Author: DOuG pRATt

AI AIEE!

White collar jobs are stuck in place. Labor growth is sluggish. How much of this is from the effect of AI-related productivity isn’t clear. Wall Street Week had a worthwhile discussion last month.

One casualty of AI is the tech site Stack Overflow.

https://boingboing.net/2026/01/14/stack-overflow-is-dead-and-its-toxic-community-helped-kill-it.html

The AI gold rush is literally tearing up acreage across the country.

https://www.technologyreview.com/2026/01/14/1131253/data-centers-are-amazing-everyone-hates-them/

Do all of the companies competing for AI supremacy really need to invest so much money in those data centers?

https://www.businessinsider.com/big-short-michael-burry-warren-buffett-ai-boom-nvidia-palantir-2026-1

The solid-state drives in those data centers have undeniable advantages over hard disk drives. Yet they can consume as much, or more, electricity than the old mechanical disks.

https://www.windowscentral.com/hardware/ssd-vs-hdd-we-know-about-speed-but-what-about-power-consumption

Small Records With Big Rabbit Holes

Looking at the charts Denro provided in the previous post, I see ‘Nothing But a Heartache’ by the Flirtations. A powerful, catchy record that deserved to do better, it peaked at #34, even lower than ‘Will You Be Staying After Sunday’.

How did a 1968 Psychedelic UK record that didn’t chart in America (was it even released here?) …

… get reworked into the Soul Pop sound of ‘Nothing But a Heartache’?

Here’s the explanation. Its history starts with a former Beatle.

Five years later came this Sugar Pop classic.

Setting the Record Straight on Records

Denro has replied to my recent request for clarification on two favorite singles from ’69 — ‘Will You Be Staying After Sunday’ and ‘Morning Girl’. The big surprise for me was that WABC didn’t play the Peppermint Rainbow’s record. Doing well in Los Angeles and Boston apparently wasn’t enough to compensate for the lack of airplay in New York.

It may have only hit #32 on Billboard, but ‘Will You Be Staying After Sunday’ peaked at #12 on WRKO and #11 on WMEX. I know, because I bought the original 45, probably at Woolworths in the Falmouth Plaza.

Later, when I started getting Joel Whitburn’s books, I was always confused by lower charting songs that I knew were “hits” in my mind. Then I discovered the treasure trove of local Radio Charts!

Of course, if you had stayed in Norwalk and listened to WABC,  you were out of luck. It never charted – nor was it apparently played – on WABC. But it was big on local CT stations!

It reached #4 on KHJ – 3 weeks before! The week that WYBSAS peaked on RKO, Morning Girl was making its debut.

1969-04-24 — WRKO 680 AM (Boston, Massachusetts)







TW
LW

ARTIST
TITLE
WKS




1
3

Simon & Garfunkel
The Boxer
4




2
7

Crazy Elephant
Gimme Gimme Good Lovin’
4




3
4

The Flirtations
Nothing But A Heartache
5




4
6

The Isley Brothers
It’s Your Thing
4




5
1

The Guess Who
These Eyes
6




6
10

Andy Williams
Happy Heart
5




7
2

The Ventures
Hawaii Five-O
6




8
11

B.J. Thomas
It’s Only Love
5




9
15

Mercy
Love (Can Make You Happy)
4




10
23

Mary Hopkin
Goodbye
2




11
8

Tommy James And The Shondells
Sweet Cherry Wine
6




12
16

The Peppermint Rainbow
Will You Be Staying After Sunday
4




13
14

Tompall And The Glaser Brothers
California Girl (And The Tennessee Square)
5




14
19

The Doors
Wishful Sinful
3




15
20

Booker T. & The M.G.’s
Time Is Tight
3




16
17

The Checkmates, Ltd.
Love Is All I Have To Give
4




17
5

The 5th Dimension
Aquarius/Let The Sunshine In (The Flesh Failures)
8




18
21

Rita Coolidge
Turn Around And Love You
3




19
24

The Grass Roots
The River Is Wide
2




20
22

Engelbert Humperdinck
The Way It Used To Be
3




21
27

Diana Ross And The Supremes
The Composer
2




22
26

Bobby Vinton
To Know You Is To Love You
2




23
25

Joe Simon
The Chokin’ Kind
2




24
29

Tommy Roe
Heather Honey
2




25
—

The Beatles With Billy Preston
Get Back
1




25
—

The Beatles With Billy Preston
Don’t Let Me Down
1




26
28

Glen Campbell
Where’s The Playground Susie
2




27
30

Marvin Gaye
Too Busy Thinking About My Baby
2




28
—

The Neon Philharmonic
Morning Girl
1




29
—

Dobie Gray
Rose Garden
1




30
—

The Vogues
Earth Angel (Will You Be Mine)
1




HB


The New Colony Six
I Could Never Lie To You





HB


Creedence Clearwater Revival
Bad Moon Rising












1969-04-02 — KHJ 930 AM (Los Angeles, California)








TW
LW

ARTIST
TITLE
WKS




1
1

The 5th Dimension
Aquarius/Let The Sunshine In (The Flesh Failures)





2
2

Blood, Sweat & Tears
You’ve Made Me So Very Happy





3
7

Jerry Butler
Only The Strong Survive





4
9

The Peppermint Rainbow
Will You Be Staying After Sunday





5
3

Edwin Starr
Twenty-Five Miles





6
17

Frank Sinatra
My Way





7
4

Tommy Roe
Dizzy





8
16

The Ventures
Hawaii Five-O





9
10

The Checkmates, Ltd.
Love Is All I Have To Give





10
23

The Spiral Starecase
More Today Than Yesterday





11
6

Glen Campbell
Galveston





12
21

The Beach Boys
I Can Hear Music





13
28

The Guess Who
These Eyes





14
5

Neil Diamond
Brother Love’s Travelling Salvation Show





15
22

Peter Sarstedt
Where Do You Go To (My Lovely)





16
27

The Isley Brothers
It’s Your Thing





17
13

The Temptations
Run Away Child, Running Wild





18
25

Tommy James And The Shondells
Sweet Cherry Wine





19
8

Betty Everett
There’ll Come A Time





20
24

The Doors
Wishful Sinful





21
HB

Simon & Garfunkel
The Boxer





22
29

Joan Baez
Love Is Just A Four-Letter Word





23
26

Gary Puckett And The Union Gap
Don’t Give In To Him





24
—

Booker T. & The M.G.’s
Time Is Tight





25
30

Tompall And The Glaser Brothers
California Girl (And The Tennessee Square)





26
HB

The Cowsills
Hair





27
—

Engelbert Humperdinck
The Way It Used To Be





28
—

Crazy Elephant
Gimme Gimme Good Lovin’





29
—

Rita Coolidge
Turn Around And Love You





30
—

The Who
Pinball Wizard





HB


The Watts 103rd Street Rhythm Band
Do Your Thing





HB


Mary Hopkin
Goodbye





HB


The Box Tops
I Shall Be Released