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Song you wondered how they they ever got played on Top 40 radio

S

secondchoice

I sure them are a lot of these songs but here are a couple:

Brewer and Shipley's "One toke over the line"

I can only guess someone didn't know what "toke" meant, or they hear "sweet Jusus" am thought it was a religious sing.


Blood Rock's "D.O.A."

I can't guess why anyone would call up and request this. Unless it's another station trying to sabotage the competition..
 
secondchoice said:
I forgot my favorite cannibal song:

"Timothy" by the Buoys.

Written by Rupert Holmes who also wrote "Escape The Pina Colada Song"
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It also included the word "Hell" which some considered taboo in 1970, and some stations did ban it. In response, the record company insisted that Timothy was a mule, not a human. When that didn't work, they released a version that changed the lyrics and/or bleeped out "Hell".

And there's "Angie Baby", which hints at a mentally ill girl possibly abducting someone and keeping him as a "secret lover".
 
Everybody's nobody's favorite: Rick Dees and the Disco Duck...
 
Oldbones said:
"Once You Understand" - Think. This actually charted twice, once in 1971 and again in 1974.
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Oh yeah... :sick:
You mean there is actually someone besides myself who remembers that one?
 
"They're Coming To Take Me Away Ha Haaa!" by Napoleon XIV caused quite a stir when it came out.
 
secondchoice said:
Blood Rock's "D.O.A."

I can't guess why anyone would call up and request this. Unless it's another station trying to sabotage the competition..
Click to expand...

It wasn't a hit. It peaked at #36. The original song was over 8 minutes, and the radio edit was over 4 minutes. A lot of stations refused to play it, even though it was on a major record label and produced by Terry Knight, who also produced Grand Funk Railroad.

The fact is there was a "counter culture movement" in this country at that time led by a lot of musical artists, including the Beatles. A lot of music fell under the psychedelic category, including songs by Sly & The Family Stone and Brian Wilson, both of whom died this past week. The music was popular because it dealt with issues that were considered to be taboo. Not unlike what Jason Aldean encountered last year with Try That In a Small Town.
 
kevtronics said:
It also included the word "Hell" which some considered taboo in 1970, and some stations did ban it. In response, the record company insisted that Timothy was a mule, not a human.
Click to expand...

Record company intervention is what got "Honky Tonk Women" by the Rolling Stones on WABC. London Records convinced Rick Sklar that the line was "played a divorcee in New York City", not "laid..."

Of course, they lied, but...
 
I had the pleasure of taking to Ray Davies a few minutes when I was the Assistant Manager of Soundtown Records in Valley View Mall in Dallas in 1976. He had a terrible cold and was stuck riding along with the record rep for Warner Bros/Elektra/Atlantic. I had no idea who he was initially as the rep said talk to him while I talk to your manager. We didn't talk about the song, Lola. By the way, he was a really nice guy. I felt sorry for him, knowing he had a long day ahead of him when he just wanted to rest and nurse his cold..
 


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