Ross on Radioinsight on Oh Wow songs...interesting article.

[tall_guy1]

What Is An “Oh Wow”? And Should You Play Any? – RadioInsight What Is An “Oh Wow”? And Should You Play Any? It seems like Adult Hits is the one place that can "get away" with many of these as is referenced.

For Kansas City, 102.1 Bob FM plays several "oh wow" old songs in it's playlist. I've heard stuff like Wild World by Mr. Big, Jeremiah Was A Bullfrog, In Your Room by The Bangles, ect. on this station. Others play it a bit safer.

 

[davideduardo]

Adult hits is not so much "oh wow" as it is a playlist that is very broad in terms of years but very shallow in terms of depth. Every song is researched; "oh wow" songs are generally those that don't pass research but which can be staged effectively within a format to create a "variety" image.

And keep in mind that "variety" in radio means "only songs that everyone likes a lot". That usually means a very short playlist. And variety does not ever mean "lots of songs."

 

[MikeyBos]

Jeremiah Was A Bullfrog

You mean "Joy to the World" by Three Dog Night. That's entertaining to me because that was one of my mom's and dad's favorite songs when they were teens and my grandmother always called it what you've called it. Obviously, that lyric must be very memorable.

 

[tall_guy1]

You mean "Joy to the World" by Three Dog Night. That's entertaining to me because that was one of my mom's and dad's favorite songs when they were teens and my grandmother always called it what you've called it. Obviously, that lyric must be very memorable.

Yeah, that's it. That lyric must have stuck out to me...but good song nonetheless. Unsure if many markets play it.

 

[MikeyBos]

Yeah, that's it. That lyric must have stuck out to me...but good song nonetheless. Unsure if many markets play it.

It was actually one of the biggest hits of the 1970s...a #1 on the Hot 100 for 6 weeks in 1971. Definitely a great song.

 

[cc333]

It was actually one of the biggest hits of the 1970s...a #1 on the Hot 100 for 6 weeks in 1971. Definitely a great song.

Few stations seem to play many early or mid 70s songs anymore, but there do seem to be exceptions made for the biggest hits.

A borderline case is Gordon Lightfoot's "Carefree Highway", which the local Classic Hits AM plays sometimes. It kind of sticks out as an "oh, wow" song to me, because despite it being from '74, it seems a bit old for the format, but I guess it works as a "classic hit" since it was #10 on the Billboard Hot 100 and #1 on the Easy Listening chart, albeit only for one week.

c

 

[ted chittenden]

So-called "Oh Wow!" songs work in that category only if you play them once in a blue moon; otherwise, they become part of your regular playlist and the people who didn't like them before as hits will come crawling out of the woodwork to complain about you playing them again. That said, some of my current favorite "Oh Wow!" songs from the 1970s are:

"The Pretender,"--Jackson Browne (1977)
"Crackerbox Palace,"--George Harrison (1977)
"Carefree Highway,"--Gordon Lightfoot (1974)
"Keeper of the Castle,"--Four Tops (1972)
"Today's the Day,"--America (1976)
"I Wanna Stay with You,"--Gallagher & Lyle (1976)
"Reach Out I'll Be There,"--Diana Ross (1971) and Gloria Gaynor (1975)
"Rollin' with the Flow,"--Charlie Rich (1977)
"Attitude Dancing,"--Carly Simon (1975)

and plenty more. It should be noted that the generation that listened to and enjoyed these songs is now (mostly) in its 60s and is no longer being sought after by national advertising agencies and their clients.

 

[vw86]

And keep in mind that "variety" in radio means "only songs that everyone likes a lot". That usually means a very short playlist. And variety does not ever mean "lots of songs."

That's why stations like Magic 95.9 WPNC in North Carolina sound like such trainwrecks. If I like one song I'm all but guaranteed to not like (or even know) the next one. And weekends are a mish-mash of syndicated shows that don't always match well

 

[michael hagerty]

You mean "Joy to the World" by Three Dog Night. That's entertaining to me because that was one of my mom's and dad's favorite songs when they were teens and my grandmother always called it what you've called it. Obviously, that lyric must be very memorable.

"Joy To The World" was in its first week at #1 when I started my radio career in April of 1971, and even then, people calling to request it would---at least half the time, maybe more---ask for "Jeremiah Was A Bullfrog."

Now consider this: The words "Jeremiah was a bullfrog" appear only once---the first words in the song. You never hear them again.

The actual title, "Joy To The World"---appears TWENTY-FOUR times.

Hoyt Axton wrote one hell of an opening line and Chuck Negron sang the daylights out of it:

 

[K.M. Richards]

"Joy To The World" was in its first week at #1 when I started my radio career in April of 1971, and even then, people calling to request it would---at least half the time, maybe more---ask for "Jeremiah Was A Bullfrog."

I've told this before, but it's worth repeating in context.

In 1984, I was back at the first station I had programmed, two owners and three formats later, doing weekends on the CHR format it was now running. (I became the OM/PD again by the end of the year, but that's a different story.)

We kept getting requests for "This Gun's For Hire" and it puzzled us for a couple of weeks until one Saturday I decided to listen to the music I was playing between talk points ... and the song came up.

"Dancing In The Dark" by Bruce Springsteen.

After that, we made it a policy to announce both artist and title on currents.

 

[K.M. Richards]

Personally, I like adding "oh wow" songs to the mix. But Sean -- much as I like him and appreciate the experience and knowledge he brings to his column -- tends to be a cheerleader for using those much more often than they should be.

"Oh wow" songs are the accent songs that are scheduled even less often than your secondary and lunar rotations. They need to be showcased as something special. They need a produced intro, and a title/artist backsell.

And they need to be rotated in and out of active play much more often than the core gold categories ... and need to be properly rested before being made active again.

Yes, I am describing my Forgotten 45s category, which I spend at least an hour every week researching and programming. But I would never make a format out of them exclusively.

 

[MikeyBos]

"Oh wow" songs are the accent songs that are scheduled even less often than your secondary and lunar rotations. They need to be showcased as something special. They need a produced intro, and a title/artist backsell.

KMR - For those of us who have not worked in the business and don't necessarily know all the terminology, can you explain what lunar rotation is? Thanks!

 

[michael hagerty]

KMR - For those of us who have not worked in the business and don't necessarily know all the terminology, can you explain what lunar rotation is? Thanks!

Since KMR's not on at the moment, records are broken into different categories.

In the same way that some planets rotate around the sun and the moon around the earth at different speeds, different records are put into different rotations, regulating how often they come up in a day, or week, or month.

KMR uses "lunar rotation" for the songs that come up the least often---like how many times in a year.

When I was programming, I called it "Pluto rotation". The earth orbits the sun once a year. Pluto orbits the sun once every 248 years.

 

[CTListener]

Since KMR's not on at the moment, records are broken into different categories.

In the same way that some planets rotate around the sun and the moon around the earth at different speeds, different records are put into different rotations, regulating how often they come up in a day, or week, or month.

KMR uses "lunar rotation" for the songs that come up the least often---like how many times in a year.

When I was programming, I called it "Pluto rotation". The earth orbits the sun once a year. Pluto orbits the sun once every 248 years.

And that category, I'd imagine, would be for songs not normally played at all but trotted out one time only to note the passing of the artist? For instance, a country or modern rock station noting the death of, say, Tony Bennett, by playing "I Left My Heart in San Francisco"?

 

[michael hagerty]

And that category, I'd imagine, would be for songs not normally played at all but trotted out one time only to note the passing of the artist? For instance, a country or modern rock station noting the death of, say, Tony Bennett, by playing "I Left My Heart in San Francisco"?

Well, given that we only die once (buzz off, Ian Fleming), those wouldn't be in a rotation at all.

I haven't programmed a radio station in....carry the three....45 years...so I don't know what the modern-day "pluto rotation" song would be.

When I was programming AC in 1980? Okay, here's an example. I'd never have these in any regular Gold rotation, but every June, for the week after school let out (check your local school district calendar):

The Happenings' "See You In September":

The Arbors' "Graduation Day":

The Beach Boys: "Girl Don't Tell Me":

The Jamies': "Summertime Summertime":

Really, anything season-specific that's not a Christmas record was a serious candidate for Pluto rotation. Christmas was its own thing, with songs that got played frequently over a few weeks.

 

[MikeyBos]

Since KMR's not on at the moment, records are broken into different categories.

In the same way that some planets rotate around the sun and the moon around the earth at different speeds, different records are put into different rotations, regulating how often they come up in a day, or week, or month.

KMR uses "lunar rotation" for the songs that come up the least often---like how many times in a year.

When I was programming, I called it "Pluto rotation". The earth orbits the sun once a year. Pluto orbits the sun once every 248 years.

Thanks, Michael.

 

[kevtronics]

Speaking of both "oh wow" songs and misheard song titles, yesterday during afternoon drive I heard an AC station play Weezer's "Island in the Sun". It's not in the normal playlist of that station, or really any other AC station. And most people unfamiliar with its actual title would probably call it the "hip hip" song, since that's its catchy riff.

 

[braleighapp]

"Joy To The World" was in its first week at #1 when I started my radio career in April of 1971, and even then, people calling to request it would---at least half the time, maybe more---ask for "Jeremiah Was A Bullfrog."

Now consider this: The words "Jeremiah was a bullfrog" appear only once---the first words in the song. You never hear them again.

The actual title, "Joy To The World"---appears TWENTY-FOUR times.

Hoyt Axton wrote one hell of an opening line and Chuck Negron sang the daylights out of it:

And it's interesting to note that Hoyt pitched that song 3 times to the group before they finally decided to record it. At one time, Hoyt even changed the opening lyric to "Jeremiah was a prophet" to try to convince the guys to record the song.

 

[Brent]

Here is a link to a fascinating "obscure songs you hear at the store" message board. While you'll see some "oh wow" songs listed, the real fun is being introduced to a lot cool songs that were never radio hits at all -- "You're an Ocean" by Fastball and "Chasing Lights" by The Saturdays being two great examples.

Obscure songs you hear at the store | Pulse Music Board

Just Be Free's topic about hearing an obscure song at the mall earlier today inspired me to create this topic. What are some songs that you've heard at places like the grocery store, the department

pulsemusic.proboards.com

 

[tall_guy1]

Here is a link to a fascinating "obscure songs you hear at the store" message board. While you'll see some "oh wow" songs listed, the real fun is being introduced to a lot cool songs that were never radio hits at all -- "You're an Ocean" by Fastball and "Chasing Lights" by The Saturdays being two great examples.

Obscure songs you hear at the store | Pulse Music Board

Just Be Free's topic about hearing an obscure song at the mall earlier today inspired me to create this topic. What are some songs that you've heard at places like the grocery store, the department

pulsemusic.proboards.com

It seems like I hear "go on, go on, leave me breathless" in every store (The Corrs I think) but no radio station ever plays it anymore.