Hit Songs That Should Never Be Played On Radio Today

[firepoint525]

Considering how well Lennon came across in the Beatles' movies, and in "How I Won the War", Elvis could have asked Lennon, "When are you going to stop banging away on your guitar and become a movie star?" In the 1960's, Elvis (and more importantly, Tom Parker) were looking at some pretty powerful role models. Bing Crosby, Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, Sammy Davis, Jr. were, or had recently been, shifting between selling records, playing nightclubs, and making movies. Selling rock and roll records to teenagers in the late 1950's wasn't seen as being the ticket to a long-term career. So, when Elvis came back from his stint in the Army after being drafted, and had to make a comeback, it made a lot of sense to forget about trying to impress a new crowd of teenagers and instead reach out to his earlier fans, now grown older, by making movies. And, as time passed, it made sense for him to continue to reach out the that same further aging audience by shifting to Las Vegas stage shows instead of trying to sell records. If it wasn't for his self-destructive habits that caused his early death, Elvis (and Tom Parker) had a great career, re-inventing himself periodically to avoid being left behind as trends and tastes changed.

Most of Elvis' career missteps (and indeed there were many) were orchestrated by Parker, who was really only using Elvis to make HIMSELF rich! Elvis wasted away, and Parker didn't do anything to stop it? Granted, Elvis was high-strung, and wouldn't listen to anyone around him, but Parker probably believed that Elvis was worth more to him dead than alive. And unfortunately, he was probably right.

Meanwhile, Eddy Arnold FIRED Parker, had a long career, and lived well into his '90s.

Remember, the concept of a recording act maintaining any sort of real longevity selling recordings is relatively recent. When artists we were starting to get a little older in the 60's looked back at the artists who came before them, no one who started a career out of recording hit singles survived long just selling hit singles. Those whose careers lasted any length of time diversified into alternate media. The concept of making a career out of selling recordings, and touring to support the sales, was unknown in the 60's, except for bandleaders. It wasn't until some of the solo artists or rock bands of the 60's continued to have some success in later decades that anyone knew it could be done.

And then we went too far in the other direction in the '70s, with the creation of the "disco" chart. Apparently, someone out there thought that disco had longevity. I would guess that that disco chart, and the grammy for best disco recording, lasted about five years at most. (If only RAP had had such a short shelf life!)

 

[TheFonz]

. When Elvis and the Beatles met in 1965, John Lennon asked him the very pointed question, "when are you going to start playing rock and roll again?"

Someone should have asked John that question right about the time the Beatles recorded their "Rubber Soul" album.

 

[hm insulators]

The only people who listen to just one station... and in the PPM world they are scant few in number... are those who listen to very specific kinds of religious or Christian stations and who do not listen to "secular" radio.

Nearly everyone else listens to or hears multiple stations.

And at least in my case, multiple formats. On my car radio here in Phoenix, I have three rock stations (album KDKB, classic rock KSLX and when I can pick it up, KCDX), two country stations, two oldies stations, an R&B-oldies station, a news-talk station, a new "lite AC" station, a couple of sports-talk stations and (as a last resort), classical music programmed on the buttons.

 

[landtuna]

The only people who listen to just one station... and in the PPM world they are scant few in number... are those who listen to very specific kinds of religious or Christian stations and who do not listen to "secular" radio.

Nearly everyone else listens to or hears multiple stations.

Once again, I seem to be one of a kind. I listened exclusively to KEZ-HD2 until they changed their format. I changed back to my old standby KOOL-FM but they are not Oldies any longer so I tried KOOL-HD2 which bills itself as a 70's sound. They are only partially palatable however. I then switched to KSLX (classic rock) but they play too much unknown (to me) stuff. So, not being able to find a true Oldies sound in Phoenix I now use my flash stick exclusively. Radio, in Phoenix, has lost me as a listener.

 

[landtuna]

And at least in my case, multiple formats. On my car radio here in Phoenix, I have three rock stations (album KDKB, classic rock KSLX and when I can pick it up, KCDX), two country stations, two oldies stations, an R&B-oldies station, a news-talk station, a new "lite AC" station, a couple of sports-talk stations and (as a last resort), classical music programmed on the buttons.

I do not consider any station in Phoenix a true Oldies programmer (other than perhaps the Goldmine which I cannot receive over the air).

 

[Avid Listener]

Most of Elvis' career missteps (and indeed there were many) were orchestrated by Parker, who was really only using Elvis to make HIMSELF rich!

But most of those "missteps" only seem that way now, with perfect 20/20 hindsight. At the time, most of them seemed like really good career moves.

And then we went too far in the other direction in the '70s, with the creation of the "disco" chart. Apparently, someone out there thought that disco had longevity. I would guess that that disco chart, and the grammy for best disco recording, lasted about five years at most. (If only RAP had had such a short shelf life!)

Well, we still have an "Alternative" board here at Radio Info, that that was a flash-in-the-pan fad that came and went, and for all practical intents and purposes is dead and gone. Not that some people (and radio stations) don't cling to the term, redefining it to mean something totally different from what it originally meant.

 

[DavidEduardo]

Well, we still have an "Alternative" board here at Radio Info, that that was a flash-in-the-pan fad that came and went, and for all practical intents and purposes is dead and gone.

Yeah, tell that to KROQ and such stations that have a many-decade-long track of success in doing their version of alternative.

 

[landtuna]

But most of those "missteps" only seem that way now, with perfect 20/20 hindsight. At the time, most of them seemed like really good career moves.

I have no way of knowing what was in Parker's or Elvis' heads but at the time, and I was right in the middle of it, every kid I knew wondered what the hell Elvis was doing going to soft sounds and ballads. Although he had a fine voice for that genre it was definitely not a popular one with teens and only the most Elvis-centric fans seemed to listen to those. By the time I returned from Vietnam in '66 Elvis was irrelevant.

 

[Avid Listener]

I have no way of knowing what was in Parker's or Elvis' heads but at the time, and I was right in the middle of it, every kid I knew wondered what the hell Elvis was doing going to soft sounds and ballads. Although he had a fine voice for that genre it was definitely not a popular one with teens and only the most Elvis-centric fans seemed to listen to those. By the time I returned from Vietnam in '66 Elvis was irrelevant.

It's usually a safe bet to assume that what people are thinking when they do something is that they are looking for the outcome that's most likely to come from that action. Parker knew that teenagers were a fickle bunch, and that many of the teenagers who cheered for Elvis when he left for the Army would not be teenagers when he got back. He wanted Elvis to have a longer career, so moving from recording rock and roll to making movies, and releasing songs from the soundtracks as a secondary step made sense. Now, if you remember most of those movies, Elvis sang syrupy ballads as well as uptempo songs like his earlier 1950s stuff. But, just because they were recorded and put on the soundtrack album didn't mean they'd get radio airplay. So, since the suits running radio programming would put his syrupy ballads on the radio, and wouldn't play his uptempo rock songs, people who only look at what made it on the radio assume he was only doing soft sounds and ballads. I really don't think it's Parker's fault that the suits running radio wouldn't play Presley's rock songs from his soundtracks.

There's also the fact that Elvis didn't write his own material, and the dreck he was given to record for his movies was as bad as the scripts themselves. But I don't know that can be blamed on Parker. He was never more than a promoter, with no reputation for knowing anything about the music itself.

I also wouldn't be surprised if the decisions as to what songs to release as singles and promote for airplay weren't made by "research".

 

[DavidEduardo]

I also wouldn't be surprised if the decisions as to what songs to release as singles and promote for airplay weren't made by "research".

The decisions were made by gut feel.

If record companies had found a research tool that helped them find out in advance which songs might be hits, those of us in radio would not have gone through the last four or five decades getting dozens of new releases each week only to find that a small handful ever generated audience reaction and sales.

 

[firepoint525]

But most of those "missteps" only seem that way now, with perfect 20/20 hindsight. At the time, most of them seemed like really good career moves.

But again, he had built up enough goodwill with his fans (the REALLY hardcore ones, obviously) that he could do something like that, and those hardcore fans would just support it anyway. Let a "lesser" star try any of what Elvis did, and he would be yesterday's news.

Well, we still have an "Alternative" board here at Radio Info, that that was a flash-in-the-pan fad that came and went, and for all practical intents and purposes is dead and gone. Not that some people (and radio stations) don't cling to the term, redefining it to mean something totally different from what it originally meant.

CC is in the process of putting an "alternative" station (translator, actually) on the air here in Nashville, and right now, it is just stunting, with Rick Astley, George Strait, the Police, Howard Jones, The Cadillac Three, and others on endless repeat. A look at their "website," alt983.com just pulls up I heart radio.

 

[Avid Listener]

But again, he had built up enough goodwill with his fans (the REALLY hardcore ones, obviously) that he could do something like that, and those hardcore fans would just support it anyway. Let a "lesser" star try any of what Elvis did, and he would be yesterday's news.

As I recall, many of the changes Elvis went through were attempts to change as his fans changed. They were also attempts to replace old fans with new, different fans.

CC is in the process of putting an "alternative" station (translator, actually) on the air here in Nashville, and right now, it is just stunting, with Rick Astley, George Strait, the Police, Howard Jones, The Cadillac Three, and others on endless repeat. A look at their "website," alt983.com just pulls up I heart radio.

Thank you. That's exactly what I was referring to. The word "alternative" is now being used to describe something totally different from what it meant when first applied to a musical genre. It's not unlike the fact that Madonna was elected to the rock and roll hall of fame despite the fact that she was never, in any way, shape, or form, a rock and roll artists. Clearly, the suits who run radio don't much care what words mean. They just care about selling spots.

 

[firepoint525]

I have no way of knowing what was in Parker's or Elvis' heads but at the time, and I was right in the middle of it, every kid I knew wondered what the hell Elvis was doing going to soft sounds and ballads. Although he had a fine voice for that genre it was definitely not a popular one with teens and only the most Elvis-centric fans seemed to listen to those. By the time I returned from Vietnam in '66 Elvis was irrelevant.

If I had been old enough at the time, I likely would have been thinking the same thing. And I am definitely NOT one of those who screams "sellout!" the first time that someone sings a ballad. But if it gets (even just perception) that ballads are "all" that you do, then you become a "balladeer." I personally loved "Love Me Tender," for example, and it was right at the height of his "rock" career. And "Viva Las Vegas" (an uptempo song) was one of my faves by him (of the '60s, anyway), but by then, he was beginning to become known as a balladeer.

 

[firepoint525]

As I recall, many of the changes Elvis went through were attempts to change as his fans changed. They were also attempts to replace old fans with new, different fans.

I never understood why the need to "change," EXCEPT that Parker saw rock and roll as a "fad." Why get away from what got you where you are? When he made his "comeback special," it was indeed an attempt at going back to his roots.

Thank you. That's exactly what I was referring to. The word "alternative" is now being used to describe something totally different from what it meant when first applied to a musical genre. It's not unlike the fact that Madonna was elected to the rock and roll hall of fame despite the fact that she was never, in any way, shape, or form, a rock and roll artists. Clearly, the suits who run radio don't much care what words mean. They just care about selling spots.

And don't forget who it was who inducted her: Mr. Wardrobe Malfunction Creator himself, Justin Timberlake. Madonna was never about "rock." And she used controversy, NOT talent, to sell records. Probably explains why a good many of them (despite being big hits at the time) are not played today.

 

[JeffM]

This thread has really gotten on its horse and ridden off in all directions at once. Also an awful lot of musical "dad-ism." What else is new?

 

[Avid Listener]

I really love it when a thread gets really interesting and wanders and meanders all over the place. It sure beats the hell out of lists of cursed cable systems, or lists of anything.

 

[Avid Listener]

I never understood why the need to "change," EXCEPT that Parker saw rock and roll as a "fad." Why get away from what got you where you are? When he made his "comeback special," it was indeed an attempt at going back to his roots.

Parker is a great example of the "old school" perspective on music. He's of the same mindset as the people who program radio stations that play any sort of vintage music by dates rather than by sound. And, the truth is the kind of Rock Elvis was known for was replaced by newer rock based on bands rather than a single frontman. Look at all the other great rock names that fizzled out with the rise of the Beatles and the rest of the British Invasion? At the time Elvis switched to movies, even here in America all the teen idols and other solo artists tended to give way to bands like the Beach Boys. His 1968 "comeback special" was simply Elvis displaying what he could do if he did good material.

 

[DavidEduardo]

Thank you. That's exactly what I was referring to. The word "alternative" is now being used to describe something totally different from what it meant when first applied to a musical genre. It's not unlike the fact that Madonna was elected to the rock and roll hall of fame despite the fact that she was never, in any way, shape, or form, a rock and roll artists. Clearly, the suits who run radio don't much care what words mean. They just care about selling spots.

Cleveland's WMMS was, for several decades, as highly regarded a rock station as any in the nation.

It played quite a lot of Madonna: it was the first place, while visiting, that I heard "Material Girl".

WMMS was much of what you describe as desirable... good new music without artificial borders, good old songs, and even some album cuts that perhaps were not hits but which possessed a good sense of belonging on the station. WMMS defined rock as whatever they played, and some of their choices were generously broad. WMMS was a dominant station for decades until rock fragmented into segments where partisans of each division hated elements of the other segments.

So, the question should not be whether Madonna was a rock artist but whether rock partisans and fans also liked to hear Madonna.

 

[TheFonz]

By the time I returned from Vietnam in '66 Elvis was irrelevant.

...........until his 1968 "Comeback Special" and his 1973 "Aloha From Hawaii" TV shows. Between 1968 and 1979 Elvis had 23 Top 10 hits on either the Pop, Country or AC charts.

 

[Avid Listener]

It is a major mistake to equate a station playing an entertaining and eclectic mix of musical genres albeit with inaccurate verbal descriptions of the music as proof that words don't have meaning.

My late mother-in-law used to love listening to all the "polka shows" on the radio, despite the fact that many of the ethnic songs they played were actually waltzes. My mother-in-law knew that despite the fact that they called the shows "So-and-so's Polka Hour", it would include many different kinds of Eastern and Central European music. She was smart enough to recognize that a polka was a polka and a waltz was a waltz. I guess that makes her more insightful than some record industry pros.