Billboard is a trade magazine, not a "rating service". They report on artist signings, concerts, new releases, streaming developments and give lists of the most streamed songs each week.
That's what I was referring to. In those days it was Hooper (I think).
Hooper did not rate songs, either. They did syndicated radio research, and were founded by ratings pioneer, C.E. Hooper.
Perhaps I'm using the wrong word. Hooper and Pulse used to produce a weekly listing of Top-40 songs for my then-favorite radio station in the late 50's. IIRC it listed the songs in order by 'survey' (current position vs last week). There is no information on the charts as to what the 'survey' is based upon (sales, spins requests etc.) or who was surveyed.
Hooper and Pulse did audience ratings in Tucson. They never, ever did music surveys. Not in Tucson, not in any market. Both were radio audience ratings companies. They measured radio listenership, not song popularity.
I'm using the description used on the printed weekly charts. They clearly use 'survey' in their description. But as I said before, I have no information on how they got their numbers. I believe I heard way back then they "surveyed" record shop sales as one of their inputs but there may have been others.
WEZV Myrtle Beach SC. They gave up on mainstream AC and although most of the songs are from the 70s and 80s , they play these songs.
I never thought Elvis would go away. But I do still hear him on the online radio stations I like and Good Time Oldies.
Ratings were called "surveys" back then. The "survey" in question was a ratings study that showed KTKT to have more listening than any other station in the market.
In the 50's and 60's, stations used a combination of phone requests, calls to record shops and one-stops, juke box spins and the opinions of the station staff to create record charts. A lot of the positioning was, simply, arbitrary.
I can't remember the last time I heard Elvis on the radio but then I don't listen too often.
That sounds about right.
Two weeks ago, the couples on Dancing with the Stars were dancing to the songs of Elvis because it was Elvis Night. One of the couples danced to "Always on My Mind." I imagined many viewers under the age of 40 thinking, "I didn't know that that was an Elvis song."
Heck, even I think of Pet Shop Boys when I read that title. I lived through the later part of the Elvis era as a programmer, and had totally forgotten his version. Heck, the PSB cut is on one of my own mix tapes!
I thought it was a Willie Nelson song.
I hear him all the time on the stations I listen to, real or online. Lots more than those. The remix for some odd reason is on Good Time Oldies.
It was a hit for Nelson, but Elvis' version charted first. And actually, Brenda Lee was the first to record it.
The poster probably thought that Willie Nelson was the original singer.
Yes, and I edited my post while you were composing yours after coming to that realization. Funny thing is, I've always thought that Nelson wrote it, but only now have I learned that he didn't. It was a product of Nashville's songwriting machine.
