Rant #2,645: If

I am still busy as a bee over here.
 
I have at least one more story to do in my remote job, and I saved the best (worst) for last.
 
I got a little blindsided yesterday, because I was given an extra story to put together, and once again, I sat for hours in front of my computer writing it.
 
All I want is to have a day to loll around, but that day likely won’t be today.
 
What’s a poor boy to do?
 
Just put my nose to the grindstone and get it done.
 
I feel that I have aged 10 years this week, but in actuality, it was just one year, but I am burnt out for sure.
 
But let me try to reignite the flames with you here by looking back to 50 years ago, to what we were listening to on the radio … the music, that is.
 
Sure, there were strong messages in the music back then, but we didn’t have to shudder when a song came on the radio … there was no vulgarity to deal with, nothing was untoward, and truly, the music was the message.
 
Not to editorialize here—which I am going to do anyway—but I know that there is some controversy this year with the high-falutin’ Billboard Music Awards.
 
They have banned some popular country crooner who is up for several awards because he had the audacity to say the “N” word, so he wasn’t invited and he was banned from the show—even if he wins.
 
Funny, that very N-word is prevalent in much of the rap music that is popular today, as is every four-letter word in the book, and every word that you would get slapped in the face if you said to any woman in the past.
 
But this white guy has the nerve to say the “N” word … well, heavens to Betsy, do I see a clear double standard here?
 
Today’s supposed “music” allows every sort of misogynistic mention, but the poor white guy slips and he is banned?
 
And it is not like he never apologized for using the same word that can be heard on so many rap songs, but I guess being the wrong color, at the wrong time, has doomed him to a musical life in purgatory.
 
God, please get me to May 1, 1971 in a hurry!
 
That year, like during most of the early 1970s, there were plenty of one-hot wonders on the chart, and residing at number 10 on the Billboard Hot 100 for the week was just such an act—Daddy Dewdrop with “Chick-A-Boom.”
 
The Temptations scored at number nine with the classic “Just My Imagination (Running Away With Me), which demonstrated how strong Motown was into the early 1970s. This was a former number one hit for them a few weeks before.
 
The Beatles were no more by this time, and individual members were putting out very interesting music to fill that large gap. Paul McCartney registered with the two-sided hit “Another Day/Oh Woman Oh Why,” which reached number eight on the chart this week.
 
The Bells was a Canadian act that placed a few singles on the chart but had really only one hit, and “Stay Awhile” hit number seven this week.
 
At number six was “If” by Bread, an act led by David Gates, who had recorded under a number of names, without much success, during the previous several years but had written some popular songs for a variety of acts, including “Saturday’s Child,” the oft-recorded song that was best known as a tune on the Monkees’ debut multi-platinum LP.
 
And talking about the Monkees, their third-party influence on this week’s chart could also be found in the number five song on the chart this week, “I Am … I Said” by Neil Diamond, who wrote some of the Pre-Fab Four’s biggest hits including “I’m a Believer,” and who ventured out on his own because of his success with them.
 
Perhaps the greatest of all Motown hits was in the fourth position this week, Marvin Gaye’s topical “What’s Going On.” Ironically, this great tune never hit the top spot on the chart, settling for a number two position for a few weeks prior to this one.
 
Another Motown hit came in at number three this week, just another great single form possibly the hottest of all recording acts during this period. The Jackson 5’s “Never Can Say Goodbye” occupied that spot on the chart, and this was the original version of the song, which has since been covered by numerous other artists.
 
Another certifiable one-hit wonder came in at number two this week, with Ocean’s religiously-themed “Put Your Hand In the Hand” tapping into the “Jesus Freak” vibe of the period.
 
And the number one song on the chart this week was—
 
“Joy to the World” by Three Dog Night, which was not only number one this week, but was the top song on the chart for a total of six weeks, making it not only one of the top songs of the 1970s, but one of the top songs ever on the Billboard Hot 100.
 
And the Monkees; vibe was there with Three Dog Night, as the story goes that Peter, Micky, Mike and Davy had helped the then-fledgling act to get going inn the late 1960s, an act that featured Danny Hutton among its lead singers, another fledgling singer who had tried out for the Monkees a couple of years prior to hitting it big with Three Dog Night.
 
The highest debut single on this week’s chart was “Brown Sugar” by the Rolling Stones, which came in at number 40 and within a few weeks, would supplant “Joy to the World” as the number one song in the country.
 
The biggest mover on this week’s chart, or the song that moved up the most places last week to this week, was “Don’t Knock My Love” by Wilson Pickett. This song jumped 35 spots, from number 96 the prior week to number 61 this week. It ended up being one of the singer’s most popular hits, getting up to number 13 and earning him a gold record.
 
So there you have it, the top songs of the week of May 1, 1971, certainly a different time in our lives, and certainly a period where the music we listened to was more than simple sound bytes filled with gutter language and other vulgarities.
 
Now, let me get back to the grindstone, and I will speak to you again on Monday. Have a great weekend … and I will certainly exclaim “Joy to the World!” with the exclamation point, when I have finally finished what I am doing, and can just relax a little bit.
 
Take a deep breath and exhale … .