Guess my Yankee memory's forgotten about Crowbar on 'KB. I played the link and it didn't ring a bell...I may have heard Doucette a time or two, of course Heart is the act I most associate with Mushroom. The Stampeders were quite interesting, I certainly get the parallel Sean draws to "Life In The Fast Lane" (which I guess would make "Sweet City Woman" their "Take It Easy?)...and I indeed played "Go For Soda" so I knew who Kim Mitchell was (but knew nothing about Max Webster.) Good to hear he's still around.
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Hits That Never Get Played on Radio Any More
- Thread starter Debaser
- Start date
Up way too early for a Saturday morning. While checking email, the song "Blinded By The Light" pops into my head for no apparent reason. The Springsteen version, off his '73 album, "Greetings From Asbury Park." Then this dormant thread bubbles up in my brain.
How and why do things like this happen?! Why am I not thinking of something relevant? Like maybe, did I leave my car windows open in the rain last night? Or, why did Hillary let her hair grow? Or, is it too late to move what's left of my 401(k) to mid-cap stocks?
But no. I get "Blinded By The Light."
The line "play the song with the funky break" in Blinded compounds this conundrum. I immediately think of the rondo from "Hocus Pocus" by Focus (which was a hit in '71) and wonder if the yodeling and accordion in the song was the inspiration for Springsteen's lyrics. Too many questions, way too early in the day.
Point is, I wouldn't mind hearing either or both songs on the radio.
How and why do things like this happen?! Why am I not thinking of something relevant? Like maybe, did I leave my car windows open in the rain last night? Or, why did Hillary let her hair grow? Or, is it too late to move what's left of my 401(k) to mid-cap stocks?
But no. I get "Blinded By The Light."
The line "play the song with the funky break" in Blinded compounds this conundrum. I immediately think of the rondo from "Hocus Pocus" by Focus (which was a hit in '71) and wonder if the yodeling and accordion in the song was the inspiration for Springsteen's lyrics. Too many questions, way too early in the day.
Point is, I wouldn't mind hearing either or both songs on the radio.
The last time I heard Springsteen's version of "Blinded" was several years ago on the Fox in Rochester. Of course, Manfred Mann's cover version gets played ad nausium (sc) on many formats. As for "Hocus Pocus" by Focus, IIRC that song charted in the Spring of '73! I'll have to consult my Whitburn almanac or google to confirm this but I'm pretty sure I was a freshman in high school when that was playing on the radio.
qman said:
You are correct, sir!
You win your choice of the American Tourister Luggage from Spiegel, Chicago, Illinois 6-0-6-0-9... or three nights at the semi-luxurious, devilishly notorious, frequently glorious, Sweaty Palms Motor Inn, where nobody sleeps alone, thanks to Mary, Sheila and Joan.
Must have been a different song "with the funky break." The question is, what song? Zoot! Another unanswered question. Could be the beginning of a new or revived thread.
Let's see, "Asbury Park" came out in '73. That means Bruce was probably working on it in '72. So, we're looking for '72 funk. Let's see:
"I Gotcha" by Joe Tex - serious funk, rarely heard these days
"I'll Take You There" by the Staple Singers - Mavis & the fam are as soulful as you can get
"Long Cool Woman (In a Black Dress)" by the Hollies - definitely had a funky break, and Bruce seems to appreciate long, cool, women
"Everybody Plays the Fool" by the Main Ingredient - would appeal to Bruce's "everyman" sensibilities
"Backstabbers" by the O'Jays - the Philly sound that blanketed southern Jersey
"Jungle Fever" by the Chakachas - possibly the inspiration for Jungleland as well!
"Bang a Gong (Get It On) - Brit-funk from Marc Boland & T. Rex
BTW, the last two get precious few spins these days...
"I Gotcha" by Joe Tex - serious funk, rarely heard these days
"I'll Take You There" by the Staple Singers - Mavis & the fam are as soulful as you can get
"Long Cool Woman (In a Black Dress)" by the Hollies - definitely had a funky break, and Bruce seems to appreciate long, cool, women
"Everybody Plays the Fool" by the Main Ingredient - would appeal to Bruce's "everyman" sensibilities
"Backstabbers" by the O'Jays - the Philly sound that blanketed southern Jersey
"Jungle Fever" by the Chakachas - possibly the inspiration for Jungleland as well!
"Bang a Gong (Get It On) - Brit-funk from Marc Boland & T. Rex
BTW, the last two get precious few spins these days...
qman said:
"Hocus Pocus" was definitely spring of '73, pretty much concurrent with Edgar Winter's "Frankenstein". I remember reading a story about Focus in Zoo World, a short-lived competitor to Rolling Stone. As I recall, they were all virtuoso classical musicians and "Hocus Pocus" was their satire on rock & roll.
Whoever remastered it for CD butchered it. The first yodeling break repeats at the end...replacing the accordion and whistling followed by the cheering as the "hook" repeats for the final time. You'd think listening to the original record would be step one in doing any remaster.
FWIW I woke up this morning hearing Pink "Get The Party Started" in my head. Must've been remembering the MD at our now-defunct Top 40 sister playing it for me when it was first released, to our mutual amazement.
Pink's first three hits ("There You Go", "Most Girls" and "Sick") were 2nd rate dancey-bubble-gummy crap, the Y2K equivalent of the Osmonds' "Double Lovin'". In this context "Party" was "Down By The Lazy River"...except Pink went onto such a solid career that those first three embarrassments are now...or should be...long forgotten.
I'll be waiting for Silkie to say he heard all three last week. ;D If that's the case, how 'bout a new thread..."Hits that should never be played on the radio again!"
Chas...as much as I concur here...honest...there is some validity to actually sliding these types of tunes into a "really, really, really" long rotation. Back in the day, referred to as the "WOW" factor. Not overplayed..not an intrusion...just creating a "reaction" similar to they way these threads seem to track. It's amazing how time changes things...and just hearing "something different, yet familiar" goes a long way. BTW...this isn't some programming "salvation" to the industry. There is something to your comment supporting this.."HITS that should never...."...just the fact that they were a hit allows the "wow" factor.
Ok...the target is positioned strategically on my back, firing line is clear..."fire in the hole!!"
HDBG
So, I guess what you guys are leading up to is the "What were we thinking" category...
qman said:
Or maybe '72s "Super Fly". Curtiss Mayfield made a big impression. One of you famous guys call up Bruce and ask him, will ya?
Another sleepless night SirRox...I tried and he wouldn't take my call
HDBG
B
Bob1370
Guest
When it comes to the Hot 100, the Grateful Dead were one-hit wonders...in 1987 they went top 10 with "Touch of Gray" from the In The Dark album, their only chart single. Good record but you never hear it on either classic hits or classic rock stations.
Actually, "Hell In A Bucket" went to #3 on the "Mainstream Rock" chart, and "Foolish Heart" went to #8 on "Mainstream Rock". But, with the plethora of charts, it's hard to tell what qualifies as a hit.
B
Bob1370
Guest
"Actually, "Hell In A Bucket" went to #3 on the "Mainstream Rock" chart, and "Foolish Heart" went to #8 on "Mainstream Rock". But, with the plethora of charts, it's hard to tell what qualifies as a hit."
True...I just used the rule that to be a "hit" in the traditional sense, it has to have charted high on the Hot 100 chart in Billboard, or on the CHR/Pop charts on AllAccess or the late, lamented Radio & Records.
True...I just used the rule that to be a "hit" in the traditional sense, it has to have charted high on the Hot 100 chart in Billboard, or on the CHR/Pop charts on AllAccess or the late, lamented Radio & Records.
Which brings to mind "The Rain, the Park and Other Things" with that cool little bouncy organ riff throughout the song.The Cowsills were dismissed as bubble gum, which arguably, they were. But some of their songs were produced quite well, to say nothing of having catchy hooks.Tom Wells said:
And in the days before "auto tune" (I'm lookin' at you, Taylor Swift) they got the harmonies right more often than not. Sure, they could have been augmented by session singers, but for the most part, they could hit Middle C without much trouble.
heydaybegone said:
Chas...as much as I concur here...honest...there is some validity to actually sliding these types of tunes into a "really, really, really" long rotation. Back in the day, referred to as the "WOW" factor. Not overplayed..not an intrusion...just creating a "reaction" similar to they way these threads seem to track. It's amazing how time changes things...and just hearing "something different, yet familiar" goes a long way. BTW...this isn't some programming "salvation" to the industry. There is something to your comment supporting this.."HITS that should never...."...just the fact that they were a hit allows the "wow" factor.
Ok...the target is positioned strategically on my back, firing line is clear..."fire in the hole!!"
HDBG
;D Heyday, the song my head always defaults to as "Example A"...a giant hit in its day...biggest of the decade of the 70's, in fact...but so wore out its welcome is...
Debby Boone "You Light Up My Life".
Definitely one for a "What were we thinking" thread. I'm trying to think of another song that was such a massive multi-format hit...but within a couple years became audio Kryptonite - in any format?
I still remember the late night guy at WABC, on after George Michael...early '79...keying the mic as Debby's vocal started..."I think this record has a scratch in it...(vocal continues)...I know it does...(vocal)...I know there's a scratch in here somewhere...(vocal)...SCRRRETCCCCHHH!!! Dead air, then..."I knew that had a scratch in it!" into a jingle and the next song.
I think even such now-reviled titles as "Macarena", "Ice Ice Baby" and "Who Let The Dogs Out" could play once or twice a year on a "back in the day" weekend. Of course none of those hits was accompanied by the worst movie of all time!
As for The Cowsills...in my mind there are two classes of bubblegum. The Cowsills represented all that was great about the genre. I include 1910 Fruitgum Company, Ohio Express, The Archies, Debbie Gibson (composer, arranger and musician!) and Hanson (Rolling Stone critics award 1997!) and a couple others as "Class A".
"Class B" are the ones who may or may not have a moment or two of greatness but inevitably, eventually became The Butt Of The Joke. At least their songs never made it out of Recurrent...if they ever made it in. Think David Cassidy, Donny Osmond, Leif Garrett, Tiffany et.al. Miley Cyrus is becoming The Butt Of The Joke right now although "See You Again" was a guilty pleasure...fluff at its best.
B
Bob1370
Guest
"I still remember the late night guy at WABC, on after George Michael...early '79...keying the mic as Debby's vocal started..."I think this record has a scratch in it...(vocal continues)...I know it does...(vocal)...I know there's a scratch in here somewhere...(vocal)...SCRRRETCCCCHHH!!! Dead air, then..."I knew that had a scratch in it!" into a jingle and the next song."
Had to be Howard Hoffman, who was a terrific jock but just got to the WABC party a little too late...he's still working his magic as Citadel's West Coast production director, working out of KABC, as well as doing a lot of voiceovers on everything from commercials to cartoons.
Had to be Howard Hoffman, who was a terrific jock but just got to the WABC party a little too late...he's still working his magic as Citadel's West Coast production director, working out of KABC, as well as doing a lot of voiceovers on everything from commercials to cartoons.
;D Heyday, the song my head always defaults to as "Example A"...a giant hit in its day...biggest of the decade of the 70's, in fact...but so wore out its welcome is...
Debby Boone "You Light Up My Life".
Definitely one for a "What were we thinking" thread. I'm trying to think of another song that was such a massive multi-format hit...but within a couple years became audio Kryptonite - in any format?
[/quote]
I'm thinking "Feelings" by Morris Albert would qualify there, although I don't know if it still receives airplay because I don't listen to stations that would play that swill. Plus I'm not dead yet.
Debby Boone "You Light Up My Life".
Definitely one for a "What were we thinking" thread. I'm trying to think of another song that was such a massive multi-format hit...but within a couple years became audio Kryptonite - in any format?
[/quote]
I'm thinking "Feelings" by Morris Albert would qualify there, although I don't know if it still receives airplay because I don't listen to stations that would play that swill. Plus I'm not dead yet.
Debaser said:
"Feelings"! And 13Q/Pittsburgh was sooo early on that record...by MONTHS. And did they make a big deal out of its having been a big hit in Brazil (I think?)
Reminds me of when Salem bought Top 40 WNRJ/Pittsburgh at the end of '89. The station had languished as WYDD-FM for years...finally became "Energy 105" with Rick Sklar consulting. Indeed it sounded like a more-irreverent, Pittsburgh version of WABC, and predictably they began eating away at B-94's numbers. Until the local owner sold to Salem, who thought "that swill" would be a better way to go. (It wasn't.) And when R&R dutifully reported the format change in January 1990...the quote from the new PD was...
"I'm taking this baby beautiful music!"
I could see this guy with a closet full of Morris Albert memorabilia, right alongside his plaque from Columbia congratulating him for making "To All The Girls I've Loved Before" a hit.
Bob1370 said:
It probably was Howard Hoffman. And you're right...it was '79...Harry Harrison had been fired, disco WKTU had beaten them and it was all downhill from there...
I recently found a link to a mock-tribute site for WVWA/Pound Ridge...if all he'd ever done in his life was "Nine!", he'd still be Hall-Of-Fame worthy for that bit alone.
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