CBS FM Countdown; Disgraceful Omission!!!

[lalumia]

obviously; the #1 station in NY is programming several of them (and should still be programming the breath taking version of "River Deep Mountain High");
despite Motown's undermining the Ross-less group because they were doing better than she was and that 'did not please' Mr.Berry Gordy

 

[adma]

I generally think either RDMH is acceptable enough for their respective reasons--but we really have to look beyond this radio-based "standing the test of time" logic, which makes me think of yokels with Franklin Mint taste.

So: Ike & Tina might stand the test of time; yet theirs wasn't a hit. Supremes + 4Tops was a hit; yet it's more an Ike & Tina proxy artifact these days. Which to choose, then? Either? Both? Neither? Or does it matter anymore?

In reality, here's a better demonstration of what we're up against: "Whole Lotta Love" and "Won't Get Fooled Again" have stood the test of time. OTOH their Top 40 edits--robbing the former of its orgasm break, the latter of its synth break--haven't...

 

[lalumia]

well, those edits were the top 40 radio versions, and CBS FM is the top 40 radio version station/77WABC AM surrogate;
Supremes/4 Tops beats Ike & Tina cos the Motown recording was a major NY radio hit and is remembered that way by the top 40 /CBS FM listeners in their mid 30s,40s and 50s, who bought and listened to the record, which is more than can be said for the Ike & Tina original(which, by the way, I do love and was bummed out by it's US failure BACK when I was a teenager in the 60s,having read that it was a hit in the UK)..
by the way, did you know that the Ross-less Supremes were more successful on the UK Top 40/Top of the Pops charts than the Ross led Supremes were in the 60s? Tis true,look it up(great tracks like "Floy Joy" and "Automatically Sunshine" which Gordy pulled the plug on over here, were bona fide hit records over there...)

 

[stevewillett]

So I guess that means we won't be hearing the version of "River Deep, Mountain High" by Deep Purple either!

 

[lalumia]

that was a GREAT record as well, and the top 40 edit was a WABC/WMCA chart/airplay item in it's day...
their version of "Kentucky Woman' was amazing,and then there was "Hush"..great,great stuff...

 

[DToTheJ]

So: Ike & Tina might stand the test of time; yet theirs wasn't a hit. Supremes + 4Tops was a hit; yet it's more an Ike & Tina proxy artifact these days. Which to choose, then? Either? Both? Neither? Or does it matter anymore?

I personally think Ike & Tina's rendition of "Proud Mary" is groovy, but CCR's original is far and away the all-time favorite.

 

[adma]

well, those edits were the top 40 radio versions, and CBS FM is the top 40 radio version station/77WABC AM surrogate;
Supremes/4 Tops beats Ike & Tina cos the Motown recording was a major NY radio hit and is remembered that way by the top 40 /CBS FM listeners in their mid 30s,40s and 50s, who bought and listened to the record, which is more than can be said for the Ike & Tina original(which, by the way, I do love and was bummed out by it's US failure BACK when I was a teenager in the 60s,having read that it was a hit in the UK)..

I won't dispute any of that--but, really; in practical terms, that kind of hardcore surrogate radio fantasy befits specialty programming on WFMU more than mass-appeal oldies. It isn't, uh, "musical teabagger" enough. It isn't Bob Seger "Old Time Rock & Roll" enough, etc etc...

 

[adma]

I personally think Ike & Tina's rendition of "Proud Mary" is groovy, but CCR's original is far and away the all-time favorite.

Yeah, to the point of hackneyed "Franklin Mint" stuff, as per my previous point...

 

[mary]

I enjoyed the A to Z countdown, next time around when they do it, they will play different songs. I enjoyed hearing the song "goodbye" by Mary Hopkins. As I always said you can't please everyone, always someone unhappy. I def did not think it was disgraceful!!! I thought they picked some good songs, but I did want to hear Pied Piper with the P's O well, next time!!! I have to admit, I did not hear all of the songs, It was a busy weekend, 2 many parties What I heard I loved!!!

 

[frozenfiresb]

So I guess that means we won't be hearing the version of "River Deep, Mountain High" by Deep Purple either!

Did Eric Burdon and the Animals do a version of that one as well?

 

[lalumia]

yes, in fact they did; and in typical of Eric Burdon style,it was off the beaten trail and quite fantastic;
but there was only ever one bona fide hit version of that song, and it was The Supremes/4 Tops version,which climbed the Billboard pop chart while the 70s Supremes were still in the Top 10 on their own with "Stoned Love",as "River Deep" peaked at #14(while going Top 10 in NY on WABC);
and yet Motown released no further singles from the group's album,unheard of after 'Stoned" reached #7 on the national chart, hardly a 'turntable hit' as someone tried to write it off as;
Miss Ross, on the other hand, could barely get off the ground after "Ain't No Mountain" topped the chart, her second solo album,"Baby It's Me",was loaded with flops, no charting singles whatsoever;
and trust me, it was NOT Motown/Berry Gordy's game plan to have the 'new' Supremes be more successful than a solo Miss Ross;
it was a half a year later that motown released the next single, with no fanfare or promotion, "Nathan Jones",which made it to #16 nationally anyway,and was a hit on Music Radio WABC; 'Nathan" zoomed right past the Diana Ross slowed down remake of "Reach Out I'll Be There" which stiffed out at #29;
I'm sure the girls waved as they passed her on their way into the Top 20;
needless to say, the girls outdoing Ross was not something Motown was going to allow to keep happening,and everyone in radio knows what happens in such a case, in the days before soundscan;
if a record sold but the label didn't like the act, they'd gladly take the $$$ from the record sales, but under report it to the trades and ask radio to 'kill' this record and add that record in it's place, and so on...

 

[John FL]

I’m probably going to regret jumping into all of this but I just can’t contain myself. First off I have to agree with Mary in that you can’t please everyone all the time. But my goodness, there is so much whining and carrying on and I just don’t get it.

Look, I’m all for diversity of opinions on these boards but let’s get real here. Maybe I like looking at the glass half full but gees, CBS FM played a virtual ton of songs many I haven’t heard in “like forever” and I’d rather focus on that than in what was not played.

I grew up listening to WABC and I will always hold a fond remembrance of them and all of the years they made radio so very special. But when we consider their heyday ended some 35+ years ago, what was considered cutting edge or great song selection back then doesn’t always fly today. As great a fan as I was of "ABC, they didn't make correct decisions 100% of the time - no one does or can.

I prefer to trust Brian Thomas’s judgment. Say what you will but he was not in an unenviable position. He had to satisfy all the cry babies who wanted CBS FM to be what it once was and he had to attract new, younger listeners to be viable who may not want to hear too many “River Deep Mountain High” no matter what the former chart position. A growing part of the audience never ever listened to the old WABC.

There is more creativity on a daily basis on CBS FM than many stations do all year. My advice to anyone who is dissapointed that a song is bypassed is to click on YouTube and listen to your heart’s content. In this way you can be the PD. Come on, let’s lighten up and enjoy music virtaully no other major radio stations want to touch.

Opinions are one thing - whining is another. IMHO, WCBS FM is just a class act. Call me whatever you like, but I'm happy Brian took the time and effort in treating listeners to something pretty cool on some hot summer days. I enjoyed it. Good show! Peace.

 

[lalumia]

no whining, just discussing...
when CBS FM switched back , I went on record on this board predicting their return to #1 on Day 1 of the switch back
...and was laughed at...
I'm delighted at the success, the sound of the station, etc.
as a fan, I'm allowed to discuss what does and does not please me, it does not take away from my pleasure in listening to the station and reveling in their current #1 status,as I called it early,and love rubbing it in to the proper parties.....
lighten up,big boy,learn some motown history on a 'hot hot hot' summer day

 

[DToTheJ]

I thought they picked some good songs, but I did want to hear Pied Piper with the P's...

Is it possible they might have played that Cristian St. Peters song in their "T" library? The song actually charted as "The Pied Piper". Then again, I recall hearing Men Without Hats' "The Safety Dance" just as they got underway with their "S" songs on Sunday afternoon. Perhaps CBS-FM did away with their entire "The" library, i.e. whatever the second word was in the title, the song was filed under the first letter of that word?

 

[Mothership]

They're afraid of playing back-to-back '60's songs now that they're #1.

I may be wrong on this but was "River Of Dreams" released in the '90s?

Ugh, that's REAL oldies for you.

Oooh...how disgraceful CBS-FM playing a song from the 90's.

By the way....when CBS-FM was thriving as "New York's Oldies Station" in the mid 1980's under Joe McCoy....do you suppose they played any 60's songs?
Twenty year old songs??

 

[lalumia]

actually CBS FM would do well to throw in some 90s party tunes like "Cmon Ride The Train", "Another Night" by Real Mc Coy,"Tonight Is The Night" by Le Click;
when they came back on the air, I said they reflected the perfect definition of a 'party station' by contemporary standards, in touch with the kareoke/nightclub/home entertainment system crowd that the world has evolved into;
I said it when them came back on the air and I'll say it again;
this is the wave of the future for terrestrial music stations ...

 

[DToTheJ]

... when CBS-FM was thriving as "New York's Oldies Station" in the mid 1980's under Joe McCoy... do you suppose they played any 60's songs? Twenty year old songs??

You may recall, back in those days, CBS-FM had played currents under the header, "CBS-FM, Yesterday... 101, Today!"

 

[BruceS8852]

Certainly no radio station can please all its listeners all the time. My suggestion to WCBS-FM would be to drop the Dick Bartley Countdown Show on Sunday night and replace it with a "Heart of Rock n Roll" show with Norm N Nite and Don K Reed alternating as hosts. There are younger people who enjoy the music from 1955-63.

Bruce

 

[adma]

Oooh...how disgraceful CBS-FM playing a song from the 90's.

By the way....when CBS-FM was thriving as "New York's Oldies Station" in the mid 1980's under Joe McCoy....do you suppose they played any 60's songs?
Twenty year old songs??

Yeah, but 20 years ago *then*, video hadn't killed the radio star yet, figuratively speaking. Indeed, if CBC-FM had to work on the same chronological terms today as then, it might as well not even exist, because the parameters of the marketed-to demo had changed so utterly by 1990, and not on contemporary pop radio's behalf, unless you're the kind of imbecilic dunce yokel who still plays air guitar to "We Built This City".

 

[davideduardo]

Come on, let’s lighten up and enjoy music virtaully no other major radio stations want to touch.

I agree 100% on all your points save this one. CBS-FM was brought back due to the success of WOGL in Philadelphia during the two years of PPM testing there... and the discovery that a move in the 70's direction made a modified oldies format very viable again.

There are countless classic hits stations around the country and the format is doing very well in most places where it is on a good signal and properly presented. KOOL-FM in Phoenix is an example of an oldies station that was dying in the diary and which is in the top couple of stations 25-54 in PPM thanks to a move to classic hits.

None have quite the heritage that CBS-FM has, and few have pulled it off as magnificantly. But yes, there are loads of stations playing the music today while it appeared that the whole format genre might disappear less than a decade ago.

Nobody died over a missed song, and everyone has little secret favorites that nobody else seems to like (mine is The Sylkie and You've Got To Hide Your Love Away), so the important thing as you well say is to appreciate what the station does, not whine about what it does not do or how banal and "Franklin Mint" the selections are.