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Post by Matt Cameron on Jul 2, 2005 23:33:04 GMT -5
Just got a copy of the illegal Townsend Coleman AT40 from 07/08/79 from a generous benefactor who happens to be a regular on this site.  In case you don't know the story, Rob Durkee's book has a very thorough explanation of the events leading to this illegal version. To make a long story short, the PD at WGCL in Cleveland balked at having to run the Top 40 Disco Hits countdown special for that weekend, and ordered Coleman, a DJ there at the time, to make his own version to air in place of the Disco special. Coleman used the AT40 beds and jingles, and actually came up with a surprisingly decent-sounding show. The irony of this show lies in the fact that the PD didn't want to air an all-Disco show; however, due to the fact that no "Archive" songs or LDD's were played, Coleman had to fill the 4 hour slot by using 12-inch versions of most of the Disco songs in the Forty that week. So the show was loaded with Disco anyway. My notes and thoughts on the show: -It's not surprising that Coleman went on to a lucrative career doing voiceovers and cartoon voices. He sounds very comfortable at the mic and has a very likable radio personality. -unless there was a glitch on the tape or something (which I think may be the case), Coleman played a 10-MINUTE-PLUS version of "I Was Made For Lovin' You" by KISS!! -I noticed, as Rob said in his book, that the wrong number jingle was played about 5 or 6 times. -Found out from Coleman that Barbra Streisand has "supersonic hearing, much like that of a dog."  ??? -loved how Coleman kept referring to himself as simply "Townsend" or "TC". -whenever Coleman did the station mentions during the show (3 at a time) he always ended with his own station, WGCL. -I missed the "TC's Coast to Coast" jingle he spliced together the first time it aired and had to go back a little bit to listen again for it. -Coleman's intro walked all over the start of the vocals on "Reunited" by Peaches and Herb, but I think that's the only time that happened during the show. Not bad considering he was doing it live. All in all, a very entertaining listen, and an interesting footnote in the history of AT40. |
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Post by Scott Lakefield on Jul 4, 2005 10:20:37 GMT -5
-I noticed, as Rob said in his book, that the wrong number jingle was played about 5 or 6 times. Actually, as I recall, the only number jingle he got RIGHT was #40. |
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Post by Matt Cameron on Jul 6, 2005 15:32:32 GMT -5
Almost but not quite...
he also got number 38 correct.
Coleman himself gave incorrect chart positions several times during the show, too.
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Post by Deleted on Jul 6, 2005 15:33:48 GMT -5
I had the show, but never listened to it  |
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Post by lasvegaskid on Jul 16, 2022 14:34:52 GMT -5
I'd luvvvv to see someone with great technical expertise like Ken polish this show up, insert the proper 7" versions and add it to the AT40 stable, if nothing else as an irreplaceable footnote of history, as the original poster mentioned.
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Post by dth1971 on Jul 16, 2022 15:57:44 GMT -5
I'd luvvvv to see someone with great technical expertise like Ken polish this show up, insert the proper 7" versions and add it to the AT40 stable, if nothing else as an irreplaceable footnote of history, as the original poster mentioned. And maybe the long album versions? |
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Post by mga707 on Jul 16, 2022 15:58:27 GMT -5
First I'd heard of this. Thanks, 'vegas', for digging up this 'dead thread', which predates my finding these boards by at least five years.
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Post by woolebull on Jul 16, 2022 17:31:46 GMT -5
I'd luvvvv to see someone with great technical expertise like Ken polish this show up, insert the proper 7" versions and add it to the AT40 stable, if nothing else as an irreplaceable footnote of history, as the original poster mentioned. And maybe the long album versions? I absolutely love the 12 inch remix of "Hot Stuff" and "Bad Girls" and how he was able to play the whole song as #3 and #2 on the show. I thought he did a great job of the outro/intro between #3 and #2 while the mix kept on playing. It is one of my favorite moments in AT history actually. |
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Post by Mike on Jul 16, 2022 20:18:16 GMT -5
I absolutely love the 12 inch remix of "Hot Stuff" and "Bad Girls" and how he was able to play the whole song as #3 and #2 on the show. I thought he did a great job of the outro/intro between #3 and #2 while the mix kept on playing. It is one of my favorite moments in AT history actually. To the best of my knowledge, the only other time that sort of thing would happen in an AT40 was in the Top 100 of 1990, when Phil Collins had #68, #67, and #66 - "I Wish it Would Rain Down", "Something Happened on the Way to Heaven", and "Do You Remember". Shadoe introed all three at once to set up #68, then outroed all three at #66. In a not-AT40, Rick would play George Michael's two hits in the Top 92 of 1992 consecutively, with no intro for the second (#48 was "Don't Let the Sun Go Down on Me", #47 was "Too Funky"). |
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Post by trekkielo on Jul 17, 2022 2:03:51 GMT -5
I absolutely love the 12 inch remix of "Hot Stuff" and "Bad Girls" and how he was able to play the whole song as #3 and #2 on the show. I thought he did a great job of the outro/intro between #3 and #2 while the mix kept on playing. It is one of my favorite moments in AT history actually. To the best of my knowledge, the only other time that sort of thing would happen in an AT40 was in the Top 100 of 1990, when Phil Collins had #68, #67, and #66 - "I Wish it Would Rain Down", "Something Happened on the Way to Heaven", and "Do You Remember". Shadoe introed all three at once to set up #68, then outroed all three at #66. In a not-AT40, Rick would play George Michael's two hits in the Top 92 of 1992 consecutively, with no intro for the second (#48 was "Don't Let the Sun Go Down on Me", #47 was "Too Funky"). Three more that at least deserve a mention in this conversation... 8/1/1970 #17 Ohio-#16 Teach Your Children - Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young 8/11/1979 #18 Don't Bring Me Down-#17 Shine a Little Love - Electric Light Orchestra 9/13/1980 #18 All Over the World - Electric Light Orchestra-#17 Xanadu - Olivia Newton-John & Electric Light Orchestra  |
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Post by at40petebattistini on Jul 17, 2022 2:36:23 GMT -5
I absolutely love the 12 inch remix of "Hot Stuff" and "Bad Girls" and how he was able to play the whole song as #3 and #2 on the show. I thought he did a great job of the outro/intro between #3 and #2 while the mix kept on playing. It is one of my favorite moments in AT history actually. To the best of my knowledge, the only other time that sort of thing would happen in an AT40 was in the Top 100 of 1990, when Phil Collins had #68, #67, and #66 - "I Wish it Would Rain Down", "Something Happened on the Way to Heaven", and "Do You Remember". Shadoe introed all three at once to set up #68, then outroed all three at #66. Going back to May 1971, during the "Top 40 Artists of the Rock Era" special, Casey segued full-song recordings by the Beatles ("I Want To Hold Your Hand" and "Let It Be") and Elvis Presley ("Don't Be Cruel", "It's Now Or Never" and "Suspicious Minds") without a 'talk unit' in between. Casey repeated a similar program medley during the updated version of this special on October 6, 1973. That time, two Elvis songs ("In The Ghetto" and "Heartbreak Hotel") were played without interruption. |
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Post by dth1971 on Jul 17, 2022 6:08:27 GMT -5
Three more that at least deserve a mention in this conversation... 8/1/1970 #17 Ohio-#16 Teach Your Children - Crosby, Still, Nash & Young 8/11/1979 #18 Don't Bring Me Down-#17 Shine a Little Love - Electric Light Orchestra 9/13/1980 #18 All Over the World - Electric Light Orchestra-#17 Xanadu - Olivia Newton-John & Electric Light Orchestra This was the "No nuttin" - Shadoe's phrase - at the time. |
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Post by Mike on Jul 17, 2022 11:09:56 GMT -5
Going back to May 1971, during the "Top 40 Artists of the Rock Era" special, Casey segued full-song recordings by the Beatles ("I Want To Hold Your Hand" and "Let It Be") and Elvis Presley ("Don't Be Cruel", "It's Now Or Never" and "Suspicious Minds") without a 'talk unit' in between. Casey repeated a similar program medley during the updated version of this special on October 6, 1973. That time, two Elvis songs ("In The Ghetto" and "Heartbreak Hotel") were played without interruption. This is where my lower familiarity with the 70s shows on this level comes in - although, I'd distinguish these separately from the Donna Summer/Phil Collins instances, those two being songs in sequence taking up multiple rankings, whereas I see the Beatles pair would be at #2 in the 1971 special and Elvis's three (in 1971) or two (in 1973) represented his #1 ranking. |
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Post by dth1971 on Jul 19, 2022 21:02:18 GMT -5
By the way, what is Townsend Coleman doing nowadays though he is no longer a DJ?
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Post by michaelcasselman on Jul 20, 2022 12:57:53 GMT -5
By the way, what is Townsend Coleman doing nowadays though he is no longer a DJ? Voiceover acting. He'll be at the San Diego ComicCon this weekend on at least one panel. |
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In case you don't know the story, Rob Durkee's book has a very thorough explanation of the events leading to this illegal version. To make a long story short, the PD at WGCL in Cleveland balked at having to run the Top 40 Disco Hits countdown special for that weekend, and ordered Coleman, a DJ there at the time, to make his own version to air in place of the Disco special. Coleman used the AT40 beds and jingles, and actually came up with a surprisingly decent-sounding show. The irony of this show lies in the fact that the PD didn't want to air an all-Disco show; however, due to the fact that no "Archive" songs or LDD's were played, Coleman had to fill the 4 hour slot by using 12-inch versions of most of the Disco songs in the Forty that week. So the show was loaded with Disco anyway.
???
