Rant #2,930: Song Sung Blue

I lied.
 
Here I am, on July 4, Independence Day, ready to go with a brand new entry.
 
Why, you might say?
 
The reason is that time is of the essence.
 
My computer is starting to give me a lot of problems, out of the blue.
 
I backed up dozens and dozens of files yesterday, staying up until midnight doing so.
 
My external hard drive—which I have thousands and thousands of files on—is also ready for the crapper, and I am trying desperately to boot it up on another computer as we speak so that I can extract the important stuff that I need to keep.
 
So on this glorious July 4, a day for barbecues and swimming, I am booting and backing up, in a somewhat panic mode that I can get these things that I need and then move on to something else … perhaps even a new computer.
 
It took me two times to get the computer I am typing on going, but at least last night, I was able to get all the important files that I need off of it.
 
And funny, a similar thing happened to the computer nearly a year ago, on I think it was July 19, and I did the same thing, and everything worked out fine.
 
Perhaps my troubles have something to do with the heat, but whatever it is, I am not taking any chances, and I am doing my due diligence to try to get everything going.
 
And I am burning up about it … not with sunburn, either.
 
But 50 years ago, perhaps you were on the beach and getting fried, but whatever the case, you were listening to the radio, and here is another periodic Top 10 songs on the Billboard Hot 100 that you might have been listening to, for the week of July 1, 1972.
 
At the number 10 spot on the chart for the week was “Daddy Don’t You Walk So Fast” by Wayne Newton. The singer, the true “King of Las Vegas” schmaltz, laughed all the way to the bank with this song, which some describe as one of the worst songs of the era, and of any era.
 
At number 9 was “I Need You” by America (naturally). You just had to have one of the most popular bands of this era, with that name, having a huge hit on July 4, and here it is.
 
One of the biggest stars of the 1970s had one of his biggest hits come in at number 8 this week, with Elton John’s “Rocket Man” holding that spot. The song would get as high as number 6 in a few weeks.
 
At number 7 was one-hit wonder Gallery with “Nice To Be With You.” They had one or two other chart songs, but this was by far their biggest and only real hit.
 
One of the greatest novelty hits of the 1970s came in at number 6: “Troglodyte (Cave Man) by The Jimmy Castor Bunch. This was as high as the song climbed on the Hot 100.
 
Getting into the Top Five was the Cornelius Brothers and Sister Rose’s “Too Late to Turn Back Now.” The tune would reach as high as number 2 in a few weeks.
 
At number 4 was one of the biggest hits of Bill Withers’ long career, “Lean On Me,”  which would gain the top spot on the Hot 100 in just a few weeks’ time. Withers would have hits into the mid-1980s as a solo artist and in a variety of duets.
 
Another of the great novelty tunes of the 1970s resided at number 3 this week, with “Outa-Space” by Billy Preston holding that spot. Preston seemed to be pre-occupied with space at this time, as his “Space Race” was also a huge hit.
 
One of the biggest hits of the 1970s fell to number 2 this week after three weeks at the number one spot: “Dandy Man” by Sammy Davis Jr. The song was from the film “Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory.”
 
And at the number 1 spot on Billboard’s Hot 100 for this week was—
 
“Song Sung Blue” by Neil Diamond. This was the sole week that the song rested at the top of the chart.
 
The highest debuting single this week was “You Don’t Mess Around With Jim” by Jim Croce, which came onto the Hot 100 at number 60. The song would get as high as number 8 on the charts,, one of the biggest hit singles for the singer/songwriter who would die in a plane crash a year later.
 
The “Biggest Mover” on the charts—the song that moved up the most places from the past week to this week—was “Alone Again (Naturally)” by Gilbert O’Sullivan. The song moved from number 59 last week to number 34 this week, on its way to reaching the top spot on the Hot 100 at the end of July.
 
So there you have it, the top hit singles of the week of July 1, 1972, 50 years ago today.
 
If you are at the beach as you are reading this, it is time to flip over to the other side, so you don’t burn that much.
 
But if you are like me, you are already burning like toast, worrying that your computer is OK, that you can get the files that you need, and that everything is going to be copacetic.
 
Everyone into the pool!
 
The problem is that I am starting to drown.
 
Help!
 
I guess that is my own “Song Sung Blue.”