Hot 100 Chart 1973-03-24

On 3/31/1973 (38 years ago) the Top 10 songs in the USA were:

1. Killing Me Softly With His Song - Roberta Flack. This would be the last week at #1 for KMSWHS, as it rebounded from #2 the previous week. It spent 5 weeks total in the top spot.
2. Theme From '2001' (Also Sprach Zarathustra) – Deodato. As noted previously, this is a favorite of mine. It would peak at #2…
3. Neither One Of Us (Wants To Be The First To Say Goodbye) - Gladys Knight & The Pips
4. Love Train - O'Jays. Coming down from #1…
5. Ain’t No Woman Like The One I’ve Got – Four Tops. Big mover, up from 10.
6. Break Up To Make Up - Stylistics
7. Last Song - Edward Bear
8. Danny's Song - Anne Murray
9. Sing - Carpenters (debut in Top 10, up from 11)
10. The Night The Lights Went Out In Georgia – Vicki Lawrence (debut in Top 10, up from 16)

 Dropping out of the Top 10: Dueling Banjos, and Cover Of The Rolling Stone.
Notable debuts on the Hot 100: The Right Thing To Do – Carly Simon (#70), Thinking Of You – Loggins and; Messina (#79), Give It To Me – J. Geils (#98) and Will It Go Round In Circles – Billy Preston (#99)

The photo above is another oldie, one of the oldests.  Pretty sure this was taken in the summer of 1975.  In Beckley WV.

Travelin' Shoes

Found this over at a friend's blog:


I've visited 44 states (88%)
Create your own visited map of The United States

The title is a reference to the song by Elvin Bishop

Not so good on the World:

visited 8 states (3.55%)
Create your own visited map of The World

Roots...

Digging on the web, I found a genealogy line going back 6 generations, back to one of my Great-Great-Great-Great Grandfathers. Born in 1772, J.James Darrach emigrated from Colonsay, Scotland at age 32, settling in Prince Edward Island, Canada. One of his granddaughters left P.E.I. for America (Quincy, MA) around 1847. One of her granddaughters left Quincy for West Virginia, where I was (eventually) born.


I’ve done some genealogy research over the years, but this is the most detailed (and furthest back) information on my European roots Pretty cool, huh?

So, naturally, a photo of roots……

Hot 100 Chart 1974-03-30 - and Happy Birthday Wishes!

On Saturday, 3/30/1974 (37 years ago) the Top 10 songs in the USA were:

    1 Sunshine On My Shoulders - John Denver (up from #3)
    2 Hooked On A Feelin' - Bkue Swede (rocketing up from #7)
    3 Seasons In The Sun - Terry Jacks (down from #2)
    4 Bennie And The Jets - Elton John (up from #6)
    5 Dark Lady - Cher (big drop from #1)
    6 Mockingbird - James Taylor and Carly Simon (down from #5)
    7 Jet - Paul McCartney (edging up from #8)
    8 Come And Get Your Love - Redbone (new Top 10, up from #11)
    9 Eres Tu (Touch The Wind) - Mocedades (holding steady)
   10 The Lord's Prayer - Sister Janet Mead (another newbie, up from #14)


Perhaps more inportant, today is my older daughter's birthday! 
Number one the week she was born:  Lean On Me by Club Nouveau.  A remake of the wonderful Bill Withers song that rather misses the mark. 

What songs from 3/28/1987 are on my ipod?  Only 4: Mandolin Rain - Brude Hornsby (#4), Livin' On A Prayer - Bon Jovi (#19)...  Plus Paul Simon's You Can Call Me Al (#92) and Boy In The Bubble (#100).

Today's photo is an nice spring shot, Redbud blossoms.  It's also an image of which my aforementioned daughter has a framed print.  Though she prefers it portrait orienation.

March 27 – Hits Through The Years

How has pop music progressed? Consider late March in 1970, 1990, 2010: What songs were topping the charts?  Let’s look at the first five  #1’s released in the respective years

1970:

•  Thank You (Falettinme Be Mice Elf Agin) - Sly & The Family Stone (debut 1/3/70)
• Bridge Over Troubled Water - Simon & Garfunkel
• ABC – Jackson 5
• Let It Be – The Beatles
• American Woman – Guess Who (debut 3/21/70)

OK, I have all of these, and I like all of these.

1990:

•  Black Velvet – Alannah Myles (debut 12/30/1989)
•  Escapade – Janet Jackson
•  Love Will Lead You Back – Taylor Dayne
•  I’ll Be You’re Everything – Tommy Page
•  Nothing Compares 2 U – Sinead O’Conner (debut 3/17)

Wow. I thought I’d know more of these. But I only know 2, but only own 1.

2010:

•  Nothin’ On You – B.o.B. (debut 2/13)
• Rude Boy – Rihanna
• Break Your Heart – Taio Cruz
• OMG – Usher
• Not Afraid – Eminem (debut 5/22)

 Well, I didn’t expect to be an expert on these, but I got nothing. I’ve heard of 3 of the artists, but don’t have anything by any of them. Interesting that chart toppers seem to be fewer and farther between in 2010… To be fair, I pulled them up on Youtube….

What does it mean? Well, the elitist in me wants to say that music has gone down the toilette. But maybe I’m just old, out-of-touch and stuck in the past.

What say you?

Lower Potomac River, Near Great Falls, MD

 This is a real oldie, from the mid 80's.  This is just outside the DC beltway (about here), taken when we lived in Silver Spring Maryland, developed in my basement darkroom.  Scanned a while ago.  I found the backup disk today while doing some spring cleaning.  Colol, huh?
Click on the image for a larger view.

Spring is NOT sprung...

March 26th, and it's been snowing all afternoon.  Bif, fluffy snowflakes, about 4" of them in our back-yard... 

Yuck,  Last Wednesday was PERFECT: warm, sunny, lunch-in-the-park kind of nice.  And it's been gross since.  Ah well, this too shall pass.  I just hope it's Winter's last gasp.

Note blossoms on the maple tree.  This is the front yard...

Hot 100 Chart 1977-03-26

Last Saturday, I listed the Top 10 songs in the country on 3/19/1977. This week (3/26/1977), there were only a few changes from the prior week. Hall & Oates' “Rich Girl” jumped from #3 to #1, bumping “Love Theme From 'A Star Is Born' (Evergreen)” . I’ll call that going from worse to bad…. Mean while, there was only 1 new songs in the Top 10:

• The Things We Do For Love – 10cc (#8)

That’s a good one, but only made it up to #5. 10cc only had 2 big hits; this and “I’m Not In Love” which made it to #2 in 1975. Their only other Top 40 in America was “People In Love” which followed “Things We Do..” but only managed #40.

Dropping out of the Top 10 was Fleetwood Mac’s “Go Your Own Way” which fell to #18 after peaking at #10 last week.

Notable debuts this week?
Eleven (11) songs made their debut 3/26/77. The highest open was just #71: Whodunnit by Tavares (which would peak at #22)

Other newbies which made Top 40:

• Lucille – Kenny Rodgers (opened at #83, peaked at #5)
• Feels Like The First Time – Foreigner (opened at #89, peaked at #4)
• Cinderella – Firefall (opened at #90, peaked at #34)
• Slowdown – John Miles (opened at #96, peaked at #34)

I like Firefall, but Cinderella is one of those pretty songs with really depressing lyrics. The boy meets girl, girl gets pregnant…. boy tells girl to get lost then later he wonders if her child (his son) had all the “toys and joys that a young man should have”… What a jerk.

And a great song that didn’t make the Top 40: Arrested For Driving While Blind by ZZ Top. It opened at #94, peaked at #91. It did stay on the Hot 100 for 6 weeks, which I suppose is good for politically incorrect song that didn’t crack #90.  The other 5 debuts neither made the Top 40, nor linger in my memory (if they were ever there). And shall remain unmentioned here.

 Todays image?  Not even taken by me!!  One of the guys in my office borrowed the division camera last spring, took this photo of geese in the pond in front of our office. 

Hot 100 Chart 1972-03-25

Last Friday, I listed the Top 10 songs in the country on 3/18/1972. Thirty-Nine years ago today (3/25/1972), there were a few changes from the prior week. America’s “Horse With No Name” jumped from #2 to the #1, bumping Neil Young’s Heart Of Gold. There were only 2 new songs in the Top 10. Neither of which I remember:

• Jungle Fever – Chahachas (#8)
• I Gotcha – Joe Tex (#10).

Dropping out of the Top 10: Down By The Lazy River – Osmonds (from #10 to #11) and Precious And Few – Climax (from #7 to #12).

Notable debuts this week?

Ten songs made their debut 3/26/72, 6 of which went on to make Top 40. The highest open was by Gladys Night and The Pips’ version of “Help Me Make It Through The Night”, which opened at #74 but only made it to #33. There were several other notables:

• Baby Blue – Badfinger (opened at #78, peaked at #14)
• Family Of Man – Three Dog Night (opened at #79 peaked at #12)
• You Could Have Been A Lady – April Wine (opened at #94, peaked at #32)
• Hot Rod Lincoln – Commander Cody (opened at #98, made it all the way to #9)
• Ask Me What You Want – Millie Jackson (opened at #99, peaked at #27)
• Carly Simon’s Legend In Your Own Time opened at #90, but did not make Top 40!

 The image today Is another from last spring, from Scout Night at the Cardinals game. Opening day is next week!

Hot 100 Chart 1973-03-24

Last Thursday, I listed the Top 10 songs in the country on 3/17/1973. Thirty-Eight years ago today (3/24/1973), there were a few changes from the prior week. The O’Jays Love Train jumped from #3 to #1, bumping “Killing Me Softly With His Song” . There were only 2 new songs in the Top 10:

•  Break Up to Make Up - Stylistics (#9)
• Ain’t No Woman (Like The One I Got) – Four Tops (#10)

 Dropping out of the Top 10: Could It Be I'm Falling In Love - Spinners (#14) and Daddy's Home - Jermaine Jackson (#18).

Notable debuts this week?

Only 8 songs made their debut, and the highest open was just #83. Top debut was “Playground In My Mind” by Clint Holmes, which made it to #2. “Pillow Talk” by Sylia opened at #98, on its way to #2. My favorite debut this week (in 1973) was “Let’s Pretend” by The Raspberries (which opened at 86 and peaked at #35).

Another image today that had been languishing on my hard drive since last spring.

Hot 100 Chart 1974-03-23

Last Wednesday, I listed the Top 10 songs in the country on 3/16/1974. Thirty-Seven years ago today (3/23/1974), there were a few changes from the prior week. Cher’s Dark Lady jumped from #3 to #1, bumping the irritating Seasons In The Sun . There were 3 new songs in the Top 10:

 

• Bennie And The Jets – Elton John (#6)
• Hooked On A Feeling – Blue Swede (#7)
• Eres Tu (Touch The Wind) – Mocedades (#9)

 I don't remember Eres Tu, but I have the other two.....

  

Dropping out of the Top 10: Rock On - David Essex (#12), The Way We Were - Barbra Streisand (#13), Spiders And Snakes - Jim Stafford (#21).

 

Notable debuts this week?

 

Ten songs made their debut, but the highest open was #81, The Payback – James Brown (which peaked at #26). The only other notable newbies (IMHO) were The Stylistics You Make Me Feel Brand New (which peaked at #2) and Marvin Hamlisch’s The Entertainer (which peaked at #3). The others failed to break the Top 40.

 

 

The image today doesn't have anything to do with the music (a real trend lately). But at least it’s not a repost. This one was taken last spring, but has been languishing on my hard drive since.

 

Hot 100 Chart, 1975-03-22

Last Tuesday, I listed the Top 10 songs in the country on 3/15/1975. Thirty-Six years ago today (3/22/1975), there were a few changes from the prior week.  Black Water (Doobie Brothers) dropped from #1 to $3, while My Eyes Adored You (Frankie Valli) nudged up a spot to the top position.  There were 3 new songs in the Top 10:

• You Are So Beautiful - Joe Cocker (#7)
• Poerty Man - Phoebe Snow (8) 
• The No No Song - Ringo Starr (#9)

Dropping out of the Top 10:  Lady - Styx (#12), Can't Get It Out Of My Head - ELO (#18), Lonely People - America (#27).

Notable debuts this week? 

Slim pickings.  Only 8 songs debutted, the highest open was #81, Shakey Ground - Temptations.  The only one I recognize is Thank God I'm A Country Boy - John Denver, started it's run to #1 at a humble #82.

The image today doesn't have anything to do with the music, but does relate to the time of year. This was shot early spring, 3 years ago, somewhere between Pullman, WA and Spokane.

Hot 100 Chart 1970-03-21

Last Monday, I listed the Top 10 songs in the country on 3/14/1970.  Forty-One years ago today (3/21/1970), there were a few changes from the prior week.  Most notably The chart debut of a little song called "Let It Be" by a obscure group called the Beatles. Let it be made it's chart debut at #6, which is pretty ompressive, IMHO.  The newcomers to the Top 10 that week:

• Let It Be - The Beatles #6
• Instant Karma (We All Shine On) John Lennon (#4)
• Love Grows Where My Rosemary Goes - Edison Lighthouse (#8)
• Didn't I (Blow Your Mind This Time) - Delfonics (#10)

Meanwhile, Bridge Over Troubled Water stayed at #1, part of a 7 week run atop the charts.  It was eventually knocked off by Let It Be (no surprise there), but not until 4/11/1970.

Dropping out of the Top 10 this week were:  Travellin' Band - CCR, Ma Belle Amie - Tee Set, Thank You (Fallettinme Be Mice Elf Agin) - Sly & The Family Stone, Hey There Lonely Girl - Eddie Holman.

There were a whopping 16 songs debutting on the Hot 100 on 3/21/1970.  Beside Let It Be, other notables were:  American Woman - Guess Who (#46), and Hitchin' A Ride - Vanity Fare (#93)

The image today doesn't have anything to do with the music, but does relate to the time of year.  This was shot 3/28/2004, not quite 7 years ago.  Wonder if the dogwoods will be in bloom a week from today?

Hot 100 Chart 1971-03-20

On 3/20/1971 (40 years ago!) the Top 10 songs in the USA were:

1. Me And Bobby McGee - Janis Joplin
2. She's A Lady - Tom Jones
3. Just My Imagination (Running Away With Me) - Temptations
4. One Bad Apple - Osmonds
5. For All We Know - Carpenters
6. Proud Mary - Ike & Tina Turner
7. Doesn't Somebody Want To Be Wanted - Partridge Family
8. What's Going On - Marvin Gaye
9. Help Me Make It Though The Night - Sammi Smith
10. If You Could Read My Mind - Gordon Lightfoot

An up and down week, with some of the top songs of all time (Numbers 1,3,6 and 8) intermingled with some rather forgettable ones. I mean, who remembers Partriadge Family, beyond "I Think I Love You"? And who even wants to remember Tom Jones?

Out In the Cold

So, it's a beautiful day today, but last Monday it was snowing.  That's March for you, I suppose.

I took this photo on my morning commute, in Collinsville.  They're tearing down buildings, re-routing the road, all sorts of (supposedly) good stuff.    This is the exterior wall of the drug store, after the adjoining bank was torn down.  Anyway, I liked the overall feel, with the snowflakes and all...

Hot 100 Chart 1977-03-19

On Saturday, 3/19/1977 (34 years ago) the Top 10 songs in the USA were:

    1 Love Theme From 'A Star Is Born' (Evergreen) - Barbra Streisand
    2 Fly Like An Eagle - Steve Miller Band
    3 Rich Girl - Hall and Oates
    4 Night Moves - Bob Seger
    5 Dancing Queen - ABBA
    6 I Like Dreamin' - Kenny Nolan
    7 Torn Between Two Lovers - Mary MacGregor
    8 Don't Give Up On Us - David Soul
    9 Don't Leave Me This Way - Thelma Houston
  10 Go Your Own Way - Fleetwood Mac

Wow, no wonder I hated AM radio in 1977! I only own 3 of these 10 songs (can you guess which?). On the other hand, bands like Marshall Tucker Band (Heard It In A Love Song), Firefall (Cinderella), Foreigner (Feels Like The First Time), Aerosmith (Back In The Saddle), ZZ Top (Arrested for Driving While Blind) and The Kinks (Sleepwalker) were releasing songs around this time, so not all was lost.

Meanwhile, today's image is quite loosely inspired by song #10.  This photo is almost as old as the song, originally shot on slide, and converted to digital by ScanCafe....

Hot 100 Chart 1972-03-18

On Saturday, 3/18/1972 (39 years ago) the Top 10 songs in the USA were:


1 Heart Of Gold - Neil Young
2 Horse With No Name - America
3 The Lion Sleeps Tonight (Wemoweh) - Robert John
4 Without You - Nilsson
5 Everything I Own - Bread
6 Mother And Child Reunion - Paul Simon
7 Precious And Few - Climax
8 The Way Of Love - Cher
9 Puppy Love - Donny Osmond
10 Down By The Lazy River - Osmonds

Some nice stuff at the top, very "Folk Rock"...  But some real “gag me” entries at the bottom. I only own 5 of these songs, and there’re not in those 7 through 10 slots!

Favorite trivia: Without You, was Harry Nilsson’s biggest hit. Though known primarily as a songwriter, he didn’t write this one, written and originally performed by Badfinger.

Today's photo, in honor of the #2 song this week: (singing)  "I've been through the desert on a horse with no name"....  The image is near Phoenix Arizona.  IIRC it is around Squaw Peak.

Hot 100 Chart 1973-03-17

.
On Saturday, 3/17/1973 (38 years ago) the Top 10 songs in the USA were:


    1 Killing Me Softly With His Song - Roberta Flack
    2 Dueling Banjos - Eric Weissberg & Steve Mandell
    3 Love Train - O'Jays
    4 Theme From '2001' (Also Sprach Zarathustra) - Deodato
    5 Last Song - Edward Bear
    6 Cover of the Rolling Stone - Dr. Hook Rock
    7 Could It Be I'm Falling In Love - Spinners
    8 Neither One Of Us (Wants To Be The First To Say Goodbye) - Gladys Knight & The Pips
    9 Daddy's Home - Jermaine Jackson
  10 Danny's Song - Anne Murray

Some great songs here…. And a pretty eclectic gathering, too. I have 8 of these 10, and don’t remember the other 2 at all. Probably my favorite in the batch is Also Sprach Zarathustra. Though Cover Of The Rolling Stone is pretty close…

Also Sprach Zarathustra is labeled as “Theme from 2001”, but it is not at related to that movie. This jazz version of Strauss’ work was used in the Peter Sellers movie “Being There” (but not as the theme). One of the kinds of things you don’t hear on pop radio anymore. Or Dueling Banjos, for that matter. Which is also from a movie, of course (Deliverance).

The picture is a real oldie, back in early fall of 1996, pre-digital.  Taken on a bicycle excursion, near Belknap IL.  I don't know, it kind of seemed to have a "Deliverance" feel....

Hot 100 Chart 1974-03-16

On Saturday, 3/16/1974 (37 years ago) the Top 10 songs in the USA were:

    1 Seasons In The Sun - Terry Jacks
    2 Boogie Down - Eddie Kendricks
    3 Dark Lady - Cher
    4 Sunshine On My Shoulders - John Denver
    5 The Way We Were - Barbra Streisand
    6 Mockingbird - James Taylor and Carly Simon
    7 Jungle Boogie - Kool & The Gang
    8 Rock On - David Essex 
    9 Spiders And Snakes - Jim Stafford 
   10 Jet - Paul McCartney

Ugh, Seasons In the Sun?? There’s one that generally ranks of people’s “Worst Songs” lists, for a good reason. And no, I don’t have it. I still bear the scars of it being inescapable spring of 7th grade….

And the photo above?  That's froma few years ago, late afternoon at Watershed nature center.  Just working of the Sun / Sunshine rif in the song list...

Hot 100 Chart, 1975-03-15

The Billboard charts are released on Saturday, so:
On Saturday, 3/15/1975 (36 years ago) the Top 10 songs in the USA were:

1. Black Water - Doobie Brothers
2. My Eyes Adored You - Frankie Valli
3. Lady Marmalade - Patti LaBelle
4. Have You Never Been Mellow - Olivia Newton John
5. Lovin' You - Minnie Riperton
6. Lady - Styx
7. Lonely People - America
8. Express - B.T. Express
9. Can't Get It Out Of My Head - Electric Light Orchestra
10. Don't Call Us, We'll Call You - Sugarloaf

I'm kind of surprised, I only have 6 of those songs.  I surprised myself that I don't have 2 others.  Perhaps a trip to iTunes / Amazon is in order....

Meanwhile, there were a couple of notable debuts on this day in 1975: 

• He Don't Love You (Like I Love You) - Tony Orlando & Dawn (yick, but a future #1)
• John Lennon's cover of Stand By Me (peaked at #20)
• Everybody's favorite German techno-band, Kraftwerk, with their only US hit:  Autobahn (peaked at #25)
• David Bowie - Young Americans (which only peaked at 28!).

 

Hot 100 Chart, 1970-03-14

On this date in 1970, the Top 10 songs in the USA:

1. Bridge Over Troubled Water - Simon & Garfunkel
2. Travellin' Band - Creedence Clearwater Revival
3. The Rapper - Jaggerz
4. Rainy Naight In Georgia - Brook Benton
5. Ma Belle Amie - Tee Set
6. Give Me Just A Little More Time - Chairmen Of The Board
7. Thank You Falettinme Be Mice Elf Agin) - Sly & The Family Stone
8. Hey There Lonely Girl - Eddie Holman
9. He Ain't Heavy He's My Brother - Hollies
10. Evil Ways - Santana

Yeah, that's a nice group of songs.  Only have 8 on my iPod, though.
Songs making their debut on 3/14/1970:

• ABC - Jackson 5 (would reach #1)
• Get Ready - Rare Earth (peaked at #4)
• Reflection Of My Life - Marmalade  (peaked at #10)
• For The Love Of Him - Bobbi Martin (peaked at #13)
• My Woman, My Woman, My Wife - Marty Robbins
• Living Loving Maid - Led Zeppelin
• Is Anybody Going To SanAntone - Charlie Pride
• You've Made Me So Very Happy - Lou Rawls
• Laughin' And Clowning - Ray Charles

Mid March Muck

Ugh.  First Monday after the time change, dark and dreary outside.  And snowing.  Blech.  Photo below is through my car windshield.  And yes, this was safely stopped at a red-light:

This is the north end of Maryville, corner of Rt.159 and Rt. 162.  Though you wouldn't know by the photo.

Eenie Meenie Miney Moe....

We ran up to the Watershed Nature Center today, and I took a few photos.  Can't decide which I like best...  What do you think??

- - - -

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Lat / Long:  38.816974,-89.975785

Marilyn?

We were up in Edwardsville today, as my wife was picking up something from a friend.  I noticed this Marilyn Monroe piece pained on a retianing wall, and like the juxtaposition with the dead bush...

The kind of thing I notice...

33 Year Ago This Week (My Sr. Year Of High School)

Early March 1978, I was counting down to High School Graduation.  So what was on the radio?

11 Songs debuted on the Billboard Hot-100 on 3/4/1978, only 4 of which would break the coveted Top-40.  Do you remember:

• Imaginary Lover  Atlanta Rhythm Section (peaked at #7)
• Dance With Me - Peter Brown (#8)
• Fantasy - Earth Wind and Fire (#32)
• Let's All Chant - Michael Zager Band (#36)

I only know one, ARS......  I'm rather surprised, even though I didn't listen to much "pop" radio by '78...  And the 7 that didn't make the Top 40?  I don't remember any of them.  I did this experiment this week for 3 years from the 70's and was kind of surprised by the results.  Maybe March just isn't when hits are released?

The other 7:

• Your Love Is So Good For Me - Dianna Ross (#53)
• Rumour Has It - Donna Summer (#53)
• Put Your Head On My Shoulder - Leif Garrett (#58)
• It Amazes Me - John Denver (#59)
• Disco Rufus - Stargard
• Love Is All You Need - High Inergy (89)
• Woman To Woman - Barbara Mandrell (#92)

Anybody know any of them?

And, to close it off, a random image, taken from my camera phone while stuck in traffic on today's communte home:

It's Alright

So…  my wife drove to Springfield (IL) to visit my oldest daughter today.  Naturally she took my car, which is a lot more comfortable for highway driving, and gets about 50% better gas mileage.  That left me with the mom-mobile.  Not exactly stylin’, but I can deal with it.  Plus, the minivan is the only place we have right now with a working / connected cassette deck, so I took the opportunity to dig through my old tapes and listen to something from the past.  Today’s selection:   Chris Stamey’s 1987 release “It’s Alright”.  Besides having some great songs, this album is notable because it came out the same year I became a father (to oldest daughter referenced above).  Guess it’s an appropriate listen today, since I’ll be becoming a grandfather (via said daughter) in the next month or two!

And we'll seal the discussion with a semi-random photo taken not far from Springfield IL, from a few years ago:

40 Years Ago This Week

Early March 1971, what were we listening to?

12 Songs debuted on the Billboard Hot-100 on 3/6/1971, only 4 of which would break the coveted Top-40.  Do you remember:

• Another Day - Paul McCartney (peaked at #5)
• Stay Awhile - Bells (#7)
• Chick-A-Boom - Daddy Dewdrop (#9)
• Woodstock - Ian Matthews (#23)

And again, I only know 2.....  Can you guess which ones?  And the 8 that didn't make the Top 40?  I only remember 1 of them, Steppenwolf:

• Pushbike Song - Mixtures (#44)
• When There's No You - Englebert Humperdink (#45)
• Tongue In Cheek - Sugarloaf (#55)
• Snow Blind Friend - Steppenwolf (#60)
• If It's Real What I Feel - Brenda Lee Eager (#69)
• I Pity The Fool - Ann Peebles (#85)
• Spinning Wheel - James Brown (#90)
• What About Me - Quicksilver Messinger Service (#100)

Not exactly an earth-shaking collection.

All Time Favorite?

This is certainly among my favorites, if not number 1,  I have a copy (5x7) on my desk at work.

This goes way, way, way back, to fall of 1977, my senior year of high school.  Taken during a backpacking trip on Tuscarora Ridge, in Central PA.  I know I've posted this several times, but I'll never tire of it.  The original was shot on slide film.  Somewhere along the way I got a 4x6 print made.  Several years ago, I scanned the print.  Now this is all I have.  I'm sure the slide is somewhere, but the question is where....  Tuscarora was one of our favorite locations back in my backpacking days, and this was one of our landmarks.

35 Years Ago This Week

Early March 1976, what weree we listening to?

11 Songs debuted on the Billboard Hot-100 on 3/6/1976, 5 of which would break the coveted Top-40. 
Do you remember:

• Fooled Around And Fell In Love - Elvin Bishop (peaked at #3)
• Rhiannon - Fleetwood Mac (#11)
• Happy Music - The Blackbyrds (#19)
• Livin' For The Weekend - The O'Jays  (#20)
• Looking For Space - John Denver (#29)

Wow, I only know the top 2.....  And the 6 that didn't make the Top 40?  I don't remember any of them:

• Street Talk - Bob Crewe Generation (peaked at #56)
• Eh! Cumpari - Gaylord and Holiday (#72)
• Uptown and Country - Tom Scott (#80)
• Once A Fool - Kiki Dee (#82)
• I'm So Lonesome I Could Cry - Terry Bradshaw (#91)
• Wow - Andre Gagnon (#95)

Not exactly an earth-shaking collection.

Happy Casimir Pulaski Day!

Yep, the first Monday in March.  I know everybody's been eagerly awaiting the day we celebrate the "Father of American Calvary"...  no?  I've had at least 1 kid in Illinois public schools for the past 19 Mays, and I've never quite gotten the whole Casimir Pulaski day.   The cynical part of me thinks it's just another in a long string of excuses for a day off school.   But I'm not being fair, a quick check of the school calendar shows they only have 25 holidays over 9 months, way less than 1/wk.  I'm not bitter.  Just jealous.

And to prove it, here's a pretty picture from my (high) school days:  Sunset from my bedroom window (back in the late 70's)

Nearly Spring - Rend lake

Here's a photo shot last week, at the I-57 rest stop along Rend Lake.  This is about just under 2 hrs south of home, its been a regular stop for our Southeast travels for many years.   I decided to play some Photoshop games, which is a little out of character for me.  Good?  Bad?  Whatever?

Below is another image from the same spot, w/o the "fancies"....

Other Folks Use My Photos.....

Found this one on the web today.  My first thought was "Dude stole my photo!".  I even pondered posting a comment to his blog asking where he got it.  But that would be petty, and pointless.  Besides, this one is for sale at at least 1 microstock site, it is possible he bought it.  Yeah, right.  I'll just hotlink to his use of my image: 

This is from Silver Lake Trail, at Silver Lake Park, in Highland IL.  Back when I worked in Highland, I spent many lunchtimes at Silver Lake Park, at took quite a few photos.

Photos I Really Like Which Generally Haven't Gotten Much In The Way Of Recognition at Other Sites #6250

Yet another in a series:   I have quite a few photos through the years that I really like.  But which were not particularly well received in the world.  This is another example:

This is from October 2004, atken with my Kodak LS-443.  That camera died over Thanksgiving of 2004, so this is one of the latter photos I did with it.  The LS-443 was better than the 2MP digital I had before, but still below the quality level I wanted.  Unfortunate, because this photo really "speaks to me", but the file won't support any reasonable sized hard-copy.  Oh well, huh? 

The image was taken at Silver Lake Park in Highland IL, during a lunch time.  It was a rainy day, but with breaks, and I was able to wander a bit.  This is probably no more than 30 yards from where I was parked.

Photos I Really Like Which Generally Haven't Gotten Much In The Way Of Recognition at Other Sites #0401

Following from yesterday, I have quite a few photos through the years that I really like.  But which were not particularly well received in the world.  This is another example:

This one goes all the way back to October 2004, before I got my DSLR.  Taken in Spokane Washington during a business trip.  I submitted this to BetterPhoto several times, tried different crops, aetc.  Nothin'.

I still really like it.

Photos I Really Like Which Generally Haven't Gotten Much In The Way Of Recognition at Other Sites #3917

I have quite a few photos through the years that I really like.  But which were not particularly well received in the world.  This is one example:

Now, I'm not going to get all indignant, and say this is an awesome photo or such.  I can even understand why it didn't get a "Finalist" at BetterPhoto or such.  But I still really like this one, from way back in March 2006.