The Daily Dose/December 7, 2020
By Gaylon Kent
America’s Funniest Guy
Leading Off
Notes from around the human experience.
CHRIST, HERE WE GO AGAIN: Sunday, in an Editor’s Note in our popular On This Date segment, we mentioned a long-forgotten band called the Robbs and their equally forgotten hit Race With the Wind. It peaked at #3 on Billboard’s Bubbling Under The Hot 100 chart in 1966, meaning it ranked #103 for the week.
Really Dry, Technical Matter: It was their first single and remains their biggest hit, as their other five hits – including one under the name Cherokee – couldn’t crack the Hot 100, either, and yesterday’s item noted the Robbs/Cherokee still hold the record for most songs hitting the Bubbling Under chart without later cracking the Hot 100. It was, frankly, the kind of tidbit our readers have come to know and love from us and the kind that still causes us to achieve and maintain a state of arousal usually found on porn sets.
Oh, Jesus H: Though the Robbs were brothers, their real last name was Donaldson.
More Dry, Technical Matter: And success is relative: Despite the fact they couldn’t buy a Top 40 hit, the Robbs were not completely without success, having been the house band on the 1960s Dick Clark show Where the Action Is, a height many other bands would not have violently objected to reaching. And their self-titled album spent one week at #200 on the Billboard 200 album chart in 1967.
The Bottom Line: Just for funsies we listened to Race With the Wind and found it a pretty good song. Its sound was typical of pop songs of the era and the lyrics are good – some bordering on memorable – though the vocal arrangement, particularly the last three lines of each verse, sometimes sound amateurish. Still, though, the chorus is still, pleasantly, stuck in our head and had the song’s timing been better it might have enjoyed a decent Hot 100 run.
Today At The Site
Writing worth reading. Usually.
The Diary of a Nobody: Sparrow gets some props from a guest.
…the guy that was working the counter I forget his name was so professional, was so happy that I was there, very accommodating, and made me feel welcome that I was there.
The Regular Guys/Chapter 9: Lenny and Larry open for Toby Flotsam and the Emoticons in Vegas on New Year’s Eve.
Each member of The Regular Guys was spending this New Year’s holiday with his best girl. Ann was not about to miss main squeeze Lenny and her dear friend Larry playing, if not headlining, one of the best New Year’s Eve parties on the planet, and after spending a month on the road seeing Lenny every night, Larry was looking forward to seeing Rachel again.
Columns, books, shopping lists, click here to get in on the laughs.
4Ever & Ever ($8.99) and monthly ($2.99) plans available.
On This Date
The long march to today.
In 1995 – The American space probe Galileo becomes the first spacecraft to orbit Jupiter, arriving at the planet with a closest point of approach of 133,300 miles. Galileo also released a probe that was able to explore the Jovian atmosphere for an hour before being destroyed. The mission was terminated in 2003 when Galileo was sent into Jupiter’s atmosphere, in part to prevent terrestrial contamination of Jupiter’s moons in the event of a collision. The mission had been launched from the space shuttle Atlantis in October 1989.
In 1982 – The Utah Jazz establish a new NBA record for most consecutive free throws made in a game without a miss in a 137-121 loss to the Portland Trailblazers. The Jazz went 39-for-39 from the free throw line in the game and research into whose record the Jazz broke was inconclusive. The Jazz had six players make free throws, including Danny Shcayes with 14 and Adrian Dantley with 12. The record still stands.
In 2020 – Drake featuring Lil Durk is at #1 on Billboards soul chart – now known as the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart – for the fifth consecutive week with Laugh Now Cry Later. It’s the 21st #1 soul song for Drake, establishing a new Billboard soul chart record, breaking a tie with Stevie Wonder and Aretha Franklin. The song also peaked at #2 on the Hot 100 and at #4 in Great Britain.
Some Philosophy Crap
The wisdom of the ages. Whatever.
…the ultimate power is not to preside in a white house or open a parliament while seated on a throne but to reinvent the world for everyone by giving them the dreams that you wanted them to dream.
Gore Vidal
Empire
Answer To The Last Trivia Question
It’s not who you know, but what you know.
The national capital at the highest elevation outside of South America is Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, at 7,726 feet, a figure good for fourth on the worldwide list.
Today’s Stumper
Cheaper than Trivia Night at the bar.
What team holds the NBA record for fewest free throws made in a game? – Answer next time!
