Songs of the last 30 years that would pass for "MOR"

[cd637299]

I will admit, I pretty much gave up on "hit music" back in the early 80s. Even the AC stations were starting to play rougher stuff than I knew as middle-of-the-road (MOR) as I was growing up. "Full service" MOR stations went away in the major cities at the time AM radio went the talk route, as folk wanted their music on FM.

So......

This is all subjective, but can we list songs made only in the last 30 years here, that if, say, were recorded in that earlier time when MOR/full service radio was king, would have been accepted on that old station's playlists? (like WLW, WIOD, KFI, WGN, WSB, WOR....)

I think this would be an interesting thread....YMMV

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[klutch00]

Here's a list for starters:

"Kissing A Fool" by George Michael
"What's New" by Linda Rondstadt and Nelson Riddle
Many of Neil Diamond's AC singles from 1982 on (possible exception being "Headed for the Future")
Elton John: "Blue Eyes"; "I Guess That's Why They Call It The Blues"; "In Neon"; "Candle In The Wind-1997"
Barry Manilow: "Memory"; "Somewhere Down the Road"; "Read 'Em and Weep"
Barbra Streisand "The Way He Makes Me Feel"; "Somewhere"; along with other post 1982 singles which charted respectably on the AC Chart.
Dionne Warwick "Friends in Love" w/Johnny Mathis; "Heartbreaker"; "Whisper in the Dark"
Certain tracks by Diana Krall
Certain tracks from Tony Bennett

Just for starters.

I for one would like to see the idea of MOR come back to the airwaves so long as it was done right. I think though that the chatter should be kept within reason. If the daytime jocks were all like Tom Gauger of the WMAL of old, that would be cool. I would put more emphasis on the music especially during mid-day and nighttime, allowing mellower and/or light jazz type music in evenings and overnights.

 

[cd637299]

Oh a point I wanted to make----

I want to discard any "Great American Songbook" artists/songs if the songs were not singles. That would take out Diana Krall, the current Rod Stewart, Buble, and others.

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[Chuck]

Oh a point I wanted to make----

I want to discard any "Great American Songbook" artists/songs if the songs were not singles. That would take out Diana Krall, the current Rod Stewart, Buble, and others.

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Why would you do that? Just curious. I think you'd miss a lot of really great performances.

 

[cd637299]

Oh a point I wanted to make----

I want to discard any "Great American Songbook" artists/songs if the songs were not singles. That would take out Diana Krall, the current Rod Stewart, Buble, and others.

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Why would you do that? Just curious. I think you'd miss a lot of really great performances.

Well, only because they were not singles, as MOR used to play. Sure, they used to play a smidgeon of album cuts, but in 2012, only (seemingly) album cuts would make the air at such a station. And, there would be an overload of just those artists I mentioned, and the variety would not be there. Listeners would scream that they're sick of hearing those artists!

I'm trying to think of any song since "Don't Know Why" in '02 that would make the list....

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[semoochie]

The last truly new MOR song I can think of is, "New York, New York". Soft Rock is not MOR, no matter how soft!

 

[cd637299]

The last truly new MOR song I can think of is, "New York, New York". Soft Rock is not MOR, no matter how soft!

I did say that this thread was subjective. I am willing to give a little, and say that the songs should go beyond the "box" of adult standards, like NYNY.

But I'm not willing to go so far and say that REO Speedwagon, Journey, Michael Bolton, Mariah Carey, et al. are MOR. Again, c'est moi.

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[Chuck]

Well, only because they were not singles, as MOR used to play. Sure, they used to play a smidgeon of album cuts, but in 2012, only (seemingly) album cuts would make the air at such a station. And, there would be an overload of just those artists I mentioned, and the variety would not be there. Listeners would scream that they're sick of hearing those artists!

Doesn't that limit your play-list even more? I certainly wouldn't (and don't) exclude songs that were singles, but there is a lot of good music to be found out there. You just have to look for it. You might also alienate a younger audience. Contrary to popular belief some younger people like this music. It is all new to them.

Not long ago an obviously early teen age girl phoned in while Frank Sinatra was crooning away. Rather timidly, she asked "Who is that singing that sounds just like Michael Buble?" As a result, she discovered something new to her. I think playing contemporary performers who are in the style of this music helps you connect with a younger audience.

 

[jhguthlac]

In this day when "singles" are simply cuts the label/artist wants to promote, excluding album cuts does not really make sense. The key is that the songs are familar to listeners. Avoid obscure stuff.

 

[Chuck]

Having listened to a lot of MOR stations in the late 1950's and through the 1960's, I don't recall them shying away from cuts that were only released on LP's, not singles.

 

[vchimpanzee]

Dial Global played an Andy Williams song called "Dreamsville" which was really nice, but it's not listed as one of his singles on Wikipedia.

When I looked it up I was amazed that some songs of his that Dial Global is playing didn't even make the Hot 100.

 

[ChrisInMI]

Some songs I think could work:

On the Wings of Love - Jeffrey Osborne
Sweet Love, Giving You the Best That I Got, Caught Up in the Rapture - Anita Baker
Here and Now - Luther Vandross
Moonlight Lady, All of You (duet w/Diana Ross) - Julio Iglesias. I also remember a really beautiful duet he did with Stevie Wonder called "My Love" - would love to hear that one again.
Overjoyed - Stevie Wonder
An Innocent Man, And So It Goes, This is the Time, Lullabye (Goodnight My Angel) - Billy Joel
Last Song - Elton John
Smooth Operator, Your Love is King, The Sweetest Taboo, Is It a Crime? - Sade
Live to Tell, This Used to Be My Playground - Madonna (surprised these haven't popped up on DG yet)

Let's also not forget the softer side of country:
Love, Me - Collin Raye (didn't cross over, but I think it would fit)
Where've You Been - Kathy Mattea
Baby I Lied - Deborah Allen (a fairly big AC hit in its day, it hit #10 on the chart)
Almost anything by Alabama, Eddie Rabbitt, Ronnie Milsap, Dolly, Kenny, Juice Newton, from the early '80s
Unanswered Prayers - Garth Brooks
I Hope You Dance - Lee Ann Womack

Keep in mind also that many of the full-service MOR stations were contemporizing their sound by the early '70s. WHAS in Louisville started the '70s as a traditional MOR, but by the time the Super Outbreak occurred in 1974, they had moved to what would be considered Hot AC. If you listen to the unscoped airchecks of WLW from the day of President Kennedy's assassination, there was only one Billboard rock-era chart hit that I recognized out of all the songs played, and that was "Pocketful of Miracles" by Frank Sinatra (lots of album standards and some big-band hits though). By 1970, they too were playing more contemporary music. In Minneapolis, WCCO was playing Michael Jackson's "Rock With You" in 1980. I guess what my point is here is, are you referring to MOR stations as they sounded in the '50s and '60s, or once they started to move more toward pop-adult in the '70s?

One answer to your question may lie in KBVA "Variety 106.5" in Bella Vista, Arkansas. They have one of the most eclectic MOR playlists I've ever seen... hit singles, standards, album cuts, lite country, even a touch of B/EZ. And they stream!

 

[cd637299]

^ I think I caught KBVA 106.5 via e-skip DX a few years back! Did not know they stream.

I did not really "study" MOR until the early 70s (I am 53), so I guess you could say the 70s. I have some airchecks of WGBS 710 Miami from 1961. I hardly recognized anything at all! If WGBS played 4 songs in an hour, that would be too much! Bizarre to listen to.

The Billboard Easy Listening chart did not start until July '61 ("The Boll Weevil Song" being the first #1)....so I could not figure out what was considered MOR before that!

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[semoochie]

MOR was once described as being between Mantovani and rock&roll. That's the "middle of the road" inferred.

 

[cd637299]

MOR was once described as being between Mantovani and rock&roll. That's the "middle of the road" inferred.

The announcer at WAIA Miami (aka "A1A") in 1978 used to use this recorded phrase each hour: "Between the rock....and the soft place...."

A1A may have been "MOR" in its day, but maybe "soft AC" would be more like it.

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[GeneSavage]

A beautiful song that was a big hit in 1980 (made #75 on the year-end charts) but absolutely disappeared after is "Should've Never Let You Go" by Neil Sedaka & Dara Sedaka:

http://youtu.be/Xzd1Kn5P2Ek

Would this fit (technically two years outside of the "30 year" window, but still...)?

Would the Carpenters be too soft? "Voice of the Heart" was released in 1983 and had three singles: "Make Believe It's Your First Time," "Your Baby Doesn't Love You Anymore," & "Now."

 

[ChrisInMI]

I never knew "Now" was a single. I did know it was the last song Karen Carpenter ever recorded, less than a year before she died, and it is a beautiful song. "Make Believe It's Your First Time" was recorded first by Karen for her abortive solo album, about the same time Bobby Vinton had a minor chart hit with it. I think all of the "Voice of the Heart" singles are good fits for MOR... not so sure about their cover of "Beechwood 4-5789," though, which was their final tune to reach the Billboard Hot 100 in 1982.

I've always liked Richard's 1987 single "Something in Your Eyes" featuring Dusty Springfield on vocals. It does feature a guitar solo, but it's not nearly as problematic by an MOR yardstick as the guitar solo on "Goodbye to Love" was. Then there's Karen's solo single "If I Had You," included on the "Lovelines" compilation and released as a single in 1989 (still seven years before the solo album itself was released). It's a bit brassier and funkier than any of the Carpenters' singles, probably would have fit on MOR in the very late '70s or into the '80s though. In fact, I can see a number of the cuts from Karen's solo album having been played on MOR stations if the album had been released in 1980 as planned. It wasn't the dramatic stylistic turnaround some people may have thought at that time; it would have fit nicely into at least AC stations' playlists at the time.

"Should've Never Let You Go" is a great song as well. It was played in June on a replay of "American Top 40" from 1980, and that was the first time I've heard it on the radio since the former B/EZ WJOI in Detroit played it in the late '80s. I definitely think that one would fit too.

 

[EZway2go]

Keep in mind also that many of the full-service MOR stations were contemporizing their sound by the early '70s.

True, and some even continued into the '80s such as WIP in Philadelphia until they switched to a sports talk format later in the decade. For some reason, what stands out for me is my recollection of hearing songs like "Harden My Heart" by Quarterflash, "Gypsy" by Fleetwood Mac, and "Suddenly Last Summer" by The Motels.

But if the intent of this thread was to list songs which would have belonged on a MOR playlist in its heyday (10 to 20 years earlier), that gets a lot harder. Probably many of the softer songs by Phil Collins and Vanessa Williams would have fit. In fact, I think Vanessa Williams may be one of the only singers left still recording today who actually sings instead of moans. I can't say the same for Celine Dion and Mariah Carey as their voices are rather shrill.

I like the idea of including the softer side of country mentioned earlier. "Somewhere In My Broken Heart" by Billy Dean from the early '90s had MOR hit written all over it. A really good one already mentioned is "Where've You Been" by Kathy Mattea. Also, the many hits by George Strait, Vince Gill, and Alan Jackson would be naturals and, to a lesser extent, some by Alabama and The Judds.

As far as individual songs go, at the top of the list would have to be the Nat King Cole/Natalie Cole duet version of "Unforgettable." Next in line, I'd have to include Bette Midler's "Wind Beneath My Wings" and "From A Distance," as well as the aforementioned Elton John's "Can You Feel The Love Tonight" and "Candle In The Wind." Also for the list...
"Home" Michael Buble
"You" Bonnie Raitt
"Fields Of Gold" Sting
"And So It Goes" Billy Joel (already mentioned, but a great song - my favorite by Billy Joel)
"Beautiful In My Eyes" Joshua Kadison

 

[EZway2go]

A few more for the MOR list...

"My Heart Will Go On" Celine Dion (I'll grant her one exception for this big movie hit)
"To Where You Are," "You Raise Me Up" Josh Groban
"Midnight Blue" Louise Tucker
"Now and Forever (You and Me)" Anne Murray
"Theme From Terms Of Endearment" Michael Gore
"Theme From St. Elmo's Fire" David Foster
"The Best Of Me" David Foster & Olivia Newton-John
"Believe In Me," "Make Love Stay" Dan Fogelberg
"If We Hold On Together" Diana Ross
"That's What Friends Are For" Dionne Warwick & Friends
"Glory Of Love" Peter Cetera
"You're The Inspiration" Chicago
"As Long As You Follow" Fleetwood Mac
"You Can Call Me Al" Paul Simon
"All I Need" Beth Nielsen Chapman
"All Time High" Rita Coolidge
"To All The Girls I've Loved Before" Willie Nelson & Julio Iglesias
"Heartlight" Neil Diamond
"Love Will Keep Us Alive" Eagles
"Don't Know Much," "All My Life" Linda Ronstadt & Aaron Neville
"Somewhere Out There" Linda Ronstadt & James Ingram
"Time To Say Goodbye" Andrea Bocelli & Sarah Brightman
"Baby Come To Me" Patti Austin & James Ingram
"On My Own" Patti Labelle & Michael McDonald
"Greatest Love Of All," "Saving All My Love For You" Whitney Houston
"A Whole New World" Peabo Bryson & Regina Belle
"Buy Me A Rose," "The Greatest" Kenny Rogers
"Angel," "I Will Remember You" Sarah McLachlin

These are examples of what I would consider acceptable songs for the MOR format had the format not morphed into the more contemporary sound it is today. In other words, MOR in its heyday of the late '60s might easily include these right alongside Sinatra, Mathis, Como, Dean Martin, Petula Clark, Andy Williams, The 5th Dimension, etc.

 

[cd637299]

"Now and Forever (You & Me)" by Anne Murray----was a change of pace for her style. She was updating herself for the 90s....interesting song, and I sometimes sing along, but I dunno if it would fit. YMMV though.

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