Z
ZAX Double J
Guest
Actually Pat's was only two notches lower on the charts than Little Richard's his was the higher chart topper at #6 where as Pat's was #8.
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Al Wilson/Paul Davis
- Thread starter allenv
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As Ed MacMahon used to say..."You are correct, sir!".. I was still about two years from joining my twin placenta in childbirth.... 
IT'S COMMUNIST CONSPIRED MUSIC! Call your congressman... Wonder who Byrd and Thurman were 'dating' away from their wives, in those days (while listening to Hank, Sr. records)???
IT'S COMMUNIST CONSPIRED MUSIC! Call your congressman... Wonder who Byrd and Thurman were 'dating' away from their wives, in those days (while listening to Hank, Sr. records)???Double J said:
I'll agree with you 100% on that. I don't listen to top 40; can't stand it. Haven't for years. If I want new music I hunt down a good Hot AC on the internet and listen.
Most of the time I'm listening to classic rock or classic hits. I wasn't alive when most of it came out, but be darned if it isn't good!
Ah, the Whitburn Book. Until SoundScan kicked in in the 80s, those Billboard charts
were not very accurate. Soundscan is the computerized system that logs actual record sales.
Before then, in large part, it was pure record promotion, payola, favors, loose women, drugs,
...come to think of it, I miss the 70s, too.
A lot of Top 20 songs were never that popular, and many were genuine hit records.
Thirty years later, we have LOCAL music research, with Oldies listeners, to determine
their popularity NOW.
I have seen Paul Davis' COOL NIGHT and I GO CRAZY test well over the years. His death was
sad news. RIP Mellow Man.
Bill
were not very accurate. Soundscan is the computerized system that logs actual record sales.
Before then, in large part, it was pure record promotion, payola, favors, loose women, drugs,
...come to think of it, I miss the 70s, too.
A lot of Top 20 songs were never that popular, and many were genuine hit records.
Thirty years later, we have LOCAL music research, with Oldies listeners, to determine
their popularity NOW.
I have seen Paul Davis' COOL NIGHT and I GO CRAZY test well over the years. His death was
sad news. RIP Mellow Man.
Bill
Z
ZAX Double J
Guest
I love pretty much anything from the 50s to the late 80s (1989 to be exact) but there are som songs I like in the 90s some that some would frown upon for sure, but I like them. Everyone is different and that's what is soo great about music there's something for everyone. Heck I like classical, but most people don't these days but I dare you to find a movie that doesn't use some classical music IN it.
These consulants severly underestimate the musical memory and passion of the 40 plus listener plus when you play a lost 45 it tends to jog the memory and also makes people start of other songs.Everybody is radio is pretty much copycatting anyway so how in the world do we know what would happen if someone did do something different.All these station who are crying the blues why not try thinking outside the box???? If ratings and revenue are already low...what have you got to lose???
Allen
Allen
F
firecop947
Guest
Thinking out of the box! What a novel idea! :-\ Doing things different than the other guy WOW! When I put stations on the air in the 90's and took 2 of them with a All 70's All the Time format, we were in high cotton for the first year. People loved it. The hits that they grew up with!
When you do any type of a classic format you have to be careful to keep the "Oh, Wow!" factor alive. That means a larger than normal playlist. A old song is good when you hear it again the first two maybe 3 times, after that it starts to burn.
I agree with Allen and the other folks on this post. As radio people we need to take back the airwaves and give the people what they want! The revenue will follow.
All the Best!
Firecop
When you do any type of a classic format you have to be careful to keep the "Oh, Wow!" factor alive. That means a larger than normal playlist. A old song is good when you hear it again the first two maybe 3 times, after that it starts to burn.
I agree with Allen and the other folks on this post. As radio people we need to take back the airwaves and give the people what they want! The revenue will follow.
All the Best!
Firecop
A year and a half ago, another long retired dj and I started doing a Sunday night oldies show on a 1000 watt AM. It has been a blast, except I miss cart machines and turntables, and I am not crazy about the computer stuff...howevah, we did some call in surveys last year and have found out some interesting information.
Most of our audience (which is small) is the 50 plus age group. Most under 40 aren't going to to turn to AM radio.
Our show is Top 40 oldies from late 50's, up to 1979. We can't compete with some 100,00 FM that is playing the same 400 "goodtime oldies" over and over, so we created our own niche...hits with long lost oldies. It seems to have worked...
"Living Next Door To Alice" by Smokie, got a lot of regional airplay...
"Stealing Watermelons" by the Chambers Brothers...good regional play...
"Muhammad Ali" by Johnny Wakelin...
"What the World Needs Now, Abraham Martin & John" by LA DJ Tom Clay...
These are tunes that the big boys aren't going to play. Now, granted you have to play them between "Let It Be" and "How Long", but the lost tunes are the ones folks comment on.
Tonight, I'll have the cd copies of "I Go Crazy" and "Show and Tell" ready to roll, and even attempt to get the under the console turntable out for a spin of "The Snake"...
Most of our audience (which is small) is the 50 plus age group. Most under 40 aren't going to to turn to AM radio.
Our show is Top 40 oldies from late 50's, up to 1979. We can't compete with some 100,00 FM that is playing the same 400 "goodtime oldies" over and over, so we created our own niche...hits with long lost oldies. It seems to have worked...
"Living Next Door To Alice" by Smokie, got a lot of regional airplay...
"Stealing Watermelons" by the Chambers Brothers...good regional play...
"Muhammad Ali" by Johnny Wakelin...
"What the World Needs Now, Abraham Martin & John" by LA DJ Tom Clay...
These are tunes that the big boys aren't going to play. Now, granted you have to play them between "Let It Be" and "How Long", but the lost tunes are the ones folks comment on.
Tonight, I'll have the cd copies of "I Go Crazy" and "Show and Tell" ready to roll, and even attempt to get the under the console turntable out for a spin of "The Snake"...
Firecop wrote..
"I agree with Allen and the other folks on this post. As radio people we need to take back the airwaves and give the people what they want!"
How are you going to find out "what the people want"? Request lines? Your friends? What YOU think they want? What a few radio discussion board posters think?
Bad, bad, research. You've obviously never worked in a large market where playing the most popular, familiar music mattered.
It's like NBC TV airing "My Mother the Car" just to to jog some viewers memories. Not gonna happen.
"I agree with Allen and the other folks on this post. As radio people we need to take back the airwaves and give the people what they want!"
How are you going to find out "what the people want"? Request lines? Your friends? What YOU think they want? What a few radio discussion board posters think?
Bad, bad, research. You've obviously never worked in a large market where playing the most popular, familiar music mattered.
It's like NBC TV airing "My Mother the Car" just to to jog some viewers memories. Not gonna happen.
We all know the most popular,fimiliar music matters dude.Don't talk down to us chief.What were saying is people want to hear some variety along with the stuff I know you have to play.Its again a matter of everyone wants to play follow the leader.Also I see alot of people who have been behind a desk too long and lost touch with the daily rigors of radio.There are also alot of people who are doing what they do to push their own agendas.They tend to forget what really makes this business tick and get too caught up in the bottom line.Also alot of sales people aren't trained properly and get thrown to the wolves.You can have the best product in the world but if no one can sell it..its useless.Alot of factors go into a successful radio operation one of the biggest is right place right time luck.
I don't see market size as a factor.. if you outwork the next guy,refuse to play follow the leader and do all you can to serve the audience.. the revenue will follow
Too many spend time trying to find ways to save money rather than trying to come up with innovative ways to make money.Sometimes you many save a few bucks on the front end but it costs you dearly in the long run.
Allen
I don't see market size as a factor.. if you outwork the next guy,refuse to play follow the leader and do all you can to serve the audience.. the revenue will follow
Too many spend time trying to find ways to save money rather than trying to come up with innovative ways to make money.Sometimes you many save a few bucks on the front end but it costs you dearly in the long run.
Allen
Z
ZAX Double J
Guest
I agree with Allen we're not talking about an "OH WOW" only format, but one that mixes the familar tunes with the variety we talk about. This IS what the listener wants. As to finding out what people want to hear yes, requests is one way. Another is have a little survey at remotes that listeners can fill out as to what they'd like to hear. Or put one in the local newspaper. Too many PDs sit behind their desks and listen only to their consultants to the point that they don't even KNOW their listeners anymore. Allen is 100% right here.
Z
ZAX Double J
Guest
w00t said:
Why aren't they your average listener? Granted some may not even listen to your station, but they probably LIVE in your community so why not ask them what they want in a local radio station. Or is it you're scared of their answers. We as radio people forget to LISTEN ourselves to the very people in our communities we serve or supposed to serve.
Ok what then would you suggest? The very narrow focus groups of 100 or less people that these consultant's use to say that these songs are what everybody wants to hear? I don't think so. That's just the problem as I've said before the GMs/PDs/MDs have been fed their propoganda for the last 30+ years and thus we have the problems we have today. I've presented other methods (newspaper survey, etc) as a means of reaching a large enough audiemce to get a good sampling of what people IN YOUR COMMUINTY wants to hear. Not some group a 1000 miles away not even IN your state to tell you what to play. Put this control back in the hands of your actual listeners or at least your MD/PD at YOUR station.
I agree most listeners don't call everyday or come to the remote for anything free
you have to eat or giveaway, pack the family of 10 back in the station wagon and
drive off.That chaps my butt.The listeners who like what you do want more of it.I hear stations whine all the time and blame everything and everyone but the Pope
when things aren't going well but again most of the time the burden of blame falls back on stations not willing to shake things up.I would rather fail and admit defeat
with different fresh ideas,than survive being a copycat and recycling the same old stuff.It comes down to people who have duties,titles & positions who aren't allowed to do what they do.I don't care about a title or even a desk.My office is the control and the production rooms.Just give me a drawer to store my stuff and I'm fine.I know so many people over the years that have had titles but had no real say so and power to do anything.That causes ill feelings and low moral and work output suffers.Over the years radio has lost lots of good people because their talents were not used properly.Hire people to do a job and let them do it.The most important piece to a successful station is good people who are rewarded properly
for a job well done.A poor work enviroment will lead to a poor radio station.I've seen and been involved in both scenarios.Nothing is more fun or rewarding than a staff that works together and pulls in the same direction.You just know when you are involved with good radio and to me it is one of the best feelings in the world
and you can believe the listener can tell a difference when things aren't good internally..Right now I'm lucky I think I'm working with the best overall staff in Eastern NC.I look forward to going to work and that means alot to me.
Allen
you have to eat or giveaway, pack the family of 10 back in the station wagon and
drive off.That chaps my butt.The listeners who like what you do want more of it.I hear stations whine all the time and blame everything and everyone but the Pope
when things aren't going well but again most of the time the burden of blame falls back on stations not willing to shake things up.I would rather fail and admit defeat
with different fresh ideas,than survive being a copycat and recycling the same old stuff.It comes down to people who have duties,titles & positions who aren't allowed to do what they do.I don't care about a title or even a desk.My office is the control and the production rooms.Just give me a drawer to store my stuff and I'm fine.I know so many people over the years that have had titles but had no real say so and power to do anything.That causes ill feelings and low moral and work output suffers.Over the years radio has lost lots of good people because their talents were not used properly.Hire people to do a job and let them do it.The most important piece to a successful station is good people who are rewarded properly
for a job well done.A poor work enviroment will lead to a poor radio station.I've seen and been involved in both scenarios.Nothing is more fun or rewarding than a staff that works together and pulls in the same direction.You just know when you are involved with good radio and to me it is one of the best feelings in the world
and you can believe the listener can tell a difference when things aren't good internally..Right now I'm lucky I think I'm working with the best overall staff in Eastern NC.I look forward to going to work and that means alot to me.
Allen
Double J says...
"This IS what the listener wants"
Again, I ask, how do you KNOW this is what the listener wants?
A sage PD once said...
It's a fine line between "Oh Wow" and "Oh God!" You better know where that line is.
More often than "Oh Wow" you get "what is that?" then, a push of a button.
Callers to your station represent about 5% of your listeners, What about the other 95% that listens to your
station to hear their favorite songs?
All successful stations in Top 75 markets do some LOCAL music research. It's playing part of a song and ASKING your regular and occasional listeners to rate it. It's a simple system and it works.
It's the only way to KNOW what songs your listeners like, don't like, feel neutral about, or don't recognize.
Play the ones they like to win.
"This IS what the listener wants"
Again, I ask, how do you KNOW this is what the listener wants?
A sage PD once said...
It's a fine line between "Oh Wow" and "Oh God!" You better know where that line is.
More often than "Oh Wow" you get "what is that?" then, a push of a button.
Callers to your station represent about 5% of your listeners, What about the other 95% that listens to your
station to hear their favorite songs?
All successful stations in Top 75 markets do some LOCAL music research. It's playing part of a song and ASKING your regular and occasional listeners to rate it. It's a simple system and it works.
It's the only way to KNOW what songs your listeners like, don't like, feel neutral about, or don't recognize.
Play the ones they like to win.
allenv said:
Allen right now you work for what is arguably the best radio group in eastern NC. Beasley sure does love the AudioVault, but they know what they're doing. Since they arrived in 1996 none of the (FM) stations have changed formats. Tweaked, yes, like 107.9 and 99.5 have done, but none have been flipped. That's success.
Meanwhile, the ten GMs that will pass through the NextMedia doors this year will change 98.7's format as they each begin employment. Yeah, I exaggerate.
But not by much.
Most of the so called music testing is a joke.It is skewed in so many ways.Again the definition of what is fimiliar is so broad.You can't test every song so normally
its the same songs over and over.They need to test a couple hundred songs that were hits that radio has not simply played to death and see what happens.There are many factors that you can't control with call out or auditorium.Is the person
sick,a death in the family, divorce, bad day at work,many factors play into what a person may think of a song on a given day.The person's mood you are testing on the day you test them means everything to your data.You can also over research
and make something complicated that really isn't.I heard a station say they are playing 50 minutes of commercial free music.Bad idea.Never say commercial free
in my opinion.Spin it so the station looks like a hero,,how about more music than the other stations,continous music for you, something...50 minutes of commercial free music is another way of saying we ain't selling many spots and we'll be another format in 6 months..
Allen
its the same songs over and over.They need to test a couple hundred songs that were hits that radio has not simply played to death and see what happens.There are many factors that you can't control with call out or auditorium.Is the person
sick,a death in the family, divorce, bad day at work,many factors play into what a person may think of a song on a given day.The person's mood you are testing on the day you test them means everything to your data.You can also over research
and make something complicated that really isn't.I heard a station say they are playing 50 minutes of commercial free music.Bad idea.Never say commercial free
in my opinion.Spin it so the station looks like a hero,,how about more music than the other stations,continous music for you, something...50 minutes of commercial free music is another way of saying we ain't selling many spots and we'll be another format in 6 months..
Allen
Woot,
Beasley is good to work for.For the most part I have nothing but good things to say.They treat me well and I do my best for them.I like my co-workers and I try to do all I can to help them and make their jobs easier. I really repect Doug,John
Jeff,Max and Donna and Stacy.They work very hard.I see the passion that these folks have for radio.I see it in their eyes.Its the same thing I saw at WRQR/WGHB
from 1983-May 1996.Eveyone had a common goal... do all you could to make the station good.Sure, we had our ups and downs but at the end of the day you knew
everyone cared.We may argue and fuss some but they knew I had their back
if they needed me.Believe me at WRQR we went through alot of stuff but in the end we were a family.Sometimes dysfunctional, but a family.It came to an end
but I am proud to have been a small part of a great station...
Allen
Beasley is good to work for.For the most part I have nothing but good things to say.They treat me well and I do my best for them.I like my co-workers and I try to do all I can to help them and make their jobs easier. I really repect Doug,John
Jeff,Max and Donna and Stacy.They work very hard.I see the passion that these folks have for radio.I see it in their eyes.Its the same thing I saw at WRQR/WGHB
from 1983-May 1996.Eveyone had a common goal... do all you could to make the station good.Sure, we had our ups and downs but at the end of the day you knew
everyone cared.We may argue and fuss some but they knew I had their back
if they needed me.Believe me at WRQR we went through alot of stuff but in the end we were a family.Sometimes dysfunctional, but a family.It came to an end
but I am proud to have been a small part of a great station...
Allen
I agree about these two songs.surfdude said:
Say what???Double J said:
That was played on what was my favorite STANDARDS station. I liked it, but of course the satellite format forgot about the 50s and now the radio station has gone oldies. I think the local morning show on my new favorite standards station plays it. Of course it plays "Louie, Louie" and "I Got You" ... :
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