Hits That Never Get Played on Radio Any More

[chas108]

I'll submit for your listening and nurgling pleasure,"All I Want" -Toad The Wet Sprocket. This song reminds me of Badfinger and George Harrison.

Agreed. Also from that era, "Runaway Train" by Soul Asylum.

Throw in "Baby Blue" (the single remix w/a KB Pop-Top thrown in) by Badfinger and for a George Harrison classic I haven't heard in years..."What Is Life".

 

[John C]

I agree with Rad, I think many of these are "Stiff" in nature. And, in "Seasons in the Sun" and "Wreck" it seems we need a "Hits that should never get played on radio ever again". But I digress. As for this thread I'll submit a Pat Benatar sounding Marilyn Martin with "Night Moves".

 

[Bob1370]

Couple of tunes previously mentioned (Bend Me Shape Me - The American Breed; You Got It - Roy Orbison) seem to be almost in hot rotation on WLGZ in Rochester.

One tune you really don't hear on the radio any more, but air personalities used to have fun with when it was a current, is a 1968 tune, Fire by The Crazy World of Arthur Brown (yes, that was the full name of the act, although it was actually just singer/songwriter Arthur Brown on vocals with session musicians recruited for the studio and for occasional live shots in England).

Don't know how big a sales hit it was west of the Mississippi, or even in upstate NY (although WBBF played it). But it charted nationally on the strength of really strong airplay and sales in the eastern US and especially in the NYC and Philly areas (where it got huge play on WFIL, WMCA and WABC).

 

[Savage]

We played it (heavily dayparted) on The Big E, WENE in the Triple Cities. I recall being yelled at for playing Crazy World Of Arthur Brown in the 11am Saturday hour, by PD Richard "Sarge" Ulrich, a/k/a "Johnny Donovan," today's announcer and production guy at WABC and voiceover talent for Rush.

 

[heydaybegone]

-Don't need a green card since I am an U.S. citizen (ah-the best of both worlds...inlcuding paying taxes in both countries!)

-Air check? People still listen to those?

Having fun with both (ok, double taxation bites!)!! This thread has some juices flowing (didn't want to step out of protocol ;D). Actually..air checks wouldn't matter anymore (think about that for a second or three). It's about passion...especially on this thread.
The postings come from the trenches...not the trenchers...(has that EVER been done for real anywhere? correct me if I'm wrong )

Yes...this is a compiliation of several threads...but it's makes a statement (well, among us anyway :'()

Thank you!!

HDBG

 

[Mike Sheridan]

Super-uptempo song out of news and/or the top of the hour. No Mitch Ryder before noon. Limit, one instrumental per hour. And: never, ever, EVER play "Seasons In The Sun."

Also... never, ever, EVER play "The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald" ... because every time we played it, someone got fired!

Not even when the gales of November come early? Even if you're in Duluth, Mn?

"Wreck" goes in Great Lakes Lunar Rotatation (Buffalo, Cleveland, Detroit, Chicago, Milwaukee, Duluth, Toledo, Erie, Rochester, Watertown only; Syracuse optional), Restricted to 10 am - 5 am, Monday - Tuesday; October - December. And as long as we're doing Selector talk and in the Gordon Lightfoot file, I'll manually schedule "Beautiful."

"Beautiful" by Gordon Lightfoot one of my favorites, Bless you Jim!

I'd rather hear "Season's In the Son" a few times rather than some overplayed Elton John, Billy Joel, or Endgland Dan crap that A/C radio just can't get enough of. Oh and while I'm feeling cranky add "Margaritavile" the the list of songs I never want to hear again. Oh and GET OFF MY LAWN!!! ;D

"Wreck of the Edmond Fitzgerald" not for morning drive but the song still has fans even outside of the Great Lakes region. In the pre Selector days I was in change of scheduling the music for morning drive and anything down tempo like "Killing Me Softly" or "The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face" was forbidden in morning drive. Only mid and up tempo songs in that daypart. The feeling was, we didn't want to put people back to sleep!

 

[heydaybegone]

Oh and GET OFF MY LAWN!!!

I don't recall that one...and it's not in Whitburn.... cool ;D (LOL)

Also...with all these tunes flying (awesome)...how about we shake up the "standard" programming rules....just for fun ???

(we are, after all building a brand new radio station...no? )

HDBG

 

[SirRoxalot]

"MargaritaVILE". HAH! HAHAHAHAHA! I'll never think of it any other way, Mike!

 

[chas108]

I'm lovin' this stuff! "Avenging Annie" by Andy Pratt..."Fire" by The Crazy World Of Arthur Brown...
gotta add this hit from late 1970...or early '71 depending on the market:

The Buoys - "Timothy"

 

[Element9]

Two things: (1) I'd rather endure 'Seasons In The Sun' rather than be subjected to the Chinese Water Torture that is 'Alone Again Naturally.' (2) I could stand to hear 'Machine Gun' by the Commodores a few times before it became tiresome.

 

[Tom Wells]

Machine Gun -- by The Riptides! Search for it on YouTube.

Now there's a song! I have no idea about the Commodores' song by that title.

 

[JohnW]

Yes, Fire was a hit around here in 1968. I was on the jukebox in the diner side of the Quonset Inn in Fairport. I was working out that way & had breakfast there every morning. A kid would come in and play it around 5:30 AM. Groans from everyone. After about a week of this, the cook came out, pulled the jukebox away from the wall, unplugged it, and cut off the plug. IIRC, the cook got some sizeable tips that morning.

 

[Element9]

Machine Gun -- by The Riptides! Search for it on YouTube. Now there's a song! I have no idea about the Commodores' song by that title.

Also from YouTube: Machine Gun -Commodores, Billboard Chart #22, 1974. Platform shoes and polyester, optional.

 

[Penrod Rightout]

Two things: (1) I'd rather endure 'Seasons In The Sun' rather than be subjected to the Chinese Water Torture that is 'Alone Again Naturally.' (2) I could stand to hear 'Machine Gun' by the Commodores a few times before it became tiresome.

oooooo I can easily see how this thread could evolve into "Songs we NEVER want to hear on the radio again!" - to which I would add Gilbert's follow-up to "Alone Again" - "Get Down"

Oh, wait... that would be under "stiffs" wouldn't it?

Now, we're truly AOR (All Over the Road)

GT
Now in Buffalo

 

[Savage]

Goin' into The Wayback Machine here: WBBF used to have a live broadcast of bar bands from a club called Maxwell's Silver Hammer 1976-77. We would take turns hosting the broadcast Sunday nights, introducing the band live on stage.

During breaks and after the show, depending on how social the band was, we'd hang out with them. As it turned out one live show I hosted starred The Buoys, who had the '71 cannibalistic hit "Timothy."

The Buoys were down-to-earth, easy to talk to guys. After we had a couple brewskies I casually asked how their investment portfolios were doing, since I surmised they all got a pretty decent payday from a chart-topper like "Timothy." I got wry laughter from the band. One of them informed me the total take - split among the five members - was $1500. The label, producer and other miscreants got the rest.

 

[Tom Wells]

Goin' into The Wayback Machine here: WBBF used to have a live broadcast of bar bands from a club called Maxwell's Silver Hammer 1976-77. We would take turns hosting the broadcast Sunday nights, introducing the band live on stage.

During breaks and after the show, depending on how social the band was, we'd hang out with them. As it turned out one live show I hosted starred The Buoys, who had the '71 cannibalistic hit "Timothy."

The Buoys were down-to-earth, easy to talk to guys. After we had a couple brewskies I casually asked how their investment portfolios were doing, since I surmised they all got a pretty decent payday from a chart-topper like "Timothy." I got wry laughter from the band. One of them informed me the total take - split among the five members - was $1500. The label, producer and other miscreants got the rest.

That's REAL rock radio, and I wonder why it never continued. Live remotes from clubs and bars on Friday and Saturday nights are about as good as it can get. In December I heard a live remote on WNTD Am 950 Chicago from the GREEN MILL, once owned by a certain Mr Capone, which still has lots of jazz and swing with fake commercials for men's hair pomade that cracked me up, a live annnoucer introducing numbers by the band, and I sat in the car transfixed for half an hour while I was supposed to be going in to a house-warming party and set up the stereo.
I was transported to another time while a LIVE band played hot jazz and swing ( not just schmaltz ). If I didn't work midnights every day of my life, I'd be over to the Green Mill every Friday night to see this happen, as it's only 1.5 miles away.

I swear I could almost see a spring-suspended "ring" microphone and the announcer in a tux.

 

[chas108]

Two things: (1) I'd rather endure 'Seasons In The Sun' rather than be subjected to the Chinese Water Torture that is 'Alone Again Naturally.' (2) I could stand to hear 'Machine Gun' by the Commodores a few times before it became tiresome.

oooooo I can easily see how this thread could evolve into "Songs we NEVER want to hear on the radio again!" - to which I would add Gilbert's follow-up to "Alone Again" - "Get Down"

Oh, wait... that would be under "stiffs" wouldn't it?

Now, we're truly AOR (All Over the Road)

GT
Now in Buffalo

Actually PR, this was the progression:

Alone Again Naturally (Summer '72)
Clair (Fall '72)
Out Of The Question (Spring '73)
Get Down (Summer '73)

Only "Out Of The Question" failed to make the Top 10. It was, however, big enough at 'KB to make their year-end Top 100. As to whether you want to hear any of those on radio again is a wide-open question. I'd pick "Alone Again" and "Get Down" in a reallllly lunar rotation.

Savage - GREAT story about the Buoys! I read somewhere they were from Scranton. My wife had some old WOLF surveys from Summer '70 and "Timothy" was big in Syracuse before it got to Buffalo in the Fall of '70. They made $300 apiece (about $2000 today)?! Somewhere in the back of my mind I hear James Mattingly III from the Wonders quoting washed-up Diane Dane: "Never trust a label".

 

[Savage]

Yep, they were from Scranton. I also heard a recurring story about how supposedly, after "Band Of Gold" topped the charts in the summer of 1970, Invictus Records totted up all the revenue minus promotional tour costs, management fees and whatnot and sent Freda Payne a bill for $30,000. The 18 year old allegedly declared bankruptcy and quit pop music in disgust.

Then there's the story about how ? & The Mysterians supposedly sold "96 Tears" for $250 upfront money, but I've been unable to get reliable confirmation on either story over the years.

 

[Bill Myers]

Same with the Beatles. I understand those guys (boys) hardly made a profited from their early hits. They got ripped off too. Although I'm sure they didn't do too badly - with all the dope they smoked and whatever other 'goodies' they were on. With that said, they probably didn't make too many pounds as all 4 of 'em didn't seem to have enough to get haircuts.

Mr. Savage - Freda actually had to pay 30 thou? Wow. I'm sure she gave up her band of gold. How could someone get ripped off that bad. Did she even read the contract or did she have one? Granted she was 18 at the time and maybe so excited about making a record she just asked where to sign.

 

[heydaybegone]

Granted she was 18 at the time and maybe so excited about making a record she just asked where to sign

And that was how long ago...and it still happens.