# Hit songs of the '60s through the '80s that didn't endure - and do you think they should have? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** music\ **Created:** [December 14, 2022, 2:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hit-songs-of-the-60s-through-the-80s-that-didnt-endure-and-do-you-think-they-should-have/976509 "2022-12-14T14:00:16Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2022, 7:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hit-songs-of-the-60s-through-the-80s-that-didnt-endure-and-do-you-think-they-should-have/976509/41 "2022-12-14T19:22:52Z")
> [@LSLGuy](#): > > _Classical Gas_ is about the only instrumental piece that made it big then, or that is remembered fondly now. This instrumental was a HUGE hit the winter of 1973–74. I remember hearing it everywhere! [![](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/RLTJ95kj9ng/hqdefault.jpg?sqp=-oaymwEmCOADEOgC8quKqQMa8AEB-AHUBoAC4AOKAgwIABABGH8gEygZMA8=&rs=AOn4CLDSaBxa9wMW4E5Di9CYk_W2De6VpA "Love Unlimited Orchestra ~ Love's Theme 1973 Disco Purrfection Version") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RLTJ95kj9ng) ---
**Author:** ![EinsteinsHund](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/einsteinshund/32/8400_2.png) [@EinsteinsHund](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EinsteinsHund)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2022, 7:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hit-songs-of-the-60s-through-the-80s-that-didnt-endure-and-do-you-think-they-should-have/976509/42 "2022-12-14T19:23:38Z")
> [@terentii](#): > > Does Baccara get any airplay in Europe these days? I can only speak for Germany, but not a lot, not on the radio. Maybe they are played for old people like me (though I’ve never liked the song) on oldies parties, but Baccara never got really adopted by younger people (maybe sometimes ironically), unlike many German Schlager hits of the same time. ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2022, 7:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hit-songs-of-the-60s-through-the-80s-that-didnt-endure-and-do-you-think-they-should-have/976509/43 "2022-12-14T19:27:22Z")
You mean, like “Wenn der Mondschein Nicht So Romantisch Wär” and “Er Steht im Tor”? ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2022, 7:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hit-songs-of-the-60s-through-the-80s-that-didnt-endure-and-do-you-think-they-should-have/976509/44 "2022-12-14T19:32:14Z")
> [@Cardigan](#): > > Lots of one hit wonders here. I will nominate the1970 song ‘Hocus Pocus’ by the Dutch progressive rock band Focus. I seldom hear this one played on oldies stations. I love that song, and some DJs loved it for the extended bathroom break they could take. > [@terentii](#): > > “Brandy” by Looking Glass. Note that was in the soundtrack of Guardians 2. 1966 had two big hits- _The Ballad of the Green Beret_s and _California Dreamin._ One is still in constant rotation on Classic Rock, the other is a one hit wonder that is not played much. Big Hit of '67 was _To Sir with Love_- I have not heard that for a long time. Several hit disco songs went away. ---
**Author:** ![EinsteinsHund](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/einsteinshund/32/8400_2.png) [@EinsteinsHund](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EinsteinsHund)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2022, 7:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hit-songs-of-the-60s-through-the-80s-that-didnt-endure-and-do-you-think-they-should-have/976509/45 "2022-12-14T19:33:06Z")
> [@terentii](#): > > You mean, like “Wenn der Mondschein Nicht So Romantisch Wär” and “Er Steht im Tor”? I don’t know “Wenn der Mondschein…”, but “Er steht im Tor (und ich dahinter)” by the oh-so-sweet Wencke Myhre was a tad earlier, from the sixties. But yeah, many young people who weren’t even born at the time listen and party to such songs (it started in the early nineties, parallel to the ABBA revival). (I have a special place in my heart for “Er steht im Tor” because I used to be a football goalie in my youth) ETA: I just googled “Wenn der Mondschein” and I see that it was by Thomas Fritsch. I have never heard the song, and I know Fritsch only as an actor, but he sure had the looks to be successful also as a Schlager singer. ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2022, 7:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hit-songs-of-the-60s-through-the-80s-that-didnt-endure-and-do-you-think-they-should-have/976509/46 "2022-12-14T19:37:32Z")
We had a tape of the 1969 hit parade in my high school German class. I listened to it a lot, but the only other ones I remember are “Yokohama Baby, Yokohama Boy” and “Denver, Colorado.” What about these guys: [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/eNvUS-6PTbs/maxresdefault.jpg "Modern Talking - Cheri Cheri Lady (Official Music Video)") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eNvUS-6PTbs) [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/djV11Xbc914/maxresdefault.jpg "a-ha - Take On Me (Official Video) [Remastered in 4K]") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=djV11Xbc914) [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/PMFKib_Byb8/maxresdefault.jpg "Orchestral Manoeuvres In The Dark - Pandora's Box") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PMFKib_Byb8) ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2022, 7:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hit-songs-of-the-60s-through-the-80s-that-didnt-endure-and-do-you-think-they-should-have/976509/47 "2022-12-14T19:41:00Z")
> [@DrDeth](#): > > _The Ballad of the Green Berets_ A lobster dinner at Scott’s the next time I’m in London if you can sing this one! 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/elmer_j.fudd/32/1211_2.png) [@Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elmer_J.Fudd)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2022, 7:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hit-songs-of-the-60s-through-the-80s-that-didnt-endure-and-do-you-think-they-should-have/976509/48 "2022-12-14T19:41:35Z")
> [@Cardigan](#): > > Seems like virtually any adult contemporary hit from those decades gets no air time these days. The Carpenters, Neil Diamond, Dionne Warwick, Barry Manilow and surely many other chart busters get little or no play on any oldies stations I’ve heard. Oldies and Easy Listening stations were birthed around the same time and artists ended up in one bucket or the other; rarely both. (Someone like Neil Diamond would be treated like two distinct artists: pre-1970 Neil and post-1970 Neil.) ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2022, 7:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hit-songs-of-the-60s-through-the-80s-that-didnt-endure-and-do-you-think-they-should-have/976509/49 "2022-12-14T19:47:19Z")
These two were concurrently huge hits in the Spring of 1975. Has anybody heard them lately? [![](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/sGWs1HK8iDU/hqdefault.jpg?sqp=-oaymwEmCOADEOgC8quKqQMa8AEB-AH-BIAC4AOKAgwIABABGFYgZChlMA8=&rs=AOn4CLB0O37hV2qE942JNSsaP1lylPF_1w "The Last Farewell ~ Roger Whittaker") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sGWs1HK8iDU) [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/evETS8_WFGE/maxresdefault.jpg "Carpenters - Only Yesterday") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=evETS8_WFGE) ---
**Author:** ![EinsteinsHund](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/einsteinshund/32/8400_2.png) [@EinsteinsHund](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EinsteinsHund)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2022, 7:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hit-songs-of-the-60s-through-the-80s-that-didnt-endure-and-do-you-think-they-should-have/976509/50 "2022-12-14T19:56:55Z")
> [@terentii](#): > > What about these guys: Oh my god, you managed to link to fucking Modern Talking, a-ha and OMD in one breath? Modern fucking Talking was the absolute nadir of Western popular music, nay, the nadir of any music ever, while a-ha and OMD are absolutely OK bands. And they both aren’t one-hit wonders like in the US, but both had a string of hits in Europe and are still going strong. ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2022, 8:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hit-songs-of-the-60s-through-the-80s-that-didnt-endure-and-do-you-think-they-should-have/976509/51 "2022-12-14T20:03:50Z")
Modern Talking was played **a lot** at the adult contemporary station where I worked in the '90s. So were Tears for Fears, The Pet Shop Boys, and numerous other artists I can’t recall at the moment. ---
**Author:** ![EinsteinsHund](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/einsteinshund/32/8400_2.png) [@EinsteinsHund](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EinsteinsHund)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2022, 8:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hit-songs-of-the-60s-through-the-80s-that-didnt-endure-and-do-you-think-they-should-have/976509/52 "2022-12-14T20:12:38Z")
Modern Talking and the other bands you mentioned had three things in common: they played pop songs on mostly electronic instruments in the 80s. What they didn’t have in common was a sense for a song, or a sense of music in general. Sorry for my rants. but Modern Talking is a trauma from my teenage years. It doesn’t help that fuckface Dieter Bohlen still is constantly on German TV. ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2022, 8:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hit-songs-of-the-60s-through-the-80s-that-didnt-endure-and-do-you-think-they-should-have/976509/53 "2022-12-14T20:20:40Z")
I merely meant they were popular, not necessarily good. ---
**Author:** ![bordelond](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bordelond/32/150_2.png) [@bordelond](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bordelond)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2022, 8:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hit-songs-of-the-60s-through-the-80s-that-didnt-endure-and-do-you-think-they-should-have/976509/54 "2022-12-14T20:28:48Z")
> [@ZonexandScout](#): > > I’ll beg everyone’s forgiveness, since I’ve mentioned this song a few times before in other threads. > > “She Sheila” by The Producers (1982). It didn’t dominate the charts or anything, but the song and video were EVERYWHERE, primarily due to MTV. I’ll back you up on this one. Didn’t hear “She Sheila” anywhere from the mid-80s until about 2016 when a local 1980s-format independent station started playing it. Today, Sirius XM’s First Wave station will play The Producers very occasionally, and it’s usually “What’s He Got” over “She Sheila”. ---
**Author:** ![bordelond](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bordelond/32/150_2.png) [@bordelond](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bordelond)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2022, 8:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hit-songs-of-the-60s-through-the-80s-that-didnt-endure-and-do-you-think-they-should-have/976509/55 "2022-12-14T20:39:08Z")
> [@EinsteinsHund](#): > > … a-ha and OMD are absolutely OK bands. And they both aren’t one-hit wonders like in the US, but both had a string of hits in Europe and are still going strong. a-ha should be a two-hit wonder in the U.S… “The Sun Always Shines On T.V.” made it to #20 on the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart. That’s generally (but not always) high enough on the chart for a song to be generally remembered in the future. Notably, however, MTV in the U.S. rarely played the video for “The Sun Always Shines On T.V.” Probably would have gone Top 10 with a little more push from MTV, which was still very relevant to chart success in the mid-80s. ---
**Author:** ![Charlie\_Tan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/charlie_tan/32/12582_2.png) [@Charlie\_Tan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Charlie_Tan)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2022, 9:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hit-songs-of-the-60s-through-the-80s-that-didnt-endure-and-do-you-think-they-should-have/976509/56 "2022-12-14T21:17:36Z")
> [@Tzigone](#): > > Do you ever wonder if the familiarity of having heard those other (been played for years on the station) songs have made them more appealing to the audience and they’ve tied more memories to it or they just feel more familiar and whatnot? I guess I mean, I kinda wonder if both were brand new songs to them, they’d still choose the same songs in the same proportions? No way to know. By the way, did you see much difference in preference by age group back then? Sure. It’s a positive (or negative depending on POV) feedback loop. I’ve been sitting in when we made these tests. I’m going to do a long rundown and hide it for those not interested in the TL;DR > **Summary** > > Mind you, this is about a decade old, but listening to radio and still being in touch with former colleagues I don’t think much have changed. > > 1. What’s your intended audience? > > - For many it it’s the coveted 25-44 (-ish) demographics. This might differ some between countries and markets, but the truism is that these are out of college/uni, starting families, buying homes or IOW making a lot of investments which is interesting to advertisers. > - The most popular format is CHR - Contemporary Hit Radio. What they play on what would typically be called Top 40. I guess the playlist today would skew heavily towards _Ed Sheeran, Adele, Ariana Grande, Rhianna_. > - AC - Adult Contemporary aims a little older and is generally not as quick to add the latest. There’s an overlap with CHR, They’ll play _Harry Styles_ and _Taylor Swift_, but not the week the latest single has dropped. They’ll wait a while to be sure it’s really a chart topper. > - Then there’s the type of station I used to work at: Mix- the greatest Mix of Hits and Oldies. This used to be a very successful format: safe, familiar songs. If we’re talking older stuff, you’d hear _Eagles/New Kid in Town_, but never _LZ/Immigrant song._ > - Very few stations will cater to 60+ (except for classic rock). The truism here is that they’re not consuming as much, are set in their ways and not so easily swayed by ads, have a bit less money (being retired). There is no money to be made from older people. > - Then there are the obvious genre stations: country, hip-hop/rap ASF. I’m leaving them out of this, since the thread is about popular music in general. > > 1. In any given market, you’re going to try to find a group of people who’re not finding what they want from the line-up. When you find that group, start figuring out what to do. Since it’s a music station, defining the boundaries is key. And since we’re talking about older music, let’s say that we’re starting an oldies station. > In a way this is safe and easy. There aren’t any new oldies being made. If you market your station as “The best of the 80’s and 90’s” the catalogue is kinda closed. So start defining what kind of 80’s+90’s station you are: A top 40, classic rock? You’ll not find a radio audience that will put up with _Macarena_ segued to _Black Hole Sun_. > > 2. So, classic rock it is. Billboard is a great tool. Start scouring the charts for songs that’ll fit your format. Try to be as middle of the road within that format as possible. _Bon Jovi, Nirvana, Guns’n’Roses_. Sure. _Pixies?_ Maybe. _Rob Zombie?_ Probably not. > > 3. Get a list of about 400 songs. Remember, your rotation will be a total of 250-300 in total, so you don’t need more. Find the hook in each song. It might be a riff, part of the chorus or something else (Think Wooo-Hoo from Blur Song 2). Edit it down to 10 second snippets. > > 4. Find people in your intended demographic who are willing to sit in a town hall school auditorium or some such for an hour, getting some coffee, donuts and maybe ten bucks. You’ll need about 50 people. When they get there, you give them a score card. You want to find out as much about them as possible: exact age, what stations they listen to most of the time, how they rate that station ASF. When you’re processing the result, you’ll discard anyone who spends a lot of time listening to soft rock. You’re not going to win them over with heavier stuff, and their opinion will skew the result. > > 5. Start playing the song snippets and have the people score them. Nobody’s going to be able to listen to 400 hooks and remain sane, so the whole process will need to be repeated a number of times. As with any survey, you’ll have to do a lot of mixing. _Welcome to the Jungle_ will probably score well if it’s the first of 50 hooks being played, but not so great if it’s #48 of fifty. So throw it in again the next day in the middle. > > 6. Keep doing this until you’ve tested the four hundred songs and you feel confident that the rating holds up. Dump the bottom 125. > Why? There are only so many songs that’ll get a 5 of 5 star rating. If you find 290 (you won’t), keep those. Any time you play a song with a 4 star rating, you take the risk of someone zoning out and flipping to another station, because (and this is statistics again) this one listener might’ve given that song 2 stars, and then they’re gone, maybe forever. As long as you only play the 5 star stuff, you’re somewhat safe. > > 7. Plug it all in some software and let it feed the playlist to a computer. > > This is the simplified version. There are so many more parameters being checked, double checked and cross checked. > > I’ve sat at the very back at such testings to see how people react. You see 50 people swaying along, tapping feet and mouthing lyrics when they hear _Welcome to the Jungle_. When we played _Pixies Where is my Mind_, we might as well have played _Bobby Goldsboro’s Honey_. No movement and the score cards uniformly showed 1 star. And for those who didn't want to read all that, remember the one defining trait for ALL commercial radio: They play music for people who _like_ music, _not_ for people who _love and are interested_ in music. There are so very, many more in the former category. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2022, 9:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hit-songs-of-the-60s-through-the-80s-that-didnt-endure-and-do-you-think-they-should-have/976509/57 "2022-12-14T21:38:34Z")
> [@terentii](#): > > “Brandy” by Looking Glass. Yeah, that’s one I feel I still hear all the time, although where, I don’t know. I wasn’t alive when it came out, but when I saw that I was like “is that the ‘you’re a fine girl?’ song.” Somebody out here plays it all the time. Could be Me-TV FM Chicago, which I listen to a bit. I would consider a mainstream standard by how well I know it. > [@bordelond](#): > > Didn’t hear “She Sheila” anywhere from the mid-80s until about 2016 when a local 1980s-format independent station started playing it. I think I may have posted it in one of the Cafe Society pages on current earworms or a similar thread within the last year. I was born in 1975, and have absolutely no memory of this song. A drummer friend of mine sent me an email about a year ago sharing this song and how I might appreciate it as well as a number of other songs by The Producers. Had no knowledge of this band; never heard any of their songs and wondered to myself why nobody has ever brought them to my attention. And, since having become acquainted with them, I still haven’t heard their songs in the wild. ---
**Author:** ![wguy123](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wguy123/32/3161_2.png) [@wguy123](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wguy123)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2022, 9:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hit-songs-of-the-60s-through-the-80s-that-didnt-endure-and-do-you-think-they-should-have/976509/58 "2022-12-14T21:47:27Z")
> [@EinsteinsHund](#): > > Great version, and I see that Dick Dale in the 80s had the same hairdresser as Brian May. Was coming to comment on Dick’s hair. That was quite the bouffant! ---
**Author:** ![Treppenwitz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/treppenwitz/32/3445_2.png) [@Treppenwitz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Treppenwitz)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2022, 9:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hit-songs-of-the-60s-through-the-80s-that-didnt-endure-and-do-you-think-they-should-have/976509/59 "2022-12-14T21:55:38Z")
> [@EinsteinsHund](#): > > while a-ha and OMD are absolutely OK bands I kind of think of a-ha as the band that just won’t go away. It’s a bit of a mystery to me. Not really sure what they ever had; don’t know why they’re still here. j ---
**Author:** ![Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/elmer_j.fudd/32/1211_2.png) [@Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elmer_J.Fudd)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2022, 9:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hit-songs-of-the-60s-through-the-80s-that-didnt-endure-and-do-you-think-they-should-have/976509/60 "2022-12-14T21:57:17Z")
> [@wguy123](#): > > > [@EinsteinsHund](#): > > > > Great version, and I see that Dick Dale in the 80s had the same hairdresser as Brian May. > > Was coming to comment on Dick’s hair. That was quite the bouffant! I used to see Dick Dale in his driveway washing his RV/tour bus as I walked to a favorite bodysurfing spot in the 1980s. He was cultivating a weirdo Phil Spector type image at the time living with a pet tiger and a teenaged girlfriend. A classmate of mine had the balls to knock on his door and ask him to play a concert at our community college and he turned out to be very generous and accommodating. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hit-songs-of-the-60s-through-the-80s-that-didnt-endure-and-do-you-think-they-should-have/976509.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hit-songs-of-the-60s-through-the-80s-that-didnt-endure-and-do-you-think-they-should-have/976509.md?page=4)