Rant #2,374: Bridge Over Troubled Water

"Welcome to my world, people. I have currently been "quarantined" by being out of work for 169 days, with no end in sight.

Keep busy, always find something to do, stay away from the refrigerator as much as you can, keep TV on for a minimum amount of time, do the things I have been doing for nearly six months to stay sane and alert.

I guess I got a head start on this, but if we keep our wits about us, this too shall pass.

Good luck!"

Here I go again, leading off my daily Rant with a quote.

A big no-no, like I said the other day, but it is very important what I said, so this quote of mine from Facebook is wholly, 100-percent appropriate.

I got fed up with people saying they were bored being home.

Well, as they say, "tough tomatoes."

(I could say something else, but this is a family-oriented blog.)

Stop your crabbing, and do something!

My wife and I went to the local supermarket yesterday, and yes, they had pretty much everything we had on our list, INCLUDING TOILET PAPER.

No need to get crazy, but I am seeing some price gouging.

I also put this up on Facebook, with the accompanying photo:

"Saw this in the supermarket today. These are six packs of the smaller waters. So, were they over $4 each six pack, or over $4 for two six packs, or 12 smaller bottles total?

My family and I didn't need the water so we didn't buy it, but it seemed a bit exorbitant to me.

Not the supermarket's fault, but somebody is overcharging for this and many other items."

Sad, really sad, but certain people will take advantage of ANY situation for their own benefit.

So since this is the last Friday of the month, and we all need to exhale, let's go back 50 years to the music that we were listening to during this same period.

Since this year's leap year through everything parallel out of the equation, for now on, when I do a column like this, we are going to look at the week coming, so this week's Billboard Hot 100 look-back will be for the week of March 28, 1970, so it is almost 50 years ago, one day shy.

Anyway, Badfinger came in with the No. 10 song for the week, "Come and Get It." The tune, written by Paul McCartney, was featured in the movie "The Magic Christian," which starred Peter Sellers and bandmate Ringo Starr.

In a song that is appropriate in today's world as we fight this pandemic, "Give Me Just a Little More Time" by the Chairmen of the Board was the No. 9 song of the week. The tune, which sounds like it came from Motown's the Four Tops, was lead vocaled by the aptly-named General Johnson.

"Spirit in the Sky" by Norman Greenbaum was the No. 8 song of the week. Often thought as one of the all-time one-hit wonders, Greenbaum actually placed a couple of other singles as a solo artist and as a member of Dr. West's Medicine Show and Junk Band on the lower ranges of the singles chart.

The British Invasion was still alive at this point in time, and the Hollies had one of their biggest hits during this period, having "He Ain't Heavy, He's My Brother" reach No. 7 this week. The band had a slew of hits during the early days of the British Invasion, and continued to have hits into the early 1980s.

Bubblegum was also still very much alive in 1970, and the Jackson 5 kept the ball rolling with "ABC," which this week was the No.6 song on the chart. The song would eventually reach the No. 1 spot on the Hot 100 in four weeks' time.

Entering the top five on the chart, the Edison Lighthouse provided the light on the upper half of the Top 10 for the week at the No. 5 slot with "Love Grows" (Where My Rosemary Goes). Another supposed one-hit wonder, lead singer Tony Burrows had numerous hits with other studio bands, like the Brotherhood of Man and First Class.

Another supposed one-hit wonder was the Jaggerz, and they had the No. 4 song in the country with "The Rapper." Again, this supposed one-hitter actually had a few other singles make the lower regions of the chart, and lead singer Donnie Irace became Donnie Iris in the 1980s, and he, too, had a small string of entries on the Hot 100.

We all got "Instant Karma" with John Ono Lennon, and his song was at the No. 3 spot for the week. So the Beatles are represented on this week's chart by two solo efforts of the band, one a song from a film featuring another band member, and they are also represented collectively by ...

"Let It Be," which reached No. 2 this week. The song, also the title song of the film, would reach the No. 1 spot on the Hot 100 in two weeks, knocking another classic out of the top spot--

The No. 1 song for this week was ...

"Bridge Over Troubled Water" by Simon and Garfunkel, another song that is eerily appropriate for the time we are living in, 50 years after the fact.

The single that had the highest debut on the Hot 100 this week was "Woodstock" by Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young. The oft-covered song, written by Joni Mitchell and commemorating the concert in upstate New York--it was also done by Matthew's Southern Comfort, for one--debuted at No. 68 this week. It would eventually rise to No. 11.

The biggest mover on this chart--the song that jumped the highest number of places on the Hot 100 from one week to another--was Gladys Knight and the Pips' "You Need Love Like I Do (Don't You)," which moved up from No. 87 to No. 41 this week. The song would stall at No. 25, but after this song fizzled out, the act became one of America's hottest performers on the chart, racking up a string of massive hits including :Midnight Train to Georgia" which topped the chart in 1973.

So there you have it, a look back on the top songs we were listening to 50 years ago, which was preceded by the drudgery of what is going on today.

We can dive into these tunes once again while we are waiting out this pandemic. Look through your record/tape/CD collection, go to YouTube to churn up these hits, and maybe it will give us all time to think about today and the future.

I think we will beat this thing, and if we need the music of a different time to do it, so be it.

Have as good a weekend as you possibly can have, and I will speak to you again on Monday.