Two for the show

You don't have to be a star to be in my show. I just wanted to get that out of the way.

Wait -- somebody already used that line. Remember the song by Marilyn McCoo and Billy Davis Jr.? It was the wife-husband duet's only No. 1 hit, and only for a week at this time in 1977. The following week Leo Sayer would take over with "You Make Me Feel Like Dancing."

Weird time. Fun time. But the pop music scene was getting pretty strange. It was possible, if you had your radio tuned to the wrong station, to hear a somber ballad like Gordon Lightfoot's "Wreck of Edmund Fitzgerald" sandwiched between "Disco Duck" and "Car Wash." And Maureen McGovern's "Torn Between Two Lovers" was lurking around the corner.

Tough goings. And into this maelstrom flew McCoo and Davis, who had fled the successful Fifth Dimension where they helped score two No. 1s: "Aquarius/Let the Sunshine In" and "Wedding Bell Blues." (That's McCoo opening with "Bill, I love you so, I always will...")

Duets can be tricky. Just ask Simon and Garfunkel, or Sonny and Cher. I'm thinking that McCoo and Davis could have improved their chances of stardom with a simple name change. Something closer to Captain & Tennille, who were also out there at the time.

But you can't argue too much with a No. 1 song. "You Don't Have to Be a Star (to Be in My Show)" gave McCoo and Davis just as many chart-toppers as Sonny and Cher managed before their breakup.

Some of us were just thankful for the Eagles at the time.

Look out Vegas, here we come

Elvis never had a house band like this. He didn't need one, especially the vocal support, but he's getting one today. That's right, it's time for another mindless edition of Birthday Band. (Hey, there's a blizzard out there. I've got some shoveling to do. Do you have a better idea?)

Here's the lineup of artists born on January 8, and I think you'll agree it's a talented bunch. If Elvis were alive -- can you believe he'd be celebrating his 75th birthday? -- it's quite possible he'd run into more than one of these performers in Vegas. And while President Nixon is no birthday boy today, I think we'd want him up on stage making these introductions:

Elvis Presley (1935-77), vocals, the King
Shirley Bassey (1937), vocals, James Bond soundtracks
"Little" Anthony Gourdine (1941), vocals, Imperials
Robbie Krieger (1946), guitar, Doors
David Bowie (1947), vocals
Terry Sylvester (1947) guitar, Swinging Blue Jeans, Hollies

Set list
All Shook Up
Heartbreak Hotel
Don't Be Cruel
Hippy Hippy Shake
Love Me Two Times
Touch Me
Tears of a Clown
Goldfinger
The Man With the Golden Gun
Changes
Fame

(18-minute gap)

Space Oddity
Love Her Madly
Are You Lonesome Tonight
He Ain't Heavy, He's My Brother

Requiem for a Wurlitzer

I miss the jukebox. It used to be the center of a communal universe where anybody could bring their pocket change, drop it in the slot and punch in any songs they wanted to hear.

(I know you can still pay money to hear songs in a bar, but believe me it's not the same. For starters, you won't get three songs for a quarter.)

The jukebox pictured here, a Wurlitzer Americana III, is located somewhere in Oshkosh, "works off and on and probably just needs some minor adjusting to be fully functional" and can be yours for $400. There are vintage Rockolas and Seeburgs out there, too.

The best jukebox in my hometown was stationed near the entrance to the Corner Cafe, one of two popular teen hangouts in Whitehall. The other place was the Bowling Alley -- still four lanes! -- attached to the Highway 53 Bar. (Each of the six taverns in town had its own "box," but you had to be of legal drinking age to enter these "dens of iniquity" as my mother called them.)

You went into the Corner Cafe to play the two pinball machines (Tic Tac Toe was the best pinball ever, Eight Ball a close second), grab a cherry phosphate and listen to music. If you cared enough you knew where to find the volume control, which was always hidden somewhere on the back of the box. You also knew how to "reject" a song, but this was a dicey maneuver reserved for particularly obnoxious songs (and the people who played them.)

Even flip sides had a chance on a jukebox because there were only so many songs available and eventually we'd give every one of them a try. Some of them were pretty damn good, like the Beatles' "She's a Woman", which was receiving heavy play at the Corner Cafe at this time in 1965.

This was your Billboard Top 5:
1. I Feel Fine, Beatles
2. Come See About Me, Supremes
3. Mr. Lonely, Bobby Vinton
4. She's a Woman, Beatles
5. She's Not There, Zombies

The other B side of distinction from this group was the Zombies' "Tell Her No."

"Mr. Lonely" wasn't the best song but there were times it got the most play, and those times were following basketball and football games when a dance broke out and a night of discovery began between the girls and boys. Of course I was too young at the time, but I was taking mental notes.

I miss those times.

Do you think he's sexy?

Stay away from my window
Stay away from my back door too
Disconnect the telephone line
Relax baby and draw that blind

I'm going to have to check with some women friends about this. I don't think I can with a clear conscience ask any of my male buddies: Do you think Rod Stewart was/is hot?

(This cool lavender babydoll T-shirt is sale-priced for $9.95 at Rod's official online store. Just in case...)

"Tonight's the Night (Gonna Be Alright)" was definitely a hot song. But I'm pretty sure the guys didn't appreciate it as much as the girls (unless it was, as they say, bearing good fruit.) It just isn't easy to evaluate Stewart from a macho perspective.

Kick off your shoes and sit right down
Loosen off that pretty French gown
Let me pour you a good long drink
Ooh baby don't you hesitate 'cause

Tonight's the night
It's gonna be alright
Cause I love you girl
Ain't nobody gonna stop us now

The song was sitting like a cock rooster on Billboard's pop chart exactly 33 years ago today. It was banned from some radio stations because of the overly suggestive lyrics (see verse below), but this was no bam-bam-thank-you-maam hit. It sat there for seven weeks, effectively holding off fowl competition like "Disco Duck" while sending its titillating message to virtually every listener, male or female, who was capable of being titillated.

C'mon angel my hearts on fire
Don't deny your man's desire
You'd be a fool to stop this tide
Spread your wings and let me come inside

Tonight's the night
It's gonna be alright
Cause I love you girl
Ain't nobody gonna stop us now

Even if you're a guy you have to take your hat off to Stewart (anything more and you're on your own). He's had a great musical career, and I won't even mention his sexual conquests because, well, there are too many children by different spectacular wives who are now of reading age. Let's just say a raspy voice can be very effective, any way you choose to use it.

Don't say a word my virgin child
Just let your inhibitions run wild
The secret is about to unfold
Upstairs before the night's too old

'Who was Dusty Springfield!!!!!'

I'm often impressed with Jeopardy! contestants. They usually know their stuff. It's not easy to match wits with some of these people, who must memorize complete encyclopedias to gain the knowledge and information needed to win at one of America's most popular game shows.

Tonight, though, they were disappointing. All three contestants sat on their hands during a musical category titled "Second Time Around'' which presented some easy opportunities to waylay their competition.

OK, somebody actually thought a moment before buzzing correctly on the Beach Boys covering "Barbara Ann.' And I'll forgive their ignorance for not knowing that Rod Stewart mopped up on the Isley Brothers' "This Old Heart of Mine." But how could none of the three contestants know that Phil Collins recorded "Groovy Kind of Love" after the Mindbenders, or that it was Dusty Springfield who covered "You Don't Have to Say You Love Me'' after Elvis? Dusty's 1966 version is one of the great songs of its era.



Obviously Jeopardy! contestants need to add SSS to their reading itinerary. Click above to view Dusty performing the song at Royal Albert Hall in 1979.

Our sweet George

Which is harder to believe: That George Harrison was the first ex-Beatle to have a No. 1 song, or that he was found guilty of plagiarism for "My Sweet Lord"?

The song topped the Billboard chart on this day in 1971, giving Harrison his biggest hit after the breakup of the Fab Four. But how anyone could rule the song was a rip-off of the 1963 Chiffons' hit "He's So Fine" is a bit of a head-scratcher.

Bright Tunes, which owned "He's So Fine," reportedly earned $587,000 in a judgment declaring that Harrison had subconsciously plagiarized the song. If you hear both songs I'm not sure how you could ever reach that conclusion. There is the familiar three-word hook of the song titles, but nothing else to suggest that Harrison lifted the song or melody -- subconsciously or otherwise. There must be thousands of recorded songs that have at least some minor similarity to other published works.

No telling what the lawyers made on this one. And now that we know we can get in trouble for subconscious lifting, I'm surprised there aren't more of these suits flying around. I'm not a published songwriter, so I encourage those of you who are to weigh in (Chuck, where are you???)

If anything, "My Sweet Lord" sounds more eerily similar in both lyrical tune and spiritual tone to the Staples Singers' "Oh Happy Day." Harrison said as much in describing his inspiration for "My Sweet Lord."

Country, when Country was cool

Happy New Year!

We made it through another year and 309 SSS posts, which nearly qualifies as a "blogospheric body of work." Whatever that gets me. A cup of fresh Sendik's Supreme!

(And that supplies me with my first thought of 2010, which is ... my that Sendik's coffee really is pretty good. I wonder if it's really Alterra coffee hiding in a Sendik's package? Think I'll pick some more up on my next trip to the store.)

And now on to weightier less caffeinated matters, like:

Whatever became of Country Joe McDonald? It's his birthday today and we were hoping to catch up with him. Turns out he's as easy to find as clicking here. It's a very cool place, Country Joe's Place, and I highly recommend you check it out if you, too, are curious what's happening with the only guy at Woodstock who could count to seven.

And it's 1-2-3 what are we fightin' for?
Don't ask me I don't give a damn, next stop is Vietnam
And it's 5-6-7 open up the Pearly Gates
There aint no time to wonder why
Whoopie we're all gonna die

(It's kind of interesting, now that we've seen Inglourious Basterds, to compare Country Joe's pronounciation of "Vietnam" to Brad Pitt's "Nazis." Anything for a rhyme, I guess.)

As war protest songs go -- and couldn't we use another great one right about now? -- "I Feel Like I'm Fixin' To Die Rag" has to rank near the top. What a memorable song, an unforgettable era, a raucously rebellious moment in time...

Among the cool and interesting links on wwww.countryjoe.com are:
-- Next Stop is Vietnam (news and blues for vets)
-- Section 43 (strange/familiar stuff)
-- Musical notes (including the music and chords to the Rag)
-- A Tribute to Florence Nightingale (I'm really not sure)

Under Wuzzup, we discover that Country Joe's next gig is a Tribute to Woody Guthrie at Mississippi Studies in Portland, Oregon on Jan. 29. He also hosts what sounds like a very cool open mic night the second Friday of every month at the Berkeley Fellowship of Unitarian Universalists Hall in Berkeley.

And there's a chance to score great savings at the Country Store, where Joe proclaims: "Because the capitalist pigs have caused us to plunge into another Not So Great Depression and endless war, I -- Country Joe McDonald -- will bring good times to the working class of the world, be they black, white, or whatever, in the form of FANTASTIC SAVINGS on Country Joe merchandise. Take a look at the brand new offers below."

You really should check it out.