I first used ‘Hello, Mellow’ six years ago. It had fewer than 200 views on YouTube. Now, it has more than 500. Progress!
And here’s the white version of Mellow, which is actually yellow.
Reykjavík, Greenland
Imagine if Biden had done this. He’s gotta go. It’s 25th Amendment time.
The Big Chill
Still no heat. Hope the service technician gets here before nightfall.
My 8:00 call for service wasn’t logged! So, when I called at 2:00 they didn’t know I had no heat. This is the sort of screw-up that makes customers look elsewhere. A technician is here now.
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)
Heat the Meatles
It’s ten degrees outside, and I’m heatless! The control module for the furnace is flashing red, indicating an ignition problem.
Will the service technician find a clogged nozzle from that stupid bio-fuel? Almost certainly. I have the same active dislike for ethanol being a gasoline additive.