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Post by chrislc on Nov 3, 2019 19:40:56 GMT -5
Marvin Gaye, Karen Carpenter, Don Henley & Glenn Frey of the Eagles probably would have been in it. Though in the case of the last two they were still relevant in 1985; is there a particular reason why they didn't do it? Good question. And OMG Karen Carpenter! Absolutely. Maybe she would do Michael's part. Imagine it.
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Post by chrislc on Nov 3, 2019 19:17:08 GMT -5
Okay so what if We Are The World had happened ten years earlier? Who would have been included and excluded and who would have taken the places of those excluded?
How about -
• Lionel Richie - no - Harry Chapin - and we should get Elvis Presley and Bing Crosby in here somewhere near the end with Bob and Ray (and Frank!) - I had some Beatles and Elton and Helen on the list then remembered it's not Anglo Saxons for Africa- yikes imagine We Are the World '65 ouch I guess it would be all Motown plus Dean Martin and Roy Orbison) • Stevie Wonder - yes • Paul Simon - yes • Kenny Rogers - no - John Denver • James Ingram - no - Marvin Gaye • Tina Turner - no she wasn't relevant at the time so let's go with Barbra Streisand • Billy Joel - no - Neil Diamond • Michael Jackson - tough call - maybe the whole Jackson 5? but only in the chorus - so Karen Carpenter gets this key role Diana Ross - yes • Dionne Warwick - yes • Willie Nelson - no - Phillipe Wynne (see what i did there?) • Al Jarreau - no - Al Green • Bruce Springsteen - no - Teddy Pendergrass • Kenny Loggins - no - Danny Hutton EDIT Chuck Negron • Steve Perry - no - Russell Thompkins Jr. • Daryl Hall - no - Don Henley • Huey Lewis - no - Glenn Frey • Cyndi Lauper - no - Gladys Knight • Kim Carnes - no - Carly Simon • Bob Dylan - yes • Ray Charles - yes Chorus (alphabetically) • Dan Aykroyd - no but maybe a few years later (Belushi too) - so Muhammad Ali and Howard Cosell (maybe it would be recorded right after a Dean Martin Roast instead of the Grammys) • Harry Belafonte - yes • Lindsey Buckingham - no - Don Rickles • Mario Cipollina - no - Orson Welles • Johnny Colla - no - Red Buttons • Sheila E. - no - Ruth Buzzi • Bob Geldof - no - Casey KuhSEMM as Adolf Hitler • Bill Gibson - who • Chris Hayes - who • Sean Hopper - who • Jackie Jackson - ah there they are • La Toya Jackson - no - Angie Dickinson • Marlon Jackson - see above • Randy Jackson - see above • Tito Jackson - see above • Waylon Jennings - no - Telly Savalas • Bette Midler - maybe • John Oates - no - Nipsey Russell • Jeffrey Osborne - no - Foster Brooks (on the wings of luh th wings of luhhhhh wings of luhhhhhv) • The Pointer Sisters - probably not - The Pips • Smokey Robinson - yes
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Post by chrislc on Nov 3, 2019 18:51:59 GMT -5
IMO, it has to be Gene Cotton's Save The Dancer. It churned out three top 40s in 1978 yet today it is as obscure as obscure gets. In a sad, ironic twist maybe the most forgotten country album was Jim Glaser's Man in the Mirror which booked six ACC top 40's including a remake of Cotton's You Got Me Runnin'. His previous LP had his first Top 40 hit and also Me And The Elephant which is one of the most heartbreaking songs there is, and which Bobby Goldsboro had to change to Elephants for some dumb reason. Sorry but whenever I hear the name Gene Cotton it makes me think of what Bobby Goldsboro did to that title. Argggh. One elephant is so much sadder than multiple elephants.
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Post by chrislc on Nov 3, 2019 18:38:21 GMT -5
Just found out this one a few minutes ago. RB Greaves - on his way to #2 50 years ago today - was from Guyana. I always assumed he was from Mexico because of the way that song sounded. God I'm such a racist. Apparently this is where all the kids say "OK Boomer". That's a thing now, I guess. Chris, I recall as a kid that many times I couldn't tell the nationality of most of the singers/bands that I listened to--I just knew what songs (or kind of music) I liked. As an adult, I may occasionally notice that some one is from a certain ethnic background and possibly could be surprised by that--or--I could do the same thing I did as a kid, just enjoy the music. One of the things I have enjoyed about listening to countdowns is the fact that you learn something about the music (and or singer/band) that you didn't previously know.
I guess we have Casey (and his staff) to thank for setting the standard for the Countdown show--to make the show both enjoyable musically and educational.
Joe
Joe I tried something new with your countdowns a couple of days ago. I listened to the first 4 1/2 successive countdowns from 1967. It was like listening to Top 40 radio again, hearing a few of those songs three times in the same day.
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Post by chrislc on Oct 30, 2019 23:58:06 GMT -5
Just found out this one a few minutes ago.
RB Greaves - on his way to #2 50 years ago today - was from Guyana. I always assumed he was from Mexico because of the way that song sounded.
God I'm such a racist.
Apparently this is where all the kids say "OK Boomer". That's a thing now, I guess.
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Post by chrislc on Oct 10, 2019 12:08:01 GMT -5
Here's another countdown from 1964. As the year progressed you can see the hits from the British charts continue to invade the U.S. charts; although this countdown (from Cash Box magazine for the week ending October 10, 1964) contains only 7 foreign acts-- Yes! It's always exciting to hear a new show. I'm listening to Andy at #40 as I type this. My first thought was "why in 1964 for this song?" but then I remembered the movie of course. I had mentioned hoping for 1969 but now I notice I somehow had overlooked 10/11/69 already having been there. I think just about all the gaps have been filled now Joe. These shows are so great to listen to! If you're ever inclined to do some pre-Beatles or some more post-Beatles countdowns that would be okay with me too!
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Post by chrislc on Sept 28, 2019 21:00:08 GMT -5
It is the new season of fall/autumn and here are the Top 40 hits from the Cash Box charts from 52 years ago, today--September 23, 1967. There are plenty of Summer Of Love songs still riding the Top 40 and there is a song by atrio out of New York City that mentions some other artists that also have hits on the Countdown--
Enjoy, Joe
Joe, do you have an opinion about What Now My Love by Mitch Ryder? To me, it sounds too ridiculous to have been a serious effort, but on the other hand, not amusing enough to have been a parody. And thanks for this countdown. I had been rooting for either 69 or 67. Now I'm rooting for October 69.
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Post by chrislc on Aug 11, 2019 12:28:27 GMT -5
Listening to this weeks 1975 show reminded me of what I thought was the lyric in David Bowie's song Fame. The line near the end of the song "Fame bully for you chilly for me got to get a rain check on pain" I thought it was "Fame bully for you chilly for me got to get a record on" I guess that I was thinking that David had a turntable! I thought it was something about getting a record on too. In high school English we were given an assignment to analyze lyrics of a song and speak about it in front of the class. For some reason I decided to pick Like A Rolling Stone. I went to the local record store that sold old singles and brought it home and listened to it over and over. Then I spoke in front of the class and analyzed the lyrics, many of which didn't exist because I didn't understand what the heck he was singing. I'm sure some of the students had the LP or the lyrics somewhere, and knew what a disaster my analysis was. To this day I can't listen to that song. When I hear it I feel that "old familiar pain" like Dan did in Same Old Lang Syne. It literally hurts.
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Post by chrislc on Aug 10, 2019 21:37:36 GMT -5
And it's
Basket weavers who sit and smile and twiddle their thumbs and toes and they're coming to take me away
not
Basket weavers who sit and smile and twiddle their thumbs and tell me that they're coming to take me away
On second thought maybe they are.
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Post by chrislc on Aug 10, 2019 21:19:26 GMT -5
Also I just decided after all this time to look up this one
It's
And four help you through the night Help to minimize your plight
Not
And four help you through the night Help you through your Mahjong flight.
I'm learning new corrections all the time these days. What a blast it is getting old!
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Post by chrislc on Aug 7, 2019 1:00:21 GMT -5
I thought by now I had listened to them all at least a couple of times, but somehow August 26 1967 had slipped through the cracks. Great countdown. I check for a new one just about every day
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Post by chrislc on Aug 6, 2019 21:14:16 GMT -5
Okay, Ted Nugent. I understand now. It isn't
It's nothin' dangerous I feel no pain I've got to judge a train
It's
It's nothin' dangerous I feel no pain I've got to ch-ch-change
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Post by chrislc on Aug 2, 2019 23:21:23 GMT -5
I would probably nominate this one -- not one bad song in the bunch (in fact most are downright fantastic) and one I could listen to several times over -- from 8/20/83: 10: I'LL TUMBLE 4 YA - CULTURE CLUB 9: PUTTIN' ON THE RITZ - TACO 8: FASCINATION - THE HUMAN LEAGUE 7: IS THEIR SOMETHING I SHOULD KNOW - DURAN DURAN 6: IT'S A MISTAKE - MEN AT WORKS 5: STAND BACK - STEVIE NICKS 4: MANIAC - MICHAEL SEMBELLO 3: SHE WORKS HARD FOR THE MONEY - DONNA SUMMER 2: SWEET DREAMS - THE EURYTHMICS 1: EVERY BREATH YOU TAKE - THE POLICE This one is pretty tough to beat as well (other than "Almost Paradise") - from 7/14/84: 10: LEGS – ZZ TOP 9: THE HEART OF ROCK ‘N’ ROLL – HUEY LEWIS & THE NEWS 8: GHOSTBUSTERS – RAY PARKER JR. 7: ALMOST PARADISE…LOVE THEME FROM “FOOTLOOSE” – MIKE RENO AND ANN WILSON 6: SELF CONTROL – LAURA BRANIGAN 5: THE REFLEX – DURAN DURAN 4: EYES WITHOUT A FACE – BILLY IDOL 3: JUMP (FOR MY LOVE) – THE POINTER SISTERS 2: DANCING IN THE DARK - BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN 1: WHEN DOVES CRY – PRINCE Wow that July 1984 Top Ten has seven or eight songs that have been played TO DEATH since 1984. That is a tough Top Ten to beat! And again this is not about Top Tens that we like, especially. In a way it's almost the opposite - songs that we may be absolutely sick of hearing at this point.
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Post by chrislc on Aug 2, 2019 0:03:01 GMT -5
Yes, the thought of Neil Diamond riding a bicycle past the moon is tough to contemplate. We already had Neil in a major motion picture, and one was enough. Although, come to think of it, he could have been cast as the lead in The Michael Dukakis Story if one had ever been filmed. That is, if Eugene Levy wasn't available. And has Cars by Gary Numan been mentioned? Not Top 3 I guess but what am amazing tambourine effect! There is a video for 'Cars'. Remember seeing it in 1980 pre-MTV. Probably on USA's 'Night Flight', or on the 'Video Jukebox' segments that HBO used to show back then between movies. www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ldyx3KHOFXwYes, I know. I was off-topic but felt compelled to comment on the video, which has pretty much ruined that song for me. 1980s music would have been so much better overall without all the videos! It really makes one appreciate how old (REALLY old) people missed old-time radio from when TV hadn't arrived yet.
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Post by chrislc on Aug 1, 2019 23:52:40 GMT -5
What do you think was the strongest Top Ten 1970-1988?
And by this I mean the Top Ten that contained songs that got the most cumulative airplay or otherwise-play over the following 31 years? July 1970- July 2001 to August 1988-August 2019.
I thought of this listening to the Top Ten from October 1966. Wow some "timeless classics" there. Just about all ten of them. Certainly a lot of play up through 1997 for those songs.
But maybe there were others in the 60s and 70s that were even stronger. Most disco songs acquired a stigma, so I don't imagine any Top Tens from 1975-1979 would qualify, but maybe there were exceptions even then. And I guess we probably can rule out 1981 and 1982 - despite some classics also a lot of "I haven't heard that song since then" type of hits. Actually, though, late 1982 is very strong in this respect.
And the thing is, there is a definite correct answer to this question, but I don't know how to obtain it. It would mean accessing the ASCAP or BMI or whatever stats, I guess.
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