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Classic Hits 80s

The on-air contests I'm trying to forget include the "cash-calls", where you had to listen carefully for them to announce how much they had added to the pot each hour. Then, they'd call someone from the phone book at random, and ask them if they knew the amount. If you knew it, you won the pot and they started over. If not, they added a couple more bucks and the game continued. I spent more wasted hours forced to sit through the station my mother liked to "listen for the money" than I like to remember.

The other one was that they'd call people at random, and if they answered "I listen to the new sound of <insert nickname here>", you got a prize. If you said "Hello" or anything else, you got nothing. In the days when Caller ID and answering machines didn't exist, that contest apparently worked. More than once, I heard the random caller on the first station answered with the "phrase that pays", who then also got the money total right as well.

The fast talking gibberish I was referring to was more along the lines of "Licensed drivers only. Void where prohibited. No purchase necessary. Send a self abused stomped antelope for a list of winners. Your mileage may vary. The decisions of the judges are final. Winner responsible for all taxes and fees. Not transferrable." I polled a group of friends my age for their recollections to compile that list.
 
K.M. Richards said:
Not only that, the station was lucky not to have been cited under the "no lottery" rules. Unless there was an alternate method of entry, the promotion had all the elements: Prize, chance, and consideration (there was an "entry fee" in the form of the telegram cost).
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They may... Keyword "MAY"... have avoided this in the same way mailing in an entry (cost of stamp) or driving somewhere to enter (cost of gas) was not considered consideration. This was, in part, due to the money spent on entering not going to the entity that conducted the contest.

I once spent a billable hour with my attorney checking out a contest where folks had to show up at different malls wearing any combination of orange and black, which were the station logo colors. The attorney decided that many people were going to have something in each color, and that, since the items in those colors did not have to be surrendered to participate, they had residual value so there was no direct consideration.
 
Avid Listener said:
The other one was that they'd call people at random, and if they answered "I listen to the new sound of <insert nickname here>", you got a prize. If you said "Hello" or anything else, you got nothing.
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That was just a later variant on the "visit" contest.

The "cash call" was devised to influence the ratings methodologies of The Pulse and Hooper (and others around the world) where ratings were done via phone calls.

Previously, going back to the Trendex and earlier Hooper and Pulse methodologies and even the Personal Placement and Retrieval of Arbitron Diaries, ratings data was obtained door to door. Obviously, a reflection of safer and less paranoid times.

So some stations decided to contest where someone would go door to door and knock... if you were listening to the station, you won money or prizes. I remember doing this as far back as 1965 in multiple markets.
 
I have said this before, but I think there should be another oldies station that just plays 50s, 60s and early 70s and classic hits should be relegated to 1979-1991 with an 80s focus. The classic hits could be like hot hits and hitradio was in the 80s. I think this way, both eras will be satisfied that their music is being played. What does everyone think about this. Do you think this will ever come to fruition?
 
AM/FMRAINMAN said:
What does everyone think about this. Do you think this will ever come to fruition?
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What city would you be talking about? Because some places already have such things.

There are only so many stations per market, and music tastes have splintered quite a bit. So it's hard to give up a signal for a format that you know will mainly attract the 60+ age group. Especially when country people also want a station addressing that era.
 
AM/FMRAINMAN said:
What does everyone think about this. Do you think this will ever come to fruition?
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I think it is ridiculous. Radio stations should program songs that appeal to their target listeners based on what the songs sound like, not what year they were recorded. "Oldies" stations should play songs that sound really, really old. "Classic Hits" stations should play songs that sound old, but not as old as oldies. The thing is, some artists were recording old-sounding songs well into the 70's, and some artists were recording newer sounding songs back in the 1960's.

Anything by Tony Orlando and Dawn is an oldie. I don't care when it was released, they were a throwback act from the first time they were assembled in the studio. Anything by the Doors is Classic. The Doors were ahead of their time when from their first album.

Please note, those are just two examples, not the entire definitive list.
 
AM/FMRAINMAN said:
I have said this before, but I think there should be another oldies station that just plays 50s, 60s and early 70s and classic hits should be relegated to 1979-1991 with an 80s focus. The classic hits could be like hot hits and hitradio was in the 80s. I think this way, both eras will be satisfied that their music is being played. What does everyone think about this. Do you think this will ever come to fruition?
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I'm beginning to think that you are just trolling your own thread to try to keep it at the top of this page. That is what I think.
 
Avid Listener said:
Which of their songs are you referring to? "Winchester Cathedral" is a novelty song that fits into an off-hour comedy show.
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Your "really, really old" and "throwback" lines just made me think of them. Only a couple of Dawn songs were "throwback". "Candida" and "Knock Three Times" were just 70s Pop albeit on the soft side. I agree about "Tie a Yellow Ribbon" and "Has Anybody Seen My Sweet Gypsy Rose?".
 
semoochie said:
Your "really, really old" and "throwback" lines just made me think of them. Only a couple of Dawn songs were "throwback". "Candida" and "Knock Three Times" were just 70s Pop albeit on the soft side. I agree about "Tie a Yellow Ribbon" and "Has Anybody Seen My Sweet Gypsy Rose?".
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"Knock Three Times" was written in the 60's, as a deliberate attempt to create a song similar to "Up On the Roof". Toni Wine, who wrote the song, was a "factory" songwriter who cranked out several 60's pop hits. She also wrote "Candida". So, though they were recorded in 1970, they had far more in common in terms of sound and pedigree with the soft pop hits of the previous years.
 
TheFonz said:
So then, "Yellow Submarine" would fit into that same show?
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Sure. Why not? So would "They're Coming to Take Me Away", by Napoleon XIV.

That's not to say any song would only fit into an off-hour comedy show. Some songs are better than others, even if they sound similar.
 
Avid Listener said:
Sure. Why not? So would "They're Coming to Take Me Away", by Napoleon XIV.

That's not to say any song would only fit into an off-hour comedy show. Some songs are better than others, even if they sound similar.
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O.K. I misunderstood you. I thought you were saying that "Winchester" should be played ONLY on a comedy show today.
 
TheFonz said:
O.K. I misunderstood you. I thought you were saying that "Winchester" should be played ONLY on a comedy show today.
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No, I'm saying that Yellow Submarine is a good song, suitable for a comedy show or a regular show. The fact that Yellow submarine is a good enough song for comedy shows or regular shows doesn't change the fact that Winchester Cathedral is only a second-rate novelty song, suitable only for comedy shows.
 
Avid Listener said:
No, I'm saying that Yellow Submarine is a good song, suitable for a comedy show or a regular show. The fact that Yellow submarine is a good enough song for comedy shows or regular shows doesn't change the fact that Winchester Cathedral is only a second-rate novelty song, suitable only for comedy shows.
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Wow! Then I did understand you correctly the first time. What qualifies you to rate songs first or second rate? Let's start a new thread: Songs That Received Heavy Airplay Back In The Day But Should Never Be Played In Any Format Today.
 
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TheFonz said:
Wow! Then I did understand you correctly the first time. What qualifies you to rate songs first or second rate? Let's start a new thread: Songs That Received Heavy Airplay Back In The Day But Should Never Be Played In Any Format Today.
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Some of those songs had decided adult appeal and made young people cringe even back then, "Honey" for instance.
 
TheFonz said:
Wow! Then I did understand you correctly the first time. What qualifies you to rate songs first or second rate? Let's start a new thread: Songs That Received Heavy Airplay Back In The Day But Should Never Be Played In Any Format Today.
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What qualifications does one need to express an opinion? As for a thread like that, if you want to start one, start one. No one is stopping you.

semoochie said:
Some of those songs had decided adult appeal and made young people cringe even back then, "Honey" for instance.
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Honey was so syrupy that it was rumored to have caused diabetes in laboratory mice. It appealed to some housewives the same way their soap operas did.
 
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Avid Listener said:
"Knock Three Times" was written in the 60's, as a deliberate attempt to create a song similar to "Up On the Roof". Toni Wine, who wrote the song, was a "factory" songwriter who cranked out several 60's pop hits. She also wrote "Candida". So, though they were recorded in 1970, they had far more in common in terms of sound and pedigree with the soft pop hits of the previous years.
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These are still on adult standards radio.
 
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