Smoke on the Water

[davideduardo]

I know that the following is not just an LA question, but we have quite a few experts here who can answer this. I may have an opinion, but as my musical roots lie outside the US and don't include harder rock, I don't feel qualified on this one.

"Hi David

My name is Stephen Clare and I am working on a project with the Deep Purple Appreciation Society which i am hoping you may be able to help us on.

We are trying to find information about how and why the bands single Smoke On The Water received airplay on American radio following its release in mid 1973. We were hoping that whilst it is quite a specific question, that you may be able to cast some light on it how it became so heavily played on American radio. Here is the webpage from the DPAS we have put out to fans trying to find out what they recall - https://darkerthanblue.wordpress.com/

The band had released a few singles before from 70 through to mid 73 and whilst they did well around the world they did not do nearly so well in America. However when Smoke was released around the start of their tour in mid 73, the single seems to have been picked up by local radio stations and then sales took off and it sold really well. In fact the albums from which both sides of the single came from also sold well at the same time (one of which had actually gone gone out the chart the year before and came back in on the back of the single).

We can not find out why that track was picked up by radio stations when previous tracks had not been. We suspect that American local radio may not have taken much interest in rock music in the early 70`s and perhaps Smoke was lucky to come out at the time it did to capitalise on a new era in radio?

Any info you can give on American radio in the early 70`s and why you think Smoke may have worked at the time it did would be very much appreciated. if you wish any clarification of anything then please drop me a line.

Looking forward to hearing from you and kind regards,
Stephen"

So, anyone want to comment?

 

[Mediafrog+]

The early 1970's was the heyday of Freeform/Progressive Rock formats on FM, which were morphing into the more commercialized AOR. Deep Purple had been been a staple on those stations for a number of years at the time. "Smoke On The Water" was probably the band's best known song on those stations, so big that it crossed into more mainstream Rock/Top 40 formats. Pretty much the same sort of thing as highly popular County/Soul/R&B tunes getting play outside of their "usual" formats.

 

[Hot Hits]

Independent Record promoters working with the Record Companies & Stations had the power to make a certain song a hit. This business has a very seedy side and had an unlimited budget!

 

[michael hagerty]

A somewhat flawed premise. Deep Purple's previous singles got play. "Hush" made #6 on KHJ, "Kentucky Woman" #19 and "River Deep-Mountain High" #22. Between those, there were singles that didn't do as well...perhaps because they just didn't have a hook. The guitar riff for "Smoke On The Water" was a massive hook, and as MediaFrog notes, it hit at about the time FM rockers (especially the ABC O&Os like KLOS) were making it big by playing accessible album rock. And Warner Bros. serviced Top 40 radio with a 45 edit that only ran 3:48.

And it's not like "Smoke On The Water" broke down a hard-rock barrier...just before its release, "Hocus Pocus" by Focus had gone Top 10, Led Zeppelin's "Houses of the Holy" was a number one album and Pink Floyd and Edgar Winter Group were all hot. "Smoke On The Water" (which actually was a year old by the time the studio version was released as a single) just sort of caught that wave.

 

[ChannelFlipper]

I love me my Deep Purple and hope to see them live one day. Grew up with them since I was a very young boy. Of course "Smoke On the Water" was the first song I heard in 1973, but not their first successful single, which was "Hush" which made it all the way to #4 in 1968.

Why did American Radio pick up on it? I don't know the actual stories of how it happened, but really it is quite simple - one the simplest and most distinguished guitar riffs in all of rock 'n' roll. This riff was made for radio and even one of my Millennial employees knows and talks about it. You hear the song in the morning, that riff will be in your head all day. Which actually reminds me of an unwritten rule that KMET was said to have had it its glory years - No Deep Purple in the morning. It was believed that even rock radio fans didn't want to hear heavy metal Deep Purple first thing in the morning; more appropriate to play Fleetwood Mac.

 

[ChannelFlipper]

I love me my Deep Purple and hope to see them live one day. Grew up with them since I was a very young boy. Of course "Smoke On the Water" was the first song I heard in 1973, but not their first successful single, which was "Hush" which made it all the way to #4 in 1968.

Why did American Radio pick up on it? I don't know the actual stories of how it happened, but really it is quite simple - one the simplest and most distinguished guitar riffs in all of rock 'n' roll. This riff was made for radio and even one of my Millennial employees knows and talks about it. You hear the song in the morning, that riff will be in your head all day. Which actually reminds me of an unwritten rule that KMET was said to have had it its glory years - No Deep Purple in the morning. It was believed that even rock radio fans didn't want to hear heavy metal Deep Purple first thing in the morning; more appropriate to play Fleetwood Mac.

 

[davideduardo]

My response directly to the chap in Britain was...

The early 70’s was a period of maturation for progressive rock FM radio in the US, where the free-form that lept onto the stage around 1967 became more structured. In those years of the early 70’s stations started to restrict their playlists to fewer songs, focusing on high selling albums and material that the record companies pushed hard. So perhaps the reason you are looking for is that the record label actively promoted “Smoke” where it may not have taken as much interest, in the US, in other songs.

 

[davideduardo]

Independent Record promoters working with the Record Companies & Stations had the power to make a certain song a hit. This business has a very seedy side and had an unlimited budget!

IIRC, in 1972-1973 there were lots of small independent record companies, but there were very few independent promoters working for the significant labels.

Independent promotion in that era really meant that one guy might work several small labels in a region, not that a big label would hire independent promoters.

 

[michael hagerty]

A somewhat flawed premise. Deep Purple's previous singles got play. "Hush" made #6 on KHJ, "Kentucky Woman" #19 and "River Deep-Mountain High" #22. Between those, there were singles that didn't do as well...perhaps because they just didn't have a hook. The guitar riff for "Smoke On The Water" was a massive hook, and as MediaFrog notes, it hit at about the time FM rockers (especially the ABC O&Os like KLOS) were making it big by playing accessible album rock. And Warner Bros. serviced Top 40 radio with a 45 edit that only ran 3:48.

And it's not like "Smoke On The Water" broke down a hard-rock barrier...just before its release, "Hocus Pocus" by Focus had gone Top 10, Led Zeppelin's "Houses of the Holy" was a number one album and Pink Floyd and Edgar Winter Group were all hot. "Smoke On The Water" (which actually was a year old by the time the studio version was released as a single) just sort of caught that wave.

Also, looking at the LP charts, "Machine Head" was the first true big-seller in the U.S. The period between "River Deep-Mountain High" and "Smoke On The Water" didn't see a lot of action on any front for Deep Purple, apart from decent sales for the "Fireball" LP. But there wasn't anything nearly as memorable or radio-friendly as "Smoke On The Water" on that album.

 

[michael hagerty]

And one more thing (even though you've already responded): "Machine Head" was Deep Purple's first release on Warner Brothers...a major label with serious promotional and marketing clout. The five previous U.S. releases were on Bill Cosby's Tetragrammaton label and on Harvest, an EMI subsidiary that Capitol in the U.S. treated as a stepchild until Pink Floyd's "Dark Side of the Moon", which was two years after Deep Purple left the label for Warners.

 

[b-turner]

I would say the primary reason Smoke On The Water got airplay was the push from the record company. Stations got new songs every day back then and those stations that reported to the trade magazines like Billboard, Radio & Records, The Gavin Report, etc. received calls from promoters who coordinated stations on adding the song to their playlist. Get enough 'adds' in a week, you show up in print and that is usually enough to make a music director pull out the song and take a listen.

The evolution of top 40 and the album rock format, while constantly evolving, was evolving more so about that time. Top 40 at the time Hush came out was trying to grab enough adult appeal to get advertisers and still pull huge numbers among the 12 to 24 group. Hush was just something the older demographics wouldn't like, so if it got decent play on top 40 radio it was after about 6 in the evening when the younger demographics were listening. Album rock stations played it but Album Rock radio then was mostly freeform where the DJ selected the music so no specific playlist assured the song would be played frequently.

About the time Smoke On The Water appeared, several things had happened. The traditional MOR station was discovering they had to evolve to adult contemporary to survive. This, obviously, grabbed the older demographics from Top 40, allowing it to be a bit more rock oriented. FM stations were gaining substantial audiences, so the number of stations you competed with, or should I say would be a threat to your ratings, increased. This allowed top 40 to become more defined in sound. In addition, by this time there were now album rock radio wars. No longer was the FM dial filled with beautiful music and classical but there might be a couple of album rockers on the dial and as one would switch, another would appear. Competition eliminated the freeform format as it was now centered on playing the biggest selling albums.

I think all these elements, as well, and mostly because the record companies got behind the release and made sure it had a fighting chance. Working in radio and prior to that, in a record store, I saw great bands that lingered and then all of the sudden the label decided to push them and allocate some promotional budget to the band. The reason Smoke on the Water made it could be as simple as another label seeing potential in Deep Purple and Warner Brothers thinking there is something to lose if Deep Purple doesn't renew their contract.

The most obvious to me is Smoke on the Water was just superior to anything Deep Purple had released. Listening to the first twenty seconds of the song hooked you. You remembered it and familiar is a big key in whether a song becomes a hit. I like Deep Purple but this song was much more universal and easily remembered than the others. Simply put, it was the magic moment for the band as far as songwriting and performance was concerned. Had I been a music director at the time, I would have added the song out of the box if I had been at the right top 40 station at the time. No record rep would have had to convince me to do so. Not much later, upon hearing More Than A Feeling by Boston while working in a record store, you knew it was going to be a monster and within several months it was.

 

[davideduardo]

I would say the primary reason Smoke On The Water got airplay was the push from the record company. Stations got new songs every day back then and those stations that reported to the trade magazines like Billboard, Radio & Records, The Gavin Report, etc. received calls from promoters who coordinated stations on adding the song to their playlist. Get enough 'adds' in a week, you show up in print and that is usually enough to make a music director pull out the song and take a listen.

That was definitely part of the process, although Radio & Records did not appear until October of 1973. We used The Hamilton Report and FMQB as well as others. And, IIRC, that's when the expression "going for adds" became widely used as the record ducks would try for the biggest number of adds or biggest moves to get stations to take a listen. I know that lots of times a song I had not "heard" the first time I listened popped out after relistening caused by seeing programmers I respected going on the tune.

 

[davideduardo]

The chap from England who originally wrote to me just asked me to post this:

"Checked in again today and some more good feedback. i wanted to post a thanks to everyone on your site but noticed there are problems for those logging on with outlook which is what i use. would it be too much trouble to ask if you could offer my thanks to everyone. I think i was a bit unclear in my email as some referred to the fact i did not mention the bands singles in 69. they were by a different line up of the band and 4 years earlier than Smoke so i did not mention them, but what i forgot was they were really big in the US!! opps!

thanks again, i will keep an eye on the site just in case anyone knows the name of the first radio station or DJ to play the record, there is always someone who was the first.
"

We could likely find out who first played "Smoke" if we had access to Gavin or FMQB or Hamilton for the week in question, but I have been looking for those for a decade and can't find them!

 

[b-turner]

Even though I had done only very part time radio, I didn't get my first fulltime gig until 1978, so I learned something new. I never knew Radio and Records didn't start until October 1973.

I think the coordinated 'adds' were to start that momentum for a song. I know when I was in a small market (small town station) I watched a handful of stations across the country to see what they added. In a way, they were a bigger influence than anything else since actual local research wasn't done except to call the one music store in town to ask them the biggest selling singles that week.

 

[TheBigA]

I love me my Deep Purple and hope to see them live one day.

The lineup has changed a lot since the original group. The original organ player, Jon Lord, died two years ago. The original lead singer has been gone for 20 years. Ritchie Blackmore left around the same time. So the group you see may be just the original drummer and bass player. The former lead singer tried to tour as Deep Purple a few years ago and was sued.

 

[michael hagerty]

The chap from England who originally wrote to me just asked me to post this:

"Checked in again today and some more good feedback. i wanted to post a thanks to everyone on your site but noticed there are problems for those logging on with outlook which is what i use. would it be too much trouble to ask if you could offer my thanks to everyone. I think i was a bit unclear in my email as some referred to the fact i did not mention the bands singles in 69. they were by a different line up of the band and 4 years earlier than Smoke so i did not mention them, but what i forgot was they were really big in the US!! opps!

thanks again, i will keep an eye on the site just in case anyone knows the name of the first radio station or DJ to play the record, there is always someone who was the first.
"

We could likely find out who first played "Smoke" if we had access to Gavin or FMQB or Hamilton for the week in question, but I have been looking for those for a decade and can't find them!

Well, I can narrow it down a little bit. The first mention of "Smoke On The Water" as a single is in the May 19, 1973 issue of Billboard. Interestingly, it was not a "Top Single Pick" (that honor went to George Harrison's "Give Me Love, Give Me Peace On Earth" and Three Dog Night's "Shambala"), but made the "also recommended" (which they printed in all lower case) section. It was the only one of the 11 records listed to actually become a hit.

It doesn't look like there was a ton of build-up in the smaller markets, because it debuted on KHJ, Los Angeles at #30 on May 29, without even having been a "Hitbound" first. I'm betting play on KLOS-FM prompted that.

WCFL, Chicago added it on June 2, WLS, Chicago didn't add it until June 18....but the rest of the country seemed to be lagging behind. On the week "Smoke On The Water" Peaked at #3 on KHJ (June 26), it was still moving up the Billboard Hot 100 (20-17), and the "Machine Head" album, which had been dormant for months, was back to #21 on the Top 200 albums.

What I think a lot of people forget is that it was FM airplay of the live version of "Smoke On The Water" from Deep Purple's "Made In Japan" in early 1973 that prompted Warners to release the edited studio version as a single, with the live version as the flip . That spurred "Machine Head" sales, stalled "Made In Japan", and put the band in competition with itself, as it had just issued the studio follow-up "Who Do We Think We Are", which had another potential (but failed) big single in "Woman From Tokyo".

 

[ChannelFlipper]

The lineup has changed a lot since the original group. The original organ player, Jon Lord, died two years ago. The original lead singer has been gone for 20 years. Ritchie Blackmore left around the same time. So the group you see may be just the original drummer and bass player. The former lead singer tried to tour as Deep Purple a few years ago and was sued.

Right. There have been a lot of legal issues surrounding the band which has limited their touring (such as it is - I think they only played a few Indian casinos here in SoCal last year) and I would not be kidding myself into thinking the band up there on the stage now is anywhere close to the band as it was during it's glory years in the 70's (with a major, if not sustained, comeback in '84). I just want to have an evening of fun hard rock from one of the coolest and original heavy metal bands from back in the day.

 

[DOB]

I can't answer for back then, but I don't think that the game has changed all that much from then to now in this regard.

I love new music, I find hits by looking at the charts from a bunch of different countries. I work for an adult top 40 station part time as I love radio but don't want to do it full time, my real job is in a better industry. Time and time again, for over a decade now, I find these songs that are obviously hits and I give them to my program or content director. They don't do a thing with these songs even when they like them. Then 4 to 6 months later the record companies start to work the song and or an adventurous programmer(for usa standards) gives it some play. Only then does my station, along with all the others add the song and it becomes a hit.

Now, you can't say that well it wasn't a hit in January, but now its June and it is, no a hit is a hit and the listeners will like the hit no matter when it is introduced to them. So that would explain why it took a year for Smoke... to take off. Finally the record company promoted it in the states and only then did the radio stations programmers take it seriously and give it airplay. Also, it is a great song so it probably built in popularity from album rock stations playing it and that caused it to cross over to top 40 radio.

One example, I heard Omi "Cheerleader" in January on an Australian radio station. First listen I knew it was a smash and that it would be a top 5 song. I told my pd about it but the company has a list of songs that can be added and it wasn't on that list, yet. It took another 4 months before that song would get its first spin on an American radio station. Now it is the top airplay spin gainer this week and about to go top 10. I don't know what it is, a hit is a hit as I hear it. However in this country they just don't know, they take forever to finally give a hit song a chance and they just are so clueless and deaf that it takes an international success story that then gets the record companies over here to pick it up or bring it over and promote it. The radio powers that be need to be led like a camel in the desert to water to the hits songs by the record promoters. They can't hear a hit, know their listeners will love it, and just play it.

 

[davideduardo]

I don't know what it is, a hit is a hit as I hear it. However in this country they just don't know, they take forever to finally give a hit song a chance and they just are so clueless and deaf that it takes an international success story that then gets the record companies over here to pick it up or bring it over and promote it. The radio powers that be need to be led like a camel in the desert to water to the hits songs by the record promoters. They can't hear a hit, know their listeners will love it, and just play it.

There is a lot more going on than just thinking you know what is going to be a hit.

But first: If any person knew what songs would be hits and which ones were not, they would a) be a multimillionaire and b) have prevented maybe a hundred thousand songs that never became hits from being released. Stations get new releases in a proportion of ten or twenty to one to those that become hits. Nobody knows for certain what will be a hit and nobody has golden ears.

But beyond that, and for starters, look at the way the Beatles "made it" in the US. Their UK label did not want to do an American release because they did not think the act would do well in the US. So they sub-licensed to a smaller label who made the first releases. We're talking about he same label that had the smarts to sign the band, but which thought they would not sell in the US.

Labels like to have acts close by, not overseas. Far-away bands can't do Jimmy Kimmel (just an example) and can't do interviews and promotional work. They won't get covered in the blogs and fansites. They can't support the release in many ways. And if the label wants to do a tour or promotion, the expenses are huge.

Radio, on the other hand, is leery of C&D letters from labels. While not as prevalent as in the past, many of us in the past received cease and desist orders to stop the play of unreleased songs that were in release by the same label outside the US somewhere. I've even been threatened for playing a cut that was not the promotional cut from the label under the claim that doing so "cost them money" by defusing the promotion of the cut the label selected.

And today, with all the issues involving licensing, nobody wants to run the risk of airing something that is not covered by our blanket ASCAP/BMI/SESAC agreements, either.

Finally, there is no way of fully knowing that "your listeners will love it. Those of us who pick current songs to play know that well less than half the songs we pick to play as "new music" ever become real hits. It's hard enough to pick the best US releases without having to guess whether an unsupported song by an unknown foreign group will make it.

 

[John Gallagher]

Here in Erie, PA, I seem to remember the 45 edit of the live version getting more airplay than the studio 45 edit. I've always preferred the live version.