Rant #2,437: Ball of Confusion

Well, it has been another tumultuous week.

More lies, more controversy and more marching, and the U.S.A. is more resembling a third-world country than anyone could have ever thought.

And this is all backed by the coronavirus, which is taking the heart out of our lives, changing them forever.

So today, let's have a happy Rant, a nice Rant, to round out the week, because let me tell you, we need some happiness right now.

And unlike others who want to change the past to suit their own agendas, today we are going to report the past as it was; there are going to be no changes, updates, or tearing down of anything that we are going to look into today.

Let's go back 50 years, to the week of June 27, 1970, and see what the top 10 singles on the Billboard Hot 100 chart were for that week--unfettered and reported like it was, like it is, and like it always will be.

At the 10th spot on the Hot 100 was the Poppy Family, with their bubblegum hit "Which Way You Goin' Billy?" This family act from Canada was real hot back then, with a succession of mildly hit singles culminated by Terry Jacks' "Seasons In the Sun" a few years down the line.

Elvis Presley remained a presence on the Hot 100 with a two-sided hit at No. 9 this week, "The Wonder of You"/"Mama Liked the Roses." The A side would soon become one of his signature tunes, in particular in concert.

A pure folk/pop singer teaming with a pure gospel/pop ensemble seems like a risky proposition, but Melanie and the Edwin Hawkins Singers pulled it off with "Lay Down (Candles In the Rain)," which came in at No. 8 this week. And it all came out on the Buddah label, best known for its gooey bubblegum concoctions.

In another bizarre confluence in the music scene at the time, the Motown label, best known for its black acts, created its own label to delve into white rock and roll, and the Rare Earth label's top act, aptly named Rare Earth, registered with "Get Ready," which was at the No. 7 spot in the chart this week. What made this entry even more bizarre is that it was originally recorded by Motown's top black male act, the Temptations, and the better known original did not even crack the Hot 100's top 20, peaking at No. 29 four years earlier.

Blues Image's lone top of the line hit, "Ride Captain Ride," came in at the No. 6 spot on the chart. It moved up and down the top 10 for several weeks, eventually peaking at No. 4.

Vanity Fare's bubblegummy "Hitchin' a Ride" came in at No. 5 this week. The single proved that bubblegum was not only the domain of American acts, but the British could chew such ear candy just as well as we could.

The Beatles continued to be a major force on the Hot 100 in 1970, and their former No. 1 two-sided hit, "The Long and Winding Road"/"For You Blue," was at No. 4 this week. It had been the No. 1 song on the chart for the previous two weeks.

We just mentioned the Temptations, and while their music was influencing a new generation of musicians, their newer stuff was making major dents on the Hot 100, with "Ball of Confusion" coming in at No. 3 this week. This was another of their songs that tried to make sense out of the then-current world situation, and it kind of rings true even today with our current world.

Three Dog Night was becoming a major presence on the Hot 100, and one of their biggest hits, "Mama Told Me (Not to Come)," an eventual No. 1 tune, was the No. 2 song on the chart this week. How ironic that earlier this week the Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum on Long Island may have closed its doors for good, because Three Dog Night was the first concert ever held in that venue, back when it was new in 1973.

And coming in at the No. 1 spot on the charts was--

"The Love You Save" by the Jackson 5, which would spend two weeks at the No. 1 spot on the Hot 100. Michael Jackson and his brothers were probably the hottest singles act in the country at the time, and everything they released seemed to be destined for the top of the Hot 100, so this song did not disappoint.

The highest debuting single on the Hot 100 during this week was another in the line of many hits for Stevie Wonder, "Signed, Sealed, Delivered I'm Yours," which made its maiden bow on the chart at No. 49. The tune would eventually climb to the No. 3 spot on the Hot 100 in a few weeks time.

The biggest mover on the Hot 100, the song that jumped the most places upward from one week to this week, was Mark Lindsay's "Silver Bird," which jumped 28 places from No. 83 to No. 55 this week. Although not as big a hit as "Arizona" was, the lead singer of Paul Revere and the Raiders still managed to have another solo hit with this song, which eventually stalled at No. 25.

So there you have it, the top 10 hits on the Billboard Hot 100 for the week of June 27, 1970, 50 years ago.

Nothing has been changed in the reporting of this chart, nothing has been made different to meet any agendas ... like Howard Cosell used to say, "I tell it like it is," but in this case, "I tell it like it was."

Three is no need to distort history, because my only agenda is to write a decent Rant, and nothing else.

Have a great weekend, and speak to you again on Monday.