All Day, Every Day: American Top 40
I’ve never been a fan of the iHeart Radio app you can download to your
smartphone. I always thought it too cumbersome to use compared to alternatives,
and I don’t like the way iHeart restricts its own stations to its own app
rather than allowing them to be available on other apps as well. If iHeart
really believed in the app, why do they not let it compete on an even playing
field?
But I broke down and started using it recently. Keep in mind I still don’t
actually like it, but there is a reason to use it … American Top 40.
Yes, the very same AT40 you can find on SiriusXM channels 7 — for the 1970s
version — Saturdays at 3 a.m. and 9 a.m., Sundays at 6 a.m.; or our own
semi-local KOLA (99.9 FM) which airs the ‘80s version Saturdays at 5 a.m. and
Sundays at 7 p.m.
But what if you want to totally live in the past and listen to nothing
but AT40, the countdown show hosted by former original KRLA (now KRDC,
1110 AM) personality Casey Kasem, launched on July 4th, 1970 on but a handful
of stations, and eventually heard on stations around the globe as the most
popular countdown show … ever? If that’s you, the iHeart Radio app — or
iHeart.com on a computer — has you covered.
A special channel called Classic American Top 40 plays old AT40 countdowns
continuously. The ‘70s followed by the ‘80s followed by the ‘70s, etc. 24 hours
a day, seven days a week. As I write this they are just starting a replay from
1983 after the completion of a week from 1973. Audio heaven, for those who grew up
listening to the classic program … and a major reason to use the iHeart app.
Ryan Seacrest, by the way, hosts the current version of AT40 heard locally
on KIIS-FM (102.7), starting at 6 a.m. Saturdays, 8 a.m. Sundays.
Billboard Controversy
Was the top song for at least one week of mid-July, 1978 not really the top
song? Was there behind the scenes shenanigans? It wasn’t a problem with AT40
directly, but what AT40 used as the basis for the countdown list: Billboard
Magazine. I read about this first on (I believe) the AT40 fan page of Facebook.
The story goes that Gerry Rafferty’s Baker Street should
have been the number one song on the Billboard charts in the second half of
July, 1978, but that pressure to keep Andy Gibb’s Shadow Dancing at
the top spot won out. Here’s what I found at https://djrobblog.com/archives/6222:
“Among the many tales of “Baker Street’s” undying legacy is the one
involving a bit of chart shenanigans that may have robbed Rafferty of ascending
to that coveted No. 1 spot.
“As reported in several publications since, legend has it that in one of its
final weeks at No. 2 in July 1978, Billboard had actually calculated “Baker
Street” to be No. 1. At the
time, Billboard’s charts were based on phoned-in radio station lists and record
store reports, which staffers or computers would then compile, before the
advent of more modern and accurate airplay and sales tracking technology in the
early 1990s.
Apparently, Gibb threatened to back out of a show being sponsored by
Billboard if his song didn’t remain number one, said show being the pet project
of then-chart manager Bill Wardlow. “It was alleged that Wardlow had a change
of heart about the No. 1 position after having dined with Andy Gibb’s
management on the night the chart was compiled. The story goes that Wardlow
casually mentioned over dinner that Gibb’s tune had been displaced by
Rafferty’s – much to RSO Records’ displeasure.”
So Billboard issued a “correction,” apparently forcing American Top-40 to
re-record the ending of the how, without the new number one song. Baker
Street remained stalled at the number two slot on Billboard, though
other sources did indeed put it at the top, such as including Cash Box which
had it there on July 15, 1978.
It is said that Baker Street is one of the all-time most
beloved number two hits; the incident proves the power that top-40 radio once
held over American culture. And as former newsman Paul Harvey used to say, now
you know … the restof the story.
No Static Here
This is an old story, but but comes from former KHJ (930 AM) Production
Director (among other stations) Douglas Brown. When FM by Steely Dan was
released in 1978, may top-40 stations were still on the AM band, including in
Los Angeles area, KHJ, Ten Q (KTNQ, 1020 AM), KFI (640 AM), and KEZY (1190
AM).
Many of the stations across the country didn’t want to play a song that
hyped the FM band, so a few figured out that the “A’ in Steely Dan’s Aja
matched the note well, and simply changed the song so that it played as “A-M,
no static at all.” Which, of course, is somewhat absurd.
The more powerful and influential stations, such as KHJ, convinced the
musical band’s record company at the time to produce a special version of the
song, one in which the the radio band is not mentioned at all. The resulting
song simply refrains “no static at all.”
A testament to the power that AM radio once held over American culture.
Letters for April 28 Radio
Some
email reaction from recent column topics …
“WABC
has come back from the radio graveyard twice: first when Rick Sklar
created the legendary MusicRadio77 and now. In ratings released today the
station is #9 with a 3.7, the first AM rated in NYC. They gotta be doing
something right!” — Steve Moravec
“To
paraphrase a movie line: If you play it (great local content) they will listen.
“Local
: News. Weather. SPORTS (high school and college). Talk with and by local
leaders and personalities. City and county government. One station doing
this and while still learning is doing it well is KYCA-AM in Prescott, AZ.
“AM
will not die in spite of Detroit.” — Dusty Baker
“I
agree w/ every word u wrote. Hate Google, and all this ‘new’ approach to radio
… for auto manufacturers to go along with this travesty is unconscionable. Keep
up the good work and clear writing on this subject. — Beverly Riggs, La Habra
(who describes herself as “a devoted sincere Radio junkie for 40+ years” and
says that “radio has always been my ‘preferred passenger’ since I first learned
how to drive”
“I
wanted you to know how much I enjoy your articles about radio in the San
Gabriel Valley Tribune … always informative, interesting and your passion for
radio come thru loud & clear.
“Yes,
my wife & I are with you…keep AM radio in our autos!
“I
grew up in the ‘40s and ‘50s with radio; we listened to music and live shows in
the evening on a Farnsworth that become mine at about 8 years old when we
finally got a TV and Pop setup he own ‘stereo’ system in the living room. But I
still used my home made crystal set with a surplus store military ear-phone.
I
remember driving Van Nuys Blvd between Bob’s Big-Boy and A&W Root
beer with my radio blazing away was a real treat. Work/home/yard/shop, the
radio was always on – and still is much of the time, albeit much lower and
slower music these days. In the car, my wife is addicted to AM talk-show radio.
“Again,
thank you for sharing your passion about a media that was most impactful during
most of the 20th century — Drexel Smith
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