What is it about nice people that attract total idiots?Nice people are martyrs. Idiots are evangelists.

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Friday, July 15, 2016

Time Machine week 82



Today we stumble into July 15th, 1964- the day the GOP nominated Barry Goldwater to run for President against LBJ, the incumbent.  Barry would take a big butt-kicking in November, because Republicans that feel their principles have been disregarded stay at home.  Democrats, as we are learning with Bernie Sanders, align behind the monolith no matter what.  But you came here to escape politics, did you not?



And thank the Force for that!  And while I'm making a jumble of sci-fi, welcome into the Musical Tardis of Time Machine once again, where you'll be greeted with: yet another big week for the low-charters feature; a look at that famous phone number 867-5309 and how I got someone in Brazil dialing it; the return of our usual features, which means I'll have to go back a couple of posts to Bob's suggestion list for the UK top ten; and a less turbulent week for the M10- only one debut!    I vote we take off, you with me?


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First of all, the Panel who made this mostly possible:  WJBK Detroit, KTSA San Antonio, WMCA New York, WSPR Springfield MA, KIMN Denver, WCOL Columbus OH, KGB San Diego, WSAI Cincinnati, KROY Sacramento, WJET Erie PA, KPOI Honolulu, and KSO Des Moines IA.  This bunch collected a mere 22 different songs, and some were real puzzlers.  The bottom two spots in San Antone belonged to the Apple Jacks with Tell Me When- a song that got no higher than #135 nationally- and Sunny and the Sunliners (later to be infinitesimally better as Sunny and the Sunglows) with It's Too Late (which never charted).  In addition, WCOL featured the Everly Brothers with their not-so-hit Ferris Wheel, which made it to #72 on Billboard later in the month; and on WJET, Tom Crewe (the brother of Four Seasons writer/producer Bob Crewe) snuck in with another non-charter called Mighty Fine Girl.  O f those who actually charted this week, the lowest rung was the Kingsmen's Little Latin Lupe-Lu, which was starting out at #86 on Cashbox.

The stations also had 7 number ones, including the Supremes with Where Did Our Love Go in Detroit and New York, the DC5 with Can't You See She's Mine in San Antonio, and Peter and Gordon with Nobody I Know in Honolulu.  And the Panel's top picks?  Well, there is a Beatles tune in them, but not so many as you would have had a few weeks back.  Or, if everyone felt the way San Antonio did.  What, them again?  Yes, the root of all this week's evil strikes again, in what might be the ultimate TM cop-out:  at their #2 position, honest to Bob, they had "All Beatles' records."




Anyway, here's the Panel picks:

At #4 with 16 points and the #1 from Sacramento, the national # 18... Dean Martin and Everybody Loves Somebody.

At #3, with 22 points and the #1 from Cincy, the national #7... Jan and Dean (no, the other Dean) with The Little Old Lady From Pasadena.

At #2, with 23 points and the #1s of Springfield and San Diego, the national ##9... The Beatles and Hard Day's Night.

  Wow, the top ten on CB didn't do so well, eh?  The Panel winner (with 34 points and 4 #1s) was the national #1 as well, but places 2,3,4,6,8,and 10 combined for just 37 points, and The Beach Boys accounted for 13 of those with I Get Around- and the #5 is the song that got no Panel love!  So that means 4 top ten national songs totalled 92 points, and the other six got 23!


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Two different stories have been told by the members of Tommy Tutone about the world's second most famous phone number (assuming we all know 911).  Two band members have said it was the number of a real girl named Jenny, who broke up with one of them and got her number put on a bathroom wall as a fond farewell.  One of them was one of the co-writers, Jim Keller.  But the other co-writer, Alex Call, said he "pulled the number out of the ether".  Giving them all marginal credit for brains, I'd guess Call told the truth.  While you ponder the irony of a song about a phone number being written by a man named Call, I'll go on and mention that Alex also had a hand in Huey Lewis and the News' last big hit, the #3 Perfect World from 1988.  The lp from which it sprang was called Small World, and there were parts 1 and 2 of the title cut.  On the first, guest starring on tenor sax was the legendary Stan Getz.  And I'll bet you can guess where we're going here.  Stan did three lps with Brazilian guitarist Joao Gilberto back in the day, and that first one had Gilberto's wife Astrud sing professionally for the first time on our target, that #5 national hit this week that the Panel ignored- The Girl From Ipanema.  And THAT girl, unlike Jenny at 867-5309, definitely DID exist- she was named Heloisa Eneida Menezes Pais Pinto, Helo for short, and inspired the writers of the song to switch from "The Girl Passing By" to the more familiar definite ID.



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And now, from the sweet innocence of Astrud and Helo to a somewhat more... shall we say, mature, young lady.  My son KC introed me to Maren Morris by playing her tune which was #5 country at the time, called My Church.  But then he said, "But I liked THIS one better."  And I hope you'll like it too, but be warned, sensitive ears- as we say back on the farm, there's some cussing in 'ere...






Maren is our lone debut, at #10 this week on the M10.


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So the next guy on Bobby G's list of famous English composers is a gent by the name of Edward Elgar- whom you might best know for Pomp and Circumstance (which idiot me assumed was a Sousa deal) .  And not only did he come up with good music, he had something good to say about it:




My idea is that there is music in the air, music all around us, the world is full of it and you simply take as much as you require.


I can't argue with that... don't it want to make you just




This week's UK 10!

10- Elvis as we learned last week was big in England.  This week he's here with at tune that peaked at #12 here- Kissin' Cousins.

9- A recent #1 in the States, Satchmo's Hello Dolly! was at #34 on the way down.

8- Country legend Jim Reeves would brush the pop chart at #93 in December with I Won't Forget You.

7- A cover band we introed a few weeks back, the Swinging Blue Jeans were here with You're No Good.  It would just peak into the hot hundred Stateside in a couple of weeks.

6- The Bachelors with a DNC in America, Ramona.

5- Roy Orbison had this one in the top ten back in May- It's Over.

4- Like the Swinging Blue Jeans, the Tremeloes would get no higher than #97 here with Someone Someone.

3- The next two slots belong to songs that would peak in the US of A in September.  The first one, which would get to #70, is PJ Proby's Hold Me.

2- The other peaks at #26- The Rolling Stones and It's All Over Now.

And Tops of the Pops this week?



... the Animals and The House Of The Rising Sun, which is 3 weeks from debuting over here!!!!!!

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Just a couple of housekeeping notes before we go to the M10.  First, just to let Shady know we are currently at 67 officially registered candidates for the Beauty Contest next year.  It might be a record year!  The other thing, this weekend begins the Mighty Martin Vacation, so while I will probably do an M10 (and might even let you in on it!), Time Machine will be taking a week off.  




Oh. please, you'll survive one week.  Now be good or I won't tell you what year we'll do then...


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The M10:

You've heard #10.  Number nine is in one of those "I didn't wanna drop you, but there are too many bodies in front of you" situations.  Thus, Two Door Cinema Club slips a notch to #9 with Are We Ready?


At #8, Basia Bulat moves up a spot with Fool.

Former number ones take a beating this week, as Honey And Smoke and You'll Never Be Lonely both fall 4 spots to 7 and 6, respectively.  That drop leaves Tangerine in fourth all time by one measely point.

Plume Of Feathers and the Monkees can only move up a notch each in response- First Date to #5, and You Bring The Summer to #4.

And zooming up 4 into the #3 slot is Agnes Obel with Familiar.

The Scott Brothers now have the highest charting country song ever on the M10, with Let The Night Shine In moving from 4 to #2.


And at the number one slots?  On the M10...



... the Pom Poms take a second week at #1 with Betty!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


And on the Panel list, a double treat for me...





... the Four Seasons and Rag Doll!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

In two weeks, come back for - 1973!

6 comments:

  1. Hi, Chris!

    1964 was a phenomenal year in popular music and I was lucky to be age 14 when the Beatles invaded and the landscape changed forever. Here's one thing worth noting. For a while there, stateside, the Dave Clark Five was running neck and neck with the Beatles in the popularity sweepstakes. However, DC5 tuneage has not stood the test of time like the music of the Beatles and a few other English bands. Let's put it this way. Even though they gave the Beatles a run for their money in 1964, today the DC5 is probably not the first band that comes to mind when people get together and discuss the British Invasion.

    Dean Martin's hit and Louis Armstrong's biggie remind us that, in 1964, there was still room in the upper reaches of the record chart for old school crooners, non-rock instrumentals, and wild cards like "The Girl From Ipanema."

    I definitely like Maren Morris and her country pop song. Clearly Maren's style on "Drunk Girls" was influenced by pop/hip hop artists like the ones I have been featuring this year at SDMM.

    Thanks for the program note. No Time Machine next week? "Say it ain't so!" I hope you and your gang enjoy your vacation and send me postcards from the edge.

    I watched the official video for "Betty" by Pom Poms. Me likey! She (can't find her name anywhere) reminds me of a female Roy Orbison on this one.

    How well I remember the Four Seasons' doublesider 45 "Rag Doll"/"Silence is Golden." I owned the record and played that B side as often as the A. On Dick Clark's TV series Where The Action Is, Frankie serenaded Jeri Lyn, my favorite Action Kid dancer, with "Rag Doll":

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EwuL3Up_mpg

    I'd give anything to have that whole series restored and released in HD! Never gonna happen because almost all episodes have been erased!

    Thanks for the entertainment, good buddy Chris. Have a Scrappy weekend and a fun vacay!

    ReplyDelete
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    1. To prove your DC5 point, their song Laurie asked if we knew it, and I said, "I'll bet we know it as soon as it plays." Bingo, two points for Chris. Not so much for Peter and Gordon, mainly because their songs all kinda blend together for me.

      Agree completely on both Maren and the Pom Poms. Her name is Marlene Gold, and it took me about 3 sites just to find the first name. 3 more got me a last name.

      In all honesty, I knew the Tremeloes lesser version of Silence Is Golden before I first heard the Seasons do it on Gold Vault Of Hits. My big sister ( the music teacher of my youth) didn't have the same taste for Frankie and the guys that I did even then.

      It is a real shame that so much early TV history got carelessly destroyed. I know that from several shows, most notably of course Doctor Who.

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  2. You covered one heck of a lot of musical ground here. And I never knew that The Girl From Ipanema was inspired by a lovely REAL girl. What a whopper of a name: Eneida Menezes Pais Pinto.

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    1. I never knew it either until Thursday night. But I can see how she'd be inspiring. I remember writing a bunch of fair to middling poetry over no more than a girl passing by.

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  3. Chris:
    That '64 election was one for the book...until...well, no politics, I promise...heh.
    ---Those station picks really had me going - hadn't heard any of them...UNTIL you hit the top 5.
    THOSE I remember.
    ---I would not have thought that The Girl from Ipanema would be at the end of those 6D if you offered me a million bucks (if I knew), because I did not. Nicely done.
    ---I checked out Maren Morris back on Friday for the heck of it...wonderfully surprised. (and she's a keeper for your beauty contest, right?)
    ---Edward Elgar...had a way with WORDD as well as music. Good quote. I could NOT have graduated WITHOUT him...lol.
    ---The Tremeloes did a very good version of Silence Is Golden (imho).
    ---House of the Rising Sun. every time that came on the radio, we just HAD to sing along.
    Eric Burdon & the Animals...great group in it's time.
    (kinda miss hearing SKY PILOT on the air, too).
    ---At the top of the PANEL pick - Rag Doll (by the BEST group to EVER do the aforementioned Silence Is Golden - The Four Seasons.
    Very good ride this week!
    (we ignore those warning lights anyway when groovin')

    Stay safe & have a well-deserved week off up there, brother.
    Oh, and keep those hits coming.

    ReplyDelete
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    1. Oh, yes, must NEVER mix topics on posts. I had someone a while back suggest I should establish my "blogs" by subject. Hell, I can hardly get people to read it now, lol! I think things will stay just the way they are... after all, it does say "PC be hanged" at the top.


      On the oddballs, the Applejacks were worth a listen- the others not so much IMHO.

      Maren, you bet!

      The Trems version of SIG is also very good- I've always thought it might beat the 4S if they had done the ending like Frankie and the guys did.

      I have Sky Pilot burned to one of my cds- a bit one sided, but still a good song.

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