Stuffing the ballot box electronically…

Tuesday, April, 8, 2008 by Mel Phillips.

So the Mets were looking for an 8th inning sing-along song Ala the Red Sox’ “Sweet Caroline” which they had actually used at Shea at the end of last season,  bad karma when you cop it from another team.   The Mets offered choices to vote for on their Website and shades of the old radio favorite, “Battle of The Bands” ensued.  The Mets got “Rick-Rolled” by over 5 million votes.  So when the Mets enjoy their last Shea Stadium home opener this afternoon, “Never Gonna Give You Up” by Rick Astley will be the voters choice for the 8th inning sing-along.  Don’t get me wrong, this is a good song and it did go to number one but the ballot box was stuffed electronically, fans…

Remember when the entire city of Cincinnati stuffed the All-Star Game ballot box in the 60s and put a Red at every position?  Then there was the “Battle of The Bands” on radio where one song took on another and listeners voted for the winner by phone.  I never minded listening to “Hey Jude“, “The Letter“, “Wooly Bully“, etc., especially if they were uptempo, each time the song with the most votes took on a new challenger.   There was one song I couldn’t take more than once.  If you look up the word ”dirge” in the dictionary, here’s what you’ll find:  “Colour My World” by Chicago.  Sorry, lovers of the Chicago song with the word ‘color‘ spelled English-style but I can only take that song in small doses, like never…

The Mets do have an answer for their final choice for ’sing-along’ song despite the ballot stuffing.  For each of the next 5 home games, after today, the runner-up songs voted on will be played.  The runners-up are: Bon Jovi’s “Livin’ On A Prayer“, The Monkees’ “I’m A Believer” (which I voted for), Neil Diamond’s “Sweet Caroline” (are you kidding me?), the Foundations’ “Build Me Up Buttercup” and Billy Joel’s “Movin’ Out“…

“Sweet Caroline” will be played in the 8th inning at Fenway Park for the Red Sox home opener today and that’s where it belongs…

10 Timeline Memories:

1. 1834]  Popular Vote:   In New York City, Cornelius Lawrence becomes the first mayor to be elected by popular vote in a city election.  I hope they didn’t stuff the ballot box…
2. 1873]  You can’t fool Mother Nature:  Alfred Paraf patents the first successful oleomargarine…
3. 1952]  Man of Steel:  President Harry S. Truman seizes the steel mills in order to prevent a nationwide strike… 
4. 1953]  The knee bone’s connected to the thigh bone:  The bones of  Sitting Bull are moved from North to South Dakota.  It’s too bad Michael Jackson wasn’t born yet…
5. 1974]  There’s a new home run king and his name is Henry Aaron:  Hammerin’ Hank hits number 715 off of Dodger pitcher Al Downing.  Barry Bonds passed Aaron last year…
6. 1983]  Rock and Roll Tragedies:  Danny & the Juniors lead singerDanny Rapp is a victim of an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head at 41.  In better days Danny & the group had one of the hottest hits of the 50s…1994]   The body of Nirvana singer Kurt Cobain is found in Seattle, another apparent victim of suicide at 27…
7. 1998]  Wham Bam:  George Michael is released on bail after his arrest for “engaging in a lewd act” in a park restroom…
8. 1975]  Breaking the color barrier:  Frank Robinson of the Cleveland Indians becomes the Major League’s first black manager…
9. 1981]  ‘Happy Trails’:  Omar N. Bradley, a WWII general and the first chairman of the Joint Chief of Staff, passes away from natural causes at 88…
10. 1987]  Keeping the color barrier alive:  Dodger executive Al Campanis “resigns” after telling Ted Koppel just days earlier that “blacks may lack some of the necessities for becoming managers“…

Music Memories:

• 1972]  Debuted on the charts on this date:  “Oh Girl” - Chi-Lites…

Commentary:

The Drake-consulted RKO Stations came up with the concept for “20/20” news in the 60s to be able to get music sweeps in when most stations were doing news at the top or bottom of the hour.  This format was used at all of our stations and thanks to former alum Joe McCoy, here’s a look at the way CKLW in Detroit used the concept of “20/20 news“…David Hinckley of the New York Daily News reports that Lite FM is number one among New York stations in advertising dollars.  David lists the rank of the rest of the stations in his column…

“Happy Birthday…happy birthday”:

Patricia Arquette (40), Julian Lennon (45), Gary Carter (54), Mel (Grand Funk) Schacher (57), Steve (Yes) Howe (61), John Havlicek (68), Shecky Greene (82) and Betty Ford (90)…

Timeline Countdown:  2 days until the first round of the Masters Tournament, 11 days until Passover and 25 days until the Kentucky Derby…

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