.

Next, we have South Africa's Four Jacks and a Jill with Master Jack at #55...

...or that one...

Sweetie, it's not polite to interrupt.  The Intruders with Cowboys To Girls- I'm sure another one you liked- was at #11.

Wilmer and the Dukes, a local band out of Geneva, New York, got a vote for their song Give Me One More Chance.  They were a few weeks from charting nationally, though, and would peak in early July at #78.

Ohh, Tom Jones, at #35 with Delilah...

And hot stuff from James Brown, I Got The Feeling, at #14.

Finally, we have Andy Kim at #75 with How'd We Get This Way at #75.  Chris?

Oh, joy, permission to speak...

Well, no need to be rude..

Yeah, well, my show.  So here's the 'also receiving votes' list...

DON'T throw it at me...

I didn't, I slid it to you...

You'd think that someone who paid premium price for a guest would be a little more appreciative of their presence...

Oh, I'm just basking in it...


Give me that list.  So here, with 2 votes we have the Troggs with Love Is All Around at #12; People with I Love You at #78; the Beatles and Lady Madonna at #3; with three votes we have Tommy James and the Shondells with Mony Mony at #30 and the Ohio Express and Yummy Yummy Yummy at #84; And with 4 votes, Hugo Montenegro and the Theme from The Good The Bad And The Ugly at #18.

Speaking of which... let's patch this up.  I apologize for being snippy.  Diana?

What, you think I have something to apologize for?

Nothing a less elitist attitude wouldn't fix...

How DARE you speak to me like that?

And we're back to that "my show" thing...

Well, you can just finish the show yourself, mister!  I am OUT...

Contract says you do the whole list, ma'am...

ARRRGH!  Fine, let me have the list.  Choose the song that battles Bobby Goldsboro from:  The Irish Rovers and The Unicorn at #7... Archie Bell and the Drells with Tighten Up at #5... The Rascals and Beautiful Morning at #6... and Simon and Garfunkel with Mrs. Robinson at #15, on its way down.  Are we satisfied now?

Yep, got my money's worth...

Well, don't expect me to do this show aga... who are you?

HB:  I am TM lawyer Horace Bellbottom, ma'am, and I thought I should point out to you that our contract with you and Motown call for a minimum of three appearances...

ARRRRGH!!!


**************************************************

Now, the second reveal comes next, and that is that our new M10 #1 is...

Tame Impala with Eventually!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  Which marks the second time this song has hit the top, with Lucius's cover hitting just over a year ago, or 30 number ones ago.  And naturally, that got me thinking about all the times that's happened on the official charts.

So I found a guy who used the Whitburn book to track down 81 times that that has happened in history.  Now, remembering our talk about that book, and how entries before 1940 aren't exactly official or reliable, I looked over the list and found that that restriction would have cut the list down to 22.

But let's just say we go with it, how many of these matchups had at least one of the pair in the Martin Era 2.0?  The answer is 15- 5 completely in the ME2.0 (1955-1977) and 10 with at least one leg in it.  So, ol' statistical me, I wanted to see the most time between pairs, since the one-week-short-of-13-months that Eventually did on the M10 isn't really that long.  So next, how these songs spread out- after our second debut.  Submitted by former boss Tim, played by the man/band/way of thinking known as King Leg, produced by Dwight Yoakum, here's the song at #8...





*************************************


And now that list, from closest to furthest.


1956 brings us Young Love, which by Sonny James hit #1 on one of the four Billboard charts (most played by DJs on the air), and after that Tab Hunter's version took over the next week, eventually hitting all four charts.

1957 gives us the former POTM winner Butterfly.  Andy Williams charted first, then Charlie Grace- overlapping subsequent weeks but never on the same chart.

So you can consider them a 14th place tie, and then we go to...

13- Go Away Little Girl, 104 months between Steve Lawrence in '63 and Donny Osmond in '71.

12- The Loco-Motion, 128 months between Little Eva in '62 and Grand Funk Railroad in '74.

11- Lean On Me, 144 months between Bill Withers in '72 and Club Noveau in '87.

10- Please Mr Postman, 147 months between Martha and the Vandellas in '61 and Karen and Richard Carpenter in '74.

9- There, I've Said It Again, 210 months between Vaughn Monroe in 1945 and Bobby Vinton in '63.

8- Venus, 221 months between Shocking Blue in '70 and Bananrama in 1986.

7- You Keep Me Hanging On, 245 months between the Supremes in '66 and Kim Wilde in '87.

6- I'll Be There, 260 months between the Jackson 5 in 1970 and Mariah Carey in '92.

5- When A Man Loves A Woman, 270 weeks between Percy Sledge in '66 and (ugh) Michael Bolton in '91.

4- Deep Purple, 296 months between Larry Clinton and Bea Wain in 1939 and Nino Temple and April Stevens in '63.

3- Smoke Gets In Your Eyes, 300 months between Paul Whiteman's big band in 1933 and the Platters in 1959.


And in the best race of the day, #'s 1 and 2 separated by 4 DAYS...

2- Lady Marmalade- 314 months 4 days between Labelle in '75 and Christina Aguillera et al in 2001.

And the winner... 

1- Blue Moon, 314 months, 8 days, between Glen Gray's band in '35 and the Marcels in '61!!!!!!!


*****************************************

Okay, so here's how your 'Panel Primary' turns out:

If you went with The Unicorn, you got 6.3%...
Beautiful Morning gets you 8.8%...
Mrs Robinson nets 10.1%...

But moving to the final is Archie Bell and the Drells with Tighten Up!!! So who wins it all- Bobby or Archie?  Find out in a bit...


**********************************

A quick stat pack:

The Box Tops claimed what would have been the 6D spot, #2 without a vote for Cry Like A Baby.

Mrs Robinson claimed the big mover, 32 spots from 47 to 15...

Frank Sinatra claimed the #68 in '68 with I Can't Believe I'm Losing You...

Paul Mariat was at #101 with the follow up to his big hit, Love In Every Room.

I had thought to start doing significant debuts this week, so howsabout Gene Pitney's She's A Heartbreaker at 93, Merilee Rush and Angel Of The Morning at 91, and Richard Harris with McArthur Park at 76?

And somehow I forgot about the UK #1, so let's see... and it's Satchmo and What A Wonderful World!  From the Panel, Young Girl was #7, Honey was #9, Congratulations, surprisingly, was on the way down at #11, Delilah at #15, Love Is Blue at #32, Lady Madonna at #35.


**********************************************

The rest of the M10:

Kelley Stoltz stayed at 10 with Empty Kicks.

J Mascis hangs in at #7 with See You At The Movies.

Idlewild gets an 8th week, falling one to #6 with Dream Variations.

ELO takes a leap to #5 with Long Black Road at #5- Criminal Hygiene takes that same 3-spot jump to 4 with Hardly News. 

As you already know, Maybird has conceded the top spot, going to 3 with Don't Keep Me Around.

And The Dig moves into the second slot with Moonlight Baby- and it might be a while before the top 2 changes....

******************************************

Okay, have you got your pick?  Who got 26.58% and who got 29.11%?

Are you SURE????


Okay, the winner of the POTM is.....

....sigh... Bobby Goldsboro and Honey....


So tune in next week to see if I can get along with Bobby better than I did "Lady Di"!  Oh, and 1969!

Wednesday Bible Study- J is for Jabez

This week is going to be a bit more light-hearted, and a lot more speculative.  Many of you know the name Jabez from the book, The Prayer of Jabez, that came out back in 2000.  It was basically a self help book based on a prayer said by an otherwise-unknown gentleman of that name, tucked into a deep well of genealogy:

1Ch 4:9  Jabez was more honorable than his brothers; and his mother called his name Jabez, saying, "Because I bore him in pain." 
1Ch 4:10  Jabez called upon the God of Israel, saying, "Oh that you would bless me and enlarge my border, and that your hand might be with me, and that you would keep me from harm so that it might not bring me pain!" And God granted what he asked. 

Author Bruce Wilkerson dissected the prayer to show what a powerful prayer it can be in all our lives.  What I am going to do is ask the question that has always bugged me since then:

"WHO is he, and HOW did his prayer get tucked in here like this?"

In the course of looking into this, I learned several good rules when it comes to deciphering these genealogies.  And they start right with the opening verse of the chapter:

1Ch 4:1  The sons of Judah: Perez, Hezron, Carmi, Hur, and Shobal. 

This is not exactly accurate- and you learn this if you go back two chapters to the actual line of Judah.  Thus, Lesson #1- sometimes when you get a line up of "sons", they are actually the line of the first guy.  Perez WAS the son of Judah- through his daughter-in-law Tamar and that whole lovely story.  Hezron, however, was the son of Perez, Carmi was the son of Hezron, Hur was Carmi's boy (whose other son was Achan who screwed up the first battle at Ai for Israel), and so on.  The author is trying to trace Judah's significant line here, and goes through Perez.  For us, we take a turn at Hezron.  Because when you go back a couple of chapters, this great-great-great grandson of Abraham decided to get a new wife late in life:

1Ch 2:21  Afterward Hezron went in to the daughter of Machir the father of Gilead, whom he married when he was sixty years old, and she bore him Segub. 

Now, one thing I am learning is Lesson # 2- Names are important; and sometimes they aren't actually names.  You see, in a lot of cases these "names" must be after-the-fact descriptions of what they became- and that becomes HUGE later on in my tale.  For now, though, it gave me a chuckle, because Machir means "salesman", and thus old man Hezron married the salesman's daughter, which I can't help but think became part of one of the oldest jokes in the book.

But, see, while Segub goes on to father Jair, who becomes someone important (founded a bunch of cities), it is the OTHER child that Hezron has with his "salesman's daughter" that we go after:

1Ch 2:24  After the death of Hezron, Caleb went in to Ephrathah, the wife of Hezron his father, and she bore him Ashhur, the father of Tekoa. 

Now this whole verse is kinda screwy, as Caleb is Hezron's son.  The ESV totally blew the meaning here; let's try it again by the literal translation:

1Ch 2:24  And after the death of Hezron in Caleb-ephratah, then Abiah, Hezron's wife bore to him Ashur the father of Tekoa. 

Lesson #3 being, Run every question through the literal translations, shows us the whole sense.  Ephratah was Hezron's first wife, and his home town was then called by her name- later on known as Bethlehem.  Caleb was living there, and Abiah or Abijah was the salesman's daughter who was left pregnant when old man Hezron died.  She gave birth while living in Caleb's house, and this second son was Ashhur (one or two Hs, your choice).  But the "father of Tekoa" part brings us to lesson #4.  

And that is, sometimes "father of" can mean you founded a city, or you started a family line.  This time, it means he founded the city of Tekoa, 4 miles south of Bethlehem.  And this is the limit of nice things we will have to say about Ashhur.  His name means "black" and I have a feeling that this is a character reference.  Observe:  Born posthumously, he ends up being a big scoundrel.  Why do I say that?  Well, lack of a father's guidance tells you he was kind of an "ugly step-child", but more, we next look at his two wives.  Now I think that the names passed to us of these two women were given by Ashhur to posterity, and I think it shows what an ass he was.

One wife was named Naarah, which basically means, "the girl."  The other is named Helah, which means- believe it or not- "rust" or scum".

Nice guy, eh?

But now here's the thing, and the reason that I believe Ashhur was responsible for THEIR names- we look at their SONS' names.  Helah named her sons that were DEFINITELY mentioned, Zereth (meaning splendor), Ethnan (gift, reward), and Jezoar (he will shine).  I believe what we have here is a good, God-loving woman- and thus Ashhur the Black's low opinion of her.

Naarah's choices, on the other hand, are more like the same "call 'em this" deal that Ashhur used on his wives.  Only two of them are for sure names:  Ahuzam (seized, seizure, no doubt a play on how Ashhur 'acquired' Naarah), and Hepher (shame; must have took after Daddy).  The third one named is Temani, "of the south", and I'll come back to him in a bit.  The last is Haahashtari, which is definitely NOT an name- it comes from an old Persian word for, "the courier".

It seems to me that Naarah was more on Ashhur's level from this, thus she was just "the girl", while the faithful Helah was "scum".  Now lesson number 4 was given me by the commentators, and comes up important in my theory- sometimes a name pops up in close proximity of a family tree; the reason being to give THAT member of the tree a little more emphasis.  Thus, we find a fellow named Coz sandwiched between this story of Ashhur's and Jabez's appearance.  The commentators felt that probably Coz was a fourth son of Helah; and here's where we demonstrate that first rule again:

1Ch 4:8  And Coz fathered Anub, and Zobebah, and the families of Aharhel, the son of Harum. 

So they figure that Harum must be a great grandson down the way, like how the chapter opened with the line FROM (not of) Judah.  But here's the funny thing about Coz; if he is a fourth son of Helah, he is certainly set apart from the others in name, for HIS name means "thorn".

NOW, sit that next to Jabez...

 And his mother called his name Jabez, saying, Because I bore with sorrow. 

Jabez means, "to grieve; sorrowful."  But more important, look at the word used here by his mother for 'sorrow':

From H6087; an earthen vessel; usually (painful) toil; also a pang (whether of body or mind): - grievous, idol, labor, sorrow.

So she had hard pangs- hard labor- delivering Jabez.  Like a "thorn", perhaps?

Is Coz the same as Jabez?  Remember, the speculation was that Coz was another son of Helah, but set apart for the narrative...

 And Jabez was more honorable than his brothers....

More honorable than 'splendor', 'a gift', 'the one who shines'?

Mind you this is all speculation, and Jabez might not be related to any of these people.  But for sake of argument, what if he wasn't Helah's son, but Naarah's?  Let's go back a few steps, to the son called Temani.  This means, 'man of the south', like I said, and is also the word for Teman, a town waaaay in the south, in Edom.  This is where Eliphaz, the buddy of Job came from; and apparently (Eliphaz aside) was known for the wisdom of its people.  Look in Jeremiah 49...

Jer 49:7  So says Jehovah of Hosts concerning Edom: Is wisdom no more in Teman? Has counsel perished from the prudent? Has their wisdom vanished? 

Now Teman is a LONG way off from the rest of our story; and what was it exactly that Jabez asked God for?

1Ch 4:10  And Jabez called to the God of Israel, saying, If indeed You would bless me, and make my border larger, and Your hand would be with me, and that You would keep me from evil so that it may not grieve me! And God gave him what he asked. 

Food for thought.  Our lesson from this whole thing is threefold:

1- There are some really interesting things to find in the genealogies, if you are willing to dig.

2- Love is something PASSED DOWN, not just born there.  (If indeed the Helah connection is correct.)

3- Kids, don't do this at home.  There are commentators and scholars that do this for a living.  See what they say before going 'prospecting'.

Primary night

So today is Primary Day, and I am doing what I have done every such day for 39 years- nothing.


NOTHING?

Nope.  When I got my first registration, I registered Independent.  My Dad said, "We're Democrats."  I said, "Maybe YOU are..."

You see, I had this dream back then, that our leaders were basically good people who built platforms based on the best interests of We The People. I believed that if I studied each person, found out what they were about, I would have a better ballot than blindly voting party lines.


That myth pretty much got shattered by the middle of Evan Bayh's first term as governor (AKA my third time voting, back in '88).  Since then, I may have voted for 2 Democrats, held my nose at several Republicans, missed the Dole/Clinton bout due to car problems, and wrote in Bo Gritz during Clinton/Bush Sr.  But no primary.

And I asked myself today, why is that?  Is a sense of not being controlled for a party I by and large vote for anyway more important than being a Dem long enough to vote for Tommy Schrader against Tom Henry?

Tommy Schrader: homeless man and perennial Democrat challenger for whatever office is up for grabs

Or perhaps it's plausible deniability:  It won't be MY fault I have to vote for John Crawford in the general, YOU boobs put him in it over Tim Smith!  That was especially effective during the Matt Kelty disaster.


Or maybe, fratricidal infighting just isn't as much fun as "Sticking it to Hillary/Bernie/Bill/Barack, etc."  If I'm gonna vote for the guy who wins anyway...


During the last primaries, I kept shaking my head.  I'd watch the debates, carefully consider the answers, and when they'd run the "who do you think won" polls, I'd vote for the one I chose, expecting others would do the same.  And each time, Trump and his 'Lyin Ted' and 'littile Marco' and a plethora of other insults- which IMHO detracted from his stands, which I supported- not only won, but run away and hid.

And I remembered the "good old days" when everyone would get together at the convention and hammer out the platform they would run on, and everyone would have a voice- even if it was screaming.  Drama, comedy, serious discussion.


That ain't what it is now.  And to be honest with you, my better question is, if I was about to register as an 18-y-o newbie today- would I even bother?

So I'll see you in November.  But tonight, I'm gonna live off a little nostalgia for the days when there was a choice between parties, a chance I might flip from election to election.  Anyone else miss Ed Muskie?

Sunday message: Lord's prayer, pt 1

I am feeling led to look into the Lord's Prayer here on Sunday.  My leading came when some preacher mentioned the Rosary, which I am familiar with from my Catholic days.  And my thoughts wandering, I thought to myself, "They say one 'Our Father' for every ten 'Hail Mary's, in a way, because you get so much more from the Lord's Prayer- even when you don't get it all the way- than you do from a Hail Mary."  But what if we tried to get the most out of ONE Lord's Prayer?


This morning, I looked up a site that had "63 verses about God as Father", and made note of what part of Fatherhood was actually being mentioned.  What I found was (not surprisingly to you numerology fans) seven standout characteristics.

1- An example

Isn't this the part that everyone says society has lost- fathers acting as examples?  It used to be that many of us looked at our fathers as heroes- feet of clay and all.  I remember being in kindergarten, being asked what I wanted to do when I grew up.  Well, besides his factory job, which I knew next to nothing about, he worked as a handyman with Mom's brother-in-law.  So I drew a picture of the one time I helped him- putting up shingles on a roof.

God becomes our example in verses like Matt. 5:48- "Therefore you are to be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect."  Remember, 'perfect' here doesn't mean it the way we think, but more like 'complete'.


2- Provider

Jesus tells us over and over again, not to worry about physical things.  "And do not seek what you will eat and what you will drink, and do not keep worrying. "For all these things the nations of the world eagerly seek; but your Father knows that you need these things. "But seek His kingdom, and these things will be added to you."- Luke 12:29-31.  And he provides for us in the spirit-plane as well:  "Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ," Eph. 1:3.


3- Compassion

The first thing I think of is when Jesus said, "What father would, when his son asks for a fish, give him a snake?"  His point was, a human father wouldn't (or at least shouldn't) do that, how much more will the Lord God show compassion?  But I thought it better served by this verse:

Just as a father has compassion on his children, So the LORD has compassion on those who fear Him. (Psalm 103:13.)  I find it funny that I heard in a sermon the other day, "The Jewish mindset never thought of God as a Father, and the Pharisees considered it blasphemy when Jesus did."  And yet, the OT is full of descriptions of God as Father.

4- Purchaser-possessor-adoptive parent

In fact, one of the oldest mentions I found of God as Father was Deut. 32:6:
"Do you thus repay the LORD, O foolish and unwise people? Is not He your Father who has bought you? He has made you and established you.

Reminds me of the old song we sung in church as a child:

The church's one foundation

is Jesus Christ her Lord

she is His new creation 

by water and the Word

from heav'n He came and sought her

to be His loving bride

with His own blood he bought her

and for her life He died.

5- Creator

Just like our human father's 'created' us, God stands first of all as our Creator.  In fact, most of these other examples, if you think about it, have an implied, "Since God is our Creator...".

6- Discipline

There are two categories that had just a little more volume-by-verse than the others.  Discipline- conducting ourselves with reverence before God- is one of those.  It strikes me right now that the most often asked question by unbelievers is, "Why would a loving God allow X?"  And that this is, by my study, one of the things God answers most:

My son, do not reject the discipline of the LORD Or loathe His reproof, For whom the LORD loves He reproves, Even as a father corrects the son in whom he delights.  Proverbs 3:121-12, and quoted in Hebrews 12:5-6.

If He is NOT your Father, your first question is "why did it happen?"  If He is, it should be, "What is He telling me through it?" One of my favorite parts of Job is where Elihu reminds Job of this concept:

Job 37:9  Out of the storeroom comes the tempest, and cold from scattering winds. 
Job 37:10  Ice is given by God's breath, and the expanse of waters is frozen. 
Job 37:11  Yea, He loads the cloud with moisture; He scatters His lightning cloud; 
Job 37:12  and it is turned around by His guidance, so that they may do whatever He commands them on the face of the world of the earth. 
Job 37:13  Whether as a whip, or for His land, or for mercy, He finds it. 


7- Inheritance

And this is not only one of the two 'most-mentioned', it's the great part!  Just like the prodigal who returned after wasting it all, Our Father has yet more to give.  One thing I wanted to mention that caught my ear the other day.  You ever read the story of the Prodigal Son and think, "You know, I might have had the servants hose him down before I throw that new robe on that muddy, pig-poop-smelling, scruffy kid..."  But Jesus never mentioned that, and there is a reason.  Becoming a Christian COVERS our sins.  It doesn't take them away whilst we are in this body.  We are still sinners; we will still fall.  And we get called hypocrites and holier-than-thou when we do, by people who don't have the same Father.  But for OUR Father, it is enough that we have returned to Him.

Time Machine co-ordinates VIXCII5405367

And we're back, and it's May 3rd, 1967- the day our heroic soldiers along with ARVN took hill #881 in Khe Sanh!

You betcha!

And if you weren't here yesterday, why not?  We did the 'one-vote-wonders'- all 20 of 'em- so we could get to the remaining 19 contestants of the biggest panel of all time!  And it was a helluva tight race this week, too!  Let's get right to the action, shall we?


*******************************************

Starting us off is the week's lone debut!  At #10, here's newcomer Kelley Stoltz:






*******************************************


All right, I am so excited, because I get to share the Time Machine mike with a former Beauty Contestant!  Ladies and ge...YES, Nardole?

Well, there was a slight problem... her husband, a Mr John Phillips, refused to let Michelle come on the show without him.  A 'package deal', he called it.  Naturally, I refused, knowing how you feel about the extra expense... But, if I may, I believe Ms Cass from yesterday is still down at the buffet...

Elvis:  You bet she is, and I can't get her outta there!  Y'all better do something about...

(Door opens, she enters, sucking down a rib...)

Cass:  Here I am, boys!  (munch munch).  I'll sure be glad to help out...

E:  Lissen, you've helped yourself to about as much...

Alright, hold it guys!  I have a solution that will satisfy no one but myself, and since I'm the boss, motion carries.  Here, Elvis...

E:  Hey, what...


You two do the Panel picks, I'll go...  order more supplies... yeah, supplies!  You guys have at it!

C: Oh, this will be SO fun!

Nardole:  Well, if you'll both excuse me, I must...

E:  (Whispering) You sit right down, Baldy, I need a chaperone!  I don't know if this dame is gonna strip me or eat me, an' I need backup!  (louder)  So let's get back to these here songs.  Ladies first...

C:  Sure King!  Can I call you King?

E:  Mr Presley will be fine...

C:  Oh, you are just the silliest thing!  So lets do this by number of votes, and with two votes, we start out with Lou Rawls and Dead End Street.  It was #40 this week.

Then comes an act called The Choir.  Chris left us a little note:  "These guys are the Raspberries before Eric Carmen joined."  Do you know what that means?

E: I don' understand half the stuff Chris says...

C: Anyway, their song was called It's Cold Outside, and it was at #121 this week.

Then, another 'bubbling under' with 2 votes- this time it's the Wildweeds and No Good To Cry at #112.  Chris has another little note- "guitarist Al Anderson later helped found NRBQ, and was on the M10 #1 Driving In My Car."

Alright, sweetie, why don't you do a few?

E: All right, and... hey, you got gravy on this paper!

C:  (chew, swallow) mmmsorry...

E:  Man, Baldy, gimme some gloves!  Next up, still with 2 votes, we have The Buckinghams 'n' Don't You Care at #9... Englebert Humperdinck and Release Me at #27... the Moving Sidewalks an' 99th Floor...

N:  Don't forget to read the note on that one...

E:  Shuddup, Baldy, I'm gettin' there!  "The Moving Sidewalks was the first appearance of ZZTop's Billy Gibbons.  Did not chart."  Happy?  Here, Darlin' you do the next ones...

C:  Elvis called me darling... (starts to swoon)

E: Don' let it get to yer head...

C: AHEM..  Sandie Shaw's Puppet On A String- which didn't make the charts here, but was #1 in the UK this week, is next.

The Hollies' On A Carousel was at #10...

The Five Americans with Western Union, they're at #22... 

And Aretha Franklin and Respect is at #17...

E:  Good grief, don' let her in here, she eats as much as you!  So now we got just three more losers today.  The Turtles got Happy Together at #5 with 3 votes, and a couple more with four- the Monkees an' A Little Bit Me, A Little Bit You at #3, an' Davey Allen an'the Arrows at #89 with Blue's Theme.  Here, you c'n have the finalists, I'm outta here!

C:  Bye, sweetie... he called me darling... Oh, look, Chris is back!

A little bit early by the looks of it.  Where are we at?

C:  Here, honey, it's just the finals now...

All right, and while Nardole escorts our guest back to her proper era...

C: Aw, I wanna stay!

N:  Come, along, ma'am.  I'm sure you'll be... PLEASE don't touch me there...

C:  Tee hee!  I slipped...

Anyway, here are your choices for POTM.  Choose from:  The Young Rascals and Groovin at #14... Frank and Nancy Sinatra with Somethin' Stupid at Numero Uno... Tommy James and the Shondells with I Think We're Alone Now at #6... Arthur Conley and Sweet Soul Music at #4... and the Supremes with The Happening at #2!  These five collected exactly HALF the 106 total votes.  Choose wisely, and we'll move on...


*******************************************

Just to let you in on it, we had a record breaking 12 of our contestants make the UK charts this week!  Besides Sandie Shaw at the top, there was Somethin' Stupid (2), A Little Bit Me (3), Purple Haze (5), Release Me (8), Happy Together (12), The Boat That I Row (16), I Was Kaiser Bill's Batman (17), You Got What It Takes (35), Penny Lane (36), Sweet Soul Music (44), and On A Carousel (50).  Wonder what Purple Haze and some of the others are doing on there?  I TOLD you to read yesterday's post first!

*****************************************

I have to get a big chuckle when I can use the 6D to connect the terms "professional wrestling" and "rinky dink".  And that is exactly what I get to do today, because a song that "The Happy Organ"'s Dave "Baby" Cortez did called Rinky Dink (which hit #10 in 1962) was the theme music for Saturday afternoon program Professional Wrestling in the UK.  (In their defense, wiki mentions that most viewers knew neither the name of the tune nor that DBC did it -mainly because he never charted over there).  Now he got a start in the business playing for a Harlem doo-wop act called Little Jimmy Rivers and the Tops.  And YOU have prolly never heard of them, as they never charted- but, as Maxwell Smart would say...

You see, they had this up and coming songwriter composing for them, and they almost got some play for one of his tunes called Puppy Love- not the same one you know...





But the next song he wrote for them, he suddenly decided this would sound better by a girl group, and She's So Fine became He's So Fine for the Chiffons.  And they missed out on a #1.

Now I haven't yet mentioned WHO that writer was, with due reason.  You see, he died suddenly right after He's So Fine, and another song-scribe, Lamont Dozier was in the audience to watch Ronnie Mack's Mom accept his award for the hit.  And it made him want to do something to commemorate him, somehow.  And he put that together with the fact that the record company was busting his chops to write a new song for Martha Reeves and the Vandellas, mix it together, and you get the #7 hit this week on Cashbox without a Panel Vote- Jimmy Mack.

***************************************

This week's stat pack brings us the following trivia:

Bad enough I didn't give Aretha much "respect" during the Panel fun, but she didn't get much on the charts either.  Her song took a 39-notch jump this week- but lost the biggest mover to Tommy James and the Shondells with Mirage, up 41 places from 79 to 38.  Of course, Aretha's 39 spots got her to #17, so there is that.

"Honey chile, you best hope I never get in that box of yours..."

Trust me on that!  Anyway, The #67 in '67 was Otis Redding and Carla Thomas with a tune called Tramp- and I looked it up, it was actually Carla calling Otis, basically, a hick, and not Otis calling Carla... well, I've gotten myself into enough trouble for one post...


There were huge upcoming hits at both #101 AND #102 this week!  The higher, Every Mothers Son with Come On Down To My Boat... the other, Frankie Valli's Can't Take My Eyes Off You.

******************************************

The remaining M10:

Easy come, easy go for Lily and Madeline, as Can't Help The Way I Feel slips to #9 in its 6th week.

ELO up a pair to #8 with Long Black Road.

Also up 2, Criminal Hygiene and Hardly News at #7.

J Mascis retreats 3 to #6 in week #6 for See You At The Movies.

And 7-weeker Dream Variations by Idlewild slips but a spot to #5.

And another easy-comer is Mara Connor's No Fun, pushed back a pair to #4.

Just like last time, I put their song on the chart not expecting much, and it has grown into a top hit.  Who?  The Dig, as Moonlight Baby climbs 3 to #3.  They really grow on me!

Surprising probably no one, Tame Impala's Eventually springs from #8 to #2.

Meaning a second week at the top for...

...Maybird's Don't Keep Me Around!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


And the Panel?  Ready for the tight results? 

8.5% of the vote to Sweet Soul Music...

9.4% to Somethin' Stupid...

10.4% goes to both Groovin' and I Think We're Alone Now...

Which means that with 11.3%, the winner...

The Supremes with The Happening!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


Well, hopefully we might actually get Diana to show up this time- third time's the charm, right?  See you next time for 1968!

Time Machine- the Great One-Vote-Wonder Show

Journey to May 3rd, 1967, part one...



So if you read to the bottom of Monday's lovely post, you know that we had a problem with this week's Panel from 1967.  It was TOO BIG.  106 stations flooded the Panel with 39 contestants- and believe me, we had the obscurest of the obscure along with 23 songs that actually made the Hot 100! So today, we're going to break things up with just the one-vote-wonders... and they make up 51.3% of the contestants, though only 18.8% of the vote...

What, you couldn't just say, 'There were 20 of them'?

And that voice belongs to my guest and POTM winner, Cass Elliot!

So how come I got the losers' bracket?

Well, uh... um, it's like this...

Oh I know... you got the hots for Missy... but I'm cute too...

Well, sure, Ms Elliot...

Call me Mama...

Um... anyway, we're going to do this the old alphabetical way, just to mix it up a bit.  Cass, would you take the first few?

Suit yourself... First, we Lulu with The Boat That I Row.  It was written by up-and-comer Neil Diamond and at some point peaked in the US at 115, though it made #6 in the UK.  This week, it was #16 there.

Then we have Peaches and Herb with Close Your Eyes, at #15 this week.

Oh, look!  There we are with Creque Alley, at #24 this week!  Groovy!

Yes, nicely done!  So next we have an act called Jon and Robin- and this was John Abnor Jr and Javonne (Robin) Braga...

Gee, they look so happy there...

Yeah, I noticed.  Anyway, they recorded for Abnak Records, which daddy John Sr set up just for him.  Their only big act were the Five Americans, who charted Western Union in tomorrow's half of the Panel.  Today, their song is Do It Again A Little Bit Slower, and it was on the charts at #80.

And we have Neil Diamond himself, with one of my faves of his- Girl You'll Be A Woman, at ... could you, y'know, scoot back a bit?

I'm just tryin' to read over your shoulder, sugar...

Uh-huh.  Anyway, he's at #16.  And The Tremeloes were at #28 with Here Comes My Baby.

Okay, so next we have Don Gallucci, who used to be with the Kingsmen, at #97 with his new band, Don and the Goodtimes...






I really like that one...

Me too!  Wanna dance?

Ah, doing the show right now...

Oh, yeah... then comes the entertainment elite kiddies, Dino Desi and Billy with If You're Thinkin' What I'm Thinkin'.  It was from Dino's dad's Matt Helm movie, Murderers' Row...

I LOVED Matt Helm...

...with Ann-Margaret- I know, you loved her, too.  Anyway, like all of their singles after '65, it didn't chart, but Dino got to call Matt Helm "Dad" in the movie...

Then we get Spencer Davis Group with I'm A Man, at #11.

Next up we get one of those real obscure ones, they were called the Wanted, and all I could really find out about them is they were from Grosse Pointe, MI and had a single or to on a label I likewise found very little about, Detroit Sound.  They did a garage band cover of In The Midnight Hour, and it got at least as high as #128 on Billboard after A&M picked it up.

Then in what could pass for a pseudo-6D story we have "Whistling Jack Smith"- a name taken from 1920s-1940s baritone Whispering Jack Smith- with I Was Kaiser Bill's Batman.  This tune, originally called, "Too Much Birdseed", was written by the two Rogers- Cook and Greenaway- and performed by a set of studio musicians and the Mike Samms Singers- whose John O'Neill did the whistling.  When the darn thing became a hit- some say it was due to the confusion between the "batman" in the title (which is a soldier tasked to be a servant to some high-and-mighty) and a certain other Batman popular at the time-

"Could he mean ME, Boy Wonder?"

- they were requested to do the tune on Brit show Tops Of The Pops, and they needed a whistling stand-in to, er, lip-synch.  They picked an actor going by the handle Coby Wells, who then became the "face" of "Whistling Jack Smith".  Bonus:  Coby (real name Billy Moeller) was brother to Tommy Moeller whose band Unit 4+2 had a big hit with Concrete and Clay.

Wow.  I could use a drink...

You want me to get you a Coke, sweetie?

No, just do the next few songs, okay?

Sigh... Our next song is from a band called the Merry-Go-Round... and they were almost famous for their leader, Emmit Rhodes.  He was named an up-and-comer, but when the record company forced him into a 6 albums in 3 years deal- with him doing ALL the instruments- he broke down, got sued for a quarter-mil, and lost all his royalties.  But before that, his band was at #74 with this:





****************************************

Next, we have another obscure one, by a high-school band out of Sioux Falls, and it don't get much more obscure than that!  They had the unusual name of The Dynamic Hursmen, or Hursemen depending where you find it, and their song was Love Is A Beautiful Thing.

Next, we have a Canadian folk act, Ian and Sylvia (Tyson), who were actually married for 12 of their 17 years performing together.  She was more notable here for writing You Were On My Mind by the We Five; their song, Lovin' Sound, was the only one to chart in the US, peaking at 101.

Chris, do you want to... Chris?   

Sorry, had to go pee.  Anyway, we are up to one of my all time favorites, the Byrds with My Back Pages at #26.


Sandie Posey's Single Girl came in at #12- last December...

A Fresno band who put out 7 singles in an 8 month span- to no real impact- the Road Runners get a vote for a song called Sleepy Friend.


Then it's Hendrix and Purple Haze- and despite the fact it is already #5 in the UK, it was just released yesterday here in the states!

Then we have the winner for most obscure- it goes to a gent by the name of Bobby Mac, of whom ALL I could learn was his real name was Robert McGlothin (thank you to Catalog of Copyright Entries) and that he recorded from LA and Original Sound Records.  His tune was called Walking Together, and it was an interesting one.  You see, it starts out with...

Honey, why not just play it?

Yeah... yeah, I guess we could.  Watch out for the ending you expect... followed by the one you didn't!





*****************************************

And the final of the one-vote-wonder list is the Dave Clark Five with You've Got What It Takes at #8, and #35 in the UK.

So, now what?

Well, that leaves 14 "also receiving votes" tunes- only five of 'em I didn't know this time- and a tight 5 song finale for tomorrow!

No... I mean, "Now, what...?"

Uh, well, that's all the time we have for today!  Tune in tomorrow for the rest of the show!

But, wait!  I... oh, drat!

Wednesday Bible Study: I is for Ishboseth

Once again, I had a plan- and it wouldn't work.  So I submitted the choice to God, and He chose, Ishboseth.  I said, "Wait, they won't even know who this is- of course, they wouldn't know mine either.  Ishboseth it is."  And the story of Ishboseth brings up a literal ton of questions.  So let me try to thumbnail WHO he is, and answer what questions that I can along the way.  But I want to state at the onset, my BIG question is this:

2Sa 4:9  But David answered Rechab and Baanah his brother, the sons of Rimmon the Beerothite, "As the LORD lives, who has redeemed my life out of every adversity, 
2Sa 4:10  when one told me, 'Behold, Saul is dead,' and thought he was bringing good news, I seized him and killed him at Ziklag, which was the reward I gave him for his news. 
2Sa 4:11  How much more, when wicked men have killed a righteous man in his own house on his bed, shall I not now require his blood at your hand and destroy you from the earth?" 

This is at the very end of our story, and the "righteous man" that Rechab and Baanah have killed IS Ishboseth.  And my question, when all is done, is, "How is it that David calls this guy RIGHTEOUS?"  So let's go down the Ishboseth trail.

Our first point of contention is, his name.  In 1 Chronicles, the sons of Saul's main wife are listed in this order:  Jonathan, Malchi-shua, Abinadab, and ESHBAAL.  These names are important:  Jonathan means "Jehovah given"; Malchi-shua, "King of Wealth", Abinadab "Father of Generosity", and Eshbaal "Man of the Lord".  All very good, kingly names.  However, Eshbaal soon becomes Ishboseth, which is "Man of SHAME."  How does he get there?  Be patient.

Next is the question: "Is David my rival or my stepdad?"  And this pinges on something we hit during the 3:16s, namely the age difference between Jonathan and his beloved friend David.  Depending on what all you take into account, while we are pretty sure David was 18 when he slew Goliath, Johnathan can be shown to have been anywhere from 28 to 46 when it happened- an increasing question of 'how were they such good friends?' as the number rises.

Now, there are two women in the Bible named Ahinoam.  One was Saul's chief wife; the other was David's second wife after Saul's daughter Michal.  But the Jews claim the two were the same woman, based on an argument between Saul and Jonathan:  

1Sa 20:30  Then Saul's anger was kindled against Jonathan, and he said to him, "You son of a perverse, rebellious woman, do I not know that you have chosen the son of Jesse to your own shame, and to the shame of your mother's nakedness? 

They claim that David stole Ahinoam from Saul, explaining why Jonathan was the "son of a perverse, rebellious woman" and the part about "the shame of your mother's nakedness".  Hmmm.  But, here's the other side.  Where the verse says "woman", the word is an implied addition (meaning in your Bible it will be in italics), and the verse can just as easily be read, "a perverse, rebellious son".  Add to that, the age difference between Jonathan and David would make Ahinoam anywhere from 43 to 61 when David "took her" at the age of around twenty.  Add to that, David had been married (and still was in God's eyes) to Ahinoam's DAUGHTER Michal, and how many of us really think David would do that?

So now, let's skip ahead to the dramatic battle on Mt Gilboa where Saul fell, along with all his royal sons from Ahinoam- EXCEPT for, you got it, the man of shame.  Why wasn't HE at the battle?  If they were going to keep someone back, in case things went bad, wouldn't it be the heir-apparent, Jonathan?  But, it was Ishboseth that lived, and that's where we bring in Abner.  Abner was the commander of Saul's army, and was Saul's uncle.  (Note: within a couple of verses, he's said to be an uncle -directly- and a cousin- by doing the math.  But since most sources make him an uncle, we'll go with that.)  So Abner takes Ishboseth and makes him King of Israel in Mahanaim, while Judah declares David King in Hebron.  But Ishboseth, as we will see isn't much of a king, and very soon they come to a problem.  The most famous of Saul's concubines is a lady named Rizpah.  If you thumb back through the 3:16s, this is the lady whose sons got executed in retaliation for how Saul treated the people of Gibeon.  She stayed by their hanging corpses for several days, warding off wild beasts from them, until they were allowed to be buried.  So this was a lady with steel and character.  But Ishboseth accused Abner and her of fooling around.  Why?

Well, it could be they were; had Abner fathered a child by her, he might have had grounds to knock off Ishboseth and make that child king- but, if he's Saul's uncle, and she's Saul's concubine, and Saul reigned 40 years before he was killed... that makes age a factor.  On the other hand, by our figuring, if David was 18 when he entered Saul's court, and not much older when exiled by the paranoid Saul, Ishboseth would have been 23- and picking up Saul's bad habits, apparently.  Perhaps Ishboseth was paranoid that Abner, probably a strong and fit 80, WAS planning an end around, and accused him.  Problem was, Abner got mad, and deserted him for David.

Which brings us to the next question- the fate of Abner.  He goes to David trying to work out a plea deal, and David says, no deal until Michal is restored to him.  THAT brings us back to the 2 Samuel 3:16 I keep referencing ( Which you can check out here if you so choose).  But here's the rub.  Joab is David's commander; and he hates Abner, because in the opening battle in the war between Ishboseth and David, Abner killed his brother.  Plus, he's somehow privy to the whole Abner/Ishboseth blowup, and he goes off on David, using the same wording that Ishboseth used to Abner to indicate that Abner was "seducing" David.  David, who has an annoying habit of not listening to rumor, ignores Joab's advice, so Joab gets word to Abner that he'd like a "meet and greet" if they were going to work together- conveniently not telling his King he's doing so.  So they meet, Joab pulls Abner aside to "tell him a secret", and runs him through.  Needless to say, David is NOT happy:

2Sa 3:28  Afterward, when David heard of it, he said, "I and my kingdom are forever guiltless before the LORD for the blood of Abner the son of Ner. 

2Sa 3:29  May it fall upon the head of Joab and upon all his father's house, and may the house of Joab never be without one who has a discharge or who is leprous or who holds a spindle or who falls by the sword or who lacks bread!" 

2Sa 3:30  So Joab and Abishai his brother killed Abner, because he had put their brother Asahel to death in the battle at Gibeon. 

2Sa 3:31  Then David said to Joab and to all the people who were with him, "Tear your clothes and put on sackcloth and mourn before Abner." And King David followed the bier. 

Now THAT'S a curse!

And what has this to do with Ishboseth and my question?

2Sa 4:1  When Ish-bosheth, Saul's son, heard that Abner had died at Hebron, his courage failed, and all Israel was dismayed. 

The words here translated "his courage failed" literally mean "his hands became feeble."  He gave up the battle; without Abner, whom he had so recently (and likely falsely) accused, he was but a shadow king.  And so it was that one day, during his afternoon nap, Baanah and Rechab killed him, and then figured David would give them a reward.  And as David said, I put to death the guy that thought he was bringing me "good news" that Saul was dead.  What do you think would happen to you?

So what about poor headless Ishboseth?  He evidently earned the name of shame.  He was a coward in battle, paranoid in ruling, and lost without someone to do his work.  How then does David call him righteous?  I wondered the same thing when Peter declared Lot righteous:

2Pe 2:7  And He delivered righteous Lot, who had been oppressed by the behavior of the lawless in lustfulness. 

In looking that one up, I came across an answer to that question on TheGospelCoalition website, and a fascinating answer summed up thusly:

So then how was Lot righteous? Lot was righteous in the same way that you and I are righteous—-by trusting in the God of Abraham. God remembered Abraham (Gen 19:29), whose faith was counted to him as righteousness (Gen 15:6). The only biblically consistent answer to the question of how Lot was righteous (2 Pet 2:7) is that he, like Abraham, believed God. Lot was righteous not because he acted perfectly in the incident with the two strangers in Genesis 19—-far from it. But we know from Peter that he was troubled by the sin he saw around him day after day.

Is this the righteousness that David is referencing?  I don't know.  I do know he thought highly of Abner, who led the rebellion against him for a time- and just maybe he had a bit of sympathy for Ishboseth's position:

2Sa 3:38  And the king said to his servants, Do you not know that a leader and a great one has fallen this day in Israel? 

2Sa 3:39  And I am weak today, though anointed king. And these men, the sons of Zeruiah, are too hard for me. May Jehovah reward the doer of evil according to his evil! 

David felt he was too weak to treat with Joab and his remaining brother as he should- and left it for Solomon to do (which he did in 1 Kings 2)- which is yet another thing about David I've yet to understand.  As for Ishboseth, maybe he was faithful to God, in a way that Saul failed.  Or, maybe David was just- as many commentators say- calling him righteous IN COMPARISON to his murderers.  All I can say for sure was that David was completely consistent in his actions- he never would strike against someone he considered the Lord's Anointed.  And that obedience is why, despite all the questions about David I'm trying to answer for myself, he remains "a man after God's own heart"  (1 Samuel 13 and Acts 13).  And on top of that, if the question is David declaring righteous someone who doesn't exactly deserve it, he's following in the footsteps of Christ pretty well!