The Hit Parade Era - Fantasy Programming

[Silkie]

http://www.deezer.com/track/sincerely-T2358525

No. 1 in 1955 - again, covering the Moonglows Doo Wopp original. It would be a fun station wouldn't it? Instead of the ocasional rare hit in between the usual, the usual would be the occasional usual hit.

 

[radioman148]

Here we are in 1956, Rock N’ Roll has taken hold, but the Pop based Hit Parade is still alive in the mix.

The Green Door – Jim Lowe
Rock and Roll Waltz – Kay Starr
Just Walking in the Rain – Johnnie Ray
The Wayward Wind – Gogi Grant
More – Perry Como
Moonglow and Theme from “Picnic”
Canadian Sunset – Andy Williams
Allegheny Moon – Patti Page
Standing on the Corner – The Four Lads
Memories Are Made of This – Dean Martin (previously mentioned)
Hot Diggity (Dog Ziggity Boom) – Perry Como
Born to Be with You – The Chordettes
On the Street Where You Live – Vic Damone
Lisbon Antigua – Nelson Riddle
You Don’t Know Me – Jerry Vale
Singing the Blues – Guy Mithcell
My Prayer – The Platters
I Almost Lost My Mind – Pat Boone
Ivory Tower – Cathy Carr
After the Lights Go Down Low – Al Hibbler
The Poor People of Paris – Les Baxter
No, Not Much! – The Four Lads

56 was a major turning point. You had Bill Haley & Comets set the clock on the rock era (pun intended) in 55. Then Elvis and other more rock/pop mix with the early 50s kind of music.

 

[TheFonz]

As I mentioned earlier, I worked at a station in the early 80s that played this type of music. I agree that it's very pleasant to listen to, but you wouldn't have known that by the ratings it garnered.


The station, in addition to the music, also carried the Los Angeles Dodgers and the
Los Angeles Lakers. Much of our listenership came from Orange County, as the station also carried Cal State Fullerton sports. If I'm not mistaken, I believe that's still the case there, even though the primary format has changed, and CSUF no longer plays football.

That sports programming might have been part of the problem. As a listener, I'm a creature of habit. If I'm an Oldies fan and I listen to the radio every day at 3 p.m., then I expect to hear Oldies. If I have to guess which days I'll hear Oldies and which days I'll hear sports, then I'll soon give up on the station. It's a loss for advertisers and for radio that they're not interested in the older demo. In today's economy, those are the people who actually have some money in their pockets.

 

[RicoGregg]

Hey Rico, when you were at KWRM (K-Worm haha), did you know of and/or have dealings with Mike Berkus and/or Ken Bowers of PTS Inc. Anaheim?

If those are the people who ran the telemarketing operation that sold "safety" messages to unsuspecting advertisers, then the answer is "very little". That was mainly the front office's concern.

Everybody called the station K-Worm, or The Mighty Worm. About 11 years ago, discussions were held with the then-GM about turning 1370 all-sports. One of the ideas kicked around was imaging the station as "The Sports Worm."

 

[SuperRadioFan]

Your memory is correct, they're the ones. They went out of business in 1993.

 

[RicoGregg]

Hey Rico, when you were at KWRM (K-Worm haha), did you know of and/or have dealings with Mike Berkus and/or Ken Bowers of PTS Inc. Anaheim?

If those are the people who ran the telemarketing operation that sold "safety" messages to unsuspecting advertisers, then the answer is "very little". That was mainly the front office's concern.

Everybody called the station K-Worm, or The Mighty Worm. About 11 years ago, discussions were held with the then-GM about turning 1370 all-sports. One of the ideas kicked around was imaging the station as "The Sports Worm."

Your memory is correct, they're the ones. They went out of business in 1993.

Some of the people who worked for them drove us nuts at the station, calling us at the station and asking us if they could have the next day off and such. Didn't their bosses at that "company" tell them that they were NOT KWRM employees? What the hell kind of operation did they run, anyway?

When they went out of business, did they bother telling anybody, or did they just leave an abandoned office? Are there warrants still out on them? Or did they move on to bigger things like working for Bernie Madoff?

Did you have some kind of connection with them? For your resume's sake, I hope not.

 

[radioman148]

>>That sports programming might have been part of the problem. As a listener, I'm a creature of habit. If I'm an Oldies fan and I listen to the radio every day at 3 p.m., then I expect to hear Oldies. If I have to guess which days I'll hear Oldies and which days I'll hear sports, then I'll soon give up on the station. >>

That would've definitely been a turnoff for me too.

 

[SuperRadioFan]

Some of the people who worked for them drove us nuts at the station, calling us at the station and asking us if they could have the next day off and such. Didn't their bosses at that "company" tell them that they were NOT KWRM employees? What the hell kind of operation did they run, anyway?

When they went out of business, did they bother telling anybody, or did they just leave an abandoned office? Are there warrants still out on them? Or did they move on to bigger things like working for Bernie Madoff?

Did you have some kind of connection with them? For your resume's sake, I hope not.

What years were you at KWRM? THAT can explain some of your statements. I worked for them 1987-1993 and during most of that time, in addition to being in the sales dept., I was a floor supervisor. To my knowledge no one was under the impression that they worked for KWRM, that's ridiculous. Why? Because the sales ppl were pitching for at least 7 different radio stations at the time I was there. No one had any idea about the phone numbers of any of them, no one would have a reason to call the radio station (s) when they all knew our office phone number (because they needed that phone number info for the clients to call back if necessary). And they used that at times to call in sick and Ken Bowers (the Sales Mgr) would slam the phone down in disgust after getting a call from one of the "sick" employees. Now I can't talk about the time prior to 1987, I know they sort of "cleaned house" before I arrived.

The day they closed the office I was on campus attending classes at a local college. I heard about it thru a friend/co-worker and we went back the next day to collect our personal stuff we had in the office. I don't know what clients were notified.

Warrants? LOL!!!! I hope you are joking! "Still out" on them?

Far as having an out of business company on my "resume" what difference would that make? They weren't Bernie Madoff-infamous. This was 16 years ago!! I'm sorry its apparent your experience with them was not a pleasurable one, to say the least. Anyway, my resume is fine since in my employment these days I report to the Man in the Mirror.

Sorry didn't mean to hijack this wonderful thread.

 

[GridLeakBias]

56 was a major turning point. You had Bill Haley & Comets set the clock on the rock era (pun intended) in 55. Then Elvis and other more rock/pop mix with the early 50s kind of music.

Very true statement.

1955 brought us into the R&R/R&B world with Bill Haley, Carl Perkins, Fats Domino, Bo Diddley, Smiley Lewis, Little Richard and Ray Charles, just to name a few.

If we call 1955 the birth year of R&R, we can also, in my opinion, say that 1956 was the year of birth for true Doo-Wop as we know it, with “Oh, What A Night” by the Dells, “When You Dance” by The Turbans, and “In the Still of the Night” by The Five Satins coming to mind.

But, I digress. This thread is for pop-based Hit Parade tunes.

Disclaimer: My history of the 1956 Hit Parade tunes includes Elvis with “Love Me Tender”. Surely we can classify this as a pop/rock crossover, yes?

 

[GridLeakBias]

http://www.deezer.com/track/sincerely-T2358525

No. 1 in 1955 - again, covering the Moonglows Doo Wopp original. It would be a fun station wouldn't it? Instead of the ocasional rare hit in between the usual, the usual would be the occasional usual hit.

The Moonglows’ version of “Sincerely”went #1 R&B but was stopped at #20 pop by The McGuire Sisters #1 pop cover in 1955.

Many R&B enthusiasts overlook [that] the Moonglows' version stole lyrics from a 1951 Dominoes tune, "That's What You're Doing To Me." The bridge in both songs is almost identical: "Lord, won't you tell me/ Why I love that woman so?/ She doesn't want me/ But I'll never let her go."

 

[radioman148]

http://www.deezer.com/track/sincerely-T2358525

No. 1 in 1955 - again, covering the Moonglows Doo Wopp original. It would be a fun station wouldn't it? Instead of the ocasional rare hit in between the usual, the usual would be the occasional usual hit.

The Moonglows’ version of “Sincerely”went #1 R&B but was stopped at #20 pop by The McGuire Sisters #1 pop cover in 1955.

Many R&B enthusiasts overlook [that] the Moonglows' version stole lyrics from a 1951 Dominoes tune, "That's What You're Doing To Me." The bridge in both songs is almost identical: "Lord, won't you tell me/ Why I love that woman so?/ She doesn't want me/ But I'll never let her go."

Speaking of the Moonglows their version of "See Saw" in 1956 was another great one.

 

[RicoGregg]

Some of the people who worked for them drove us nuts at the station, calling us at the station and asking us if they could have the next day off and such. Didn't their bosses at that "company" tell them that they were NOT KWRM employees? What the hell kind of operation did they run, anyway?

When they went out of business, did they bother telling anybody, or did they just leave an abandoned office? Are there warrants still out on them? Or did they move on to bigger things like working for Bernie Madoff?

Did you have some kind of connection with them? For your resume's sake, I hope not.

What years were you at KWRM? THAT can explain some of your statements. I worked for them 1987-1993 and during most of that time, in addition to being in the sales dept., I was a floor supervisor. To my knowledge no one was under the impression that they worked for KWRM, that's ridiculous. Why? Because the sales ppl were pitching for at least 7 different radio stations at the time I was there. No one had any idea about the phone numbers of any of them, no one would have a reason to call the radio station (s) when they all knew our office phone number (because they needed that phone number info for the clients to call back if necessary). And they used that at times to call in sick and Ken Bowers (the Sales Mgr) would slam the phone down in disgust after getting a call from one of the "sick" employees. Now I can't talk about the time prior to 1987, I know they sort of "cleaned house" before I arrived.

The day they closed the office I was on campus attending classes at a local college. I heard about it thru a friend/co-worker and we went back the next day to collect our personal stuff we had in the office. I don't know what clients were notified.

Warrants? LOL!!!! I hope you are joking! "Still out" on them?

Far as having an out of business company on my "resume" what difference would that make? They weren't Bernie Madoff-infamous. This was 16 years ago!! I'm sorry its apparent your experience with them was not a pleasurable one, to say the least. Anyway, my resume is fine since in my employment these days I report to the Man in the Mirror.

Sorry didn't mean to hijack this wonderful thread.

I worked at KWRM from mid-1983 to early 1985. I started working in L.A. in 1987. There was a significant management changeover at KWRM and then-sister station KQLH in 1988. This ultimately led to the sale of KQLH, and the creation of KFRG. You know what they say about what the rest is....

Management at KWRM didn't have the most complimentary things to say about the company, but kept doing business with them.

Of course I was being facetious. Sarcasm, you know.

People who worked for the telemarketers would call the station, ask for our Program Director by name, and ask if they could have some time off. My shift followed the PD's, and I got some of those calls. We would shake our heads when this happened.
Since I was somewhere else when the "housecleaning" you mentioned occurred, maybe it's possible that the company you worked for got complaints from the station about all the calls.

Now, back to the thread about some of the greatest music of all time. 8)

 

[GridLeakBias]

Something told me to jump to the Hit Parade of 50 years ago – 1959

Mack the Knife – Bobby Darin
Primrose Lane – Jerry Butler (The Ice Man)
Unforgettable – Dinah Washington
Scarlet Ribbons (for Her Hair) – The Browns
Petite Fleur – Chris Barber’s Jazz Band
Misty – Johnny Mathis
The Battle of New Orleans – Johnny Horton
Don’t You Know - - Della Reese
Mr. Blue – The Fleetwoods
Lonely Street – Andy Williams
M.T.A. – The Kingston Trio
The Big Hurt – Toni Fisher
Peter Gunn Theme – Henry Mancini
Heartaches By the Number - Guy Mitchell
Among My Souvenirs – Connie Francis
He’ll Have to Go – Jim Reeves
The Three Bells – The Browns
Smoke Gets in Your Eyes – The Platters
Broken-Hearted Melody – Sarah Vaughn
It’s Just a Matter of Time – Brook Benton
Quiet Village – Martin Denny
What a Diff’rence a Day Makes – Dinah Washington
The Hawaiian Wedding Song – Andy Williams
El Paso – Marty Robbins

And 50 years ago today, March 18, 1959
#1 in the U.S. - Venus (Frankie Avalon)
#1 in the U.K. – As I Love You (Shirley Bassey)
#1 in Australia – Smoke Gets in Your Eyes (The Platters)

 

[radioman148]

I think "Mack the Knife" was on the charts for over 6 months which in those days was a very long time.

 

[GridLeakBias]

I think "Mack the Knife" was on the charts for over 6 months which in those days was a very long time.

Mack the Knife was introduced to the United States hit parade by Louis Armstrong in 1954, but the song is most closely associated with Bobby Darin, who recorded his version in December, 1958. Darin's version reached number one on the Billboard Hot 100 and number six on the Black Singles chart in 1959 and received a Grammy Award for Record of the Year (1960).

Not sure how long it charted, but “Mack” was at the #1 position for a total of eight weeks in 1959, Oct 12-Nov 9, and then again Nov 23-Dec 7.

Trivia: I wonder how many people know that this song was originally composed in 1928 for German opera, i.e., “Die Dreigroschenoper” (The Three Penny Opera)?

 

[landtuna]

I didn't know Ferlin Huskey was a DJ.

I'd always heard him referred to as "The Singin' Sheriff".

 

[deltas69]

Something told me to jump to the Hit Parade of 50 years ago – 1959 as a pro jock for over 40 years, as well as a professional muscian/producer/other odd musical hats..i've allowed myself to be cajoled into dj'ing the local high school class of '59 50th reunion this June..Probably done 300 or so shows like this over the years..but nothing for a group as old as this...got over 4000 tunes on my hard drive..but very few backwards of 1963(for me rock starts with dead mans curve)..so this thread and list helped quite a bit..downloaded more than enough to wear out that bunch in short order..lol..i can predict exactly how this gig will go from years of experience..they eat at 6:30..dinner over by 7:45..fifteen minutes to wander off to the bathroom,..thirty hard minutes of platters/elvis..lights out..the parties over..i'm home by 9:15. ..now the following week..I'm doing MY high school's 40th class reunion (1969)..i can predict this too...starts at 7..ends maybe by 2am when the cops show up (this has happened before)...lots of booze, in a godda da vi da, the pusher, etc..my kind of crowd..showbiz is my life .. ;D thank God we only do it every five years..

 

[radioman148]

>>Trivia: I wonder how many people know that this song was originally composed in 1928 for German opera, i.e., “Die Dreigroschenoper” (The Three Penny Opera)?>>

I certainly didn't.

 

[hornet61]

I have Dj'ed for over 50 reunions in tha past 25 years,which is the only DJ jobs I am currently accepting, the earliest was class of 1956, 50th reunion, piece of cake, all of them. Baisic formula if you stick with the music from their 8th grade year to their Senior high school year you'll have them dancin' all night. Also be prepared for a few much older songs for many of them started sitting in thier older brothers and sisters room listening to their records, which means the class of 56 some will still love "In The Mood", "Chatanooga Choo Choo" and few other Big Band things and a few may want something from their college years so take a few up to 1960. This is a sliding formula tha you can apply to any year. This summer I did what is becoming a trend, a combined 57-59 reunion, the same formula still applies just slides up or dowm proportionatley. This is called the music of the formidable years, which means basically puberty thru high school, on an average basis, remember there may be a few excetions show up.
Keep the format simple and keep it hot dancing stuff ,the older the crowd, will determine the amount of slow dances back to back, between hot cuts.
I recently booked for labor day 1962-1964 a combined reunion, same formula as 56, or 76 or 86, just a slidin' scale. And If you specialize in 50's, 60's and 70's reunions take all the guess work out of it, or depending on how fast your memory is fading, just invest $80.00 and buy Joel whitburns POp singles book and your home free. Go to the number 1's section in chronologiocal order and your whole evening is programmed for you.

 

[radioman148]

I have Dj'ed for over 50 reunions in tha past 25 years,which is the only DJ jobs I am currently accepting, the earliest was class of 1956, 50th reunion, piece of cake, all of them. Baisic formula if you stick with the music from their 8th grade year to their Senior high school year you'll have them dancin' all night. Also be prepared for a few much older songs for many of them started sitting in thier older brothers and sisters room listening to their records, which means the class of 56 some will still love "In The Mood", "Chatanooga Choo Choo" and few other Big Band things and a few may want something from their college years so take a few up to 1960. This is a sliding formula tha you can apply to any year. This summer I did what is becoming a trend, a combined 57-59 reunion, the same formula still applies just slides up or dowm proportionatley. This is called the music of the formidable years, which means basically puberty thru high school, on an average basis, remember there may be a few excetions show up.
Keep the format simple and keep it hot dancing stuff ,the older the crowd, will determine the amount of slow dances back to back, between hot cuts.
I recently booked for labor day 1962-1964 a combined reunion, same formula as 56, or 76 or 86, just a slidin' scale. And If you specialize in 50's, 60's and 70's reunions take all the guess work out of it, or depending on how fast your memory is fading, just invest $80.00 and buy Joel whitburns POp singles book and your home free. Go to the number 1's section in chronologiocal order and your whole evening is programmed for you.

You obviously know your stuff. Remembering those years and having an older brother I can agree with just about everything you said.