Another AT40 question

maciav wrote: "IT" claimed to have every hit that ever charted, but of course, they didn't. They did not have some of the rare charting singles that collectors on this website may have in their collections and may be extremely difficult to obtain. Some of these include Bob Dylan's "George Jackson", Cliff DeYoung's "My Sweet Lady", Neighborhood's "Big Yellow Taxi", Wilton Place Street Band's "Disco Lucy", and Wing and a Prayer Fife & Drum Corp's "Baby Face". However, this is one of the neat things about having the old AT40 countdowns on satellite radio. Even if SIRIUS/XM doesn't have these songs in their archives, and even if I don't have some of these songs in my collection, I can still hear them on the old AT40 shows. SIRIUS/XM is on thin ice with me. If they drop the AT40 70s shows, I am dropping them.

If they drop AT40-70s, I will drop them, too. But as for your other comment, I believe the final IT marathon (the one they aired in the fall 2007) DID have every top 40 hit of the '70s. The '80s channel deleted MANY MANY top 40 hits, especially ballads, and especially songs from the pre-MTV '80s. I was told that even the 2006 IT missed quite a few '70s top 40 hits, but I thought the 2007 one aired them all, including "My Sweet Lady", "Disco Lucy", etc. Are you sure these didn't air in the 2007 marathon?

Edited by EdisonLite

EdisonLite wrote: Can you provide a link for both the '70s and '80s channels chat boards?

Xmfan doesn't have separate chat boards for each of the decades channels, but rather one decades discussion which covers them all. You'll find that you are far from alone in your displeasure with the direction that the former XM music channels have taken.

Gordon, when can we expect to hear your own customized version of IT? ;) Let me know when you get to 1976, so I can hear which version of "Did You Boogie (With Your Baby)" you've decided to include. On second thought, I think I already know the answer to that. ;)   

EdisonLite wrote: I expanded my version to include not just the top 40 hits but all the top 100 hits in my player!

That's the fun part of being both the Program Director and the audience! The final IT, which aired nearly two years ago, encompassed many songs outside of the top 40, particularly during the '50s, '60s and '70s segments. During the '60s decade, many of the songs that peaked between #49 and #41 were also included.

maciav wrote: "IT" claimed to have every hit that ever charted, but of course, they didn't. They did not have some of the rare charting singles that collectors on this website may have in their collections and may be extremely difficult to obtain. Some of these include Bob Dylan's "George Jackson", Cliff DeYoung's "My Sweet Lady", Neighborhood's "Big Yellow Taxi", Wilton Place Street Band's "Disco Lucy", and Wing and a Prayer Fife & Drum Corp's "Baby Face".

Mike, I never heard XM claim that they were including every top 40 hit; instead, IT was billed as "The History of Pop Music," beginning with the pre-IT rundown of the biggest hits of the 1920s, with IT itself starting with 1930. All five of the records you cited were aired on the final 2007 IT (here's a link to the complete 2007 IT song list. Knowing that it was likely going to be their last hurrah, most of the XM staff poured their souls into going out in style, and the 2007 IT included many songs which had not previously been included. Bob Moke, the '40s channel guru, oversaw the 1930-1979 portion of IT, and made it shine. Unfortunately, it was almost immediately apparent with the beginning of the 1980 portion that the folks responsible for the latter part of IT really dropped the ball, with repeated and missing songs occuring frequently. All the same, it was an incredibly memorable radio show.

In a parting "thank you" letter to XM listeners, Kurt Gilchrist, the former XM Senior Program Director of the Decades Channels mentioned how such a massive undertaking had been hatched:

Kurt Gilchrist wrote: ‘Monster’ which later became ‘IT’ that came to me while having a conversation with Phlash (Phelps) about a special that he and Cleveland (Wheeler) were thinking about for the 60’s. Not everyone liked it…errr…..’IT’ but where else would I have had the chance to even attempt it. Even some of the less enamored listeners came to at least tolerate it. Now imagine getting six program directors, a team of production guys, Lee Abrams and Dave Logan all to agree on something that covers the 30s thru today….it was like herding cats…..plus all the missing music we had to locate… technical issues along the way…….but each year it got a little better… a little more ‘ear candy’ and with the help of Bob Moke… I feel the last one was something we could be proud of…

The sad part is that IT is still in the can, and could be aired if Sirius wanted to run it again. But the very notion of IT scares off every radio consultant incapable of thinking outside the box, including those who advise Sirius. And so it goes.

The 94 pages of xmfan's running commentary during the course of the 2007 IT can be found here.

Paul C wrote: For about a year the last song I needed was "The Wise Old Owl" by Al Donahue. After twenty years of looking, a copy finally appeared in a Record Finders' auction. I bid about $50 - because I really, really wanted it....A few months later it was issued on a Collectables CD.

Yeah, I was SO happy about that one.

I bought the big Japanese "Capitol Vocal Classics" boxed set on Ebay a few months ago for the Paul Weston version of "Ole Buttermilk Sky" and the Clark Denis version of "Peg 'O My Heart."

I sure wish SOMEONE would release Savannah Churchill's "(It's No) Sin" on CD (in decent sound). It's on an import, but the quality is AWFUL. It was recorded for RCA in 1951, so I'm sure it was done on tape. But very few companies seem to be interested in pre-rock-era music.

I believe the recent release of the David Carroll "Melody of Love" was the final top ten single of the rock era that was missing from CD. It sounds pretty good, but I think they used too much noise reduction on it... there's no high end left. It's so hard to believe that's never been issued on CD from a tape source anywhere, some Reader's Digest compilation or something.

With the pre-1950 stuff, it doesn't matter so much, because almost all of it was recorded direct to disc anyway. The Jasmine label is a mixed bag. They've got a gorgeous "Old Soldiers Never Die" on their Vaughn Monroe comp, but their recent Helen Carroll & The Satisfiers" CD sounds dreadful... No-Noised to DEATH.

If they played these songs during 2007, my apologies. It does seem however, that rarities like these are not played as part of the regular rotation on SIRIUS/XM. If they were played during "IT", they should be played now. I really miss "IT", and thank you for the message board links. I didn't know these existed.
By the way, the AT40 countdown this past weekend was 10/20/79. I would mention the AT40 countdown from the 80s that played, but.....oh yeah, how could I forget.....They run their own countdowns now with the former MTV Video Jocks. What a joke! I am one subscriber increase away from cancelling!

Yah Shure wrote:
<Gordon, when can we expect to hear your own customized version of IT? ;) Let me know when you get to 1976, so I can hear which version of "Did You Boogie (With Your Baby)" you've decided to include. On second thought, I think I already know the answer to that. >

Yes, I used your 45 version (gotten from the old napster days), which for the rest of you is the rare non-Wolfman Jack STEREO version - but with my version I removed any remaining evidence of vinyl (really got it to be CD quality), and I even extended it a little bit so it's as long as the other versions of the song (and maybe even longer).