1980

[elevator_opratr]

Let's take a trip back to 1980. I just pulled that year off the top of my head as a year I seem fascinated with. Lots of cool songs out in that year that today are considered "soft AC" or "too easy," a la "Steal Away" by Robbie Dupree, "What Kind of Fool" by Barbara Streisand, "Sailing" by Christopher Cross, "Never Knew Love Like This Before" by Stephanie Mills, etc.

My question: back in 1980, there wasn't a thing called "Adult Contemporary Radio," was there?

What was the radio dial like in 1980? I was too young to remember.

In those days, Top 40 was quite fun with segues of AC/DC into Kenny Rogers.

In between, you had your rock at one end, and your beautiful music at the other.

But what did people who wanted to hear current songs (mentioned above) that were on the top-40 chart, but not hear the heavy songs on that chart (like AC/DC), listen to? Is that where the now-dead term "MOR ... Middle of the Road" radio came into play?

If someone could break this all down for me and help me with when the term AC came into play, and what the format of easy current vocalists of the day (Barbara Streisand, Neil Diamond, Kenny Rogers, etc.) was called, I'd be most interested.

I'd also love to hear an aircheck of an contempoary easy vocal station from roughly the year 1980 if anyone had one.

 

[John1]

> My question: back in 1980, there wasn't a thing called
> "Adult Contemporary Radio," was there?

In the 1980 Broadcasting Yearbook (printed in '79) such stations were either MOR (soft contemporary hits & some standards), Contemporary MOR ( more like AC) or Classic MOR (standards).

> What was the radio dial like in 1980? I was too young to
> remember. >

AM was losing top 40 stations, many becoming full service contemporary MOR with some talk shows. There were still a lot of country stations on AM, "nostalgia" or standards stations were just starting. Most markets had a news or news talk station (with sports talk at night, who'd discuss sports during the day!) but talk radio didn't grow until satellite syndication got big later.

> But what did people who wanted to hear current songs
> (mentioned above) that were on the top-40 chart, but not
> hear the heavy songs on that chart (like AC/DC), listen to?
> Is that where the now-dead term "MOR ... Middle of the Road"
> radio came into play?
>
In Philadelphia on FM there was Magic 103 WMGK (started 10-75) playing soft AC type hits, WUSL US-1 playng a mix of soft hits & standards, and WSNI which was mostly standards but soon switched to AC & Oldies. On AM was WIP playing what they used to call "chicken rock", softer top 40 hits with a few standards artists & oldies thrown in. Soon WWSH would become soft hits, too. Soon after 1980 most markets went from 2 or 3 beautiful music stations to one, with the others primarily trying a soft hits approach, often keeping their easy listening name, as did "Wish" in Philadelphia, "Peach" in Atlanta, etc.

 

[apco25]

The format Adult Contemporary evolved out of the MOR format in the latter 70's. As AM started losing steam to the FM CHR's....AM Top 40 stations decided to add alittle more non-currents to their wheel, and removed or waived the current hits that had too much metal or too much R&B (funk or disco) out of the playlist. So instead of the top 30 plus hits of the week, it became the roughly top 20 hits of current material.
AC was still top 40, but without the heavy metal and the heavy funk R&B, to put it this way.
Songs like "Steal Away", "Sailing" were also played as hits on the most highest energy FM CHR's back in 1980, including alot of Urban Cowboy crossovers (Kenny Roger, Johnny Lee, Crystal Gayle, etc.). That fad came in went by 1982-83 before new wave started taking a big effect.
AM was still playing Contemporary music, but it was group of dying top 40's, country, medium market oldies. And starting in 1981, an ever increasing satellite delivered formats of oldies, AC, and country, and talk (Dr. Ruth, Larry King, Sally Jessie Rapheal, Bruce Williams, as well of the development of local "Hot talk stations that started to replace the music on AM.
Radio in 1980 as well as most of the 80's had the widest variety of mainstream formats then any other time in the music world. Then by 87-88, the formats started to become variety cubicles. As we know today.




> Let's take a trip back to 1980. I just pulled that year off
> the top of my head as a year I seem fascinated with. Lots of
> cool songs out in that year that today are considered "soft
> AC" or "too easy," a la "Steal Away" by Robbie Dupree, "What
> Kind of Fool" by Barbara Streisand, "Sailing" by Christopher
> Cross, "Never Knew Love Like This Before" by Stephanie
> Mills, etc.
>
> My question: back in 1980, there wasn't a thing called
> "Adult Contemporary Radio," was there?
>
> What was the radio dial like in 1980? I was too young to
> remember.
>
> In those days, Top 40 was quite fun with segues of AC/DC
> into Kenny Rogers.
>
> In between, you had your rock at one end, and your beautiful
> music at the other.
>
> But what did people who wanted to hear current songs
> (mentioned above) that were on the top-40 chart, but not
> hear the heavy songs on that chart (like AC/DC), listen to?
> Is that where the now-dead term "MOR ... Middle of the Road"
> radio came into play?
>
> If someone could break this all down for me and help me with
> when the term AC came into play, and what the format of easy
> current vocalists of the day (Barbara Streisand, Neil
> Diamond, Kenny Rogers, etc.) was called, I'd be most
> interested.
>
> I'd also love to hear an aircheck of an contempoary easy
> vocal station from roughly the year 1980 if anyone had one.
>

 

[BlueHen]

> Soon after 1980 most markets
> went from 2 or 3 beautiful music stations to one, with the
> others primarily trying a soft hits approach, often keeping
> their easy listening name, as did "Wish" in Philadelphia,

It's funny about some of the things we can remember. I'll never forget working on a paper for school in December 1980. I had "Wish-FM" on in the background when I first heard the startling news headline that John Lennon had just been shot. Since this was a beautiful music station, I scanned the dial for more information, and heard John Lennon songs being played almost everywhere else.

But I can also remember on Good Friday in 1985 when every station in the country was supposed to play "We Are The World" at the same time. I scanned the dial and was surprised to hear even the beautiful music station(s) break format and play the USA for Africa song. I can't remember now if the all-news station played it, too... I'm thinking it did. After all, that was news.

 

[westlife]

Re: 1980... to present: AC radio's evolution

> Songs like "Steal Away", "Sailing" were also played as hits
> on the most highest energy FM CHR's back in 1980, including
> alot of Urban Cowboy crossovers (Kenny Roger, Johnny Lee,
> Crystal Gayle, etc.). That fad came in went by 1982-83
> before new wave started taking a big effect.

There was still a good amount of slow/mellow music on CHR stations in the late '80s. I have a tape of New York City's "Z-100" from 1987 in which they were playing "The Lady in Red" by Chris de Burgh (a #3 Billboard hit that year). On the same tape, an AC station ("Kix 101 and a half" in Trenton, NJ -- now talk station "New Jersey 101.5") is heard playing Bruce Willis' cover version of "Under the Boardwalk" (a minor #59 hit on the Billboard chart).

CHR stations still had a lot of adult listeners in the '80s, especially once the Disco craze died out... but upon the emergence of Rap music around 1990-1991, that's what led to the full-scale splintering of Contemporary music into CHR, Hot AC, and AC. Hot AC began as "Today's Hit Music, Without The Rap" -- perhaps the first format to define itself by what it doesn't play! Then when Alternative Rock was big in the mid-'90s, I think that's what helped AC stations finally ditch the MOR artists (Neil Diamond, Barry Manilow, etc.) and led AC to become the choice for listeners who didn't care for either rap or hard rock.

There was some convergence in the late '90s as the Pop music revolution exploded with cheaper-by-the-dozen boy-bands and pop idols/divas (remember how we all swooned over Ricky Martin!?). There were a LOT of current Top 40 hits being played on AC during this time... perhaps the most AC radio has ever featured since the '80s. But ever since pop music quickly went out of style after 2001, it seems like AC radio is playing fewer current hits than ever before; many AC stations have become very Gold-based, almost playing more from the '60s through '80s than they do from the '90s and '00s. Yeah, we have John Mayer and Kelly Clarkson... but not much else!

<P ID="signature">______________

</P>

 

[apco25]

Re: 1980... to present: AC radio's evolution

> > Songs like "Steal Away", "Sailing" were also played as
> hits
> > on the most highest energy FM CHR's back in 1980,
> including
> > alot of Urban Cowboy crossovers (Kenny Roger, Johnny Lee,
> > Crystal Gayle, etc.). That fad came in went by 1982-83
> > before new wave started taking a big effect.
>
> There was still a good amount of slow/mellow music on CHR
> stations in the late '80s. I have a tape of New York City's
> "Z-100" from 1987 in which they were playing "The Lady in
> Red" by Chris de Burgh (a #3 Billboard hit that year). On
> the same tape, an AC station ("Kix 101 and a half" in
> Trenton, NJ -- now talk station "New Jersey 101.5") is heard
> playing Bruce Willis' cover version of "Under the Boardwalk"
> (a minor #59 hit on the Billboard chart).
>

I never said there weren't. I was just being punctual to the previous postees question of what AC was like in 1980. Pretty much alot of stations were no longer leaning on the trade magazines (Billboard for example)as the definitive guide for charted music. That started developing around '86.
And that Bruce Willis version sucked.


> CHR stations still had a lot of adult listeners in the '80s,
> especially once the Disco craze died out... but upon the
> emergence of Rap music around 1990-1991, that's what led to
> the full-scale splintering of Contemporary music into CHR,
> Hot AC, and AC. Hot AC began as "Today's Hit Music, Without
> The Rap" -- perhaps the first format to define itself by
> what it doesn't play! Then when Alternative Rock was big in
> the mid-'90s, I think that's what helped AC stations finally
> ditch the MOR artists (Neil Diamond, Barry Manilow, etc.)
> and led AC to become the choice for listeners who didn't
> care for either rap or hard rock.

AC stations became the closest thing to top 40 or CHR because there weren't anything new that related with the Manilows, Diamonds, Estefans, coming out.
If they were no longer played as new on the pure or remaining CHR's, that meant less mainstream hits for AC. (with the exception of Celene Dion), they to had turn it up a notch or two to stay current.
>
> There was some convergence in the late '90s as the Pop music
> revolution exploded with cheaper-by-the-dozen boy-bands and
> pop idols/divas (remember how we all swooned over Ricky
> Martin!?). There were a LOT of current Top 40 hits being
> played on AC during this time... perhaps the most AC radio
> has ever featured since the '80s. But ever since pop music
> quickly went out of style after 2001, it seems like AC radio
> is playing fewer current hits than ever before; many AC
> stations have become very Gold-based, almost playing more
> from the '60s through '80s than they do from the '90s and
> '00s. Yeah, we have John Mayer and Kelly Clarkson... but
> not much else!

Of course. Coldplay, Nickleback, Sugar Ray can be considered AC today. What are you going to program that's otherwise AC. Josh Grogan, Rod Stewart's standards.
You can maybe program the latest from Michael McDonald or Hall & Oates....but age discrimination is not illegal over the airwaves.
>

 

[Chad_Hauris]

I lived in the Northeast Ohio area in the early 1980's...the first station that was really AC that I can remember was Lite Rock 106 1/2 WLTF, seems like that was in the mid 80's...also it seems like WMJI was a mixture of adult contemporary and oldies before going to just oldies in the later 1980's.

It seems like many of the AC stations were formed when beautiful music stations changed format in the late 1980's. Cannot remember any AM AC stations specifically...by the time I was old enough to have my own radio and tune things in (1983 or so) the AM stations in the cleveland/Akron area were mostly country, oldies or nostalgia.

 

[apco25]

> I lived in the Northeast Ohio area in the early 1980's...the
> first station that was really AC that I can remember was
> Lite Rock 106 1/2 WLTF, seems like that was in the mid
> 80's...also it seems like WMJI was a mixture of adult
> contemporary and oldies before going to just oldies in the
> later 1980's.
>
> It seems like many of the AC stations were formed when
> beautiful music stations changed format in the late 1980's.
> Cannot remember any AM AC stations specifically...by the
> time I was old enough to have my own radio and tune things
> in (1983 or so) the AM stations in the cleveland/Akron area
> were mostly country, oldies or nostalgia.
>


Try the late mid to late 70's. The Magic Format was born then.

 

[radioboy]

> Let's take a trip back to 1980. I just pulled that year off
> the top of my head as a year I seem fascinated with. Lots of
> cool songs out in that year that today are considered "soft
> AC" or "too easy," a la "Steal Away" by Robbie Dupree, "What
> Kind of Fool" by Barbara Streisand, "Sailing" by Christopher
> Cross, "Never Knew Love Like This Before" by Stephanie
> Mills, etc.
>
> My question: back in 1980, there wasn't a thing called
> "Adult Contemporary Radio," was there?
>
> What was the radio dial like in 1980? I was too young to
> remember.
>
> If someone could break this all down for me and help me with
> when the term AC came into play, and what the format of easy
> current vocalists of the day (Barbara Streisand, Neil
> Diamond, Kenny Rogers, etc.) was called, I'd be most
> interested.



I was working at a small then-Class IV AM with 1,000-watts-day, 250-watts-night
that billed itself as "Total Radio." It had a format similar to the one you're describing. Matter of fact, I found one of the old music logs..here's a sample
of 1980..

Sara - Fleetwood Mac
Back in My Arms - Nicolette Larson
Please Don't Leave - Lauren Wood
Gimme (A Man After Midnight) - Abba
The Blue Side - Crystal Gayle
Deja Vu - Dionne Warwick
Fooled by a Feeling - Barbara Mandrell
Jesse - Carly Simon
Rockin' into the Night - 38 Special
Magic - Olivia Newton-John
Sailing - Christopher Cross
Let Me Be the Clock - Smokey Robinson
An American Dream - Dirt Band
You're My Jamaica - Charley Pride
More Love - Kim Carnes
Late At Night - Dan Seals
Lucky Me - Anne Murray
Love the World Away - Kenny Rogers
Breakdown Dead Ahead - Boz Scaggs
When the Feeling Comes Around - Jennifer Warnes
All for Love - Eric Carmen


This station billed itself formatically as a "soft adult contemporary." I think
the 38 Special song was the hardest it had, but in 1979 when I started there a few disco songs were still on the list.

Even with 250 watts at night that barely covered the town, this station was in
8th place in the market, out of about 13 stations then. It also carried ABC News
at :30 after the hour and Auburn football games. I was very green then and was
probably awful, but after only a month I went from the overnight board-op for the Larry King Show (it ran from midnight to 5:30 am) to the 6pm - midnight music shift. Sometimes I had to do double from 6 pm to 6 am on the board.

The station sold to new owners in October 1980. They fired everybody and put in "Music of Your Life." It did well as a music station until the late 80's.
It went talk after that, but has never done as well listener-wise or financially as it did as "Total Radio."

I really loved that job and working with that format. When MOYL came in, I asked for, and got, most of the old 45s shortly before they were going to throw them out. I'm still playing them, but only on my internet station!


<P ID="signature">______________
Memories Radio..
www.live365.com/stations/alanmccall</P>

 

[westlife]

> Cannot remember any AM AC stations specifically...by the
> time I was old enough to have my own radio and tune things
> in (1983 or so) the AM stations in the cleveland/Akron area
> were mostly country, oldies or nostalgia.

The big Musicradio 77 WABC in New York City was shifting more towards AC in its final few years (~1979 to 1982); even though it was still treated as a Top 40 station. In fact, many of the major-market Top 40 powerhouses on AM shifted towards AC in the '80s; by 1986, KFI in Los Angeles was still playing current hits, but they mixed it in with the Beatles, the Carpenters, Dionne Warwick, and other typical "lite"-sounding artists & groups.

<P ID="signature">______________

</P>

 

[wavelength]

> > Soon after 1980 most markets
> > went from 2 or 3 beautiful music stations to one, with the
>
> > others primarily trying a soft hits approach, often
> keeping
> > their easy listening name, as did "Wish" in Philadelphia,
>
> It's funny about some of the things we can remember. I'll
> never forget working on a paper for school in December 1980.
> I had "Wish-FM" on in the background when I first heard the
> startling news headline that John Lennon had just been shot.
> Since this was a beautiful music station, I scanned the dial
> for more information, and heard John Lennon songs being
> played almost everywhere else.
>
> But I can also remember on Good Friday in 1985 when every
> station in the country was supposed to play "We Are The
> World" at the same time. I scanned the dial and was
> surprised to hear even the beautiful music station(s) break
> format and play the USA for Africa song. I can't remember
> now if the all-news station played it, too... I'm thinking
> it did. After all, that was news.
>


1980- I was around in 1980 and I remember the segmentation of radio was in full swing. Even if ACDC was in the top 40 they would not be played. There were the mellow stations and there were the AOR rock stations. The 60's and the 70's was the period when you could hear ELP followed by Bread. Not in 1980.

On another 1980 subject, Jesse by Carly SImon is one of the greatest songs ever made!

 

[317C50KW]

My reference point for what became Adult Contemporary radio would be the early 1970's, of course on AM. One that comes to mind was Indianapolis' WIBC, which was a heavy personality station that still played some Ray Coniff cuts mixed with the chicken rock and suitable oldies of the day.

The time line evolves with the mellow music formats, particularly from CBS outlets KNX-FM, WBBM-FM (my favorite) and KMOX-FM. Again appropriate currents mixed with soft album rock cuts. Several of the syndicators picked up on this and you had formats like TM's Beautiful Rock, which by the late 70's morphed into an automated adulty contemporary format with no album artists. The mid 70's were the heyday for the singer-songwriter.

I recall trips to Seattle, Boston and such in early 80's where 50 KW AM stations like KOMO, WHDH and WBZ still had a lot of music programming along with the service aspects. When Schulke and Bonneville formats started loose momentum, a number of those FM stations became light AC, and example would be Schulke formated KOAX in Dallas switching to light AC KQZY (Cozy) with the same beautiful music formatics and playing the soft AC music of the time.

Then of course there are the full service FM AC's with heavy personality like Dallas-Fort Worth's KVIL (which shared much in the way of presentation with WIBC since they were sister stations).

Oh yeah, I've always thought a cool set of calls for an AM-FM combo would be
KMFY (Comfy) and KOZY (Cozy). I know a KMFY existed in Mineeapolis and KOZY is used by somebody out there.





> Let's take a trip back to 1980. I just pulled that year off
> the top of my head as a year I seem fascinated with. Lots of
> cool songs out in that year that today are considered "soft
> AC" or "too easy," a la "Steal Away" by Robbie Dupree, "What
> Kind of Fool" by Barbara Streisand, "Sailing" by Christopher
> Cross, "Never Knew Love Like This Before" by Stephanie
> Mills, etc.
>
> My question: back in 1980, there wasn't a thing called
> "Adult Contemporary Radio," was there?
>
> What was the radio dial like in 1980? I was too young to
> remember.
>
> In those days, Top 40 was quite fun with segues of AC/DC
> into Kenny Rogers.
>
> In between, you had your rock at one end, and your beautiful
> music at the other.
>
> But what did people who wanted to hear current songs
> (mentioned above) that were on the top-40 chart, but not
> hear the heavy songs on that chart (like AC/DC), listen to?
> Is that where the now-dead term "MOR ... Middle of the Road"
> radio came into play?
>
> If someone could break this all down for me and help me with
> when the term AC came into play, and what the format of easy
> current vocalists of the day (Barbara Streisand, Neil
> Diamond, Kenny Rogers, etc.) was called, I'd be most
> interested.
>
> I'd also love to hear an aircheck of an contempoary easy
> vocal station from roughly the year 1980 if anyone had one.
>

 

[RMarino]

> 1980- I was around in 1980 and I remember
> the segmentation of radio was in full swing. Even if ACDC
> was in the top 40 they would not be played. There were the
> mellow stations and there were the AOR rock stations. The
> 60's and the 70's was the period when you could hear ELP
> followed by Bread. Not in 1980.

I have an aircheck of a decent sized CHR in 1981 that segues Ronnie Milsap "Smokey Mountain Rain" with AC/DC "Back In Black", so yes it did happen on some stations.

> On another 1980 subject, Jesse by Carly SImon is
> one of the greatest songs ever made!

And yet it was considered a huge disappointment. CBS had big plans for that album and guaranteed that first single would be a #1, instead it only hit top 10 and the album didn't sell at all. Lots of promotional money was thrown into it.

 

[elevator_opratr]

Adult Contemporary WLEV in Allentown, PA actually recently played that song during one of their retro weekends. I couldn't believe it. It's heard NOWHERE.

 

[Jim_Hicks]

I wonder if anyone here remembers "The Young Sound From CBS-FM"? CBS ran it on their FM stations when the FCC dictated separate AM/FM programming. Basically, it was softer Top 40 songs with early 60's pop hits. As I recall it, this format then evolved into the oldies format which CBS started at WCBS-FM and with Jim Nettleton programming it at WCAU-FM (while he was still being paid by ABC).

> My reference point for what became Adult Contemporary radio
> would be the early 1970's, of course on AM. One that comes
> to mind was Indianapolis' WIBC, which was a heavy
> personality station that still played some Ray Coniff cuts
> mixed with the chicken rock and suitable oldies of the day.
>
> The time line evolves with the mellow music formats,
> particularly from CBS outlets KNX-FM, WBBM-FM (my favorite)
> and KMOX-FM. Again appropriate currents mixed with soft
> album rock cuts. Several of the syndicators picked up on
> this and you had formats like TM's Beautiful Rock, which by
> the late 70's morphed into an automated adulty contemporary
> format with no album artists. The mid 70's were the heyday
> for the singer-songwriter.
>
> I recall trips to Seattle, Boston and such in early 80's
> where 50 KW AM stations like KOMO, WHDH and WBZ still had a
> lot of music programming along with the service aspects.
> When Schulke and Bonneville formats started loose momentum,
> a number of those FM stations became light AC, and example
> would be Schulke formated KOAX in Dallas switching to light
> AC KQZY (Cozy) with the same beautiful music formatics and
> playing the soft AC music of the time.
>
> Then of course there are the full service FM AC's with heavy
> personality like Dallas-Fort Worth's KVIL (which shared much
> in the way of presentation with WIBC since they were sister
> stations).
>
> Oh yeah, I've always thought a cool set of calls for an
> AM-FM combo would be
> KMFY (Comfy) and KOZY (Cozy). I know a KMFY existed in
> Mineeapolis and KOZY is used by somebody out there.
>
>
>
>
>
> > Let's take a trip back to 1980. I just pulled that year
> off
> > the top of my head as a year I seem fascinated with. Lots
> of
> > cool songs out in that year that today are considered
> "soft
> > AC" or "too easy," a la "Steal Away" by Robbie Dupree,
> "What
> > Kind of Fool" by Barbara Streisand, "Sailing" by
> Christopher
> > Cross, "Never Knew Love Like This Before" by Stephanie
> > Mills, etc.
> >
> > My question: back in 1980, there wasn't a thing called
> > "Adult Contemporary Radio," was there?
> >
> > What was the radio dial like in 1980? I was too young to
> > remember.
> >
> > In those days, Top 40 was quite fun with segues of AC/DC
> > into Kenny Rogers.
> >
> > In between, you had your rock at one end, and your
> beautiful
> > music at the other.
> >
> > But what did people who wanted to hear current songs
> > (mentioned above) that were on the top-40 chart, but not
> > hear the heavy songs on that chart (like AC/DC), listen
> to?
> > Is that where the now-dead term "MOR ... Middle of the
> Road"
> > radio came into play?
> >
> > If someone could break this all down for me and help me
> with
> > when the term AC came into play, and what the format of
> easy
> > current vocalists of the day (Barbara Streisand, Neil
> > Diamond, Kenny Rogers, etc.) was called, I'd be most
> > interested.
> >
> > I'd also love to hear an aircheck of an contempoary easy
> > vocal station from roughly the year 1980 if anyone had
> one.
> >
>

 

[radionut987]

Albany, Ga. back in 1980 had WGPC-AM/FM, with the FM station running 43,000 watts effective radiated power. In Macon, it was WCRY-107.9, now WPEZ-93.7. And of course, Atlanta had WPCH-94.9 and WSB-98.5.

 

[317C50KW]

> I wonder if anyone here remembers "The Young Sound From
> CBS-FM"? CBS ran it on their FM stations when the FCC
> dictated separate AM/FM programming. Basically, it was
> softer Top 40 songs with early 60's pop hits.

Urban legend has it that it was music Mrs. Paley liked! I remember it fairly well and they probably played more Hollywood Strings than anyone else at the time!

 

[BLewis]

I actually remember 'instrumental' MUZAK playing the song. One of the Raleigh, NC TV stations actually did a story on it that evening!

Soon after 1980 most markets
> > went from 2 or 3 beautiful music stations to one, with the
>
> > others primarily trying a soft hits approach, often
> keeping
> > their easy listening name, as did "Wish" in Philadelphia,
>
> It's funny about some of the things we can remember. I'll
> never forget working on a paper for school in December 1980.
> I had "Wish-FM" on in the background when I first heard the
> startling news headline that John Lennon had just been shot.
> Since this was a beautiful music station, I scanned the dial
> for more information, and heard John Lennon songs being
> played almost everywhere else.
>
> But I can also remember on Good Friday in 1985 when every
> station in the country was supposed to play "We Are The
> World" at the same time. I scanned the dial and was
> surprised to hear even the beautiful music station(s) break
> format and play the USA for Africa song. I can't remember
> now if the all-news station played it, too... I'm thinking
> it did. After all, that was news.
>

 

[westlife]

A forgotten #1 hit from 1980

> Let's take a trip back to 1980.

"He Stopped Loving Her Today" by George Jones was a huge country crossover hit in 1980, reaching #1 on the Billboard chart, but since then it seems like only Classic Country stations play it anymore.

<P ID="signature">______________

</P>

 

[RMarino]

Re: A forgotten #1 hit from 1980

> > Let's take a trip back to 1980.
>
> "He Stopped Loving Her Today" by George Jones was a huge
> country crossover hit in 1980, reaching #1 on the Billboard
> chart, but since then it seems like only Classic Country
> stations play it anymore.

It may have hit #1 on country but it didn't even chart on the Hot 100, so I would only expect "classic country" stations to play it.

I'm a country fan myself, but that song never did anything for me.