Calling All Matchers

Began the morning with breakfast and Train. My Private Nation would be one of their biggest hits in 2003, spawning the singles "Calling All Angels," "When I Look to the Sky," and "Get to Me." I remember hearing these songs on the radio when they were new. "Drops of Jupiter," their previous hit, had blown me away, and I was just as happy with these. 

Called Uber after I ate. It rained earlier, and I did hear it was supposed to rain later. And even if it wasn't, it was cold, damp, and windy, certainly not a bike day. The driver going to work arrived in 7 minutes. The one going home came in 6. No trouble on the road or with their arrivals. I got to work just in time.

No trouble at work, either. I swept the store and pushed carts for the first two hours. When the afternoon bagger arrived, he took over the sweeping and trash and I concentrated on the carts. Good thing he was there. While not overwhelming, it was still pretty busy today, especially around noon. 

(And I got lucky. It rained briefly around 10, when I was sweeping. It wouldn't rain again until 3 PM, shortly after I got home. To my knowledge, it hasn't rained since then.)

After I got dressed, I read Donna Parker: A Spring to Remember for an hour, then listened to three of the rock records I picked up on Thursday. Double Gold features early hits from Neil Diamond, mainly from the late 60's and early 70's. There's two here that had been covered by the Monkees. His "I'm a Believer" isn't bad, but I really like his version of "Love to Love," even more than the one Davy Jones did. Other familiar favorites here include "Girl, You'll Be a Woman," "Solitary Man," "Cherry Cherry," and "Kentucky Woman." (We also get another song that had been sung by an earlier band, "Monday Monday.")

Herman Hermits' music was a little different from most British Invasion bands. Though they did have pop hits in "Can't You Hear My Heart Beat" and "I'm Into Something Good," their real specialty were British music hall ditties like "I'm Henry the Eighth" and "Leaning On a Lamp Post" and remakes of earlier rock songs like "Silhouettes." The latter two are mainly represented on The Best of Herman's Hermits, along with "Something Good," "Heart Beat," and "Mrs. Brown, You've Got a Lovely Daughter."

Rock of the Westies continued Elton John's winning streak in the 1970's. "Island Girl" was the huge hit here, though I prefer the harder-rocking "Grow Some Funk of Your Own." Other good ones here include "Dan Dare (Pilot of the Future)" and "Hard Luck Story."

Finished up at YouTube with tonight's Match Game marathon. Despite Gene's frequent admonishment that they weren't supposed to be eating in the studio, panelists did manage to sneak food in anyway. Richard once took a bite out of an apple someone gave Brett during the week with Penny Marshall in 1974. There was also the syndicated episode seen on Buzzr last week where Charles and Diana Sorvino handed spaghetti and meatballs around. Mary Wickes brought cookies that Gene found to be a little tough. Charles in particular frequently could be seen eating food from the green room. In 1977, Gene once asked Susan Sullivan to prosecute him, but Susan would rather defend. More rarely, food was mentioned in a question, or as in the Audience Match with "__ Henry," the bonus round questions.

Have a treat on Match Game in this funny and very tasty marathon!

Match Game Sunday Classics - Bon Appetit Marathon