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Worst songs on country radio
- Thread starter vchimpanzee
- Start date
i was so irate that such a debacle of a pathetic song like achy breaky could get airplay, let alone become a mega hit back in early 93. so, i hit the phones to discuss/rant the matter with my seattle country station program/music directors. as i recall, it was dewey boyington(wow, theres a winner of a radio name) on KRPM 106FM(station,no longer around), who fired back at me with an angry voice, what a fool i was for my views about the song. ironically, just a few days later, nashville country star, travis tritt had a rant about the same thing. as you may recall, his rant went extremely public, and caused a big rift in the industry. travis pointed his finger at the radio gate keepers, just as i did, along with the music video business. i was so proud of travis for this rare slam against this song and the business. when i called up that dewey character, from KRPM after travis tritts rant made the news, he just hung up on me, unable to discuss the matter further. within the next month, achy breakys mega rotation, burned out, never to be heard again. perhaps, it should never have been touched in the first place. shame on you idiots! yep, i hated the song so much, i acquired the rare record album version of billy rays "some gave all". why? only to start up and then slow down/off the song a couple times on a bluegrass country show i was doin' back then for a college station. oh well, it got a laugh or two..firepoint525 said:
scott salvatori said:
It really came across as sour grapes from Travis, and didn't help his career. Both he & Billy weren't really country singers, but southern rock singers. Both had high powered managers, both had charisma, and had lots of similiarities. It was about jeolousy and ego, and Travis is loaded with both.
As far as "gate-keepers," radio had no reason to play this song. It had already stiffed when it was released by the Marcy Brothers, and Billy was a nobody from Flatwoods Kentucky. The only reason this song was a hit was because of the fans. I followed Billy around for a story I was doing, and this was all driven by the fans. If radio didn't play this song, they would have been burned down.
"A" you got some knowledge, so let me ask this: didnt del reeves have an issue with achey breaky? i think he recorded it, before billy ray, and was set to release it. i think he sued the song writers or record company?
travis also accused the record company of assembling a mass group of wild yelling fans for the video,portraying billy ray as a big star, when he was an unknown.
but, all that said, in my opinion, the album sucked, the production sucked, and so did billy rays singin'.
billy ray did put out a better album release in aug 96, called "trail of tears". the title track/single actually had some tasty bluegrass production style, but did not become a big hit.
travis and billy ray have long made up over the achy breaky issue. but, we the listener/broadcaster in 2012, are stuck with achy breaky style songs getting airplay and hit status on a regualr basis.....
travis also accused the record company of assembling a mass group of wild yelling fans for the video,portraying billy ray as a big star, when he was an unknown.
but, all that said, in my opinion, the album sucked, the production sucked, and so did billy rays singin'.
billy ray did put out a better album release in aug 96, called "trail of tears". the title track/single actually had some tasty bluegrass production style, but did not become a big hit.
travis and billy ray have long made up over the achy breaky issue. but, we the listener/broadcaster in 2012, are stuck with achy breaky style songs getting airplay and hit status on a regualr basis.....
scott salvatori said:
That's an interesting question. Del was not recording at that time, so I have no reason to believe he recorded it.
HOWEVER, he DID sue Billy in 1992, claiming he got him his record deal. Billy's manager, Jack McFadden denied it. The matter went to court, and Del apparently got some money out of the deal. The power of that one song helped Billy sell more than 9 million copies of his debut album, and the album continued to sell despite the lack of quality singles after the first two. My point about it is that radio played the song because of listener demand. The song also won the CMA Single of the Year.
thanks for the accurate details above, but i wonder how much of them 9 million "some gave all" albums sold was on vinyl? i got two of them. one still sealed in the wrapper. very rare??TheBigA said:
I must be one of the half dozen people who had heard "Some Gave All" before "Achy Breaky Heart".scott salvatori said:
That song doesn't seem so bad now.
BIG A nailed it. Like it or not, a song succeeds on it's quality only sometimes. Ultimately, consumer-fan demand drives a song's success. A song I mentioned on another thread, Swede's early '70s rip-off of BJ Thomas' Hooked On A Feeling tripped up skeptics coast-to-coast. Listeners called request lines demanding it, so stations played it.
"Achy Breaky Heart" was one of those strange ones. I remember getting requests for it literally before I had ever even heard it! But when listener demand for something is that strong, that fast, there is usually an equally strong backlash against it. That might explain why you don't hear "Achy Breaky Heart" anymore. That and the fact that it is 20 years old now!
And J. Francis, I actually preferred the Blue Swede version of "Hooked on a Feeling." That is probably because I am 48 now, thus making me 10 years old when it was a hit. But even if you took out the "ooga chagas" (which is what initially "hooked" me), I just thought that their delivery was better. But nothing against B.J. Thomas. I actually prefer his version of the Beach Boys' "Don't Worry Baby," and I'm a Beach Boys fan!
And J. Francis, I actually preferred the Blue Swede version of "Hooked on a Feeling." That is probably because I am 48 now, thus making me 10 years old when it was a hit. But even if you took out the "ooga chagas" (which is what initially "hooked" me), I just thought that their delivery was better. But nothing against B.J. Thomas. I actually prefer his version of the Beach Boys' "Don't Worry Baby," and I'm a Beach Boys fan!
I may be wrong but I thought the reason we program music was for the fans. What we as programmers personally think of the song matters not, it is what the listeners like that matters. I personally can't stand Red Solo Cup but it is a heavy current because it is so popular and Achy Breaky Heart is in normal rotation as a library cut.....If I programmed what I liked, the station wouldn't be something that an audience would enjoy. We program the stations for them, we program our CD's or Ipods for us....
It was always my thought that "Some Gave All" should have been released by Mercury Records as a single before "Achy Breaky Heart". Being that it was a more serious song having to do with America and veterans, I think that it would have established Cyrus as a more credible artist rather than the labeling he got by leading off with "Achy". Anyone else ever thought about that?
'cept for one thing: if "some gave all" was released as a debut single by this then unknown to the masses singer, it would likely of stiffed. while the sentiments of the song are strong, the vocals, the production, and everything else is lame. instead "achy breaky" caught fire, mainly 'cause of the video hype, and a large amount of pre age 20 greenhorn country listeners in major markets, who's country music edumacation lacked, and took to this uptempo simpleton jive, like candy coated crack. the major market reporters obliged to the buzz and proactively took achy breaky up the charts. but, the burn out was quick, like dry cedar kindling on fire.
yes, and no. if i got the entire johnny cash fan club to request johnny cash music on every major market channel continuously, we'd still never hear hide nor hair of johnny. just like we dont now. case closed. but, if its a new "buzz" single, from some new hipster pop production act dispensed like a nashville infomercial. you may see audience demand have a play in its initial out break.Ted Cramer said:
re: the we program the stations for them. B.S. it plays a part, but you all major markets mainly program the station to the elite consultants, who dictate. what came first, the chicken or the egg? what came first, the audience demand for a song, or the consultant who said the audience demands it? kinda very simple. rotate a song with pop production and a repititious chorus line, and it will get demand!
I haven't heard this on my local stations yet, but I just saw the video to "Footloose" on GAC.
Blake Shelton did a cover of "Footloose" for a sortof countryfied remake of the movie released last year. It sounds very much like the version Kenny Loggins did. Anyone had to put up with this on the radio?
Blake Shelton did a cover of "Footloose" for a sortof countryfied remake of the movie released last year. It sounds very much like the version Kenny Loggins did. Anyone had to put up with this on the radio?
scott salvatori said:
There actually ARE stations that play Johnny Cash, and they are the lowest rated country stations in town. Cash gets a lot of lip service from people who say they love his music, but can't name any of his songs. Then when you play his music, they change the station. We can see exactly what people do. Play the legends, and listeners tune out. Play Taylor Swift and millions show up. It's just how it is. Who sold millions of concert tickets this summer? Merle Haggard? Show me one classic country station that has more listeners than the one playing the current stuff.
BIG A: I hate that you're right about airplay of country legends on the radio, but right you are. Objectively, and I've said this before, playlists are dictated by sales, not idealism. Think I'll head to the store now and buy me some CDs...TheBigA said:
radio30 said:
I'm thinking that "Some Gave All" was indeed the leadoff single, but that it stiffed. I'm also thinking that Some Gave All (the album) had to already be out there by the time the hype started; otherwise BRC would not have been able to cash in on all the hype.scott salvatori said:
while your point is valid as a blanket statement. one must realize that j.cash is limited to a scant few token trademark hit spins on most of the classic country stations. songs like "i walk the line", and "folsom prison blues", are not gonna set the pre 30 year old major market listenership on fire. j.cash, is known, and well loved, and respected by most, including rockers,rappers, and any music afficianatos. but, cash hasnt been played on major market stations in almost 30 years. when a country legend is blackballed and forgotten by current major market country stations, how do you expect its listenership to be familiar with their songs. rotation is the key to familiarity. i guarantee you if a major market started rotating some kick ass johnny songs, beyond the prior two mentioned, it would have very positive results. songs like 1980's "bull rider" would work, and so would 1990's "goin by the book". it would also be wise for a morning show to bring up the talk subject of johnny cash, and airplay, and listenr opinions. especially, considering some pop country/rock artist(i 4get who) put out a hit song in the last few years called "johnny cash". listeners, want to know, and learn about this man, this legend, and the music. 99% of major market listeners prob think he's a cool and orig American music icon. 99% of these people also barely know any of his music, thanks to country radio blackballing. i'm sayin' if johnny cash is rotated and pre sold it would work in many markets. just stay away from the same old tired two or three j.cash hits that worked in grandpas day, but have little interest amongst todays young listeners.TheBigA said:
scott salvatori said:
As I said in my post, his biggest hits still get airplay on classic country stations. Those stations don't get big ratings. All of his music is available on the internet and in record stores. It's not radio's job to teach people history. They know his name, as you say, artists like Jason Aldean and many more have sung recent songs mentioning him, and so people know who he is. It's up to them to go the final step and discover the history of music on their own time. Cash was never "blackballed," he simply stopped recording and releasing hit songs. Ultimately he was dropped by his record label. Not much radio can do about that.
johnny cash, was blackballed by radio starting in the 80's. this caused his longtime record company, columbia to eventually release him. the cause and effect of lack of airplay by major markets, cause lack of hits, lack of sales, due to unfamiliarity of new singles by the listening masses, hence record label firing. there is not one current country artist on the charts, who can measure up to johnny cash, or who will create the legend status johnny has. most will be forgotten in a few years. it is all about marketing, and rotation, and knowing the right people. if taylor swift did not get major market radio rotation, she would not be known, or have many sales either. but, radio jumped at it being they all program new chart music, and the rest is history. if major market country radio jumped at a newly discovered j.cash song as a single (ie:"bull rider"), and gave it spins, and pre sell, it would create sales, and radio buzz, just like little miss sex appeal! but, fact is there is no push, er lobbying by record companies, and influential marketing people to do this. current music radio is nothing more than prostituting for the pimp record companies, and giving their new product spins, which creates sales, due to familiarity of product. nothing wrong with this, as its been this way forever. but, when its the only reason to play stuff, a lot falls by the wayside.
the classic country stations that survive, are mostly on AM, and low budget, no promotion at best. most are also poorly programmed with the same predictable song playlist, that may have worked when the songs were new, and for a different generation, but have long been burned out. ie: "rose garden","stand by your man", he stopped loving her..". what current country pre 30 year old is gonna listen to that....? yet, if one checks the charts of the past few decades, one may find some cool stuff that may work for the new generation, alongside the toby kieth, and taylor swift stuff...
the classic country stations that survive, are mostly on AM, and low budget, no promotion at best. most are also poorly programmed with the same predictable song playlist, that may have worked when the songs were new, and for a different generation, but have long been burned out. ie: "rose garden","stand by your man", he stopped loving her..". what current country pre 30 year old is gonna listen to that....? yet, if one checks the charts of the past few decades, one may find some cool stuff that may work for the new generation, alongside the toby kieth, and taylor swift stuff...
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