Saturday, July 13, 2019

Here's Your Saturday Update

Ron Onesti wrote a nice piece about Burton Cummings’ upcoming return to The Arcada Theatre.  (Saturday, August 3rd, and we can’t wait!) 
Consistently one of the best shows we've seen each year, Burton brings it every time.  If you haven’t seen him live lately, do yourself a favor and grab tickets to this show.  (We told you the other day that there’s more talk of a Bachman-Cummings reunion tour for next year … and, hopefully, they’ll finally film that next Soundstage special … but THIS show is guaranteed, so I say bet on the sure thing … because it’s ALSO guaranteed to bring you an awesome night of music.)
https://www.dailyherald.com/insights/20190712/ron-onesti-guess-who-is-going-to-rock-the-arcada 

>>>I have to admit that I was a little bit surprised to wake up to “Living In The Past” by Jethro Tull playing on Me-TV-FM this morning!  (At first I thought maybe I had it tuned to The Drive … but this was my clock radio, which has never deviated from Me-TV-FM since the day they began broadcasting … so that couldn’t be the case!)  I guess it just wasn’t what I would typically expect to hear them play on their soft-rock oldies format.  Don’t get me wrong … I thought it was GREAT to hear this … and, once again, this type of variety, on the station.  (To prove THAT point, they followed it up with the Leif Garrett version of “Runaround Sue”!!!  Those two songs and artists are about as “opposite ends of the spectrum” as you can get!)  Which is exactly what I LOVE about the station … you just never really know what you’re going to hear … and it’s those types of surprises that keep you tuned in.  Who would have EVER dreamed 45 years ago that we’d be hearing Jethro Tull on the soft rock stations?  And yet they fit … right along side their airplay on the classic rock stations (although classic rock seems to favor their album tracks “Aqualung” and “Locomotive Breath” more than their two Top 40 Hits, “Living In The Past,” #11, 1972, and “Bungle In The Jungle,” #10, 1974.  (“Living In The Past” first “bubbled under” in 1969, but I guess radio and listeners just weren’t ready yet for this new “art rock” sound.  (kk) 

Kent,
That’s Me, living in the past.  That’s what we’re all about!  
(In that respect, I guess it's really kind of BOTH of our unofficial theme song!)  kk 
Enjoyed the surprise opening to your Friday Flash today.  Glad we can still startle you (in a good way!) every now and then.  “Living in the Past” has been part of the library at MeTVFM since the beginning.  It’s not a major track for us — it’s more like a little spice we sprinkle in just to catch people’s attention every now and then.  “Bungle in the Jungle” serves the same purpose for us.  You’ll hear it come around every now and then.  And I smiled when you made reference to Leif Garrett’s “Runaround Sue” being the very next song in the sequence.
The thinking behind the MeTVFM format when it was first conceptualized by Neal Sabin in 2015 was to remind listeners of how diverse the Top 40 playlist was back in the days of the transistor radio.  It was a characteristic of Top 40 we all definitely took for granted back in the day.  In fact, you allude to it just about every time you post a playlist or station survey from 40-50 years ago.  Take, for example, the WLS survey of April 27, 1974, which I selected completely at random.  The top twenty includes:  a rock jam (“Bennie and the Jets”), a hymn (!) (“The Lord’s Prayer”), two instrumentals (“Tubular Bells” and “The Entertainer”), a song sung in a foreign language (“Eres Tu (Touch the Wind)),” one of the earliest disco tunes (“T.S.O.P.”), a country crossover artist (Jim Stafford) and a singer-songwriter ballad (“I’ll Have to Say I Love You in a Song”).  Go down a few more notches, and you’ll find a novelty song (“The Streak”).  Now THAT’S true variety.
Stations don’t build a library that way anymore.  Today, every format is highly specialized and, as a consequence, segregationist; every playlist is narrowly defined, reflecting only a single genre, in most cases.  On the contrary, Neal set up MeTVFM as a throwback to a time when you could hear multiple genres, not just within the same hour but often within the same set, on your favorite station.
Sometimes it’s worlds colliding, we realize.  But Neal wanted to throw out the programming principle that’s taken over the industry the past 30 years, the one where you’re supposed to play it safe within your own musical niche.  It’s probably the biggest rule that he’s broken in creating MeTVFM.
Have a good weekend.
Rick
Rick O’Dell
Program Director
MeTVFM 

And for me, that’s the greatest appeal … we’ve covered this topic many times in the past … the VARIETY that was Top 40 Radio exposed us to all different genres of music … spinning your analogy a step further by adding the sounds of The British Invasion and Motown and Memphis soul … soft rock, hard rock, psychedelia, surf music, cross-over country artists like Glen Campbell and Roger Miller who regularly made the pop charts, right alongside heavier acts like The Rolling Stones, Cream, Creedence Clearwater Revival and Vanilla Fudge.
Today’s music is programmed to one specific genre … and, as a result, it often sounds like one continuous tone, every song blending right into each other to the point that you sometimes can’t tell where one song stops and another song starts.  (This is especially true if you’re not familiar with the bulk of the music … I can’t tell you how many time I’ve asked one of my daughters “Is this still the same song???” over the years!)
We’ve campaigned for more variety since Day One … and Me-TV-FM offers more than most.  (We’re also very fond of Rewound Radio, who’ll play more of the rockin’ tunes that were popular during this era that Me avoids, and WCFLChicago.com, who plays just about anything and everything.  You can be listening to Elton John one moment, Aerosmith’s “Big Ten Inch” the next and then a track off the latest Adele album!)
I’ve given up on the concept of trying to program everything … or only concentrating on the hits as they charted at the time, simply because it was a big hit THEN … because a LOT of this music doesn’t hold up as well as much of the others.  Right now, my main focus is "Does it SOUND good coming out of your radio?"  I love it when Me’ll play an hour of strong material … you don’t want to turn it off … but too often that hour is interrupted by a song or two that break the momentum.  It just doesn’t SOUND right … and this has been the most consistent complaint I’ve heard about the station.  Yes, it’s cool to feature some of these ‘70’s album tracks now and then … but stick to the tracks that actually drew airplay and attention at the time … there’s just TOO many times where I find myself muttering out loud, “That’s timeless and memorable???  To WHO?!?!?”  Because I’m guessing that even that artist’s MOTHER doesn’t want to hear that track again!!!  (Just keepin’ it real!!!)  kk

And, speaking of The Rolling Stones, they had to cancel their date in New Orleans again due to hurricane warnings!!!  (Man, how does ANYBODY live down there?!?!)

But our FH Buddy Mike Baker will be saluting The Stones on Friday, July 26th (Mick Jagger’s Birthday!) when he airs a two-hour History Of Rock And Roll special featuring The Rolling Stones in the ‘60’s, followed by The Rolling Stones in the ‘70’s.

More information is below … 

Join WLTL on Friday, July 26, 2019, from 12 pm – 2 pm CT for two hours of The Rolling Stones.
On Mick Jagger’s birthday, WLTL will present two chapters from The History Of Rock And Roll.
Chapter One will feature The Rolling Stones in the '60s and Chapter Two will feature The Rolling Stones in the ‘70s.
Celebrate Mick Jagger’s birthday … Friday, July 26, 2019, from 12 pm – 2 pm CT on 88.1 FM WLTL.
WLTL streams at: http://www.wltl.net/listen1.html 
Also, the WLTL free app is available for your smart device - Apple’s App Store, Google Play and the Windows Phone Store.  Plus, the RadioFX app, Alexa and more.
And, coming in August, WLTL celebrates a 50th anniversary weekend!
Mike Baker And The Forgotten 45s



BALLOT #6 RESULTS: 
I can't believe how much fun this is! 
Rimjberger 

Votes were actually down for Ballot #6.  (Don’t give up on me yet, guys … we’ve got LOTS more great music to choose from is coming your way!)  That being said, while we were tabulating the votes for Ballot #8, we officially passed the 740,000 mark ... so thank you all for one hell of a turn-out!

Still, we had some heavy hitters and a few more surprises … 

TOP TEN VOTE-GETTERS:

 # 1 – Cinnamon Girl – Neil Young (I never saw this one coming ... a GREAT track that I've always loved ... even used to sing it myself back in the day ... and an FM Classic Rock staple for as long as the genre has existed ... but I never expected this one to come in at #1 on the daily ballot)

 # 2 – Can’t Buy Me Love – The Beatles (An early Beatles favorite that still sounds fresh and exciting today)

 # 3 – Changes – David Bowie  (Based on the Ballot #6 options, I figured this one to come up on top ... or "Can't Find My Way Home" by Blind Faith, which you'll find below at #7.  Again, we're at the mercy of the alphabetical choices provided on a daily basis ... but Classic Rock staples like Bad Company's "Can't Get Enough," Marshall Tucker's "Can't You See," ELO's "Can't Get It Out Of My Head" and "Carry On Wayward Son" didn't even make The Top Ten!  You won't find "China Grove," "Centerfold" or "Caught Up In You" up here either ... which makes for some REAL surprises within the top ten finishers)

 # 4 – Can’t Find The Time – Orpheus  (Always a list favorite, this one has scored quite a few points in our Classic Roll Poll, too ... 167 so far to be exact!)

 # 5 – Catch Us If You Can – Dave Clark Five  (We saw "Because" make the list on Ballot #3 ... and now here's the other ranking DC5 tune, coming in at #5 on our Ballot #6 list)

 # 6 – Can’t Help Falling In Love – Elvis Presley  (Elvis making his presence known again, this time with one of his greatest ballads ... the people have spoken ... they want to hear a little bit of The King sprinkled into your classic rock programming ... and it makes sense ... this is where it all started ... why not acknowledge it?  Without Elvis, there are no Beatles ... without The Beatles, pushing the limits of what was acceptable in pop music, classic rock might not exist.)

 # 7 – Can’t Find My Way Home – Blind Faith  (There it is ... my all-time favorite from this list)

 # 8 – Caroline No – Beach Boys  (Didn't think I'd see this one on the list at all, much less in the top ten!)

 # 9 – Chuck E’s In Love – Rickie Lee Jones  (Another cross-over hit that fits multiple formats ... and, quite honestly, this song sounds good EVERY time it comes on)

#10 – Carrie Anne - Hollies  (It took awhile for The Hollies to be recognized by The Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame ... but they put together an incredible catalog of music over the years ... watch for a number of their tunes to make the final TOP 3333 MOST ESSENTIAL CLASSIC ROCK TRACKS OF ALL TIME list)


OTHER SURPRISES: 

Classical Gas – Mason Williams  (wow!)

Celebrate – Three Dog Night  (several Three Dog Night titles have been nominated)

Clap For The Wolfman – Guess Who  (a nice showing for this track ... more of a novelty tune than a classic rock track ... but the fans seem to love it)

Centerfield – John Fogerty

Carefree Highway – Gordon Lightfoot  (another one that surprised me ... Top Soft Rock Tracks, maybe ... but CLASSIC Rock?  Yet you guys voted for it so here it is!)

Captain Jack by Billy Joel  (an early, lesser known Billy Joel that scored very well in the Ballot #6 voting)

Cathy’s Clown by The Everly Brothers  (another real surprise)

Cherry Bomb – The Runaways  (I'm curious to see where this one ranks when the final list is published)

Chevy Van by Sammy Johns

Chestnut Mare – The Byrds  (Lots of votes for this Byrds album track)

Charity Ball – Fanny  (I campaigned hard for this one ... nice to see some of you responding)

Christine Sixteen – Kiss

I guess I have a thing for "dirty" songs. Nottalotta stuff in my top ten songs that classic rock radio is gonna play anytime soon. Actually, I prefer Do Ya by the Move, but ELO works. WTF, on the 40th anniversary of Disco Demolition, no Do You Think I'm Disco, by Steve Dahl? Good job by my fellow FHers for selecting Did You See Her Eyes.
Jack 

We’re going to see Jeff Lynne again in a couple of weeks … can’t wait.  Disco Demolition even made the pages of Rolling Stone on the 40th Anniversary!  (Actually, I always hated BOTH of those “Do Ya Think I’m …” songs!)
And I’ll never forget all the hype going on at the time about Illusion being “the next Beatles” … maybe even BIGGER than The Beatles.  Meanwhile, their only Top 40 Hit, “Did You See Her Eyes,” peaked at #24 in Record World.  (It did a little better here in Chicago where it peaked at #10 on WLS.)

Friday, July 12, 2019

The Friday Flash

I have to admit that I was a little bit surprised to wake up to “Living In The Past” by Jethro Tull playing on Me-TV-FM this morning!  (At first I thought maybe I had it tuned to The Drive … but this was my clock radio, which has never deviated from Me-TV-FM since the day they began broadcasting … so that couldn’t be the case!)
I guess it just wasn’t what I would typically expect to hear them play on their soft-rock oldies format.  Don’t get me wrong … I thought it was GREAT to hear this … and, once again, this type of variety, on the station.  (To prove THAT point, they followed it up with the Leif Garrett version of “Runaround Sue”!!!  Those two songs and artists are about as “opposite ends of the spectrum” as you can get!)
Which is exactly what I LOVE about the station … you just never really know what you’re going to hear … and it’s those types of surprises that keep you tuned in.
Who would have EVER dreamed 45 years ago that we’d be hearing Jethro Tull on the soft rock stations?  And yet they fit … right along side their airplay on the classic rock stations (although classic rock seems to favor their album tracks “Aqualung” and “Locomotive Breath” more than their two Top 40 Hits, “Living In The Past,” #11, 1972, and “Bungle In The Jungle,” #10, 1974.  (“Living In The Past” first “bubbled under” in 1969, but I guess radio and listeners just weren’t ready yet for this new “art rock” sound.
Tull currently have eleven songs nominated in our Classic Rock Essentials Poll … in addition to the four titles listed above, we’ve also been receiving votes for “Cross-Eyed Mary,” “Hymn 43,” “Skating Away,” “Teacher,” “Thick As A Brick,” “Too Old To Rock And Roll” and “Wond’ring Aloud.”  (Surprisingly, “A Passion Play,” “Minstrel In The Gallery” and “The Whistler” were never even nominated.)  kk 

>>>Ballot #5 is incredible!  I could have picked a Top 20!  This is addictive, Kent.  Thanks so much!!!  (Rimjberger)
>>>Forgotten Hits is COMPLETELY addictive and habit forming!!!  (What are you some of guys going to do when we run out of titles?!?!   Lol)  kk 
Hi Kent,
I agree that this stuff is totally addicting!  The first thing I look for every morning is the fresh ballot.  Many of these songs bring me back to my college radio days from 1985-88.  I had a weekly show from 10pm - 2am and other than two new songs per hour, I was able to play ANYTHING I wanted to, as long as it was in the station record library.  Songs like "Behind The Wall Of Sleep" by The Smithereens were a staple.  Of course, I would always play some of the older stuff and actually talk about the songs and artists, something that seems to be lost on today's radio.  Thanks for bringing back so many great memories.  Can't wait to see the final tally!
Paul Haney
Record Research 


Remember the other day when we told you that “American Woman” by The Guess Who completely CRUSHED to competition in Ballot #2?
Well, the results for Ballot #5 are in … and “Born To Be Wild” by Steppenwolf better than doubled that tally … so they are now currently the leader in the balloting.
What I am loving about these results are the surprises … you know certain songs are going to score well no matter what (although I didn’t expect “Born To Be Wild” to come in at #1, I certainly knew it would be way up there.)
This poll PROVES that classic rock listeners want more from their stations.  Check out some of Ballot 5’s top vote-getters and major surprises.  (There is SO much room for improvement in today’s playlists … let’s just hope SOMEBODY out there is paying attention!)  kk

BALLOT #5 TOP VOTE-GETTERS:
 #1 – Born To Be Wild – Steppenwolf  (WOW!  There aren’t enough words to describe what an impact this song had … no only on all of our lives, but also on the Ballot #5 Chart!)
 #2 – Born To Run – Bruce Springsteen  (Earned about 2/3 of the votes that “Born To Be Wild” did … but still enough to surpass “American Woman” in this new round of voting … and surprisingly, nearly three times as many votes as Bruce’s own “Born In The USA.”)
 #3 – Break On Through – The Doors  (Much bigger than I expected, this one finished just one vote shy of The Boss’s hit above)
 #4 – Born On The Bayou – Creedence Clearwater Revival (This one, too, eclipsed “American Woman”’s showing from the other day … a GREAT album track that exceeded by expectations - although it's always been one of my favorites by them)
 #5 – The Break-Up Song – Greg Kihn Band (Who doesn’t love this song???  One of those VERY pleasant surprises I was talking about … great to see this one place so high on the list!)
 #6 – Burning Love – Elvis Presley (The King continues to make his mark in our Classic Rock poll.  About all you hear these days are this one and “Suspicious Minds” … but several of Elvis’ OTHER tracks have also scored very well in this new round of balloting.)
 #7 – California Girls – Beach Boys (Perhaps Brian Wilson’s first symphony … a TRUE classic in every sense of the word … and part of the journey that shows where classic rock came from)
 #8 – Bridge Over Troubled Water – Simon and Garfunkel  (Another true classic that makes EVERY “favorites” list)
 #9 – California Dreamin’ – Mamas and Papas (This is one of those songs that fits EVERY format)
#10 – Breakdown – Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers  (It’s tough to go an hour without hearing a Tom Petty song on the radio these days … but this one has always been my favorite … so it’s great to see it finish so high on the list)

MORE SURPRISES:
Bus Rider by The Guess Who  (Missed The Top Ten by one vote.  Anybody out there who isn’t adding this track to their playlist right now is missing the boat.  Originally a B-Side, it still got plenty of airplay back in the day when The Guess Who were at their peak.  I still maintain it was the “Goddamn” lyric that kept it off the charts.)
Born To Wander by Rare Earth  (Guessing this is one of those that most of you had forgotten about … so I am happy to remind you about this great track)
Both Sides Now – Judy Collins (A soft-rock / classic rock cross-over)
Bowling Green by The Everly Brothers  (This one really surprised me … but apparently you guys love it!)
Brooklyn – Steely Dan
Burn Down The Mission – Elton John
Can The Can – Suzi Quatro
Can We Still Be Friends – Todd Rundgren
(Each of the above seven tracks received 25 votes or more on the #5 Ballot … more than I would have figured based on the previous voting collected prior to our posting of this ballot.

While I didn't think today's selections were as strong as the last two ballots, there are still plenty of songs that deserve a listen to every so often.
Cut out one airplay of Freebird a week and substitute King Crimson. They both clock in at about the same time length. Then cut out another spin of Freebird and substitute about four wham bam thank you ma'am songs like C'mom Everybody.
Jack
Because the daily ballots list the songs alphabetically, we’re kind of at the mercy of this factor when it comes to each daily list … but I guarantee you, you will ALWAYS be able to find at least two dozen GREAT tracks that classic rock radio is ignoring in favor of playing the same tracks, sometimes as often as two, three and even four times per day.  I’ll buy the idea that folks want to hear something “familiar” whenever they tune in (so I suppose some day we’ll have the all “Bohemian Rhapsody” station, playing nothing but Scaramouch, Scaramouch 24/7) but mix it up then with more surprises in between … because once again we are proving that this is what listeners would prefer to hear.  (Seriously … is there anybody out there who couldn’t live another day if “More Than A Feeling” wasn’t played during a 24-hour period?)  kk

Hi Kent,
This isn’t easy - and that's a good thing!
Colin Donahue
Variety … that’s the name of the game here in Forgotten Hits … and stirring up a memory … or two … or twenty! … on a daily basis!  (kk) 
 
Man it's hard to vote for songs you hate even thought they belong on the list. <grin>
Bill Scherer
That’s why I recommend the two-ballot option …
A single point for every song you know belongs on the list (and any borderline entries) … and a SECOND form listing your absolute Top Ten Favorites for any given day!  (kk)
Ballot #8 has now been posted, leaving Ballots #6, #7 and #8 eligible for voting today.  Hop on over to the Classic Rock Essentials website and check out the nominees … and then get your votes in … and continue with your support to help us determine, once and for all THE TOP 3333 MOST ESSENTIAL CLASSIC ROCK TRACKS OF ALL TIME!

Thursday, July 11, 2019

Thursday This And That


Ballot 4 may offer our most surprising results yet when it comes to your selections.  (Of course every ballot is only as good as the alphabetical choices will allow … but if anything proves that classic rock fans want more, THIS would be the evidence to show it!)
All the more reason why you should be voting ...
And why radio should be listening ... to these results ... if they want more of us to listen to them!!!  (kk)

This is another really tough list!
Ron
Don’t make it harder than it has to be … vote for ALL of your favorites by submitting two ballots … one listing your top ten favorites, ranked from #1-#10 … and one checking off all of the other songs that you feel absolutely belong on Classic Rock Radio Playlists cross the country! (kk)

Ballot #5 is incredible!  I could have picked a Top 20!  This is addictive, Kent.  Thanks so much!!!
Rimjberger
You absolutely CAN pick a Top 20 … or a Top 50 … or a Top 100 if you want to!
If you’re having trouble narrowing down these lists to just ten choices, then pick your favorite ten tunes and rank them 1-10.
Then go back and assign a single vote to every other song on each day’s list that you feel is worthy of inclusion in our final countdown.
Don’t pass by your favorites just to pick ten … take full advantage of BOTH voting methods … and make sure your favorites are well represented on the final list.
Oh, and by the way … yes, Forgotten Hits is COMPLETELY addictive and habit forming!!!  (What are you some of guys going to do when we run out of titles?!?!   Lol)
Not to worry … there are 46 ballots in all … today we’re releasing #7 … and then, after all the votes have been tabulated, you still got our  TOP 3333 MOST ESSENTIAL CLASSIC ROCK TRACKS OF ALL-TIME Countdown to enjoy!!!  (We’re not going anywhere for a while!  Lol)  kk

I am truly amazed at how deep your readers dug to get some of these tunes on the ballot. Great tunes that never would have occurred to me thankfully occurred to others. Really enjoying this, Kent!
Sher
Sometimes it takes a village … and we’ve got a pretty incredible one here in Forgotten Hits.
And that was exactly our point and purpose all along … to show everybody just how much great music is out there that isn’t even on anybody’s radar anymore … and then try to get some of the classic rock stations to play it.  When the same 2-300 songs are jammed in our heads every single day, people tend to forget just how many more great options are out there.
Hopefully, this list will ultimately serve its purpose and the playlists will improve … because with well over 730,000 votes, the people have spoken … and THIS is the music they want to hear!  (If nothing else, consider requesting some of these titles from your favorite classic rock station ... and see if you can get them to play them!)  kk

Some of you are having a real ball with this ... a very FRUSTRATING ball at times ... but a fun time nonetheless.  (That's why the rest of you need to get out and vote!!!)

From Ballot 6:
1. Catch Us If You Can - DC5
2. Cherry Bomb - The Runaways
3. Caroline - Status Quo
4. Celluloid Heroes - The Kinks
5. Cleveland Rocks - Ian Hunter
6. Cinnamon Girl - Neil Young
7. Can't Find My Way Home - Blind Faith
8. Chicago - Graham Nash
9. Can't You See - Marshall Tucker
10. Classical Gas - Mason Williams
Any one of these could be my #1 for this list, depending on my mood. I'd love to see a couple of these score big time once the final list is assembled. This could be your all time #1 feature, as pretty much everyone has their own opinion of what should be #1. 
Jack

From Ballot 5:
1. Born To Run - Bruce Springsteen
2. Born To Be Wild - Steppenwolf
3, Both Ends Burning - Roxy Music
4. Break On Through -The Doors
5. Boys Are Back In Town - Thin Lizzy
6. Breakup Song - Greg Kihn
7. Brass In Pocket - The Pretenders'
8. Bowling Green - Everly Brothers
9. Born On The Bayou - CCR
10. Can I Get A Witness - Marvin Gaye
This is the strongest lot of songs thus far. I can see my top two ending up in the top 100.
Jack

From Ballot 4:
1.    Blitzkreig Bop – Ramones  (Could be an all time top five for me)

It’s funny … when I first saw how many votes this song was getting, not only was I amazed but I immediately reflected back to a comment I made a couple of weeks ago about having heard “More Than A Feeling” by Boston over 15,000 times on the radio over the past 45 years … yet I’ll bet you during that same amount of time, I haven’t heard “Blitzkreig Bop” by The Ramones on the radio FIFTEEN times!!!  And yet it has proven to be one of the top vote getters from this ballot.
Again … radio … PLEASE pay attention!!!
Ballot #4 was the most eclectic and surprising yet …
Take your listeners’ wants and needs into consideration and throw them a surprise WOW! Track once in awhile … it’ll keep them tuned in … and because of that, they’ll tell others to listen, too!  (kk)

It has been great to see the first ballots. 
There are a few 'Who the hell voted for that song?', and many more 'I wish I would have thought of that one.'  That is what makes it fun. 
I am not surprised that Ballroom Blitz by the Sweet got a decent amount of votes.  That has been one of my most asked for songs through the years.   Little Willy,
Blockbuster, and especially Fox On The Run often show up during the request
shows.  Folks even call for Love Is Like Oxygen, but never know the name of the group that sang it.  I remember hearing WLS play the Sweet song Action more than any of their other songs.   According to Ron Smith's Chicago Charts book,  Love Is Like Oxygen never charted in Chicago.  Billboard had it charting at number eight.
Phil – WRCO
Sweet did ok here in Chicago with three Top Five Hits (“Little Willy,” “Ballroom Blitz” and “Fox On The Run,” those last two going all the way to #1.  Across town at WCFL all three of those songs made it all the way to #1!)  I remember hearing “Love Is Like Oxygen” but it was probably on Casey Kasem’s American Top 40 because I don’t think it got played a whole lot here at the time.  (kk)


BALLOT #4 Results:

Top Ten Vote-Getters:
 #1 - Bohemian Rhapsody – Queen (as expected ... it leads the whole pack in overall votes, too ... and has for quite a while now)
 #2 - Behind Blue Eyes – The Who
 #3 - Beginnings – Chicago
 #4 - Bitch – The Rolling Stones
 #5 - Bell Bottom Blues – Derek and the Dominoes  (“Layla” isn’t the only great track on this album.  While it’s true you do hear this song once in a while, these results prove that classic rock fans love it … so you can afford to spin it a little more often to break up the monotony of playing “Layla” 45 times this week!)
 #6 - Black Is Black – Los Bravos  (who would have thought that this one would have finished so high!  Great tune ‘tho!)
 #7 - Black Magic Woman - Santana
 #8 - Blitzkrieg Bop – The Ramones  (Say what?!?!  Right up there with The Who, Santana, Queen Chicago and the Rolling Stones?!?!  Yep … that’s what the fans say!)
 #9 - Birthday – The Beatles
#10 – Bitter Sweet Symphony – The Verve  (another one that doesn't get enough airplay in this format)

It's interesting how some songs have gained in stature over the years. If this poll were taken 40 years ago, I don't think Bohemian Rhapsody would have done as well as it will in the final tally. I think Behind Blue Eyes has remained steady.
Jack

Other tracks of note:
All of these tracks did extremely well on Ballot #4 -
Black Betty – Ram Jam
Bloody Well Right – Supertramp
Blow Away by George Harrison (a bit of a surprise)
Blue Bayou – Linda Ronstadt  (ditto ... classic rock fans consider Linda one of their favorites)
Blue Money – Van Morrison (a nice change of pace from Brown Eyed Girl, if nothing else!)
Blue Suede Shoes – Elvis Presley  (voters continue to prove that they want more of the core, "roots" artists spun once in a while ... it's where the rest of classic rock came from!)
Boogie Wonderland by Earth, Wind And Fire with the Emotions (I sure didn’t expect to see THIS one here!!!  Doesn’t fit the Classic Rock mold for me … but you guys out there are evidently ok with it … there are quite a few EWF tracks nominated)
Behind The Wall Of Sleep – The Smithereens (this is one I didn’t know at all … but you guys sure seem to like it!)
Beware My Love – Paul McCartney  (to me, a deep track ... but it got a lot of votes in Ballot #4)
Beware Of Darkness – George Harrison  (ditto)
Big Log – Robert Plant
Big Yellow Taxi – Joni Mitchell
Billion Dollar Babies by Alice Cooper (this one really surprised me!  But "Be My Lover" scored pretty well, too ... so maybe classic rockers want more Alice)

And, speaking of great Classic Rock ...

Congratulations to The Drive …
They’re now the #2 station in town …
And our FH Buddy Bob Stroud is now tied for 1st Place on mid-days
Offering a better variety of rock, this is the station to listen to locally for the very best in Classic Rock.  WTG, guys!  (kk)