So I spent quite a while reading Patriots day posts, most of which can say it better than I can. Some were reposts, which I have never done.
Until now.
This is my post from the ten-year anniversary. I looked it over, don't really see myself improving on it.
It wasn't my intention to write specifically about this day. Or write at all today. I've been reading the blogs I follow, and hearing their stories. I couldn't comment, other than one, hushed, "Wow." What could I add to the recollections- some at home, some at work. Some feeling like the last to know, others telling loved ones even as the disaster unfolded.
Do I have memories? Of course. At first all I knew was "a plane hit the world trade center." Not even what kind of plane, so I assumed here's some dumbass in a private plane that couldn't navigate around the biggest obstacle he'd ever seen. Then the details got filled in. Since patio cushions are so much more important than anything else in life, we had to finish out the day, and I remember intensely not wanting to be there, and I remember my apocalyptic imagination coming out. I remember heading for church afterwards, because I KNEW we'd all be there. I remember it taking forever to get through town because gas had magically went up 60 cents and lines at every station were a half-mile down the street.
Most of all, I remember the next day, and the quietness that told you you never really noticed the noises of air traffic until they weren't there.
And now, ten years have passed, and like the Alamo everyone goes around saying, "never forget."
What is it we're never forgetting?
Is it the horrible fascination of these remembrances, as if spectators at a traffic accident?
Is it an enemy we had nothing against, jealous of what we had, and believing the act was blessed by their god of butchers?
Is it the dead? Perhaps, for the loved ones who lost them.
Is it the burst of faith in God, calling out to Him in the midst of tragedy? That was the first thing that most people forgot.
Is it the heroes? Yes, and it should be. Throwing thoughts of safety aside to help others, which does them infinitely more honor than that accrued by any jackass who wants to kill people he doesn't know in the name of a god that warrants no praise whatsoever.
But the most important thing is the thing that we take from any disaster, any heartache, any loss. And that is, that as Americans, as free people, as human beings, we get back up from them.
We get back up.
And whenever we face a 9-11 in our lives, that is what to never forget. We get back up.
That's right, Abdul. It doesn't matter who you kill. It doesn't matter how many "virgins" you earn, or how many understand the "point " you're trying to make. You don't matter, Achmed.
You don't matter.
A comic book character once said, "We have always defied death just by living, truly living, in death's shadow." We get back up.
Never forget that, Rashad. And never forget, America.
Welcome to September 8th, 1974- and for a change I didn't have to dig for a news item at all. Today, President-unelect Gerald R Ford pardoned predecessor Richard M Nixon for whatever he did or didn't do in the Watergate mess.
Decades later, the John F. Kennedy Library Foundation presented its 2001 Profile in Courage Award to Gerald Ford for his 1974 pardon of Nixon. In pardoning Nixon, said the foundation, Ford placed his love of country ahead of his own political future and brought needed closure to the divisive Watergate affair. (History.com)
"Thanks, Jerry. I didn't even realize I belched!"
"Sir, it's not that kind of..."
"Gotcha! Sock it to me, baby!"
And today, we have three new debuts- and one of them joins the growing crowd with 4 M10 hits!- including that guy that looks like me...
No, not THAT one...
And a trip through Saturday morning cartoons! Plus, the top songs of two years of the M10! I vote we get moving!
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First up is a gentleman who has three trips now to the M10 in his pocket, including a #1! In this adventure, the title track to his new lp, he is aided by one Frankie Cosmos- also known as Greta Kline, daughter of Kevin Kline and Phoebe Cates! Coming in at #10, the guy who kinda looks like me, the starship lounge singer- Dent May:
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Today I'd like to introduce you to Ian Lloyd, lead singer for the Stories, who won the POTM last week.
Hey, everyone. Great to be here, especially since I'm actually alive to guest here.
I know what you mean. We lost the great Walter Becker from Steely Dan this past week, and it got me to thinking how hard it would be to have REAL and ALIVE guests on the show. It got me to looking. I haven't a completed list- not sure when or if I finish it- but for the years of the 50's that are in the Martin Era 2.0, the only live #1 singers are Bill Hayes, Pat Boone, Tab Hunter, Don Everly, Jimmie Rogers, Johnny Mathis, Laurie London, Lloyd Price, Frankie Avalon, the members of the Fleetwoods, Paul Anka, Della Reese, and Dave "Baby" Cortez.
That's quite a few...
Until you look at it this way: that's 1 of the eight acts to hit #1 in 1955; 1 of 10 in 1956; 4 of 11 in '57; 1 of 16 in 1958; and 6 of 13 in '59.
Ouch.
In fact, the year you guys hit #1, 1973, has lost #1 acts Hurricane Smith, Robert Lamm of Chicago, Philippe Wynne of the Spinners...
Wow.
...George Harrison, Karen Carpenter, Billy Preston....
Okay, got it...
...Jim Croce, Marvin Gaye, Charlie Rich...
Dude, you're scaring me! I'm outta here!
...Greg Allman and three Pips! Hey, wait, Ian... oh, fudge. Guess I'll have to do this myself. 10 contestants on 45 stations, I can handle it.
The First Class was at #17 this week on Cashbox with Beach Baby.
Barry White's Can't Get Enough Of Your Love Babe was at #6.
Olivia Newton-John was at #13 with I Honestly Love You.
Eric Clapton's I Shot The Sheriff was at the top.
George McCrae was 44 on the way back down with Rock Your Baby.
The Rubettes were also on the lower end with Sugar Baby Love at #31.
Rufus featuring Chaka Khan everybody was at #3 with Tell Me Something Good.
The Lorenzo Marquez vote of the week is for Slade, who didn't chart here but hit #3 in the UK with The Bangin' Man. Not surprising for Slade, for out of their 17 top tens in the UK, only six cracked the charts over here, with Run Runaway getting to 20 and My Oh My grazing the top 40.
Paper Lace was at #4 with The Night Chicago Died.
And finally, you have Paul Anka with Odia Coates and You're Having My Baby at #2.
So with just ten contestants, let's chop it down to the top ten charters- Paper Lace, Anka and Coates, Clapton, Barry White, and Rufus. But I will tell you this- the top two outdid the other three 32-7. And in a bit, I'll let you in on who THEY are.
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Debut #2 comes in on the M10 at #9- and this woman has also charted here at #s 2, 7, and 6! Take a seat, Bobby G- it's Jana Kramer:
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Hearken back with me to the days of Saturday morning cartoons- days when the Friday night "new cartoon preview" shows were darn near as big as Christmas- where we find that the timeless themes to many of our faves were redone in 1995 by a stable of alt acts. The Ramones covered Spider-Man; Sublime did Hong Kong Phooey; Butthole Surfers (trust me, they were better at music than names) did Underdog; The Violent Femmes did Oop Ork Eep Ah-Ah from the Jetsons; Sponge did Speed Racer. By far the best was Matthew Sweet's take on Scooby-Doo, Where Are You? Now the ORIGINAL theme was done by one Austin Roberts, who had top 20's in the early '70s with Rocky and Something's Wrong With Me. Austin kept songwriting after the hits dried up, and one he co-wrote was top ten on the Canadian country charts in 1989- a tune by Michelle Wright called He Would Be 16, about a child having been given for adoption. Her lp Now And Then also contained a #7 on Canada's country chart with a remake of the song that sat at #5 this week without any Panel Love- Andy Kim's Rock Me Gently.
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Squeeze had a good bit of success in the States with Tempted (#8 MSR and lots of airplay), and had a spin with the M10 shuffle a while back when I found (but did not chart) their silly early hit Cool For Cats. Of course, they were a bit bigger in the UK- 3 top tens and a dozen or so top 40s. This week, they put out a brand new lp- their 15th since 1978, titled Knowledge. And the first single is the high debut at #8:
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Stat Pack: Our #101 this week was Waylon Jenning's 2nd country #1- I'm A Rambling Man.
Leon Heywood, who would hit the top 15 next year with I Want'a Do Something Freaky to You, was our #74 at '74 with Sugar Lump.
Once again it was Osmond fever in the UK- the group had the top spot with Love Me For A Reason, which was at #62 here on the way up in its second week. Our top dog, I Shot The Sheriff, was at #28 there.
And I knew 48 songs this time- bet I'll break 50% next week!
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Oh, since you've been really good this week, I'll let you in on that 2-year list, but first- if you took Eric Clapton or Paul Anka, you are still alive...
So anyway, by the points here are the top ten after two years, from August 28, 2015 to August 30, 2017...
#10-
Lucius with Madness!!!!!!!!!!
#9-
Real Estate and Serve The Song!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
#8-
Radiation City's Come And Go!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
#7-
Sweet with the Peppermint Twist!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
#6-
Flo and Eddie and Keep It Warm!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
#5-
Tangerine's You'll Always Be Lonely!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
#4, and #3-
Beach House with Space Song at #4 and Traveller at #3!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
#2-
The Shacks and the El Michels Affair with Strange Boy!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
And the winnah and still champeeen....
The Jayhawks and Quiet Corners And Empty Spaces!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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Which brings us to the remainder of the M10:
Northern Faces slip to #7 in week 7 with Cops Come.
Up a spot to 6 is Howard Jones with Just Look At You Now.
Phoenix leaps 5 fast notches to # 5 with Telefono.
Alvvays moves up a pair to #4 with In Undertow.
Wayne Newton clings tenaciously to #3 with The Letter.
The Japanese House- in a battle I didn't consider official until I hit "save" on my computer archive- slips to #2 with Somebody You Found.
Which means the new #1 belongs to...
...Lucinda Williams with Six Blocks Away!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Next week is going to be a real pain trying to arrange this bunch of classics! And the winner of the Panel vote, by a whopping 21- 11 (46.7% to 24.4%) margin....
...Paul Anka's Having My Baby!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
When I was a kid, I remember Ron Gregory on the WOWO night show starting this song by saying, "Look, there's a strange man over there in the corner! Sir, What are you doing?"
Havin' my baby...
Next week, join that strange man and I as we enter 1975!
You know, some days I go through the news, and it's hillbilly cousin- my Facebook feed- and I just shake my head. Among the many things that hit me as stupid:
How about the woman who fell for the old "we'll split the money, just give me some of yours to prove good faith" scam. The Wisconsin woman, who in a moment of clarity asked not to be identified, was approached by another woman pretending to have found a wallet "as thick as a brick" (much like the victim), who offered to split it with her. Claiming her "boss" at a real estate office nearby would handle the paperwork for their "finders keepers" adventure, the scammer went into the building and came out a bit later with the "boss", who claimed there was $150,000 in the wallet and would split it three ways if the other two woman would run down to their respective banks and pull out, say, 2 grand to prove their "financial worthiness". Soon later, she handed over the money to the "boss" who went inside to get the $150,000 to divvy up- and when the vic went into the real estate office after the pair didn't come back out, the office- who had no connection with the "boss" or the "employee", they looked at her and said,
Then you have the sad, strange case of Alyssa Milano, who has unleashed upon the twitterverse a string of self-immolating invective against Trump that makes Joe Biden and George W Bush look like Galileo and Da Vinci. I refuse to bring up her latest tasteless, brainless attempt at political commentary, but listen, liberal friends- Milano, Chelsea Clinton, the CEO of Camping World, etc etc. Do you realize the depths to which your celebrities are BURYING the credibility and intellect of your ideological position? They have branded you as tasteless (see Kathy Griffin) , brainless (how many companies have had officials say they don't WANT customers that support Trump? Shooing away customers is pretty brainless), or clueless (former political editor at the HuffPost, Sam Stein, tweeting that he would like to hear from DACA recipients (AKA "Dreamers") who "voted for Trump" (which would be illegal, as they are NOT citizens by definition).) Seriously. I know that there are good liberal people out there, with enough brainpower to realize that if foot-in-mouth club continues on its merry way, NO ONE will take you seriously.
Not that that will keep you from winning elections; let's hear from renowned expert on all things American, Vladimir Putin:
Russian President Vladimir Putin mocked the state of U.S. politics, and criticized former President George W. Bush, in new remarks on Tuesday, saying that Moscow finds it “difficult to have a dialogue with people who confuse Austria and Australia.” The remark from Putin, made while speaking to reporters, was in reference to Bush’s 2007 gaffe, in which he confused the two countries, according to state-run Russian media outlet RT. “Apparently that’s the level of political culture of a certain part of the American establishment,” Putin said about Bush, before adding, “America is a really great nation and the Americans are a great people if they can endure so many people [in the government] with such a low level of political culture.”
Endure? Hell, Vlady, (may I call you Vlady?) you just DEFINED a good 70% of American political culture!
Next up, I see the streak continues- every week since about early May there has been a story about a female teacher either getting accused, arrested, or sentenced for sleeping with a male student. I kid you not! I wish I would have started making a list back then, because when you Google "female teacher seduces student", you get half a dozen PornHub videos. Ladies- and to those this is directed, I use the term loosely- WTH is up with this? Every one of them has a hubby and kids back home. Honestly, I would love it if someone would comment on the psychology of this wave of sexual predation.
A blog I follow (changing the subject here, btw) called Fort Wayne Media Maven is the best place to go for laughs at the expense of what pretends to be news coverage in this town, but his latest two posts really frost the cake. In the first, a WANE.com story about a robbery up north, the station posted the following:
Police noted in the report that hands, feet, and a handgun were used in the hold-up.
He went on to speculate that someone in that police department, knowing the local media's tendency to copy-and-paste without reading, decided to have a little fun. Today, another WANE.com story told of a victim of a bar fight who was "beaten into a medically induced coma". Here, the Maven muses: Usually, medically-induced comas are performed in hospitals and not on barroom floors. So, in reading the WANE-TV, does that mean an EMT, doctor, nurse, or another medical professional beat the living daylights out of the man at the bar?
One word, WANE (maybe two the way you all work): proofreaders....
Wow, a picture really does say 1,000 words...
Oh, and while on the subject of Vlady once again, I forgot the other part of that story:
Having snubbed a former Republican US President, Putin stopped short of criticizing the incumbent one when responding to a question on whether he was disappointed in Donald Trump. “Your question sounds naïve,” he told a journalist. “He is not my bride and I am not his. We are statesmen.”
Waitaminite! Are you Suuuuuure about that?
Finally, the latest list is the most obese states. The top ten (actually 11, with Indiana and Michigan running a 10th place tie) was mainly a Confederate affair- Mississippi, Alabama, Arkansas, Louisiana, Tennessee, Kentucky, and Texas taking #s 2-8.
They did it on a percentage of population considered obese, with West Virginia heading the list at 37.7 %. Doing a little quick figuring, based on a study saying the average American is 17 lbs overweight, gives us in just these 11 states (Oklahoma at #9 being the other one left) a total of 420,500,000 extra pounds- enough to make just shy of another 2 1/2 million people of regular average adult weight. Texas, by virtue of its large population (as much as the next five put together, plus the Cowboys' 40-man roster) accounts for 36% of that extra poundage.
So we are at the end of yet another holiday weekend, and as per usual I did little to nothing with it. Laurie's job at WalMart required her presence Sunday and Monday (AKA as I type), Scrappy has been struggling a bit more than usual on walks, and frankly my energy level hasn't been just zippy lately. I think it was last Sunday morning we took our typical "short" trip (up the walk, down the road, down the canal trail, in the back entrance, a little bit give or take of a mile and a quarter) and I sat down in the grass of the soccer field. Scrappy wanted to make an adventure of things, but I could barley move. While I took a breather, Scrappy reconsidered his position (in other words, he actually sat down with no great intention to get up). So we said the heck with it and went home. Sunday was much the same in reverse- I considered bringing him home and going on farther- and a hundred yards later I said, "Y'know, he had the right idea." So today we just went to the bark park for an hour. Short on exercise, but both happy at least.
In between, we actually got Laurie to go on one of our longer walks Saturday, and everyone held up well. It comes and goes, I guess.
Yesterday we looked into one of WANE.coms "advertisements that walk like a news story" and checked out the new Bandido's location. So here in brief is my first "restaurant review" of the Bandidos in Glenbrook Commons:
Ambiance: This location was carved out of the old Babies'R'Us building. Minimalist, but roomy and lots of seating, if no booths. If you like it fancy, you'll think "what a dump" but it's actually pretty nice.
Wait staff: It wasn't busy -though it started doing a little better after we arrived- so we were treated like royalty.
Food: Excellent. Win #1 was it was a Pepsi place. Win #2, I was told I had an option on my sides of just getting a double bean instead of rice. Big win for Chris.
Taquito appetizer, the taquitos were twice the size you get most places, and crispy. The portions were big but not, "OMG you expect me to eat all that TODAY" big. My Pollo Bandido was excellent, wrapped in a flaky shell that left no doubt it was fresh. Laurie, the Fajita Queen, had a fajita. She liked it, didn't waste a ton of it, and it sounded real good.
One little problem. The music playing was oldies. That wasn't the problem- halfway through the visit, another area of the restaurant started playing something else at the same time. Both at the same non-intrusive volume though, so not a deal.
Saturday was a big football day. Many funny and sometimes heartwarming stories (like a Division III school that one 98-0 and Oklahoma's pummelling of hapless UTEP), but as this isn't the sports pages, I'll avoid the "not a sports fan" comments and move on.
Except to say that I was checking my international hockey site to see if the teams that Laurie, KC, and I followed last year were back again this year.
I lost two. Including the Slovak team called Martin, so that really sucks. And China Dragon folded, so that means I'll have to get my "boy, those guys really suck" yoks exclusively from Sportul Studentesc Bucuresti this year. (They were 0-30 and got outscored 44-505.)
So as the day fades into night I'm really hoping to send the weekend out with a bang- either from the approaching thunderstorm or the Tennessee game tonight. But right now, time for dinner!
In my late readings in the Bible, I have cruised through the "wisdom gauntlet" of Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, and Song of Solomon- basically without comment here, but there is a phrase that has stuck with me for some reason. And I will get to that towards the end of this post.
In the meantime, I listened to a sermon this morning that was based on the pastor taking various questions his congregation had had for him, and the topic du jour was, "Why should I trust the Bible?" Within his handling of the topic were several trails to go down, but the one that interested me was his discussion of when people come to him with the question, "What about the inconsistencies in the Bible?" Now for him, he said he always would ask in response, "Well, give me an inconsistency you wish to discuss," and he said in every case the person had no specifics in mind, but had "heard" that there were inconsistencies.
As he went on, I thought to myself, "He hasn't gotten into arguments with many atheists", because they ALWAYS have some inconsistency to bring up- and nearly every one is a nit picky timeline thing, or a total misreading of what was before them. Which is not surprising- there is a HUGE difference between reading the Bible in faith and seeking God's knowledge, or reading without faith and just looking for places to say, "A-HA!" Or, and this is a sin that even Christians commit, looking for something that fits the reader's agenda- and going no farther.
I want to give you an example of each of these to chew on. First the nit-ricky timeline. This commonly comes up in studying the endlessly confusing genealogies, where one chapter might have this guy followed by this guy, and another passage connects this guy to another guy, and still another might completely jump the first two guys. These lists were written with purposes specific to each one, using differing rules about accepting brother's children reared to their dead sibling etc etc, and some- like the one in Matthew's Gospel- were "modified" to give a certain distance between one genealogy and another. These things were never meant to be "family trees" in the sense that WE know them, and it is not worth getting hung up on. Another example is the "Controversy" over Luke's timeline at the beginning of his Gospel. If you want to explore that whole ball of twine, I will suggest to you that it is a great demonstration of the difference between an "expert" wanting to take something literally 2,000 years after the fact or trying to see what the guy who lived it back then saw and explained as best he could.
The second one is best exemplified by those who what to bash the Bible as a tome on genocide and "God" as a butcher on a par with Allah because the Israelites were supposed to put this people and that people to death. In fact, I have also fought the OTHER side of this battle recently, where a misguided soul attacked the Canaanite woman (Matthew 15 and Mark 7) who asked for healing for her daughter because "even the little dogs get to eat the crumbs from the master's table."
As to the first part, you have to read the Bible as a whole, organic thing. Step one: God has a people peculiar to Him, under His direct rule, and He uses them to bring judgment onto people He has already judged for their wickedness. Step two: Time goes on, and the people peculiar to Him cease to obey Him; gradually, ,He ceases to use them as His tool. Step three: they reject the rule of God and demand a King. They are, at this point, no longer His particular tool. By Jesus' time, the believer is not necessarily even one of the "peculiar people," and thus they are given a new command- love one another, including your enemy. Unfortunately, man tends to read what he wants, and you get things like the Crusades or the conquest of the new world, where pagans are to be slaughtered and souls converted by knifepoint. In other words, fallen man trying to live by rules that no longer apply to him.
As to the second, this person I debated claimed that as a Canaanite, she was still "under the curse" and Jesus' acceptance of her faith did NOT mean that she was any less cursed. Again, trying to put Step one rules in a "Step four" dispensation. It wasn't the rules that changed, but the people under them. Do you treat your adult children with the same rules they had as toddlers? Failed parents in this society notwithstanding, of course not.
Finally, the agendists. Two of the stupidest readings of the Bible currently taught in our society are that,a) because Jesus taught to love everyone, and b) because HE never said anything about fill-in-the-blank-sin, it must be okay. DESPITE the fact that everyone else from Moses to Paul taught against it, and DESPITE the fact that Jesus Himself said He had NOT come to change the Law, but to fulfill it. We use that to excuse alcoholism, homosexuality, drug use, and any other kind of perversion we can come up with, and accept unrepentant sinners into the "Family of God". Guess what? The admittance program doesn't depend on what some liberal pastor says, or the Pope says, or what I say. It depends on whether YOU, as an individual, have sought forgiveness from Jesus for your sin, and REPENTED of it. And by that, I don't mean "I never sin again", because we all mess up. What I mean is, you have to recognize what GOD says is sin, and reject it in your life. You cannot say, "God loves me even if I'm gay, He'll give me a pass on that", and continue in the sin.
Point being: don't stop with what you WANT to hear. Get to what God WANTS you to hear.
So anyway, what was that verse that hung me up? Well, that would be Proverbs 20;24:
Man's goings are of the LORD; how can a man then understand his own way?
And this verse comes from the KJV translation, which I think does best justice to the meaning. You see, the first "Man" here is the Hebrew word geber, meaning a valiant or righteous man; where the second "man" is the word "adam"- yes, THAT Adam, in other words the rank and file of humanity. Then, the word translated as "goings" here- and "ways" and "paths" elsewhere- has a literal meaning of "a step", but a FIGURATIVE meaning of companionship. Where the word "way" at the end is literally a "road", but figuratively a way of life, a mode of action.
Thus, what it is actually saying is, a righteous man travels with God as a companion; without Him, men have no idea where their lives will end up. And that translation answers every question brought up in this post. And just think I myself had to come to the end of this post to figure that out....
Today we circle September 1st, 1973, and we have a few choice places we could land. One of them is in Tokyo, where George Foreman defends his heavyweight title in a battle with the first Puerto Rican contender, Joe "King" Roman. But surely you're joe-king, as Foreman put him on his butt twice and won by KO after just 2 minutes. So let's fly over to Ann Arbor, MI, where we might bump into some students- literally. Last spring, the city had instituted a very lenient $5 fine for being busted smoking pot. The students had taken advantage by having an on-campus "Hash Bash". That clued the city in that they needed to be tougher, and so the penalties went up. Undeterred, the students had a back to school "Marijuana Melee"- and five of them got a trip to the lock-up for their efforts. Hmm... I wonder who's on the undercard?
Damn, that smarts... wow, things are really spinning fast... Mommy, I hear birdies!
So today on Time Machine we celebrate the start of the third year of the M10 by announcing the top ten for Summer 2017- and it was won by 2 points! Also, the wrong way to put together a hit record courtesy of Napoleon XIV; what a 2011 novel about autism and sexual abuse has to do with our 6D victim; and utter chaos on the M10 (well, maybe not utter...)! Smoke 'em if ya got 'em, and let's go!
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Starting off this week with our one debut- from the act that was the first to spend three weeks on top of the M10 chart! That would be the French band Phoenix, who came out with a new lp this summer called Ti Amo. Frankly... I was disappointed with the tunes that they chose for singles. Way too bubble-gummy, and I like Bubble Gum! But I worked my way down to the very last track on the lp, and it was my keeper...
Telefono comes in at #10.
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Today, we welcome in POTM Gilbert O'Sullivan for our Panel contestant list for this week. May I call you Ray?
As long as it isn't the start of a bad comedy bit.
I see on your discography that you were far more successful on the other side of the pond, with seven top tens in the UK and 11 in your native Ireland.
I even had five in the Netherlands! In America, three. You people have no taste in music.
The UK top ten has Gary Glitter in it again...
Oooohl right, then, let's have a look at that list. Jim Croce was at #49 and falling with his big hit, Bad Bad Leroy Brown.
The Stories were at # 3 with Brother Louie.
At this point, I should insert that we had 66 stations and 17 contestants.
Really? You couldn'ta put that bit in before I started? Anyway, the #2 song on the American Cashbox chart was Helen Reddy with Delta Dawn. And here I was, though at 18 and dropping with my hit Get Down.
Always my favorite of yours.
Thank you. Sly and the Family Stone were at #15 with If You Want Me To Stay. And- as was previously mentioned- Gary Glitter got the Lorenzo Marquez vote this week with his I'm The Leader Of The Band I Am. He had been on top of the UK chart...
...among other things...
...just two weeks before, and was at #6 currently. Marvin Gaye was the US #1 with Let's Get It On. Another song that was certainly suggestive...
Bit of an age difference, though.
...er, quite. Wings were at #4 with the Bond theme Live And Let Die. Paul Simon and the Dixie Hummingbirds were at #9 with Loves Me Like A Rock. Dobie Gray was peaking at #39 with Loving Arms. Goodness, the Monster Mash was on the charts again, at 21 and falling after a top ten run. Shirley Bassey got at least one vote with her song Never Never Never- despite it peaking here last month at #48. Sir Elton John was at #13 with Saturday Night's All Right For Fighting.
He wasn't a sir yet.
Eh? He was a Ma'am?
NO. No, he...
Gotcha on that one, wot? Anyway, Tony Orlando and Dawn are at #7 with, Say Has Anybody Seen My Sweet Gypsy Rose.
Maureen McGovern had her own movie theme, The Morning After from The Poseidon Adventure, at #22 and also falling. And finally, Diana Ross, who definitely was a ma'am, was at #6 with Touch Me In The Morning!
Fine job, Ray, thanks for stopping in!
Not a problem... but are you going to tell them why you're calling me Ray?
Nope, they can listen to Clair and figure it out. Anyway, this week's election had a couple of minor players and a tooth and nail battle between 2 songs for the top. Take your pick from Marvin Gaye at #1, Helen Reddy at #2, the Stories at #3, Wings at #4, and Diana Ross at #6 for the top spot. If you pay attention to the rest of the show, I might be nice and whittle ya down to the top 2 later on.
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Jumping into the stat-pack, we have at #101 a re-release of They're Coming To Take Me Away by Napoleon XIV, the single most attacked #1 (on CB) in history. Napoleon was engineer Jerry Samuels, who happened to be a good buddy of the man who WOULD become Dr Demento. Samuels had been working on timed ads using a device called a Variable Frequency Oscillator. Long story short, he discovered that this machine could raise and lower the pitch of a recorded voice without changing the pace- so you wouldn't have to taaaaallllkkkk rrreeeeeaaalll sssslllloooowwww like David Seville on his Chipmunk records. And Jerry thought with an evil chuckle, there HAS to be a way to make money and have fun with this.
Dr Demento comes into the picture when a stoned Samuels was humming a tune and asked what the hell it was. "The Campbells Are Coming, an old Scottish song", he was told. From it he devised the title and then the first verse.
Says Samuels: "It took me 9 months to finish it. I wrote one verse and the chorus, and immediately I realized I was writing a sick joke. So I said, 'This is no good, I'll put it away.' Three months later it was still running through my head; I pulled it out again and wrote the second verse and it was an even sicker joke. Finally about 6 months after that I decided I was going to finish it, and I was going to do something in that last verse that would throw things off a little bit, so I referred to the object - 'They're coming to take me away because of what YOU did - I referred to YOU as a dog. The dog ran away. By doing that I felt I was lightening the sickness of the joke, and I probably was and it probably did some good for me, but that was the reason I went for that afterthought."
So with four tracks to play with, he had to go minimalist. First track was drums. He had a buddy try to play the beat- and he sucked. So bad in fact, he only ever hit the beat right for 7 seconds- and that 7-second loop made the drum track.
Then, he wanted clapping. He called a bunch of friends to come to the studio- but as it was 2 AM, only three showed up. Needing more, he suggested they all sit in a circle with the mike in the center and use both hands to slap on their thighs. Then, to avoid the muffling effect of fabric, he suggested they take their pants off. Needless to say, what he got was hand clapping, looped three times.
Third track was the siren- a five-dollar hand crank siren overdubbed three times. Finally he was able to "sing" his part to the three tracks in his headphone- while a buddy ran the VFO to get the desired effects. And that's how the most offensive non-rap #1 in history was born.
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Quick stat-wrap: #73 in '73 was Harry Nilsson's As Time Goes By; The UK #1 was Donny Osmond and Young Love- a single that had peaked here a couple weeks back at #41, fell completely off the Hot 100, and came back this week at #97 just for the occasion.
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And now, the songs of Summer 2017!
10-
...Beach House's #2, Chariot!
9- and #3, for that matter-
...Northern Faces, at 9 with Cops Come, and at #3 with Messin' With Me!
8-
...Cotton Mather and Girl With A Blue Guitar, another #2 to make the list!
7-
...another #2, Moon Taxi and Two High!
6- Believe it or not, ANOTHER #2...
...Public Access TV and Monaco!
5-
...Kidsmoke with And Mine Alone!
4-
...courtship. with Sunroof!
3 you already know, and #2-
yet ANOTHER #2, Quiet Hollers and Funny Ways- and at 9 weeks on the chart, it WAS the top song until this week...
And the #1 song of the summer- only appropriate, what with 4 weeks at the top-
...Foster The People and Sit Next To Me!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
And the 4 #2s aren't exactly a surprise in a 3-month stretch- especially considering that last year's summer top ten included a pair of #2s (She Makes Me Laugh and 1-2-3) and pair of #3s (You Bring The Summer and First Date)!
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So the novel from 2011, If Thy Right Hand, which combined a mother whose autistic child is accused of sexual abuse with a killer targeting sexual abusers, was written by one Robin Lamont. Go back in time and you'll see she is- a New York City ADA? No, go farther yet- she's the lead singer from the original Godspell cast, singing the hit Day By Day! And it was in a later Godspell production in Toronto that started the careers of Martin Short, Paul Shaffer, and Gilda Radner. Gilda and Paul kept a connection, and it was when he decided to be the musical director for Gilda's live act soundtrack that John Belushi decided he didn't like it. Paul, musical director for the Blues Brothers movie, was cut from a part in the movie by a pissed Belushi. But he did end up playing on their lp from which sprung their last hit, Who's Making Love- which nicked the top 40 in 1980. That was a cover of the big hit by Johnny Taylor, who was at #5 this week with I Believe In You (You Believe In Me)- but got no Panel love.
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Oh, I forgot to trim it down to two songs, did I? You thought I didn't see you scrolling past that one part, did you? Well, go back up and read it RIGHT- and maybe next time you won't try and cheat!
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Anyway, here's the M10:
At 9 we have for a second week the Pom Poms (who were #s 3 and 6 on last year's songs of summer) with Heart In A Suitcase.
At 8, our #2 song of the summer by Quiet Hollers, Funny Ways, slips 4 spots.
Holding at 7 is Howard Jones' Just Look At You Now.
Alvvays- who by the way became only the third act with 4+ M10 hits- moves up 2 to #6 with In Undertow.
Our top song of the Summer, Sit Next To Me, falls 3 to #5.
Also falling is last week's #1- Northern Faces has another one weeker as Cops Come falls to #4.
Wayne, buddy, you might make something of yourself yet! Mr Newton climbs another 2 to #3 with The Letter.
Zooming to #2 in just 2 weeks is Lucinda Williams with Six Blocks Away. She's not near six blocks away; in fact she's knocking on the door of...
...The Japanese House, who takes the top spot with Somebody You Found!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
And the Panel? Well, if you took Wings, Helen Reddy, or Marvin, you are out o'luck, as Ray might say...
No, actually, I wouldn't...
(Just go with it, wouldja?)... but if you took Diana Ross or the Stories, you were in the top 2! And now, the winner by a 18 (27.2%) to 14 (21.2%) margin...
...The Stories and Brother Louie!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Next time 1974... and maybe, IF you're good- the biggest hits of 2 years of M10!
Okay, Bobby G has once again talked me off the ledge. I told him it almost wasn't any fun to do MWN posts since the world has gone into such a wave of self-imposed stupidity (see my last post on Hurricane Harvey on social media). But Bobby said, "---Don't give up on the MWN...I LIKE seeing people being stupid in OTHER countries as well (lends a sense of CONTINUITY...globally-speaking)...heh. Okay, so maybe it's not the BEST motive... but he's right, we HAVE to find something to laugh about, lest we all become like those that are offended by statues and think severed heads are amusing. And as I'd rather have Kathy Griffin chop off MY head than find her funny, I have risen to the occasion. Let's start over at the BBC...
ITEM: Vasil Tabilov, leader of the Azeri enclave (AKA a chunk cut off from the rest of Azerbaijan by a hunk of Armenia) of Nakhchivan (pronounced {muffled sneeze}-ivan) has published a list of thirty books or other reading material he finds that all Azeris should take the time to peruse. Of course the #1 on the list was former Azeri President Heydar Aliyev's (pronounced, "hey dere, all'a yev") work "The appeal of the national leader Heydar Aliyev to the people of Azerbaijan in connection with the new year 2001, a new era and the third millennium", there were some interesting English works on the list.
13th was (what I assume to be Aesop's) Fables; 14th was "a letter from Abraham Lincoln to his son's headmaster" which I found is quite popular, though the Illinois Historic Preservation Society says Lincoln never wrote it; 18 was Theodore Dreiser's The Genius, which wiki explains as "a semi-autobiographical novel by Theodore Dreiser, first published in 1915. It concerns Eugene Witla, a talented painter of strong sexual desires who grapples with his commitment to his art and the force of his erotic needs." Okay, see the societal value there. Jack London's Love Of Life was 19, followed by Hemingway's The Old Man And The Sea. At 21 was Machiavelli's The Prince- and at 25 was a cause of confusion. It seems that Tabilov's countrymen saw the title of the philosophical poem by Maurice Maeterlinck, The Life Of Bees, and thought they were getting a beekeeping manual.
ITEM: I am not completely sure what the most ridiculous part of this story is, but: The International Federation Of Icelandic Horse Associations- a committee whose title's word count outnumbers the members of the commission 6-2- has put its foot down, forbidding anyone who wants to register their horse's name on the official registry MUST give it an Icelandic name. Originally formed to keep people from registering horses with obscene names (thus eliminating my need to find out what $#!thead is in Icelandic), they put their four feet down when a woman tried to name her horse Mosan- which, while I now know it is not Icelandic, I still don't know where she got it. According to a Google search, it could mean something to due with France's Meuse River, a language group of Pacific NW Indians- I mean native Amer- oh, hell, I mean Indians- or even the brand name of that new Toilet-in-a-van that was on the news lately.
ITEM-ETTE: And in St Petersburg, Russia, several contestants in the Cozy Garden competition to beautify the city were disqualified- for using what I have to assume is an old Soviet beautification trick:
... but local people on Tkachey Street were unimpressed when they saw gardeners had taped green branches to wilting trees - especially when they weren't even from the same type of tree, Life website reported.
Now, we move our shaking heads over to FoxNews, where we find:
ITEM: The Des Moines Register reports that a Polk County Democratic Party committee voted not to offer a speaking invitation to Heather Ryan for their upcoming steak fry, where several members of Congress and other candidates from across the state will speak.
And why is that? Well, it seems that Ryan, who describes herself as "a little left of Jesus", whatever THAT means, is known for being a tad foul mouthed, exemplified by admittedly calling a rival for a state legislature spot "an asshole".
Good manners, good looks.
“The party that tells women to sit down and shut up is not supposed to be the Democratic Party,” she said. “… I may not be refined, but I’m real. The polished turds that they continue to shove down our throats as politicians are still turds.” Far be it from me to argue, but... maybe the problem isn't with women, maybe it's YOU.
ITEM: From the "I still don't think you get it" file: The town of Mataelpino, Spain, instead of a "running of the bulls", has a "running of the balls"- in this case a 9-ft-high, 660 pound ball with a bull painted on it. It careens down the street at around 20 MPH, and puts people in the hospital far more effectively than any enraged bovine. You can watch the video on a lot of spots, but as it is a Twitter vid I don't know how to link it, but here's one place you can find it. The one guy who hit his head on the ground is in a coma with a skull fracture. The mayor said he would look into putting up some strategically placed foam along the route next year. BONUS: Animal-rights groups cheered the idea because it didn’t involve bulls. PETA loved it so much it offered to cover the costs of towns in Spain and Portugal that replaced their bull runs with ball runs, Business Insider reported.
PETA. Putting Everyone in Terrible Accidents.
ITEM-ETTE: Headline only needed.
Jerry Springer 'considering' run for Ohio gov, friend says
Meanwhile, in Moscow...
ITEM: One of our islands are missing...
The Russian far-east island of Sakhalin disappeared from the Russian version of "Google Maps" the other day. They claim it was a technical glitch, but check out the timing...
Russian media first spotted the technical glitch at around 2 a.m. local Moscow time on Monday, coinciding with North Korea’s firing of a ballistic missile over Japan’s northern Hokkaido Island, the state-run RIA Novosti news agency reported Tuesday.
Methinks someone's hiding- and methinks we got a good idea of what Russia thinks of North Korea's missile guidance systems...
WHAT? You told me everyone uses Google Maps to find their targets...
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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