WFNX Top 500 Countdown of All Time Question and Comments

[WBIMDJ]

Groove is in the Heart was actually played on a lot of Alternative/Modern Rock stations in the early 90's... so they probably felt justified in playing it.

Did FNX countdown the top 500 alternatve songs of all time? I heard Groove is in the Heart by Dee Lite which belongs more on a MIX countdown rather than an FNX countdown. Good song but this weekend was the first time I have ever heard it played on FNX even when the song was big in the early 90's.

They DID infact play this song back in the early 90's. I can confirm it as I was an avid listener then. Same with artists like KLF and De La Soul.

 

[MoLarryMoLarry]

I worked at FNX when they first aired Dee-Lite and I can tell you that NO ONE in the city was playing the song. After a while, of course the top 40's jumped on board........in fact, I remember when Dee-Lite first played Citi (now Avalon) the only folks backstage were FNX people, and then, I believe, the next time Dee-Lite came to town is was to play the KISS concert.

Nice pick up on KLF and De La Soul. and we played Public Enemy (911 is a joke) first as well. Funny and true story - we got a fax one time from a listener who thought we were so alternative and cool that we would have the guts and courage to play an artist called "Dale A**hole". It tool us a few days to figure out that he meant De La Soul. LOL.

Nice job, FNX, on the countdown. Very enjoyable indeed.

 

[mistermicrophone]

Funny and true story - we got a fax one time from a listener who thought we were so alternative and cool that we would have the guts and courage to play an artist called "Dale A**hole". It tool us a few days to figure out that he meant De La Soul.

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!! That's awesome!

 

[Chow]

I'm going to bet Ciao and Ex Radio Pimp were sporting wood when they saw this topic. Then read it and threw up in their mouths. I still wish the Hurricane were lucky enough to work at such a great station.


On a personal note, it's a tough time of year to be the Hurricane.

 

[radiorama1]

I'm going to bet Ciao and Ex Radio Pimp were sporting wood when they saw this topic. Then read it and threw up in their mouths.

Uh oh, I see Peter Gabriel on that list!!! ;D

Complete list here:

http://fnxradio.com/shows/wfnx/pages/the-big-500.aspx

The beauty of these things, of course, is the (often spirited) debates that take place after... (This song should have been on there, this song shouldn't, this one should have been ranked higher, this band has too many/too few songs on the countdown, etc. etc.)

At first glance, I really don't have much of a problem with this list at all really... one disappointment however--- and Retro, I can pretty much confirm that this list has little to do with actual airplay, and more to do with "whats in/acceptable" with the times... I scanned the entire list and did not see "See The Lights" by Simple Minds... now, I know that there are probably some on here who haven't even heard of that song, but FNX gave it MAJOR airplay back in the day when it was a current. In addition, I am quite surprised that Simple Minds does not have a single song among the entire 500, I feel that they should have been represented...

Also you have to figure that with the exception of airchecks, there probably isn't a way to go back in time 10,15,20 years to see what FNX's rotation looked like from week-to-week, given all of the bands that the station has played over the years...

As a whole, I give this 500 an A- for content, and an A+ for effort! I can't imagine how long it took the FNX music department to sort from thousands upon thousands of songs to determine which ones made "the cut"!

I will more than likely have additional observations in the weeks to come as I study the list further! 8)

 

[radiorama1]

#283 Simple Minds – Don’t You Forget About Me

^ I need a pair of glasses! :-X

still wish it had been the other song though...

And did anyone notice THIS?

#191 Johnny Cash –Ring of Fire (WTF!) 8)

 

[Retro]

Yeah, completely amazed that Don't You Forget About Me was on the list, but not entirely surprised though. While I do know who ever plays a song first technically breaks the record, much more emphasis is on which station that you actually hear it on first instead. In this case the honor goes to WBCN instead, go figure.

Also, did 'FNX play songs so sporadically that when they finally did break, that other stations were thought to have played them first instead?

I know that back in the 80's, they had a policy of instantly dropping a tune once another station picked up on it.

As far as what I have heard first on WFNX is my incomplete list as follows:

Weezer – Buddy Holly
Depeche Mode – Enjoy the Silence
Verve – Bittersweet Symphony
Oasis – Champagne Supernova
Nirvana – All Apologies
U2 – Where the Streets Have No Name
New Order – Bizarre Love Triangle
Fatboy Slim – Praise You
REM – Orange Crush
Peter Gabriel – Solsbury Hill
Depeche Mode – Policy of Truth
Echo and the Bunnymen – Lips Like Sugar
Cure – Boys Don’t Cry
Elvis Costello – Radio Radio
A-ha – Take on Me
Cult – She Sells Sanctuary
Smashing Pumpkins – Landslide
REM – Radio Free Europe
Weezer – Island in the Sun
Adam Ant – Goody Two Shoes (actually this one would've been on WLYN instead.)
Beastie Boys – Paul Revere
Cult – Love Removal Machine
They Might Be Giants – Birdhouse In My Soul
Tears for Fears – Shout
Dinosaur Jr – Feel the Pain
Hole – Doll Parts
The The – Infected
Church – Under the Milky Way
Elvis Costello – Whats So Funny About Peace
Flaming Lips – She Don’t Use Jelly
Las – There She Goes
Bjork – Human Behavior
Pet Shop Boys – West End Girls
Presidents of the USA – Peaches
EMF – Unbelievable
Depeche Mode – Master and Servant
Midnight Oil – Beds are Burning
Tori Amos – God
Peter Gabriel – Sledgehammer
Cult – Firewoman
Clash – This is Radio Clash

 

[Eli Polonsky]

And did anyone notice THIS?

#191 Johnny Cash –Ring of Fire (WTF!) 8)

Ol' Johnny has always had a big "retro hipness quotient" among modern alt-rockers. They like the "swagger" he portrayed back in his heyday, and he's considered by them to be one of the original roots rockers.

 

[radiorama1]

And did anyone notice THIS?

#191 Johnny Cash –Ring of Fire (WTF!) 8)

Ol' Johnny has always had a big "retro hipness quotient" among modern alt-rockers. They like the "swagger" he portrayed back in his heyday, and he's considered by them to be one of the original roots rockers.

Oh, I totally agree with that, it's just that I thought this list was supposed to represent the Top 500 FNX songs of all time, and I don't recall ever hearing Johnny Cash on FNX before. But I suppose whenever you have a Top 500 such as this, you need to throw in the occasional "surprise" here and there 8)

( EDIT: not to mention the fact that he wrote a song for NIN and also has been covered by The Dropkick Murphys as well as other alternative bands! 8) )

 

[radiorama1]

Yeah, completely amazed that Don't You Forget About Me was on the list, but not entirely surprised though. While I do know who ever plays a song first technically breaks the record, much more emphasis is on which station that you actually hear it on first instead. In this case the honor goes to WBCN instead, go figure.

Also, did 'FNX play songs so sporadically that when they finally did break, that other stations were thought to have played them first instead?

I know that back in the 80's, they had a policy of instantly dropping a tune once another station picked up on it.

As far as what I have heard first on WFNX is my incomplete list as follows:

Weezer – Buddy Holly
Depeche Mode – Enjoy the Silence
Verve – Bittersweet Symphony
Oasis – Champagne Supernova
Nirvana – All Apologies
U2 – Where the Streets Have No Name
New Order – Bizarre Love Triangle
Fatboy Slim – Praise You
REM – Orange Crush
Peter Gabriel – Solsbury Hill
Depeche Mode – Policy of Truth
Echo and the Bunnymen – Lips Like Sugar
Cure – Boys Don’t Cry
Elvis Costello – Radio Radio
A-ha – Take on Me
Cult – She Sells Sanctuary
Smashing Pumpkins – Landslide
REM – Radio Free Europe
Weezer – Island in the Sun
Adam Ant – Goody Two Shoes (actually this one would've been on WLYN instead.)
Beastie Boys – Paul Revere
Cult – Love Removal Machine
They Might Be Giants – Birdhouse In My Soul
Tears for Fears – Shout
Dinosaur Jr – Feel the Pain
Hole – Doll Parts
The The – Infected
Church – Under the Milky Way
Elvis Costello – Whats So Funny About Peace
Flaming Lips – She Don’t Use Jelly
Las – There She Goes
Bjork – Human Behavior
Pet Shop Boys – West End Girls
Presidents of the USA – Peaches
EMF – Unbelievable
Depeche Mode – Master and Servant
Midnight Oil – Beds are Burning
Tori Amos – God
Peter Gabriel – Sledgehammer
Cult – Firewoman
Clash – This is Radio Clash

^ Most of those songs I believe you will still hear on FNX to this day as well...

I know that back in the 80's, they had a policy of instantly dropping a tune once another station picked up on it.

Makes sense. I remember back when "See The Lights" by Simple Minds appeared on Rick Dees' Weekly Top 40 (Summer of 1991 IIRC), then-FNX morning man Tai was telling me "Oh, we were all over that song like three months ago!"

 

[Retro]

I remember them playing Where The Streets Have No Name the day that the Joshua Tree came out.

 

[WBIMDJ]

They still adhere to that "drop it once it comes on another station" policy somewhat...I heard M.I.A.'s "Paper Planes" on FNX first about 6 months ago and have noticed FNX drop it from playing it a lot to not playing it nearly as much now that it's starting to break as a hit because of that movie trailer...

 

[Retro]

But they still play it though however...


I was thinking today of other songs that FNX also broke that were not on the top 500 list at all. They include:

All I Want-Toad The Wet Sprocket
Obsession-Animotion
Love Fool-Cardigans
Tubthumping-Chumbawumba
Unbelievable-EMF
Beds Are Burning-Midnight Oil
Nothing Compars 2 U-Sinead O'Connor
Closer To Fine-Indigo Girls

 

[SonicOverload]

When "Creep" first came out, I had no idea that it would be become the favorite hit that it is now!

when the song came out, the first thing I noticed was how much the chord progression sounded like "The Air That I Breathe" by the Hollies. I guess I was onto something because the writers of the Hollies song now share the royalties with Radiohead

surprised Nirvana's "Teen Spirit" didn't top things. A song that changed alt-rock or whatever you want to call it forever...

 

[WBIMDJ]

But they still play it though however...


I was thinking today of other songs that FNX also broke that were not on the top 500 list at all. They include:

All I Want-Toad The Wet Sprocket
Obsession-Animotion
Love Fool-Cardigans
Tubthumping-Chumbawumba
Unbelievable-EMF
Beds Are Burning-Midnight Oil
Nothing Compars 2 U-Sinead O'Connor
Closer To Fine-Indigo Girls

Some of those did make it:

487. Midnight Oil - Beds Are Burning
444. EMF - Unbelievable

 

[WBIMDJ]

#283 Simple Minds – Don’t You Forget About Me

^ I need a pair of glasses! :-X

still wish it had been the other song though...

For what it's worth, albeit not making the countdown, FNX played Simple Minds - "Someone Somewhere in the Summertime" this morning. Good tune.

 

[Retro]

]

Some of those did make it:

487. Midnight Oil - Beds Are Burning
444. EMF - Unbelievable

I missed those, thanks for letting me know!

Also, that reminds me, they also played first:

Walking On The Sun-Smashmouth
All The Things She Said-Simple Minds

#283 Simple Minds – Don’t You Forget About Me

^ I need a pair of glasses! :-X

still wish it had been the other song though...

For what it's worth, albeit not making the countdown, FNX played Simple Minds - "Someone Somewhere in the Summertime" this morning. Good tune.

Good song! I kinda wish that some of the songs from Once Upon A Time made it too though.

 

[Research_Weenie]

I know that back in the 80's, they had a policy of instantly dropping a tune once another station picked up on it.

Funny, ZBC had the same policy with regards to FNX and other stations. The radio chain was linear.

 

[MoLarryMoLarry]

I worked there from 1987-1996 and that was NEVER a policy in the FNX programming department. The fact that FNX ran an image campaign called "we played it first" for a number of years is proof of that. The campaign was designed to remind listeners who we shared with other stations that the songs they were hearing elsewhere originated with FNX.

I agree that it was a ZBC policy, though. We had several ZBC interns who loved to tell us that, for some reason.

 

[ex radio pimp]

I'm going to bet Ciao and Ex Radio Pimp were sporting wood when they saw this topic. Then read it and threw up in their mouths. I still wish the Hurricane were lucky enough to work at such a great station.


On a personal note, it's a tough time of year to be the Hurricane.

That's the 2nd time you come after me for not saying something. If I'm obsessed with FNX, you're obsessed with me. Creep.