WLS Top Ten or Week of November 16, 1970: 'Tears of a Clown'

Fifty years ago.  In other words, half a century.  

1.  I THINK I LOVE YOU--  Partridge Family   Something about the Cowsills here.

2.  GYPSY WOMAN--  Brian Hyland

3.  TEARS OF A CLOWN--  Smokey Robinson & the Miracles

4.  LET'S WORK TOGETHER--  Canned Heat

5.  MONTEGO BAY--  Bobby Bloom  I was always under the impression that he was a black guy.

6.  HEAVEN HELP US ALL--  Stevie Wonder

7.  FIRE & RAIN--  James Taylor   Oh those singer/songwriters

8.  CRY ME A RIVER--  Joe Cocker

9.  I'LL BE THERE--  Jackson Five

10.  SHARE THE LAND--  Guess Who

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

DEBUTS

24.  BE MY BABY--  Andy Kim

26.  ENGINE #9-- Wilson Pickett

29.  STONED LOVE--  Supremes

30.  ONE LESS BELL TO ANSWER--  Fifth Dimension

Hitbound  STEALER--  Free

Name That Tune (from the above songs):  "I'm Sleeping And Right In The Middle Of A Good Dream."  Answer below.  --RoadDog

"I Think I Love You"

Music Deaths: Judy Dyble of Fairport Convention and Pete Way of UFO

JUDY DYBLE, 71

Died 12 July 2020

Singer, founding member of British folk rock band Fairport Convention.  Sometimes called the British Jefferson Airplane.

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

PETE WAY, 69

Died 14 August 2020

Bassist.  Played with English hard rock band UFO.

Music Deaths: Charlie Daniels

CHARLIE DANIELS, 83

Died 6 July 2020

Born in Wilmington, North Carolina, and noted for his fiddle playing.  Had a huge hit with "The devil Went Down to Georgia" (#3-1979) plus that humorous "Uneasy Rider"  (#9-1973).  Other big hits:

The Souths Gonna Do It"

"Long Haired Country Boy"

"In America"

"The Legend of Wooly Swamp" 

"Still in Saigon"

One of my favorites.  Loved that hat pulled low over his face and that furious fiddle playing.  Loved it when he kicked Old Green Teeth in the knee in "Uneasy Rider."

WLS Top 30 Songs for Week of November 9, 1970-- Part 5: "Let's Work Together"

Fifty years ago this week in Chicago, these were the Top Ten songs according to WLS, 890 AM.

*  means the song is climbing the charts.  The number after the artist is how high the song got on the Billboard Hot 100.

I don't make many comments on these songs because I have already commented on them on Past Top 30s.

10.  *HEAVEN HELP US ALL--  Stevie Wonder    #9

9.  *MONTEGO BAY--  Bobby Bloom       #8      Actually a white guy.  I was always under the idea that he was a black man.  Died at age 28 by a supposedly accidental gunshot.

8.  SOMEBODY'S BEEN SLEEPING--    100 Proof    #8

7.  WE'VE ONLY JUST BEGUN--  Carpenters    #2

6.  *LET'S WORK TOGETHER--  Canned Heat    #26

5.  I'LL BE THERE--  Jackson Five     #1   This was the fourth and last of four straight out-of-the-gate  #1s for them.  Not a bad start.  The next two "only" got to #2.    So sad.

4.  *TEARS OF A CLOWN--  Smokey Robinson & the Miracles    #1

3.  *GYPSEY WOMAN--  Brian Hyland    #3

2.  FIRE & RAIN--  James Taylor     #3

1.  I THINK I LOVE YOU  --Partridge Family   #1

Name That Tune (from the above songs)"  "Fe-Fi-Fo-Fum, I Can Feel The Presence Of Someone."  Answer below.  --RoadDog

"Somebody's Been Sleeping"

WLS Top 30 for Week of November 9, 1970-- Part 4: "Green Eyed Lady"

Fifty years ago (REALLY!!) in Chicago according to WLS 890 AM radio.  Young people listened to WLS and WCFL, 1000 AM for the latest songs.  FM was just getting started.

15.  LOLA--  Kinks    #9     Three straight of the greatest songs intros ever.  Instant recognition.  See  the Nov. 10 post for the other two.  Originally banned on some stations, but not because of what Lola was, but because of the mention of "Coca-Cola" which was changed to Cherry Cola.

14.  *SHARE THE LAND--  Guess Who      #10     Also instantly recognizable first notes.  Appropriate for the troubled times back then and now.  Their last Top Ten until "Clap for the Wolfman"  (#6-1974).

13.  GREEN EYED LADY--  Sugarloaf     #3    The fifth straight song om this countdown with those ear-catching first notes.  Do you prefer the 3:39 radio version or 6:52 album cut?  A comment on You Tube:  "The coolest thing ever for a 10-year-old was to go cruising with his older brother in his LeMans  with this playing on the 8-track."

12.  DEEPER & DEEPER--  Freda Payne     #24    Hardly ever gets played these days unless you're listening to MeTV FM, but on a lot back then.  The glory days of AM radio.  Follow up to "Band of Gold" (#3-1970).

11.  IT DON'T MATTER TO ME--  Bread     #10    The man with that romantic voice. Mr. David Gates who married his high school sweetheart.   I did too.  Great follow up to "Make It With You."

Name That Tune (from the above songs):  "Girls Will Be Boys And Boys Will Be Girls.  It's A Mixed Up, Muddled Up World."   Answer below.  --RoadDog

"Lola"

Veterans Day, 2020

My U.S. flags are all out.  Hope yours are as well.

At 11 am I went over to the McHenry, Illinois, American Legion on Riverside Drive where there was a joint Legion/PLAV (Polish Legion of American Veterans) ceremony honoring our veterans.  New commander Mark Hume opened with remarks and we had "Taps" played.  

The MIA/POW Table was explained and the history of Veterans Day was given.

All this was filmed for Zoom.

--RoadDog

Bob Stroud Is Doing a 'Red, White & Blue' Ten at Ten in Honor of Veterans Day Today

At 10 am (and 10 pm) CST today, Bob Stroud will be doing his Ten at Ten on Chicago's WDRV, 97.1 FM, the Drive. on "Red, White & Blue" songs in honor of Veterans Day.

It streams so give it a listen.

I'll be going over to the McHenry American Legion (Illinois) for a ceremony.

Thank a veteran Today (and always).

You can see the ten tunes Bob played on my RoadDog's RoadLog blog of this date.

--RoadDog

WLS Top 30 for Week of November 9, 1970-- Part 3: "Cry Me A River"

Top 30 songs in Chicago fifty years ago.   *  means the song was climbing the charts.

 

20.  *CRY ME A RIVER--  Joe Cocker     #11     What you call quite a musical interpreter.  I actually thought this might have been an original by him until I read that Ella Fitzgerald and Barbra Streisand had sung the song before Joe.  If you've never heard the Ella version, go to You Tube.  It will be worth your while.  Barbra did a great version as well.  Joe definitely rocked it up, but I really like that Ella version.

19.  *EL CONDOR PASA--  Simon & Garfunkel     #18    Based on a Peruvian song.  Love those pipes.  From that great "Bridge Over Troubled Waters" album.

18.  LOOK WHAT THEY'VE DONE TO MY SONG, MA--  New Seekers     #14   Covering a Melanie song.   Several comments saying this version was better than Melanie's.  I don't know, both are good but I am quite a Melanie fan.  British-Australian group.  Their biggest hit was the following year with "I'd Like to Teach the World to Sing (In Perfect Harmony)."

17.  LUCRETIA MacEVIL--   Blood, Sweat & Tears     #29     Love those horns at the beginning.  Another one of those instantly recognizable songs from the first few chords.  Off "BST 3."  A song any woman named Lucretia probably doesn't like.

16.  ALL RIGHT NOW--  Free       #4      FULL VOLUME, BABY!!   Is there a speaker anywhere big enough to handle the volume this needs to be played at?  Back in my deejay days, always a song guaranteed to get people out dancing.  Another one of those songs instantly identifiable by the opening chords.  Their only Top 40 out of just two Hot 100s.  One-Hit Wonder, anybody?

Name That Tune (from the above songs):  ""I'd Rather be A Sparrow Than A Snail."  Answer below.  --RoadDog

"El Condor Pasa"

Happy 245th, America's Strike Force, the U.S. Marines

Today marks the 245th birthday of one mighty fine fighting machine, the Marines.

They were formed by resolution of the Second Continental Congress on November 10, 1775.  The Corps' commander was Samuel Nicholas who raised a battalion of 300 by December of 1775 in Philadelphia.  By January, they went to sea under the command of Commodore  Esek Hopkins.  

In March, they undertook the first of many amphibious operations in their illustrious career, at the Battle of Nassau in the Bahamas, occupying the British port of Nassau for two weeks.

On January 3, 1777,  the Marines arrived at the Battle of Princeton attached to General John Calwalader's brigade.

And, you know what tomorrow is.

--RoadMarine

WLS Top 30 for Week of November 9, 1970-- Part 2: "King of Rock and Roll"

*  Means the song is climbing the charts.

25.  IT'S ONLY MAKE BELIEVE--  Glen Campbell    Fine job on this former Conway Twitty song that reached #1 in 1958.

24.  *SEE ME, FEEL ME--  Who   Slow at beginning, but built up.    Of course there was them doing it in the movie "Woodstock" and with all Roger Daltry's fringe flying around.  Watch the YouTube Woodstock version of this.

23.  *STAND BY YOUR MAN--  Candi Staton  Tammy's song with a soul twist.

22.  *KING OF ROCK AND ROLL--  Crow   Full name of it almost as long as the song at 2:33: "(Don't Try to lay No Boogie Woogie On the ) King of Rock and Roll."    Written by Jeff Thomas and also a famous English version by Long John Baldry.

21.  *STILL WATER--  Four Tops  One of the greatest belly rubbin' songs ever.

Name That Tune (from the above songs):  "Listening To You, I Get Music.  Gazing At You I Get The Heat."  Answer below.  --RoadDog

(See Me, Feel Me"

WLS Top 30 for Week of November 9, 1970-- Part 1: 'Stoned Love'

Fifty year ago on Chicago's WLS 890 AM.   * Means it was climbing the charts.    The number after the artist is how high it got on the Billboard Hot 100 National Charts.

HBD   *STONED LOVE--  Supremes     #7     No Diana this time.

30.  *YOU DON'T HAVE TO SAY YOU LOVE ME--  Elvis Presley      #11    Elvis doing that Vegas thing.  From the movie "Elvis:  That Is the Way That It Is."

29.  *10- 15 (20-25 YEARS OF LOVE)--  Presidents     #11       What they call Old School Soul.   Herb Kent, where are you?  

28.  *AFTER MIDNIGHT--  Eric Clapton     #18     Doing a J.J. Cale song.

27.  CRACCKLIN' ROSIE--  Neil Diamond      #1    Watch the Kathleen Mosley video of a very young Neil.  Was that a hair flip on the left side of his head?  Were we that young 50n years ago?

26.  CANDIDA--  Dawn    #3    A white guy with two black gals.  Their first hit.

Name That Tune (from the above songs):  "The Stars Won't Come Out If They Know That You're About."    Answer below.   --RoadDog

"Candida"

Every Blooming THing, Early November

Keeping true to my goal of having something blooming with big color all the way between April and October, the yard has a lot of color right now.

Several hundred yellow and orange mums are still in bloom.  The sedum have the dark heads and yellow stalks.  Burning bushes are burning red.  Plus, my lone remaining Bradford pear tree has just gotten it autumnal tones.  However, I do have several Bradford pear tree seedlings growing.

Just finished raking pine straw up into my two pine islands; great mulch, but a whole lot of raking, especially with all the wind we've been having so that pine straw was spread out over a really bit area.  Hoping that I cut the grass for the last time.

Rolled up the front yard hose onto the reel (200 feet of hose) and will get to the backyard hose later this month after I finish burning limbs and twigs.  

We've been having a great Indian Summer around here with temperatures in the lower 70s for the last six days.  Last year this time, we had already had a Halloween surprise snow storm that dropped six inches on the ground and then there was another surprise Veterans Day six inches.  No snow this year, but we have had a couple frosts.

--RoadDog

JSS: Strange Halloween-- No Decorating for Halloween--Where's the Halloween Candy?-- Injun Summer

JSS--  Just Some Stuff

1.  STRANGE HALLOWEEN--  Well, last Saturday was  one strange Halloween for us.  For the first time ever, we didn't hand out candy to the lil' Trick or Treaters.  Too bad, as we always enjoy the really young ones out on their first spree.  They are so cute.  We were home, but all lights in the front of the house were out.  We still got a few knocks.  Felt guilty, but these times as they say.

2.  NO DECORATING FOR HALLOWEEN--  This was also the first time I didn't decorate.  We usually have lighted pumpkins in every window inside as well as about a thousand mostly orange miniature lights outside.  You might say we went dark.

3.  WHERE'S THE HALLOWEEN CANDY?--  I noticed that there was quite a bit less candy for sale at places before Halloween and then, the day after, when I usually do some stocking up, some stores didn't even have any candy on sale.

4.  INJUN SUMMER--  Well, since Tuesday, November 3, we have been having very warm weather for this time of the year.  We have been to Sunnyside Tavern in Johnsburg and sitting outside every day since then.  Very warm while sun is out, but when it starts going down, you see everyone  heading out to their vehicles to get more clothing.  Man, it gets downright cold.

--RoadDog

Past Movie Scratches: Halloween-- Avatar-- Guardians-- Hunger-- Trek-- Forrest

See if you can guess the names of the movies at the top.

Past Movie Scratches--  Movies I saw on TV in 2019, before Virus.

79.  HALLOWEEN--  10-30--  Yes, Tommy.  There is a boogey man and his name is Michael.  A fixated lad and just the film to watch the day before his Holiday.

80.  AVATAR--  11-4--  It's whites vs. Indians in space.  "I see you."  Do you see me?  Amazing cgi.

81.  GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY--  11-9--  Great movie and great music from a CASSETTE!!  I am a big cassette fan.  I still record on cassettes.

82.  HUNGER GAMES: CATCHING FIRE--  11-11--  You just got to hate President Snow.  I don't even like him on those orange juice commercials now.  Then, there is that laughing, laughing mc.  

83.  STAR TREK--  11-16--  How it all began.  Everybody meets everybody.  Who said, "Are you out of your Vulcan mind?"  "Who said, "I've got your gun?"  Young Spock meets old Spock.

84.  FORREST GUMP--  11-23--  Stupid is as stupid does.  "And, that's all I have to say about that."  Too bad they are going to have to change the name of the movie because someone was named after a Confederate general and some people have hissy fits when they see that.

Several Groups of Misfits.  --RoadDog

WLS Top Ten for November 2, 1970: 'Fire & Rain'

The Top Ten songs in Chicago fifty years ago.

1.  I THINK I LOVE YOU--  Partridge Family    You just gotta love that Danny Partridge.

2.  FIRE & RAIN--  James Taylor

3.  I'LL BE THERE--  Jackson Five

4.  WE'VE ONLY JUST BEGUN--  Carpenters

5.  IT DON'T MATTER TO ME--  Bread

6.  SOMEBODY'S BEEN SLEEPING--  100 Proof

7.  DEEPER & DEEPER--  Freda Payne

8.  GYPSEY WOMAN--  Brian Hyland

9.  GREEN EYED LADY--  Sugarloaf

10.  LOLA--  Kinks   How did it begin?

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

DEBUTS

26.  SHARE THE LAND--  Guess Who

27.  CRY ME A RIVER--  Joe Cocker

29.  SEE ME, FEEL ME--  Who

30.  STILL WATER (LOVE)--  Four Tops

HBD   YOU DON'T HAVE TO SAY YOU LOVE ME--   Elvis Presley

Name That Tune (from the above songs):  "I'm Sleeping And Right In The Middle Of A Good Dream."  Answer below.  --RoadDog

"I Think I Love You"

Music Deaths: Benny Mardones, Sang "Into the Night'

BENNY MARDONES, 73

Died 29 June 2020

Singer who had the 1980 hit "Into the Night."

This song actually charted twice.

In 1980 it hit #11 and in 1989 it his #20.

Not just a balladeer guy.  On the "American Bandstand" video, he kind of reminds me of Steve Perry of Journey.

Check out his songs 

"Hometown Gils"

"American Bandstand"

"Oh Me, Oh My"

Music Deaths: Willie Wright, Soul Singer and Songwriter

WILLIE WRIGHT, 80

Died 29 June 2020

Soul singer and songwriter.  Never had a Top 100 on the pop charts.  Which was too bad.  I've been listening to some of his songs on You Tube and what a talent he was.

I especially liked:

"Right On for the Darkness" (written by Curtis Mayfield)

"I'm So Happy Now"

Telling the Truth"

"Nantucket"   He performed there a lot.

Do yourself a favor and give him a listen if you've never heard him.  I wish I had while he was alive.

What a Long Strange Election This Has Been

And, it seemed like it started ten years ago.  I have never seen America so divided over this one.  Even my wife and I voted differently for the first time ever, thus cancelling our votes essentially.

I sure won't miss all the political ads on TV and the radio.  Every year they get nastier and dirtier.  I am now of the opinion to vote for any candidate not using the smear tactics.  If you believe them, then every politician should be imprisoned.

This is also the first time we voted by mail because of you-know-what.

If I had my rathers, I would vote for Lauren Underwood and Joe Biden, but unfortunately, they are Democrats and that party scares me even more that Donald Trump with their blind allegiance to the BLM movement in an effort to have Blacks sweep them to victory.  I voted for Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama in the last two presidential elections.

But, I can't do that this year.

Plus, there is the Democratic efforts (along with BLM) at Confederadication, the removal of all things Confederate from U.S. history.

Well, Regardless, I sure will be happy when all this is over.

How Soon Can Tomorrow Get Here?  --RoadTired