JonMichael is Neither Jon nor Michael

Born To Be With You by The Chordettes (#7 in 1956)

The Chordettes are the first non-sister girl group and this is their second big hit (after December ‘54’s “Mr. Sandman”). In this one, instead of defining the sound, they are resting on long beautiful harmonies that they hold. It is so interesting to hear these great voices in action. This, unfortunately, leads to a song that doesn’t really rock but rather flows. The background instrumentation is simply intended to keep a beat behind the ladies. And the songs expresses that Calvinist love song principle of love being one’s birthright. All in all, a decent single.

On The Street Where You Live by Vic Damone (#8 in 1956)

Vic Damone is MST3K shorthand for the late-Sinatra pre-rock era of music. Vic sounds like that other time: big bands and big singers. But compared with Elvis or Chuck Berry, he sounds like a fool. He’s just trying too hard, something the cool kids never do. “On the Street where you Live” is a science experiment. Vic has walked down his new girl’s street many times before (CONTROL) and now walks down it knowing she lives there (EXPERIMENT). The result: he no longer stays on the ground. Vic never had another top ten hit; I think NASA recruited him.

More by Perry Como (#4 in 1956)

This my 100th entry in my blog (and the 63rd 100 words entry). Perry Como, long my favorite non-rock singer of the early rock era, recorded “More.” I’m not a big fan. Perry Como sounds uninterested in his work; the background singers are overpowering Perry. The lyrics, some jejune stuff about loving you more, sound generally uninspired and trite (with a twist of stupid). Even in his slow songs, Perry usually picked some of the most interesting material (think: “Catch a Falling Star”), but here it just wasn’t working.

Swing States

I saw more reporting on the electoral college and how the battleground states were shaking out. I wanted to compare the battleground states that I defined with the US as a whole to see how our states represent you. BS means battleground states (and something else entriely)

Key (and Fun) Metrics (Source: 2000 Census and 2002 Census projections):
Population- US: 288,368,698 BS: 94,286,157
Female- US: 50.9% BS: 51.1%
High School Diploma- US: 80.4% BS: 82.4%
Bachelor's or Higher- US: 24.4% BS: 22.5%
Homeownership- US: 66.2% BS: 70.0%
Median Income- US: $41,944 BS: $40,912
Mean Travel Time to Work (in mins)- US: 25.5 BS: 23.9
Non-Hispanic/Latino White- US: 69.1% BS: 79.1%

This last results is the most significant difference between observed and expected values. The swing states are less diverse than the nation in general. Of course key states like Florida, Nevada and New Mexico all have significant minority population (in NM, non-Hispanic/Latino whites are the majority-minority). Interesting stuff to think about when you think about what demographics these suits are targeting.

Excuse Me

I'm sorry if I'm excessively self-centered today. I've made it through 27 years, so I feel a certain sense of completion.

Thanks to everyone who's helped me along.

JmSR

Transfusion by Nervous Norvus (#8 in 1956)

My pop musical experience developed from specific to general. When I was young, I listened to “Weird Al” without ceasing, believing his novelty music to be the best. I was in a self-satisfied minority. Around age 14, I heard “Transfusion” somewhere, and realized there may be other worthwhile novelty artists. So, I bought more novelty music, and then realized I also liked the pop form in general. Now “Transfusion” is not that funny, consisting of rhymes about motor safety, blood and men’s names, but it so different that you pay attention to it. And that’s pretty cool.

Reality Shows and Voting (Part 1: Intro)

In just six months we will be picking the next President of the United States. But presidential electoral politics has been declining in popularity recently. Out with the old and in with the new. Far more votes were cast for Reuben or Clay than were cast for Al or George. Of course the “American Idol” voters were 1) teens and tweens and 2) allowed to vote several times. But can’t America learn from its reality shows how to give people what they truly want?

Avoiding mainstays like “The Bachelor” and “Joe Millionaire” which award votes via a dictatorship or the “faux” expert oligopolies of “Are You Hot,” “Popstars,” and “The Swan,” there are two grand old mainstays of voting and reality shows: “Survivor” and “American Idol.” This week I’ll be spending two days on “Survivor” (one in a party machine method and one in a truly public opinion method) and one day on the “American Idol” method.

I Almost Lost My Mind by Pat Boone (#2 in 1956)

Gather ‘round kids… it’s another Pat Boone R&B cover. Luckily this is a slow ballad type song that better suits his voice. And the song itself is pretty good so he’s in better company. Pat’s lost his love and his mind, film at eleven. Of course, Pat sings the song like a lullaby as if that’s how lunatics act -- and, like most 50’s crooners, the instrumentation is non-existent to hi-lite the singer’s voice. Can I go now?

I Want You, I Need You, I Love You by Elvis Presley (#1 in 1956)

Remembers Beatlemania? When the Beatles held the top five positions and had 26 songs on the chart? But Elvis is bigger (figuratively) than the Beatles. So where’s Elvismania? Or did he creep up on society? Well, when your first charting pop song spend 8 weeks at number one, you’re not creeping up on anybody. “I Want You, I Need You, I Love You,” with its solitary week at number one is a reminder: whatever Elvis touched turned to gold. Otherwise, this song is stupid: boring love song, no rock instrumentation and Elvis sounding like an American Idol reject.

Blender's Worst Song List (Part Seven: Forgotten but not Gone)

So Blender came up with a 50 bad song list that was maybe half bad songs. Here's a list of 30 more bad songs from the same time period that they seem to have forgotten. Note: many of these songs were listed in two other good books about bad pop music: Dave Barry's Book of Bad Songs and The Worst Rock and Roll Records of All Time.

So... onward with the 30 (not ranked) worst songs Blender forgot:
Richard Harris "MacArthur Park" -- Bobby Goldsboro "Honey" -- Chuck Berry "My Ding-a-Ling" -- Zager & Evans "In the Year 2525" -- Think "Once You Understand" -- Ohio Express "Yummy Yummy Yummy" -- Rupert Holmes "Escape" -- The Union Gap "Young Girl" -- Andy Gibb "Thicker Than Water" -- Mariah Carey "My All" -- The Rolling Stones "Emotional Rescue" -- Barry Manilow "Could It Be Magic" -- Toni Braxton "Un-break My Heart" -- Lionel Richie "Truly"-- Charlene "I've Never Been to Me" -- Ready for the World "Love You Down" -- Debbie Gibson "Foolish Beat" -- Stevie Wonder "I Just Called to Say I Love You" -- The Beatles "The Long and Winding Road" -- Timmy T "One More Try" -- Madonna "Justify My Love" -- Byron MacGregor "Americans" -- Victor Lundberg "An Open Letter to My Teenage Son" -- Bee Gees "I Started a Joke" -- Notorious BIG "One More Chance" -- Five Man Electrical Band "Signs" -- Oliver "Jean" -- Donovan "Atlantis" -- Bob Dylan "Lay Lady Lay"-- Jennifer Lopez "I'm Real"

Have a nice day trying to forget these pieces of crap.