Joe Ditzel

Joe Ditzel Has Some Problems

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Joe Ditzel

What Song Was the Number One Hit of the Year You Graduated From High School?

We were talking the other day about what song was the number one hit the year we graduated from high school. Thanks to Wikipedia we have the answer. For me the song was Shadow Dancing by Andy Gibb. I know. Sad.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Billboard_Hot_100_chart_achievements_and_milestones

Hot 100 songs of the year: 1958-2009

1958 – "Volare (Nel Blu Dipinto Di Blu)" – Domenico Modugno
 
 
 
 
 
1959 – "The Battle of New Orleans" – Johnny Horton
 
 
 
 
 
1960 – "Theme from A Summer Place" – Percy Faith
 
 
 
 
 
1961 – "Tossin' and Turnin'" – Bobby Lewis
 
 
 
 
 
1962 – "Stranger on the Shore" – Mr. Acker Bilk
 
 
 
 
 
1963 – "Sugar Shack" – Jimmy Gilmer and the Fireballs
 
 
 
 
 
1964 – "I Want to Hold Your Hand" – The Beatles
 
 
 
 
1965 – "Wooly Bully" – Sam The Sham & The Pharaohs
 
 
 
 
 
1966 – "Ballad of the Green Berets" – SSgt Barry Sadler
 
 
 
 
 
1967 – "To Sir With Love" – Lulu
 
 
 
 
 
1968 – "Hey Jude" – The Beatles
 
 
 
 
 
1969 – "Sugar, Sugar" – The Archies
 
 
 
 
 
1970 – "Bridge Over Troubled Water" – Simon & Garfunkel
 
 
 
 
 
1971 – "Joy to the World" – Three Dog Night
 
 
 
 
 
1972 – "The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face" – Roberta Flack
 
 
 
 
 
1973 – "Tie a Yellow Ribbon Round the Ole Oak Tree" – Dawn Featuring Tony Orlando
 
 
 
 
 
1974 – "The Way We Were" – Barbra Streisand
 
 
 
 
 
1975 – "Love Will Keep Us Together" – Captain & Tennille
 
 
 
 
 
1976 – "Silly Love Songs" – Wings
 
 
 
 
 
1977 – "Tonight's the Night (Gonna Be Alright)" – Rod Stewart
 
 
 
 
 
1978 – "Shadow Dancing" – Andy Gibb

"Shadow Dancing" is a song by Andy Gibb that reached number one for seven weeks on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1978. According to Billboard's Book Of Number One Hits, Gibb became the first solo artist in the history of the U.S. pop charts to have his first three singles hit the number-one spot. Additionally, "Shadow Dancing" was listed by Billboard as being the number one single of 1978. In addition the song peaked at number eleven on the soul chart.[1]

The song was written by Andy and his brothers (Barry, Maurice and Robin Gibb) in Los Angeles, while the trio of brothers were working on the film Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band. "And one night," Andy would recall, "while we were relaxing, we sat down and we had to start getting tracks together for the album" (also titled Shadow Dancing, which would eventually hit #7 on the U.S. album charts). "So we literally sat down and in ten minutes, we had a group going, (singing) the chorus part. As it says underneath the song, we all wrote it, the four of us."

While Andy Gibb would have three more Top 10 hits in the U.S., this would be his final chart-topping hit in America.

The song lists at #40 on Billboard's All Time Top 100.[1]

You got me looking at that heaven in your eyes
I was chasing your direction
I was telling you no lies
And I was loving you
When the words are said ,baby , I lose my head
And in a world of people , there's only you and I
There ain't nothing come between us in the end
How can I hold you when you ain't even mine
Only you can see me through
I leave it up to you

Do it light , taking me through the night
Shadow dancing , baby you do it right
Give me more , drag me across the floor
Shadow dancing , all this and nothing more

All that I need is just one moment in your arms
I was chasing your affection
I was doing you no harm
And I was loving you
Make it shine, make it rain , baby I know my way
I need that sweet sensation of living in your love
I can't breath when you're away , it pulls me down
You are the question and the answer am I
Only you can see me through
I leave it up to you

Do it light, taking me through the night
Shadow dancing , baby you do it right
Give me more, drag me across the floor
Shadow dancing , all this and nothing more

And in this world of people there's only you and I
There ain't nothing come between us in the end
Ah, can I hold you when you ain't even mine
Only you can see me through
I leave it up to you

Do it light , taking me through the night
Shadow dancing , baby you do it right
Give me more, drag me across the floor
Shadow dancing , all this and nothing more

 
 
1979 – "My Sharona" – The Knack
 

"My Sharona" is the debut single by The Knack, released in 1979 from their album Get the Knack. It reached #1 on the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart where it remained for six weeks and was #1 on Billboard's Top Pop Singles of 1979 year-end chart. It was certified gold (one million units sold) by the Recording Industry Association of America.

Contents

[hide]

[edit] Inspiration

The easily recognizable riff of "My Sharona" was written by the band's guitarist, Berton Averre, years before he ever joined The Knack. He had played it and a drum groove for Doug Fieger, the group's lead singer and rhythm guitarist, who loved it and promised to make it a song. However, Fieger, with no lyric ideas to add, was unsure what to do with it beyond that.

When Fieger, who was 25, met Sharona Alperin, who was 17 at the time,[1] she inspired a two-month-long run of songwriting, as well as becoming Fieger's girlfriend for the next four years. "It was like getting hit in the head with a baseball bat; I fell in love with her instantly. And when that happened, it sparked something and I started writing a lot of songs feverishly in a short amount of time." Whenever Fieger thought about Alperin, he would think of Berton Averre's guitar riff, and the two worked out the structure and melody from there. Averre was originally averse to using Sharona's name in the song, but Fieger wanted it to be a direct expression of his feelings; Averre ultimately relented. [2]

Sharona herself appears on the picture sleeve for the single, and became a major booster of the band bringing many girls to their early shows.[3] Sharona Alperin is now a real estate agent in Los Angeles, California.[4]

[edit] Legacy

In 1994, "My Sharona" re-entered the Billboard Hot 100 chart (peaking at #91) when it was released as a single from the Reality Bites soundtrack album.

The song gained some attention in 2005 when it appeared on the playlist of U.S. President George W. Bush's iPod.[5]

"My Sharona" was ranked at #75 on the Billboard Hot 100 All-Time Top Songs in 2008.[6]

A cover version song is also featured as downloadable content the music video game series Rock Band. The original version of the song, along with its music video, is featured on Lips: Party Classics on Xbox 360.

[edit] Chart performance

Chart (1979)↓ Peak
position↓
U.S. Billboard Hot 100 1
U.S. Cash Box Top 100 Singles 1
Australian Kent Music Report 1
UK Singles Chart 6

[edit] Parodies, samples and covers

With both the notoriety gained from being an international hit, and its distinctive rock guitar riff, "My Sharona" has been the subject of numerous parodies, tributes, and sampling, including:

[edit] Parodies

  • The song was spoofed in a Taco Bell commercial as "My Chalupa".
  • The song was heard in a Toyota commercial as "My Toyota."
  • Two versions of "Nine Coronas" was parodied by John Cougar Mammoser.
  • Parodied as "My Mohegan" in a Mohegan Sun commercial.
General
Joe Ditzel

Game’s on Fire

Shady Canyon Golf Course in Irvine, California almost burned to the ground a few days ago. A golfer made a bad swing and hit a rock that sent out some sparks that ignited the surrounding grass. 25 acres burned before the fire was contained by 150 Orange County Firefighters.

People ask me all the time where I get material. Sometimes it just writes itself.

But wait. The unnamed golfer said he hit a rock that created sparks that started the fire? Hmmm. There is also the possibility he was grabbing a smoke and threw down a butt and didn't stomp it out all the way.

Jared was like that. He's a course rat up at Lost Canyons– the kind of guy with vague sources of income that hang around the course all day. The marshals regularly told him NOT TO SMOKE ON THE COURSE. He obliged by waiting until he was out of sight of the clubhouse to light up. That may seem fairly harmless until you consider Lost Canyons winds through the Santa Susana mountains located in Simi Valley northwest of Los Angeles. A fire would be devatasting.

Throughout the round Jared would sneak smokes. "Heads up right!" he would yell to unsuspecting gophers and deer as he drove another ball into the shadows of a canyon. I got the feeling he was hitting them into the scrub off the fairways just so he had more visual cover from the marshal.  He could not go more than two holes before he had to light up another smoke. He had a system– he would grind out the cigarette on the ground and then pick up the butt and drop it into a little cup he had built on the inside of his golf bag near the clubs.

A couple of years ago we were teeing off on a bright Sunday morning. There are no homes surrounding the course so you feel like you are away from civilization even though the 118 freeway is just down the road.  Halfway down a long par 5, Jared huddled behind his cart to light up yet another smoke. From somewhere in the shadows of the trees, a marshal appeared heading full tilt toward Jared's smoking site.

"Jared! Are you smoking?" the marshall yelled, his voice echoing down the canyon.

Jared flinched like his daughter just told him her college tuition was going to cost $70,000 a year. "No, sir. Just trying to decide on a club. Woo… let's see…" The marshal drove off in the other direction as Jared mulled over his shot. Finally he lashed a three-metal down the fairway. He nervously got in his cart and sped off.

That's when I noticed the smoke billowing out of his golf bag. In his haste and surprise he had tossed his cigarette right into the bag itself. The smoke was getting thicker and thicker. He looked like a mini choo-choo train from a Saturday morning cartoon. "Jared!" I yelled. "Your bag is on fire!"  

He waved me off as he hurtled across the tarmac. His ball was resting just short of the pond fronting the green. He slammed on the brakes and jumped out. By now the smoke looked like a chimney on a steel mill from Youngstown around 1978.  Instinctively he unlashed the bag and threw it on the ground. He took two steps, picked up the whole bag in one smooth motion and launched it high in the air. The clubs flew out the top as the bag did a slow helicopter spin before splashing down in the pond, sinking to the bottom.

He looked at me and said, "Got a smoke?"

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General
Joe Ditzel

¿Puede Cortar Mi Pelo?

Los Angeles is a good town to practice a foreign language. I try to see how far I can go speaking only Spanish.

I needed a haircut so I walked in one place and sat right in the chair. "Puede cortar mi pelo?" I said. (Can you cut my hair?)

She said, "Amigo, este es una oficina de dentista." (My friend, this is a dentist’s office.)

 

 

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General
Joe Ditzel

Road Kill

Many people in LA fit the laid-back Southern California image. Others need to increase their Prozac dosage. Like the guy I accidentally cut off on the freeway once. He was going around 220 M.P.H. when my safe lane change apparently impeded his forward progress. He slowed to within inches of my rear bumper, showing his displeasure by honking wildly and flashing his lights. Ok, ok. I decided to move over to let his highness pass.

Unfortunately, this was at the same time he decided to go around me. So now he thinks I am playing with him and he is really mad. He is so close to me now he’s sitting in the passenger seat. He swings around to the right side and pulls up next to me, weaving back and forth, missing hitting my car by millimeters.

Finally, I said to myself- that’s enough for me! Time to go. I shot past him. He came after me. I exited the freeway and watched him follow me. I headed south along the Pacific Coast Highway. At the first stop light he came up right behind me. All four doors opened. There is more than one guy. There are four.

Oddly, they just stood there yelling at me. I thought they were coming over to club me. The light turned green and I took off. They jumped back in came after me. I weaved in and out of traffic. “Road King” followed as close as he could. I kept looking over my shoulder to see if he was still there. I felt like Maverick in Top Gun, “I’ve got a bogie at seven o’clock!”

I came to a stop at the next light. They pulled up behind me again. The doors opened – they got out again. But again they stood there.

Then I heard it. Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!

They were pelting my car with beer bottles. But, most of the bottles hit my convertible roof and bounced like kids in the bounce house at McDonald’s. I took off when the light changed. They didn’t get back in the car in time. I shot down a side street. See ya.

It never rains in Southern California. Except beer bottles.

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