Rant #2,525: In the Year 2525

You just knew thats I was going to use that title for this particular Rant, didn't you?

It is so easy to do, so I did it.

I can't quite think of anything else, anyway.

I overslept--I was up a good portion of the night with allergy problems, which I still have--had to shave--which I hate to do to begin with--and then after taking a shower and getting dressed, I went out to get the newspaper and found that the feral cats we have scrounging around for food decimated our garbage pails, with junk sprawled all around our driveway.

I had to clean this garbage up as best as I could ... and all this before I had breakfast with one eye open, because my allergies are that bad today.

The one good thing that happened took place yesterday, when Newsday actually got back to me about my story pitch. While they could not promise me anything, they said they might be interested in doing something, so people, keep those calls coming.

In fact, I was asked about someone else who took my lead and called them, a lady who used my name in reference. They asked me if I knew who the person was, and I have no idea. All I know is what they told me--that the caller was female--and that is all I have to go on.

Will the mystery caller please stand up?

Anyway, about "In the Year 2525" ...

This tune, which pointed to a, let's say, interesting future for making, is actually called "In the Year 2525 (Exordium & Terminus)," but to this day, few people include the parenthesized portion of the name when speaking about it.

And just for the record, so to speak, the term "Exordium & Terminus," means "The Beginning and the End," and yes, it is Latin.

The song was performed by Denny Zager and Rick Evans, a duo out of Lincoln, Nebraska. Although the song hit the charts in June 1969 on the RCA Victor label, it actually was released a year earlier as a regional single, and when it began to create a buss, RCA picked it up for national distribution.

The single, which is backed with "Little Kids," was one of the biggest hits of the 1960s and of all time in the rock 'n roll era, steamrolling up the chart and reaching the No. 1 slot for six weeks. It hit the public's fancy when science fiction was hitting reality, as man was first reaching and walking on the moon,

How do you follow up such a smash? Well, in Zager and Evans' case, you don't.

RCA tried to follow this song up with another single which debuted in October 1969, called "Mr. Turnkey." I think they were trying to get people to read it as "Mr. Turkey," with Thanksgiving impending, but boy, was it a real turkey, laying an egg and only reaching No. 106 on the Bubbling Under chart.

And that was it for Zager and Evans, who released several other singles and two LPs, but nothing really happened for them after their one massive hit, which made them the epitome of what we call a "one-hit wonder."

And no, the urban legend that this "Zager"--the songwriter of "In the Year 2525"--was the same "Zager" who had some success in the disco era with the song "Let's All Chant" is unfounded. That "Zager" was Michael Zager, and while they shared the same last name, that was about it. But that rumor did circulate when "Let's All Chant" was moving up the charts.

So that is the short story of Zager and Evans and their one, single, solitary hit. Again, I did not hesitate in naming today's Rant after it, because the song is still so prevalent today; I seem to hear it all the time when I am listen to the 1960s satellite radio station, and more than 50 years ago, it was H-U-G-E with a capital H.

?So happy Thursday the 13th, and I will leave it at that.

Speak to you again tomorrow.