Post by Glass Joe on Aug 11, 2024 11:11:30 GMT -5
I was wondering what most of you feel about AT40 Extras? I'm using "Extras" as a blanket term to describe ANY time a song is played in entirety that is NOT a part of the Top 40 hits of that particular week. Do they help make the show better? Or do they get in the way? Are they needed to fill the 4-hour time slot? For me, I have a mixed feeling on them, but it depends on the song. If it's a song I don't like, it gets in the way. But if it's one I like, I am happy to hear it. From an unbiased standpoint though, it's kind of hard to say. I have to break each one down. Here are the categories below with my opinion of each.
LDDs (Casey and Shadoe): I am starting with this as the most well-known extras. They were a good chance to get personal letters read on the air, so they had a great intention. So, I'm not against them. On the Casey shows, 3 maybe felt like a bit much. Perhaps 1 or 2 would have been better, like on the Shadoe shows. It is unfortunate that Ryan's AT40 did away with them altogether though. An obvious downside to these was that so many songs were repeated. In the second Casey era, you would almost for sure hear "Because You Loved Me" by Celine Dion, "Missing" by Everything but the Girl, or "I Will Remember You" by Sarah McLachlan on almost every show. More song variety would have made this better. Another thing was placement. Someone once said in another forum that on late 90s or early 2000s shows, it was strange to hear Bette Midler sandwiched in between Ja Rule and Blink-182. LDDs really should have been right before commercial breaks or immediately following a commercial break instead of in between songs.
E-Mail Requests (Ryan): This segment only really lasted for the first half of 2005, so it was barely a mainstay at all. But it was kind of neat to have people's e-mailed requests played. They were usually recurrent songs from the past 5 years, so they kind of still fit in with the countdown and there was only 1 per show.
America's Top Hits (Casey): These segments were honestly a bit long to be on the AT40 shows. They appear at the end of hours 1-3 and they make listening to a show feel quite a bit longer. Shows with these attached are more like 4 and a half hours long because they even have their own commercials between the 2 songs played at the end of each hour. This segment does work extremely well though for the Hot AC or AC shows since those are shorter and would be great to hear on those shows. But on the regular 4-hour Top 40, this really gets in the way and makes it too long.
Optional Extras (Ryan and Rick Dees): Kind of like a much shorter version of America's Top Hits, these are played at the end of hours 1-3. It is just 1 song and not played in between 2 songs in a segment. I don't really feel like these get in the way too much.
Sneak Peek (Shadoe) / Break-Out (Ryan): I'm combining these because they are essentially the same concept. New songs on the rise on radio stations. This is a really good kind of extra because it is basically in tune with the Top 40 of that week and cool to hear something that was gaining ground at the same time as the regular Top 40 songs and sometimes, they were songs that didn't ever end up cracking the Top 40, becoming rare tracks.
Sure Shot (Rick Dees): Like the Sneak Peek and Break-Outs, Rick's Sure Shots were even better placed because they are right at the beginning of a show even before #40, kind of like it's a #41. This makes it to where it doesn't interfere with the Top 40 at all.
Double-Play (Ryan): This is a great use of extras! Playing an older song by the same artist directly after their current song. It related to the Top 40 of that week and was cool to compare an artist's previous work with their newer work.
Segments with snippets rather than extras:
AT40 Flashbacks (Shadoe): Now this is an excellent segment! Cool to hear snippets of songs from a previous random week that were on the show at a particular time. This never got in the way at all and is always awesome to hear.
Other Song Snippets: Rick Dees did this a lot comparing similar titles or related songs. I always like song snippet montages on any countdown show.
All in all, I think Shadoe and Rick Dees shows stay the most focused on the Top 40 of the week without much diversion. Plus, both make use of the snippet montages, which I really like. However, Casey's extras are awesome for his Hot AC / AC shows as they fit very well there where you need a lot more to fill in as it's only a Top 20. Ryan's earlier shows were good on extras, but the newer Ryan shows have too many additional extras.
LDDs (Casey and Shadoe): I am starting with this as the most well-known extras. They were a good chance to get personal letters read on the air, so they had a great intention. So, I'm not against them. On the Casey shows, 3 maybe felt like a bit much. Perhaps 1 or 2 would have been better, like on the Shadoe shows. It is unfortunate that Ryan's AT40 did away with them altogether though. An obvious downside to these was that so many songs were repeated. In the second Casey era, you would almost for sure hear "Because You Loved Me" by Celine Dion, "Missing" by Everything but the Girl, or "I Will Remember You" by Sarah McLachlan on almost every show. More song variety would have made this better. Another thing was placement. Someone once said in another forum that on late 90s or early 2000s shows, it was strange to hear Bette Midler sandwiched in between Ja Rule and Blink-182. LDDs really should have been right before commercial breaks or immediately following a commercial break instead of in between songs.
E-Mail Requests (Ryan): This segment only really lasted for the first half of 2005, so it was barely a mainstay at all. But it was kind of neat to have people's e-mailed requests played. They were usually recurrent songs from the past 5 years, so they kind of still fit in with the countdown and there was only 1 per show.
America's Top Hits (Casey): These segments were honestly a bit long to be on the AT40 shows. They appear at the end of hours 1-3 and they make listening to a show feel quite a bit longer. Shows with these attached are more like 4 and a half hours long because they even have their own commercials between the 2 songs played at the end of each hour. This segment does work extremely well though for the Hot AC or AC shows since those are shorter and would be great to hear on those shows. But on the regular 4-hour Top 40, this really gets in the way and makes it too long.
Optional Extras (Ryan and Rick Dees): Kind of like a much shorter version of America's Top Hits, these are played at the end of hours 1-3. It is just 1 song and not played in between 2 songs in a segment. I don't really feel like these get in the way too much.
Sneak Peek (Shadoe) / Break-Out (Ryan): I'm combining these because they are essentially the same concept. New songs on the rise on radio stations. This is a really good kind of extra because it is basically in tune with the Top 40 of that week and cool to hear something that was gaining ground at the same time as the regular Top 40 songs and sometimes, they were songs that didn't ever end up cracking the Top 40, becoming rare tracks.
Sure Shot (Rick Dees): Like the Sneak Peek and Break-Outs, Rick's Sure Shots were even better placed because they are right at the beginning of a show even before #40, kind of like it's a #41. This makes it to where it doesn't interfere with the Top 40 at all.
Double-Play (Ryan): This is a great use of extras! Playing an older song by the same artist directly after their current song. It related to the Top 40 of that week and was cool to compare an artist's previous work with their newer work.
Segments with snippets rather than extras:
AT40 Flashbacks (Shadoe): Now this is an excellent segment! Cool to hear snippets of songs from a previous random week that were on the show at a particular time. This never got in the way at all and is always awesome to hear.
Other Song Snippets: Rick Dees did this a lot comparing similar titles or related songs. I always like song snippet montages on any countdown show.
All in all, I think Shadoe and Rick Dees shows stay the most focused on the Top 40 of the week without much diversion. Plus, both make use of the snippet montages, which I really like. However, Casey's extras are awesome for his Hot AC / AC shows as they fit very well there where you need a lot more to fill in as it's only a Top 20. Ryan's earlier shows were good on extras, but the newer Ryan shows have too many additional extras.
