re: TODAY'S FORGOTTEN HIT:
Two days after you played I'm Gonna Make You Mine, by Lou Christie, I heard it at the local supermarket. Someone is listening to you. Thanks.
Jack
Hi, Kent.
Jack
Hi, Kent.
This most recent FH entry includes some truly great (if often overlooked) hits: from Mary Hopkin's ever charming "Goodbye" to The Clique's "Sugar On Sunday" ... The Swingin' Medallions' "Double Shot of My Baby's Love" to the Carpenters' "Sweet Sweet Smile." When I asked Karen Carpenter about the latter song (which had sadly only climbed to 44 on the Hot 100 a few months earlier in 1978), her eyes lit up as she told me with great delight how she had found the song and considered it's writer a bright new talent with a very hopeful future. That writer turned out to be Juice Newton, whose career as a hitmaker in her own right did not take off until 1981 -- two years before we lost Karen.
Regarding "Sugar On Sunday," when that was a hit us DJs got a lot of calls from people who could not figure out the title of the song. I think one thing that threw them is the French term inserted into the lyrics, "Femme Jolie," which means "pretty woman." Apparently the composers preferred that phrase to "vous êtes grosse," which means "you are fat."
Others in the reject pile: "Est-ce que vous êtes ivre?" ("Are you drunk?"). "Tu es completement debile" ("You're a complete moron"), "Votre grenouille a mangé mon dejeuner" ("Your frog has eaten my lunch") and "T'as une tête a faire sauter les plaques d'egouts!" ("You've got a face that would blow off manhole covers").
Gary Theroux
That reminds me of the cover versions of Christie's "Yellow River" that never made it ... surely you remember the one by I.P. Daley, right? Even less-likely to get played was the version recorded by Golden Showers (although some have suggested that R. Kelly found that record somewhat inspirational!!!) kk
That reminds me of the cover versions of Christie's "Yellow River" that never made it ... surely you remember the one by I.P. Daley, right? Even less-likely to get played was the version recorded by Golden Showers (although some have suggested that R. Kelly found that record somewhat inspirational!!!) kk
TAKE THE DEEJAY CHALLENGE (Part 1):
Play "Yellow River" on your program today ... sneak it in somewhere and see what kind of response you get. (C'mon, what have you got to lose? It's one song!!!) You have our Forgotten Hits full money back guarantee ... this is an absolute fan favorite ... and your audience will love hearing it and respond positively to it. Do this a few more times with some of our OTHER suggestions and you just might see your listeners compliment you on your expanding station's playlist.
TAKE THE DEEJAY CHALLENGE (Part 2):
Better yet ... position your station this way ... with a formal announcement.
Start a new Monday - Friday Daily Feature called
Start a new Monday - Friday Daily Feature called
"Keep It Or Can It" ...
Each day (and maybe even two or three times a day so you reach your largest listener base) you play one of our "Today's Forgotten Hit" suggestions ... and then you poll your audience.
Encourage them to call, email, text ... Do You Want To See This Song Added To Our Play List?
Now there's some REAL research for you ... and it's coming from the people who matter most, because now you're polling your actual current listeners ... and you're letting them know their opinion counts.
If you get a positive response to a track (I dunno ... you decide ... 60% ... 75% of your responders LIKE the song ... you add it into medium rotation.) Think about that for a second ... you're going to feature five new songs each week ... and maybe one or two of them will make the cut ... so now, over the next few months you've revamped your playlist, not only adding more variety, but adding more of the songs your listeners actually want to hear!!! It's a win / win!!!
Each day (and maybe even two or three times a day so you reach your largest listener base) you play one of our "Today's Forgotten Hit" suggestions ... and then you poll your audience.
Encourage them to call, email, text ... Do You Want To See This Song Added To Our Play List?
Now there's some REAL research for you ... and it's coming from the people who matter most, because now you're polling your actual current listeners ... and you're letting them know their opinion counts.
If you get a positive response to a track (I dunno ... you decide ... 60% ... 75% of your responders LIKE the song ... you add it into medium rotation.) Think about that for a second ... you're going to feature five new songs each week ... and maybe one or two of them will make the cut ... so now, over the next few months you've revamped your playlist, not only adding more variety, but adding more of the songs your listeners actually want to hear!!! It's a win / win!!!
Here's a REAL easy promo:
(xxxx - Your call letters here) ... committed to bringing you more of the music that YOU want to hear
And then play up the brand-new "Keep It Or Can It" feature.
Tell them that:
Every weekday at (whatever time of day you choose ... once, twice, three times? 7:20 am, 2:40 pm and 9:15 pm?) you're going to play a song "from the (xxxx) listeners' suggestion box". We're encouraging our listeners call, text and email your votes, stating whether or not you'd like to see us add this song to our play list. We're giving you more of the music that YOU want to hear!
(Heck, you could even play it up REALLY big and say that your station is tired of playing the same old songs that everybody else in town is playing ... so you're opening it up to the listeners to play more of the kind of music that they'd like to hear. Make them a part of it ... make them feel involved!!! More Music ... More Variety. Imagine how many people they'll tell when they start to hear some of the songs they suggested and/or voted on getting played on the radio again.)
And I'm not talking mondo-obscure stuff ... I'm talking real, honest-to-God, legitimate Top 20 Hits that you're just not playing now.
Run it for a month or two and see what happens. Again, it involves devoting less than ten minutes of your entire broadcast day to this little experiment. My guess is you'll end up adding one, two or three songs a week. But after that happens for the next six, seven or eight weeks, that means that I'll hear "Jack And Diane" ten times less per week ... and start to enjoy and appreciate the song again!!! (Now that's a win / win for EVERYBODY!!!) C'mon ... what have you got to lose?!?!? (kk)
OK STOP!!!!!!
I have heard a Billy Joel song at least once every other day for over a week now. Even the Tonight Show played a song going to a commercial.
Not to forget the Fleetwood Mac, Elton John and others on your list. You have ruined my listening habits. Every time I hear one of their songs it makes me more aware of the over played artist instead of tuning out the songs. I even have started of keeping track of how many times they play the Artist!!!! Damn you!!
Now that's not to say that every time I hear a Pink Floyd song, I turn it up!. Can't get enough of Floyd!
Bill
(See what I mean?!?!?) kk
OK, how about these three:
Talk Talk - Music Machine
Sunshine Girl - Parade
San Francisco Girls - Fever Tree
Ken
You'll get your Music Machine request when we FINALLY count down The Top 20 Favorite Garage Bands ... now scheduled to run right after Thanksgiving Weekend. (Still working on it right now ... but that's the new target date.) We ran "Sunshine Girl" not too long ago ... but I'll add that one to the request list. Meanwhile, deejays on the list ... are you keeping track of the songs our readers are suggesting? It just may give you some idea as to what oldies listeners REALLY want to hear! (kk)
She Drives Me Out Of My Mind, although not a big national hit, was a great follow-up by the Swingin' Medallions.
By the way, my weekly web show available 24-7, still goes on playing nearly every charted record 1955 - 1979 alphabetically plus extras. It can be found at http://www.marktheshark.org/radio_shows.htm
I'm in the S's.
Mark The Shark
OK, am I dreaming, or did the version of "Love Won't Let Me Wait" played on the radio leave out the Donna Summer noises?
I remember hearing it with and without, depending on the station.
If so does anyone have a copy of the song without the "ahem" lady?
I've been trying to find one, but no luck so far.
Thanks.
Bill
LOL ... it's funny because it really DID seem a lot more pronounced on this version, didn't it? But what's REALLY odd about what you wrote is that when I was screening the tune prior to posting it on the website and heard just how much "heavy breathing" was going on, I ran it right into Donna Summer's "Love To Love You Baby" ... which made our 16-year-old, getting ready for school daughter in the next room EXTREMELY uncomfortable! (lol) Now I'm thinking I should have gone for the trifecta and rolled that right into "Pillow Talk" by Sylvia! (kk)
Kent,
This is beyond belief. I wrote just a little over a week ago and told about the local Clear Channel AM station that dumped their live morning guy and 60's / 70's format and went satellite country. We already have two FM country stations here. Just moments ago I'm looking at a Facebook posting that the station is 24/7 comedy. So I tuned it in and there it was ... comedy. Again, WTF?!?! Clear Channel actually thinks they can sell a comedy format in a small market easier than an oldies music format? Comedy that complies with FCC rules should be just hilarious ... imagine Louie Anderson 24/7. I'd ask what the heck is wrong with these people but everyone, including you, is trying to figure that out.
Steve
Hey, at least they're trying! And it's something new that isn't going to be found anywhere else on the dial. (Honestly, which was the bolder move ... going where nobody had gone before or simply becoming the third Country Station in town?!?!?) This is kind of what FH reader Leah Jordan suggested a couple of weeks ago ... and more in tune with what the satellite stations are doing with their diverse mixture of programming. I figure no radio station is ever going to capture 100% of the audience anyway ... but by having a station like this available, listeners now know that they can tune in at any time, day or night, and potentially be cheered up by a funny comedy routine. It's kind of like that station down in Texas that went All-Beatles a few years ago ... nobody's going to listen to that station exclusively ... but if there isn't ANYTHING else good on the radio, you now know that you've got a place to go where you're going to hear a familiar, feel-good song. (And you know it's going to be there waiting for you whenever you want ... which means you DON'T have to turn off Jack and Diane five times in order to find it!!! Whenever the mood strikes you for something different ... or something specific, it'll be there!) Honestly, I applaud them. Will it succeed? Probably not ... but I give them major kudos for giving it a shot! (kk)
Hello from AZ!
Got caught in last year's blizzard and said enuf's enuf and moved to Scottsdale.
We have the usual FM crud stations here but there are two AM stations that play tons of forgotten oldies. One is KAZG 1440AM (Arizona Gold) which is a real gem. Unfortunately they don't have a playlist nor do they stream but in the past 20 minutes I heard these songs plus a few "regular" oldies.
Just One Look - Doris Troy
Concrete and Clay - Unit 4 + 2
Love Me Two Times - The Doors
Any Time At All - The Beatles
She's Not There - The Zombies
Ma Belle Amie - Tee Set
Every time I listen I get at least one "Oh Wow, I haven't heard that one for a while!"
Clear Channel also has a decent oldies channel, AM1230 (KOY), which has been here for 90 years in one form or another. They play oldies all day and Jazz at night. I've added a link for their playlist which is not as good to me as 1440 ... but it's still a blessed relief from the FM stations and plays a much wider assortment of oldies. http://www.am1230koy.com/iplaylist/playlist.html?net=201
At least it's nice to know there's something better out there than K-Hits or WLS, who force-feeds us in Chicago.
Steve Davidson
Kent,
u rock, big guy ...
ever thought about writing a book? your site is majestic.
so anxious to see a show with ya, man.
Chet
so anxious to see a show with ya, man.
Chet
