Rant #2,534: Bridge Over Troubled Water ... But My Dad Is OK

Yesterday was a rough day for myself and my family, and, in particular, for my dad.

My father took ill, sick enough that he had to be admitted to the hospital.

We took him there pretty early, at 6 a.m., not knowing what was the matter with him, and quite frankly, we still are not 100-percent sure that his problem was and why he was not right.

After doing numerous tests on him over the course of several hours, we found out one major thing and one very minor thing, in the grand scheme of things.

The major point that we discovered is that he has anemia, which saps his strength and can often make him lethargic. He has to go to a hematologist to provide him with a new regimen so that the anemia subsides.

The other thing, way less interesting but still something in itself, is that he has remnants of a broken rib, an injury that he has absolutely no memory of. it is not a fresh break, but it evidently did happen sometime in his life, and he says he has absolutely no memory of it, so it probably happened when he was a child.

But my father is home, alert, back to his cantankerous self, and once we get the anemia checked out and hopefully corrected, he will be back to his real self.

The one thing that really bothers him is that until he gets checked out by his neurologist, he cannot drive, which is almost taking his entire purpose of life away from him. This is what he has done for almost his entire life, and to take it away from him, even for a few weeks, is really upsetting him.

But for right now, it has to be. I am sure that in a few weeks, he will be back behind the wheel again.

Yesterday could have been much, much worse, and thank goodness it wasn't. Thanks for all the inquiries into his health. It has been a rough go for him during the past few months, but at 88 years of age, he still has a lot of spit and polish in him.

But his recent struggles illustrate that yes, it is tough getting older.

We all feel it, one way or the other. Heck, I am 62, and at times, I want to be 25 again, but my body does not lie, there's more mileage on me than there was 37 years ago, and my body lets me know when I am stretching it too much.

That is a terrible segueway to what I am going to talk about now, but 50 years ago on this date, I was 12 years old, preparing for my bar mitzvah in just a few months time--the age in the Jewish religion that signifies manhood--and my mother had the radio on all throughout the day in our small kitchen ... and this is what we were listening to on the radio way back when on February 28, 1970.

Coming in at No. 10 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart this week 50 years ago was "Venus" by the Shocking Blue. This tune would be covered years later by Bananarama, where it would also reach the top of the charts, and the original did just a few weeks earlier.

Brook Benton's "Rainy Night in Georgia" was at No. 9 for the week. Funny, I remember my father telling me that he actually picked up Benton in his cab way back when, and he spoke about how eloquent the singer was--and a good tipper, too.

Another former No. 1 single resided at the number 8 spot on the chart this week, B.J. Thomas' "Raindrops Keep Falling On My Head." This song was a highlight of the popular film "Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid."

One of the Temptation's biggest hits was at the No. 7 spot this week, "Psychedelic Shack." This was one of the group of songs that the Motown group did that ushered in psychedelic soul, in response to the new type of music that white kids and black kids alike were grooving to at the time.

One-hit wonder the Tee Set had the number six song for the week, "Ma Belle Amie." Like the Shocking Blue, the act came out of Sweden, and the two hits on this week's chart were two of the biggest songs in the short-lived Swedish rock boom of this period.

The Guess Who had one of their biggest hits this week, "No Time" at No. 5. The Canadian group had been around for years, but was just getting lots of airplay across the border on United States radio with this song and a while group of others that would get played on both AM and FM radio in the late 1960s through the mid-1970s.

Smooth soul was the domain of Eddie Holman, another singer who had been around for years before he had his biggest hit, "Hey There Lonely Girl," which would hit No. 4 on the chart this week. Holman placed a total of a half-dozen singles on the Hot 100 over a period of a few years, but nothing approached this song's height.

One of two two-sided hits on this week's chart--with both the A and B sides charting together--was
"Travelin' Band"/"Who'll Stop the Rain" by Creedence Clearwater Revival, in at No. 3 this week. CCR would have several two-sided hits during this period, but they never hit the No. 1 spot on the singles chart during their chart history.

At No. 2 was the other two-sided hit on this week's chart, "Thank You (Falettinme Be Mice Elf Again)"/"Everybody Is a Star" by Sly and the Family Stone, the former No. 1 single which moved down to No. 2 this week. Sly Stone's girlfriend at the time lived in my old neighborhood, Rochdale Village, South Jamaica Queens, New York, and I believe he visited her one time with his Rolls Royce in tow. I can't remember her name right now, though.

And at No. 1 this week, certainly one of the greatest songs of this period, a classic that continues to have endurance 50 years later--

"Bridge Over Troubled Water" by Simon and Garfunkel. The tune--also covered by many including Aretha Franklin--spoke about turbulence of a real and metaphorical direction, and would spend six weeks at the top spot of the singles chart.  And yes, there is a Rochdale Village connection with this song, or at least with Paul Simon, as I knew the family that purchased his mother's home, believe it or not! The two sons were a little older than me, but I knew them from camp and being members of the same synagogue.

And the song kind of wraps up this week, 50 years after its heyday, pretty well, what with my dad's ailment. We all went through our own "troubled water" yesterday, but the "bridge" was that his problem was hopefully identified and will be taken care of.

Funny how songs can be so appropriate to describe our current feelings and situations, even years after they debuted.

The highest debuting single on the chart came in at No. 49 this week. Three Dog Night's "Celebrate" would eventually reach as high as No. 15 during its more than two-moth chart run.

The biggest mover on this week's chart--jumping from No. 68 to No. 28, or 40 places up in one week--was by nother one-hit wonder--sort of. "Love Grows (Where My Rosemary Goes)" by "Edison Lighthouse was the song, and the tune eventually reached No. 5 on the chart. The group's lead singer was Tony Burrows, who would have several big hit singles under a variety of group names during this period, including on songs by Brotherhood of Man and First Class.

So there you have it, the top 10 singles that we new and red hot 50 years ago.

They are now considered to be top-flight oldies, but things that were once new do age, some not better than others.

I think I have aged pretty well, and if I can age as well as my father has--with a few missteps along the way--I think I will be OK.

And that goes for my mother, too. She turns 89 years young in March!

Speak to you again on Monday. Have a great weekend.