It's the Forgotten Hits Saturday Survey!
Last year, unless we were in the middle of a special series or had some "breaking news", we rarely published an issue on Saturday ...
But THIS year (thanks to FH Reader ... and mega-collector Clark Besch) we're putting together a brand new feature.
Every Saturday we'll run vintage Top 40 Radio Station Survey Charts for that week in music history ... from all over the country. (And, if you've got some charts to share, we'll try to work some of those in, too!) We may even run an occasional SUPER CHART, courtesy of Randy Price.
And today ... to kick things off in high fashion ... Clark has sent us a potpourri of charts to choose from ... a virtual grand slam of charts from 1956 - 1980!
(NOTE: The two 1956 charts shown are courtesy of Frank Merrill and Ken Freck ... you have NO idea how difficult it is ... and how RARE it is ... to find a radio station survey from the pre-Elvis era!!! I'm not even sure the term "Top 40" had been coined yet! Also, due to technical difficulties, we'd like to salute Bill Hengels and Jack Levin for the 1980 WLS Chart used today as well.)
Take a look ... and see if these don't rekindle a memory or two! (Click charts to enlarge)
(Sorry but I just HAD to run this one ... seeing "Georgianna" at #2 was just TOO cool to pass up! This was a BIG hit record here in Chicago ... yet never made Billboard's Hot 100 ... and I've always wondered why. Seeing it at #2 only prompts more head scratching!)
A couple more bonus charts ... long-time Forgotten Hits Favorite "Bend It" shows up at #4 on the WBZ Chart ... and note how the entire new Monkees sits at #3! On the chart below from WQAM, they're showing The Monkees at #1 with "I'm A Believer" and at #4 with a two-sided hit "I Wanna Be Free" / "Theme from 'The Monkees'" ... which was never released as a single here! The Pre-Fab Four show up again at #38 with their first chart hit "Last Train To Clarksville".
Meanwhile WOWO has "Mary Mary", an album track from their second LP, sitting in the #1 Spot, well ahead of the REAL single "I'm A Believer"!
Also of note, Illinois Senator Everett McKinley Dirksen appears on BOTH charts with his spoken-word hit "Gallant Men"! (My Mom used to play the heck out of this one!) Ironically, the Senator Bobby version of "Wild Thing" comes in as a Pick-Hit on the WQAM chart. It was done in direct response to the Dirksen record ... and was featured yesterday in Forgotten Hits as part of our Wild Return to the Website!!!
