AMERICAN TOP 40-THE 70's MAJOR SCREW-UP! 10/13/73

[Markieo]

I'm listening to Casey Kasem do the American Top 40 flashback, at #35 is supposed to be Diana Ross & Marvin Gaye's "You're A Special Part Of Me" but instead they play another Diana & Marvin track, "I'm Falling In Love With You"! What's the story? If it was a mistake in 1973, you think it would have been corrected in 2009?

 

[davideduardo]

I'm listening to Casey Kasem do the American Top 40 flashback, at #35 is supposed to be Diana Ross & Marvin Gaye's "You're A Special Part Of Me" but instead they play another Diana & Marvin track, "I'm Falling In Love With You"! What's the story? If it was a mistake in 1973, you think it would have been corrected in 2009?

The programs are not subject to revisionist history... they are played as aired.

And playing, supposing this is so, a wrong cut on a show produced every week with just a few day's turnaround schedule and with no digital delivery or modern convenience is hardly a "Major screw up." Stuff like that happened... amazingly not that often... to all of us in the business back then. We figured out why, and tried to keep it from happening again, and moved on. Man, it was 36 years ago!

 

[firepoint525]

I'm listening to Casey Kasem do the American Top 40 flashback, at #35 is supposed to be Diana Ross & Marvin Gaye's "You're A Special Part Of Me" but instead they play another Diana & Marvin track, "I'm Falling In Love With You"! What's the story? If it was a mistake in 1973, you think it would have been corrected in 2009?

The programs are not subject to revisionist history... they are played as aired.

If that were the case, then the network commercials would have been left in, too! That would be cool to hear those again, especially if some of them are for products that are no longer available.

Aside from that, what he was referring to was not "revisionist history." It was about correcting a mistake from the original program. If you know that there's a mistake in the program, you correct it before airtime. But since I am not familiar with either of those titles, I might never have known the difference.

 

[DouglasB]

If that were the case, then the network commercials would have been left in, too! That would be cool to hear those again, especially if some of them are for products that are no longer available.

The copyright holder for the program does not hold the copyright for the commericals in this case. While it might be fun to hear the old Clearsil pimple cream commercials, the intent of the show is about Casey and the music........and all those up and coming "hits" that ended up as stiffs.....

 

[gr8oldies]

Is cool when Casey welcomes and mentions long defunct stations

 

[gr8oldies]

Aside from that, what he was referring to was not "revisionist history." It was about correcting a mistake from the original program. If you know that there's a mistake in the program, you correct it before airtime. But since I am not familiar with either of those titles, I might never have known the difference.
[/quote]

I'm sure whoever was in charge of the re-master was even less familiar with those two titles.

 

[DouglasB]

It was about correcting a mistake from the original program. If you know that there's a mistake in the program, you correct it before airtime. But since I am not familiar with either of those titles, I might never have known the difference. I'm sure whoever was in charge of the re-master was even less familiar with those two titles.

I agree about the error and since both titles were stiffs, no one really cares. As for correcting the program, with all due respect....think about the continuity errors in movies......things like when an actor appears in a scene and his drink is full, then on the cutaway shot it's half full, then back to full screen it's full again. Hypothetically speaking, when those movies are "remastered" for DVD or Blue-ray, do you think those errors should be corrected? I think what we have here is a real gem of a mistake and I'm really glad it's give us something to talk about......
Wish you all well.....

 

[firepoint525]

If that were the case, then the network commercials would have been left in, too! That would be cool to hear those again, especially if some of them are for products that are no longer available.

The copyright holder for the program does not hold the copyright for the commericals in this case. While it might be fun to hear the old Clearsil pimple cream commercials, the intent of the show is about Casey and the music........and all those up and coming "hits" that ended up as stiffs.....

I know that TV Land used to air "retromercials." Maybe they still do. But I suppose it is easier to pull off a "retromercial" on TV than on radio. You can run disclaimers at the bottom of the screen or whatever. And it is easier to tell that a commercial is "old." Aside from that, I don't know if they ever ran the whole spot, maybe only snippets from it.

 

[firepoint525]

Is cool when Casey welcomes and mentions long defunct stations

Like the time he dedicated "I Will Survive" from someone to her ex! I think they later stopped doing dedications like those.

 

[firepoint525]

Aside from that, what he was referring to was not "revisionist history." It was about correcting a mistake from the original program. If you know that there's a mistake in the program, you correct it before airtime. But since I am not familiar with either of those titles, I might never have known the difference.

I'm sure whoever was in charge of the re-master was even less familiar with those two titles.

Point well taken. Especially if it was some twentysomething doing the editing.

 

[firepoint525]

I looked it up, and that Marvin Gaye/Diana Ross duet "only" reached #12! A little surprising, considering that both of them were coming off recent #1 hits, "Let's Get It On" and "Touch Me in the Morning," respectively.

I'm wondering if that substituted title was ever even released as a single. It couldn't really be considered a "stiff" if it never even had a chance to become a hit.

 

[davideduardo]

If that were the case, then the network commercials would have been left in, too! That would be cool to hear those again, especially if some of them are for products that are no longer available.[/quote]

There was a version, for international distribution, done with no commercials. It was first distributed by Watermark, and then by AT50 foundeer Tom Rounds' Radio Express. On the other hand,Watermark and its survivors likely can not license rebroadcast of ads that they did not own; they may be copyright and otherwise be unairable. The idea is to broadcast the original show, not the commericals, which even varied by region.

Aside from that, what he was referring to was not "revisionist history." It was about correcting a mistake from the original program. If you know that there's a mistake in the program, you correct it before airtime. But since I am not familiar with either of those titles, I might never have known the difference.

I think the idea is to not change things nearly 40 years later, but to broadcast as they were the installments of the original show.

 

[gr8oldies]

If you want your fill of old commrcials, subscribe to www.reelradio.com and check out the many unscoped old top 40 airchecks.

 

[firepoint525]

There was a version, for international distribution, done with no commercials. It was first distributed by Watermark, and then by AT50 foundeer Tom Rounds' Radio Express. On the other hand,Watermark and its survivors likely can not license rebroadcast of ads that they did not own; they may be copyright and otherwise be unairable. The idea is to broadcast the original show, not the commericals, which even varied by region.
I think the idea is to not change things nearly 40 years later, but to broadcast as they were the installments of the original show.

It seems like with fewer commercials (and fewer commercial breaks), the program could be shorter. But I have seen no evidence that that is the case. I have noticed that when they took "breaks," they were not "breaks" at all. No commercials, not even local spots. They just said "we'll be right back," and then they were right back, without ever going away!

I was always cynical about the increase from three hours, to four, back in 1978, especially when they were still "only" a top 40 countdown after the time increase. I thought the real reason for the time increase was so that they could add more national spots. I seemed to recall hearing only local ads during the countdowns when I heard them aired back in the '70s.

 

[phantom444]

If that were the case, then the network commercials would have been left in, too! That would be cool to hear those again, especially if some of them are for products that are no longer available.

IIRC, American Top 40 did not have network/barter commercials until sometime in the mid-eighties...it was all cash for the stations that aired it.

 

[firepoint525]

If that were the case, then the network commercials would have been left in, too! That would be cool to hear those again, especially if some of them are for products that are no longer available.

IIRC, American Top 40 did not have network/barter commercials until sometime in the mid-eighties...it was all cash for the stations that aired it.

That would indeed confirm my suspicions about the real reason behind the time increase (to four hours) in 1978.

 

[oldies76]

I was always cynical about the increase from three hours, to four, back in 1978, especially when they were still "only" a top 40 countdown after the time increase. I thought the real reason for the time increase was so that they could add more national spots. I seemed to recall hearing only local ads during the countdowns when I heard them aired back in the '70s.

4 hours is way too long, but if you hear the re-runs on the mid to late 70's ATFs, some of the songs are overly edited for this show, even rediculously edited to the point of early fade outs, shorter than the 45 rpm single versions. I mean a two and a half minute version of "Come Sail Away" is just overdone.

 

[davideduardo]

IIRC, American Top 40 did not have network/barter commercials until sometime in the mid-eighties...it was all cash for the stations that aired it.

AT40 was developed by Tom Rounds as the first successful barter-based program right from the get-go. The early revenue stream was spotty, so stations, particularly in smaller markets, paid for the show... but the barter model was always there.

 

[firepoint525]

I was always cynical about the increase from three hours, to four, back in 1978, especially when they were still "only" a top 40 countdown after the time increase. I thought the real reason for the time increase was so that they could add more national spots. I seemed to recall hearing only local ads during the countdowns when I heard them aired back in the '70s.

4 hours is way too long, but if you hear the re-runs on the mid to late 70's ATFs, some of the songs are overly edited for this show, even rediculously edited to the point of early fade outs, shorter than the 45 rpm single versions. I mean a two and a half minute version of "Come Sail Away" is just overdone.

Right, I remember my sister complaining that Casey "cut off" some of her favorite songs!

These are the "K-Tel edits" of some of these songs!

I agree with you on the overediting of songs, but if you REALLY want to hear some extreme edits, listen to any of the year-end countdowns of the year's biggest hits! When you've got to cram in 100 songs in just eight hours, along with all those commercials, SOMETHING has got to give!

 

[gr8oldies]

One week I heard Kenny Rogers "Lucille" with literally the first verse and the last chorus, with the rest of the song sliced out. Must have run one minute.

IIRC, when AT40 moved to the four hour format, the show started with a recap of the top three songs of the previous week. That segment is, of course removed from the show in the reruns we hear today. Depending how many "AT40 extras" and long distance dedications per show, those can be dropped. Suposedly the reason for the expansion to four hours was songs getting longer since the debut 1n 1970.