"Key" is a novelty song. No novelty songs have a long shelf life. Because of style and voice, her other songs are also borderline novelty sounds. Next you will be suggesting we play the Dickie Goodman because they were played a lot in their time.
-
Get involved.
We want your input!
Apply for Membership and join the conversations about everything related to broadcasting.
After we receive your registration, a moderator will review it. After your registration is approved, you will be permitted to post.
If you use a disposable or false email address, your registration will be rejected.
After your membership is approved, please take a minute to tell us a little bit about yourself.
https://www.radiodiscussions.com/forums/introduce-yourself.1088/
Thanks in advance and have fun!
RadioDiscussions Administrators
Songs You Remember And Like But Never Get Played
- Thread starter R_F_Burns
- Start date
"Key" is a novelty song. No novelty songs have a long shelf life. Because of style and voice, her other songs are also borderline novelty sounds. Next you will be suggesting we play the Dickie Goodman because they were played a lot in their time.
Prominent? Really? In whose eyes? How many Grammy Awards did she win? Once again, when you pick fringe songs, you take a chance. That's not the job of radio.
All it takes to have a #1 song is a good promotion department and a lot of money. No indication of song quality, or it's ability to still attract an audience 40 years later. With enough money I could get YOU a #1 song.
If VH1 did a Where Are They Now on Melanie, I wouldn't care.
Last edited:
Geez, cut her a little slack here. Got to give her some credit, when it's due. Most of today's "artists" cannot even cut it.
Well, somewhat prominent around Woodstock. I prefer "Lay Down" anyways over "Key".
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Melanie_Safka
Last edited:
Didn't KRTH play "Brand New Key" recently? I believe it was about a month or two ago, around the Eagles fest. RadioRewind might remember. Or maybe David can look it up on the song history database he can access.
According to Joel Whitburn, "Key" would not be classified as a novelty. I'd take the "Flying Saucer" over "Mr. Jaws" anytime.
You'd might like "The Astronaut".......all 8 minutes of it.
I looked at 60 days of play on the BDS Classic Hits panel for 6 AM to Midnight, and there were no plays of any Melanie song in that entire period.
We're not comparing her to today's artists. We're comparing her to anyone else in her era. She was not "prominent" in any way. And certainly doesn't deserve airplay 40 years later.
As I said in another thread, you want to give everyone a trophy. That's crazy. We live in a world where we know the difference between #1 and #9,825. We let viewers vote for American Idol. They don't make everyone the winner. Just one. Even they understand that just because you stand on a stage playing with professional musicians, that doesn't make you a star. It's a competition, and Melanie didn't get enough votes. Why is this so hard for you to understand?
Look, she had a #1 song on Billboard for three weeks, #1 on KHJ and probably on countless other charts and radio surveys with "Brand New Key". The song sounds cheesy today, sure, but you are dismissing her talent and accomplishments. She also had a top ten (#6) with "Lay Down". What more can you ask for? In her mind, she was a star and to her many fans, many of which are alive today.
Certainly she's no Karen Carpenter or Janis Joplin but she is what she is, a singer that accomplished a feat, that most cannot even come close to achieving. But to say she's "does not deserve" airplay...is a bit harsh. Not "deserving" airplay and radio choosing, not to air her music, from your research and testing system, is another matter.
If I were having a 50 year anniversary radio special on Woodstock in 2019, her music would be at least mentioned, if not aired.
Last edited:
Well maybe it was a snippet then, shown on the "last played" list, but not showing on the panel. I don't remember the date, thought it was in January sometime. Thanks for checking.
Is anyone else honoring her for her many accomplishments? Maybe I missed it.
A
Avid Listener
Guest
Which refers to what I've been saying about "burning out" hit songs through over playing the same ones over and over and over.
Funny...just heard this song a few days ago on WCBS-FM. Although I believe it was the Fleetwood Mac version, because Christine McVie sang backgrounds.
Last edited:
I can give you an exact breakdown of which of these songs are being played on Nashville's Hippie Radio 94.5, but most of these songs mentioned on here that were released prior to 1980 ARE being played, including (Nashvillian) Melanie. Big A and David, you are correct, virtually no one in the country plays most of these songs, anymore. You can hear most of these @www.hippieradio945.com.
I am thus concluding that you don't understand that stations track songs and they reduce spins on songs that are acquiring burn. In the PPM markets, there are daily rolling averages of song negatives and it can easily be seen how a song is trending.
Bull crap I don't believe that for one minute.
A
Avid Listener
Guest
I "understand" that stations attempt to do what you say. But, with my own two ears, I can hear that the ones available on the air for me to listen to fail in the attempt. It was true when I lived in a different city up north, it is true now in Atlanta. As for stations I cannot pick up on my radio, I admit to ignorance and apathy. I don't know and I don't care.
She does not have to be honored (I'm not asking for that)...It's a PERSONAL achievement. Two big differences here.
Last edited:
Avid, the repetition effect is tied to any song, whether it's a deeper cut being played or a tested hit song being played.
Listeners can claim repetition on "Go Your Own Way" as much as "Tie a Yellow Ribbon....".
That's fine. It's a PERSONAL achievement. Which doesn't mean she automatically gets PUBLIC radio airplay 45 years later. Big difference there too.
Stations subscribed to Nielsen Audio ratings can also subscribe to MediaMonitors services which further granularize ratings data. One important piece of information is the MScore, which shows tune out during any particular song. While the tune out for one particular play could be cause by other things like getting out of the car or the start time of a favorite TV show, we don't look at single play MScores preferring to view rolling averages of many plays over a period of time.
Songs that cause high tune-out are either eliminated or significantly slowed down in rotation.
http://www.mscore.com/nationalmscore/
It's a tool used by almost all the significant PPM market players, and hardly "Bull Crap".
- Status