Friday, August 25, 2017

August 25th

Some interesting debuts on the chart this week.

New at #63 is "I Dig Rock And Roll Music" by Peter, Paul And Mary, a song that successfully captures the feel of some of their contemporary artists such as The Beatles and, most notably, The Mamas and the Papas … in fact I swore this WAS The Mamas and the Papas the very first time I heard it.  



John, Denny, Cass and Michelle debut a few spots lower at #69 with "Twelve Thirty", a very pretty, overlooked gem by the quartet that I suppose one COULD say (in hindsight) sounds an awful lot like Peter, Paul And Mary!!!  



It had been awhile since Peter, Paul and Mary had had a Top Ten Hit (four years to be exact!)  Like most American artists, they suffered when folk music fell out of favor to all things British.  Although they would make The Top 40 a couple of times in between, their last significant Top Ten Record was their #9 showing on Bob Dylan's "Don't Think Twice, It's All Right" in 1963.

In between Peter, Paul and Mary and The Mamas and the Papas ... and premiering at #67 ... we find Tommy James and the Shondells and their latest, "Gettin' Together".  Herman's Hermits are back on the chart with "Museum", a song written by Donovan.  A new group out of Santa Cruz, California, take an avant-garde look at the old Cole Porter tune "Anything Goes" and give it a contemporary feel … it premiers at #78 and makes for the perfect follow-up to their reworking of the Paul Simon tune "The 59th Street Bridge Song" from earlier this year.  





Frankie Valli has a new solo hit on the chart with "I Make A Fool Of Myself" but it won't have anywhere near the impact that his chart-topping "Can't Take My Eyes Off You" did.  Ray Charles has some movie music premiering at #85 with "In The Heat Of Night" (great song, great flick!) and we also find follow-up singles debuting this week by Every Mother's Son ("Put Your Mind At Ease", #87) and The American Breed ("Don't Forget About Me", #100).  



Dean Chance of The Minnesota Twins pitches a no hitter against The Cleveland Indians.  However Cleveland scores one run due to the five walks allowed by Chance.  Nineteen days earlier Chance threw five perfect innings in a game shortened by rain.  


The Beatles fly to Bangor, North Wales, to spend the weekend studying Transcendental Meditation under Maharishi Mahesh Yogi.  Two days later they would receive the devastating news that their long-time manager Brian Epstein was dead.  

Brian Wilson performed live on stage with the Beach Boys for the first time in two years at a concert in Honolulu, Hawaii. 


The Monkees are back on the road today with a concert at The Seattle Center Coliseum in Seattle, WA.  Tonight's show (as well as Saturday's show on the 26th in Portland, OR and Sunday's show on the 27th in Spokane, WA) are all recorded and eventually released on the Rhino Handmade Collectors' Edition of "Summer, 1967".  

American Nazi Party Leader George Lincoln Rockwell is assassinated in Arlington, Virginia.




The Cryan' Shames hold on for another week at the #1 position on the Chicagoland charts ... but Bobbie Gentry (pictured on this week's WCFL Sound 10 Survey) is poised and ready to take over that spot next week.

Notice, too, that "Never My Love" by The Association is already closing in on The Top 20 here in Chicago ... while it has yet to premier on the national chart!