For Once In My Life, Spare Me

Ah, NOS. That self-contradictory term, New Old Stock.

It’s a spindle/bearing assembly for my 1976 vintage Pioneer PL-112D turntable. The old assembly is in the picture. It had a bothersome spur on the top edge. I tried to smooth it out but, of course, that only made things worse.

Fortunately, an eBay seller has some Pioneer NOS spare parts at a reasonable price. An easy 10-minute job, even with replacing the original oil that still looked fresh after more than 40 years. The oil in the old spindle/bearing was black.

The book is Joel Whitburn’s authoritative compilation of 1960’s music charts from Billboard magazine. A gift from good, ol’ Denro. I got it out after Pandora played Frank Sinatra doing “For Once in My Life,” from his 1969 album My Way.

[“Frank Sinatra saved my life once. He said, ‘Okay, boys. That’s enough.'” – Shecky Greene]

Stevie Wonder had a #2 hit with the tune, released November 2, 1968. It stayed on the charts for 14 weeks.

But wait, was Stevie the first to release the song as a single? Jackie Wilson’s recording of “For Once in My Life” came out THE VERY SAME DAY, but it lasted only 3 weeks, reaching #70 on Billboard.

But wait again. Sinatra’s pal Tony Bennett beat Stevie and Jackie by more than a year, with his record coming out on September 9, 1967. Tony’s take on the song lasted for 19 weeks on Billboard’s Adult Contemporary chart, and it reached #8.

You may have heard that Tony, who is 94, has Alzheimer’s Disease. If Bennett dies tonight Denro will blame me, and rightly so, given my track record of famous people dying soon after I mention them. It’s my deadly superpower.