|
|
Post by Hervard on Sept 4, 2022 6:50:56 GMT -5
Age 68 - 1969 - 1973 (Ages 15 through 19) 1971 is my sweet spot, especially the summer/fall. Age 50 - 1979-1983 (Ages 7 through 11) |
|
dmvden
Junior Member
Posts: 80
|
Post by dmvden on Sept 4, 2022 7:11:56 GMT -5
Age 52, Favorite period 1978-1982, although 1979-1983 would be a very close 2nd for me
|
|
|
|
Post by 1finemrg on Sept 4, 2022 10:05:38 GMT -5
Age 68 - 1969 - 1973 (Ages 15 through 19) 1971 is my sweet spot, especially the summer/fall. Amending to 1968 - 1972 (14-18). Have to include at least one year that embraces the golden era of Chicago AM radio which is essentially late 1965 to early 1969. You can hear the local bands being played side-by-side with the national hits of the day. I was beginning to drift to the FM side by 1973. Away at college by fall 1972. Very uncool to be listening to AM radio in the dorms. |
|
|
|
Post by friarboy on Sept 5, 2022 18:48:04 GMT -5
So like Hervard and dmvden, who are a year younger and older than me respectively, I'm going with late 70's, early 80's and I'll say 1979-1983.
When I was a teenager, like most of us, I loved the music that was out at that time, in my case mid-late 80's. When I listen to those shows now, maybe it's the familiarity from listening to those songs day after day, it's more background music. I know every word to most of those songs and could credibly fake it on most of the rest. Really '77-'83, when those shows are on, I'm paying more attention.
I think it's a couple reasons, maybe I didn't have the records to sit and listen to all the time, but also, I think that timeframe had the most things going on with a diverse array of genres in the Top 40. Some examples:
Country- Ronnie Milsap, Juice Newton, Eddie Rabbitt, Kenny Rogers, Dolly Parton, all had huge hits in the countdown at this time.
New Wave- Talking Heads, The Fixx, Flock of Seagulls, Thomas Dolby, Gary Numan, up and coming entire genre coming of age. Oh, and Blondie introduces rap to the chart.
Disco- Where New Wave was coming of age, disco was aging out but you still had huge hits by Donna Summer, Anita Ward, and Chic in this era
Jazz- Spyro Gyra, George Duke and Stanley Clarke, Grover Washington Jr., instrumental and vocal hits
R&B- Stevie Wonder, Gap Band, Sister Sledge, Pointer Sisters, SOS Band, Diana Ross, this list is limitless
Hard Rock- Young Van Halen leading into 1984. Def Leppard starting out. Late Kiss.
Peak Yacht Rock- Christopher Cross, Jay Ferguson, and of course the great one, Michael McDonald
And you can't leave Thriller out to lead off the multitude of great pop records in this era.
I find things to love in all eras but at age 51, I'll go 1979-1983. Ages 8-12.
|
|
|
|
Post by OldSchoolAT40Fan on Sept 5, 2022 19:00:47 GMT -5
I have to admit, I preferred the period of July 1982 to July 1987 the best no matter how old I have been. This was always my preferred period for top 40 music, in my opinion.
|
|
|
|
Post by woolebull on Sept 6, 2022 16:34:13 GMT -5
Great topic! I am 49, but I have a problem: my favorite years are 79, 85, 86, 90, and 91.
If we are talking about when I was actually listening to AT 40 in real time: my favorite years were 82, 83, 90, and 91 (we didn't have AT 40 in my area from September 83 to October 86. I did listen to Dees, Satellite Survey, Countdown America, and Rockin' America during the time AT wasn't on).
If it was my favorite I guess I would go '87-'91. I just love 1990 and 1991 that much, and I didn't mind Shadoe at all as a host.
If it is when I personally thought Top 40 was best: I would go 79-83. As non diverse as the first four year of the 80's were, 1979 certainly makes up for it. Those five years have at least one hit from many of the biggest artists of the 70's and 80's.
|
|
|
|
Post by chrislc on Sept 6, 2022 17:45:51 GMT -5
All submissions are updated in Post #1. Maybe a math whiz can explain why the ages come out 11-15 based on the ages and years, but if you average the actual ages category it comes out 10-14. Weird. One thing I have learned from this thread - I wouldn't have guessed that y'all are about ten years younger than me. I need to keep that in mind and be more open to the quality of Top 40 post-1985. Yikes. But seriously, I think you've all been trolling me here. EVERYONE knows 1965-1969 was best!!!  |
|
|
|
Post by OnWithTheCountdown on Sept 6, 2022 18:42:39 GMT -5
All submissions are updated in Post #1. Maybe a math whiz can explain why the ages come out 11-15 based on the ages and years, but if you average the actual ages category it comes out 10-14. Weird. One thing I have learned from this thread - I wouldn't have guessed that y'all are about ten years younger than me. I need to keep that in mind and be more open to the quality of Top 40 post-1985. Yikes. But seriously, I think you've all been trolling me here. EVERYONE knows 1965-1969 was best!!! I'll say this: The latter half of the 1960s is really good, and I have djjoe1960 to largely thank for that because of his Cash Box countdowns. Every so often I'll get in a 1960s mood, and I'll throw on one of his shows. He greatly helped fill that "void" when AT40 wasn't born yet (and for that matter, neither was I! 😂). The Beatles and Supremes were just untouchable, but there's so many other gems from that timeframe. I have a deep appreciation for the music before my time. 🙂 My mother was my biggest inspiration in getting into top 40 music; she seemed to always have the radio on. I can just imagine the conversations we would have had about 1960s music. Unfortunately, I lost her to cancer at age 47 (I was 14), which is the age I am now. I think every year, including 2022, has a lot of good music. There's still a lot of artists I can get into these days, although some of them aren't even mainstream (especially the Christian ones). |
|
|
|
Post by mga707 on Sept 6, 2022 20:01:19 GMT -5
All submissions are updated in Post #1. Maybe a math whiz can explain why the ages come out 11-15 based on the ages and years, but if you average the actual ages category it comes out 10-14. Weird. One thing I have learned from this thread - I wouldn't have guessed that y'all are about ten years younger than me. I need to keep that in mind and be more open to the quality of Top 40 post-1985. Yikes. But seriously, I think you've all been trolling me here. EVERYONE knows 1965-1969 was best!!! We agree on 1969. It's hard to pick just four years. '67-'68 were excellent musical years also. And I've long thought I was the oldest regular poster on here. Glad to see there are at least two of you that I can call 'old guy'!  |
|
|
|
Post by 1finemrg on Sept 7, 2022 4:09:46 GMT -5
And I've long thought I was the oldest regular poster on here. Glad to see there are at least two of you that I can call 'old guy'! Listen you young whipper snapper! I have half a mind to climb out of my wheelchair and use my walker to come over and smack you with my cane! Then I'll have to take a nap... |
|
|
|
Post by michaelcasselman on Sept 7, 2022 9:29:39 GMT -5
I'm 52, and if pressed I'd go with 1979-1983 (age 9-13)
|
|
|
|
Post by djjoe1960 on Sept 7, 2022 14:43:41 GMT -5
Age 62, and I have an unusual situation for favorite pop music years--1971-1973, and 1976-77 (took a two year break from listening to Top 40 radio during 1974/75).
In 1976, I became a regular listener to AT40 and although I knew by age 12 I wanted to be a DJ, however, it was listening to Casey that I knew I wanted to share information on the radio. I really developed my 30 seconds or less style at the second to last station that I worked at--when they threatened to fire me for talking too much and too long. The station encouraged me to cut my talk segments down to 30 seconds or less--or insist that I don't say anything at all.
Thanks to all of you on this board that have listened to the shows (Cash Box & Rewind Countdown) and given me great feedback--making a 12 year olds dream come true--even if it took nearly 45 years.
|
|
|
|
Post by mga707 on Sept 7, 2022 15:53:11 GMT -5
Age 62, and I have an unusual situation for favorite pop music years--1971-1973, and 1976-77 (took a two year break from listening to Top 40 radio during 1974/75). In 1976, I became a regular listener to AT40 and although I knew by age 12 I wanted to be a DJ, however, it was listening to Casey that I knew I wanted to share information on the radio. I really developed my 30 seconds or less style at the second to last station that I worked at--when they threatened to fire me for talking too much and too long. The station encouraged me to cut my talk segments down to 30 seconds or less--or insist that I don't say anything at all. Thanks to all of you on this board that have listened to the shows (Cash Box & Rewind Countdown) and given me great feedback--making a 12 year olds dream come true--even if it took nearly 45 years. Just curious--why did you take the two-year break? I starting listening to the radio heavily in 1966, when I got my first transistor radio for my 8th birthday. I'd listened to my older brother's radio fairly often for two years prior to that. From that eighth birthday on, I continued listening to 'Top 40' radio even after discovering other genres, pretty much through the '80s and into the early '90s. |
|
|
|
Post by djjoe1960 on Sept 7, 2022 16:27:30 GMT -5
Age 62, and I have an unusual situation for favorite pop music years--1971-1973, and 1976-77 (took a two year break from listening to Top 40 radio during 1974/75). In 1976, I became a regular listener to AT40 and although I knew by age 12 I wanted to be a DJ, however, it was listening to Casey that I knew I wanted to share information on the radio. I really developed my 30 seconds or less style at the second to last station that I worked at--when they threatened to fire me for talking too much and too long. The station encouraged me to cut my talk segments down to 30 seconds or less--or insist that I don't say anything at all. Thanks to all of you on this board that have listened to the shows (Cash Box & Rewind Countdown) and given me great feedback--making a 12 year olds dream come true--even if it took nearly 45 years. Just curious--why did you take the two-year break? I starting listening to the radio heavily in 1966, when I got my first transistor radio for my 8th birthday. I'd listened to my older brother's radio fairly often for two years prior to that. From that eighth birthday on, I continued listening to 'Top 40' radio even after discovering other genres, pretty much through the '80s and into the early '90s. My family moved from the Detroit area to the Atlanta area, in Spring 1973, and I was missing my favorite station (CKLW the big 8). The station used to send me their weekly Top 30 listings and decided to stop sending them to me at the end of 1973. I was upset by this decision and couldn't find a local station I really enjoyed so I just stopped listening for all of 1974/75. Right at the of 1975, I decided to try listening to the radio again, and happened to stumble upon AT40's year end countdown and that got me hooked on two things--Casey and the enjoyment of pop music. It reawakened in me the desire to want to become a DJ, a job I actually held for 15 years, following my high school graduation (even though friends of mine kept urging me to get a 'real' job). Hope that answers your question--and thanks for asking. |
|
|
|
Post by chrislc on Sept 7, 2022 17:22:11 GMT -5
Age 62, and I have an unusual situation for favorite pop music years--1971-1973, and 1976-77 (took a two year break from listening to Top 40 radio during 1974/75). In 1976, I became a regular listener to AT40 and although I knew by age 12 I wanted to be a DJ, however, it was listening to Casey that I knew I wanted to share information on the radio. I really developed my 30 seconds or less style at the second to last station that I worked at--when they threatened to fire me for talking too much and too long. The station encouraged me to cut my talk segments down to 30 seconds or less--or insist that I don't say anything at all. Thanks to all of you on this board that have listened to the shows (Cash Box & Rewind Countdown) and given me great feedback--making a 12 year olds dream come true--even if it took nearly 45 years. Joe I rounded yours off to 1972-76 to fit the format and try to maximize the amount of data. |
|
