June Ratings

[davideduardo]

I was actually referring to the practice of letting a music set play through and saving commentary at the very end of the set before going into the spots (please enlighten me as to what this practice is actually called). My apologies for the misuse of the term.

I'm not sure that the set had a standard name other than "set". The practice of announcing all the artists and titles at the end was just a backsell.

When I syndicated Beautiful Music, I called them "stacksells" indicating that a bunch of songs were all given together.

"All day, all night, all nice. Wish...97.5. We hear "Michelle" with Franks Chacksfield, Ferrante and Teicher played "Born Free". Roger Whittaker sang "The Last Farewell" and Bert Kaempfert brought us "Midnight Snack"... on Wish... 97.5"

 

[fordranger797]

I'm not sure that the set had a standard name other than "set". The practice of announcing all the artists and titles at the end was just a backsell.

When I syndicated Beautiful Music, I called them "stacksells" indicating that a bunch of songs were all given together.

"All day, all night, all nice. Wish...97.5. We hear "Michelle" with Franks Chacksfield, Ferrante and Teicher played "Born Free". Roger Whittaker sang "The Last Farewell" and Bert Kaempfert brought us "Midnight Snack"... on Wish... 97.5"

Backsell.. thats the term I was initially looking for; thanks for clearing that up. In the case of this beautiful music station, were all of the songs played in a given set mentioned at every break, or could you get away with only mentioning a few (as practiced on the modern KZOK)?

I'm not sure where you (or anyone else, for that matter) would stand on using this practice today. If too much talk causes the listener to tune out, I would assume that listeners would dislike long breaks that are not limited by a musical intro. Backsells always remind me of listening to college radio "This is [insert call letters]. First of all, you heard ______. Second of all, you heard _______." and so on.

 

[davideduardo]

Backsell.. thats the term I was initially looking for; thanks for clearing that up. In the case of this beautiful music station, were all of the songs played in a given set mentioned at every break, or could you get away with only mentioning a few (as practiced on the modern KZOK)?

I'm not sure where you (or anyone else, for that matter) would stand on using this practice today. If too much talk causes the listener to tune out, I would assume that listeners would dislike long breaks that are not limited by a musical intro. Backsells always remind me of listening to college radio "This is [insert call letters]. First of all, you heard ______. Second of all, you heard _______." and so on.

I never did backsells because of two reasons. First, I think that listeners to most stations that play non-current music already know the songs and it is annoying to name them over and over. Second, it's tedious. It's like reading the phone book.

One thing is to say the artist name and maybe title as the song ends, as in "Taylor Swift on Amp 107" and the other is to read a list.

 

[Rob Piotrowski]

I concur with David. Stations I programmed never did backsells. My philosophy was to keep moving forward - listeners don't care what aired 10 minutes ago if they just tuned in.

 

[semoochie]

Backsell.. thats the term I was initially looking for; thanks for clearing that up. In the case of this beautiful music station, were all of the songs played in a given set mentioned at every break, or could you get away with only mentioning a few (as practiced on the modern KZOK)?

I'm not sure where you (or anyone else, for that matter) would stand on using this practice today. If too much talk causes the listener to tune out, I would assume that listeners would dislike long breaks that are not limited by a musical intro. Backsells always remind me of listening to college radio "This is [insert call letters]. First of all, you heard ______. Second of all, you heard _______." and so on.

It may be difficult to relate to this with modern sensibilities but many of the people who listened to Beautiful Music grew up on pre-television radio and expected something different from their listening experience.

 

[davideduardo]

It may be difficult to relate to this with modern sensibilities but many of the people who listened to Beautiful Music grew up on pre-television radio and expected something different from their listening experience.

That may be the case with "good music" stations of the 60's starting with KABL and ending before the Marlin Taylor and Phil Stout era of the very late 60's leading from WDVR to Bonneville and SRP. They played show tune instrumentals, modernized versions of "Stardust" and even light classics.

But by the turn of the decade, much of the content consisted of instrumental versions of pop hits by the Hollyridge Strings and Paul Mauriat originals... not the 101 Strings and Percy Faith. This was targeted to the immediate pre-war folks and the new baby boomers who were, at the youngest, closing in on 30 and at the oldest 45 or 50. They grew up when not everyone had a TV, but when kids went to the neighbor's house to see Howdy Doody or Ernie Kovaks or Jimmy Durante, depending on whether they were kids or teens.

Keep in mind that the late 50's and all of the 60's were filled with Top 40 instrumentals... from The Champs to The Ventures to Sandy Nelson. Many Top 40 listeners also listened to Beautiful Music, in fact.

 

[semoochie]

That may be the case with "good music" stations of the 60's starting with KABL and ending before the Marlin Taylor and Phil Stout era of the very late 60's leading from WDVR to Bonneville and SRP. They played show tune instrumentals, modernized versions of "Stardust" and even light classics.

But by the turn of the decade, much of the content consisted of instrumental versions of pop hits by the Hollyridge Strings and Paul Mauriat originals... not the 101 Strings and Percy Faith. This was targeted to the immediate pre-war folks and the new baby boomers who were, at the youngest, closing in on 30 and at the oldest 45 or 50. They grew up when not everyone had a TV, but when kids went to the neighbor's house to see Howdy Doody or Ernie Kovaks or Jimmy Durante, depending on whether they were kids or teens.

Keep in mind that the late 50's and all of the 60's were filled with Top 40 instrumentals... from The Champs to The Ventures to Sandy Nelson. Many Top 40 listeners also listened to Beautiful Music, in fact.

I'm sorry but I think you're way off on this! Beautiful Music consisted of lush string versions of songs from around 1890 to the present and remained that way until it split off into Easy Listening in the early 1980s. Some stations played an occasional vocal, in the form of a cover version and very soft Carpenters songs eventually found their way into the format but the Ventures would be considered "rock & roll" and hated by the core audience. Edit: After careful consideration, it occurred to me that "Walk Don't Run '64" would fit into an MOR format so it's possible that some stations played it but it seems like it would detract from the overall presentation at that time. I remember once hearing an "Uncola" spot on such a station and thinking how jarring it sounded.

 

[davideduardo]

I'm sorry but I think you're way off on this! Beautiful Music consisted of lush string versions of songs from around 1890 to the present and remained that way until it split off into Easy Listening in the early 1980s. Some stations played an occasional vocal, in the form of a cover version and very soft Carpenters songs eventually found their way into the format

When Beautiful Music hit its stride... very early 70's... until its decline after about 1985, the format was generally quarter hour sets with two instrumentals, one vocal, and one to two more instrumentals (depending on length).

Some syndicators were a bit more conservative, keeping some instrumental versions of "standards" and show tunes in the format, but in most cases the songs were contemporary. By the mid-70's, the major syndicators were recording custom instrumental covers of Top 40 and AC songs in Europe and supplementing with the most modern sounding album releases... Mauriat, Caravelli, James Last, Richard Clayderman, Jean-Claude Borelli, Francis Goya, Norrie Paramour, etc.

The vocals tended to be either MOR songs or acceptable AC songs and even some Top 40 ballads on occasion. In the vocals, the sound had to be very contemporary... Streisand, not Sinatra. Singers, not crooners. And Beautiful Music had some of its own hits, like the Roger Whittaker "Last Farewell" that was on every Beautiful Music station from Anchorage to Asunción.

I was a member of the "alliance" of independent Beautiful Music stations / syndicators that included Kala Music, WDVR, EZ Communications and others and we recorded hundreds and hundreds of custom cuts, mostly in England, covering current songs or Top 40 material that we thought did not have a good Beautiful Music version on commercial releases. I also recorded in Madrid additional material for the Latin American market which was entirely covers of late-60's to present pop hits.

The major fall-off in Beautiful Music stations did not happen until the period beginning around 1985 and beyond. Some stations morphed into AC, others just changed format totally.

...but the Ventures would be considered "rock & roll" and hated by the core audience.

I did not say that the Ventures were part of Beautiful Music. I said that many pre-boomers and the first decade or so of Baby Boomers grew up when Top 40 radio played many instrumentals so non-vocal music was part of those listeners' experience. The transition into 80% instrumental Beautiful Music listening was not hard, as instrumentals... including soft ones like "Love is Blue" and "Theme from a Summer Place" were very much part of the Top 40 experience then.

And... since much of a Beautiful Music station's playlist was made up of instrumental versions of songs like "Blue Velvet" and "Put Your Head on my Shoulder" the sound was familiar and pleasant.

 

[semoochie]

When Beautiful Music hit its stride... very early 70's... until its decline after about 1985, the format was generally quarter hour sets with two instrumentals, one vocal, and one to two more instrumentals (depending on length).

Some syndicators were a bit more conservative, keeping some instrumental versions of "standards" and show tunes in the format, but in most cases the songs were contemporary. By the mid-70's, the major syndicators were recording custom instrumental covers of Top 40 and AC songs in Europe and supplementing with the most modern sounding album releases... Mauriat, Caravelli, James Last, Richard Clayderman, Jean-Claude Borelli, Francis Goya, Norrie Paramour, etc.

The vocals tended to be either MOR songs or acceptable AC songs and even some Top 40 ballads on occasion. In the vocals, the sound had to be very contemporary... Streisand, not Sinatra. Singers, not crooners. And Beautiful Music had some of its own hits, like the Roger Whittaker "Last Farewell" that was on every Beautiful Music station from Anchorage to Asunción.

I was a member of the "alliance" of independent Beautiful Music stations / syndicators that included Kala Music, WDVR, EZ Communications and others and we recorded hundreds and hundreds of custom cuts, mostly in England, covering current songs or Top 40 material that we thought did not have a good Beautiful Music version on commercial releases. I also recorded in Madrid additional material for the Latin American market which was entirely covers of late-60's to present pop hits.

The major fall-off in Beautiful Music stations did not happen until the period beginning around 1985 and beyond. Some stations morphed into AC, others just changed format totally.




I did not say that the Ventures were part of Beautiful Music. I said that many pre-boomers and the first decade or so of Baby Boomers grew up when Top 40 radio played many instrumentals so non-vocal music was part of those listeners' experience. The transition into 80% instrumental Beautiful Music listening was not hard, as instrumentals... including soft ones like "Love is Blue" and "Theme from a Summer Place" were very much part of the Top 40 experience then.

And... since much of a Beautiful Music station's playlist was made up of instrumental versions of songs like "Blue Velvet" and "Put Your Head on my Shoulder" the sound was familiar and pleasant.

Here's the line that caused me to respond: "Keep in mind that the late 50's and all of the 60's were filled with Top 40 instrumentals... from The Champs to The Ventures to Sandy Nelson." It sounded like you were referring to the Beautiful Music format. Had you said that during this period, Top 40 was filled with instrumentals, I would have understood your point. Your clarification indicates that we're on the same page. Also, I meant to say that Beautiful Music stations that didn't change formats generally evolved into Easy Listening and that pretty much saw them through the rest of the '80s before moving in a very Soft AC direction.

 

[fordranger797]

I concur with David. Stations I programmed never did backsells. My philosophy was to keep moving forward - listeners don't care what aired 10 minutes ago if they just tuned in.

That is an excellent philosophy. A radio mentor of a mine once said "If you ever have to stop the natural momentum, know where you want to go with a break, get there, and stop." I guess some of those breaks could be a real trap...