1950’s Airplay Only Hits

Do you have the Record Research books that cover the
Music Vendor (later Record World) and the Cash Box
charts? There are LOTS of titles listed in those books
that did not chart in Billboard (especially the 1955-59
era). I'd highly suggest The Comparison Book, which
makes it easier to compare the titles.

We are also currently doing a series of books based on
the Top 10 individual market airplay charts that appeared
in Cash Box. 1956 and 1957 are now available and we also
plan on doing 1958 & 1959 in the future. Those books
contain ONLY those hits that never charted in any of the
major trades, yet were good enough to make the Top 10 on
a radio (airplay) chart. Those aren't just regional
artists either. Lots of "airplay" hits for artists like
Elvis, Bill Haley, etc.

Edited by Paul Haney

Paul,

Even with those books there are still a lot of airplay only hits for the other decades that are classics.

Hykker the Beatles Getting Better for example was not a released single but its become a well known song just from all the placements on tv. You can't compile an airplay list for example without including Gimmie Shelter or Stairway to Heaven. Certain songs are clearly hits because even today they are considered to be iconic and have taken on a life of their own. If they charted they would have been huge hits but instead they were on albums.

That's why I believe the 1956 and 1957 books we did on
the regional Top 10 charts are so valuable. For example
"Mean Woman Blues" by Elvis Presley shows up on nearly 50
charts alone! Songs I wouldn't suspect, like "Melodie
D'Amour" by Edmundo Ros appears on nearly 40 of those
regional charts. Also keep in mind, that rock and roll
was very slow to be adopted by many stations at the time.
You'll still find plenty of Joni James, Patti Page, Eddie
Fisher and the like well into the late 1950s.

As for sharing the info, any station with a subscription
to Cash Box could see those charts and I do believe that
if enough stations were reporting an "album cut", it
could get even more exposure. In fact, there are several
songs on those charts that were only available on albums
or EPs at the time (hence they were ineligible for the
main national charts). Billboard also had regional
charts, though not nearly as extensive as those in Cash
Box.

I've discussed this with Joel, who was actively listening
at the time, and he tells me that he would hear such
songs as "Mean Woman Blues" and wonder why they weren't
charting in Billboard.

Instead of attempting to cobble together a list decades
after the fact, why not just get those books to determine
what was getting played at the time? Just in those two
books alone, there are over 3,000 titles! Remember,
these are Top 10 charts, not something that peaked at #60
on a 60 position playlist or was listed as "hitbound" for
a week or two.

Edited by Paul Haney

Paul, that appears to be the case. Billboard used to
tweak the chart policies on occasion. Their charts, their
rules.