The Daily Dose/February 11, 2022
By Gaylon Kent – America’s Funniest Guy™
Leading Off
Notes from around the human experience.
WELL, LOOK WHAT THE CAT DRAGGED IN: Thursday in the On This Date segment we ran an item on how, in 1945, the Andrews Sisters and Vic Schoen & His Orchestra were the first act to have two songs tie for the #1 spot on a Billboard chart, a phenomenon that happened on assorted Billboard charts of the era.
Oh, Jesus H: We came across this choice tidbit by accident and its evolution from first discovery to an actual On This Date item is almost interesting.
Dry, Technical, Matter: We were farting around our chart archive and noticed the tie, something we’ve come across before, actually. 1945 was the fifth year of the Billboard pop charts and we got to wondering if this was the first time there’d been a tie at the #1 spot and it was a simple matter to find out it was. Lewis and Clark, however, didn’t stop when they came to the Missouri River headwaters, though, and we didn’t stop either: we searched every #1 song on a Billboard pop chart, right up through the most recent Hot 100 survey and found there had been three other ties for #1, all before the Hot 100 debuted in 1958.
And You Wonder Why You Don’t Get Invited To More Parties: Well, there was no reason not to find out if it had happened earlier on the country and soul charts and it soon enuff it was discovered that this had happened occasionally on both of them and it was not the Upset of the Year to discover it still happens from time to time on assorted other Billboard charts.
The Bottom Line: This was, frankly, first-class trivia, the kind of crap our readers have come to know and love – or at least tolerate – over the years. There will be more; don’t worry.
Today At The Site
Writing worth reading. Usually.
The Diary of a Nobody – Sparrow blows over $150 on an oil change. Today’s Diary.
First, the new ride cops an attitude and only takes purely synthetic oil…Then both the passenger cabin and engine air filters were filthy and were changed, plus they installed the windshield wipers I bought last month…Installing these, tho simple, is always a pain in the ass for ol’ Sparrow and he thought it best to take advantage of the opportunity for professional installation.
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On This Date
History’s long march.
In 1812 – What would become known as the first gerrymandered apportionment plan is signed into law by Massachusetts governor Elbridge Gerry. The phrase – a combination of Gerry and the salamander one particular district resembled – would be first coined by the Boston Gazette in March. The plan worked, too, as Gerry’s Republicans won 29 seats in the state legislature while the Federalist Party won eleven. The word caught on almost immediately and was originally pronounced with hard “g” – as Gerry pronounced his last name – but eventually became pronounced with the soft “g” we use today.
In 1990 – Buster Douglas, a 42-to-1 underdog, wins the undisputed heavyweight title with a 10th-round knockout of champion Mike Tyson in Tokyo, a result widely regarded as one of the biggest upsets in sports history. Douglas had come into the fight with a 29-4-1 record and was the 7th-ranked heavyweight in the world, while Tyson was 37-0 with 33 knockouts. Tyson had dismissed Douglas’s chances and had stayed out late the night before. Douglas would lose the title in his first defense to Evander Holyfield in October.
In 1989 – Alabama is at #1 on Billboard’s country chart – then known as the Hot Country Singles chart – for the only week with Song of the South. It was the 24th of 33 #1 country songs for the group and the song also went #1 country in Canada. Earlier in the decade versions by Johnny Russell (#57, 1981) and Tom T Hall and Earl Scruggs (#72, 1982) had also charted. The song was written by Bob McDill, one of 31 country #1 hits he wrote in his career.
Some Philosophy Crap
The wisdom of the ages. Whatever.
If you are acquainted with the principle, what do you care for a myriad of instances and applications?
Henry David Thoreau
Walden
Answer To The Last Trivia Question
Knowledge is power.
The two US vice presidents nominated by the president and confirmed by Congress under the terms of the 25th Amendment to the US Constitution were Gerald Ford (1973) and Nelson Rockefeller (1974).
Today’s Stumper
Match wits with Gaylon. It’s not that hard.
What was Alabama’s biggest hit on the Hot 100? – Answer next time!
