AT40 11/23/91

[Shadoe Fan]

I was recently listening to AT40 11/23/91, the last show to use the Hot 100, and came across something interesting. Shadoe mentions on the order of that AT40 uses the most respected chart, the Hot 100.

Why would you brag about using a chart that you'll never use again after this particular show?

[Deleted]

possibly to send a smokescreen up to loyal listeners as long as possible that they were still using it. The truth is if you didnt frequently listen to AT40, read Billboard, etc. You may have never realized they stopped using the chart.

[Jeffster]

Yeah, we talked about this in the chatroom not too long ago. The last several weeks leading up to the chart change, Shadoe seemed to mention the Hot 100 more than ever. The only thing I can think of was an example of Shadoe sticking it to management about the change, but according to Rob's book, that particular change was pretty much unanimous, with Shadoe agreeing the change needed to be made, so I still don't get it.

The 11/23 show I had actually listened to once before, so it wasn't new to me, though I didn't remember all of it. The 11/30 show I have NOT heard other than a few seconds of the beginning when I first got the show because I was just too curious to not listen to any of it. I will be listening to the 11/30/91 show next weekend, probably Thursday or Friday, so I plan to do some sort of report about it, maybe kind of a follow-up to what Rob covered in his book.more in detail of just what a jolt it is chart-wise. It will be an interesting timewarp back to 91 next time, my 1991 self, had I been able to listen to the show at all at that time, would certainly not have had any way to know about the chart change, so I would have been in for quite the shock.

[bandit73]

jeffster said:

The only thing I can think of was an example of Shadoe sticking it to management about the change, but according to Rob's book, that particular change was pretty much unanimous, with Shadoe agreeing the change needed to be made, so I still don't get it.

Shadoe and the other AT40 people probably liked the Hot 100 (despite their decision to stop using it), so he was probably sticking it to all the radio people who didn't like the Hot 100 (and who forced them to change).

I wonder if AT40 would have continued using the Hot 100 if that chart didn't change its methodology then.

The 11/30 show I have NOT heard other than a few seconds of the beginning when I first got the show because I was just too curious to not listen to any of it.

I tried listening to the 11/30/91 show when it first aired, and was furious that the Hot 100 was dropped and replaced by an airplay-only chart. So I just shut the radio off.

The Hot 100 remained the most reliable national chart in America for years after that, despite the weird methodology they were using after 1991.

[BrettVW]

No doubt AT40 would have (and perhaps STILL would be) using the Hot 100 if the chart methodology had remained "normal" (or still reflected what CHR radio was playing) -- and the copyright price was still reasonable.

[Deleted]

Do you REALLY think premiere would be paying for billboard chart rights?

[Hervard]

bandit73 said:

I tried listening to the 11/30/91 show when it first aired, and was furious that the Hot 100 was dropped and replaced by an airplay-only chart. So I just shut the radio off.

At first, I thought that they'd continue using the Hot 100, but I knew that that chart was switching its figuring system, so I knew there would be a few odd chart moves on the November 30, 1991 show. But when I went to look at Billboard magazine later that week and the chart was different, I figured that AT40 was making up their own chart, so I had to really force myself to stay awake for the show (and since the show started at 7:00 on Sunday mornings and I worked late on Saturdays, that was sometimes not an easy thing to do!) But about four months later, as I listened to the show, they mentioned that "Bohemian Rhapsody" debuted on the entire chart at number 40 (and I think they might have used the word Billboard) I got to thinking, "Hmm, are they using one of those 75-position charts that I've seen around the Hot 100?" Sure enough, when I checked the Billboard chart that same afternoon, I found out I was right.
Actually, I think the switch was a great idea. With the Hot 100 modified the way it was, that caused more sales only hits to make the Top 40 portion. Even before the switch, there were a lot of songs that got little or no radio airplay, including "Mind Playing Tricks On Me" by the Geto Boys, which had to be whittled down to about a minute long. Since it was a radio countdown, the Top 40 Radio Monitor was the logical choice, since it was literally what radio stations across the country were playing.

[jlbass]

I Just received a copy of the Nov 23 1991 show and I obtained the Nov 30 1991 a few months ago. I listened to the opening on the Nov 23 show and Shadoe mentioned that the chart was based upon what was sold in stores and heard on radio. The next week, in the opening, Shadoe mentioned a "Brand New Official Chart" and then noted that the chart was based upon radio and said nothing about sales. So at least in a veiled sense, Shadoe did mention the change although the listener would probably have not paid that much attention at the time since he/she were anticipating the use of a newly compiled Hot 100.

[Hervard]

Shadoe also made a subtle mention of the new chart used starting with the January 9 edition of the show:

Are you ready to dive into the musical mainstream?