Seriously, though, this has got to be either the most bungled news release EVER ...
Or the most brilliant.
Let's face it ... Tanya's name hasn't been in a headline for nearly thirty years ...
And now she's been front page news for three days in a row!
(What a way to go out!)
But you've REALLY gotta wonder what her husband / domestic partner (?) and publicist were thinking.
This whole see-saw announcement mess is an embarrassment ... and then to have contrary news phoned in right in the middle of a live interview on Inside Edition??? Seriously??? (I'm sorry, but it all seems a bit staged to me. I mean, c'mon ... the guy is in the middle of a live television interview and then, precisely timed to coincide with all of this, while still on camera, mind you, he stops to take a phone call, which just happens to be from the hospital to tell him that Tanya, whose passing he's been talking about live on the air at that very moment, is still alive??? This doesn't seem the least bit far-fetched to you??? I dunno ... but I'm thinking that this is worse than the script of ANY B-Movie she starred in while she was still alive.)
But by noon yesterday, the death report was confirmed by The New York Times. (kk)
This whole fiasco reminds Chuck Buell about why, in these days of social distancing, we may need reminders like this from time to time ...
Where is Chevy Chase now that we really need him to keep us up to date?! Remember?!
(And leave it to you to find that great picture of a young Tanya Roberts!)
CB
You remember those old Clairol commercials ... "Does she ... or doesn't she" ...
I can't help hearing a whole new "Is she ... or isn't she" Tanya Robert campaign playing in my head! (On the plus side, if she has, in fact, now officially left us, I do believe that this renders her eligible to cast at least one of the 11,000 elusive votes El Presidente is looking for down in Georgia right now.) kk
Hi Kent,
Just saw the news in Forgotten Hits of Gerry Marsden's passing. Sad
news to say the least.
He and his band definitely were a huge part of
the British Invasion. They sounded a bit different than a lot of the
other bands because they had a piano, not an electric piano, but a
regular piano that was mixed to give it equal billing with the guitars.
They really were a great sounding band with excellent hits!
When Gerry & The Pacemakers played the Winnipeg Arena, his opening
acts were the Deverons, featuring lead-singer Burton Cummings, along with
The Guess Who with Randy Bachman (a few months before Burton was
invited to be in the Guess Who.)
I remember reading in Burton's blog
one time of his meeting Gerry Marsden. I'm
sure Randy and Burton could tell you a some great stories of that
night at the Winnipeg Arena plus the British Invasion's influence on
their music and careers.
Speaking of which, when I mentioned to you recently
of a late night national music show, the format I had in mind was Randy
Bachman's national radio show in Canada on the CBC called "Vinyl Tap."
He plays music and features themes and has countless interesting
stories. On a footnote, Randy Bachman and Burton Cummings are "walking
Wikipedias" when it comes to song facts and stories of the music biz.
Believe it or not, out here at night we get Chicago's WGN, WBBM and WLS. I see where WGN just added the Jim Bohannon Show late
night -- just what the airwaves need, another political show. When it
comes to late night, if you don't want to listen to politics or
supernatural ghost stories, you are out of luck.
Sometimes on WGN, I
catch the early, early "morning show" (during their 4 AM hour) and
sometimes I catch Bob Sirott and the morning team when they come on at
5 AM (but just briefly before the transmitter goes to day pattern -- yes,
I listen on terrestrial.) Bob Sirott does a great job. Those of us
that grew up in the hinterlands only caught part of the "Chicago" shows
of Larry Lujack, John Landecker, et al. You know, when they were on
night-patterns, we could catch Larry Lujack's "farm reports," John
Landecker's "boogie checks" and maybe a Lyle Dean newscast. You have
to admire Bob Sirott and John Landecker making the transition from "pop
to talk." They now don't have the "safety net" of songs as a general
rule for their shows. I would imagine it is like doing stand-up -- you
are out there -- and the crowd is either entertained or "hoping for the
hook!" I would guess it is a whole different ball-game and you find out
very quick as to if you have what it takes to make the transition.
Between the pandemic, politics, and the mask and gloves era we are all
are currently experiencing in the world, Forgotten Hits "is like hearing
that long, lost 'Forgotten Hit' you haven't heard in ages." It's
definitely welcome, entertaining reading and viewing. I mean, let's
face it, that whimsical humor from Chuck Buell just might be that ditty,
that makes that person hang-up while being on hold with Suicide
Prevention! Ha! It's no coincidence the first five letters of the word
"chuckle" are "Chuck!" Great stuff!
Thank-you, Kent, for your assemblage of music, information, energy,
opinions, and the inclusion of everyone in this community you call
Forgotten Hits!
Again, Happy 2021 to you and your family!
Peace,
Tim Kiley
Thank you, Tim ... and the same to you and yours.
I've seen Burton Cummings perform "Ferry 'Cross The Mersey" a number of times during his solo "up close and personal" shows ... he's clearly a fan of this song ... and it very well could date back to that very show you mentioned.
Chuck'll (get it? chuckle!) will be VERY pleased by your complimentary comments ... he's been a great contributor to our efforts here. (Twice now plans for the two of us to finally get together have fallen thru, most recently due to this whole Covid mess ... but it'll happen one of these days!)
Thank you for your compliments of our efforts, too ... they are much appreciated.
On to a better 2021! (kk)
By the way, The Grammy Awards have been postponed now, too ... ideally to March ... but time will tell. (kk)
Kent,
I gotta tell ya, in spite of spending my entire working life in
electronics engineering, I've NEVER seen anything like the Boston Dynamic robots dancing to Do You Love Me. It made me want to get
up and dance. If I try to dance, I trip over my own feet.
Thanks to C.B. for sharing!
Mike Wolstein
P.S. ... oh, the socks were cool, too!
Here's a pair that'll be out of style soon. Maybe. ;-)
Not so sure about the "maybe" part. (And you just KNOW The Donald's got a pair of these on right now!!!) If things continue to go the way they're currently going, we may even catch a glimpse of them as they carry him out in chains on January 20th. (kk)
Kent:
Here’s a rare find on You Tube!
In the last couple
of weeks, a fan posted for the first time a pristine version of a 1978 BBC Bread
Special and the quality is pristine! Most of the hits are included.
So nice to see music done “live” on TV and not lip synched.
I have watched this special several times before in FAR inferior quality ... you're talking to a BIG Bread fan here ... LOVE their stuff, David Gates' stuff and was fortunate enough to see them a few times both in their prime and as part of their reunion / farewell tour. ALWAYS a good show. (I've told the story before how at the reunion show David made the comment that if he had known he would still be singing these songs 30 years later, he would have written them in a lower key!!! lol) Outstanding.
Thanks, Tom! (kk)
And did you happen to catch Barry Gibb on The CBS Sunday Morning Profile this past Sunday?
Tom sent us a link for this one, too.
(Barry talks about the new country album of duets he has coming out, reimagining some of the songs from The Brothers Gibb songbook as well as the recent HBO Documentary Special, "How Can You Mend A Broken Heart?") kk
Barry Gibb returns to the Bee Gees' music via Nashville:New CBS Sunday Morning Profile
>>>Strange thing about this pandemic - I seem to have less time than ever! It took a while, but I’ve finally figured out why. I used to sleep about six hours a day ... now I average about nine hours!" (Danny)
Yeah ... me, too!
I can relate to Danny's Slumber Schedule these days.
CB ( which stands for "Z-Z-Z-z-z-z-z Boy! )
January 8, 1935 - August 16, 1977
In the winter of Thirty Five
Tupelo, Mississippi's pride
A Mother gave birth to a rock-n-roll King
A few years ago, when Vern Gosdin (The Voice) was still with us, I was walking around The Bellevue Mall with Vern as he was waiting for his significant other to get done with her nails. (Vern
was dressed in black shirt, pant, and shoes with several gold chains
hanging out around his neck and a full head of hair combed back.)
He and his significant other arrived at The Bellevue Mall in a dark green tour bus, that they parked out front by Dillard's.
He had mentioned to me that they had recently been re-united.
Vern had known her back in their Elvis days.
As
we walked, he told me, "You know, I remember once she was suppose to
go to an Elvis performance, and I had planned a big dinner with an
engagement ring ... so I did my best and talked her into staying with me that evening, instead of going to the Elvis concert.
I guess you could say, she loved Elvis, son ... "I Couldn't Take Her From a Better Man."
(Vern Gosdin) The Voice!
That
evening at home, this song was just writing itself/
(When it came to the bridge, we were there, all of us, right there.)
The Bridge:
On the news they said, "They found," everybody gathered round - I couldn't believe my eyes.
LJ Coon
January 8,1935 - August 16, 1977
( Elvis Tribute )
L J Coon Music BMI* established 2001
Verse:
In the winter of Thirty Five
Tupelo, Mississippi's pride
A Mother gave birth to a rock-n-roll King
He crossed the river to the other side
Memphis Sun and stars in his eyes
They told his Mama, "That Boy Can Sing"
Chorus:
And, we can see him on the silver screen
The way he wiggles, the girls would scream
The gentle way he sang each song
Jenny never missed a single show
Except the day, we didn't go
The day I asked her for her hand
'Cause she loved Elvis -
I couldn't take her from a better man
Verse:
I remember the day he died
And every tear, we cried and cried
And how way stayed up all night long
Just playing old Forty Fives
In every song, he was still alive
We sat there thinking - was he really gone
Bridge:
On the news they said, "They Found,"
Everybody gathered round - I couldn't believe my eyes
Chorus:
'Cause I could see him on the silver screen
The way he wiggled, the girls would scream
The gentle way he sang each song
Jenny never missed a single show
Except the day we didn't go
The day I asked her for her hand
'Cause she loved Elvis -
I couldn't take her from a better man
She loved Elvis -
I couldn't take her from a better man
In the winter of Thirty Five
Tupelo, Mississippi's pride
A Mother gave birth to a rock-n-roll King
*****
THE DUMBEST SONGS EVER ...NEIL DIAMOND... ELVIS PRESLEY...
AND ANOTHER FIFTY YEAR FLASHBACK CHART FROM 1971...
(and that's just the next four days!!!)
There is ALWAYS something going on here in Forgotten Hits!
Start each morning with us ...
To see what oldies fans will be talking about for the rest of the day!
UPDATE: According to news reports issued late this yesterday afternoon, Tanya Roberts is NOT dead!!!
Roberts collapsed on Christmas Eve while walking her dogs and was taken to Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles.
After
the announcement came out late Sunday night of her passing, news that was quickly circulated all over the world (including here in Forgotten Hits), it turns out that her husband
was notified on Monday Morning that Tanya was still alive and had been placed
on a ventilator. (Hmmm ... sounds like the couple were REAL close!!!)
Of
course all of this information could change again tomorrow ... but
let's hope not. As of right now, Tanya Roberts is still alive, although
likely fighting to remain that way.
(Lesson learned ... don't announce anyone's death until TMZ announces it ... even if that person's husband tells you that it's so!!!) kk
>>>When I
turned the Rewound Radio Countdown on for the first time last Saturday, the
very first song I heard was "Things We'd Like To Say" by The New
Colony Six, which came in at #68 on this year's list.(For the record, they were the ONLY
Chicago-based act to make The Top 100!)Congratulations, guys!(kk)
Can I get
a woohoo, Kent? Not bad for a “B” side, eh?
Thank you
and R.I.P., Larry Lujack, plus a major “danke schoen” for my dear friend,
fellow Cornerstone and, at times, song-writing partner “in the day.” Mr.
Rice! How goes it, Ronnie?
Happy New
Year to both of you and all of us.
How cool
to hear from Forgotten Hits that one of our hits has not yet been
forgotten!!!
Ray
Hi
Kent –
Strange
thing about this pandemic - I seem to have less time than ever!
It
took a while, but I’ve finally figured out why.
I
used to sleep about six hours a day ... now I average about nine hours!
I
read until around 1am and then don’t get up until 10! What a lazy bum😂
(Of
course, I’ll be 77 in five days, so I guess it’s ok)🤗
Anyway,
I thought I’d check in, as it’s been a long time.
Keep
up your great work
I
know how much time you spend on this and I can’t believe you work as well.
I’ve
had some stuff put aside for you for a couple of years - maybe this is the year
that I get it to you!
Danny
Good to hear from you … and Happy New Year to all.
FH Reader (and former WLS DJ) Chuck Buell made a comment on
New Year’s Eve that really got me to thinking …
As we get older, staying up till midnight on New Year’s Eve
isn’t all that meaningful and important anymore … if I’m tired, I’d just as
soon be sleeping …
But THIS year I think a lot of us wanted to stick around
till midnight JUST to make sure that 2020 really left us!!!
We’re not out of the woods yet, by any stretch … but
hopefully there will be much more to look forward to … and actually be able to
DO … in 2021!(kk)
GERRY MARSDEN:
Frank B. sent us this awesome YouTube clip of Paul McCartney saluting Gerry Marsden from quite a few years back ... the two always stayed close, due to their Liverpool ties. (It was almost like they went thru the war together, with The Beatles and The Pacemakers being the top two bands in Liverpool at the time.)
Paul even included Gerry in the pub scene from his 1973 TV Special James Paul McCartney, singing a bunch of the old standards ... and then took part in the 1989 fund-raising disc remake of "Ferry 'Cross The Mersey," singing much of the lead vocal along with Gerry and members of The Christians, Holly Johnson and others ... it topped the British Pop Singles Chart for three weeks!
Good Morning, Kent:
Enjoyed your reflections on Gerry
Marsden and the Pacemakers.
What’s always struck me about them is that
they left behind an odd and perhaps unique career arc on the American
charts.
As popular as they were, their chart run was remarkably
short, in light of how much successful product they released.
All of
their charted singles (there were ten of them, as you listed) cover just
a two year period, from May of 1964 (beginning with their debut “Don’t
Let The Sun Catch You Crying”) to September
of 1966 (ending with “Girl On A Swing”). On top of that, their entire
catalogue of charted albums (five of them!) represents an even shorter
period, less than a full year, from July of 1964 (with their debut,
Don’t Let The Sun Catch You Crying) to May of
1965 (with their Greatest Hits collection).
Has there ever been a
group that began with that successful a splash seen their run end so
abruptly and quickly, a group that didn’t disband or suffer the
premature death of a key member, that is?
All the best to you and Frannie in 2021.
Rick O’Dell
Much as with The Beatles, part of this was simply a case of America catching up with The Brits.
Gerry and the Pacemakers had their first four hits in Great Britain before America was even aware of them ... and this includes THREE #1 Singles ... and a #2 Hit! (In order, "How Do You Do It," "I Like It," "You'll Never Walk Alone" ... all reaching UK #1 ... and "I'm The One,"which peaked at UK #2.) "Don't Let The Sun Catch You Cryin'" was their first "concurrent" hit, making the charts in both countries at the same time ... and it actually did slightly better here in America, thanks to the whole wave of The British Invasion being in high gear and appearances on The Ed Sullivan Show. So that adds a full year to the trajectory of their career, still incredibly short with such a high volume of hit material. (Incredibly, "Girl On A Swing" didn't even chart in England!)
We have since learned that "How Do You Do It" and "I'm The One" bubbled under in Cash Box in 1963 and early 1964, both reaching #132 in the process ... but being pre-Beatles, nobody even noticed!
"You'll Never Walk Alone," the song Gerry and the Pacemakers are best remembered for in England, was first issued as a B-Side here in The States, on the US "How Do You Do It" single. (That'd be a good one to add to your next Flip Sides Weekend!!! Kind of a little known fact!)
It was then issued again as an A-Side a full year later, when it peaked at US #48.
A few British bands fell victim to their 1963 material going unnoticed here in The States before The Beatles knocked the door down. (The Beatles themselves had already released four British singles before "I Want To Hold Your Hand" hit both charts somewhat simultaneously.)
The Dave Clark Five charted in Great Britain in 1963 with "Do You Love Me" (#30) and "Glad All Over" (#1) before they ever had a hit here ...
But perhaps the BEST example of waiting out an American Hit belongs to Freddie and the Dreamers. Their singles "I'm Telling You Now" (UK #2) and "You Were Made For Me" (UK #3) were both British hits in 1963 ... but didn't hit the charts here in The States until 1965!!! Incredibly, Capitol Records was pushing THEIR records (without success) in '63 instead of The Beatles' latest releases! (Must have been that crazy jumping-jacks image they were going for!!! lol) kk
Speaking of "Do You Love Me," Forgotten Hitter Chuck Buell sent us THIS cool little clip, showing the advancement of robot technology, circa 2021 ...
A Question from Forgotten Hitter,
Chuck Buell ~~~
Do You Love Me?
Or Am I just a Little Scary?!
Boston Dynamics, a well-known
robotics company known for creating advanced robots, released their latest video to
help usher in 2021.
To quote Rod Serling, “between
science and superstition, (this) lies between the pit of man's fears and the
summit of his knowledge.”
It’s Boston Dynamics’ "Dancing
Robots!" Along with their now already well-known robot dog, “Spot,” from a year
or so ago, and a "friend" rockin’ out to the Forgotten Hit, “Do You Love Me?" by the Contours!
And, I did go to Two Reliable
Sources to verify the possible reality of this!
Snopes.com received many
questions from humans wondering if they were computer
generated. Snopes says they learned that they were not, and declared
this video as ~~~
Even Tesla creator Elon Musk tweeted, “This is not CGI.”
So, be a Believer or be a
Skeptic. I submit for your consideration
~~~
Chuck also sent us this awesome photo of his New Year's Eve socks ...
Everybody could use a pair!!!
THE SUPER CHARTS:
kk:
I see you opened with the 1/2/1971 Super
Chart.
I notice that "KNOCK THREE TIMES" by
Dawn checked in at #3. I wonder if Tony Orlando is going to talk about it on tonight's
show.Maybe I should write to him and remind
him about it.
I know you have Ron Smith's book "EIGHT
DAYS A WEEK," so I’m sure that it’s no surprise to you that today would've
been Roger Miller's Birthday … born 1/2/1936.
I'm going to make Cousin Brucie an offer he
can refuse ...
If he plays my request, "KING OF THE ROAD,"
I'll play "QUEEN OF THE HOUSE" for his wife Jody.
FB
P.S.Don't
know if you get the SUNDANCE Channel, but they’re running 48 hours of COLUMBO.
Frank
Since The Super Chart for the week ending January 2nd,
1971, included a couple of days of 1971 chart information … and since we had
the Saturday open … we decided to wrap up the OLD year and then kick off the
NEW Year the very next day with the chart ending the week of January 9th.
We’ll be saluting 1971 all year long with new charts every
Sunday … along with weekly recaps of the events of that week, fifty years ago.
If you have Tony Orlando’s email address, please send it to
me … I’ve been wanting to talk to him for YEARS now about something and every
lead I’ve been given has proven to be a dead end.
Didn’t catch any of the Columbo marathon … and didn’t bother
with the annual Twilight Zone one this year either.I mentioned a few days back that we’ve been
binging Chicago PD … and were within about four episodes of finishing Season
Three when, lo and behold Friday Morning it was no longer available to watch on
Amazon Prime!!!We were shocked (and
more than a little bit upset and disappointed.)What do we do now???Pay $2.99
per episode from this point forward.(I
don’t think so!!!)
I even went so far as to seeing how much it would cost to
buy the first seven seasons on Amazon … and it was something like $138 … to see
a show we had watched for free the night before!!!
FORTUNATELY, I got an email the very next day saying that
Chicago PD would now be appearing on Peacock (Seasons 1-7), beginning on
January 2nd, which saved the day (and $138!) for us … and got the
new year off on the right foot after all.(Let’s face it … there isn’t much you can do these days but watch tv …
and clean the snow off your cars!!!)kk
Happy New Year Kent,
Well, I don't think I'll
be saving all the blog entries for this year, since you are now dealing with
1971, and that's just not one of my favorite years in music.
Don't get me wrong … there
were some great songs that came out in 1971, but there was way too much
Partridge Family, way too much Osmonds (especially Donny), way too much Bobby
Sherman and then there were songs like Chirpy Chirpy Cheep Cheep by Mac and
Katie Kassoon.
I will certainly be
checking in each day as always, but I don't imagine I'll be saving every blog entry
as I have been.
I think I'll have to go
back to 2016 and see how you covered another of my favorite years in music,
1966.
Sam Ward
You won’t find a salute to 1966 … our year-long tribute to
1967 was our first venture into this area (and honestly no year since has come
close to the dedicated and concentrated effort that went into putting together
that year-long piece.)
You’ll find 1971 to be even a bit more minimalistic … A
Super Chart every Sunday with a recap of the events of that week in ’71.
Now there’ll be the occasional spotlight feature along the
way … but not to the degree we’ve done in the past.(I really AM trying to cut back this year …
and use some of that time toward new and special projects!)
I think 1971 was still a pretty banner year for music,
however.
The era of the singer/songwriter really came to the top
around this time … even Carole King, who’d been writing songs for others for
over a decade, seeing hit after hit after hit top the charts, worked up the
courage to record an album of her own material … and what a MONSTER album it
was!
Sweet Baby James Taylor continued to flourish in 1971 … and
other acts like Bread and Elton John started to make their mark, too. (Three
Dog Night was HUGE that year as well!)
And it was a big year for Beatles solo hits … Paul McCartney
released “Ram” and John Lennon gave us “Imagine,” two of the strongest LPs of
the year.
Years ago we did a rather informal poll in Forgotten Hits,
trying to determine “the demise of good popular music.”
Naturally, we got ALL kinds of responses, pretty indicative
of the age group the came from.
For example, there were a number of emails stating how The
Beatles and The British Invasion ruined music forever … but honestly, a lot of
popular music was turning pretty bland by 1961 – 1963.Sure, there were still some GREAT hits coming
out … but even Elvis himself had gone the “middle of the road” path once he
came out of the army … and none of that raw excitement was there anymore.Yes, his records still rose to the top of the
charts on a consistent basis … but a lot of this was due to his loyal fan base
that were going to buy ANYTHING he released.In hindsight, I’m not so sure Elvis tracks like “It’s Now Or Never,”
“Are You Lonesome Tonight” or “Surrender” hold up quite as well as some of his
earlier, ground-breaking work.(And then
“Can’t Help Falling In Love,” probably his greatest ballad EVER, fails to reach
#1, while tracks like “Soldier Boy,” Don’t Break The Heart That Loves You,”
“Roses Are Red” and “Michael Row The Boat Ashore” made it to the top.
The most common consensus we got was that great pop music
ended after 1972.
I can agree with some of that argument … by 1973 and 1974,
things had gotten too schmaltzy again … #1 Hits like “Killing Me Softly With
His Song,” “The Night The Lights Went Out In Georgia,” “The Morning After,”
“Touch Me In The Morning,” “Delta Dawn,” “Half Breed,” “The Way We Were,” “Dark
Lady” and “I Honestly Love You” set music back fifteen years.
There was a slight rebound in 1975 … great tracks like Elton
John’s version of “Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds,” Linda Ronstadt’s remake of
“You’re No Good,” “Lady Marmalade,” “Sister Golden Hair,” “Love Will Keep Us
Together,” “Listen To What The Man Said,” David Bowie’s “Fame” and The Eagles’
“One Of These Nights” … but the truth is, we were already slipping into disco
by year’s end, another factor that MANY readers cited as bringing an end to all
good pop music.
Bottom line … it’s all subjective.Some of the titles I just mentioned as being
“lame” in my book may be among your all-time favorites.
One thing we WILL try to do in our 1971 recap is bring you
some of our long-time favorites, many of which fall into the Forgotten Hits
category simply because they’ve fallen off of the radar of mainstream radio.(Thanks to stations like Me-TV-FM, Rewound
Radio, The True Oldies Channel and WCFLChicago.com, this isn’t ALWAYS the case
anymore … but it does seem to be the norm.)
Let’s face it … are there really any more oldies stations
out there on terrestrial radio these days?Or have they all gone the internet route so that they can offer more in
the way of variety?
Give our lists a look-over every Sunday and see what you
think.
We’ve already spotlighted great tracks like “Fresh As A
Daisy,” “When I’m Dead And Gone,” “Let Your Love Go” and “Sweet Mary” … and
that’s after only two charts!!!(kk)
Hi Kent:
Seeing some of the
responses on the charts, my question would be:
Can the Super Charts
be any more accurate, if all the info they are taken from is inaccurate?
Apparently, “Vehicle”
did better here than on WCFL! Doesn’t sound right, but it was big here, too.
Sad about Mary Ann!!! Don’t forget Phyllis McGuire.
Good Riddance 2020.
Hopefully we will have a much happier New Year.
Ken Freck
My
thinking is that The Super Charts help to eliminate the wide discrepancies we
keep running into from chart to chart to chart … sometimes position spreads of
20-30 places.A Top Ten Hit is going to
be a Top Ten Hit on all three charts … but how does “Dock Of The Bay,” for
example, top Billboard’s chart for four weeks … and never make it to #1 at all
in Cash Box or Record World?It’s things
like these that just don’t make logical sense.(So yes, if some behind-the-scenes monkey business was going on with
this record to push it to #1 after Otis Redding’s death, the lower positions
shown in the other two publications will help to balance out something closer
to reality.
“Hey
Jude” was #1 in Billboard for nine weeks … and there is absolutely NO question
about how big a record this was … but EVERYWHERE else (including any local
chart I’ve ever seen for this time period) also shows “Those Were The Days”
reaching the top (and here in Chicago, “Over You” by Gary Puckett and the Union
Gap, "Little Green Apples" by O.C. Smith and “Fire” by The Crazy World Of Arthur Brown, too! In fact, "Hey Jude" topped the WLS Chart for exactly one week ... and never even made it to #1 on the 'CFL Chart at all! Now we all know that THAT'S not exactly accurate reporting either.)
The
point isn’t to take anything away from how well these records charted … but
more to paint a more accurate picture of how these records REALLY did from
coast to coast.And, since each
publication used their own unique sources to tabulate their results, the
accumulation of ALL of this chart data would help to produce a far more
accurate account.
I
don’t think you’ll see a lot of records do much WORSE than what you remember …
but you MAY see several records chart 10-15 places HIGHER than you remember,
once the other stats are factored in. (One exception might be "Good Vibrations," which reached #1 on ALL of the national charts ... yet never made it to #1 on The Super Chart because it didn't have enough points in any given week to do so ... the record's #1 peak in Billboard, Cash Box and Record World came during different weeks so it wasn't able to accumulate enough points during any given week to outrank "You Keep Me Hangin' On" by The Supremes ... and thus failed to hit the top of The Super Chart.)
I
still stand behind them as the most accurate 20/20 Hindsight Charts that can be
produced. It's a snapshot of that exact moment in time, which is really the very definition of popular music! (kk)
