DAILY DIRT: The Spirit of ’76

May 24, 2022 | By Steve Eighinger, Muddy River News Minister of Culture and Doctor of Love

Daily Dirt for Tuesday, May 24, 2022

We add another year to our baby boomer look back at favorite songs, today returning to the 1970s and a rather festive time coast to coast. And if you are interested in keeping score there are exactly three of the following worth of being included on such a list … Welcome to today’s three thoughts that make up Vol. 293 of The Daily Dirt.

1. The year was 1976, and America was celebrating its Bicentennial.

Do you remember what you were listening to on your AM radio? See if any of the following jog your memory. These were the top 10 songs of ’76, according to the Billboard charts:

1. “Silly Love Songs,” by Wings: Ugh. In fact, double ugh.
2. “Don’t Go Breaking My Heart,” by Elton John and Kiki Dee: This, my friends, should have been No. 1. (Worth song No. 1)
3. “Disco Lady,” by Johnnie Taylor: Sadly, the disco era did not peak until 1978-79, making this decade almost unbearable at times.
4. “December, 1963 (Oh What A Night), by the Four Seasons: The lead singer on this hit was drummer Gerri Polci, and not Frankie Valli. (Worthy song No. 2)
5. “Play That Funky Music,” by Wild Cherry: A one-hit wonder. Thankfully.
6.”Kiss and Say Goodbye,” by the Manhattans: The essence of smoooooth. (Worthy song No. 3)
7. “Love Machine,” by the Miracles: Can you way overrated?
8. “50 Ways To Leave Your Lover,” by Paul Simon: By this time, Simon and Garfunkel were but a distant memory and Paul Simon had become a megastar.
9. “Love Is Alive,” by Gary Wright: As you’re probably noticing, about half of these songs are not worthy of a top-10 position.
10. “A Fifth of Beethoven,” by Walter Murphy and the Big Apple Band: Ditto.

Song that should have been in the final top 10: No., 18 “Bohemian Rhapsody,” by Queen.

2. This week’s rankings for the best and worst of MLB teams

The best

1. New York Mets: They’re missing Max Scherzer, and they’re missing Jacob de Grom. But they continue to win.

2. Milwaukee Brewers: With the Mets missing their Big Two starters, the Brewers have the best staff. And you win with the pitch. Always have, always will.

3. Houston Astros: Justin Verlander is pitching his way toward another Cy Young Award.

4. San Diego Padres: If you haven’t been watching closer Taylor Rogers, you really should start.

5. New York Yankees: Sorry, still not a believer. There are some serious holes I think will eventually surface.

The worst

1. Cincinnati Reds: This awful bunch could go unbeaten the rest of the month and still be more than 10 games below .500.

2. Washington Nationals: Actually, the Nats are not that much better and are headed toward surpassing the Reds.

3. Seattle Mariners: The M’s were either highly overrated or manager Scott Servais should be canned.

4. Baltimore Orioles: Welcome back, Birds. I knew you were just toying with us by winning more than you should have over the first six weeks of the season.

5-tie. Detroit Tigers: In all fairness, the Tigers lost their entire starting five to injury, so they have a legit reason for their wretched play. In addition, Javy Baez is hitting about .080 this month.

5-tie. Kansas City Royals: The injury to catcher Salvador Perez could be crushing.

3. Thanks once again for the license plates the readers are texting and emailing.

Our Great Plate medal winners continue to hold steady, but as always there are five more interesting selections to view:

2022 Medal-Winners To Date

Gold medal: LUV YADI. It’s the 13th straight week atop the rankings.

Silver Medal: GOL D LOX.

Bronze medal: TAXED.

This Week’s Top 5

1. RAKS: Yep, a deer hunter (PUBLISHER’S NOTE: Maybe…JRG).
2. AWESOM 2: Yeah, I smiled, too.
3. SO PAW 20: Baseball references are always solid.
4. TRON: Science fiction fan?
5. SLIDRS: Once again, baseball references are always solid.

Steve Thought O’ The Day — Speaking of science fiction, Steve’s all-time favorite sci-fi flick is “The Terminator”. Actually, the entire “Terminator” series.