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O is for #101 on the Billboard charts

The ONLY B-side of the Beatles first 21 regular Capitol/Apple releases not to chart in the Top 100.

I have the book Bubbling Under the Billboard Hot 100, 1959-2004, one of many Joel Whitburn tomes in my collection. This one notes the songs that did not quite make it to the list of the Hot 100 singles that were most popular. Some of these were regional hits, others B-sides of chart-toppers.

In the book, there’s a list of the songs that made it to #101 on the Billboard charts in the US, but no higher, rather like Moses not quite to the promised land. There were 402 songs during the period, excluding August 1985 to November 1992, when the Bubbling Under chart was discontinued.

Some songs I recognize, with which YOU may also be familiar.

Links to all:

Earth Angel – the Penguins. 2 weeks starting 1 Feb 1959. This was a cheat in that in 1955, it had gotten to #8 (and #1 for 3 weeks on the R&B charts); this was the reissue.

I Call It Pretty Music, But the Old People Call It The Blues, Pt 1 – Stevie Wonder. 31 Aug 1963. I first heard this on a hits compilation.

I’m Down – the Beatles. 7 Aug 1965. The ONLY B-side of the Beatles’ first 21 regular Capitol/Apple releases not to chart in the Top 100. B-side of Help! (#1 for three weeks.) This is a live take because I couldn’t find a studio version.

Baby Driver – Simon & Garfunkel. 19 Apr 1969. B-side of The Boxer (#7). I saw Paul Simon solo in 1991.

Today I Sing the Blues – Aretha Franklin. 1 Nov 1969. A cover of a Sam Cooke song.

Gypsy – Van Morrison. 27 Jan 1973. Not to be confused with Gypsy Queen.

Barbara Ann- The Beach Boys. 9 Aug 1975. ANOTHER cheat, as the original release went to #2 for 2 weeks in 1966.

Baretta’s Theme – Sammy Davis Jr. 22 May 1976. Keep Your Eye On The Sparrow, theme to a TV show starring Robert Blake.

Accidents Will Happen – Elvis Costello. 14 Apr 1979. I saw him live a few years ago.

It’s Different For Girls – Joe Jackson. Two weeks, starting 8 Dec 1979. I saw him live in the late 1980s.

Ashes to Ashes – David Bowie. 25 Oct 1980. The return of Major Tom.

Try Jah Love – Third World. 1 May 1982. I really thought the last four, plus the U2 song were bigger hits, as I heard them on the radio a lot.

Atomic Dog – George Clinton. Three weeks, starting 16 Apr 1983.

Two Hearts Beat As One – U2. Two weeks, starting 9 Jul 1983.

White Lines (Don’t Do It) – Grandmaster & Melle Mel. 2 weeks, starting 17 Dec 1983. But it did get to #47 on the R&B charts. I own this 12″, which is a couple of minutes longer than the single.

Skylark – Linda Ronstadt. 12 Jan 1985. From Lush Life, one of the three Nelson Riddle LPs that I have on a 2-CD set.

ABC Wednesday – Round 19

October rambling #1: Thoughts and Prayers App

Ronald McDonald Is Laying Low

Explaining Progressive Christianity (Otherwise Known as “Christianity”)

He was tortured by the U.S. and held without charge. Suleiman Abdullah Salim is still haunted by the prison he calls “The Darkness”

Misogyny defied: Michelle Obama’s New Hampshire speech (start at 25:00) and Dear Men from Amy Biancolli

Time to Own the Legacies of Others

Five myths about Russia

John Oliver: Police Accountability

Racist Social Media Users Have A New Code To Avoid Censorship

Yes, Preschool Teachers Really Do Treat Black And White Children Totally Differently

Confessions of a former neo-Confederate – Who believes slavery wasn’t really that bad? I did

6 million citizens blocked from voting because of felonies

The ‘Green Book’ Was a Travel Guide Just for Black Motorists, which I wrote about here, plus a PDF of the 1949 iteration

How Evan McMullin Could Win Utah And The Presidency – It’s unlikely, but far from impossible

Robin Williams’ Widow Writes A Devastating Account Of His Final Year

The Ross Perot myth

Thoughts and Prayers App

Elena Ferrante published her books anonymously, but recently, the NY Review of Books published a piece that exposed her true identity. As friend Dan notes: “None of it was relevant; I would go so far as to say it was unnecessary.” One of many critics of the unmasking

950th anniversary of the Battle of Hastings

Bill Warren, R.I.P.

NOT a parody: Ronald McDonald Is Laying Low Until the Clown Craze Is Over

Racer disqualified for using ChapStick?

Professor and student interaction

All Of America’s Science Nobel Prizes This Year Were Won By Immigrants

PBS’ American Experience: Tesla premieres October 18

THE FANTASTIC URSULA K. LE GUIN – The literary mainstream once relegated her work to the margins. Then she transformed the mainstream.

How to memorize scripts, part 1 and part 2

Learning YouTube tricks

Now I Know: Baby, Not Bored

Audrey Munson, the first supermodel

Tank top

Why I Stopped Wanting to Make Serious Art Films and Came to Believe Movies Should Be Fun

Extra Gum ad: The Story of Sarah & Juan

Would you pull a Coke can off the head of a skunk?

Arthur, about me asking about his blogging, or somesuch

Music

Sir Neville Marriner obit and music

Sviatoslav Richter plays Handel keyboard suite in G minor, no.9

1812 Overture

Coverville 1142: 20 fantastic Sting and Police covers

No Man’s Land -Glass Hammer

Sara Rose Wheeler: Soundtrack of my life

K-Chuck Radio: More forgotten 60’s pop music

It’s Too Late To Apologize – New Republic with lyrics

Coverville 1144: 20 Simon & Garfunkel and Paul Simon solo covers for Rhymin’ Simon’s 75th

Duke Ellington – East St. Louis Toodle-Oo

Let’s Have A Party Albany (1986)

Robert Morse sings “I Believe In You”

“Fan” Star Trek Original Series Clip to “Common People” by William Shatner

The World Map of Nobel Prize in Literature, including Bob Dylan

Reggie Harris music

Music throwback Saturday: Black is Black

Black is Black is one of the few songs on the collection I didn’t already own

Due to having only partial memory, I’m trying to recall the name of a compilation album that included the song Black is Black by Los Bravos. Los Bravos was “a Spanish beat group, formed in 1965 and based in Madrid. Their single “Black Is Black” reached no. 2 in the United Kingdom in July 1966 and no. 4 in the United States (the first Spanish group to do so), selling over a million records.

What I remember is the male announcer on the TV ad nearly yelling, as he named the artists. “LOS BRAVOS!” But I have zero further recollection except that one had to purchase it by mail order. “Not sold in stores!” Or so I believe.

I figured it might be K-Tel, who were always putting out albums like these. But the only album I could find in a cursory Google search was Get It Together by the folks at Sessions. “A collection of the best rock music by the best performers that comprise the heart of the New Rock Movement.”

CREAM Sunshine Of Your Love, White Room / FOUR JACKS AND A JILL Master Jack / JOHN FRED AND HIS PLAYBOY BAND Judy In Disguise / THE GRASS ROOTS Midnight Confessions / THE GUESS WHO American Woman, Share The Land, These Eyes / Broadway Cast of HAIR Aquarius / IRON BUTTERFLY In A Gadda Da Vida / JEFFERSON AIRPLANE Somebody To Love, White Rabbit / THE KINKS All Day And All Of The Night / LOS BRAVOS Black Is Black / BUDDY MILES Them Changes / THE MONKEES Daydream Believer / MUSIC EXPLOSION Little Bit O Soul / GENE PITNEY She’s A Heartbreaker / THE RASCALS People Got To Be Free / SHOCKING BLUE Venus / STEPPENWOLF Born To Be Wild / VANILLA FUDGE You Keep Me Hangin’ On / THE WHO Baba O’Riley / YOUNGBLOODS Get Together / ZAGER & EVANS In The Year 2525.

This is possibly it because Black is Black is one of the few songs on the collection I didn’t already own, which is why I never purchased it.

Listen to Black is Black by Los Bravos:
UK mono
version
version
1986 Dance Mix

Daryl Hall of Hall & Oates turns 70

She’s Gone by Hall and Oates was the last song played

A sea change seems to have taken place regarding Daryl Hall and John Oates. Once scorned as too commercial – they WERE the most commercially successful duo ever – they were FINALLY nominated for the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, and were elected on their first, delayed shot.

I’ve had affection for Hall & Oates for a long while. I own a few of their early LPs, such as Abandoned Luncheonette and Voices. According to one of those VH1 “Where are they now” specials, which I saw a couple of years ago, some folks thought they were gay, based on the Voices cover. Though they were not, it was not something they rushed out to fix.

Listening to these again, I’m fascinated by how long it takes for the vocals to come up, a ’60s DJ’s dream. Good thing they came out later.

My favorite Daryl Hall songs, most, but not all, with John Oates, with links to all songs. Chart references are to Billboard.

16. Change of Season – title song from a 1990 H&O album, co-produced by Jon Bon Jovi and Danny Kortchmar, after H&O were cranking out the hits. The song is a bit Beatlesque. The album wasn’t a big hit, or particularly well received by the critics. But I have a great deal of affection.
15. Did It In A Minute from Private Eyes, #9 pop in 1982. This album generated a lot of hits.
14. So Close, the first song on Change of Season, #11 pop in 1990.
13. Say It Isn’t So from Rock ‘N’ Soul, Part 1, #2 for four weeks pop, #45 soul in 1982 – some artists put out greatest hits albums and the song is only on that album, initially. This is one of those.

12. Sacred Songs – the title song of that Daryl Hall solo album, for which I’ve spoken of my affection.
11. Out of Touch from Big Bam Boom, #1 for two weeks pop, #24 soul in 1984. I found it danceable.
10. Starting All Over Again from Change of Season. It reminded me of the old Philly sound of a decade or so earlier
9. Sara Smile, from Bigger Than Both of Us, #4 pop, #23 soul in 1976. Daryl Hall’s love song to his then-girlfriend and music collaborator Sara Allen

8. Kiss is on My List, from Voices, #1 pop for three weeks in 1980 – when I sing along with songs, it’s usually NOT the melody. In this case, it’s the “Because your kiss” part, which I love
7. NYCNY from Sacred Songs, Recorded in the summer of 1977 – the Summer of Sam, when I lived there – though the album was not released until 1979. This song SOUNDS like NYCNY of the time.
6. How Does It Feel To Be Back, from Voices, #30 in 1980 – when I first heard this song, that Tom Pettyish-guitar made it sound familiar, in a good way
5. I Can’t Go For That (No Can Do), from Private Eyes, #1 pop, and soul in 1982 – perfect ’80s pop song

4. Private Eyes, the title song, #1 for two weeks in 1981 – It’s the hand clapping. “Private Eyes” [clap] “are watching you” [clap, clap]. An oddly effective hook.
3. Something In 4/4 Time from Sacred Songs. I now believe this WAS released as a single – Daryl needs to find an a capella choir to record this, especially that instrumental break
2. She’s Gone from Abandoned Luncheonette, #60 in 1974, #7 pop, and #93 soul when it was reissued in 1976 – it’s the modulation at the end that seals it. Plus I told this story before, but it WAS 10 years ago: In the summer of 1977, I was living in NYC, specifically Jamaica, Queens, with my sister Leslie and her then-husband Eric. One day, they had the radio on, and one had to be the ninth caller “with the phrase that pays, ’99X is my radio station'” AND be able to identify the last song played. Well, I was the ninth caller, I said the phrase that paid, and I knew that She’s Gone by Hall and Oates was the last song played. I won twice my age, which meant $48, real money for an underemployed telephone solicitor (TV Guide, Encyclopedia Britannica). I had to spend SOME of it though, and that turned to be the ONLY time I’ve ever seen the New York Mets play in person. Don’t remember the game or even the score, but I remember the joy of being there with my sister. I also have an unusual affection for the song.
1. You Make My Dreams from Voices, #5 in 1981. Used effectively in the movie 500 Days of Summer

One more tune, by someone else: Everytime You Go Away by Paul Young, written by Daryl Hall, and #1 pop in 1985

A book about the White Album?

Lots of people speculated what the album would have been like if it were a single LP

Someone I know has asked me to compile and edit a book about the album The Beatles, generally called the white album. I haven’t said no, but I haven’t said yes yet because, to quote a white album title, “I’m So Tired.”

Still, it’s an interesting proposition. That album is, in its own way, as emblematic as its predecessor, Sgt. Pepper, and I think it ages better. It is the way people describe Tusk by Fleetwood Mac, e.g., an album with individual artists, rather than a band, with the others showing up as each other’s sidemen, or in this case, NOT showing up sometimes.

The first time I heard the white album was in the basement of the Unitarian church in Binghamton, NY in late November or early December of 1968. Our friend Steve was a member of a church group called LRY, Liberal Religious Youth, so he had access to the building.

We listened intently to the four sides. I remember or think I do, being struck by the Beach Boys effect of Back in the U.S.S.R.; the Beatles’ self-reference of Glass Onion; confusion over the meaning of Happiness Is A Warm Gun; the harpsichord on Piggies; the interesting segue between Birthday and Yer Blues; the sheer loudness of Helter Skelter, followed by the nearly inaudible Long Long Long; the familiarity of Revolution 1; and the utter confusion of Revolution 9.

I got the album for Christmas 1968. No doubt I read the lyric foldout sheet to try to figure out the meaning of it all. But when I got to side 3, the record skipped! It was just before the vocals on Birthday, and I later learned that there were thousands of copies with the same defect. I got it replaced a few days later.

Lots of people speculated what the album would have been like if it were a single LP, rather than a double, starting with producer George Martin. But it was The Beatles we’re talking about, who, that year, put out a seven-minute single, Hey Jude. (Now if YOU want to speculate what would be lost, besides Revolution 9, go ahead.)

If there were a book on the White album, what kind of items would you want to see? I know it’d have reference to cover versions of the songs, at least the ones that charted.

Listen to:

Back in the U.S.S.R. – Chubby Checker, #82 in 1969
Dear Prudence -5 Stairsteps, #66 in 1970
Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da – Arthur Conley, #51 in 1969

There are a bunch more…