What WABC or any top forty station played meant zero to the evolution of disco. WABC and all other top forty stations usually went on a disco record after it had been played to death in clubs for six to nine months. By the time a top forty station played a disco record, it was old news. A better radio indicator for disco records was what the black stations were playing. The black stations usually were influenced by what was being played in the discos and the reports from the record pools. There were very very few disco records that became top forty radio hits versus the many many that were being played in discos and on black radio. As an aside, when WABC went heavy into playing disco records on the air, it was a last ditch pathetic attempt to stop the bleeding (WABC's ratings decline to WKTU). WABC never recovered from this disco experiment courtesy of Glenn Morgan as the ratings declined further and they changed format a few years later.
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THE VERY BEGINNING OF DANCE MUSIC WAS THE FIRST 12 INCH SINGLE
- Thread starter RADIO TRUTH
- Start date
What WABC or any top forty station played meant zero to the evolution of disco. WABC and all other top forty stations usually went on a disco record after it had been played to death in clubs for six to nine months. By the time a top forty station played a disco record, it was old news. A better radio indicator for disco records was what the black stations were playing. The black stations usually were influenced by what was being played in the discos and the reports from the record pools. There were very very few disco records that became top forty radio hits versus the many many that were being played in discos and on black radio. As an aside, when WABC went heavy into playing disco records on the air, it was a last ditch pathetic attempt to stop the bleeding (WABC's ratings decline to WKTU). WABC never recovered from this disco experiment courtesy of Glenn Morgan as the ratings declined further and they changed format a few years later.
WABC may not have played Equals-Baby Come Back but, the majority of top forty stations across the country did play it. The 1960s music world did not revolve around New York. WABC was one of the worst top forty stations went it came to taking a chance on a record or going on a record early. A fifteen record playlist will do that. By the time WABC went on most records, they had already been played across the country on top forty stations for eight or so weeks. WABC generally didn't add a record until it was 25 with a bullet in Billboard, Cash Box and Record World. There were a few exceptions when WABC did go on a record early. Here are a few of the exceptions.....Richard Harris-Mac Arthur Park and Napoleon XIV-They're Coming To Take Me Away Ha-Ha. If you only know your music in the 1960s from New York top forty radio, you missed a lot of good tunes.
RADIO TRUTH said:
My sentiments about WABC precisely! WABC had great personalities, a great signal and a terrible playlist! WMCA was on many records way before WABC. Even WOR-FM in its Drake format years was on plenty of records WABC wasn't touching. Remember, WOR-FM wasn't a pure top 40, it was Adult Top 40 and heavy on 1955-63 oldies. WMCA and later WOR-FM (Drake format) sold me more records than WABC! By the time WABC was playing the record, WMCA and WOR-FM were already on to the follow up!
Fortunately, I don't base my 60s music memories strictly from New York top 40 radio. KY11 Cleveland and KB in Buffalo were often onto music NY stations weren't touching. In the 80s, CBS-FM during its glory years through its countdown shows gave life to top 40 hits from the 60s that never saw the light of day on WABC. I'm often surprised at how many records I bought during the 60s that weren't huge hits and didn't get played on WABC! How about "Nothing But A Heartache" by The Flirtations from 1969? The record didn't have a long chart life, but WOR-FM was on it and that's how I bought it!
Here's another. "Western Union" by The Five Americans was introduced on WMCA as a Good Guy Longshot. WMCA was playing it for two months before WABC finally aired it. WMCA essentially sold the record to me!
who cares?
the entire country carefully watched WABC's 'adds',and followed like puppy dogs;
it was when WABC jumped on the disco train that conservative top 40 stations followed their lead, and disco became a mainstream, donna summer/village people type phenomena;
and then people realized that disco sucks,and that was the end of that!
the entire country carefully watched WABC's 'adds',and followed like puppy dogs;
it was when WABC jumped on the disco train that conservative top 40 stations followed their lead, and disco became a mainstream, donna summer/village people type phenomena;
and then people realized that disco sucks,and that was the end of that!
The country may have watched WABC's adds but, by the time WABC added a song, the song was already old news. WABC rarely ever added anything that was not already 25 with a bullet in Billboard, Cashbox and Record World. Some exceptions to the rule are listed above and also WABC was first with Beatles exclusives but, WABC
was at least 8 weeks late on 99.99% of every song they added versus most other top forty stations across the country.
was at least 8 weeks late on 99.99% of every song they added versus most other top forty stations across the country.
lalumia said:
I think you and Steve Dahl were separated at birth.
RADIO TRUTH said:
Those of us who listened to WMCA during the 60s can remember the fanfare, followed by the exclamation: "YOU HEARD IT FIRST IN NEW YORK ON WMCA!" WMCA was the first NY radio station to play The Beatles "I Want To Hold Your Hand", Dec 26, 1963. WMCA usually was ahead of WABC in playing new records.
WMCA wasn't the first station in the country to play The Beatles. That honor went to WLS Chicago in early 1963.
here's your Beatles airplay info;
in early 63, the releases on Swan, Vee Jay and Tollie all stiffed; it wasn't until Capitol Records opened their wallet and the Ed Sullivan hype machine,that things happened...
http://www.forgottenhits.com/who_played_the_very_first_beatles_record_in_america
in early 63, the releases on Swan, Vee Jay and Tollie all stiffed; it wasn't until Capitol Records opened their wallet and the Ed Sullivan hype machine,that things happened...
http://www.forgottenhits.com/who_played_the_very_first_beatles_record_in_america
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