Our Tune-Into Programms and Music to Enjoy.
Just before disco fever peaked and a rock radio station’s “Disco Demolition” promotion gave rise to a disco backlash, there emerged a certain type of dance record: the bandwagon-jumping song from an artist dramatically outside the genre. Think of it as the era of “disco dilettantism.” Not all those acts were in search of the career reinvention that had made the Bee Gees stars again. Many were just following the music, soon to wander off as pop changed again. Gloria Gaynor and Sister Sledge saw lasting career downturns; Rod Stewart, Paul McCartney, ELO, and Barbra Streisand kept making hits. But more than 40 years later, there is a lot of pop disco among the top 15 songs of 1979 with the highest “lost factor” — our calculation of the distance between a song’s success at the time and its availability on broadcast radio now. We’ve been taking the top 100 hits of each year between 1978 and 1989 (so far), assigning them points based on their year-end chart placing (starting with 100 points for the No. 1 song of the year) and dividing them by the number of spins a song received in the previous week on U.S. and Canadian radio, according to Nielsen/BDS. It won’t surprise those who read this series’ first article about the “Lost Factor” and 1982’s hit songs that an MOR ballad tops the list. But a lot of late ‘70s disco was an extension of ‘60s MOR and ‘70s soft pop, which is why many of them populate our top 15 as well. Teen idols have typically had high lost factors, and Leif Garrett’s one-song disco career (as well as TV star David Naughton’s sole foray to radio) are now scarce on the radio as well. Then-TV movie star Rex Smith’s MOR ballad also put him in double jeopardy and in our top 15. When calculating the hits of 1978, I was generally surprised by the relative endurance (at least at some small level) of so many of them. The “lost factor” is higher for 1979. There are 51 songs that have a 1.0 or higher vs. 10 in 1978. In 1980, it would go higher still (58 songs). There are also 21 songs from 1979 that received fewer than 10 spins a week, compared to only 10 from the year before. Throughout our “lost factor” series, reader response has generally been to declare that 80% of the songs on our list remain lost for a reason. That there is no consensus on the “good” 20% is why you don’t hear any of them on the radio much now. As with 1978, I find myself wanting to write a brief for Olivia Newton-John, again spurned with “A Little More Love,” or what I consider other perfectly good hit records. Ian Matthews’ “Shake It” and Roger Voudouris’ “Get Used to It” are songs I always enjoy on specialty programming. Some of the songs a little further down — John Stewart’s “Gold” and Suzi Quatro & Chris Norman’s “Stumblin’ In” — I could probably hear more regularly. But did I mention I graduated high school that spring? If you’ve seen the Top 100 Lost Songs of the ‘80s, you know that I decided not to include Streisand & Donna Summer’s “No More Tears (Enough Is Enough)” on that chart. While every year has some chart-cutoff holdover from the previous, that song peaked in early December and just felt like a ‘70s relic. That’s why it’s among our top 15 for 1979. It’s also why I’m showing 16 songs, in case you’re a purist and wonder what song was displaced. Here are the top “lost factor” hits of 1979, based on points for their standing for the year divided by the number of plays they receive now. In parenthesis is the “lost factor,” followed by the number of spins the songs received in the U.S. and Canada according to NielsenBDS in the week prior to my calculations.
And here are the songs that now get the most monitored spins at broadcast radio, compared to their year-end placing for 1979. It’s worth noting that while these songs have almost always been pop/rock — songs that can play not just on Classic Hits and AC, but also Classic Rock and Adult Hits formats — two are disco-era R&B classics. If we had continued down the list, we would have found “I Will Survive” at No. 18, “Got to Be Real” at No. 20, and “We Are Family” at No. 21.
We’ve now calculated the “Lost Factor” for every year between 1978 and 1989. Thus far, I’ve avoided going earlier. The ‘80s have clear winners and losers in the endurance test. For the ‘70s, and certainly for a ‘60s universe of music that has been reduced by Classic Hits radio to “Brown Eyed Girl,” “Respect,” and “Come Together” (if those), there’s less opportunity to look at the contrast between what lasted and didn’t. But I have come up with a way to identify the decades’ most extreme cases. Look for those and my first forays into CHR’s near-obliteration in the early ‘90s next. |
During their nearly 40-year career, Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons have sold over 100 million records, making them the most long-lived and successful white doo-wop group. Lead singer Valli (whose three-octave range and falsetto are the group's trademark) has also maintained a successful solo career. Valli, sometimes billed under his real name and later as Valley (after Texas Jean Valley, a country singer who had encouraged him as a child), began singing in his mid-teens with the Newark vocal groups the Romans and the Varietones. The Varietones, which included Hank Majewski and the DeVito brothers, eventually became the Four Lovers. The Lovers' "You're the Apple of My Eye," a tune songwriter Otis Blackwell gave them in exchange for their not recording his "Don't Be Cruel" (which he then gave to Elvis Presley), was a hit in 1956, and they appeared on The Ed Sullivan Show. The Four Lovers became the Four Seasons (named after a Jersey cocktail lounge) with the addition of Bob Gaudio, formerly of the Royal Teens and composer of their hit "Short Shorts." As the group's chief songwriter, Gaudio changed the Four Seasons' repertoire and sound, which were later refined by producer Bob Crewe. After a single, "Bermuda," flopped, they again became the Four Lovers and returned to the clubs. They also served as Crewe's production group, arranging, performing, and providing instrumental and vocal backing in singles Crewe produced for other singers. This arrangement continued until 1962, when Valli, desperate over the group's lack of success, nearly quit the band. Then the group recorded a song by Gaudio, "Sherry." After the song was featured on American Bandstand, the Four Lovers became the Four Seasons once again, and within months "Sherry" hit Number One. The followup, "Big Girls Don't Cry," also went to Number One, and over the next five years (until Valli's first solo hit, "I Can't Take My Eyes Off of You" in 1967), the Four Seasons had 50 hits, including "Santa Claus Is Coming to Town" (in an arrangement later imitated by Bruce Springsteen) (Number 23, 1962); "Walk Like a Man" (Number One), "Ain't That a Shame" (Number 22), and "Candy Girl" (Number Three) in 1963; "Dawn" (Number Three), "Girl Come Running" (Number 30), "Let's Hang On" (Number Three), and "Working My Way Back to You" (Number Nine) in 1965; "Opus 17 (Don't Worry 'bout Me)" (Number 12), "I've Got You Under My Skin" (Number Nine), and "Tell It to the Rain" (Number 10) in 1966; "Beggin'" (Number 16), "C'mon Marianne" (Number 9), and "Watch the Flowers Grow" (Number 30) in 1967. The group left Vee-Jay over a royalty dispute in 1964, and by 1965 was recording for Philips, continuing its string of hits, which ended abruptly with its excursion into psychedelia, Genuine Imitation Life Gazette. (It had also recorded several singles, including a cover of Dylan's "Don't Think Twice" in 1965 under the pseudonym the Wonder Who.) As the '60s closed, the group's popularity waned. By the time it signed to Motown's Mowest subsidiary, in 1971, Valli and Gaudio were the only original members left, and a $1.4 million debt had taken its toll. In 1972 Crewe, whose independent label had folded, joined the group at Mowest. But even with the Crew-Gaudio-Valli team intact, none of its singles hit. The release of a 1972 LP, The Night, was canceled, and the group toured supporting the Four Tops and the Vandellas. Valli's 10-year-old hearing problem (diagnosed as otosclerosis, excessive calcium deposits in the ear) became critical. (Faced with the possibility of going deaf, Valli underwent surgery in 1976.) Meanwhile, Gaudio retired from performing to concentrate on writing and producing. In 1973 one Gerald Zelmanowitz testified before a Senate subcommittee that the Four Seasons had ties to organized crime, a charge he later retracted. Valli signed a solo contract with Private Stock in 1974 and soon had several hits, including "My Eyes Adored You" (Number One, 1975), "Swearin' to God" (Number Six, 1975), and a cover of Ruby and the Romantics' "Our Day Will Come" (Number 11, 1975). The Four Seasons had almost ceased to exist, but in 1975 they made a comeback with one of their biggest-selling singles, "Who Loves You" (Number Three), followed the next year by "December 1963 (Oh What a Night)" (Number One, 1976). Shortly before a 1977 tour, Valli announced—with some bitterness—that he would never work with the Four Seasons again, although he and Gaudio have retained co-ownership of the group and its name. But despite Valli's solo success ("Grease" hit Number One and sold over 7 million copies), the Four Seasons re-formed in 1980 with Gaudio, Valli, guitarist Don Ciccone (former lead singer of the Critters and a Season since 1974), keyboardist Jerry Corbetta (ex–lead singer of Sugarloaf), guitarist Larry Lingle, and drummer Gerry Polci (who had been singing with the group since 1973). In 1984 Valli and Gaudio formed FBI Records, and the Four Seasons teamed with the Beach Boys for the single "East Meets West." Valli has appeared in the films Eternity and Modern Love. In 1990 the original members were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Thanks to the 1994 film Forrest Gump, the Four Seasons' "December 1963 (Oh What a Night)" reentered the Hot 100 and became the longest-running single in the chart's history, with over 50 weeks total. The group, which now fluctuates around Valli (Gaudio no longer performs live), remains successful on the oldies circuit. |
"Oldies music" is a wide-ranging and ever-expanding catch-all term that has come to encompass most pop, rock, and R&B songs released and played on the radio between 1950 and up to at least 10-20 years before the present. This broad category includes styles as diverse as doo-wop, early rock and roll, novelty songs, bubblegum pop, folk rock, psychedelic rock, baroque pop, surf rock, soul music, funk, classic rock, most hard rock, some blues, and some country. Since the beginning of rock and roll in the mid 1950s, popular music has undergone many radical changes and branched out into a wide variety of genres, with each decade being defined by a different set of styles. Today, most of what is considered to be oldies music covers the 1950s through at least the 1970s. Due to ever-changing demographics, some radio stations that specialize in oldies are now also considering songs from the 1980s and even the 1990s to belong to this category as well (although they may refer to them by other names, e.g., "classic hits"). The "golden oldies" are those songs that date from the 1950s through the early 1960s, and they have remained a permanent fixture in pop music history. As America entered the 1950s, traditional and jazz-infused pop as performed by artists such as Frank Sinatra, Perry Como, Eddie Fisher, Frankie Laine, and Patti Page, gradually gave way to doo-wop, rockabilly, R&B, and other more modern styles. A major turning point in pop music was the birth of rock and roll in the mid 1950s. Although its stirrings could be heard in tunes dating as far back as the late 1940s-early 1950s, rock and roll had finally taken root by the time Bill Haley and His Comets' seminal "(We're Gonna) Rock Around The Clock" topped the charts in 1955. Other top bands and artists from the golden oldies era were Fats Domino, Sam Cooke, Nat "King" Cole, Pat Boone, the Platters, the Diamonds, the Chordettes, Chubby Checker, and, of course, Elvis Presley who still reigns today as "the King of Rock and Roll." This era also had its fair share of teen idols that included not only Presley but also Ricky Nelson, Dion, Paul Anka, and Frankie Avalon. The designation of older pop tunes as "oldies" can be traced back to Los Angeles radio DJ Art Laboe who, in 1957, first coined the phrase, "oldies but goodies," in response to many of his listeners wanting to listen to songs from earlier in that decade. Laboe himself was quite an influence in the West Coast radio scene, being one of the first radio DJs to not only play rock and roll but also many black artists at a time when these performers were not being recognized. The phrase would soon become well known, thanks in part to a song released in 1961 called "Those Oldies But Goodies" by Little Caesar and the Romans which was a throwback to the doo-wop style of singing from the 1950s. The catch phrase this song title embodied became more popular in later years when many people were becoming nostalgic for songs from previous eras. The 1960s was a tumultuous decade not only for the nation but also its music. A major transformation in style took place when the Beatles first landed on the shores of America and, on February 9, 1964, made their historical appearance on the Ed Sullivan Show. This momentous event ushered in the British Invasion and an influx of other bands and artists from across the pond that included the Rolling Stones, the Dave Clark Five, Herman's Hermits, and Petula Clark. Surf rock, both instrumental and sung, was another style that originated around the early 1960s. The best known of the many surf rock groups from the 1960s included the Beach Boys, Jan and Dean, the Ventures, the Surfaris, and Dick Dale whose music was later revived in the 1994 movie cult classic, "Pulp Fiction." Folk music gradually evolved to folk rock, a style that was introduced in the mid 1960s by the Byrds who topped the charts in 1965 with the Bob Dylan-penned "Mr. Tambourine Man." The late 1960s burst forth with various hard rock styles that provided a mouthpiece for the political and social unrest of the day; they included garage band, blues, acid, and psychedelic rock. The Doors, the Who, the Kinks, the Grateful Dead, and Jefferson Airplane were just some of the many rock bands that ruled the airwaves. As rock music got harder and more experimental with each passing year, artists such as Bobby Vinton, Bobby Rydell, Brenda Lee, Connie Francis, the 4 Seasons, Dionne Warwick, and Roy Orbison, whose styles hearkened to earlier eras, produced a steady stream of chart-topping hits throughout most of the decade. In the meantime, R&B (along with funk and soul music) continued to evolve and thrive alongside rock and roll, producing such luminaries as Aretha Franklin, James Brown, Brook Benton, and Ray Charles. It was not only R&B artists such as these who were instrumental in defining the music of the 1960s. The highly popular Motown recording studio, with its famous signature sound, was a huge product of many celebrated acts that included the Jackson 5, Stevie Wonder, the Temptations, Diana Ross and the Supremes, Marvin Gaye, and the Four Tops. Another major recording studio with its own unique signature was Stax Records that produced many top R&B bands and artists from the 1960s and 1970s, including Otis Redding, Booker T. and the MGs, Wilson Pickett, Sam and Dave, Isaac Hayes, the Staple Singers, the Emotions, and the Dramatics. As with folk and hard rock, much of the R&B music of the mid to late 1960s also reflected the changing socio-political climate of the day. The 1970s are best remembered for the dawn of disco and the emergence of soft rock, glam rock, progressive rock, and heavy metal. Major bands and artists included Elton John, the Bee Gees, the Carpenters, Three Dog Night, Paul McCartney, the Eagles, Gladys Knight and the Pips, Donna Summer, the Spinners, and Barry Manilow. The musical mood of this decade was generally less intense than that of the more turbulent late 1960s, and many bands and artists who had started out back then with edgier styles continued to produce hits in the 1970s, but often with a more mellow style. The early 1970s briefly waxed nostalgic with the music of Tony Orlando and Dawn, Hurricane Smith, and other acts with styles that were throwbacks to the pre-rock and roll era. The increasing popularity of singer-songwriters such as Cat Stevens, Neil Diamond, Jim Croce, James Taylor, and John Denver, whose styles were more laid-back and introspective, also reflected the changing musical tastes of the times. In the meantime, disco was also becoming increasingly popular and by the mid 1970s, it had firmly taken root when the Bee Gees topped the charts in 1975 "Jive Talkin'," which was followed soon thereafter by their immensely popular soundtrack from the 1977 movie, "Saturday Night Fever." The 1980s saw the emergence of MTV, punk rock, new wave, and various forms of alternative rock. The top artists of that period were, by far, the iconic Madonna and Michael Jackson. (Jackson's sixth album, "Thriller," released in 1982, was - and still remains - the best selling album of all time.) Other top performers included Duran Duran, Journey, Hall and Oats, George Michael, Phil Collins, Lionel Richie, and Billy Joel. Many old favorites who debuted in the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s continued to release hits and even top the charts for decades thereafter, sometimes well into the 1990s and beyond; they include Elton John, Paul McCartney, Whitney Houston, Prince, Madonna, Olivia Newton-John, Stevie Wonder, Cher, Chicago, Rod Stewart, Aerosmith, Santana, Aretha Franklin, Michael Jackson, and the Rolling Stones. While many Baby Boomers still consider the songs from the 1950s through ca. the early 1970s to be the "true" oldies, the music from the late 1970s and the 1980s is now gradually becoming a permanent part of the oldies repertoire as well, with classic rock or classic stations playing songs from both decades. The 1990s saw a new form of rock and roll, known as grunge, enter the music scene, as well as the emergence of gangsta rap and the hip hop culture (which is still very prevalent today). The best known acts of the 1990s include Nirvana, Foo Fighters, Pearl Jam, Dr. Dre, Snoop Dogg, and Alice in Chains. Some classic radio stations now also play hits by these groups and consider them to be "oldies" in the sense that these are classic songs. Many of today's young adults grew up during the 1990s, and for them, this music is a part of their childhood, just as the "golden oldies" are for previous generations. Oldies music will continue to flourish as new generations discover older tunes from when their parents and/or grandparents came of age. With the growth of technology, the kids of today are able to find and download older hits and classics to their phones or mp3 players, ensuring that the oldies will always be goodies. |
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Top Hits of 1976 | Oldies Songs List 1976001 – Paul McCartney & Wings – Silly Love Songs
002 – Elton John & Kiki Dee – Don’t Go Breaking My Heart 003 – Johnnie Taylor – Disco Lady 004 – Four Seasons – December 1963 (Oh, What A Night) 005 – Wild Cherry – Play That Funky Music 006 – Manhattans – Kiss And Say Goodbye 007 – Miracles – Love Machine (Part 1) 008 – Paul Simon – 50 Ways To Leave Your Lover
018 – Queen – Bohemian Rhapsody009 – Gary Wright – Love Is Alive 010 – Walter Murphy & The Big Apple Band – A Fifth Of Beethov 011 – Hall & Oates – Sara Smile 012 – Starland Vocal Band – Afternoon Delight 013 – Barry Manilow – I Write The Songs 014 – Silver Convention – Fly, Robin, Fly 015 – Diana Ross – Love Hangover 016 – Seals & Crofts – Get Closer 017 – Andrea True Connection – More, More, More 019 – Dorothy Moore – Misty Blue 020 – Sylvers – Boogie Fever 021 – England Dan & John Ford Coley – I’d Really Love To See 022 – Hot Chocolate – You Sexy Thing 023 – Nazareth – Love Hurts 024 – Silver Convention – Get Up And Boogie 025 – Eagles – Take It To The Limit 026 – KC & The Sunshine Band – (Shake, Shake, Shake) Shake Yo 027 – Commodores – Sweet Love 028 – Maxine Nightingale – Right Back Where We Started From 029 – Rhythm Heritage – Theme From S W A T 030 – Ohio Players – Love Rollercoaster 031 – Bee Gees – You Should Be Dancing 032 – Lou Rawls – You’ll Never Find Another Love Like Mine 033 – David Bowie – Golden Years 034 – Starbuck – Moonlight Feels Right 035 – Dr Hook – Only Sixteen 036 – Bellamy Brothers – Let Your Love Flow 037 – Gary Wright – Dream Weaver 038 – Vicki Sue Robinson – Turn The Beat Around 039 – Captain & Tennille – Lonely Night (Angel Face) 040 – Eric Carmen – All By Myself 041 – Donna Summer – Love To Love You Baby 042 – Donny & Marie Osmond – Deep Purple 043 – Diana Ross – Theme From Mahogany 044 – Rufus & Chaka Khan – Sweet Thing 045 – KC & The Sunshine Band – That’s The Way (I Like It) 046 – Dr Hook – A Little Bit More 047 – Henry Gross – Shannon 048 – Chicago – If You Leave Me Now 049 – Boz Scaggs – Lowdown 050 – Peter Frampton – Show Me The Way 051 – Aerosmith – Dream On 052 – O’Jays – I Love Music (Part 1) 053 – Fleetwood Mac – Say You Love Me 054 – Paul Anka – Times Of Your Life 055 – Cliff Richard – Devil Woman 056 – Elvin Bishop – Fooled Around And Fell In Love 057 – C W McCall – Convoy 058 – John Sebastian – Welcome Back 059 – Earth, Wind & Fire – Sing A Song 060 – Tavares – Heaven Must Be Missing An Angel 061 – Brothers Johnson – I’ll Be Good To You 062 – Captain & Tennille – Shop Around 063 – Bay City Rollers – Saturday Night 064 – Elton John – Island Girl 065 – Staple Singers – Let’s Do It Again 066 – Paul McCartney & Wings – Let ‘Em In 067 – Wing & A Prayer, File & Drum Corps – Baby Face 068 – George Benson – This Masquerade 069 – Electric Light Orchestra – Evil Woman 070 – Silver – Wham Bam 071 – Keith Carradine – I’m Easy 072 – Harold Melvin & The Bluenotes – Wake Up Everybody (Part 073 – War – Summer 074 – John Travolta – Let Her In 075 – Sweet – Fox On The Run
076 – Fleetwood Mac – Rhiannon
085 – Foghat – Slow Ride077 – Beatles – Got To Get You Into My Life 078 – Bee Gees – Fanny (Be Tender With My Love) 079 – Earth, Wind & Fire – Getaway 080 – Hall & Oates – She’s Gone 081 – Beach Boys – Rock And Roll Music 082 – Orleans – Still The One 083 – Queen – You’re My Best Friend 084 – Jefferson Starship – With Your Love 086 – Ohio Players – Who’d She Coo 087 – David Ruffin – Walk Away From Love 088 – Peter Frampton – Baby, I Love Your Way 089 – Candi Staton – Young Hearts Run Free 090 – Neil Sedaka – Breaking Up Is Hard To Do 091 – Bay City Rollers – Money Honey 092 – Parliament & George Clinton – Tear The Roof Off The Suc 093 – Larry Groce – Junk Food Junkie 094 – Barry Manilow – Tryin’ To Get The Feeling Again 095 – Kiss – Rock And Roll All Night (Live) 096 – Rick Dees – Disco Duck 097 – Thin Lizzy – The Boys Are Back In Town 098 – Steve Miller Band – Take The Money And Run 099 – Who – Squeeze Box 100 – Glen Campbell – Country Boy (You Got Your Feet In LA) |
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