AT40 Firsts

[tarobe]

Sept 29, 2013 17:45:34 GMT -5 dukelightning said:

First since you have indicated the first instances where the #1 songs from 5, 10 and 15 years were played, I will note the first times for 20 and 25 years ago. The first time the #1 song from 20 years ago was played was on the 10/24/70 broadcast and it was "Goodnight Irene" by the Weavers(this song was mentioned many times in subsequent shows into the 80s because its 13 weeks at #1 were a record). And the first time the #1 song from 25 years was played was on the 6/19/71 show when "Prisoner of Love" by Perry Como was played. Now the last time a #1 song from 5,10,15,20 or 25 years was played (and promoted as such) was on the 6/24/72 show when "Groovin" by the Rascals was played(5 years ago).

You will notice how they stopped this feature around the time they stopped the top 5 Lps feature. They actually stopped playing extras for all intents and purposes (a few exceptions) in August 1972. In 1975, extras would be reintroduced on a sporadic basis.

The time they played an extra before bringing them back was in early 1973, when they played "Come on-a My House" by Rosemary Clooney.

[dukelightning]

Bumping this up in conjunction with shadoefan's post about AT40 dates and info.

[briguy52748]

Great list to start with.

Adding a few tidbits to the country side as relates to AT40:

• First country song played (that made the Billboard Hot Country Songs chart's top 40): "Everything Is Beautiful" by Ray Stevens. Heard on the first AT40, from July 4, 1970 (chart date July 11). It was at No. 29 this week in its only week in the top 40 during AT40's run; the song had been at No. 1 in May and was on its way down the chart.

• First country song played as an AT40 extra: "Gentle On My Mind" by Glen Campbell. Played on the July 25, 1970 program, which used the Aug. 1 chart. (Note: Although Brenda Lee is considered a country singer and her hit, "I'm Sorry," played on the July 11, 1970, program has found its way into many country oldie libraries, it never charted country and is thus not counted.)

• First country song in the top 10 on AT40: "Snowbird" by Anne Murray. Was at No. 8 on the Sept. 19, 1970 program, which used the Sept. 26 chart.

• First time more than one country song is on the current week's AT40 during the show's run: the Sept. 19, 1970 program. In addition to "Snowbird," Glen Campbell's "It's Only Make Believe" debuts at No. 37.

• First former No. 1 country song played: "Sixteen Tons" by Tennessee Ernie Ford, as an AT40 extra on the Dec. 5, 1970 show (which used the Dec. 12 chart), as it was also a No. 1 pop hit.

• First No. 1 country song that was also a current single played: "For the Good Times" by Ray Price. Played on the Oct. 24, 1970 show, which used the Oct. 31 chart.

• First country song played as an AT40 extra that was a current single but never made the Hot 100's top 40: "Endlessly" by Sonny James, from the Dec. 12, 1970 program and using the chart of Dec. 19.

• First time more than two country songs are in the top 40 during AT40's run: Jan. 9, 1971 (using the Jan. 16 chart), when six songs were in the countdown: "Watching Scotty Grow" by Bobby Goldsboro; "Amos Moses" by Jerry Reed; "Mr. Bojangles" by the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band; "I Really Don't Want to Know" by Elvis Presley; "For the Good Times" by Ray Price; and "Rose Garden" by Lynn Anderson.

• First country song to reach the top 5 on AT40: "Rose Garden" by Lynn Anderson. Was at No. 5 on the Jan. 23, 1971, show (using the Jan. 30 chart), and would eventually peak at No. 3.

• First country song to be a No. 1 song on AT40: "The Most Beautiful Girl" by Charlie Rich, reaching the top on Dec. 15, 1973. This was also the first song to also be a country No. 1 hit during AT40's run.

• Earliest known mention of AT40's sister program, "American Country Countdown": Jan. 19, 1974, during a stretch story about Merle Haggard. Casey mentions then-host Don Bowman and name-drops the show, which was in its fourth month of existence at the time.

• First time more than one country song by the same artist was in the top 40 during AT40's run: March 9, 1974. Charlie Rich did so with "There Won't Be Anymore" and "A Very Special Love Song."

• First time two country songs were in the top 5 at the same time: Likely May 3, 1975 – "Before the Next Teardrop Falls" by Freddy Fender was at No. 3 and moving up; the previous week's No. 1 song, "(Hey, Won't You Play) Another Somebody Done Somebody Wrong Song" by B.J. Thomas, fell to No. 2.

• Was there ever two (or more) country songs that were No. 1 back-to-back?: It happened once, the weekends of May 31 and June 7, 1975: "Before the Next Teardrop Falls" by Freddy Fender; and "Thank God I'm a Country Boy" by John Denver.

• Week with most country songs in the top 10 at the same time: June 7, 1975 – "I'm Not Lisa" by Jessi Colter (No. 8); "Before the Next Teardrop Falls" by Freddy Fender (No. 7); "When Will I Be Loved" by Linda Ronstadt (No. 6); and the week's No. 1 song, "Thank God I'm a Country Boy" by John Denver. This is likely one of the only, if not the only week where three country songs are played consecutively.

• First year multiple No. 1 country songs also reached No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 during AT40's run: 1975. "Before the Next Teardrop Falls" by Freddy Fender; "(Hey, Won't You Play) Another Somebody Done Somebody Wrong Song" by B.J. Thomas; "Thank God I'm a Country Boy" by John Denver; "Rhinestone Cowboy" by Glen Campbell; and "I'm Sorry" by John Denver. All happened within a five-month time span; a sixth song, "Convoy" by C.W. McCall, was on its way up the chart in late 1975 and would reach No. 1 on Jan. 10, 1976.

• Country songs that were No. 1 the same week on both the Hot Country Songs and Hot 100 charts during AT40's original run: Four. They were "Rhinestone Cowboy" by Glen Campbell, Sept. 13, 1975; "Convoy" by C.W. McCall, Jan. 10, 1976; "Lady" by Kenny Rogers, Nov. 22, 1980; and "Islands in the Stream" by Kenny Rogers and Dolly Parton (Oct. 29 and Nov. 5, 1983, the only multi-week No. 1 on both charts the same two weeks).

• Week with most country crossover songs: Still being determined, but a couple of weeks in June 1975 are leading contenders, with eight counted on both the June 14 and June 21 shows. This count includes a non-country charting song that was included nonetheless on many country radio station playlists, both in 1975 and later when the song entered recurrent status and even later as an oldie when he became a country star – the song being "Wildfire" by Michael Martin Murphey.

• First "Listen to This" feature about a country artist who never charted in the top 40 during AT40's run: Likely Nov. 27, 1976, when Casey presented a feature on Faron Young being the only artist to chart to have at least one top 40 country hit every year since 1952. (This turned out to be incorrect; as of November 1976, Marty Robbins also had accomplished this.) A snippet of Young's No. 1 country hit "Hello Walls" (from 1961, which peaked at No. 12 on the Hot 100) is also played.

• Year for most country songs on the year-end countdown: 1975, when 14 songs made the cut of the year's 100 biggest; 1974 and 1981 were second with 12 top 100 entries each year and 1982 had nine. Both 1975 and 1981 are leading contenders for most country crossover hits to reach the top 40 and thus be played on AT40, while several other years from 1971 to 1982 also had a large number of crossover hits before tapering off in 1983 and 1984. Throughout 1975, artists as diverse as Elvis Presley, Charlie Rich, John Denver, Glen Campbell, Olivia Newton-John, B.J. Thomas, Freddy Fender, Linda Ronstadt, Jessi Colter, Tanya Tucker, the Amazing Rhythm Aces, C.W. McCall, the Eagles, Willie Nelson and many others made the top 40, and there was rarely if ever a week without at least one country song during 1975.
Incidentally, here's how things appear to shape up on year-end countdowns (taking into account 1970 and 1972 were top 80, 1971 and 1973 were top 40 only and 1979 was top 50), counting songs that also made the top 40 of the country chart:
• 1970: 2. Biggest hit was "Everything is Beautiful" by Ray Stevens, which ranked at No. 12 on the year.
• 1971: 2. Biggest hit was "Take Me Home Country Roads" by John Denver with Fat City, which ranked at No. 9 on the year.
• 1972: 3. Biggest hit was "Baby Don't Get Hooked On Me" by Mac Davis, the year's seventh-biggest song.
• 1973: 3. Biggest hit was "Why Me" by Kris Kristofferson, and the recent Grammy honoree was part of a two-way tie for highest-ever year-end ranking for a country song – No. 2.
• 1974: 12. Biggest hit was "The Streak" by Ray Stevens, which placed at No. 8 on the year.
• 1975: 14. "Rhinestone Cowboy" by Glen Campbell was part of the two-way tie for highest-ever year-end ranking of a country song since AT40's debut … the year's No. 2 song.
• 1976: 3. At No. 36, the Bellamy Brothers' "Let Your Love Flow" was the year's biggest crossover hit.
• 1977: 10. among them, Mary MacGregor's No. 3 country/No. 1 pop hit, "Torn Between Two Lovers," was the No. 9 pop song of the year.
• 1978: 6. included Debby Boone's No. 1 pop/No. 4 country smash "You Light Up My Life" as the No. 3 song of the year.
• 1979: 3. In a year where the top nine songs were disco, Kenny Rogers' "The Gambler" was the biggest country crossover hit of the year. It came in at No. 35.
• 1980: 8. Kenny Rogers again had the biggest crossover hit with "Coward of the County," ranking at No. 28.
• 1981: 12. This year had the most-ever country songs in the year-end top 10: "9 to 5" by Dolly Parton (No. 8); "I Love a Rainy Night" by Eddie Rabbitt (No. 7); and "Lady" by Kenny Rogers (No. 3). All three were No. 1 country and pop smashes.
• 1982: 9. The biggest hit on AT40's year-end survey was Juice Newton's "The Sweetest Thing (I've Ever Known)," coming in at No. 24.
• 1983: 3, with "Islands in the Stream" by Kenny Rogers and Dolly Parton, a No. 1 country and pop hit, the year's 10th-ranked song.
• 1984: 1, the lone wolf being "To All the Girls I've Loved Before" by Willie Nelson and Julio Iglaseas, the 57th most popular song of the year, the only year in the first 15 years were a country song failed to place in the top 50.
The next time after 1984 that a country song would score well enough to break into the top 100 of a year-end countdown was 1993, with Restless Heart's "When She Cries," that year's No. 33 song on Shadoe's AT40, and No. 60 on "Casey's Top 40"; "You Got It" by Roy Orbison did reach the top 10 of the Hot 100 in 1989, but did not gain enough points to rank among that year's top 100 singles.

• Number of No. 1 songs topping both the country and Hot 100 charts during the original Casey Kasem AT40 era: 13, all coming between 1973 and 1983.

• Last significant country hit to hit the Hot 100 during the original Casey Kasem era: "To All the Girls I've Loved Before," a No. 1 country hit by Willie Nelson and Julio Igleseas that peaked at No. 5 on the pop chart in 1984.

• First significant country hit to also be a significant hit on the Hot 100 during the Shadoe Stevens era: "You Got It" by Roy Orbison. Was No. 9 on the Hot 100 (still in use by AT40) in the early spring of 1989, and No. 7 country just a few weeks later.

Brian

[dukelightning]

That's impressive Brian. I doubt if anyone can add anything significant to that. BTW, that first country song ever heard on AT40 is also the first #1 song ever heard on AT40. Ironically, as you say, in its only week on a regular AT40...well outside of when they played it in 1978 from the archives.

[briguy52748]

I'll be adding to my list as I think of significant accomplishments.

Brian

[chrislc]

I wonder if I'm the only one who was surprised that 1980 wasn't the year with the most country crossovers. 1975 had almost twice as many as 1980 and there were several other years with more than 1980. I guess, in my case anyway, it just shows the way that multimedia can skew the memory.

[briguy52748]

Made a correction to my list – "Watching Scotty Grow" by Bobby Goldsboro was also a significant crossover hit, peaking at No. 7 on the Hot Country Singles chart in February 1971, about the same time he reached his high point of No. 11 on the Hot 100. That makes it six country songs in the top 40, within a period of four weeks in January 1971.

Brian

[dukelightning]

20 years ago today features a first that occurred in the Shadoe era. According to Shadoe himself, it is the first time that two songs by the same artist fell out of the top 40. Billy Joel had both "The River of Dreams" and "All About Soul" fall out. A couple of bonus factoids for this one. They are the only songs which fell out that week and Joel never had a current hit on AT40 or CT40 again. This is the 2/5/94 show BTW.

[briguy52748]

Incidentally, as I noted way back in 2008 when the Nov. 27, 1976 AT40 – featuring the Faron Young "Listen to This" feature – was played, Casey prophetically proclaimed that Faron Young's record was so impressive it would never be broken. That, of course, would prove to be incorrect.

Young – whose actual winning streak began in 1953 – would go on to have top 40 hits on the Billboard country chart in 1977 and 1978, for a total of 26 consecutive calendar years (1953-1978). Since then, his feat was bettered several times:

• Marty Robbins, 1952-1980 (29 consecutive calendar years). Began with "I'll Go On Alone," ended with "An Occasional Rose."
• Ray Price, 1956-1982 (27 years). Began with "Run Boy," ended with "Old Friends" (a song that featured a couple of his old friends, Roger Miller and Willie Nelson).
• Johnny Cash, 1955-1979 (25 years). Began with "Cry! Cry! Cry!" and ended with "I Wish I Was Crazy Again" (a duet with Waylon Jennings). OK, so the Man in Black was a year off; I also wanted to include at least one who came close to parity with Faron.
• Merle Haggard, 1963-1990 (28 years). Began with "Sing a Sad Song," ended with "If You Want to Be My Woman."
• Conway Twitty, 1966-1991 (26 years). Began with "Guess My Eyes Were Bigger Than My Heart," ended with "She's Got a Man on Her Mind."
• Reba McEntire, 1978-2005 (28 years). Began with "Last Night, Ev'ry Night," ended with "You're Gonna Be (Always Loved By Me)."
• George Strait, ongoing that began in 1981 (34 years ... and counting). Began with "Unwound," and his current hit is "I Got a Car," which began its climb in late 2013 and is still – as of March 8, 2014 – climbing the chart. Although his hit making appears to be slowing somewhat, George Strait is probably the closest to topping the current champion …
• George Jones, 1955-1993 (39 years). Began with "Why Baby Why," ended with "High-Tech Redneck."

Eddy Arnold missed by three years in matching Jones' record, having appeared in the top 40 every year 36 of 37 consecutive years (from 1945 to 1981); the year he missed out charting altogether was 1958, when four straight single releases that year failed to crack the chart.

Brian

[giannirubino]

Forgive me, P&H's "Reunited" from 1979 was a *disco* song?

[dukelightning]

Where in here does it say that?

[mstgator]

No clue... Perhaps he's referring to its appearance on the Disco special (one of three slow songs played as extras)?

[briguy52748]

Mar 12, 2014 18:00:58 GMT -5 mstgator said:

No clue... Perhaps he's referring to its appearance on the Disco special (one of three slow songs played as extras)?

Slow disco song, that it is.

Brian

[dukelightning]

Bumping up since one of the firsts occurs in this week's 80s show. First one with promos. BTW, there were 5 and Casey talked about the 3 way tie for most #1 songs in the 80s that he also mentioned in the show, the big moves of "The Wild Boys" the last 2 weeks and how Duran Duran was looking for their second #1 hit, the even bigger moves last week by Jack Wagner and Madonna, the artists who debuted last week and the ones likely to debut this week and lastly, the year end special coming up in a few weeks. In previous years, there WERE promos just for that year's year end special btw.

[johnnywest]

Although I can't pinpoint the date, I do remember Casey mentioning "The AT40 Almanac," but I don't see it on the list.