Did radio in '82 / '83 / '84 ever play...

[GeneSavage]

Prince's "Let's Pretend We're Married" was an unusual (although not unique) situation for a single on the Billboard Hot 100 Pop Singles: it was listed alongside its B-side, "Irresistible (W)itch." If you prefer, you can call it "Irresistible (Tw)itch."

ANYWAY, what I'm wondering is if anybody listening or working in any U.S. market in 1982, 1983 or 1984 remembers hearing this B-side on broadcast radio in the United States at the time it was new.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Let%27s_Pretend_We%27re_Married claims:

The B-side, "Irresistible (W)itch", received equal airplay and so qualified to chart alongside the A-side.

...Really??? Because at least here in the good ole heartland of America, Tulsa Oklahoma, I'm pretty sure NO radio station TOUCHED this song... I think the fine citizens of our fair city would have burned the station down!

I know it was a big club hit, but was it aired in the early / mid-80s on commercial broadcast radio anywhere? And, if you heard it on the radio or played it on the radio, was it edited in any way?

Thanks in advance for your input!

 

[firepoint525]

I only recall hearing it from listening to it on my sister's 1999 cassette, which she had at the time. I never heard it on the air.

And the b-side, as you mentioned, also received "equal airplay." The A-side received zero airplay, and the b-side received zero airplay. So that is indeed "equal."

As a side note, airplay for the b-side does not qualify it to make the charts separately from the A-side, at least according to Billboard policy in effect during the '70s and '80s. Bruce Springsteen's "Pink Cadillac" got airplay right along with "Dancing in the Dark," but as far as I know, it did not chart separately from "Dancing in the Dark."

 

[GeneSavage]

At least one of the local top 40s played "Let's Pretend..." (I know because I listened to them non-stop) but they may not have played it for long. They did, however, have 6 months between it and the release of "When Doves Cry"... which, of course, changed everything.

I'd only heard "Let's Pretend..." on the radio, so you can imagine my shock when I purchased 1999 & listened to the "extended" portion of the song!!! No WONDER they faded it!

Regarding "Dancing In The Dark" / "Pink Cadillac," it shows up as a single track "Dancing..." on the May 26th, 1984 Billboard Hot 100. Wikipedia doesn't mention it charting at all, although it was a favorite in concert & WAS a big hit for Natalie Cole a few years later.

There are other A/B side singles, I'm sure, but I'm not sure what they were off the top of my head.

I know there's some question as to how big a hit "Angel" was for Madonna, because the flip side of the maxi-single, "Into The Groove," became the MONSTER hit and Billboard wouldn't list it. However, that had more to do with it being the b-side of the 12" single; the 7" of "Angel" had the "dance mix edit" of "Angel" on the flip-side. (Some other countries saw "Burning Up" as the b-side of "Angel.")

Thanks for the info! Anyone else remember "Irresistible..." airing on their local station in '83 or '84?

 

[Starbucks]

After "I Want to Be Your Lover" National Debut for Prince.......his airplay value had declined greatly in the early 80's with exception for the dance and R&B charts. "Controversy" was a mid charter and maybe received some mid market airplay......but it looked for awhile in those years you posted that he was on his way becoming a one hit wonder. "Little Red Corvette" brought him back from his dry spell in 83'...but when the Purple days started (Album, Movie etc...) then the streak of hits came and he was there to stay.
Pink Cadillac was a popular rock track for Bruce on AOR, but not a hit airplay single for him on Top 40. Natalie Cole scored big with it later in the 80's.

 

[hornet61]

Prince's - Erotic City The b-side of Let's Go Crazy...was a monster dance floor hit, than may have been on the charts.

 

[firepoint525]

Bruce's version of "Pink Cadillac" indeed got some airplay on top 40 radio back then, which frustrated me since my own local top 40 wouldn't play it! Only A-sides for them! :'( You are correct that his version never charted, and that it only charted for Natalie Cole a few years later.

I'm aware of "Into the Groove" by Madonna being a big airplay hit for her, although also never officially charting.

 

[Starbucks]

Maybe on some stations who felt like taking a chance on it , but with no regional or national results. Alot of people weren't even aware of Bruce's version till Natalie came along with it. Yes there were some artists where the album was so gigantically big from it....like Madonna....they played or featured "Into the Groove" like a track. It was never released as a single unless my mind forgot to check the flipside of the 45. Example...Michael Jackson's "Day and Night"...never charted or was A' side or never released as a single, but received some airplay. It might have been released as a B side, but i"ll have to check if I still have the freakin' single still around.
Madonna, Michael, and Bruce's album's were so big that record companies were actually releasing as many as 5-7 top 10 singles off their album as the 45 and album release ever worked so closely to coincide each other......It kept the album from exhausting itself in sales. And the album itself showed it. And that's why you also heard some featured tracks that the record companies didn't want to give the whole album completely away in 45's.

 

[Fastphilly]

The mid 80's seem to be a time where many non-single releases had mucho airplay. Jermaine Jackson's 'Tell Me I'm Not Dreamin'" was played quite often on my hometown Top 40 station back in the late months of 1984. Bruce's version of "Pink Cadillac" was never touched by Top 40 in my neck of the woods. With the exception of "Hungry Heart", it was'nt until 1984 that Bruce was a regular on Top 40 playlists in the San Francisco Bay Area.

 

[lost45]

>The mid 80's seem to be a time where many non-single releases had mucho airplay

That's the whole idea behind my show. Man, when I was in college Missing Person's "Words" and Romeo Void's "Never Say Never" were dorm classics. Terrestrial radio has to wake up to the fact that chart numbers are NOT the end all and be all. They were sometimes bought, sold, sniffed, traded...labels folded, politics occurred. Songs got played heavily and didn't chart well. That's a fact.

 

[Fastphilly]

>The mid 80's seem to be a time where many non-single releases had mucho airplay

That's the whole idea behind my show. Man, when I was in college Missing Person's "Words" and Romeo Void's "Never Say Never" were dorm classics. Terrestrial radio has to wake up to the fact that chart numbers are NOT the end all and be all. They were sometimes bought, sold, sniffed, traded...labels folded, politics occurred. Songs got played heavily and didn't chart well. That's a fact.

Your right Barry, I used to listen to your show often online, but for some reason no local station in the Bay Area never aired your show and most of the time I don't have the extra time to listen to your show online. I must say I enjoyed the variety and the non-bured out songs you played. Great to hear from you.

 

[lost45]

>Your right Barry, I used to listen to your show often online, but for some reason no local station in the Bay Area never aired your show and most of the time I don't have the extra time to listen to your show online. I must say I enjoyed the variety and the non-bured out songs you played. Great to hear from you.

We're back at stations across the country! Tell them to wake up and stop playing the same songs over and over and over (even with a slogan that says 'we play everything!'). This retro show gives them a chance to do just that...plus over 800 exclusive artist interviews: Content is King!

 

[bturner]

I was working Top 40 in a small market at the time and played "Controversy" by Prince. We played a few album tracks when we could talk a record company rep into sending us the vinyl. Our biggest issues with B-sides is everything we got was labeled with a mono version on one side and a stereo version on the other side of the '45'. We would have played some 'B' sides if they were provided since we had a pretty captive audience and the distant major market Top 40 AM had a very tight playlist. We were always looking for a song or two we could break that that distant AM 150 miles away would never touch.

 

[Fastphilly]

Thats the thing about promo 45's. Up until '82. 45's serviced to radio were mono/stereo. As the 80's went on, promo 45's were double A side stereo or if a special promo radio edit was mixed, then a promo 45 would have the single mix b/w promo radio edit. Only stock 45's for the most part had a "B" side track.

 

[KFodor]

>The mid 80's seem to be a time where many non-single releases had mucho airplay

That's the whole idea behind my show. Man, when I was in college Missing Person's "Words" and Romeo Void's "Never Say Never" were dorm classics. Terrestrial radio has to wake up to the fact that chart numbers are NOT the end all and be all. They were sometimes bought, sold, sniffed, traded...labels folded, politics occurred. Songs got played heavily and didn't chart well. That's a fact.

My, God...Barry. No one...I mean no one who wants any ratings at all should be focusing on the Billboard chart to do 80's. I did it under direction of a consultant when we put together Star 107.9 in Columbus, Ohio in 1998. That music list lasted about a week before we scrapped it. It was too A/C...too slow, too "wimpy", not the musical "feel" we wanted.

Though at the same time, certain songs we found worked better in the confines of a weekly specialty show, as opposed to regular playlist airplay. We couldn't make the club records and most of the dance stuff work...but, they played and were accepted well on our Friday night and Saturday night feature shows. Hair bands? For the most part, the same. Can't play 'em at 8 in the morning, but a 10 pm to midnight feature show? Worked great.

Never trust the charts, though...on the 80's...it's far more complicated that one can believe.

 

[stevations]

It was interesting to hear the club and import records played on WBLS WRKS WKTU New York during that time. They were usually about 3 months ahead of other stations in other markets to play songs that became hits. Some songs were played a year earlier in NYC before other markets caught up. Some example are Nu Shooz "I Can't Wait" Laid Back "White Horse" Pet Shop Boys "West End Girls" It was like NY was in its own radio world. They also played different versions of the songs not heard in other markets. WKTU's station slogan was.....It's a Mutha!