What show are you listening to right now?

[OnWithTheCountdown]

Love the song "Neon Moonlight". Thought it should have been a top 10 hit. (Well, it was...elsewhere. 🙂) A friend of mine has that album on CD. That 1994 show is noteworthy in my mind because it would be the first time Mariah Carey had a single fall from a peak other than #1. Of course, it was "Without You", which I admit, I like better than the original. 😲

[dukelightning]

'After being at #2 for 4 weeks, trying to get her 11th #1 hit, Mariah falls to #3'. I like her version as much as the original until the last 30 seconds or so. I think the Nilsson version ends better than hers. You know she still hit #1 with that. Casey reviewed the other #1s and it was #1 AC. So she was 11 for 11 hitting #1 on at least one chart. Did not get any further as "Anytime You Need a Friend" which also did better on the AC chart stopped at #3 there. Btw, I remember listening every week in this stretch wondering if she would get to #1. Btw I wonder what the percentage of people following the charts thought she would overtake or at least match Madonna's #1 output. Surprising to many that she fell one short. The one that is most perplexing that it did not hit #1, even more so than "Without You" is "Always Be My Baby". That would have gotten her even with Madonna had it done so, in 2005.

[dukelightning]

The 4/19/97 CT40 has 3 remakes according to Casey. One of which I had forgotten about...Jooce covered Garth Brooks' "If Tomorrow Never Comes". Know his version which was a big country hit. I almost put Wild Orchid in the 'thought they were black' thread. "Talk to Me" is a great song as is the next one "How Bizarre". Casey said it had hit #1 in 18 countries. Turns out they hit #1 in every English speaking country except the US, unless I am overlooking any. OMC is from New Zealand where they hit #1 along with Australia, the UK and Canada. Making this a bizarre song indeed is that it was released in December 1995.
Casey talked about another benefit song along the lines of "Do They Know It's Christmas" and "We Are the World". R. Kelly was behind it and "Every Nation" was to be released that summer. Whitney, Mariah, Monica and others were supposed to sing on it. But I don't see any indication that it ever came to be. Actually it did. Lauryn Hill, Tony Rich and Mary J. Blige are some other notable artists on it.
Third of those 3 remakes was "All By Myself". Celine does not hold a candle to the original. Too much wailing IMO.

[dukelightning]

One thing that would be interesting to know is how many times there was a guest host because Casey was sick. I know there were a couple times in the first run of AT40 when whoever guest hosted mentioned that the LA smog had gotten the best of Casey so he had to take a week off. I mention that because with the 4/1/89 CT40 being the 11th show since CT40 started, Casey had already taken a week off in March. Makes me wonder if he was sick then because I would have thought he would have made it to June or July before taking his first week off. Shadoe after having started his AT40 stint the previous August did not take his first week off until June.
Casey says the term Cancon is short for Canadian content which is the requirement that radio stations in Canada play a certain amount of songs by Canadian artists. Says that Kon Kan turned that term around to get their name. Did not say that they changed the c to a k.
My fave of the 6 debuts is "Cult of Personality". Casey says that it includes many famous quotes from the last 50 years. But that's a mistake. Song ends with this one...'the only thing we have to fear is fear itself'. That is from FDR's first inaugural address in 1933. Means that it was 56 years prior to this show.
Said that people were asking former Laker cheerleader Paula Abdul if she was married to Laker Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. She said no and that she could not imagine herself being married to someone that is 2 feet taller. These first few months of 1989 are the only time both are doing their thing. Kareem would retire at the end of the season in a couple months.
In the intro to "You Got It", Casey said that Roy Orbison's wife had said that he had left many unreleased tracks in his home. Afterward, Casey said that it was his first but probably not his only posthumous hit. It was.
A lot of mistakes in this show and another was when Casey said 29 year old Madonna. She was 30 then. Main reason I know that is because she shares her birthday with yours truly.
A 12 song 4th hour so I had my ears tuned closely for edits. Found a few including my fave song in that hour, "Dreamin" as well as "Girl You Know It's True" and "She Drive Me Crazy". Also cutoff another fave "My Heart Can't Tell You No". Thought it was going to be a 13 song hour when Casey teased a R&D. But it turned out to be "The Living Years" that was at #7. Tough one there as this gal heard a siren, looked out the window, saw it pull into her driveway and go around to the back of her house where her father was. He died on the way to the hospital. That's always a tougher song for me to hear since my own father died several years ago. At least he lived a long life unlike the one in that R&D.

[dukelightning]

2 Georgia bands debut in the 4/20/91 AT40, the Black Crowes and REM. Both hits are my faves by each, "She Talks to Angels" and "Losing My Religion". A lot of my fave songs in this show are in the 5 minute range as those 2 were. Got a segment with 3 of them that was 18 minutes long. Started with "I Don't Wanna Cry". Mariah's next hit was "Emotion" but I am always knocked out by the emotion in Cry. Then the LDD was "Sowing the Seeds of Love" followed by "Silent Lucidity". The thinking man's metal band was Shadoe's description of Queensryche. Well said and my fave song from their Empire CD that Lucidity comes from is "Jet City Woman".
Shadoe answered a question that I thought was asking what artists had a #1 hit and no other top 40 hits. But it must have been 'hits' not hit. Because the answer was Perez Prado who hit #1 in the 50s with "Cherry Pink and Apple Blossom White" and "Patricia". I have heard the former on AT40 but had never heard even a clip of the latter previously until clips of both were played.
Gripping story from Christmas 1985 when Rick Nelson and his twin sons were together. Rick said he was tired of touring but felt obligated to play the 5 more shows on the docket. His sons wanted to attend at least one of them but Rick discouraged them and if they wanted, they should take a commercial flight to one of the 5 shows. They could sense he knew something was going to happen. Rick, his fiancee and 5 members of his band were killed in a plane crash on New Years Eve 1985. Tough break when you consider that after 30 or so years of touring, Rick was down to his last few shows before he would have been able to retire and enjoy the rest of his life, not to mention see his sons success in the industry.

[dukelightning]

Got an historic show this time. The 4/17/93 AT40 is the first time in AT40 history and I don't think it had happened yet on CT40 either, that there are no debuts! As I recall, AT40 is using the Mainstream top 40 chart which is just that. So you can't figure out what just missed debuting. The first 4 songs are droppers. First hit that wasn't is actually a song I just heard yesterday..."What You Won't Do For Love". That was the original in the 1979 show and this is Go West's cover. Prefer the original but not by much. Like that long instrumental ending in the original.
The flashback was from the show I heard the day before yesterday...from 1991. But Shadoe made a mistake in telling the events that happened that year. Said the Pittsburgh Penguins beat the Chicago Blackhawks to win their second straight Stanley Cup. Except that happened in 1992!
One tidbit was from a Diane Warren interview when she said "Saving Forever For You" was supposed to be a duet with Tevin Campbell but he was too busy to do the recording.
LDD was "Like a Prayer" and Shadoe said it was her best song. Not surprised as it is by far her most spiritual song.

[dukelightning]

A week less than exactly 6 years later as these 2 years have the same calendar, it is the 4/10/99 AT40. Got one of those rare hits whose peak position and weeks on the chart is the same number. 28 in this case for "Luv Me, Luv Me" by Shaggy and Janet. This is from the film How Stella Got Her Groove Back which I just saw last weekend. I don't remember hearing this song in the movie. "Flashlight" is the only song I distinctly remember but there were others which I have forgotten and Luv Me may be one of them.
Next song was by Jay-Z who Casey said was really happy while recording his latest CD, Volume 2 Hard Knock Life. 'Feed me the beat' Casey quoted him as saying. I prefer the title track which had peaked at #47 to this hit "Can I Get A".
Then Casey named all the artists from Spain who had hit the top 40. They were Los Bravos, Miguel Rios, Mocadades, Julio Iglesias who he said had 2 hits in 1988(really 1984) and the artist responsible for the biggest dance craze since "The Twist", Los Del Rio. In the countdown is the 6th Spanish artist to hit the top 40, the Venga Boys.
Casey made another mistake when he said that "Heart of Glass" was the #1 song 20 years ago. On AT40 it hit #1 on 4/28, on R&R it hit #1 on 4/21, neither of which is 20 years before the date of this show.
Even one of the America's Top hits tracks had a mistake in it. Casey said that Fleetwood Mac reunited in 1997 and re-recorded 2 of their old songs. Said first was "Silver Springs" and then what was one of the biggest hits a year ago, "Landslide". Except that did not even chart while at least Springs made the top 40 though wasn't a big hit either. Maybe he was referring to the AC or HAC charts. Not sure why these tracks are thrown into the middle of the show instead of the end of it as had been done during the CT40 days.
Are there just 2 hits in AT/CT40 history like "The Desiderada" and "Everyone's Free to "Wear Sunscreen"?
Shirley Manson was reticent to contact Chrissie Hynde about getting permission for sampling "Talk of the Town". But Chrissie was flattered. "Special" is a great song and that title is referencing the Pretenders first hit "Brass in Pocket" whose subtitle is "I'm Special". Talk is my fave Pretenders song. Came out in 1981 but was not released as a single.
Boo hiss! They edited "Anything But Down"!
This is the last show of the 90s that the 4 big divas of the decade are all in it.
Strange that Casey told a story about Fat Boy Slim(how he did not play any instruments but was hugely in demand because of his sampling ability). He was not in the countdown but would be 2 weeks later when he debuted.

[dukelightning]

At about the same time that I learned that this week's 70s show will be from 1971 which includes "Oye Como Va", I heard what I think is the only other top 40 hit since to have a title starting with that word. It's "Oye Mi Canto (Hear My Voice)" with the subtitle being the translation.* Starts the 4/21/90 CT40 and seems like the most Latino sounding song Gloria Estafan ever did. Good song though it only reached #37. First 2 songs are by artists originally from non-English speaking countries with Basia being the second. "Cruisin for Bruisin" is a good one but my fave by her is "New Day For You". Never on a countdown but if an AC one existed in late 1988, it would have been on that as it was a top 10 AC hit.
First 2 R&Ds were notable. First one was from a guy who was charged for vehicular manslaughter after being under the influence and crashing his car, killing his girl in the process. It's tough enough killing animals as I have done in my travels over the years. Cannot imagine having to live with killing a person the rest of my life. Some lessons learned are excruciating. The second one was from a guy who was surprised to see Richard Marx in the hotel lobby. He was tongue tied and could not talk to him. But then a voice from across the room said, 'hey Chicago Bears fan!' It was Richard noticing his jersey but even then, they guy could not muster up a conversation. He requested "Don't Stop "Til You Get Enough" which was a bit surprising. Figured it would be a Richard Marx song.
Second time in less than a week, I have heard a 12 song 4th hour in a CT40. This time except for cutting off "Here and Now" a bit, there were no edits or cutoffs. It ends with what IIRC woolebull once pointed out is an unprecedented top 3 that are each first time hits for women including a favorite of his (and mine for that matter), Jane Child. Show had started with 2 women as I noted above.
One of the promos revealed that another woman, Janet had the highest debut in the last 5 years the previous week when "Alright" came in at #23. So the highest debut in CT40 history too. Ironically, that was the only one of her 5 hits that debuted in 1990 that did not hit #1.

*Actually there is another top 40 hit starting with that word and it's the same title minus the subtitle by N.O.R.E. in 2004. And this week's show is not from 1971 but I'll leave the comment about Oye.

[dukelightning]

Last ever week on CT/AT40 for the Eagles (or Eagles if you prefer) on the 4/29/95 CT40. Last week on those countdowns for Chicago was in 1991 with a hit from Chicago 21. Casey talked about their next album which was just their second if you don't count their second and third greatest hits packages not to be a number title(first was 1978's Hot Streets). They delved into big band for Night and Day and Jade who were next in the countdown were one of the groups providing vocals for that.
Yet another 70s band on their last top 40 hit is Foreigner and "Until the End of Time" is a definite sleepfest for me. Speaking of being in bed, "Bedtime Story" is Erotica the sequel and it crashed and burned just like the original on the chart. (Referring to "Erotica" debuting at #2 on AT40 and dropping). Moved 40 to 33 this week, fell to 39 the following week and then off. How many hits in AT/CT40 history especially to that point in time were up 7 notches one week and down 6 notches the next?! Not too often that Madonna is outdone in her various exploits but she was in this instance. The best bedtime story in this show goes to TLC and their "Red Light Special". That is right up there as one of my fave erotic songs of all time. "Take a Bow" is one of those hits that outlasts its' followup. Until some point in 2022 when Taylor Swift overtook her, Madonna was back to back with Elton in the Record Research all time rankings at #5 and 4. They are back to back in this show at 13 and 12. "Believe" is one of his best 90s hits IMO.
But for Van Halen squeezing into the top 40 with their next release, there would be 4 last top 40 hits in this show by artists who had at least 5 hits including a #1...Eagles, Foreigner, Van Halen and Human League.

[dukelightning]

The 5th AT40 in the second run is the first with a new #1 hit. By contrast the first new #1 in the first run of AT40 was on the first show and the first new #1 on CT40 was on the second show. And it will be another 10 weeks before the next new #1 because "Torn" is starting a 10 week run on top. Natalie Imbruglia will be the last of 14 female solo artists as Casey stated early on. All 3 debuts are by women with the highest by Rebekah who he said was influenced by James Taylor, Garbage and Earth, Wind & Fire. Did not catch any JT or EW&F in her hit "Sin So Well" but did for Garbage. Guess I'll have to check out other songs by her for JT and EW&F influences though this is her only hit. Rebekah is also the last of 7 hits in a row by female vocalists which extended to 8 with the "I Will Remember You" R&D by Amy Grant. Not a record as the top 10 was entirely by women in early 1997.
Besides the 14 women and one of them starting a 10 week stint at #1 in this show, there is a female duo...S.O.A.P., a female trio...She Moves, a female quartet...Destiny's Child and a female quintet...the Tuesdays. That's got to be a first although none of those duo/groups debuted this week so the first was a week or 2 before.
The female theme in this show continued with Casey reporting that the RIAA reports for 1997 indicated that for the first time, female record buyers accounted for more than half at 51%. Said it happened because there were a lot more successful female artists which served as role models. Then said both women and men liked the next song, "Walkin on the Sun". This man likes it...7 months in the countdown was Casey's remark in yet another reference to months instead of weeks.
'In its second month on AT40, "Frozen" stands pat at #6'. Chuckling about Casey referring to months instead of weeks for a hit that debuted well after the frozen week. Guess the song title tripped him up! Great song though.
9 consecutive weeks at #3 for "3AM". That's got to be a record that Casey just mentioned, a few hours after I heard him say that "Allentown" had spent 6 weeks at #17 in the 80s show, another record.

[dukelightning]

With this CT40 from 4/13/91, I have now heard all the AT40 and CT40 shows in April done by Casey, Shadoe or a guest host. I should figure out which of those nearly 200 shows is my favorite. Will be a Casey hosted show as Shadoe and the various guest hosts are good, but they are not Casey Kasem. Probably won't be this show but it could be in the top 10. Got a couple Mariah songs in it which helps. She's got the highest debut and Casey says that she got the blues from her mom, R&B from her sister and gospel from her grandmother. Billie Holiday is an idol representing the blues, her sister had many records by Aretha Franklin, Al Green and Gladys Knight and her grandmother singing in church showed her how the power of doing it in front of a lot of people. Sad song about love gone wrong is how Casey described "I Don't Wanna Cry" which became her second straight #27 debut after "Someday" which was at #21. Sad song but definitely one of her best IMO.
Second straight week that a metal band debuted with a ballad. Extreme the previous week and Queensryche this week.
Casey says that 90 musicians, actors, actresses and professional athletes took part in Voices That Care which is more than Band Aid and USA for Africa combined(82). Of course the latter 2 were only musicians.
Forgotten gem is "Temple of Love" by Harriett.
Mariah has 3 songs in a show for the first time on CT40 as "Vision of Love" is a R&D. She would have 3 in the countdown itself in 1994 on AT40 and 1996 on CT40. I seem to remember someone else having a 2 countdown song plus 1 R&D/LDD threesome in another show. It was none other than Mariah and it was also "Vision of Love" that was the LDD in this case because it was the 1/19/91 AT40. In that show, "Love Takes Time" and "Someday" were in the countdown. So she did this one apiece in 1991 on AT40 and CT40 using all 4 singles from her debut album in the process.

[dukelightning]

5/4/02 AT40 starts out with a great song "Don't Say Goodbye". At #33 is "Sugar High" by Jade Anderson. The melody and her vocals sound like "With You" by Jessica Simpson which she recorded over a year later.
"How Come You Don't Call Me" is written by Prince for Alicia Keys. I count 7 female artists with hits written by the purple one. In chronological order, they are Chaka Khan, Sheena Easton, Sheila E., Meli'sa Morgan("Do Me Baby" only reached #46 but Casey mentioned it as a possible debut so I'm counting it plus I know it), Bangles, Sinead O'Connor and Alicia. Did I miss any? That's 12 years between Sinead and Alicia. I am guessing this is the last such hit.
Casey tells a story of how Tweet after the group she had been in for 6 years broke up at the same time that Tweet's 8 year relationship with a man ended. Having to move back in with her parents, she was at the bottom of the barrel. But then Missy Elliott called her and had her sing backup on some songs. While doing that, her singing led to her getting a record deal of her own. "Oops (On My My)" is a great song and she had another hit make the top 40 on the Hot 100 for a second hit but that was it. Casey made it seem like Tweet had made it in the industry. But I always wonder whether a big hit like this and another smaller hit does much for the artist in the long run. A lot of one and two hit wonders out there.

[dukelightning]

This is a show that OnWithTheCountdown has either heard recently or will soon as he has said he is going through 1996 week by week. It's the 5/11/96 CT40 for me. Jars of Clay have a good one as the highest debut, "Flood".
Casey tells a story of how Anthony Kiedis had been doing heroin with a buddy for a few years. But when that buddy died of an overdose in 1988, Anthony spent 4 weeks on the coast of Mexico trying to rid himself of the drug habit since it could have easily have been him instead of his buddy that died. "Aeroplane" is the Peppers third top 40 hit, my fave of theirs is the second "Soul to Squeeze" and their first was "Under the Bridge". In the 1976 show, Casey mentioned that the first hit for Aerosmith, "Dream On" is one they wished had not been a hit or at least a song that they are known for. I wonder if Bridge is that kind of song for the Peppers. There is a song in this show that is definitely in that category, "Wonderwall" by Oasis. They don't like the song but it's one of my faves in this show.
Couple other first hits by bands among the top 500 artists listed in the 1990-2022 Record Research Pop book in this show..."Just a Girl" by No Doubt and "Name" by the Goo Goo Dolls. Casey says the latter has been in the countdown 8 months. The Dolls did what Exile did in the 70s, have their first hit reach #1 and their second stop at 40. That second hit "Naked" has already come and gone.
La Bouche join a small club when "Be My Lover" and "Sweet Dreams" are back to back. Artists whose first 2 hits are back to back in the countdown. Not sure which one I prefer.

[OnWithTheCountdown]

Yep, heard 5/11/1996 a few weeks ago. In late October currently in my 1995-1996 run. 🙂

1996 and 2024 also share the same calendar. (And 1968.)

[dukelightning]

Posted in the other thread about Offspring...editing touch there OnWithTheCountdown...but not here. That was the 5/8/99 AT40 and in trying to figure out whether AT40 had done that when they debuted, I found something else. So I started a thread many years ago on AT40 firsts. Here's another one. Following the Offspring is Eminem and "My Name Is". A line in that song is 'I can't figure out which Spice Girl I want to impregnate'. Funny line but offensive and AT40 eliminated 'impregnate'. It makes it similar to a line later in the song..You aint got no (rhymes with sits). When I hear this song which I have lately on a station that plays Eminem they keep the impregnate in but edit out the other word. Assuming this was standard practice by stations back in the day, it appears that AT40 edited out just impregnate. In any case, it means that back to back songs had words edited out by AT40 which has to be a first. This was on the 4/24/99 show btw.
Couple other notes...Casey has made mistakes about the #1 song x years ago. It has always been using AT40 instead of R&R or being a week off. But when he said the #1 song from 5 years ago in 1994 was "Looking Through Patient Eyes", he was off by a year! That was in 1993. And the #1 song on the urban chart was "Georgy Porgy" by Eric Benet. Don't think I was aware that this existed. It's a cover of my fave Toto song which missed the top 40 in 1979. Prefer their version which Cheryl Lynn sings backup on but Eric and Faith Evans who sings backup on Whitney's "Heartbreak Hotel" in the countdown, are almost as good.
On to the show I am actually listening to now, the 5/15/93 AT40. 2 debuts and both are good ones. Bizarre Inc. have a #1 dance hit in "I'm Gonna Get You" and New Order have a modern rock #1 hit in "Regret". Bizarre indeed for the first one. It debuted on CT40 way back on 3/13, peaked at 39 and was gone 2 weeks later. Peaked at 33 nearly 3 months later on AT40!
This is another show like a couple in 1991, one each on AT40 and CT40 in which a LDD gives an artist 3 songs in the show. Whitney does it with "I Will Always Love You" as the LDD and her next 2 hits from The Bodyguard in the countdown.
Shadoe says that Michael Jackson performed before the largest TV audience ever in the Super Bowl that year. Said it was 133.4 million. Except this year's Super Bowl had the largest audience ever at 123.7 million. Maybe the halftime show was measured specifically. If so, I wonder if a halftime show has attracted a larger audience since.
"Freak Me" is a fave. You know disco faded away at the end of the 70s. "Le Freak" was the #1 disco song in that 1979 special and "Disco Nights (Rock Freak)" was a hit at the time. But songs with freak in the title or even lyrics seemed to go away too until Silk revived it.
At #3 is the song I mentioned earlier in the post, "Looking Through Patient Eyes". Of course this hit #1 on CT40 but not AT40.