JonMichael is Neither Jon nor Michael

Wake Up Little Susie by The Everly Brothers (#1 in 1957)

Each of the Everly Brothers first three big hits, Bye Bye Love, All I Have to Do is Dream and this one, tells a story of teenage love in three actual moments of drama (contrast with Pat Boone) and each offers a heartfelt starry-eyed youth lost in his emotion. This song is the most practical. Boy and girl oversleep at the movies and now must avoid being scandalized. Seems so quaint now. But Don and Phil sell every word and are back by that classic Everly guitar and even rush the tempo to convey their urgency. "Oooh la la."

Happy, Happy Birthday Baby by The Tune Weavers (#8 in 1957)

"Happy, Happy Birthday Baby" is a somewhat, somewhat classic song that probably, probably doesn't deserve it. The lead singer of the Tune Weavers sounds a little, little upset with her career choice. The music is practically, practically non-existent (again) save a dour, dour saxophone with the raw emotive power of a dying, dying halibut. And of all of the birthday songs this, this one is not quite up to the level of conveying the actual, actual happiness as, say, the Beatles. Also, why the need to disrupt a normal, normal birthday with your break-up? Not even, even worth it.

Bloglines 12/04

Top 50 RSS feeds of those over 5,000 subscribers on Bloglines
November 2004
1. Slashdot
2. Wired News
3. Boing Boing
4. Dilbert
5. Gizmodo
6. Google's Blog
7. The New York Times (Main Page)
8. Quote of the Day
9. The Register
10. CNet News
11. Joel on Software
12. Scientific American
13. Salon
14. A List Apart
15. Engadget
16. Kuro5hin
17. Techdirt
18. BBC News (World Edition)
19. BBC News (Technology)
20. The New York Times (Technology)>
21. Snopes

Biggest Gainer: Quote of the Day rose from #9 to #8
Biggest Faller: BBC News (Technology) fell from #16 to #19
Top Ten Trends: Quote of the Day and the Register swapped places.
Biggest Debut: #15 Engadget

Chances Are by Johnny Mathis (#4 in 1957)

John Sams tells of when he did a solo DJ gig at his sister's wedding. It was late and some of the older folks had permanently ensconced themselves. John tried "Chances Are" and the old folks took the floor again. This is that kind of song. So trapped by its time, that our elders call it their own and yet so timeless that John would choose it over the other songs of this time. Johnny's voice is unequaled in raw, sad emotional power and no one has quite improved on this song's message even if it's a bit egotistical. Classic.

Remember You're Mine by Pat Boone (#10 in 1957)

Aargh… Pat Boone loses yardage for "Unnecessary Voice Modulation," "Uninteresting Topic Material," "Excessive Piano Open Chords," ""Cliched Song Format" and "Off Sides." He does get some redemption for putting this on the same 45 as "There's a Gold Mine in the Sky" and using the word "Mine" in two different ways on the same single. Unfortunately, those are not offsetting penalties. Loss of 25 yards, 4^th down and 27. (Thank goodness it was only a 10.)

Texas Hold 'em Solitaire

A la Blackjack:

1. Two cards are dealt to the player and two the dealer. 
2. The Player can fold and lose ONE (the base value of the bet).
3. The House will fold if he does NOT have two suited cards, two adjacent cards, two cards that are one position away, a pair of anything or a jack of higher. The player would then gain ONE.
4. The flop is dealt.
5. The Player can fold and lose TWO.
6. The House will fold if it does not have three to a flush, three to a straight (not like signposted, as in 3, 5, 7),  a pair of 6s or better or a queen or higher high card. The player would then gain TWO.
7. The turn is dealt.
8. The Player can fold and lose THREE.
9. The House will fold if it does not have four to a flush, four to a straight (inside or outside),  a pair of 8s or better or a king or higher high card. The player would then gain THREE.
10. The river is dealt.
11. The Player can fold and lose FOUR.
12. The House will fold if it does not have a pair of 10s or better or an ace or higher high card. The player would then gain FOUR.
13. The cards are turned up. If the player wins, the player gains FIVE. If the the House wins, the Player loses FIVE. If they tie, there is no point change.

In The Middle Of An Island by Tony Bennett (#9 in 1957)

A short fantasy selection that was probably written in a dentist's waiting room, this song doesn't offer much outside of that Hawaiian-type ukulele. Odd that Tony Bennett's only impact on the rock era top ten would be this kind of simple song. The fact that this was only a nine is without a doubt caused by the new trend. (In fact Hawaii-mania of its statehood in 57-59 might be the cause here.) Tony sounds great but this song's a non-event musically and lyrically.