Hits and Misses

News broadcaster Paul Harvey once told "The Rest of the Story" of a singing career that almost didn't happen. Harold Jenkins and some friends had tried to get radio stations to play his record, called, "I'll Try." Nothing happened. In a last ditch effort to become a popular singing star, he drove around portions of the country, asking the deejays to play his recording. Finally, he gave up and was driving on his way home to begin a mundane career in something other than pop music. He was shocked when he turned on the radio and heard his own voice. Only it was not "I'll Try" that was playing. In those days, 45 rpm records had an A side and a B side. The station was playing the B side, and it eventually became a number one hit in November of 1958—"It's Only Make Believe." Harold took his stage name from a town in Arkansas and one in Texas—and became known as Conway Twitty. After nine songs on the pop charts, he managed to place 36 consecutive Top Five hits on the country charts, giving him an incredible career—that nearly didn't happen.

John Stewart sang with the Kingston Trio for about six years back in the '60s. He wrote several songs and later in 1979 had the Top Five hit, "Gold," with Stevie Nicks singing backup. But one of his biggest hits nearly wasn't one. He dashed off the song in a few minutes that was slated to be the B side of a record, but due to some unforeseen circumstances, it ended up being released as the A side—by the Monkees in 1968: "Daydream Believer," and it spent four weeks at number one. But that's not all. Davy Jones changed the lyrics from the original—twice. One was inadvertent. Stewart had written, "My shavin' razor's old, and it stings," but Jones sang, "My shavin' razor's cold, and it stings." The new wording stuck. The other change was intentional. "Now you know how happy I can be" was originally, "Now you know how funky I can be." Jones said, "There's no way I'm singing that," which showed good judgment on his part. This "accidental" hit paid many of Stewart's bills.

The worst event of 2025 occurred just three hours after the new year began. Fourteen people were killed when a white pickup truck ran them down in New Orleans. Some footage has been aired frequently. In this clip, no one is being struck down. The truck is speeding through the street, and people are quickly moving across the sidewalk into a doorway. The last woman to make it was not far from the speeding vehicle. Had she stumbled or turned the wrong way, she would have been hit and injured—or, perhaps, killed. A strange turn of events, as in the two cases of fame and fortune described above serves as a joyous stroke of "luck." But sometimes an unanticipated action can prove fatal. Had the woman been 12 inches closer to the street, her life could have ended on the day the new year began. The correct response to a close call is to seek the God of the Bible to discover who He is and what He wants of us. Fourteen people will never have that opportunity.