Recurrent Classics

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   I run my own personal radio station as a hobby.  Right now my 

wife and I are probably the only listeners :)  I have one station 

that is basically my personal favorite playlist ranging from the 

70s to current hits.  I recently added a new station playing 

nothing but current top 40 as well as classics from the past 10-

15 years while throwing in some throwbacks from the 90s like 

Tupak, Biggie, and Outkast.  This definitely keeps my wife happy 

in the car.  My 2 year old is also in his car seat kicking, dancing 

and singing along (he screams bloody murder when something 

old comes on lol).  I wanted to begin a third station that is similar 

to the second with nothing but current top 40 but also wanted to 

throw in some songs that everyone will enjoy from the 80s and 

90s.  One that I heard on the radio today was Michael Jackson's 

"Wanna Be Startin' Something."  I felt this was something that 

would fit in nicely.  I tried to search for charts of the classics and 

found this on wikipedia: 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mainstream_Top_40

Looking at the list, even though Real McCoy, Goo Goo Dolls, and 

No Doubt are on the "Top 10 Pop Songs of All Time" from 1992-

2017 I do not feel they would fall into what I am trying to 

accomplish here.  Does anyone have any suggestions or charts 

to look at other than what I just pointed out?

Thanks in advance!

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chendagam Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Music Fan Joined: 27 August 2006 Location: United States Status: Offline Points: 2	Post Options Post Reply Quote chendagam Thanks(0) Quote Reply Topic: Recurrent Classics Posted: 19 February 2021 at 9:27pm
	I run my own personal radio station as a hobby. Right now my wife and I are probably the only listeners :) I have one station that is basically my personal favorite playlist ranging from the 70s to current hits. I recently added a new station playing nothing but current top 40 as well as classics from the past 10- 15 years while throwing in some throwbacks from the 90s like Tupak, Biggie, and Outkast. This definitely keeps my wife happy in the car. My 2 year old is also in his car seat kicking, dancing and singing along (he screams bloody murder when something old comes on lol). I wanted to begin a third station that is similar to the second with nothing but current top 40 but also wanted to throw in some songs that everyone will enjoy from the 80s and 90s. One that I heard on the radio today was Michael Jackson's "Wanna Be Startin' Something." I felt this was something that would fit in nicely. I tried to search for charts of the classics and found this on wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mainstream_Top_40 Looking at the list, even though Real McCoy, Goo Goo Dolls, and No Doubt are on the "Top 10 Pop Songs of All Time" from 1992- 2017 I do not feel they would fall into what I am trying to accomplish here. Does anyone have any suggestions or charts to look at other than what I just pointed out? Thanks in advance!

PopArchivist Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Music Fan Joined: 30 June 2018 Location: United States Status: Offline Points: 29	Post Options Post Reply Quote PopArchivist Thanks(0) Quote Reply Posted: 19 February 2021 at 10:55pm
	Not a plug for Record Research, but invest in Joel Whitburn's books. I know for a fact that most of us use those books (the Pop Annual, The Top Pop Singles etc) as reference. If you want to program top 40, might as well look at the assortment of top 40 hits. That would mean the Pop Annual would probably work best for you.
	Favorite two expressions to live by on this board: "You can't download vinyl" and "Not everything is available on CD."

Paul Haney Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Music Fan Joined: 01 April 2005 Status: Offline Points: 40	Post Options Post Reply Quote Paul Haney Thanks(0) Quote Reply Posted: 20 February 2021 at 3:12am
	As far as Record Research books go, I'd highly recommend Radio & Records Top Pop Hits 1973-2009. That book covers Mainstream Top 40 pretty thoroughly.

Hykker Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Music Fan Joined: 30 October 2007 Location: United States Status: Offline Points: 21	Post Options Post Reply Quote Hykker Thanks(0) Quote Reply Posted: 20 February 2021 at 8:01am
	When you say "personal radio station", is this something you actually broadcast, or is it more of the proverbial "I-pod on shuffle"? Given that you and your family seem to be the only listeners, I'd just go with what works for you. I do something similar myself, strictly intended for me (and the wife and any visitors)...my nearest neighbor is just under a half mile away, so any broadcast would not be legal anyway. I use a program called Zara Radio, I'll make up playlists, with a lot of rotator files so you never get the exact same mix twice, I'll use jingles every 2-3 songs to break up "rough" segues. Mostly I'll just let it play on an old PC in my workshop, but I also installed this on the computer my wife uses where she works and tied it into the PA system (with the company owners' approval). Music ranges from the 60s thru today, leaning heavily on 80s-00s. I also let these play, run 'em thru a processor and make hour-long files I'll put on a flash drive to play in the car. Probably not what you were asking, but if you're pretty much the only listener, just play what you like. Edited by Hykker

chendagam Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Music Fan Joined: 27 August 2006 Location: United States Status: Offline Points: 2	Post Options Post Reply Quote chendagam Thanks(0) Quote Reply Posted: 20 February 2021 at 9:18am
	Thank you everyone for the information. My station is running online but I joke that I'm the only one listening because a few friends do listen but not the general public. I do want to play it when friends come over (when we get back to normal of course) and I want them to say "what station is this?" I want them to ask because they like it unlike when I play my playlist and my wife gives me dirty looks. I do have jingles aka station IDs that play every 5th song or so. Again it's just more of a hobby since as a kid I always wanted to be a DJ but just never followed through with it.