Posted on 06/09/2005 8:26:32 AM PDT by Mike Bates
I get cloudbursts on a sunny day
When it's warm outside, I'm all cold and gray.
I guess you'd say
What can make me feel this way?
"My Girl."
Not talkin' 'bout my girl Johanna. Talkin' `bout "My Girl" the song--the mid-1960s Temptations' hit that, like so many classic oldies, now causes me to cover my ears or lunge for the buttons on the car radio.
It was a pleasant and catchy enough ditty the first 20 or 30 times. But thanks largely to the unrelenting 21-year effort of those who programmed WJMK-FM (104.3), "My Girl" and several hundred other hits completely wore out their welcome in my brain.
Not that they're bad songs or that I don't admire the artistry in many cases. It's just that I don't ever want to hear them again.
So I led the cheering online for the dramatic format shift at WJMK, where last Friday, Infinity Broadcasting chained up "The Unchained Melody" and other familiar '60s and '70s chart-toppers.
(Excerpt) Read more at chicagotribune.com ...
You can Just Walk Away (from) Rene, or if you don't want to hear (Its) The Same Old Song.
We need some JACK here in Cincinnati.
This great little station from FREEDOM, CA is gaining popularity all over the world thanks to the web. They offer a 14 day free ride on internet streaming broadcast. Sure they lean country, but look at the playlist.
Eric Zorn,
The same guy who is moved by Aaron Paterson and thinks that Bernadine Dorn is a great American, now that is a real spokesman for the Average American - who by the way reads the Chicago Sun Times: pencil-necked geeks from the lily-white liberal suburbs get the Trib.
Unfortunately, most oldies stations restrict their playlists to about 300 of the most popular songs of the 60's and 70's, thus digging their own graves. I love R & B music from the 50's and the 60's and in my youth in Pittsburgh I'd listen to Porky Chedwick or Terry Lee precisely because they were NOT playing top 40 R & B music. In addition, if you listen to conventional radio, you're more likely to tune into a commercial than a song while dial-surfing.
Pat: You rang? :)
MB,
Nothing irritates me more about commercial radio than "classic rock" formats. All that means is the same 100-odd songs over and over and over and...
If they were truly "classic", that is, old(er), they'd have alot more Ramones, Iron Maiden, or Otis Redding than the latest Hootie record.
Feh.
If I had money to throw away, I'd buy a radio station and play "It's the Same Old Song" over and over.
Some goofball radio station in Columbia did that with "Macerena" in 1996. It was nothing but "Macarena," all of the time. I could have changed the channel, I know, but I was drawn to destroy my sanity for some strange reason.
To this day, I can still hear the "Hiya!" and then the beginning notes start again. I hope they're doing that to Saddam.
Et Tu Bates?
I think Saddam deserves all Barry Manilow, all the time.
Zorn is a complete tool, but he does have a point about the old 104.3 station. It had a really small playlist, and one does get sick of hearing the same songs over and over again, even if they are really good songs. I never understood why an oldies station had to restrict itself to so few songs. It basically had three decades (50s, 60s, 70s)worth of music to use, which is more than most stations do. Why not have more variety?
Where have all the oldies stations gone, long time passing?
Where have all the oldies stations gone, long time ago?
Where have all the oldies stations gone, long time passing?
They've changed formats to crappy newer songs.
When will they ever learn?
When will they ever learn?
Spinkle in some 'Feelings' and 'Raindrops'. First time I ever heard 'Feelings' was in a Carol Burnett show skit and thought it was something they made up just for the skit because it was so bad.
Seems to me like almost ALL the FM stations have very short playlists. And too many commercials.
Don't forget Runaround Sue.
Yikes!
The Yikes is because it's cruel and unusual, correcto?
Mmm hmm.
Zorn is a complete tool, but he does have a point about the old 104.3 station. It had a really small playlist, and one does get sick of hearing the same songs over and over again, even if they are really good songs. I never understood why an oldies station had to restrict itself to so few songs. It basically had three decades (50s, 60s, 70s)worth of music to use, which is more than most stations do. Why not have more variety?
The answer is simple: CONSULTANTS and SALES ORIENTED GENERAL MANAGERS WHO HAVE NO CONCEPT OF HOW TO PROGRAM A RADIO STATION. Consultants have ruined the radio business by only playing safe and familiar researched songs. Back in 1992 WCBS FM has a huge music library and they were number one in New York. I travel back that way once a year and every year they have a smaller playlist and their ratings keep dropping. You would think these genius radio consultants could figure this out but their goal is not to increase ratings but to stay employed. The sales oriented General Managers have no concept in programming are the only reasons radio consultants are still employed. When some radio owner is smart enough to put on an oldies station with a large playlist of hit records with a slower repeation will win big.
Any station that regularly plays John Hiatt ( http://www.johnhiatt.com ) will forever be a favorite of mine.
Will classic rock remain for all eternity?
Eva Narcissus Boyd was buried in North Carolina earlier this week. The name may not be familiar, but her music certainly is.
Under the name “Little Eva,” she recorded “The Locomotion.” The song was a giant hit in 1962.
Forty years is a very long time, even if Baby Boomers recall the era as though it were last week. I thought of Little Eva a few of months ago while driving. Her hit was playing on the radio and I wondered how many times I’d heard it over the decades. Surely hundreds of times. Maybe even thousands.
I began conjecturing if “The Locomotion” will still be listened to in yet another 40 years. Given how pervasive 60s music is today, I think there’s a possibility of that happening.
It’s not just on oldies stations. Turn on the TV and chances are you’ll hear 60s music in commercials.
Donovan, the Sunshine Superman, sings “Colours” in a Kohl’s commercial. A Gap ad uses his “Mellow Yellow.” The same company features another commercial with The Troggs’ “Love Is All Around.” What, you thought “Wild Thing” was their only groovy ditty?
Admittedly, some of the music in TV ads emanated from one hit wonders. Flowers.com runs a spot with “Concrete and Clay,” a 1965 hit for the legendary Unit Four + Two. GMC’s Yukon included “Our Day Will Come.” The first song released by Ruby and the Romantics, it was also the only one for which the group is remembered. Old Navy used “California Sun,” a hit by the Rivieras. The band made the Golden State sound like heaven, which was quite an accomplishment for some Indiana boys who’d never personally been out there a’havin’ fun in that warm California sun.
It’s surprising to me that, given their sheer number and popularity, more Beatles tunes aren’t incorporated in advertising. Possibly it’s because of legal impediments. Michael Jackson has owned the rights to over 200 Beatles songs. Of course, Michael is always busy with either not getting plastic surgery or being named in multimillion-dollar lawsuits, so perhaps he just hasn’t had the time necessary to exploit his ownership.
Another consideration is that some Boomers consider Beatles music sacrosanct. These folks feel disgust with what’s perceived as tawdry commercialization of their heroes’ works. They must have not paid much attention when the group cranked out barkers like “Dig A Pony” just to fill up an album.
The mid-80s marked the first use of a Beatles song in an ad. Lincoln-Mercury had a sound-alike group singing “Help.” A couple of years later, Nike featured “Revolution” performed by the Beatles and the company credited it with increased sales. Apple Records sued Nike, but until the case was settled kept employing it.
In the late 90s, Nortel Networks licensed “Come Together” for a new marketing campaign. H&R Block latched on to “Taxman” for commercials last year. Around the same time, an Allstate Insurance ad included “When I’m 64.” Julian Lennon performed the tune, which added a nice touch of irony I thought.
Car companies especially look back to the golden age of rock. Steppenwolf does a heavily mixed version of “Magic Carpet Ride” for Dodge Viper. “Unchained Melody” was a 60s hit for the Righteous Brothers and Mercedes Benz incorporated it in a commercial last year. The Kinks’ “You Really Got Me” has been used in other ads for Mercedes Benz.
A song I’ve heard in several commercials is the great “Time Has Come Today” by the Chambers Brothers. It’s pitched beer, cars, and even an investment company.
One advertisement highlights “It’s A Beautiful Morning,” a hit for the Young Rascals. The product being sold is Vioxx, an arthritis pill purchased by many Boomers, possibly even the not so young anymore Rascals.
When most of my generation finally leaves this vale of tears — if they ever do — maybe then the 60s music will fade away. But what will take its place? The Insane Clown Posse, Eminem, Twisted Sister?
You know, The Locomotion keeps getting better with age.
April 17, 2003
What constitutes an "oldie" depends on the age of the listener. Being in my early fifties I think of 50's & 60's tunes. My mother thinks of tunes by Frank, Dean Martin and the like. I guess the reason you don't hear too many Rudy Vallee and Al Jolson tunes on the radio is because most of the market for that is DEAD. The point is, radio is market driven, and ratings determine what the format will be.
I listen to Porky from time to time - and Charley Apple
That's corporate radio for you, and that's why I no longer listen.
Long live internet broadcasting.
All righty then! I first met Charlie Apple back at the National Record Mart in East Hills Shopping Center, Penn Hills; he was working there and he walked up behind me and asked me if I'd done my Christmas shoplifting yet. I also have a 45 RPM record by a group called The Igniters with Charlie singing lead on a tune called "High Flying Wine"; he billed himself on the record as Inflammable Dan.
And he can have them!!!
Personally, I hope he has to sell the rights - and every thing else he owns - for shyster fees as he heads for the hoosegow.
This is the last place left for rock and roll in Chicago:
http://www.realoldies1690.com/main.html
Now if they'd start simulcasting on FM ...
Tru Dat!
Well now....y'all ought to gove a listen to WXRT in Chicago (and the DO Webcast!!) Great stuff, they mix it up.
I haven't listened to XRT since Terri Hemmert quit doing the morning drive which has probably been about 10-15 years; their format was a lot better in the 70s and early 80s than it is now when they would really "mix it up."
Where you at on 79th St? I'm right near 95th and Cicero.
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