http://stumptownblogger.typepad.com/stumptownblogger/2010/03/the-good-guys-presentthe-monkees.html
Posted on March 5, 2010 - 08:54 PM
#
feedback.pdxradio.com
Portland radio, the world & beyond
feedback.pdxradio.com » Portland Radio
The Kisn Goodguys Present....The Monkees
(18 posts)-
-
Wow...there are four of the songs in the top ten that I've never heard before! I was only four years old at the time, so I'll use that as my excuse. Still, did songs cycle through the charts a lot faster back then? I would have thought that any song that passed through the top ten (even the local KISN top ten) I would have encountered at some point.
Also, the KISN Vista Cruiser rocks!
Posted on March 5, 2010 - 10:43 PM # -
You've NEVER heard THIS??
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rnkuRQ8tjIE
Posted on March 5, 2010 - 11:35 PM # -
If you aren't old enough to remember these songs the first time around, I'm very surprised you know 6 of them! I would have guessed "4", IF you were paying attention. I cant place #3 or #7 but bought #6. You probably know "She's Leaving Home" but not by "David & Jonathan". Theirs was the "hit" version. I believe they also had the "hit" version of "Michelle".
Posted on March 6, 2010 - 02:33 AM # -
I've heard "Jackson" before. My folks tended to listen to country music stations, so those oldies are a bit more familiar to me.
The unfamiliar songs were Sound of Love (Five Americans), Good Feelin' Time (Yellow Balloon), I Take It Back (Sandy Posey), and She's Leaving Home (David and Jonathan). The only one of these artists I had even heard of was the Five Americans.
Back in the early '80s "Oldies" was not a format, but a special program on Saturday night, which I enjoyed thoroughly. Also, listening to Dave Records Stone and Dirty Dave on 97.1 KISN helped to round out my early rock 'n' roll musical education. So, most of these mid '60s songs I heard after the fact.
The first rock/pop song I clearly remember listening to on the radio contemporaneous to it's release was "Maggie May" in 1971. I was eight, and probably got my first pocket transistor radio that spring for my birthday.
Posted on March 7, 2010 - 12:44 PM # -
There was a decided Country lean to Sandy Posey's music. If you heard it now, you'd probably say it was Classic Country but I don't know if Country stations played her or not. I could say the same about Roy Orbison. The oldest song I remember is "Primrose Lane", when I was pushing 5.
Posted on March 7, 2010 - 06:35 PM # -
Sandy Posey was from Memphis, went to high school there. Actually she was from the deep south originally , so one could understand why her music had a country flare.
Rock having its origins in Country to begin with returned to it later in that Memphis Soul sound of the 60s and early 70s. I liked it for sure. I used to get comments from a few listeners from time to time when i played her " I was born a Woman ". Accused of playing country ' hick music " and so forth.
so lets do a few arcane Oldies..you many have never heard ..and maybe you have...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sHHnUHLRrS4
The New Colony Six...1969
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TJZF-srbVTk
Ocean...71'..
And then there is this one...One of my favorites it charted in 1964 and was on the KISN hit parade....Summer of 64' and I used to wait for it to come up on the two hour rotation so I could sing along with it when I was 13 years young.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jsjUJhu1Tyc
A pop singer from South Africa...Danny Williams...White on White
This is a song I knew of when I jocked on Fun Oldies AM 960 KALE back in the 80s and 90s. I couldnt find a decent copy of this song,it was never on the Schaefer library so I pirated it off one of the REAL DON STEELE syndicated shows we had from our weekend lineup. I had to edit out the REAL DON's talk up..and it was dicey eventhough the intro is almost non existent. I heard it once on the "REAL DON" and just had to have a copy to play on my show...
Posted on March 7, 2010 - 08:21 PM # -
Thanks for those links, KW. I have heard all three..I especially like the New Colony Six tune.
When I was very young I inherited a bunch of 45's from my older cousin...she was a teenager in the '60s and had quite a nice collection. Being a young stupid kid and a musical neophyte, I listened to all the 45s, kept the handful that I thought sounded 'neat', and used the rest to play frisbee in the back yard. Still kicking myself...!
Here's one of the records I kept:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dr_bEMtUU70
The Clique - 1969
Posted on March 7, 2010 - 11:50 PM # -
Edselehr, "Sugar on Sunday" by the Clique. Great pop song! One of the first 45's I bought for 69c at Singer's sewing machine store. On the White Whale label.
I'm amazed at how many songs on those old KISN surveys are nowhere to be heard anymore. It would sure be cool to hear those forgotten tunes on a corporately homogenized oldies station today.
Posted on March 8, 2010 - 11:01 AM # -
Dan, that's what I *so* wish some programmer would do - program a 'true' oldies show, featuring certain years and play the entire spectrum of tunes one would have heard on the radio at that time. Over the years I've become much more appreciative of music from the early rock-n-roll era, and love hearing the mid and lower-chart music. Probably not possible for a commercial station - just ask Terry Danner, and she'll explain the research-proven reality of why commercial music stations need to focus on the popular and familiar.
Maybe an internet station could do something like this? You think it would take little effort and cost to gather the music, digitize it, categorize it, buy the algorithm that mimics the rotation 'wheel' most stations used, and let the computer do the rest. Throw in some retro jingles and ads, and you almost have real vintage radio experience.
Why doesn't this happen today? Music royalties too high? Deep-chart music hard to find? I dunno....
Posted on March 8, 2010 - 04:35 PM # -
Since you brought it up: There is a general consensus in the industry that chart position doesn't matter because it doesn't reflect actual popularity at the time because of payola and other various schemes. The other thought is that it has nothing to do with whether or not a song is popular NOW. I contend that merely playing the song over and over, at the time, made it familiar to people and they would probably accept it now, whether or not they were particularly fond of it in the first place. Of course, this only applies to songs that fit the format. Big hits with strong adult appeal(Something Stupid by Frank & Nancy Sinatra)should never be played as Oldies because the target is all wrong. I'm hesitant to recommend playing mid-charting tunes because they didn't get enough original airplay to be familiar to enough people. Interestingly though, many of the songs I know only as Oldies, stalled on the charts. To summarize, songs that were big hits and fit the format should receive SOME airplay because people will recognize them. End of Part One. Intermission. End of Intermission. Part 2. I feel funny about this entire discussion, when it comes to Oldies because they have fallen out of favor and are slowly on their way out. What I'd like to see is for stations to follow my suggestion for recent music. If they would start playing older titles, based somewhat on the amount of time spent on the charts, then a lot more music would survive and you wouldn't have a situation of a song not testing well because it was unfamiliar to too many people.
Posted on March 8, 2010 - 09:20 PM # -
Also, some of the lower-tier songs just weren't that good, and/or people sorta-kinda liked them. There's also some other stuff out there where the fanatics are far outnumbered by those who lunge for another preset or (worse yet!) a button that turns the radio off (power, MP3, CD, tape, etc.); the fans could've also been decimated due to changing preferences/tastes. Hanson is the first group that comes to mind (sorry for bringing them up).
Remember the Kelly Osborne remake of "Papa Don't Preach?" At least one station aired several calls from people saying "burn it!"
Posted on March 8, 2010 - 09:38 PM # -
I love you guys who remember WHEN RADIO WAS GREAT!!!
There've been comments about songs soaring up the charts...was KISN hot, because they were playing them...or was KISN making the songs hot. Well, a little bit of each is true, but generally stations are popular, because of what they play...and how they play it. YOU ARE WHAT YOU EAT.
In the late 60's/early 70's...here's what I was doing with Seattle's KOL.
We checked the CDI/ABC Rack...that stocked VALU-MART & VILLA-MART...later
FRED MEYER...in Oregon, Washington, Idaho, Montana, & Alaska. The distributor reported actual UNIT SALES of singles from week to week...and this was in the days before bar-coding. We got figures broken down for the Seattle-Tacoma area.In addition, we had an arrangement with Independent record retailers in Seattle, Everett & Tacoma to get information on single sales from them, too. In this manner, we could create a Best Sellers List for RACK Type accounts....and Real Record Stores that had actual clerks on duty that catered to record buyers. This allowed feedbacks from credible clerks regarding what people were asking about...and how they were reacting to in-store play of Albums.
In addition, KOL tabulated Song Requests each week and "blended" that information with composites of the Best Selling singles.
Now that's how we tracked music we were playing...after we added it for exposure.
How did we choose new music? I can guarantee you that no competitive station was taking payola. Playing stiffs would be akin to taking poison.
I wanted every song to be a nuclear tipped missile...capable of hitting the central audience target....satisfying them....creating talk...building image for the station.We added music that sounded like a natural hit...the reputation/interest in an established artist...a unique sound...and watching GAVIN, & FRIDAY MORNING QUARTERBACK...in those days. Specifically, I looked for information about songs we had yet to add: BIG REQUESTS, REGIONAL BREAKOUT SALES, TOUR SUPPORT, MOVIE SOUNDTRACKS, etc.
We did pretty well. I agree there are many songs MISSING IN ACTION from radio that were bona fide hits in those days. Much of what we played on TOP 40 in Seattle....found it's way on LEE ABRAMS' SUPERSTARS FM Format.
KOL played LP Cuts: Remember in 1970 MAYBE I'M AMAZED and EVERY NIGHT were both only LP Cuts. Both were reaction records, and great imaging depth songs. What else? MAGGIE MAY was the "B" side of REASON TO BELIEVE. We opted for the B side, and the rest is history. TIMOTHY by the Buoys was a #1 song. ME AND MY ARROW by Nilsson from the TV Special The Point was an instant phone record....just as JUMP INTO THE FIRE garnered immediate reaction. NIGHTS IN WHITE SATIN started in Seattle.
KOL had played the LP cut in '68. By '72, KOL was doing audience poll research regarding the viability of OLDIES TITLES that still had legs, and profiling their demographic appeal. I discovered among LP cuts I researched that NIGHTS IN WHITE SATIN was a home run with WOMEN 18-49.Ed Richter of ABC Record & Tape Sales distributed the Moody Blues, and commented he was hearing us play the song alot. He told me he had the song on the B side of some other Moody Blues single...and if we charted it...he'd rack it in the Northwest.
Several months later I was working at WRKO in Boston, and visited NYC over Thanksgiving weekend. While standing on a street corner, I saw WABC busside listing WABC "TOP 5 IN NEW YORK." #1 was NIGHTS IN WHITE SATIN.
Suddenly, I understood the power of seemingly inconsequential moves resulting in a bona fide SMASH. Payola? No...unless you count the beers and hour douvres shared backstage with JERRY WEINTRAUB
Posted on March 9, 2010 - 09:21 PM # -
...and The MOODY BLUES before their Boston Show. Yes, their career got a new shot in the arm...from the recycling of an underplayed classic from their reportoire.
In those days...it was about the music. Now it seemingly is just business.
Posted on March 9, 2010 - 09:23 PM # -
Great Radio story Robin, Thanks!
Posted on March 9, 2010 - 10:12 PM # -
I didn't mean to suggest for a second that I agreed with the general consensus!
Posted on March 9, 2010 - 10:20 PM # -
Speaking of "The Monkees," I can almost imagine how it sound if Neil Diamond performed "I'm a Believer." It sounds perfect for his style.
Don't forget, Michael Nesmith also wrote "Different Drum" that later became a Linda Ronstadt hit. He performed the first and maybe the second line of that on "The Monkees" once, singing it in about double-time. I'm not as sure that "Different Drum" is quintessential Nesmith as much as "I'm a Believer" has the Diamond touch (no pun intended).
Remember, "The Monkees" were strictly an NBC creation. The group did not exist; it was created specifically for the TV show. Think of the band's creation as "Real World" meets "American Idol." Nesmith and Peter Tork were the only true musicians. Dolenz eventually picked up drums, but he didn't play an instrument when he was picked for the show. Davy Jones mastered the tambourine (maybe) but was recruited solely for his teeny-bopper appeal. The NBC marketing machine, plus the simple act of airing a different song on every episode (they repeated a couple of songs sometimes), created a Top 40 or Top 100 hit machine.
Posted on March 10, 2010 - 11:56 AM # -
Actually, Jones had some basic skill on percussion, and would have been better suited at the drums. But he was deemed too short to be seen in the back of the band; because he also was deemed the heartthrob, he was moved to the front.
In fact, all the instruments were assigned to the band members.Later, Tork was interviewed and asked about this. He said that the group could have offered better musicianship if it would have been Tork on lead guitar, Nesmith on bass, Jones on drums and Dolenz on lead vocals. But as you said, they were 'designed' to sell corn flakes on their TV show, not to make music. (studio musicians would take care of that).
Posted on March 10, 2010 - 04:43 PM #
Reply
You must log in to post.