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Post by johnnywest on Feb 24, 2012 14:25:20 GMT -5
I thought of this while reading the "favorite" link.
1) AT40 Nov. 30, 1991. The new soundscan chart was not used in the countdown, which all AT40 fans were hoping to hear. Horribly done.
2) Casey's Top 40 (either March or April 1994). Casey switched to a new R&R chart. Although it followed the magazine, hardly any of last week's positions were mentioned. It could have been brilliantly written, yet it was a snorefest and huge disappointment.
3) AT40 Jan. 2004. Ryan's first show as the official host. Several songs re-entered after being out of the countdown for months, including "In Da Club."
4) Any Rick Dees show that's billed as an "All Request Special."
5) Rick Dees Top 100 of 2005. Almost no commentary from Rick. Most of the songs were segued. Apparently, he didn't feel like doing the show for those 2 weeks.
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Post by matt on Feb 24, 2012 14:40:47 GMT -5
You could probably break this down further by saying "Least Favorite of ANY Countdown" or "Least Favorite of the Original AT40 Run" (1970-88). Yours is obviously the former, but what if you restricted it to just the original run?
Here are a couple thoughts:
1/13/73 - My least favorite countdown in terms of the music--the stretch from about Oct 1972 - Jan 1973 is probably my least favorite time of the first AT40 era, and this show rises to the top as the hardest one to get through. Funny though, I quite enjoyed the 2/17/73 show from this past weekend--must have been a pretty good turnover in songs between those two shows.
8/13/88 - For obvious reasons...I will never forget turning on the radio and hearing Shadoe...then finding out that Casey wasn't coming back. A sad day. I don't remember much about the show itself, and I'm sure it wasn't a bad show, but a bad memory. It would be over a year before I would hear Casey doing countdowns again.
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Post by Caseyfan4everRyanfanNever on Feb 24, 2012 14:43:14 GMT -5
The date of the Casey's Top 40 show was Apr 30, 1994. After being off for several weeks, "Found Out About You" reappeared on the show at #17. That's when I knew there was something "not right" with the show-I thought that the radio station mistakenly broadcast an old CT40 show. When Casey got to #1, however, he mentioned that it had been at #1 and returned for a 9th week. I was confused until I found out that R&R had split its pop chart into two new charts--mainstream and rhythmic--CT40 was using the mainstream chart. 7 songs, many of which were rap, had dropped off CT40 and were replaced by 6 new alternative and ac leaning ones+Found Out About You. 3 of the songs that dropped off would later return to CT40, including one of the rap songs (Regulate). In short, CT40 had done what AT40 did 2 1/2 years earlier (on Nov 30, 1991), replacing a chart with another and saying nothing.
I guess the reason that neither Casey nor Shadoe mentioned chart changes was that there were many chart fanatics out there and the companies producing the shows probably thought there would be more complaints, etc. I don't know how much of a following R&R had in the 1990s but if you read Rob's book, you'll see how many people were upset about AT40's decision to abandon the Hot 100 (partially as Johnnywest pointed out because of the new Soundscan/BDS method of compiling the chart, which provided for a more accurate chart--most fans, including myself, were anxious to hear Shadoe count down from that chart, I went to the library and photocopied the Hot 100 before the show came on and had it with me. Alas I wasn't meant to be. They used the Radio Monitor chart instead.) Yes, that qualifies me as one of the chart fanatics, not as extreme as some of those mentioned in Rob's book, however.
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Post by mkarns on Feb 24, 2012 14:44:56 GMT -5
2) Casey's Top 40 (either March or April 1994). Casey switched to a new R&R chart. Although it followed the magazine, hardly any of last week's positions were mentioned. It could have been brilliantly written, yet it was a snorefest and huge disappointment. Maybe this one from April 30, 1994? A lot of big moves up and down, a reentry at #17, and a sudden rebound to #1 for a song that had been there eight weeks previously suggests that something unusual was up. I think the change here was that R&R now calculated its chart from actual plays and audience impressions rather than station playlists; the net effect was that songs hung on a lot longer. oldradioshows.com/ct40/043094ct40.pdf |
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Post by Mike on Feb 24, 2012 15:09:31 GMT -5
I think the change here was that R&R now calculated its chart from actual plays and audience impressions rather than station playlists; the net effect was that songs hung on a lot longer. Another net effect was Big Mountain ultimately being denied the top spot there (though they'd get there a few weeks later on AT40) - looking at charts from that time, I'm thinking they would have made it under the old method had it still been in place that week. |
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Post by JMW on Feb 24, 2012 15:13:46 GMT -5
I would definitely say that the 7/10/1982 countdown is my least favorite. When that one aired in (I think) 2010, I found it very boring because a lot of the songs were in the same position they were the week before; it was not a very exciting or interesting show to me.
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Post by Mike on Feb 24, 2012 15:40:48 GMT -5
^ I used to think that of 1980 and 1981 shows. Then, I decided to catch the 6/28/80 show the weekend it aired. It wasn't that bad. Then, I caught the 8/16/80 show when it aired - and that one had a pretty crazy chart that week.
Fast forward a few years...and I'm listening to 2/23/80 (complete with "Pina Coladas", only musically speaking of course) as I type this. ;D
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Post by dukelightning on Feb 24, 2012 16:35:08 GMT -5
I would have to say the 1/16/82 show. By the third hour, I was getting really tired of hearing one AC song after another. Whatever happened to segregate top 40 radio so that it was mainly just AC without soul, disco or harder rock really made me unsatisfied with that show. The 2/13 show played a couple weeks was either not nearly as AC-dominated or I was prepared for it and thus, not as unhappy about it.
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Post by matt on Feb 24, 2012 16:42:28 GMT -5
I would have to say the 1/16/82 show. By the third hour, I was getting really tired of hearing one AC song after another. Whatever happened to segregate top 40 radio so that it was mainly just AC without soul, disco or harder rock really made me unsatisfied with that show. The 2/13 show played a couple weeks was either not nearly as AC-dominated or I was prepared for it and thus, not as unhappy about it. No--I think you're right. The 2/13/82 show contained a decent mix of rock, AC, country, R&B, and up-tempo gd numbers.  1981 was so overloaded with slow crappy AC ballads--especially in the Oct-Dec part of the year, which would of course have bled into Jan 82. Not surprisingly, my least favorite shows in the 80's are probably the 1/31/81 show we just heard and the 10/31/81 show. |
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Post by jlthorpe on Feb 24, 2012 16:46:33 GMT -5
Some suggestions:
6/29/74 - The week the AT40 staff had to pre-record the show far in advance because Casey was going to be off and they couldn't get a substitute, so they decided to estimate what the chart was going to be, and they ended up getting only 3 positions correct (1, 2, and 34, I believe). Its saving grace is that it featured ZZ Top's "La Grange" in the countdown when it never ever hit the Top 40 on the real Hot 100.
7/30/88 - The first time AT40 used celebrity substitute hosts - Daryl Hall and John Oates. I wanted to listen to this show for a long time and finally did last year. Unfortunately, I found Hall and Oates kind of boring.
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Post by matt on Feb 24, 2012 16:49:21 GMT -5
Some suggestions: 6/29/74 - The week the AT40 staff had to pre-record the show far in advance because Casey was going to be off and they couldn't get a substitute, so they decided to estimate what the chart was going to be, and they ended up getting only 3 positions correct (1, 2, and 34, I believe). Its saving grace is that it featured ZZ Top's "La Grange" in the countdown when it never ever hit the Top 40 on the real Hot 100. 7/30/88 - The first time AT40 used celebrity substitute hosts - Daryl Hall and John Oates. I wanted to listen to this show for a long time and finally did last year. Unfortunately, I found Hall and Oates kind of boring. I actually found those shows interesting, only for the reasons you mentioned - the '74 show because of the weirdness of the AT40 staff-generated chart, and the '88 show because Hall and Oates hosted. Daryl and John were not very good hosts, but it was somewhat interesting to hear them take a shot at it. |
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Post by mkarns on Feb 24, 2012 17:09:48 GMT -5
I would have to say the 1/16/82 show. By the third hour, I was getting really tired of hearing one AC song after another. Whatever happened to segregate top 40 radio so that it was mainly just AC without soul, disco or harder rock really made me unsatisfied with that show. The 2/13 show played a couple weeks was either not nearly as AC-dominated or I was prepared for it and thus, not as unhappy about it. No--I think you're right. The 2/13/82 show contained a decent mix of rock, AC, country, R&B, and up-tempo gd numbers. 1981 was so overloaded with slow crappy AC ballads--especially in the Oct-Dec part of the year, which would of course have bled into Jan 82. Not surprisingly, my least favorite shows in the 80's are probably the 1/31/81 show we just heard and the 10/31/81 show. I somewhat agree on the 1/31/81 show; it nearly put me to sleep at times. The following week Premiere ran 2/6/88, which was something of a chore for me to get through; a mediocre mix of music IMO and some bad personal memories of the period to boot. If we were hearing Shadoe shows from 1988-91, there would be some more I would list here, not because of Shadoe but due to many of the songs; a lot of cheesy/dated teen pop and sometimes flat out dumb featherweight hip hop interspersed with boring AC ballads (11/3/90 comes to mind; Vanilla Ice at #1---ugh) That said, I'm willing to relisten to at least parts of even my "least favorite" countdowns, with some songs worth hearing again and interesting facts and features besides. |
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Post by Mike on Feb 24, 2012 17:38:50 GMT -5
I think I'll agree on the 2/13/82 show - it wasn't all that spectacular. 1/31/81, though...I don't quite get the hate for that one. I dunno...I'll agree that a lot of 1981's music was just not that great, but for some reason it doesn't make that many shows that horrible. 9/19 did feel kind of weird, though, just because so many of the songs in the 40 that week seem so forgotten. There's a couple of weeks that I'm particularly biased on, though. The weekend they aired 10/24 in 2009, I was in Washington D.C. By chance I had the opportunity to catch a good chunk of the show (on WINC, while they still had it  ), and doing so made for a good memory. The other is 8/22, in 2010 - with "Endless Love" at #1, it was a weekend where no less than SIX people I knew personally were all getting married that weekend, two to each other. |
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Post by OldSchoolAT40Fan on Feb 24, 2012 17:52:17 GMT -5
Any countdown show post-1989 (except for 2002) was not that great, to me. Even worse for 1993 to 1999, thanks mainly to grunge and alternative crap. And, oh yeah, (c)rap.
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Post by BrettVW on Feb 24, 2012 19:46:13 GMT -5
I also agree that the 1/31/81 show from a few weeks ago was not all that spectacular and I was ready for it to end. I always enjoy listening to Casey shows, but the '80/'81 shows are always very hit or miss for me in terms of enjoyment of the music. I'm not as big on the shows with lots of country crossovers and AC ballads. Some of the shows are great, others not so much. Same with the 70s. Many of the early 70s shows are the same way for me.
As for non-Casey shows -- I agree that any and all of the Dees "all-request" specials, as well as that dreadful Top 100 of 2005 show are quite an embarrassment. As are the cut and paste Hot AC shows.
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), and doing so made for a good memory. The other is 8/22, in 2010 - with "Endless Love" at #1, it was a weekend where no less than SIX people I knew personally were all getting married that weekend, two to each other.
