A question about the audience

[CTListener]

I used to really like A&W Root Beer, when you had to go to their drive-in to get it. After they made it available in the stores, it changed somehow. It seemed sweeter. It wasn't just the frosty mug, although that was certainly a contributing factor. You could buy a container, take it home and it still had the same basic taste but that all changed, when it was made widely available.

I lived in Arkansas for three years in the '70s and really liked Barq's, which back then was a regional root beer produced in Mississippi. Well, several years later, Coca-Cola took it over and made it a national brand. I was back in the Northeast by then and still remember my excitement when it showed up in the soda machine at work -- and my disappointment when it didn't taste at all like the root beer I remembered pouring down on long road trips through the Delta. Turns out that Coke actually did mess with the formula when they took it national.

 

[landtuna]

I used to really like A&W Root Beer, when you had to go to their drive-in to get it. After they made it available in the stores, it changed somehow. It seemed sweeter. It wasn't just the frosty mug, although that was certainly a contributing factor. You could buy a container, take it home and it still had the same basic taste but that all changed, when it was made widely available.

There was a mom & pop hamburger place in my boyhood home of Tucson that served A&W. It was, far and away, my favorite place. Sadly., in the 70's when a proliferation of chain fast food places opened up they went out of business. I don't think you could ever beat an A&W served in a frozen mug.

 

[landtuna]

I lived in Arkansas for three years in the '70s and really liked Barq's, which back then was a regional root beer produced in Mississippi. Well, several years later, Coca-Cola took it over and made it a national brand. I was back in the Northeast by then and still remember my excitement when it showed up in the soda machine at work -- and my disappointment when it didn't taste at all like the root beer I remembered pouring down on long road trips through the Delta. Turns out that Coke actually did mess with the formula when they took it national.

When I lived in the South some years ago I noticed the natives seemed to like their drinks sweeter than those of us in the West and NE.

 

[firepoint525]

I used to really like A&W Root Beer, when you had to go to their drive-in to get it. After they made it available in the stores, it changed somehow. It seemed sweeter. It wasn't just the frosty mug, although that was certainly a contributing factor. You could buy a container, take it home and it still had the same basic taste but that all changed, when it was made widely available.

I had A&W root beer from the "keg" at their jointly co-owned location with Long John Silver's here in Nashville (I was actually there for the fish), and it was too sweet for me! It was like syrup!

 

[craigbaker]

That's one of the problems with fountain drinks. The local restaurant owner has control over the mix. Only once in a great while do they get it just right. Compared with A & W and a grilled hot dog with mustard and chopped onions. today's fast food isn't even in the race!

Does advertising work? Holy cow does it work! Especially on radio. Ever hear the phrase. . . "We'll leave the light on for you"? Keep in mind, there are millions of dollars spent every day on bad advertising, but good ads work like crazy. My old boss was quite a genius. He taught me: "What you say in the message is FAR more important than what station you play the message on". He also preached. . . "You don't need a lot of listeners. . . you need listeners. . . with a lot of money"! It's much better for me to produce an excellent commercial to engage and persuade 50 listeners to shop at my customer's store than put 5000 listeners to sleep with a boring ad that I allowed the merchant to write.

 

[Fastphilly]

Are there really people out there in the radio audience who, upon hearing the announcer say "We've got some Van Morrison for you right after this", breathe a sigh of relief, secure in the knowledge that they are going to hear "Brown-eyed Girl" and are in no danger of being exposed to "Domino", "Moondance", or "Jackie Wilson Said"?

A sigh of relief to hear "Brown Eyed Girl"? That song has been flogged to death just like the other Van retreads.

 

[Fastphilly]

Regarding ELO, their 80's hits have been neglected on radio for far too long. Those records are at a crossroads of being too pop/rockabilly for classic rock or they don't fit the mold for 80's shows because everybody wants to hear the new wave, hair bands, or urban classics.

The "Time" LP had some cool cuts on it that I haven't heard pumped through a stick in many moons. Sad :-[

 

[TheBigA]

The "Time" LP had some cool cuts on it that I haven't heard pumped through a stick in many moons. Sad :-[

That album only had one Top 10 hit, "Hold On Tight," which was also their last hit in the US. If I'm picking the top five ELO songs to play, that's not the album I draw from.

 

[Fastphilly]

I always like "Twilight". Just sayin, I have heard every one of their signature hits from the 70's without end on the radio. I never thought there would come a day that I would switch off an ELO song on the radio but CC and CBS has driven me to it.

Why not add "Hold On Tight", or even the latter "Rock And Roll Is King". We seem to be stuck on their pre 1980 titles but they had a few good ones in the 80's.

 

[TheBigA]

Why not add "Hold On Tight", or even the latter "Rock And Roll Is King". We seem to be stuck on their pre 1980 titles but they had a few good ones in the 80's.

The pr-80s titles are the hits. The goal for classic hits is to play the classic hits. The songs most identified with ELO are from the 70s. There are other bands better identified with the 80s. Unless I'm programming an ELO Channel or doing an ELO History, there's no reason to play the songs from the end of their career. Personally I'd rather hear the earlier songs with Ron Wood.

 

[oldies76]

Why not add "Hold On Tight", or even the latter "Rock And Roll Is King". We seem to be stuck on their pre 1980 titles but they had a few good ones in the 80's.

Or why not add "All Over the World" from 1980? Another good song.

 

[TheBigA]

Sez who? I forgot it, so I did a search. Found that it was on the Xanadu soundtrack, with Olivia Newton-John's "Magic," which was a far bigger hit, and a far better song. If you're going to play a song from that album, that's the song to play. Once again, the format is called Classic Hits. Not "Another Good Song." Sure if you're doing an ELO Channel, or "ELO: From A to Z," play it in a segment with actual hits. But I doubt it even gets played on Eighties On 8. By this point, Jeff's best writing was behind him, and he was simply re-writing himself.

 

[CTListener]

"All Over the World" had a great hook and little else. Since everything Jeff Lynne ever wrote had a great hook, that makes it forgettable.

 

[TheBigA]

"All Over the World" had a great hook and little else. Since everything Jeff Lynne ever wrote had a great hook, that makes it forgettable.

I love Jeff's writing, but he spent his entire life re-writing I Saw Her Standing There. What saved him was when he began to co-write.

 

[oldies76]

Sez who? I forgot it, so I did a search. Found that it was on the Xanadu soundtrack, with Olivia Newton-John's "Magic," which was a far bigger hit, and a far better song. If you're going to play a song from that album, that's the song to play. Once again, the format is called Classic Hits. Not "Another Good Song." Sure if you're doing an ELO Channel, or "ELO: From A to Z," play it in a segment with actual hits. But I doubt it even gets played on Eighties On 8. By this point, Jeff's best writing was behind him, and he was simply re-writing himself.

I didn't forget it....it was played heavily on Top 40 radio back in 1980 in Southern California (KFI 640 to be exact). As seperate singles on the charts back in 1980, "Magic" hit #1 and "All Over the World" hit #13 nationally. "...World" hit #5 on a KFI radio survey the last week of September 1980 (possibly higher since there is no record for the rest of September). They were both big songs back then and personally I'd play both songs as classic hits today, with "All Over the World" played as a lost 45 feature and "Magic" more frequently.

 

[Fastphilly]

Why not add "Hold On Tight", or even the latter "Rock And Roll Is King". We seem to be stuck on their pre 1980 titles but they had a few good ones in the 80's.

The pr-80s titles are the hits. The goal for classic hits is to play the classic hits. The songs most identified with ELO are from the 70s. There are other bands better identified with the 80s. Unless I'm programming an ELO Channel or doing an ELO History, there's no reason to play the songs from the end of their career. Personally I'd rather hear the earlier songs with Ron Wood.

So a Top 10 record isn't a hit? "Hold On Tight" got HEAVY airplay on 610 KFRC back in 1981. So your reason is null and void.

 

[TheBigA]

So a Top 10 record isn't a hit?

Maybe in its time. Some don't stand up well 30 years later. That's one of them.

 

[oldies76]

Why not add "Hold On Tight", or even the latter "Rock And Roll Is King". We seem to be stuck on their pre 1980 titles but they had a few good ones in the 80's.

The pr-80s titles are the hits. The goal for classic hits is to play the classic hits. The songs most identified with ELO are from the 70s. There are other bands better identified with the 80s. Unless I'm programming an ELO Channel or doing an ELO History, there's no reason to play the songs from the end of their career. Personally I'd rather hear the earlier songs with Ron Wood.

So a Top 10 record isn't a hit? "Hold On Tight" got HEAVY airplay on 610 KFRC back in 1981. So your reason is null and void.

It's still and always will be a hit for ELO and for those who enjoy the song.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UKQsv1Q3ZNY

 

[michael hagerty]

"All Over the World" had a great hook and little else. Since everything Jeff Lynne ever wrote had a great hook, that makes it forgettable.

I love Jeff's writing, but he spent his entire life re-writing I Saw Her Standing There. What saved him was when he began to co-write.

I kept looking for the "Like" button for both these comments, then realized I wasn't on Facebook.

ELO always had me thinking they were on the verge of doing something remarkable...that the next one was going to blow the roof off. But no...and by the Out Of The Blue LP, it was painfully obvious. Both CTListener and Big A's comments sum it up.

Now, that's purely subjective...and my opinion. But (and take the chart positions with a grain of salt), this is a band that only cracked the Top 5 once...with "Don't Bring Me Down". Their Top 10s peaked at 7, 8, 9 and 10 (Rock And Roll Is King only managed #22). Fact is, they weren't white-hot even at their peak.

 

[landtuna]

Any song reaching the top 5 needs to have very wide support across the bandwidth of the market. There have been a truckload of critically acclaimed songs that didn't make the top 5 - and there have been some real junk that did.