The Friday 5×2: WHOT (1330 AM Youngstown OH), 1/17/67

WHOT was, according to Wikipedia, one of the first Top 40 radio stations in the country, starting in 1955 on 1570 AM as a daytime-only station that, "despite technical limitations," became popular in the Youngstown, Ohio market. It moved down the dial to 1330 AM in 1963, which is where they were on January 17, 1967. WHOT lives on as a Top 40 station ("Hot 101") at 101.1 MHz on the FM dial.

  1. Aaron Neville, “Tell It Like It Is” I’d have sworn this song wasn’t this old, but this reached #2 on the Hot 100, #1 on the R&B Singles Chart, and #2 on the Canadian Adult Contemporary Singles chart in 1966-67.
  2. The Mamas & The Papas, “Words Of Love” Essentially a showcase for Mama Cass Elliott, this rose to #6 in the US and #5 in Australia.
  3. Jimmy Ruffin, I’ve Passed This Way Before” Older brother of The Temptations’ David Ruffin, this was Jimmy’s follow-up to “What Becomes Of The Brokenhearted.” It rose to #17 on the Hot 100 and #10 on the R&B Singles chart.
  4. Paul Revere & The Raiders, “Good Thing” Their third Top 10 single after “Kicks” and “Hungry” rose to #4 in the US and #5 in Canada.
  5. The Royal Guardsmen, “Snoopy vs. The Red Baron” The Guardsmen had been The Posmen but changed their name to sound more British. This was their biggest hit, among the bestsellers for twelve weeks, reaching #2 and being certified gold. They had to release it as “Squeaky vs. The Black Knight” in Canada because Laurie Records wouldn’t release it in Canada. Apparently Charles Schulz, creator of Snoopy and the rest of the Peanuts gang, hadn’t give the record his blessing…
  6. The Seekers, “Georgy Girl” This song was their third #1 hit in their native Australia and #2 in the US. It was the title song of the 1966 movie that starred Lynn Redgrave, Charlotte Rampling, Alan Bates, and James Mason.
  7. The Four Seasons featuring the “Sound” of Frankie Valli, “Tell It To The Rain” I can’t remember this song, but it reached #10 nationwide. Quite a few of The Four Seasons’ records on Philips were credited this way.
  8. The Lovin’ Spoonful, “Nashville Cats” One of their better-known songs despite the fact that it peaked at #8 in the US. It did better in Canada (#2) and New Zealand (#6).
  9. The Monkees, “I’m A Believer”/”Steppin’ Stone” A two-sided hit for the Prefab Four. “I’m A Believer,” by Neil Diamond, was a #1 hit worldwide, while “Steppin’ Stone,” by Tommy Boyce and Bobby Hart, reached #20 on its own in the US.
  10. The Four Tops, “Standing In The Shadows Of Love” Surprisingly, this only reached #6 in the US and the UK, though it reached #2 on the Hot R&B Singles chart. It did much better in many markets.

And that’s The Friday 5×2 for January 17, 2020.

Jade #JusJoJan

Source: Pixabay

MB from Words Less Spoken provided today’s prompt, "jade." Thanks, MB!

The Blogger’s Best Friend™ tells us that jade is an ornamental mineral, mostly known for its green color. Evidently, there are two minerals that are considered jade: nephrite, a silicate of calcium and magnesium, and jadeite, a silicate of sodium and aluminum.

We generally think of jade as green, and most of it is, but there are variants. Nephrite can be white, which is called "mutton-fat jade," while jadeite can come in a variety of colors, including blue, brown, dark green, red, black, and lavender. My aunt has a ring with a lavender jade in it, and it’s quite pretty.

This was written for Just Jot It January, which is a blog hop hosted by Linda Hill during the first month of the year. Now a word from Chevrolet, building a better way to see the USA!

Song of the Day: Willie Dixon, "Spoonful"

You can’t talk about Chicago blues without a mention of big Willie Dixon. Willie was an outstanding standup bass player and singer who played with Muddy Waters, Howlin’ Wolf, Chuck Berry, and other Chess Records acts. He was also a prolific songwriter, having written "Spoonful" for Howlin’ Wolf, "Hoochie Coochie Man" and "I Just Want To Make Love To You" for Muddy Waters, "Wang Dang Doodle" for Koko Taylor, just to name a few of the over 500 songs he either wrote or co-wrote. As standup bass gave way to the bass guitar, Willie retired from playing, but not from performing or songwriting, and he recorded over twenty albums and appeared on countless others.

Writer's Workshop: The End Of The Line

Molly

I apologize that this isn’t a very good picture of our last cat, Molly. Over the years we’ve had many cats (and let’s leave it at that), but gradually the clowder has shrunk and we decided a while back that there would be no more. And Molly’s the end of the line.

A friend of Mary’s found her and wanted to find a good home for her, but couldn’t keep her at her house because her cat was not pleased she was around. The friend called and asked us if we could keep her until she found a good home for her, and we said "sure! Why not?" Within two days we called our friend and told her she needn’t search any longer, we wanted to keep her. Molly had managed to win us over in a hurry.

Naturally, she started with me, because she could tell that getting in good with me would be her ticket in. While I was sitting on the couch, Molly came and sat on the armrest beside me and started licking my face. I was torn between thinking that she was licking my face off and thinking it was about the most precious thing a cat had ever done. Mary saw this and asked "Do you think we should keep her?" Well, you know the answer I had.

Molly’s about fifteen and still in very good physical shape, spends as much time on Mary’s lap as she can, and no longer feels the need to compete for our attention. She’s pretty easygoing now. We love that she’s happy here.

One day, hopefully not in the immediate future, Molly will find her way to the Rainbow Bridge, and the nest will be empty. We’ve agreed that we’ll wait at least a year before we consider another pet. We’ve done our part. Time to pass the torch.

Experience Not Always Needed #JusJoJan

I searched for “experience” on Pixabay, and here’s what I got. Image by Gerd Altmann from Pixabay

One piece of advice I never heeded was to spend my money on experiences rather than things. It’s a shame I didn’t do more of that when I had the opportunity to do so. The times I did do that, I found myself asking why I didn’t do that more often.

Oh well, too soon old, too late smart.

The lovely and talented Dan from No Facilities provided today’s prompt, experience, for Just Jot It January, hosted by Linda Hill and this station. And now a word about Harley-Davidson Superglide motorcycles from AMF. AMF Harley-Davidson brings out the best in you!