Semi-OT: SiriusXM 70s on 7 Top 1000
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Topic: Semi-OT: SiriusXM 70s on 7 Top 1000
Posted By: sriv94
Subject: Semi-OT: SiriusXM 70s on 7 Top 1000
Date Posted: 07 September 2022 at 3:54pm
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Since some of you are a little more connected in the radio biz than I am, maybe you can answer this. Let
me give you the long drawn-out story. Grab yourself a beverage. :) Over the Labor Day weekend, SiriusXM's 70s on 7 channel did a listener-voted countdown of the Top 1000 of the 70s. And it was for the most part really well done. Lot of variety--including a number of songs that haven't aired on the channel in quite a while (even going back to the days when it was under different management and the music selection was a lot more liberal). An anonymous Reddit user (no, it wasn't me) was adventurous enough to listen to the entire top 1000. He/she was even more adventurous enough to type out the top 1000 longhand (for the benefit of the those of me who couldn't listen for all 58-some hours of the countdown). So I thought to myself, "Self, I have all of these songs in my library, so why not create a playlist just to be able to refer to it?" (I'm traveling next month, and it'd be great to load it onto my iPhone to listen on the plane.) I start work, I'm moving along at a really good clip (taking an all-70s playlist I have and working from there), and I find that Stevie Wonder's "Living For The City" (great record) winds up at 991...and at 596. Oy. While I love the record and could listen to it more than twice, somehow I don't think that what the programmer had in mind when compiling the votes. And doing a search of XMplaylist.com does indeed indicate the song was played twice within the 58-some hours of the countdown. EDIT: As does the On Demand section on the app. So the question is this--does anyone know who handles the programming for SiriusXM 70s on 7 so I can at least try to get an answer as to which position "Living For The City" should've been and what song should have been played in the other position? Thx! ------------- Doug --------------- All of the good signatures have been taken. |
Replies:
Posted By: eriejwg
Date Posted: 07 September 2022 at 9:13pm
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Ron Parker, who did afternoons at
WLS-FM a few years ago and is on 70s on 7 now, is pretty active on Facebook. You may want to reach out to him directly and he might be able to find out for you. ------------- John Gallagher Erie, PA https://www.johngallagher.com" rel="nofollow - John Gallagher Wedding & Special Event Entertainment / Snapblast Photo Booth |
Posted By: sriv94
Date Posted: 07 September 2022 at 10:17pm
That's an idea. And I am friends with him on the Book of Face. Thx! ------------- Doug --------------- All of the good signatures have been taken. |
eriejwg wrote:Posted By: Paul C
Date Posted: 08 September 2022 at 5:45am
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Might one of them actually be the superb 1975 version by
Ray Charles, which won the 1975 R&B Male Vocal Grammy (#91 Hot 100, #22 R&B)? |
Posted By: sriv94
Date Posted: 08 September 2022 at 6:40am
I would seriously doubt it. That’s a deep cut even for them. :) ------------- Doug --------------- All of the good signatures have been taken. |
Posted By: Scanner
Date Posted: 08 September 2022 at 1:36pm
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Did "You Light Up My Life" rank at all on this countdown?
I always marvel how that song is never included in any '70s retrospectives that are not determined objectively (e.g. charts, record sales). I was stunned when I watched "The Year In Music" for 1977 on AXS-TV and they did not even mention the song - they even listed the year's biggest Grammy winners and only noted "Evergreen" as Song Of The Year. The fact that this was the only time two songs tied for the award would have been worth noting "Light" for that reason alone. |
Posted By: sriv94
Date Posted: 08 September 2022 at 6:14pm
Yes. 450. It was listener-voted, so make from that what you will. ------------- Doug --------------- All of the good signatures have been taken. |
Posted By: Hykker
Date Posted: 09 September 2022 at 6:06am
Uhhhh, yeah. I take these "listener voted" surveys with a tablespoon of salt. Only a VERY small percentage of listeners EVER contact a "station" for any reason, let alone vote for these things, and you'd never even know about it if you weren't a S-XM subscriber so it's not exactly a representative group who's voting here. Back in the 70s I worked for a station that did a couple of these type of holiday weekend countdowns, and I can assure you that much fudging of the results took place! |
Posted By: torcan
Date Posted: 10 September 2022 at 8:32am
There wasn't fudging just on these all-time lists, but many radio station's weekly charts as well. Here in Toronto, both CHUM and CFTR published weekly charts in the newspapers. Both referred to them as "Toronto's Top Singles". During the '80s, CHUM's format changed to more of a rock/alternative format and many hit songs (like "Physical") never appeared on their lists. When "Thriller" hit big in '83, they moved back to more of a pop direction again. When I was in college. one of my instructors was a former CHUM employee. I asked him about the charts they compiled and he said "...basically you bull----, you TELL people that's what the No. 1 song is". |
Posted By: NightAire
Date Posted: 10 September 2022 at 1:12pm
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Hi, another former radio jock here, can confirm: radio station charts are a combination of listener input, staff guesswork, and Music Director opinions.
Filled in one night in 1990 for the night jock on my local top 40. They did a "Top 8 At Eight" every weeknight. Asked where the log of requests were so I could start totaling them up. Was LAUGHED at, told we couldn't trust requests (partially true), and shown how listener input influenced but didn't determine the nightly countdown: "That song wouldn't have fallen from here to there, so we'll only move it a space or two. This song doesn't fit our format even though it got enough requests to land on the charts. We're wanting to see how many people will start reporting they like this song so we're putting it on the countdown every night..." I left the studio that night even more disillusioned than I had been before (which I didn't think was possible). (FWIW, when I survey people for my internet station every week, I'm ACTUALLY counting each vote and ACTUALLY playing songs more or less often based on the votes of my listener advisory board... 12 listeners who tell me each week what they think. That's why I think I can win, because I know broadcast stations DON'T do that. They think they're "smarter" than the listener. Sad, really.) ------------- Gene Savage http://www.BlackLightRadio.com - http://www.BlackLightRadio.com http://www.facebook.com/TulsaSavage - http://www.facebook.com/TulsaSavage Tulsa, Oklahoma USA |
Posted By: Scanner
Date Posted: 10 September 2022 at 2:03pm
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At least Debby made it onto the countdown. I always "enjoy"
how much these listener voted countdowns deviate from what actually occurred on the charts and was heard on the radio back when. I appreciate time does not age all songs the same. "Physical" was is in the midst of its ten week reign atop the Billboard Hot 100 when Journey's "Don't Stop Believing" peaked at No. 9. Yet, it is Journey that 40 years later is played and streamed more often than most current songs! |
Posted By: AdvprosD
Date Posted: 12 September 2022 at 8:10am
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I honestly never cared much for this Debby Boone song, ever!
I ended up at Debby Boone school one night at a wedding. Seems I was having a bit of trouble reading the room at a gig. One near-teen came up to me a couple times and requested "You Light Up My Life" more than once. I was figuring that a bad night couldn't get much worse after a few requests. So, I played it, and while I was expecting to be shot by the younger crowd, (Which also greatly outnumbered the older ones), the floor filled all the way up! Still to this day, I can't understand what was working with Debby. This group was at least two generations behind the music. ------------- <Dave> Someone please tell I-Heart Radio that St. Louis is not known as The Loo! |
Posted By: sriv94
Date Posted: 12 September 2022 at 8:42am
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Which reminds me of one of the great radio bits in the history of WLS in Chicago. Nighttime jock John
Records Landecker (one of the greatest of all time) couldn't stand the song, so he hatched a brilliant idea to play the song and keep his sanity. He had the engineer divide the song into twelve 17-second increments, and then he'd play each increment during the course of his four-hour show (he called it "The Debby Boone Installment Plan"). ------------- Doug --------------- All of the good signatures have been taken. |
Posted By: Santi Paradoa
Date Posted: 12 September 2022 at 11:12am
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Great story Doug. Love the punch line ("The Debby Boone
Installment Plan"). So is there a link somewhere online that takes us to the entire list for this countdown? ------------- Santi Paradoa Miami, Florida |
Posted By: eriejwg
Date Posted: 12 September 2022 at 11:37am
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Hi Santi,
The only link to the list I found is on Reddit. The link first takes you to 1000-751 but the other links are within the thread. https://www.reddit.com/r/70smusic/comments/x5dabw/siriusxm_ 70s_on_7_top_1000_hits_of_the_1970s/ ------------- John Gallagher Erie, PA https://www.johngallagher.com" rel="nofollow - John Gallagher Wedding & Special Event Entertainment / Snapblast Photo Booth |
Posted By: Santi Paradoa
Date Posted: 12 September 2022 at 1:43pm
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Thanks John G. ------------- Santi Paradoa Miami, Florida |
Posted By: Hykker
Date Posted: 13 September 2022 at 5:45am
The song was #1 for 10 weeks in 1977...clearly a lot of somebodies liked it back then. Thing is, because it was on the charts for so long lots and lots of those same somebodies got really really tired of it. To a younger generation, it was more like discovering a new song.
Hopefully, this was done as a one-time joke with the OK of the PD. Is there a DJ anywhere who hasn't had to play songs they didn't like? Thing is, your job is to come across like you love it and can't wait to play it again with the speakers cranked. |
Posted By: crapfromthepast
Date Posted: 13 September 2022 at 8:57am
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I'd guess that the PD approved the Installment Plan. It was likely well into the song's chart run, and the joke struck the tone that we all (including the listeners) were a little tired of the song.
In 1983, WPLJ in New York had a "Maniac-free Weekend", which basically acknowledged that we were all a little tired of the Michael Sembello hit. They ran "Maniac-free Weekend" sweepers during the whole thing, and might have even teased it beforehand. I thought it was a great stunt that resonated with me (as a listener). But I can't think of any other time when a radio station actively disparaged one of its songs. (I remember some jock saying something like "this is really a hit" when playing "Achy Breaky Heart", but that's as far as it went.) ------------- There's a lot of crap on the radio, but there's only one http://www.crapfromthepast.com" rel="nofollow - Crap From The Past . |
Posted By: Scanner
Date Posted: 14 September 2022 at 9:07am
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I recall a "No Bee Gees" weekend on a local Top 40
station a few months after "Saturday Night Fever" was released. As a kid, I got the point, but I did wonder what Bee Gees fanatics thought of the stunt. (Ironically, I recall the same station playing Debby Boone after "Light" dimmed (sorry, couldn't resist!) introducing the song by saying, "Here's Debby Boone for you one more time!") Thanks for posting the countdown - a very intriguing list more representative of songs that were actual hits back when than I thought it would be. Could you imagine if any station still regularly played many of the songs that were featured?!? |
Posted By: PopArchivist
Date Posted: 14 September 2022 at 9:20am
I think one morning when I was driving back in 2019 the station here in Albany (102.3) morning show was like "If anyone requests Old Town Road we are not playing it. Let's move on people." If you didn't know Ron, Old Town Road was #1 for 19 weeks and pretty much consumed the air waves for most of 2019. I sure know that I could listen to Maniac 200 more times compares to Old Town Road! ------------- Favorite two expressions to live by on this board: "You can't download vinyl" and "Not everything is available on CD." |
Posted By: sriv94
Date Posted: 14 September 2022 at 2:39pm
Landecker's book Records Truly Is My Middle Name has the full story, with a wonderful postscript that happened in 1997. I don't want to spoil it, but I will say this. The PD did not like the idea, but let it slide once (and only once). ------------- Doug --------------- All of the good signatures have been taken. |
Posted By: JMD1961
Date Posted: 15 September 2022 at 2:18am
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I notice several two-sided hits listed. Did they play
both sides or was the A-side considered the actual hit as far as the countdown is concerned? |
Posted By: sriv94
Date Posted: 15 September 2022 at 7:34am
They played the A-side, except for John Denver's "Calypso" and "I'm Sorry," which both got in. It's also notable for some of the songs that didn't get in: "I Need You" - America "Takin' Care Of Business" - BTO (while "Let It Ride" did) "It's A Miracle" - Barry Manilow "Piano Man" - Billy Joel "Have You Ever Seen The Rain" - CCR "Listen To The Music" - Doobie Brothers "Can't Get It Out Of My Head" - ELO "Keeper Of The Castle" - Four Tops "Bad Luck" - Harold Melvin & The Blue Notes "Always & Forever" - Heatwave "Emma" - Hot Chocolate "My Girl Bill" - Jim Stafford "Beth" - Kiss "Stop & Smell The Roses" - Mac Davis (while "One Hell Of A Woman" did) "Do Ya Wanna Get Funky With Me" - Peter Brown "You're My Best Friend" - Queen ------------- Doug --------------- All of the good signatures have been taken. |
Posted By: Hykker
Date Posted: 15 September 2022 at 9:24am
I'm a bit surprised by these, as they're still popular today. Many/most of the others kind of disappeared after they dropped off the charts back in the day. With the exception of the Heatwave song (which soft AC's played well into the 80s), and maybe the CCR tune the rest of your list just didn't have the staying power. Even those 2's airplay kind of tapered off by the 90s. I'm referencing terrestrial radio here, while my wife has S/XM in her car, I rarely drive it so I can't speak for what they program.
I recall an event in the autumn of 1968 on WBZ/Boston where the afternoon drive jock (Ron Landry) went on some sort of on-air "strike" because the station dropped "Harper Valley PTA" from the playlist. I didn't catch the whole stunt, but it ended with the GM going on the air and "apologizing" for "banning" the song, and "allowed" Ron to play it twice in a row. I'm betting this was a ratings book stunt...'BZ had an AC format at the time, and the song kind of stuck out like a sore thumb. |
Posted By: NightAire
Date Posted: 17 September 2022 at 12:17pm
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A local top 40 that actually DID listen to the audience (KELI / 14K in Tulsa) in the mid-80s announced that they were going to take a vote on continuing to play Weird Al's "Eat It" parody. They said if they get enough "no" phone calls vs. "yes" phone calls, they would "blow it up" and stop playing it.
I was neutral about the song but wanted to hear what "blowing up" a record sounded like, so I sure voted no! As I remember it was close, but the "no" votes won. They started playing the record, let it get to the chorus, then had the sound effect of an atomic explosion and cut off the record. They said they'd never play it again. ...that weekend, doing the local "top 30" countdown, they played it again. I called and asked what was up. They said they wouldn't play "Eat It" during REGULAR programming, but if it was getting enough votes it could still make the countdown, and it had. I felt a little disgruntled that you could destroy a record on the air and then put it back together again by the weekend... ------------- Gene Savage http://www.BlackLightRadio.com - http://www.BlackLightRadio.com http://www.facebook.com/TulsaSavage - http://www.facebook.com/TulsaSavage Tulsa, Oklahoma USA |
Posted By: sriv94
Date Posted: 22 September 2022 at 6:56am
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OK, there's a new wrinkle in the mystery. SiriusXM did e-mail me a printed list. "Living For The City"'s
correct position was 991. Meat Loaf's "Paradise By The Dashboard Light" (which got played at 455) was supposed to be at 596 (when "City" was played a second time). What was supposed to be at 455 was BTO's "You Ain't Seen Nothing Yet" (which got played at 175, but is listed at 175 *and* 455--so it's the song that's listed twice). I mentioned surprise at the exclusion of BTO's "Takin' Care Of Business"--it's one of those songs that usually tests well at classic hits stations. I wonder if that's what was supposed to be at 175. ------------- Doug --------------- All of the good signatures have been taken. |
Posted By: sriv94
Date Posted: 22 September 2022 at 7:48am
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And a further wrinkle to add to the plot. Through archive.org, I was able to look at the list of 1974
songs eligible for voting. And "You Ain't Seen Nothing Yet" is in fact listed twice (one with its B- side of "Free Wheelin'" appended, the other by itself). Since I do market research as my day job, I'm kind of a stickler for making sure possible choices aren't duplicated. But there's our answer--they gave people the opportunity to vote for the same song twice and people took advantage. (And I still get the feeling that the duplicate choice should've been BTO's "TCB", considering "Let It Ride" [lesser hit but great song] made it [although it seemingly was a write-in, as it didn't appear in either the 1974 or 1973 list].) BTW, the note had the word "/Numan" at the end. As in Human Numan, former Z-100 jock? Any of you guys know him and/or are tight with him? ------------- Doug --------------- All of the good signatures have been taken. |