True...Didn't think of that. Maybe if the countdown was the top 1000, then possibly a few pre '64's may have made the lower portion. It'll be interesting to see how KRTH's plays out here soon.
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KRTH 2013 Labor Day Countdown
- Thread starter oldies76
- Start date
True...Didn't think of that. Maybe if the countdown was the top 1000, then possibly a few pre '64's may have made the lower portion. It'll be interesting to see how KRTH's plays out here soon.
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Thomps2525
Guest
Some people have the idea that, because the teenagers of the 1950s and 1960s are in their 60s and 70s now, songs from the 1950s-60s will no longer get enough votes to make a Top 500 countdown. Ladies and gentlemen of the jury, I maintain that there are hundreds of 1950s-60s songs used in movies and tv shows and commercials, and I further maintain that a lot of young people are exposed to the music their parents grew up with because the parents play it at home. I also note that a lot of the requests for older songs on Art Laboe's syndicated program come from people in their teens and 20s. I also note the continuing popularity of the music of Elvis Presley, the Beatles, the Rolling Stones and other artists. Therefore, I'm asking you, the jury, to render a verdict that it is unfair and incorrect for anyone to think that young people can not or do not like the 1950s-60s songs. (Whether those same young people would vote for those songs in a countdown is a matter to be decided in another trial.)
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Thomps2525
Guest
In one of my many boxes of radio memorabilia---also known as "junk"---I found an article from 2005 in which KRTH's Karen Tobin discussed how Jay Coffey spearheaded research to determine if 1973-79 songs should be added to the playlist. Listeners did indeed want to hear hits from the '70s. KRTH added songs by Chicago, America, Carole King, Gladys Knight, Al Green, Earth Wind & Fire, Wild Cherry, Elton John, Doobie Brothers and other artists. Operations manager Jack Silver said, "Our primary goal is to provide our listeners with the hit music they want to hear. At the same time we must stay competitive in the all-important advertising demographic that advertisers desire, which is first and foremost Adults 25-54." Tobin added that the expanded playlist had been planned prior to the launch of adult-hits Jack-FM. She said that KRTH makes "ongoing adjustments to regenerate its audience in the 25-to-49-year-old demos."
So...does KRTH program more for the listeners or for the advertisers?
So...does KRTH program more for the listeners or for the advertisers?
And as some people...I mean I...noted in my post, I'm 57, like that music fine, but at no point in my life has it ever factored into my top 3 songs. Good luck finding thousands of people born between 1968 and 1978 who will name not just any pre-1964 song as a top 3 favorite, but the same ones (in order for them to get enough votes to crack the chart).
Please tell me that's a rhetorical question.
A radio station makes a profit/breaks even/stays in format/stays on the air by delivering enough of the demographic the advertiser finds desirable.
They do that by meeting that demographic's expectations.
This is Radio 101, Steve.
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Thomps2525
Guest
"Radio 101." Is that a play on words, based on K-Ea--------no, I refuse to say it. And yes, I know that a station has to make money. Unfortunately, in today's world of radio and satellite and Internet and iPods and dozens of other listening choices, a station with a deep playlist can't succeed. Look at KSCA's adult album alternative format or the original format of KSWD "The Sound." And remember when KLAC cut their "Big 57" playlist down to only 25? (It eventually went up to 35.) But here is a legitimate question: How do advertisers know when a station's listeners are buying a product or using a service because they heard it advertised on the station? Advertisers can know that they're reaching a certain number of listeners in a particular age group but how can they know if their ads are actually being listened to and responded to?
David can correct me if I'm wrong, Steve, but so little advertising is local direct anymore that it's no linger about ads making an impact on the individual station as it is buying the top-rated stations in the demo and creating enough impressions in total that people buy the product or service. Kinda like TV. It's not because you saw it on Channel 4, it's because you see it several times a day, everywhere.
That should be "longer", not "linger". $&@! Autocorrect.
There is still a lot of local direct, but in markets like Los Angeles smaller accounts can't afford full market coverage stations because they end up paying for pairs of ears that are too far away from a particular place of business. And accounts that are a bit bigger generally pick up an ad agency as promotion in a complex metro is so hard.
But agencies, local, regional or national, use ratings to buy... either in combination with other criteria or on a pure numbers thing. When an agency does a campaign, it may include several to many radio stations, TV, cable via local systems operators, print, direct mail, point of purchase, new media, etc. So the evaluation of one station or even one medium is hard.
As is commonly said, "I know half of my advertising doesn't work. But I just don't know which half."
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Thomps2525
Guest
Well, the twenty songs that got the most votes are now on KRTH's website. Now we get to pick our favorite among them. The song with the most votes will be this year's number one on the Top 500. KRTH listed the songs in alphabetical order by the first letter of the name of the artist. The final twenty are:
American Pie, Brick House, September, Margaritaville (Jimmy "Buffet"?), You Make Lovin' Fun, Hotel California, Boogie Oogie Oogie, Here Comes The Sun, Billie Jean, Grease, I Will Survive, Sister Golden Hair (although KRTH shows that as the artist and "America" as the title!), Blinded By The Light, Don't Stop Believin', Joy To The World (not the Christmas song---the other one), December 1963, Old Time Rock & Roll, My Life, My Girl.....and (Gak!!!) Brown Eyed Girl.
No 1950s, no early '60s, no '90s, no 2000s, no Elvis, no Rolling Stones, no instrumentals, no Stairway To Heaven, and only one Beatles song. Even the perennial top-ten favorites Satisfaction and Hey Jude and Light My Fire are absent. Other than that, the final twenty holds no surprises. I'll pause now to give David and Michael the opportunity to tell me, "See? The core audience will always vote for the same ol' songs."
http://kearth101.cbslocal.com/k-ear...ay-interactive-countdown-vote-for-the-1-song/
American Pie, Brick House, September, Margaritaville (Jimmy "Buffet"?), You Make Lovin' Fun, Hotel California, Boogie Oogie Oogie, Here Comes The Sun, Billie Jean, Grease, I Will Survive, Sister Golden Hair (although KRTH shows that as the artist and "America" as the title!), Blinded By The Light, Don't Stop Believin', Joy To The World (not the Christmas song---the other one), December 1963, Old Time Rock & Roll, My Life, My Girl.....and (Gak!!!) Brown Eyed Girl.
No 1950s, no early '60s, no '90s, no 2000s, no Elvis, no Rolling Stones, no instrumentals, no Stairway To Heaven, and only one Beatles song. Even the perennial top-ten favorites Satisfaction and Hey Jude and Light My Fire are absent. Other than that, the final twenty holds no surprises. I'll pause now to give David and Michael the opportunity to tell me, "See? The core audience will always vote for the same ol' songs."
http://kearth101.cbslocal.com/k-ear...ay-interactive-countdown-vote-for-the-1-song/
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Thomps2525
Guest
KRTH's website is using PollDaddy software to tabulate the voting. Not surprisingly, we can't see the ongoing tally. After we vote for a song, we get this notification: "Results for this poll have been set to private."
Which is exactly what any radio station would do. To allow a competitor to track the voting and possibly use that information would be.........stupid.
Well now that we know the top 20 possiblities (isn't much of a surprise anymore & w/o the usuals in the choices..ie "Hey Jude", "Stairway to Heaven" or "Yesterday"), the other 480 slots will be interesting. But heck, I'll be in the comfort of home spinning the entire REAL Labor Day Special that KRTH used to do back in the 80's. You know, that wonderful special formulated by real rankings from real radio surveys from the 50's to the 80's.
"A Southern California Tradition"
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Thomps2525
Guest
I voted for Here Comes The Sun because I like the Beatles and because I'm not as sick of that song as most of the others on the list. I'm going to make a bold prediction that American Pie will be number one. And while I'm at it, in case some of you haven't seen the 2011 "Grand Rapids Lip Dub" of American Pie here it is---the most amazing music video ever recorded...and it was done in one continuous take:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZPjjZCO67WI
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZPjjZCO67WI
This is actually a fascinating list.
Three 60s songs. Sixteen 70s songs and one 80s song. That distribution alone makes it obvious that 50s is too old and 90s too new to have major traction. The 60s are obviously receding in the rear-view mirror.
I'm very surprised at "Here Comes The Sun" over "Hey Jude".
And the rest of the list...well, they're suggesting to me that the bulk of the voters are in their mid-to-late 40s.
I'll be very interested to see the final tally.
I'd say the odds are remote, unless the demographics skew heavily older in the second round.
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Thomps2525
Guest
On many message boards---not just this one---Brown Eyed Girl is the most frequently cited example of a burned-out overplayed song that most of us are sick of hearing. Judging from the airplay the song gets on oldies and classic-rock stations, one would think that it was a huge number-one-hit but it got only to #10. Here are the other songs that peaked at #10 in 1967: Mirage, Jimmy Mack, I'm A Man, The Tracks Of My Tears (Rivers), Skinny Legs & All, A Girl Like You, Girl You'll Be A Woman Soon, Tell It To The Rain and An Open Letter To My Teenage Son. A few of those songs I would love to hear again.....but radio stations insist on playing Brown Eyed Girl...and playing it...and playing it...and playing it...and.......
Rewind (Steve), I doubt we'll if ever again will hear "Open Letter......" It's a spoken word "song", almost 4 minutes long. "Jimmy Mack", "Tracks of My Tears", "I'm a Man" and "Girl You'll be a Woman Soon" are all great songs and should be aired today, but are not. The others should also have their fair share.
And they're playing it, playing it, playing it here in Colorado too! As soon as the first 5 notes of "Brown......" came on our local AM oldies station 1530, I tuned out. Not good for their PPM I suppose...lol
BTW, "Brown Eyed Girl" did peak at #2 on KHJ in '67, so maybe the bigger airplay in L.A.
2 days til the "Number One Music Weekend" begins on K-Earth 101........oops, I meant the top 500 countdown. (got my years mixed up here....)
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Thomps2525
Guest
In 1967 KRLA had an all-request format. Instead of the Tune-Dex survey, they put out a 40-song "Most Requested" list. On August 5, 1967, Brown Eyed Girl debuted at #35. (The Monkees' Words was the number-one most requested song.) From #35, the song went to #37 and then KRLA discontinued the list, along with the nightly "Teen Toppers" countdown show. On Labor Day weekend, all the DJs were moved to different shifts. Bob Eubanks was gone and Rhett Walker was new. Jim Wood did remotes from the Cheetah club and there were "Saturday Night Thing" concerts and dances at Pasadena Civic Auditorium. KRLA promoted all of this as "The New Season of Excitement." And we never got a chance to find out how many more weeks Brown Eyed Girl would have been among the top 40 requests or how high it would have gotten.
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