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Bottom 20 tunes

M

mailman ron

Any good sources for hearing the "Bottom 20" of any "Top 40" song charts?...Oldies stations have always played primarily the Top 20 (or more realistically the Top 10 songs) of any given week or year and I'm sick of those. And growing up in the 60's and 70's, a lot of my favorite songs never made it past #21...some one-hit wonders and some that just clicked with me (Cinnamon Cinder !!)...so if anyone knows of a website or even a Billboard Top 40 list weekly for the 60's, 70's, and 80's, let me know. Then maybe I can go and download some of these gems....Have a Merry Christmas everybody!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
 
mailman ron said:
Any good sources for hearing the "Bottom 20" of any "Top 40" song charts?...Oldies stations have always played primarily the Top 20 (or more realistically the Top 10 songs) of any given week or year and I'm sick of those.
Click to expand...
One of my biggest disappointments growing up was the New Years music countdown of the best 100 songs or whatever. At the stroke of midnight when the countdown ended I expected the station to play new songs. But no, they played the same old stuff. It made celebrating the new year anti-climactic.
 
You're lucky to have heard anything at all. Amazing for the DJs after midnight New Years Eve to even make it through the shift in their delicate condition! Everybody always tried to get out of that shift.
 
SFStatic said:
You're lucky to have heard anything at all. Amazing for the DJs after midnight New Years Eve to even make it through the shift in their delicate condition! Everybody always tried to get out of that shift.
Click to expand...

They weren't real broadcasters then. A real broadcaster works holidays. No place for wimps. I remember once when I worked at channel 31 in Sacto and had to drive back from the Bay Area for a shift on Thanksgiving. While I was in a hurry to get back I neglected to check my oil. The car managed to throw a rod about 5 miles outside Fairfield. I walked into town and tried to find someone to go get my car. No such luck. Everybody was having turkey dinner with their families and whatnot. I absolutely had to get back to the station and do my shift as we were already shorthanded. Well, my Thanksgiving dinner consisted of a turkey sandwich from the bus station vending machine, as I waited for the next Greyhound out of town.

I did get back to the station, about 2 hours late, but I did get there. I knew we had a vital mission to fulfill: playing decrepit old Audie Murphy movies and sci-fi relics to a new generation.
 
Most of the full time talent at SF and other major market stations have holidays off. (This used to be great back when more stations were union...can remember paying for all of Christmas with the long double time shifts on Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Years'. )
 
mailman ron said:
Any good sources for hearing the "Bottom 20" of any "Top 40" song charts?...Oldies stations have always played primarily the Top 20 (or more realistically the Top 10 songs) of any given week or year and I'm sick of those. And growing up in the 60's and 70's, a lot of my favorite songs never made it past #21...some one-hit wonders and some that just clicked with me (Cinnamon Cinder !!)...so if anyone knows of a website or even a Billboard Top 40 list weekly for the 60's, 70's, and 80's, let me know. Then maybe I can go and download some of these gems....Have a Merry Christmas everybody!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Click to expand...

I would suggest getting XM. Tons of songs you've never heard before, and once a week they play the entire Casey Kasem Top 40 from a week in the 70s.

And once a year, they do something called "IT" where they endeavor to play every charting song from the 40s to the present. It takes them a month, running non-stop.

There are also a number of online radio stations that play lesser-heard stuff. Check out itunes or do a google search and you'll maybe find something.
 
scooty430 said:
mailman ron said:
Any good sources for hearing the "Bottom 20" of any "Top 40" song charts?...Oldies stations have always played primarily the Top 20 (or more realistically the Top 10 songs) of any given week or year and I'm sick of those. And growing up in the 60's and 70's, a lot of my favorite songs never made it past #21...some one-hit wonders and some that just clicked with me (Cinnamon Cinder !!)...so if anyone knows of a website or even a Billboard Top 40 list weekly for the 60's, 70's, and 80's, let me know. Then maybe I can go and download some of these gems....Have a Merry Christmas everybody!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Click to expand...

I would suggest getting XM. Tons of songs you've never heard before, and once a week they play the entire Casey Kasem Top 40 from a week in the 70s.
Click to expand...

Locally, KFRC is running those Classic Casey Kasem shows Saturday mornings at 6 am (complete 3-hour show, usually date-specific, e.g., "this week in 1974") and again Sat nite at 10 (final 2 hours only). They're a wonderful time-trip, and you'll hear all those songs that peaked at #37 or whatever.

This week they ran the first half of his "Top 100 Songs of 1978" -- presumably the second half will air this coming Saturday.
 
Thanks for all the suggestions...one last one....anywhere online where the Top 40 charts for each week in the 60's, 70's and 80's might be?...I'd like to check out those lists...Billboard's site has them, but you have to pay $25 a month!!..and that's only for the Top 100 of any year...any free places or a little more reasonable than $25 a month?...also a week-by-week chart of the 60's - 90's would be fantastic
 
I'm not sure how you'd access old Billboard surveys, but there are plenty of places on-line to get radio station surveys from the 60s and 70s - usually on blogs posted by radio nostalgists and collectors.

For LA radio, Bill Earl is the go-to guy - he posts surveys and other radio nostalgia on his blog, mostly KHJ, KRLA and KFWB. He has a soft spot for Dr. Don and the Bay Area, so he also has occasional surveys from KFRC, KYA, and KEWB.

http://www.billearl.blogspot.com/

As we all know, the internet is a big messy place, so you probably won't be able to find a consistent set of surveys in chronological order, but you can find some. For example, I just googled "KFRC Big 30" and found the following link:

http://www.ct30.com/kfrc/kfrc_index.html

The Bill Drake stations were the most consistent about distributing their surveys. You probably know that most other places outside the Bay Area - their surveys were "Boss" 30 (KHJ, KGB, etc.)
 
Lkeller,
Thanks for the links...I've been a fan of the Bay Area Raio Museum for a long time(sfradiomuseum.com) but didn't think to look there (duh)...and the LA link adds some variety...KSFO "Sounds of the City" ID has to be the best and most melodic jingle ever produced...thanks again for the help
 
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