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thecdguy
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Just wondering if anyone here can help me with some very vague memories I have of a music countdown show (or shows) from the 80's. They definitely weren't from the Casey Kasem or Rick Dees shows. I believe it was a syndicated show, not a local countdown and it was in the Philadelphia area circa 1985-86.
One memory I have from 1985 is hearing the DJ talking about Hall & Oates' song "Some Things Are Better Left Unsaid" and he said something to the effect that the song had fallen 10 notches from #10 to #20, and "Ouch, Some Things ARE Better Left Unsaid". This couldn't have been from the Billboard, Cashbox or Radio & Records charts because the song didn't reach the Top 10 on any of them.
Another one I vaguely recall from 1986 is hearing a DJ saying that John Mellencamp's "R.O.C.K. In The USA" had fallen from #1 to #13 and I think I listened the next week and it had fallen to #27. The song didn't go to #1 on any of the three main charts at the time, so I'm wondering if there were any other music ranking charts at the time that were maybe not as well known, like the ones in Variety Magazine.
Unfortunately, those are the only details I can recall. I don't know the DJ's name or if I even heard him mention it, nor do I recall the name of the countdown show. It's also possible that it was two different DJ's and two different shows. I don't know if anyone here worked in radio in the Philadelphia area at that time, but I thought I'd ask just in case. Thank you for any help and information on this.
Also, I know Casey and Rick Dees' shows were based on Billboard and Radio & Records, respectively. But was there ever a countdown show based on the Cashbox charts?
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sriv94
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thecdguy wrote:
One memory I have from 1985 is hearing the DJ talking about Hall & Oates' song "Some Things Are Better Left Unsaid" and he said something to
the effect that the song had fallen 10 notches from #10 to #20, and "Ouch, Some Things ARE Better Left Unsaid". This couldn't have been from the Billboard,
Cashbox or Radio & Records charts because the song didn't reach the Top 10 on any of them.
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It did fall from 21 to 33 on the 5/18/85 Hot 100, so it still could've been uttered by Casey--just a little earlier than you thought. :)
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Paul Haney
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The National Music Survey hosted by Dick Clark used the Cash Box chart.
Countdown America with John Leader used the Radio & Records chart (Dick Clark eventually took over that show).
I suspect the show you could be thinking of might be Rockin' America hosted by Scott Shannon. Not sure what source they
used, but his show was much more irreverent that any of the other shows (much more like the Rick Dees show).
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thecdguy
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sriv94 wrote:
| It did fall from 21 to 33 on the 5/18/85 Hot 100, so it still could've been uttered by Casey--just a little earlier than you thought. :) |
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It definitely wasn't Casey's show. I would've remembered it because he had such a distinctive voice. Plus, Casey's show was based on Billboard and the Hall & Oates song only got as high as #18 there, so it couldn't have fallen from #10 to #20, like I remember hearing the DJ mention.
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Hykker
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Dan Ingram also had a syndicated countdown show in the
mid-ish 80s "Dan Ingram Satellite Survey" (which was
distributed on vinyl, not via satellite).
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RichM921
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There was also "Top 30 USA" hosted by M.G. Kelly. I have one of the
shows from 1986 so the time frame would be right.
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thecdguy
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Paul Haney wrote:
The National Music Survey hosted by Dick Clark used the Cash Box chart.
Countdown America with John Leader used the Radio & Records chart (Dick Clark eventually took over that show).
I suspect the show you could be thinking of might be Rockin' America hosted by Scott Shannon. Not sure what source they
used, but his show was much more irreverent that any of the other shows (much more like the Rick Dees show). |
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"The National Music Survey" is a name I haven't heard since the 80's. I seem to recall a countdown with him as host early in 1984 and mentioning that Yes' "Owner Of A Lonely Heart" had moved into the #1 position. I imagine that must have been it, as the song was also #1 in Cashbox in January 1984 like it was in Billboard.
Countdown America with John Leader sounded like a possibility and I probably did hear it at some point, but if it used the Radio & Records chart as its source, it couldn't have been what I remember hearing. The Hall & Oates song didn't make the Top 10 on that chart and the John Mellancamp song didn't go to #1 on it, either.
"Rockin' America" sounds like a possibility, but if it was hosted by Scott Shannon, I probably would have remembered it since he also has a very distinct voice. Our local oldies station, 98.1, plays his "America's Greatest Hits" shows Saturday mornings from about 6 to 9 and his voice is the kind that most likely would have stuck in my memory.
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thecdguy
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RichM921 wrote:
There was also "Top 30 USA" hosted by M.G. Kelly. I have one of the
shows from 1986 so the time frame would be right. |
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That might be it! I listened to a clip of a Top 30 USA Countdown on YouTube and his voice seems the closest to what I remember. I'll do a little more looking around on Google to see if I can find any more information on him and that countdown.
Dan Ingram is another one whose voice I've heard before. I probably did hear his countdown at some point, but M.G. Kelly is more likely the one I remember. Thanks for the help everyone!
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Paul Haney
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IIRC, Top 30 USA with MG Kelly used the Radio & Records Adult Contemporary chart. That Mellencamp song wasn't a big AC hit.
Edited by Paul Haney on 07 August 2020 at 9:33am
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thecdguy
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Paul Haney wrote:
IIRC, Top 30 USA
with MG Kelly used the Radio &
Records Adult Contemporary chart.
That Mellencamp song wasn't a big AC
hit. |
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I was thinking maybe that's why they
mentioned that the Hall & Oates song
fell from 10 to 20. Maybe it peaked
at #10 on R&R's AC Chart. I believe
they also had an "AOR Chart" as
well, so maybe that's the chart that
was referred to for the Mellancamp
song, but I can't imagine
there being a countdown at the time
for Album Oriented Rock.
Edited by thecdguy on 07 August 2020 at 10:28am
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sriv94
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Wasn't R&R--5/3/85 CHR chart it went from 16 (peak) to 27, A/C chart it went from 15 to 21 (peaked at 13 two weeks before).
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Paul Haney
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"Some Things Are Better Left Unsaid" peaked at #13 on the R&R AC chart.
EDIT: See Doug beat me to it. :)
Edited by Paul Haney on 07 August 2020 at 12:24pm
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eric_a
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thecdguy wrote:
I can't imagine there being a countdown at the time
for Album Oriented Rock. |
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Westwood One had a syndicated show called "Rock Week" with
current AOR tracks, though I can't remember if it was
structured as a countdown.
But based on the descriptions, the snark sounds a lot like
Scott Shannon or Dan Ingram.
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Hykker
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thecdguy wrote:
I can't imagine
there being a countdown at the time
for Album Oriented Rock. |
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I don't think it was still around by the mid 80s (AOR as
a format was somewhat in decline by then), but there was
a show called National Album Countdown in the late 70s.
Not strictly rock, but featured cuts (not necessarily
singles) from the top 30 LPs.
A bit of Googling reveals that it was hosted by someone
by the name of Humble Harv Miller.
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Paul Haney
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Humble Harve Miller was a pretty big name in the radio industry. He worked in Los Angeles for several years. He had quite
an interesting life, including a stint in prison for killing his cheating wife. I heard the National Album Countdown a few
times over the years. IMO, not nearly as addicting as American Top 40.
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Hykker
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Paul Haney wrote:
Humble Harve Miller was a pretty
big name in the radio industry. He worked in Los
Angeles for several years. He had quite
an interesting life, including a stint in prison for
killing his cheating wife. I heard the National Album
Countdown a few
times over the years. IMO, not nearly as addicting as
American Top 40. |
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Now that you mention it, I do remember reading the
story about him killing his wife. Being a lifelong
east coast guy, wasn't as familiar with who's who on
the west coast.
Agree with NAC being one of those ideas that sounded
better on paper than on the air. Way too many
unfamiliar songs...the show often avoided hit singles
in their countdown, but other than rock tracks on AOR
stations, not many album cuts got airplay.
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PopArchivist
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While we are on the topic, is there any archive for Casey Kasem's weekly radio countdowns or resource to hear them with music? Or are the youtube videos the only source one can find?
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RichM921
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PopArchivist wrote:
While we are on the topic, is there any archive
for Casey Kasem's weekly radio countdowns or resource to hear them
with music? Or are the youtube videos the only source one can find?
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Only within the private collections of collectors (such as myself). From
what I understand the rights holders strongly frown upon people posting
them publicly.
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dacs2000
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RichM921 wrote:
Only within the private collections
of collectors (such as myself). From
what I understand the rights holders strongly frown
upon people posting
them publicly. |
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Yes, I can vouch for that I've been looking for years
for good copies of AT40 shows, but several boards that
discuss the Casey's AT40 strongly forbid the sharing,
swapping, and downloading of actual programs. Someone
did give me a heap of badly encoded mp3s of the shows,
such as the joints (which happen every three to five
minutes) are all horribly messed up, but getting good
copies is close to impossible, unless you purchase
them from the licensed operator, who I believe is
Premier.
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Paul Haney
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You can hear some full shows on the Mixcloud website. However, they usually get taken down eventually. Still, people
keep trying to load them there. Same goes for YouTube. Some full shows stay up for awhile.
I wish the online iHeart channel was better. They seem to repeat the same shows over and over again.
What would be great is an on-demand channel, where you could pick and choose which shows to listen to. I'd pay for that
in a heartbeat!
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Topic: OT: 80’s Countdown Show Memories
