Now Playing on K-Earth - Classic Rock! (Well, sorta...)

[Thomps2525]

When we discuss KRTH or any other oldies sta....er, I mean "classic hits" station, most of us consider Brown Eyed Girl to be the most burned-out overplayed song, one that makes us change the station as soon as we hear the first few notes. Last night I watched a tv infomercial for an eight-CD set called The Folk Years. In addition to Burl Ives, Pete Seeger, Joan Baez, Bob Dylan, Kingston Trio, Peter Paul & Mary, Limeliters, Journeymen and other folk artists, the CDs include such non-folk hits as Monday Monday, California Dreamin', American Pie, San Francisco, Get Together, Do You Believe In Magic, Red Rubber Ball and A Summer Song.

And.....Brown Eyed Girl. Yikes!

 

[michael hagerty]

When we discuss KRTH or any other oldies sta....er, I mean "classic hits" station, most of us consider Brown Eyed Girl to be the most burned-out overplayed song, one that makes us change the station as soon as we hear the first few notes. Last night I watched a tv infomercial for an eight-CD set called The Folk Years. In addition to Burl Ives, Pete Seeger, Joan Baez, Bob Dylan, Kingston Trio, Peter Paul & Mary, Limeliters, Journeymen and other folk artists, the CDs include such non-folk hits as Monday Monday, California Dreamin', American Pie, San Francisco, Get Together, Do You Believe In Magic, Red Rubber Ball and A Summer Song.

And.....Brown Eyed Girl. Yikes!

Most people like it. Most people never heard it as much as you did because they varied their listening. And now that it's not being played daily, much less multiple times daily, people are starting to miss it.

 

[Thomps2525]

I can't speak for anyone but myself---and you can all be glad of that!---but when I hear a song so often that I get sick of it, I never start liking it again. Absence will not make me grow fonder of it.

KRTH is in a city with a lot of Hispanics. Why don't they play the El Chicano version of Brown Eyed Girl? And don't point out that it wasn't a top-40 hit---neither were Shout or Moondance and KRTH plays those!

 

[oldies76]

KRTH is in a city with a lot of Hispanics. Why don't they play the El Chicano version of Brown Eyed Girl? And don't point out that it wasn't a top-40 hit---neither were Shout or Moondance and KRTH plays those!

KRTH plays Santana (Oye Como Va), The Champs (Tequila), Ritchie Valens (La Bamba), Mocedades (Eres Tu), Malo (Suavecito) and El Chicano (Viva Tirado)...I think the Hispanic audience is covered. ;D

 

[oldies76]

And now that it's not being played daily, much less multiple times daily, people are starting to miss it.

And risk losing their audience in droves by eliminating 60's music. 55+ is a bonus. You should take what you can get.

 

[Thomps2525]

KRTH also plays the Los Lobos remake of La Bamba...but why can't any station play the complete version with the lengthy guitar part at the end? And I can ask that same question about Cat Stevens' Peace Train.

 

[davideduardo]

And now that it's not being played daily, much less multiple times daily, people are starting to miss it.

And risk losing their audience in droves by eliminating 60's music. 55+ is a bonus. You should take what you can get.

When agencies only look at ratings rankers for the demographic they are buying, they won't see the 55+ and they don't perceive it as a bonus.

So losing 55+ will have zero impact on sales... whether the 55+ leave "in droves" or stick around.

 

[davideduardo]

KRTH is in a city with a lot of Hispanics. Why don't they play the El Chicano version of Brown Eyed Girl? And don't point out that it wasn't a top-40 hit---neither were Shout or Moondance and KRTH plays those!

There is no indication that Hispanics like stiffs or covers by Hispanic artists. They generally like the same songs that were hits around the world.

And there are quite a few documented cases of songs becoming popular among gold-based format listeners even if the song was not an instant hit as a single... or even did not come out as a single. The real issue, as always, is identifying songs from a particular era that people want to hear on the radio today.

 

[michael hagerty]

I can't speak for anyone but myself---and you can all be glad of that!---but when I hear a song so often that I get sick of it, I never start liking it again. Absence will not make me grow fonder of it.

Sentence #2: "Most people like it. Most people never heard it as much as you did because they varied their listening. And now that it's not being played daily, much less multiple times daily, people are starting to miss it."

 

[Thomps2525]

On the message boards I go to, almost everyone is sick of Brown Eyed Girl...and several other burned-out '60s songs I could name. Admittedly, we are probably what you would decribe as "music freaks" and certainly not part of the "mass audience" that radio stations covet. We are the fringe. (And boy, does that sound like a good song title!)

"Most people like" Brown Eyed Girl?

Q.E.D.---and I want to hear from real people, not auditorium test subjects.

 

[michael hagerty]

On the message boards I go to, almost everyone is sick of Brown Eyed Girl...and several other burned-out '60s songs I could name. Admittedly, we are probably what you would decribe as "music freaks" and certainly not part of the "mass audience" that radio stations covet. We are the fringe. (And boy, does that sound like a good song title!)

"Most people like" Brown Eyed Girl?

Q.E.D.---and I want to hear from real people, not auditorium test subjects.

Schizophrenia much?

In one line, you acknowledge that you are the fringe.

In the next, you want proof that mainstream tastes differ from your own.

I could probably be a bit more precise. Most Oldies/Classic Hits listeners of a certain age like "Brown Eyed Girl".

QED? It's still getting played. Which means it tests.

 

[davideduardo]

Q.E.D.---and I want to hear from real people, not auditorium test subjects.

People who go to music tests are what are called "research friendly". Guess whether families that carry a PPM around for up to 24 months are also research friendly. That's the connection.

As a well known consulting firm's poster from the 80's said:

"It's the diarykeeper, stupid"

 

[Thomps2525]

I wonder what the results would be if KRTH selected 10,000 people at random and asked every one of them, "Do you still like hearing Brown Eyed Girl or are you sick of the song?"

Of course that will never happen. KRTH will continue to play that song over and over and over until the inevitable happens and all 1960s songs vanish from the playlist. By the way, Michael, of all my co-workers and of all the posters on certain other radio/music message boards, I know of only one who says he isn't sick of hearing Brown Eyed Girl. If all the rest of us are members of the fringe, then it's an awfully big fringe.

 

[Thomps2525]

Pardon me for goofing up the italics there. I wish this site allowed us more than a few seconds to make corrections in our posts. Oh well...

We're all expecting new KRTH program director Rick Thomas to make some changes to the playlists of KRTH and KTWV. His profile on LinkedIn includes the following:

Program Director, KRTH KTWV
CBS Radio Public Company; 10,001+ employees; Entertainment industry
May 2013 – Present (3 months)

From mid-May to July 1 is a month and a half, not three months...and didn't Jhani Kaye officially retire on June 30? So Thomas has had actually the job for one day. He must have taken a college class known as "Exaggeration 101."

 

[oldies76]

I wonder what the results would be if KRTH selected 10,000 people at random and asked every one of them, "Do you still like hearing Brown Eyed Girl or are you sick of the song?"

Of course that will never happen. KRTH will continue to play that song over and over and over until the inevitable happens and all 1960s songs vanish from the playlist. By the way, Michael, of all my co-workers and of all the posters on certain other radio/music message boards, I know of only one who says he isn't sick of hearing Brown Eyed Girl. If all the rest of us are members of the fringe, then it's an awfully big fringe.

I guess it wouldn't be so bad if "Brown Eyed Girl" or any classic for that matter, were played with less frequency, than they are now. "Brown Eyed Girl" is actually a very good song, catchy for 1967. My personal favorite is "Beginnings" by Chicago, the album version of course.

But even that song would be annoying to me....or anyone, if heard 7 times a week or even 3 times. There's a time and place for music and whether you are in the mood or not to hear your favorites at any given time can affect your view of such song the moment it plays.

Some people absolutely love "Brown Eyed Girl", but everyone gets tired of hearing the same thing, everyday, or every week or month!! I don't care what the "experts" excuses are, people will always like something new to try out (whether it's hearing "new" oldies on the radio or a new selection of back to school products on store racks this summer). People hate monotony and that's a fact of life LARadioRewind. Too bad others don't see it the way we do, but that's life too.

 

[Thomps2525]

"People hate monotony." Y'know, I'm starting to get tired of you saying that over and over.

 

[michael hagerty]

By the way, Michael, of all my co-workers and of all the posters on certain other radio/music message boards, I know of only one who says he isn't sick of hearing Brown Eyed Girl. If all the rest of us are members of the fringe, then it's an awfully big fringe.

KRTH's weekly cume is more than 2 million. Their quarter hour average is into the six figures. Got that many co-workers and posters?

 

[michael hagerty]

Pardon me for goofing up the italics there. I wish this site allowed us more than a few seconds to make corrections in our posts. Oh well...

We're all expecting new KRTH program director Rick Thomas to make some changes to the playlists of KRTH and KTWV. His profile on LinkedIn includes the following:

Program Director, KRTH KTWV
CBS Radio Public Company; 10,001+ employees; Entertainment industry
May 2013 – Present (3 months)

From mid-May to July 1 is a month and a half, not three months...and didn't Jhani Kaye officially retire on June 30? So Thomas has had actually the job for one day. He must have taken a college class known as "Exaggeration 101."

LinkedIn takes the dates you enter and creates the length of time. It doesn't allow you to enter a precise date, so it counts any part of a month as a month. So May, June and today, July=3 months the way LinkedIn works.

Rick didn't do it.

 

[michael hagerty]

I wonder what the results would be if KRTH selected 10,000 people at random and asked every one of them, "Do you still like hearing Brown Eyed Girl or are you sick of the song?"

Of course that will never happen. KRTH will continue to play that song over and over and over until the inevitable happens and all 1960s songs vanish from the playlist. By the way, Michael, of all my co-workers and of all the posters on certain other radio/music message boards, I know of only one who says he isn't sick of hearing Brown Eyed Girl. If all the rest of us are members of the fringe, then it's an awfully big fringe.

I guess it wouldn't be so bad if "Brown Eyed Girl" or any classic for that matter, were played with less frequency, than they are now. "Brown Eyed Girl" is actually a very good song, catchy for 1967. My personal favorite is "Beginnings" by Chicago, the album version of course.

But even that song would be annoying to me....or anyone, if heard 7 times a week or even 3 times. There's a time and place for music and whether you are in the mood or not to hear your favorites at any given time can affect your view of such song the moment it plays.

Some people absolutely love "Brown Eyed Girl", but everyone gets tired of hearing the same thing, everyday, or every week or month!! I don't care what the "experts" excuses are, people will always like something new to try out (whether it's hearing "new" oldies on the radio or a new selection of back to school products on store racks this summer). People hate monotony and that's a fact of life LARadioRewind. Too bad others don't see it the way we do, but that's life too.

Even if you listened 24/7, you wouldn't hear it 7 times in a week, because it's not played that often.

And when it was, in the deep, dark Jay Coffey days, the typical listener......say it with me, now.....wasn't listening 24/7 and didn't hear it that often.

 

[davideduardo]

I wonder what the results would be if KRTH selected 10,000 people at random and asked every one of them, "Do you still like hearing Brown Eyed Girl or are you sick of the song?"

Asking about a song by name is a horrible research method. You virtually have to play a snippet and ask how much a person would like to hear that song on the radio today.

In any case, a properly selected 80 to 100 persons will yield almost exactly the same results as 10,000 persons. And 80 to 100 properly recruited persons will yield vastly superior results to 10,000 randomly selected persons. This can be proven by replication...