Association – "Along Comes Mary" (1966)

And when the morning
Of the warning's passed 

The gassed and flaccid kids
Are flung across the stars

The psychodramas
And the traumas gone

The songs are left unsung
And hung upon the scars

[NOTE: I first wrote about our next 2 OR 3 LINES “GOLDEN DECADE” HIT SINGLES HALL OF FAME song – a work of genius that was written by Tandyn Almer, who suffered from bipolar disorder and lived in obscurity in Washington, D.C., for many years before he died in 2013 – back in 2010.  What follows is a slightly edited version of my original post.]

*     *     *     *     *

I'm looking at the KQYX "Pepsi Sing-a-Long Survey" for May 26, 1966 (the week I turned 14).  

KQYX was the top 40 station in my hometown – Joplin, Missouri – when I was a teenager.  KQYX's frequency was 1560, so its weekly surveys featured the "Top 15" and the "Plus 60," plus five "KQYX climbers" and a "Pick Hit of the Week" – altogether, 81 songs.

A KQYX "Pepsi Sing-a-Long Survey"

One of my nerdier hobbies as a kid was listening to faraway AM radio stations.  It's called "DX'ing" – "DX" is ham-radio shorthand for a distant station.  (I still remember most of the clear-channel AM stations that I could reliably pick up – 700 was Cincinnati, 750 was Atlanta, 760 Detroit, 780 Chicago, 820 Dallas, etc., etc., etc.)

Some of the guys who were in the AM DX'ing club I joined for a few years also collected printed radio station top-record lists and traded them, so I have dozens of such lists from large and small radio stations around the country.

*     *     *     *     *

I think it's amazing how many great songs – and what a diverse group of great songs – are on this KQYX survey.  (I've provided links to Youtube videos for some of these songs.)

"When a Man Loves a Woman" (Percy Sledge) was #1 that week – not a personal favorite of mine, but a well-known classic.

The Supremes held down to the #2 spot with "Love Is (Like an Itching in My Heart") – not one of their biggest hits, but classic Motown.

#3 was Bob Dylan's "Rainy Day Women #12 and 35." ("Everybody must get stoned" – I'm a little surprised that one got airplay in Joplin).

#4 was "Monday, Monday" by the Mamas and Papas – a wonderful song and a perfectly conceived and executed recording.

#5 was "Groovy Kind of Love," by the Mindbenders ("When I'm feelin' blue/All I have to do is /Take a look at you/Then I'm not so blue" – a classic "British Invasion" song).

#6 – "It's a Man's World"/James Brown.

#9 – "Green Grass"/Gary Lewis and the Playboys.

#10 – "The Sun Ain't Gonna Shine Any More"/Walker Brothers.

#11 – "How Does That Grab Ya, Darlin' ?"/Nancy Sinatra.  (All of Nancy's songs were pretty much the same song – you smart-aleck tomcat, you!)

#12 – "I Am a Rock"/Simon and Garfunkel.

#15 – "Sweet Talkin' Guy"/Chiffons.

#17 – "Sloop John B"/Beach Boys.

#18 – "Paint It Black"/Rolling Stones.

#20 – "Did You (Ever Have to Make Up Your Mind)"/Lovin' Spoonful.

#21 – "Good Lovin' "/Young Rascals.  (This was one of the songs the band I was in with Jack Davidson, Joe Davis, Bruce Hodson, and Jim Matthews played a year or so later at the South Junior High 9th-grade coronation.  I remember listening to this 45 over and over and over.)

#26 – "Eight Miles High"/Byrds.  (I was never a big Byrds fan, but this is an astonishingly original song – everything about it is distinctive and unique.  To me, one of the top 10 AM-radio songs of all time.)

#27 – "Red Rubber Ball"/Cyrkle.  (Written by Paul Simon.)

#34 – "Message to Michael"/Dionne Warwick (one of her many classic Burt Bacharach/Hal David-penned hits).

#35 – "You Don't Have to Say You Love Me"/Dusty Springfield.  (The greatest female top-40 voice ever?)

#36 – "Kicks"/Paul Revere and the Raiders.  (We know all about them, don't we?)

#47 – "Bang, Bang"/Cher.

#53 – "Somebody Help Me"/Spencer Davis Group.  (Steve Winwood before there was Traffic.)

#54 – "Road Runner"/Jr. Walker and the All-Stars.  (Classic Memphis soul – perhaps not as good as "Shotgun," but solid.)

#58 – "Hold On, I'm Comin' "/Sam and Dave.  (More classic Memphis soul.)

#60 – "Shapes of Things"/Yardbirds.  (Jimmy Page before there was Led Zeppelin.)

#70 – "Louie Louie"/Kingsmen.  (Once of the most incompetent hit singles ever recorded – often imitated, but never exceeded.)

#72 – "Cool Jerk"/Capitols. 

#74 – "Li'l Red Riding Hood"/Sam the Sham and the Pharoahs.

And last but not least, we come to today's featured record – one of the "climbers" that week.  "Along Came Mary" was the first successful single from the Association – not its biggest hit (they had two #1 singles and a #2 in 1966 and 1967), but its best song by far, IMHO.

*     *     *     *     *

I wonder how many of the songs on the current Billboard pop chart will be remembered 44 years from today.  One thing no one can argue with, my friends, is that we had great music when we were growing up.  I'm sure May 26, 1966 was a pretty typical week – I bet I could pick any five weeks from 1965, 1966, 1967, 1968, 1969, or 1970 at random and that the list of current hit songs from at least four out of the five would compare very favorably to this week's list. 

Take another look at the listing above – Supremes, Bob Dylan, Mamas and Papas,  Simon and Garfunkel, Beach Boys, Rolling Stones, Byrds, Yardbirds . . . and I left off the songs by Stevie Wonder, Dave Clark Five, Herman's Hermits, Roy Orbison, the Animals, The Four Tops, etc.

*     *     *     *     *

There are a few top-tier artists of that era who were missing from the list that week, however – most notably a band from Liverpool that wasn't bad.  

Why were the Beatles MIA the week of May 26, 1966?  The Beatles had a #1, #2, and #3 in 1966 – not exactly a bad year for them – but two of those had risen and then fallen off the charts by the time May 26 rolled around, and their best single of the year ("Yellow Submarine"/"Eleanor Rigby") wasn't released until August.)

But the rest of the list is so strong, you hardly miss them – that's saying something, isn't it?

Click here to see a video of the Association performing "Along Comes Mary" on the Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour.

Click here to buy "Along Comes Mary" from Amazon.

Bloodhound Gang -- "The Bad Touch" (2000)

You and me, baby

Ain't nothin' but mammals 

So let's do it like they do

On the Discovery Channel 

Sometimes I choose the songs that are featured on 2 or 3 lines.  Other times, the songs do the choosing -- 2 or 3 lines is simply the medium that transmits the message.

Believe me, I didn't choose this song.  It chose me.  (That's my story and I'm sticking to it.)

It all started a couple of weeks ago when I saw the Washington Post obituary for  the late Tandyn Almer, who composed "Along Comes Mary," which is one of the greatest songs of the sixties.  (I think you can make a very good case that it is the greatest song of the sixties.)

Click here to read Tandyn Almer's obituary, which is one of the greatest obits I've ever read.

The original recording of "Along Comes Mary" was by the Association, but a number of other artists -- including the Bloodhound Gang -- have covered the song.  (I'm using the term "artist" very, very loosely here.)

The Bloodhound Gang's rendition of "Along Comes Mary" (not to mention 'The Bad Touch") appeared on an 1999 album titled Hooray for Boobies.  (I second that emotion, of course, but might have preferred a somewhat more tasteful title.)  

I almost forgot to mention that the Bloodhound Gang's cover of "Along Comes Mary" sort of sucks.  

(Let me revise that: it REALLY SUCKS.)

But the band makes up for it with some of their other songs -- including this one.

Here's what Allmusic says about the Bloodhound Gang:

On one hand, it's easy to hate the Bloodhound Gang.  They're vulgar, obnoxious, lunk-headed, awkward, offensive, and defiantly stupid.  On the other hand, you almost have to admire the lengths that they go to be, well, defiantly stupid.  It's not just in the words -- the music is as dumb and dopey as [the] ridiculous lyrics. This is really, really, really dumb music. 

I think Allmusic pretty much nailed it, although you could fault them for not throwing in another "really" or two.

From "The Bad Touch" music video

The music video for "The Bad Touch" was shot in Paris, of all places.  The band's members are dressed in monkey outfits in keeping with the song's chorus, which is quoted at the beginning of this post.  

The video has many, many appalling elements.  For example, there's a shot of four hot French models walking down a Left Bank street, unaware that the monkey-suited band members are lying in wait to ambush them.  As the models walk by them, the Bloodhound Gang pops up with blowguns and nails the models with tranquilizer darts, then carries off the unconscious jeunes filles to who-knows-where to do who-knows-what to them.

(Let me revise that as well:  I have a pretty good idea what they plan to do to them.)

Always a welcome sight!

You've gotta love a song with a Waffle House reference:

You've had enough of two-hand touch

You want it rough, you're out of bounds 

I want you smothered, want you covered, 

Like my Waffle House hash browns 

For those of you who have never enjoyed Waffle House hash browns, you should know that you can order them not only "smothered" (with onions) and "covered" (with cheese), but also "chunked" (with diced ham), "diced" (with tomatoes), "peppered" (with jalapeños), "capped" (with mushrooms), and "topped" (with chili).

2 or 3 lines will feature another Bloodhound Gang song in the very near future, and that will give me the opportunity to introduce you to some of the group's members and talk a little about how they got started.  (You've been warned.)

Here's the music video for "The Bad Touch" (which has had over 61 million views to date):

Click her to buy the song from Amazon: