On another thread, it was set forth that you’re more likely to get what you want from pop culture if you’re a member of a demographic sought out by advertisers and such. As evidence, it was pointed out that oldies stations have died out across the country.
A counter-argument was made, one I agree with: the oldies stations are gone because they had a very narrow playlist and never deviated from it.
If that is the case, then it should be possible to construct an excellent oldies playlist that contains NONE of the songs typical of oldie station playlists, which nevertheless were popular on pop/rock/soul stations between the 50s and the 80s. That is, I’m not looking for a list of obscure cuts from albums that no one ever heard of: that would be EASY for the denizens of this page. Whatever cuts show up should have had at least SOME airplay on an actual commercial station, even if it’s an alternative station, which means none of that student station gibberish where the DJs played whatever swam up out of their LSD/peyote/mescaline/ibogaine-induced mental haze back in the day!!! Oh, you guys could get away with ANYTHING if I left that loophole open, but AIN’T GONNA HAPPEN, monkey-boys (and girls)!
I’ll get things started:
Smokestack Lightnin’ – Mannfred Mann
Don and Dewey – It’s A Beautiful Day (alt)
White Bird – It’s A Beautiful Day (alt)
Mechanical World – Spirit
Mr. Skin – Spirit
99 And A Half Won’t Do – Creedence Clearwater Revival
That’s All Right – Wet Willie
That oughtta get things started
I could come up with dozens. It’s fairly easy to come up with great songs that the oldies stations never play because they were never released as singles. (I’m talking oldies stations, though, not “classic rock,” which does play album cuts).
So:
“The Shape I’m In” – The Band
“Medicated Goo” – Traffic
“Hey Bulldog” – The Beatles
“Free Four” – Pink Floyd
“Moon in June” – Soft Machine
“So Deep Within You” – Moody Blues
“Catherine Howard” – Rick Wakeman
“The Milk of Human Kindness” – Procol Harum
“Apeman” – The Kinks
“Music Must Change” – The Who
“Hot Dog Blues” – Wet Willie
“Dimples” – Allman Brothers Band
“Theme from an Imaginary Western” – Mountain
“Lather” – Jefferson Airplane
“Casey Jones” – Grateful Dead
“Edward the Mad Shirt Grinder” – Quicksilver Messenger Service
“Legend of the USS Titanic” – Jaime Brockett (got lost of airplay on alternative stations in the early 70s).
Not sure how representative my local oldies stations are…
Three Dog Night were friggin’ huge in the late 60s/early 70s. “Joy To the World,” “Road to Shamballah,” “One,” the song that begins “Well I’ve never been to Spain/But I kinda like the music/Ph the ladies are insane there/But they sure know how to use it…” This was one of the top bands in the country, but they disappeared like an out-of-favor Mao crony from official photographs.
Nazareth was one of the big ones when I was a teenager (late 70s). “Love Hurts” lives on as a Gatorade commercial and not much else. About ten years ago, they were the house band at a biker bar in my old neighborhood in Maryland.
I live in Norhtner Virginia now, anout six miles from two bars that host forgotten arena acts of the 80s (State Theater in Falls Church, Jaxx in Springfield). State gets acts like Jeffferson Starship; Jaxx ges hair bands like Poison and Cinderella. Talk about bands the charts forgot!
Thanks loads! I had to dig up Marrying Maiden just so I could listen to “Don and Dewey” while I type this. Bastard.
“Fire On The Mountain” - Marshall Tucker Band
“More Or Less Hudson’s Bay Again” - Masked Marauders
“For Pete’s Sake” - Monkees
“Flirtin’ With Disaster” - Molly Hatchett
“Sleepwalker” - Kinks
“Running After Love” - Melanie (Live)
“Prelude” - Renaissance
“Panama Red” - New Riders of the Purple Sage
“Darlin’” - Beach Boys
I could do this all night. My record collection is right behind me, and I used to work in a record store.
Basically, oldies stations played songs that were so popular, they played the Hell out of them (Supremes, Four Seasons, etc).
I don’t think my oldies station ever played anything that wasn’t a Top Ten hit.
Still, that leaves a lot of room for songs that were hits that you haven’t heard in decades:
**I Had Too Much To Dream Last Night - Electric Prunes
Back When My Hair Was Short - Gunhill Road
Thunder and Lightning - Chi Coltrane
Little Old Man - Bill Cosby** (a huge hit in the Fall of 1967, basically spoken by Bill Cosby based on Stevie Wonder’s “Uptight, Outtasight”. When was the last time you heard it?)
I think I’ll be adding to this list.
“Wolf Creek Pass,” CW McCall
“Psychotic Reaction,” The Count Five
“Popsicle,” Jan and Dean
“Girl Watcher,” The Okaysions (O’Kaysions?)
“And Suddenly,” The Cherry People
“What Now My Love”, Herb Alpert and the Tijuana Brass
“A Coon Hunting Story,” Jerry Clower
“Goodbye,” and "Those Were the Days,"Mary Hopkins
“Neon Rainbow,” The Box Tops
“Red Rubber Ball,” Cyrkle
“Red Balloon,” The Dave Clark Five
“1, 2, 3” Ken Barry
Badge - Cream Funk #49 - James Gang Respect - Rotary Connection Channel Z - B52s Rock Lobster - B52s (I know it’s been played a lot on alternative stations, but that surf guitar ROCKS Telstar - The Ventures
Sleepwalk, Santo & Johnny (?) Sally, Go 'Round The Roses, The Jaynettes I’m Blue, The Shangri-Las Da Doo Run Run, The Belmonts
I miss Finkleman’s 45s! A great show on CBC Radio. At least, it was. The last few years, Danny did more talking and less spinning of disks. But in its heyday, you could great stuff that wasn’t the kind of stuff on the oldies stations.
I agree with: the oldies stations are gone because they had a very narrow playlist and never deviated from it.
I agree, too.
I’d listen to a good oldies station, but yeah, it’s the narrow playlist that gets really OLD. There’s so much great music from the 50s-80s, but they play such a narrow slice of it, I find I get tired of even classics, like Aretha Franklin!
“The Year of the Cat”–Al Stewart
“Take the Money and Run”–Steve Miller Band
“Drives Me Crazy”–Fine Young Cannibals
“Endicott”–Kid Creole and the Coconuts
“Low Spark of High-Heeled Boys” (Traffic)
“Under My Thumb” (Rolling Stones)
“Desolation Row” (Bob Dylan)
“Year Of The Cat” (Al Stewart)
“Waterloo Sunsets” (The Kinks)
“Can’t Find My Way Home” (Blind Faith, I think)
“Sky Pilot,” The Animals (or maybe Eric Burdon and The Animals
“Thunder Road,” Robert Mitchum (maybe “The Ballad of Thunder Road”)
“July, You’re A Woman,” (I think Pat Boone)
“The Wayward Wind,” Gogi Grant
“We’ll Sing in the Sunshine,” Gale Garnett
“Something Stupid,” Frank and Nancy Sinatra
“Jackson,” Nancy Sinatra and Lee Hazlewood
“Some Velvet Morning,” Nancy Sinatra and Lee Hazlewood
“Yellow River,” Christie
“Island Girl,” Elton John
“Mustang Sally,” Wilson Pickett
I can understand that some of these only were on the charts for a brief period, but I can’t figure out why I almost never hear ones like “Mustang Sally” or “Island Girl.”
Just about everything by Little Richard.
Screamin’ Jay Hawkins - I Put A Spell On You
Shirley & Lee - Let The Good Times Roll
The Coasters - Youngblood
The Storey Sisters - Bad Motorcycle (my latest discovery of a forgotten gem)
Jody Reynolds - Endless Sleep
Ritchie Valens - Ooh My Head
Freddy Cannon - Way Down Yonder In New Orleans
Eddie Cochran - Somethin’ Else
The Virtues - Guitar Boogie Shuffle
Jan Bradley - Mama Didn’t Lie
Don Gardner & Dee Dee Ford - I Need Your Lovin’ (omigod, this is a spectacular record!)
Carole King - It Might As Well Rain Until September
The Rivingtons - Papa Oom Mow Mow
Shirley Matthews - Big Town Boy
Garnet Mimms & The Enchanters - Cry Baby (this song is so great that even Janis couldn’t ruin it, despite trying)
The Dixie Cups - Iko Iko
There are a few, most of which I have never heard on the radio, but they were all on the Top 40 someplace when they were new. Once, in the ‘80s, when I bought The CHUM Chart Book, and read up on the old chart listings for this Toronto institution, I called up and asked them to play The Kinks’ “Waterloo Sunset”, but was turned down. They weren’t the same company anymore, and they didn’t play records from CHUM history. They’d bought the same oldies format as all the other stations, where there were less than 450 songs on the playlist.
This is why I like to have over 50,000 songs at my disposal, all in this room. I can hear nearly anything I know, anytime. No idiot DJs or commercials. And no Supremes. Ever.
I was either too young or not around when most oldies from the 50’s, 60’s, and 70’s first came out so my experience in this subject is second-hand or third-hand. But, judging from the way the play-list on my local oldies station shrank over the years, I know there is a large number of older songs they could play instead of the 100 or so they’ve been repeating ad infinitum.
These are some from my MP3 catalog. (I’m limiting myself to neglected Top 40 single material as opposed to neglected album cuts.)
–“I Don’t Why” by Stevie Wonder
–“Cloud Nine” by The Temptations
–“Let’s Go Get Stoned” by Ray Charles
–“Homburg” by Procol Harum
–“Here I Am” or any other single by Al Green besides “Let’s Stay Together”
–any single by James Brown besides “I Feel Good”
–any single by Otis Redding besides “Dock of the Bay”
–“Happy” by The Rolling Stones
–“Wild Night” by Van Morrison
–“Caroline No” by The Beach Boys
–“Love is Like an Itching in My Heart” by The Supremes
I’m only going by songs I never hear on my local oldies stations anymore. Maybe where you live, they’re playing any one of these songs to death.
Hell, toss in “Mother Russia” and “Ashes Are Burning” while we’re at it. The DJ has to crap sometime!
Sometimes I think thats what XM Channel 40 (Deep Tracks) does. I’ll get in the car and they’ll be playing “Rajah Khan” or some weird shit like that that I haven’t heard in decades. They also do a listener-programmed little bit called “Old, New, Borrowed and Blue” that is kinda neat. When I hit the lottery, I’m gonna buy a radio station for just this purpose.
How 'bout “See Emily Play” by Pink Floyd? Number one in England but I’ve never heard it on the radio (just heard American oldies radio though). OTOH, I have heard “Free Four” on the radio – once, but it was as a joke (they were doing the “Top 5 listener requested” bit for Floyd and played that song first.)
Actually, how about any instrumental hit ever recorded, other than “Wipeout” and the Ventures’ “Walk Don’t Run”? There are tons of great instrumental oldies that never, ever get played on the radio. Especially surf . . . I don’t think I’ve ever heard a Dick Dale song on an oldies station.
I certainly agree about a certain slice of the oldies being overplayed. It sent me to country music a year or so ago; someplace I didn’t stay for very long,but at least it gave me a respite from Freebird and every song the Cars ever recorded.
I have a weakness for the schlocky oldies – but I do like good music too! (Honest.) Here’s my list from the fabulous early 70s (in no particular order):
Half Breed, Cher
Knock Three Times, Pawn
Doesn’t Somebody Want To Be Wanted, Partridge Family (Sue me: I was 9)
The Night The Lights Went Out In Georgia, Vicki Lawrence
Afternoon Delight, Starland Vocal Band
Only Sixteen, Dr. Hook
Bang A Gong (Get It On), T. Rex
Indian Reservation, Raiders
That’s The Way I Like It, K.C. and The Sunshine Band
Welcome Back, John Sebastian (The theme from Welcome Back, Kot-TERE)
Saturday Night, Bay City Rollers
Fox On The Run, Sweet
Nice To Be With You, Gallery
Nights In White Satin, Moody Blues
Rocky, Austin Roberts
Mother And Child Reunion, Paul Simon
I Hear You Knocking, Dave Edmunds
It Don’t Come Easy, Ringo Starr
I Saw The Light, Todd Rundgren
Vincent / Castles In The Air, Don Mclean
