Seems like the same kind of arguments were used by radio stations to delay playing "El Paso". Another song with a defined geographical area. At 4:37, it was a definite outlier for airplay in 1959-1960. But the story was more compelling than ponderous, I guess. Didn't work, after a lag after achieving #1 on the C & W Charts, it soon became #1 on the Billboard Pop Chart. And it even was played on the last episode of "Breaking Bad".
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Why Did Neither WLS Nor WCFL Play "Taxi" By Harry Chapin?
- Thread starter Schroedingers Cat
- Start date
I suppose that if the narrative of any of the songs that have been mentioned in this thread -- including its original subject, "Taxi" -- made you want to hear more after the first couple of verses, I'd call that song compelling rather than ponderous. To me, "Taxi" had little to say after Harry and Sue exchanged their "how are yous." Dan Fogelberg explored the same general them in "Same Old Lang Syne," which I listened to fully the first time I heard it because I wanted to know if Dan and his old lover finally got back together. The narrative of "El Paso" unfolded perfectly and grabbed the listener right until Felina's last kiss. (And five years later, Jay and the Americans had a huge hit with their Southwestern story-song "Come a Little Bit Closer."
As for "Wreck," the title took away most of the suspense, but if you weren't familiar with the actual event -- which I wasn't -- Lightfoot told the tale skillfully and in great detail. If you're not into folk-style storytelling, the song probably bored you, but I can see why it's still played today on the dwindling number of classic hits stations that still play a lot of '70s titles.
BigA: I'm curious about your assertion that the mid-'70s, when "Wreck" was a hit, was a down period for Top 40 radio. Are you saying that such memorable songs as "Rock the Boat," "Sister Golden Hair," "Philadelphia Freedom," "Brother Louie," "Tonight's the Night," "When Will I See You Again," "Angie," and so many others were all merely "turntable hits," that few people ever bought the records, and that their presence on radio in the 2020s is strictly the result of programmer ego? Sorry, not buying it.
My comment wasn't just about some of the music, but also about the general diversification of the radio dial, brought on by the growth of FM. No longer were listeners restricted to one or two stations playing popular music. If you liked Rock The Boat or When Will I See You Again, there were stations that specialized in that genre of music 24/7. If you liked Soft AC, there were stations that played it.
Chapin reunited the characters from "Taxi" for another 6 1/2 minutes in "Sequel". I don't know who did and didn't play it other than the station I was working for at the time.
From what I remember it got played on some Chicago FM's but it wasn't as "interesting" as the original.
"Sequel" peaked at #23 in the Hot 100. By 1980, there was an AC Chart, and Sequel peaked at #37.
I never thought of it as an Anti-NYC song, either. To me, it's about coming of age, separation and dealing with changes for the first time. It's one of my favorite M&Ps songs. and very easy for me to relate to when it came out in the fall of 1966 when I was a freshman in college and away from home and girlfriend (now wife) for the first time.
In St. Louis, AOR formatted WMRY played "Taxi" and "Sequel" together in the late 1980's.
"Twelve Thirty" was released in the late summer of 1967.
I'll bet some other stations did that as well. In Chicago I think it was WLUP where I heard it.
CKLW and WABC played Sequel, but it charted low. WFDF 910 (also charted Taxi) in Michigan played it, but they were mainly AC by that time, and the last chart I saw from them was in 1979.
I remember when Sequel came out in 1980, we played it at a small A/C in Jamestown, NY. I never cared for the 'sequel' of Taxi.
Did WMEX jump on "Taxi?" The story I remember was that it was in Boston that the late Jim Connors worked after being at WJET in Erie. He interviewed Harry in Boston on the air, or maybe it was in Buffalo at WYSL. Harry overheard a phone conversation Jim was having with his ex-wife back here in Erie, PA. That overheard conversation becamse the inspiration for the song W*O*L*D.
Did WMEX jump on "Taxi?" The story I remember was that it was in Boston that the late Jim Connors worked after being at WJET in Erie. He interviewed Harry in Boston on the air, or maybe it was in Buffalo at WYSL. Harry overheard a phone conversation Jim was having with his ex-wife back here in Erie, PA. That overheard conversation becamse the inspiration for the song W*O*L*D.
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