Songs mentioned on AT40 before charting on AT40

[jlthorpe]

On the December 24, 1988 AT40 countdown, Shadoe talks about the band Was (Not Was) having two Top 10 hits in Europe before introducing one of those songs, "Spy in the House of Love", in the countdown. The other song he mentioned was "Walk the Dinosaur", which didn't hit AT40 until two months later. I know there are a lot of other examples of songs getting mentioned on AT40 before charting themselves (for example, when Casey/Shadoe listed songs that were at #1 on other charts).

[Michael1973]

I know Debbie Gibson's Foolish Beat is mentioned the week before it debuts, and I think maybe Do They Know It's Christmas was discussed before it charted. Someone else can confirm that, I'm sure.

[OnWithTheCountdown]

I remember Casey talking about Band Aid's "Do They Know It's Christmas" on the 12/22/1984 show, which debuted at #20 on the 1/5/1985 show.

And as mentioned in another thread, Casey listed #1s on other charts, and in the summer of 1988, "What's On Your Mind (Pure Energy)" was #1 on the dance chart, a few weeks before its debut on AT40 (as well as Shadoe's).

Great topic, jlthorpe! I know there's several examples of this, but can only think of this one currently.

[jlthorpe]

Thanks! I knew there was a thread for artists mentioned on AT40 before they charted, but didn't know if there was a similar thread for songs.

[dukelightning]

In the early 70s, AT40 played cuts from the #1 Lp. Five songs which later became top 40 hits were played: "Black Magic Woman", "Oye Como Va", "I Don't Know How to Love Him", "I Know I'm Losing You" and "Immigrant Song". The latter was played three times before it reached the top 40.

[jlthorpe]

Jan 8, 2022 12:32:50 GMT -5 dukelightning said:

In the early 70s, AT40 played cuts from the #1 Lp. Five songs which later became top 40 hits were played: "Black Magic Woman", "Oye Como Va", "I Don't Know How to Love Him", "I Know I'm Losing You" and "Immigrant Song". The latter was played three times before it reached the top 40.

There are also examples of AT40 Sneek Peek's during the Shadoe years, and Ryan Seacrest had a similar feature.

[at40nut]

Jan 8, 2022 12:12:08 GMT -5 OnWithTheCountdown said:

I remember Casey talking about Band Aid's "Do They Know It's Christmas" on the 12/22/1984 show, which debuted at #20 on the 1/5/1985 show.

And as mentioned in another thread, Casey listed #1s on other charts, and in the summer of 1988, "What's On Your Mind (Pure Energy)" was #1 on the dance chart, a few weeks before its debut on AT40 (as well as Shadoe's).

Great topic, jlthorpe ! I know there's several examples of this, but can only think of this one currently.

IIRC, was When in Rome's "The Promise" also mentioned as a #1 hit on the Dance Chart during the Summer of 88?

[jlthorpe]

Jan 8, 2022 12:12:08 GMT -5 OnWithTheCountdown said:

And as mentioned in another thread, Casey listed #1s on other charts, and in the summer of 1988, "What's On Your Mind (Pure Energy)" was #1 on the dance chart, a few weeks before its debut on AT40 (as well as Shadoe's).

Mentioned by Casey on July 16 and July 23 (although on the latter countdown, he called it "What's on My Mind" by mistake). It debuted on AT40 on August 27.

On the July 23 show, he also mentioned "Don't Be Cruel" by Bobby Brown being #1 on the Black singles chart, before it debuted on AT40 on August 20. Hall and Oates also mentioned it on the July 30 show.

[jlthorpe]

Jan 8, 2022 12:45:36 GMT -5 at40nut said:

IIRC, was When in Rome's "The Promise" also mentioned as a #1 hit on the Dance Chart during the Summer of 88?

Yes, on June 11 (debuted October 22).

[at40petebattistini]

AT40’s National Album Countdown (August 5, 1972) had quite a few songs that were played (or mentioned) prior to airing as Top 40 singles:
*Saturday In The Park – Chicago
*From The Beginning – Emerson, Lake & Palmer
*Spaceman – Nilsson
*Peaceful Easy Feeling – Eagles
*Lonely Boy – Donny Osmond

Only mentioned:
*My Ding-A-Ling – Chuck Berry
*Reelin’ And Rockin’ – Chuck Berry
*Honky Cat – Elton John

[JMW]

From the similar thread I started ten years ago, I posted that in the story before I Just Can't Stop Loving You on the 9/26/1987 show (at #3) Casey mentioned Man in the Mirror four months before it reached the Top 40. It's also mentioned in the thread that there were two instances where Thriller (the song) was mentioned before it became a single.

[dth1971]

Shadoe Stevens AT40 on November 17, 1990 played a drop piece of Debbie Gibson's "Anything is Possible" to tie in with a report about Debbie Gibson's current status which would make the AT40 chart reaches 4 weeks later.

[jlthorpe]

Jan 8, 2022 18:19:29 GMT -5 JMW said:

From the similar thread I started ten years ago, I posted that in the story before I Just Can't Stop Loving You on the 9/26/1987 show (at #3) Casey mentioned Man in the Mirror four months before it reached the Top 40. It's also mentioned in the thread that there were two instances where Thriller (the song) was mentioned before it became a single.

Thanks for posting the link. It turns out I posted in that same thread and had completely forgotten.

[trekkielo]

Jan 8, 2022 12:12:08 GMT -5 OnWithTheCountdown said:

I remember Casey talking about Band Aid's "Do They Know It's Christmas" on the 12/22/1984 show, which debuted at #20 on the 1/5/1985 show.

Before "No More Lonely Nights" by Paul McCartney at #8 because of his involvement.

Jan 8, 2022 12:12:08 GMT -5 OnWithTheCountdown said:

And as mentioned in another thread, Casey listed #1s on other charts, and in the summer of 1988, "What's On Your Mind (Pure Energy)" was #1 on the dance chart, a few weeks before its debut on AT40 (as well as Shadoe's).

It debuted at #40 on 8/27/1988 with Shadoe Stevens hosting. Premiere has its follow-up Top 10 single "Walking Away" as an Optional Extra from 6/18/1988, but never had their biggest hit "What's On Your Mind (Pure Energy)" as one, yet, go figure.

[Hervard]

On the March 16, 1985 show, Casey mentioned "We Are The World" by USA For Africa near the end of Hour 3, saying that it should be debuting on the countdown soon (as it turned out, it hit the chart the following week - way up at #21).