Top 40 of the 60s and 70s

[DavidKaye]

There is no one place to get that broad mix of music like the top 40's of the 60's and 70's. Unfortunately more and more people are turning to internet streams and spending less time listening ota.

I thought I'd branch off into a new thread because this brings up an interesting topic. A look at the top 40 of the 60s and 70s reveals a lot of stuff that simply won't fly.

Some examples of #1 hits: Fly Robin Fly (the disco song), Everything Is Beautiful (Ray Stevens), Sister Golden Hair (America), Please Mr Postman (Carpenters version), Thank God I'm A Country Boy (John Denver), Don't Break the Heart That Loves You (Connie Francis), Ballad of the Green Berets (Sgt Barry Sadler), Mr. Custer (Larry Verne), Itsy Bitsy Teenie Weenie Yellow Polkadot Bikini (Brian Hyland). Need I go on? Add to that local hits such as "Mill Valley" by Miss Rita Abrams' 4th Grade Class and you have a format nobody's going to listen to.

 

[gr8oldies]

There are some weeks I've listened to "American Top 40: The 70s" and thought "how did top 40 music get THIS bad?"

 

[michael hagerty]

There is no one place to get that broad mix of music like the top 40's of the 60's and 70's. Unfortunately more and more people are turning to internet streams and spending less time listening ota.

I thought I'd branch off into a new thread because this brings up an interesting topic. A look at the top 40 of the 60s and 70s reveals a lot of stuff that simply won't fly.

In fact, most of the Top 40 of the 60s and 70s won't fly. 300 songs may be too restrictive, but the songs that would work today are just a fraction of those that charted back in the day.

 

[Michael Rivers Kramer]

There is no one place to get that broad mix of music like the top 40's of the 60's and 70's. Unfortunately more and more people are turning to internet streams and spending less time listening ota.

I thought I'd branch off into a new thread because this brings up an interesting topic. A look at the top 40 of the 60s and 70s reveals a lot of stuff that simply won't fly.

Some examples of #1 hits: Fly Robin Fly (the disco song), Everything Is Beautiful (Ray Stevens), Sister Golden Hair (America), Please Mr Postman (Carpenters version), Thank God I'm A Country Boy (John Denver), Don't Break the Heart That Loves You (Connie Francis), Ballad of the Green Berets (Sgt Barry Sadler), Mr. Custer (Larry Verne), Itsy Bitsy Teenie Weenie Yellow Polkadot Bikini (Brian Hyland). Need I go on? Add to that local hits such as "Mill Valley" by Miss Rita Abrams' 4th Grade Class and you have a format nobody's going to listen to.

Sister Golden Hair tests-in okay and get's airplay. Fly Robin Fly gets airplay on night-time disco shows. "Itsy Bitsy Teenie Weenie Yellow Polka Dot Bikini" was getting played on the oldie stations until it was aged out.


The rest of them...egads....

 

[RadioJunkieMike]

Every decade has #1 songs that make you say WTF 15 years later (Right Said Fred's "I'm Too Sexy", anyone?). But this is why Classic Rock attracts a younger more viable demo than more pop-oriented oldies. Twentysomethings actually like hearing Led Zep, but Olivia Newton-John and John Denver... notsomuch.

 

[LKellerIII]

Every decade has #1 songs that make you say WTF 15 years later (Right Said Fred's "I'm Too Sexy", anyone?). But this is why Classic Rock attracts a younger more viable demo than more pop-oriented oldies. Twentysomethings actually like hearing Led Zep, but Olivia Newton-John and John Denver... notsomuch.

Exhibit A: Terry Jacks - Seasons in the Sun.

Trivia: The song was written by Rod McKuen, a poet that enjoyed huge popularity for a couple of years in the late 60s, especially among young women.

 

[jhimbo]

Paper Lace.....The Night Chicago Died and practically everything released on the "Buddah" record label.

 

[BnRinBayArea]

Just curious; how many of you have actually heard somebody say something negative about Olivia Newton John or John Denver, lately? ONJ did several guest shots on one of TVs most popular series, Glee, this season. Are they truly "hated", or even worn out? Do these artists really get tested at all, anymore? And to take the discussion that one taboo step further, does auditorium testing accurately reflect the true likes/dislikes of a diverse population like the SF Bay Area?

In the 1980's you'd be shot for even THINKING about the Bee Gee's. Now, they're heard across at least 3 formats. Point being, if the above (and many others) are not being represented in front of the right audiences, we probably can’t draw much of any conclusion at all.

The floodgates are open! I admit that I’ve never been a believer of the way “music research” is done. In the digital age, I feel there has got to be far more accurate ways of measuring the true likes and dislikes of an audience. No, I don’t mean PPM. The program or cumulative programs/instruments to gather research may be in existence, but I have a difficult time believing that they are being used to the best of their ability.

My 2 cents…. Adjusted for inflation.

 

[LKellerIII]

Just curious; how many of you have actually heard somebody say something negative about Olivia Newton John or John Denver, lately? ONJ did several guest shots on one of TVs most popular series, Glee, this season. Are they truly "hated", or even worn out? Do these artists really get tested at all, anymore? And to take the discussion that one taboo step further, does auditorium testing accurately reflect the true likes/dislikes of a diverse population like the SF Bay Area?

In the 1980's you'd be shot for even THINKING about the Bee Gee's. Now, they're heard across at least 3 formats. Point being, if the above (and many others) are not being represented in front of the right audiences, we probably can’t draw much of any conclusion at all.

The floodgates are open! I admit that I’ve never been a believer of the way “music research” is done. In the digital age, I feel there has got to be far more accurate ways of measuring the true likes and dislikes of an audience. No, I don’t mean PPM. The program or cumulative programs/instruments to gather research may be in existence, but I have a difficult time believing that they are being used to the best of their ability.

My 2 cents…. Adjusted for inflation.

Nobody hates John Denver anymore - it's hard to hate a person who died tragically before his time...even if he was sort-of asking for it in that ultra-light airplane.

I believe "Olivia Neutron Bomb" was the appellation used by people who professed to hate her. My teenage daughter is a fan of Glee, and I had to sit thru that episode where Olivia played herself. Interestingly, she played herself as a stuck-up nasty egomaniac. Not to send the thread off track, but that seems to be a trend for celebrities these days when they play themselves. I've seen Ben Stiller play himself as an insufferable a**hole about a half dozen times now.

Pardon the diversion - back to topic. It could be just me, but IMO - something happened to Top 40 music about 1975. The 60s really were a golden period. There were always clunkers in the Top 40, but in the 60s, the stiffs were a minority, and were played among some brilliant hits. So it was easy to overlook the stiffs, or tune in another station. But by the mid 70s, I found myself hitting those pre-set buttons to change channels much more often. It seemed like the list of laughably awful songs grew exponentially, the listenable hits were just passable, and the gems few and far between. There were a lot of exceptions of course - a fair amount of great soul music like Earth, Wind, and Fire, Stevie Wonder, not to mention Steely Dan, etc.

I rarely listened to Top 40 for a number of years until the early 80s. When I came back, it seemed like things were improved.

Just my 2 cents worth...in 1975 dollars.

 

[LKellerIII]

I just thought of the ONJ hit that put her on critic's s**t list - 1975's Have You Never Been Mellow?. Makes me cringe just thinking about it. The hell of it was - it was a very catchy tune, so if you listened once, it stuck in your brain like a malignant tumor.

A very funny comedienne (can't remember who) did a satirical version titled Have You Never Been Perfect?.