This Day In 1970...

[radio dx]

To change the subject a little (you did mention his name) do a search on Bobby Sherman...he is a police officer with LAPD it has his bio and photos.

 

[Starbucks]

I hope this is not a reply to my post. Your scaring me.

 

[michael hagerty]

The last big country crossover was Kenny and Dolly's "Islands In the Stream" that was played on most CHR -FM stations, as well as remaining CHR/AC leaning AMers in the last quarter of 83'.

Yep...but I'm willing to bet that wouldn't have happened if "Islands" hadn't been written and produced by Barry Gibb. Same can be said (though it's not country) of Dionne Warwick, whose previous 3 singles had stalled at #15, #23 and #38 before Barry did "Heartbreaker" for her.


Interestingly, both those happened at a time when the Bee Gees themselves couldn't buy a hit.

----Michael Hagerty

 

[Bowler Bob in Brisbane]

I remember all the other Kinks songs except that one.

What city did you live in, and how old were you back in March 1970, and what radio stations did you listen to?

The reason I ask is because "Victoria" did not make it on to the KFRC Top 30 in San Francisco at that time, when I was 15 years old.

Nationally "Victoria" was #63 on the Cashbox Hot 100 Singles Chart, having been on the chart for 6 weeks already by then, and then it inexplicably dissapeared off the chart 3 weeks later (March 28th) after peaking at #54.

The Kinks were also touring the states 4 months before and 8 months after that, as headliners at the Fillmore West with Taj Mahal & Sha Na Na, November 27-30, 1969.

The Kinks returned 8 months later to headline the Fillmore West once again, November 12-15, 1970 with Elton John, Ballin' Jack, & Juicy Lucy as the support acts.

As noted, "Victoria" was no longer on the Cashbox Hot 100 singles Chart by then, but their next single "Lola" was #13, and had been on the charts for 14 weeks.

Here is the KFRC Top 30 from March 3rd, 1970;

KFRC, San Francisco, CA
Survey for week beginning Wednesday March 4, 1970

TW TITLE ARTIST LW
1. Spirit in the Sky Norman Greenbaum 2
2. Didnt I Delphonics 3
3. Instant Karma Plastic Ono Band 4
4. The Rapper Jaggerz 5
5. Love Grows Edison Lighthouse 6
6. Gotta Hold On To This Feeling Jr Walker 12
7. Psychedelic Shack Temptations 7
8. Bridge Over Troubled Waters Simon & Garfunkel 1
9. Rainy Night in Georgia Brook Benton 9
10. Shilo Neil Diamond 10
11. Easy Come Easy Go Bobby Sherman 19
12. House of the Rising Sun Frijid Pink 16
13. Come And Get It Badfinger 21
14. Oh Me Oh My Lulu 8
15. Love or Let Me Be Lonely Friends of Distinction 17
16. Kentucky Rain Elvis Presley 18
17. Temma Harbour Mary Hopkin 13
18. ABC Jackson Five --
19. Long Lonesome Highway Michael Parks 25
20. Celebrate Three Dog Night 20
21. Wont Find Better New Hope 11
22. Somethings Burning First Edition 22
23. Let It Be Beatles --
24. Travelin Band/Who Will Stop
The Rain Creedence Clearwater 14
25. Hey There Lonely Girl Eddie Holman 15
26. All I Have To Do Is Dream Gentry & Campbell 28
27. Reflections of My Life Marmalade 29
28. Walking Through The Country Grass Roots 30
29. Give Me Just a Little More
Time Chairmen of the Board --
30. Whos Your Baby Archies --


HITBOUNDS:
Up The Ladder
Which Way You Going Billy
Come Running

Cheers!

BB in B

 

[radioman148]

I remember all the other Kinks songs except that one.

What city did you live in, and how old were you back in March 1970, and what radio stations did you listen to?

The reason I ask is because "Victoria" did not make it on to the KFRC Top 30 in San Francisco at that time, when I was 15 years old.

Nationally "Victoria" was #63 on the Cashbox Hot 100 Singles Chart, having been on the chart for 6 weeks already by then, and then it inexplicably dissapeared off the chart 3 weeks later (March 28th) after peaking at #54.

The Kinks were also touring the states 4 months before and 8 months after that, as headliners at the Fillmore West with Taj Mahal & Sha Na Na, November 27-30, 1969.

The Kinks returned 8 months later to headline the Fillmore West once again, November 12-15, 1970 with Elton John, Ballin' Jack, & Juicy Lucy as the support acts.

As noted, "Victoria" was no longer on the Cashbox Hot 100 singles Chart by then, but their next single "Lola" was #13, and had been on the charts for 14 weeks.

Here is the KFRC Top 30 from March 3rd, 1970;

KFRC, San Francisco, CA
Survey for week beginning Wednesday March 4, 1970

TW TITLE ARTIST LW
1. Spirit in the Sky Norman Greenbaum 2
2. Didnt I Delphonics 3
3. Instant Karma Plastic Ono Band 4
4. The Rapper Jaggerz 5
5. Love Grows Edison Lighthouse 6
6. Gotta Hold On To This Feeling Jr Walker 12
7. Psychedelic Shack Temptations 7
8. Bridge Over Troubled Waters Simon & Garfunkel 1
9. Rainy Night in Georgia Brook Benton 9
10. Shilo Neil Diamond 10
11. Easy Come Easy Go Bobby Sherman 19
12. House of the Rising Sun Frijid Pink 16
13. Come And Get It Badfinger 21
14. Oh Me Oh My Lulu 8
15. Love or Let Me Be Lonely Friends of Distinction 17
16. Kentucky Rain Elvis Presley 18
17. Temma Harbour Mary Hopkin 13
18. ABC Jackson Five --
19. Long Lonesome Highway Michael Parks 25
20. Celebrate Three Dog Night 20
21. Wont Find Better New Hope 11
22. Somethings Burning First Edition 22
23. Let It Be Beatles --
24. Travelin Band/Who Will Stop
The Rain Creedence Clearwater 14
25. Hey There Lonely Girl Eddie Holman 15
26. All I Have To Do Is Dream Gentry & Campbell 28
27. Reflections of My Life Marmalade 29
28. Walking Through The Country Grass Roots 30
29. Give Me Just a Little More
Time Chairmen of the Board --
30. Whos Your Baby Archies --


HITBOUNDS:
Up The Ladder
Which Way You Going Billy
Come Running

Cheers!

BB in B

I lived in the Chicago area & I was 20 at the time. I don't remember "Victoria" at all, but I remember & like most all of the other hits by the Kinks. Of course I remember "Lola". Would like to hear "Victoria" some time.

 

[oldiesfan6479]

KFRC, San Francisco, CA
Survey for week beginning Wednesday March 4, 1970

TW TITLE ARTIST LW
1. Spirit in the Sky Norman Greenbaum 2
...(snip)...
30. Whos Your Baby Archies --

HITBOUNDS:
Up The Ladder
Which Way You Going Billy
Come Running

No jocks? Geez, I hate it when the surveys don't have the jock lineup.

 

[radioman148]

KFRC, San Francisco, CA
Survey for week beginning Wednesday March 4, 1970

TW TITLE ARTIST LW
1. Spirit in the Sky Norman Greenbaum 2
...(snip)...
30. Whos Your Baby Archies --

HITBOUNDS:
Up The Ladder
Which Way You Going Billy
Come Running

No jocks? Geez, I hate it when the surveys don't have the jock lineup.

I agree that's the best part.

 

[DavidKaye]

Even if you set aside KFRC, it's been 27 years since Top 40 routinely included country hits. For perspective, that's as long ago today as 1955 was in 1982. And very few stations were looking at resurrecting programming philosophies from '55 then.

---Michael Hagerty

Then call it something else; don't call it "Top 40" because the term means the top 40 songs based on overall sales from whatever mainstream chart, such as Billboard. Call it "Urban 40" or something else, anything else.

 

[SFStatic]

Good point, but a lot of Top 40 stations of yore didn't really play 40 songs. Some had pick hits and adds, and played more. Others didn't really ever play all 40 songs, often just 30. (Or if they did, the bottom 10 were in off-dayparts in the slow boat to China rotation.)

 

[michael hagerty]

And...does that mean that stations that ignored any genre back in the day (non-ethnic markets where the Top 40 avoided R&B...high-energy or rock-oriented stations that passed on country) really weren't Top 40?

---Michael Hagerty

 

[radioman148]

I still refer to it as Top 40

 

[DavidKaye]

And...does that mean that stations that ignored any genre back in the day (non-ethnic markets where the Top 40 avoided R&B...high-energy or rock-oriented stations that passed on country) really weren't Top 40?

Top 40 stations were based on sales of records. They either had Billboard's list or that from a another trade paper or they compiled their own based on contacting local record stores. If an ethnic or foreign language song sold enough it would wind up on the charts. Perez Prado's Latin tune "Patricia" was once such song. Also, Rene & Rene's 1969 song "Lo Mucho que Te Quiero (The More I Love You)" hit #2 on the Adult Contemporary chart and #14 on the Hot 100 chart.

 

[radioman148]

And...does that mean that stations that ignored any genre back in the day (non-ethnic markets where the Top 40 avoided R&B...high-energy or rock-oriented stations that passed on country) really weren't Top 40?

Top 40 stations were based on sales of records. They either had Billboard's list or that from a another trade paper or they compiled their own based on contacting local record stores. If an ethnic or foreign language song sold enough it would wind up on the charts. Perez Prado's Latin tune "Patricia" was once such song. Also, Rene & Rene's 1969 song "Lo Mucho que Te Quiero (The More I Love You)" hit #2 on the Adult Contemporary chart and #14 on the Hot 100 chart.

Volare--1958, Al Di La--1962, just to name a few more.

 

[djj]

Volare--1958, Al Di La--1962, just to name a few more.

"Eres Tu" (Mocedades) - 1974, and "Guantanamera" (Sandpipers; a great
MOR tune, too) - 1966, for two more that made Billboard's Top-10...

Okay, so there is some English on "Guantanamera," but...

Anywho, all of this also proves that Top-40, CHR, or whatever you care to
brand it, ain't what it used to be...
--jay

 

[radioman148]

Volare--1958, Al Di La--1962, just to name a few more.

"Eres Tu" (Mocedades) - 1974, and "Guantanamera" (Sandpipers; a great
MOR tune, too) - 1966, for two more that made Billboard's Top-10...

Okay, so there is some English on "Guantanamera," but...

Anywho, all of this also proves that Top-40, CHR, or whatever you care to
brand it, ain't what it used to be...
--jay

That is for sure.

 

[DavidKaye]

"Eres Tu" (Mocedades) - 1974, and "Guantanamera" (Sandpipers; a great
MOR tune, too) - 1966, for two more that made Billboard's Top-10...

"Eres Tu" was an interesting one. The single had the English Version on the flip side; I think they called it "Touch the Wind" on that side. So, English language DJs all over the country had the English version but played the Spanish version. I played both sides and got calls from people wondering what the heck was going on.

It's interesting also that "Nel Blu Di Pinto Di Blu" aka "Volare" was so popular that the song was used without the long Italian intro, I guess so that people like Dean Martin could sing it without tripping on the words. (I don't think he spoke much Italian.)

And then there are songs like "Forget Domani" where some singers instead of singing "forget tomorrow" and the occasional Italian line instead sing "forget the money" and English lines that sound phonetically like the Italian but are basically nonsense, which isn't correct at all.

 

[radioman148]

"Eres Tu" (Mocedades) - 1974, and "Guantanamera" (Sandpipers; a great
MOR tune, too) - 1966, for two more that made Billboard's Top-10...

"Eres Tu" was an interesting one. The single had the English Version on the flip side; I think they called it "Touch the Wind" on that side. So, English language DJs all over the country had the English version but played the Spanish version. I played both sides and got calls from people wondering what the heck was going on.

It's interesting also that "Nel Blu Di Pinto Di Blu" aka "Volare" was so popular that the song was used without the long Italian intro, I guess so that people like Dean Martin could sing it without tripping on the words. (I don't think he spoke much Italian.)

And then there are songs like "Forget Domani" where some singers instead of singing "forget tomorrow" and the occasional Italian line instead sing "forget the money" and English lines that sound phonetically like the Italian but are basically nonsense, which isn't correct at all.

Don't forget Bobby Rydell's version of Volare which still gets play on many oldies stations.

 

[LKellerIII]

And...does that mean that stations that ignored any genre back in the day (non-ethnic markets where the Top 40 avoided R&B...high-energy or rock-oriented stations that passed on country) really weren't Top 40?

Top 40 stations were based on sales of records. They either had Billboard's list or that from a another trade paper or they compiled their own based on contacting local record stores. If an ethnic or foreign language song sold enough it would wind up on the charts. Perez Prado's Latin tune "Patricia" was once such song. Also, Rene & Rene's 1969 song "Lo Mucho que Te Quiero (The More I Love You)" hit #2 on the Adult Contemporary chart and #14 on the Hot 100 chart.

Sales of records may have been the main consideration, but there was a lot of variation between the play lists of Top 40 stations. If you listened to the 3 official LA "Top 40" stations in 1967 - 68, the KHJ "Boss 30" emphasized Motown and 'teeny-bopper hits, the KRLA "Tunedex" emphasized harder rock, and the KFWB "Fabulous 40" leaned toward an MOR sound.

Then there were other issues - Drake stations shied away from controversial content, so any song with objectionable lyrics (generally involving religion, sex, or drugs) were verboten. KHJ never touched The Ballad of John and Yoko, or Itchycoo Park for example. Both of those songs had respectable sales, though they never hit the Top 10 because stations all over the country shunned them.

Though their play lists were probably 80% identical, there was also a lot of variation in chart position. The bubblegum song Sugar, Sugar by the Archies was the number one selling single of 1969 and it topped the year-end "Boss 93 Hits" (or whatever KHJ called it), but it only came in #15 or so on KRLA. Both stations were playing to their individual listener base to some degree.

 

[michael hagerty]

And...does that mean that stations that ignored any genre back in the day (non-ethnic markets where the Top 40 avoided R&B...high-energy or rock-oriented stations that passed on country) really weren't Top 40?

Top 40 stations were based on sales of records. They either had Billboard's list or that from a another trade paper or they compiled their own based on contacting local record stores. If an ethnic or foreign language song sold enough it would wind up on the charts. Perez Prado's Latin tune "Patricia" was once such song. Also, Rene & Rene's 1969 song "Lo Mucho que Te Quiero (The More I Love You)" hit #2 on the Adult Contemporary chart and #14 on the Hot 100 chart.

Sales of records may have been the main consideration, but there was a lot of variation between the play lists of Top 40 stations. If you listened to the 3 official LA "Top 40" stations in 1967 - 68, the KHJ "Boss 30" emphasized Motown and 'teeny-bopper hits, the KRLA "Tunedex" emphasized harder rock, and the KFWB "Fabulous 40" leaned toward an MOR sound.

Then there were other issues - Drake stations shied away from controversial content, so any song with objectionable lyrics (generally involving religion, sex, or drugs) were verboten. KHJ never touched The Ballad of John and Yoko, or Itchycoo Park for example. Both of those songs had respectable sales, though they never hit the Top 10 because stations all over the country shunned them.

Llew: Right about Ballad of John and Yoko, wrong about Itchycoo Park, which not only got airplay on KHJ, but was #1 on the Boss 30 the week of 12/22/67.

And despite KHJ and other stations not playing Ballad of John and Yoko, it did make the national Top 10...peaking at #8 in Billboard.

Conversely, Itchycoo Park, which was #1 at arguably the hottest station in the country at the time, only made it to #16 in Billboard.

---Michael Hagerty

 

[LKellerIII]

And...does that mean that stations that ignored any genre back in the day (non-ethnic markets where the Top 40 avoided R&B...high-energy or rock-oriented stations that passed on country) really weren't Top 40?

Top 40 stations were based on sales of records. They either had Billboard's list or that from a another trade paper or they compiled their own based on contacting local record stores. If an ethnic or foreign language song sold enough it would wind up on the charts. Perez Prado's Latin tune "Patricia" was once such song. Also, Rene & Rene's 1969 song "Lo Mucho que Te Quiero (The More I Love You)" hit #2 on the Adult Contemporary chart and #14 on the Hot 100 chart.

Sales of records may have been the main consideration, but there was a lot of variation between the play lists of Top 40 stations. If you listened to the 3 official LA "Top 40" stations in 1967 - 68, the KHJ "Boss 30" emphasized Motown and 'teeny-bopper hits, the KRLA "Tunedex" emphasized harder rock, and the KFWB "Fabulous 40" leaned toward an MOR sound.

Then there were other issues - Drake stations shied away from controversial content, so any song with objectionable lyrics (generally involving religion, sex, or drugs) were verboten. KHJ never touched The Ballad of John and Yoko, or Itchycoo Park for example. Both of those songs had respectable sales, though they never hit the Top 10 because stations all over the country shunned them.

Llew: Right about Ballad of John and Yoko, wrong about Itchycoo Park, which not only got airplay on KHJ, but was #1 on the Boss 30 the week of 12/22/67.

And despite KHJ and other stations not playing Ballad of John and Yoko, it did make the national Top 10...peaking at #8 in Billboard.

Conversely, Itchycoo Park, which was #1 at arguably the hottest station in the country at the time, only made it to #16 in Billboard.

---Michael Hagerty

Wow - I'd obviously forgotten, Michael. I'm surprised that KHJ played Itchycoo Park. As I remember, the song was blacklisted by many radio stations. I guess it was only religious and sexual content that Drake stations shunned. Drugs, playing hooky, and trashing education was OK (?!). Well, it was the year of the "Summer of Love," after all.

I quote:

I'd like to go there now with you
You can miss out school (won't that be cool)
Why go to learn the words of fools?
What will we do there?
We'll get high
What will we touch there?
We'll touch the sky...