Return To Sender: A “No Mail On Saturday” Playlist

You’ve got mail.

It was announced earlier this week that the U.S. Postal Service will be eliminating Saturday mail delivery this August (though packages aren’t affected to be this decision.) There’s been mixed reaction to the announcement, but it appears that it won’t be reversed – for now, at least. While you’re counting down the days until the six-day delivery system goes away, here are six of my favorite songs about the postal service, writing letters and more from the past fifty or so years. Hopefully, you can cope with this playlist from the P.O. box of pop music.

“BECAUSE I LOVE YOU (THE POSTMAN SONG)”
Stevie B made a name for himself on the freestyle circuit, charting for several years on the Hot 100 with minor entries that also hit the Dance Chart. Then, in 1990, the singer released this big ballad which became his signature song, spending four weeks at the top of the chart. Too bad the postman couldn’t answer his request for additional singles with that kind of chart presence. After some weaker top-40 hits, he was off the scene by 1995.

“PLEASE MR. POSTMAN”
Here’s one of two songs on the list that made the national charts three times. Back in 1961, a trio out of Michigan named The Marvelettes took the song to #1 for one week in December 1961. It was the first number-one record for the fledgling Tamla Records, a subsidiary label of Motown. They followed it with “Twistin’ Postman” the next year, but it just scratched the top 40. Then, in 1974, duo the Carpenters recorded their version of the tune, and it also went to #1 for one week in January 1975. It would be the last time the graced the top of the Hot 100. “Postman” last made the Hot 100 in a version by R&B trio Gentle Persuasion, which went to #82 in 1983. It essentially came off as a second-rate version of The Pointer Sisters and became their only charting single.

“P.S. I LOVE YOU”
Written by Paul McCartney, this one made the charts just about a month after The Beatles claimed the top five singles in the nation in late March 1964. Originally the b-side of their #1 single, “Love Me Do”, it went to #10 on the Hot 100 in 1964, an unexpectedly high charting for the flip side of a record, but it is Fab Four we’re talking about. The band also covered other mail-themed songs like the aforementioned “Please Mr. Postman” and Buddy Holly‘s “Mailman, Bring Me No More Blues”.

“SIGNED, SEALED, DELIVERED (I’M YOURS)”
It’s another classic song from Tamla Records, originally recorded by the great Stevie Wonder. The song became his first top ten hit of the 70’s, going to #3 on the Hot 100. “Signed” also went as high as #18 in a remake by Peter Frampton in 1977. I personally really like his version, though I know many people who don’t. It was Frampton’s second-to-last top-40 hit.

“STRAWBERRY LETTER 23”
I’m not a huge fan in general of this next group on the list, but this is probably my favorite song from The Brothers Johnson, who remade a 1971 album track by Johnny Otis and turned it into a #5 hit on the Hot 100 in 1977. Plus, I hear the vinyl single pressings had a strawberry scent to them. Sweet. A remake with an added rap break by young R&B singer Tevin Campbell peaked at #53 on the Hot 100 in 1992, though it hit the top 40 in CHR airplay.

“THE LETTER”
Having a number-one hit with your debut single seems to be a common thread amongst many of the acts in this post like Stevie Wonder, The Beatles and The Marvelettes. Well, The Box Tops did it too, with a #1 for four weeks on the Hot 100 in the fall of 1967. It was remade by soft-rock quartet The Arbors, peaking at #20 in 1969. Lastly, a version by Joe Cocker went to #7 in 1970. It was co-produced by Leon Russell.

Other post-worthy odes to the postal service since the 60’s:
“A Letter To Myself”, The Chi-Lites (1973)
“Amsterdam (Gonna Write You A Letter)”, Guster (2003)
“Another Postcard (Chimps)”, Barenaked Ladies (2003)
“In Your Letter”, REO Speedwagon (1981)
“Rock And Roll Love Letter”, The Bay City Rollers (1976)
“Take A Letter Maria”, R.B. Greaves (1969)

Can’t forget about the one in the title… “Return To Sender” by Elvis Presley. It hit #2 on the Hot 100 in 1962.

Have another song you’d like to add that got lost in transit? Let me know in the comments or on Twitter: @AdamFSoybel.

GRAMMY Flashback: The Year Without A Best New Artist

Two of the acts that got the “Boot”.

Welcome to GRAMMY Week! This week, from Monday to Friday, you’ll be treated to some special GRAMMY related topics, from the past to the present, all leading up to the music’s biggest night on Sunday at 8PM eastern on CBS. Let’s dive into today’s post…

As you’re probably aware, Best New Artist is one of the big four categories presented on the night, first given out in 1959 to Bobby Darin. The award’s been presented to some performers that have gone on to illustrious careers: The Beatles, The Carpenters, Mariah Carey, Alicia Keys, Maroon 5 and more. The award also cursed more than a few acts it was given to: Bobbie Gentry, The Starland Vocal Band, Rickie Lee Jones, Marc Cohn, Arrested Development, and others. Oh, let’s not forget Milli Vanilli, whose win was taken away after it was revealed that the two men weren’t singing their own records. Oops. Yet, what happens when the Award isn’t awarded to anyone at all even when there was plenty of new talent out there? Then, you get the 1967 GRAMMY Awards.

For some reason that’s still unclear to this day, no Best New Artist was appointed at the 1967 ceremony, which reflected the music of 1966. I figure I could highlight some of the acts that released their first big singles during that year and would’ve been eligible for the Award. Then, you can decide who should have been the big winner. I have my pick(s). The 1966 GRAMMY Awards had seven nominees for Best New Artist; I’ll limit my category to five, as is the standard today. And, the nominees are…

NANCY SINATRA
The daughter of the iconic Frank Sinatra had a big year in 1966. After a failed single in “So Long, Babe”, Sinatra went to the top of the Hot 100 with “These Boots Are Made For Walkin'”, which became her signature song. Written by Lee Hazlewood, it spent one week at #1. It also led Sinatra to three other top-40 singles during the year, including “Sugar Town” (#5) and “How Does That Grab You, Darlin’?” (#7). Her father won Best Album for A Man And His Music and Record Of The Year for “Strangers In The Night” at the 1967 GRAMMY Awards… who’s to say she couldn’t have followed him?

PERCY SLEDGE
The R&B singer from Alabama crooned his way to the #1 spot on the Hot 100 in May 1966 with “When A Man Loves A Woman”. It spent two weeks at the top. He managed two other top-20 hits during the year, both of which hit the top ten on the R&B chart. He wouldn’t have been the strongest choice to win, but with a big debut single, he could have swayed some of the voters to go his way. (He ultimately wouldn’t hit the top ten on the Hot 100 again, though he came close with the #11 “Take Time To Know Her” in 1968.)

SIMON & GARFUNKEL
This duo of Paul Simon and Art Garfunkel spent years under an assortment of names trying to hit the big time, but it wasn’t until 1965 that a song from their album released the year prior, Wednesday Morning, 3 A.M., began receiving airplay at a few markets. Officially released in the fall, “The Sound Of Silence” spent two weeks at #1 in January 1966. The band went onto release four other top-40 hits during 1966, including the #3 “I Am A Rock” and “Homeward Bound” (#5). The duo garnered several GRAMMY Awards for later hits like 1968’s “Mrs. Robinson” and 1970’s “Bridge Over Troubled Water”. Was it to make up for the lack of a Best New Artist win? They certainly would’ve been a huge act in the hunt for it had there been a category that year.

THE ASSOCIATION
Another of the big vocal groups out of California, they first the Hot 100 in 1966 with “Along Comes Mary” (#7) with a lead vocal by Jim Yester. However, it was a song sung and written by vocalist Terry Kirkman that took the band to #1 for three weeks in September: “Cherish”. Both releases can be found on And Then… Along Comes The Association, which made the top 5 on the Billboard 200 album chart. If the voters on the panel wanted a more traditional-sounding act to win the Award, the baroque pop flavor of their material may have worked out for them.

THE MAMAS & THE PAPAS
In terms of success in 1966, this group had the biggest and most consistent pack of singles during the year. The quintet out of New York City took the charts by storm, first with a #4 hit, the classic “Calfornia Dreamin'”. That record was followed by three other consecutive top-5 singles: “Monday, Monday” (#1 for three weeks), “I Saw Her Again” (#5) and “Words Of Love” (#5). Up to that point, a mixed group of men and woman had never won the Award. Could the band have achieved that feat before The Carpenters took it at the 1971 ceremony? Might have happened “for all we know”.

Other acts to make their debut that year that might have been nominated:
Neil Diamond: his first big top ten, “Cherry Cherry”, may have come too late in the year to get him a nomination. Plus, he’s only received two nominations total and both have been for movie soundtracks.
The Rascals: had a big #1 in “Good Lovin'”, but their other 1966 singles weren’t big successes. They continued to make the top 40 until 1969.

So, who do you think would’ve won it all? I’d say Nancy Sinatra and Simon & Garfunkel had the best chance of getting it, the former based on name and the latter based on how the Academy lavished them with Awards at future ceremonies. How about you? Let me know in the comments or on Twitter: @AdamFSoybel. Stay tuned for more GRAMMY posts as the week continues!

What “Child” Is This? Youngsters In The Top Ten

Burning down the House.

Swedish House Mafia finally have their first big hit in the States as “Don’t You Worry Child”, featuring vocalist John Martin, sits at #7 on the Billboard Hot 100 this week. Though this may be the only time the group charts together (they’re currently on a farewell tour), they’ve it done with a song that becomes the first top ten title since the 90’s to feature the word “child” in it.

In total, 59 song titles with the word “child” (or some variation like “children”) in them have made the Hot 100 since it began in 1958, 27 of those making the top 40. The first of them, in early 1959, was “The Children’s Marching Song (Nick Nack Paddy Whack)” by Cyril Stapleton and His Orchestra, which was quickly followed by a version from Mitch Miller and his “Sing Along With Mitch” Chorus. The Stapleton version rose to #13 and the Miller version got to #16.

Just eleven of those nearly sixty top-40 hits made it into the top ten. Here are the other ten besides “Worry”:

“Little Children”, Billy J. Kramer with The Dakotas (#7, 1964)
This English band came to the States as a part of the British Invasion in 1964 and launched four songs into the top 40, this one being the biggest. After two additional Hot 100 singles in 1965, the group experienced several membership changes and ultimately folded several years later. They’ve reunited since, but haven’t charted again.

“Love Child”, Diana Ross & The Supremes (#1, 1968)
Girl groups don’t come bigger than this. In just about five years, they accumulated twelve #1 singles on the Hot 100, this two-week topper being the eleventh of them. Ross departed the group roughly a year after this single and they had several years of top-40 hits without her, including two top tens. Ross, of course, did quite a bit better, with six additional #1 hits on her own. Dance group Sweet Sensation took their version onto the charts in 1990, just missing the top ten with a peak of #13.

“Runaway Child, Running Wild”, The Temptations (#6, 1969)
Another of Motown’s biggest acts makes the list with this single, which also spent two weeks at #1 on the R&B chart in March. All five members sang lead on the song. The quintet scored Hot 100 and R&B hits for several decades to come, including songs like the #1 “Papa Was A Rollin’ Stone”.

“O-O-H Child”, The Five Stairsteps (#8, 1970)
After years of top-40 misses, this song from the Chicago group featuring the Burke siblings cracked the top ten during the summertime. They made the Hot 100 several other times after this song hit, but nothing placed within the top 40. A remake by Dino in 1993 hit the top ten in CHR airplay, but managed a lower #27 on the Hot 100. One other cover, done by Daryl Hall and John Oates, became a minor adult contemporary hit in 2005.

“Mother And Child Reunion”, Paul Simon (#4, 1972)
After his partnership with Art Garfunkel dissolved in 1970, Simon began his string of solo successes with this first hit, which also made the top 5 in countries like Australia, Canada and the United Kingdom. Simon would soon eclipse this solo peak with bigger entries like his only #1, 1976’s “50 Ways To Leave Your Lover”.

“Hot Child In The City”, Nick Gilder (#1, 1978)
English-born, Canadian-raised Gilder only made the top-40 once in the States with this #1 hit. He scored several other big singles in Canada, including a #1 with his former group Sweeney Todd, “Roxy Roller”, in 1976.

“Sweet Child O’ Mine”, Guns N’ Roses (#1, 1988)
Axl Rose and the boys garnered their first and only chart-topper with their first single to make the Hot 100, spending two weeks at #1 in September. The Los Angeles band took five other songs into the top ten through 1992. Their long-awaited Chinese Democracy album was finally released in 2008 and they were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall Of Fame just last year.

“When The Children Cry”, White Lion (#3, 1989)
This ballad was the second and final top-40 hit for this rock band from Denmark, placing just behind songs from Paula Abdul and Sheriff. The first, “Wait”, hit the top ten the previous year. They continued to make the Billboard 200 album chart in the U.S. until 1991.

“This One’s For The Children”, New Kids On The Block (#7, 1989)
In 1989, one of the biggest bands out of Boston managed to place six songs in the top 40, all within that one chart year. This was the last of them, from the album Merry, Merry Christmas, and appropriately peaked during the week of Christmas. NKOTB managed two other top ten hits after this, then broke up in 1994 and experienced a successful reunion in 2008. They release a new studio album, 10, in April.

“Jesus To A Child”, George Michael (#7, 1996)
From his album Older, the single marked a major comeback for Michael, his first top ten hit in four years on the Hot 100. Followup single “Fastlove” would be his last single to make the Hot 100, peaking at #8, though he’s had a top-40 single in the United Kingdom as recent as last year.

For the young at heart and on the charts, make sure to click the follow button to get updates from POP! Goes The Charts and follow me on Twitter: @AdamFSoybel.

REWIND: 1989’s Adventures In The Musical Lost & Found Bin

Where are they now?

Some songs by big artists naturally become hits. Others take a little more promotional push to rise up the charts. Some flop outright, but then, there are the lucky few that get a second chance and see that single revived on the national charts. For example, you might remember that “At This Moment” by Billy Vera & The Beaters went to #1 in early 1987, but you may not know that in its initial release, it peaked at a dismal #79 on the Hot 100 in the fall of 1981. This was, of course, before it was used on Family Ties and subsequently rereleased by Rhino Records.

Though this kind of thing happened periodically in the 80’s, 1989 for some strange reason became the breakout year for this re-releasing of underperforming singles. A few programmers of note helped to influence the trend; other singles were released just for the sake of being released. Prepare for a trip down memory lane as we take a look into our mystical and musical lost and found bin to see which treasures got plucked out again for a second spin.

SHERIFF – “When I’m With You” (#1 — February 4, 1989)
This Canadian band formed in 1979 and released only one self-titled album. The biggest single from it, “When I’m With You”, charted on the Hot 100 for seven weeks between May and June 1983, peaking at #61. The band proceeded to break up two years later. It was in the fall of 1988 that a disc jockey named Jay Taylor at KLUC-FM in Las Vegas that put the song back on the air again, stating that, “I always thought it should have been a big hit.” Well, the phones began to light up, and the word spread to nearby stations, who promptly put it into rotation. Eventually, Capitol Records began pressing the single again, and it re-charted in November 1988, reaching the top 40 on the chart dated December 17. By January of 1989, it was in the top ten, and then it hit the top spot for one glorious week. This, while lead singer Freddy Curci left the business and paid the bills by becoming a letter carrier in Canada, often hearing his voice on the radio when delivering the mail to workplaces. Of course, his customers didn’t actually believe it was him. With the success of the long-forgotten single, Curci and another former Sheriff member, Steve DeMarchi, formed another band, Alias, who hit the next year with the big hit “More Than I Can Say”.

THE BELLE STARS – “Iko Iko” (#14 — May 13, 1989)
This all-female group from England released a remake of this much covered song (probably best known in a 1965 version by The Dixie Cups) and it became their debut single in the United Kingdom, peaking at #35 in June 1982. Their biggest success was with the song “Sign Of The Times”, which got to #3 in the U.K., but only went as high as #75 on the Hot 100 later that year. After a few more single releases that weren’t nearly as big, the band broke up in 1986. However, the song unexpectedly found new life when it was featured on the soundtrack to the 1988 movie Rain Man, starring Tom Cruise and Dustin Hoffman. A major hit at the box office, Capitol Records promoted the single release in the States, which made the Hot 100 starting in March 1989 before peaking at #14 in May. The group didn’t chart again.

JIMMY HARNEN with SYNCH – “Where Are You Now?” (#10 — June 10, 1989)
Well, look who it is! Jay Taylor and KLUC-FM struck again with this song, originally just a regional hit in the midwest, especially in Harnen’s home state of Pennsylvania. After being signed to Columbia Records, the label promoted the single, which debuted on the Hot 100 in March 1986 before climbing to a peak of #77 in April. It slowly descended the survey, spending a total of twelve weeks on. Taylor put it on the air again and listener response was once again big, so a sub-label of Epic Records, WTG, picked up the song, re-credited it to Jimmy Harnen with Synch (rather than just Synch as in the 1986 release) and sent it out to shops. It hit the Hot 100 once again in late February 1989, slowly climbing to a peak of #10 in June. (This is an interesting news reel clip which highlights the song and some members of the group as “Now” hit the top 40 in late April.) Harnen released a solo album, but it didn’t catch on, though he continued writing for a number of years afterward. Harnen is now the president of Republic Nashville Records, as well as the executive vice president for Big Machine Records.

BENNY MARDONES – “Into The Night” (#20 — July 1, 1989)
Ohio-born Mardones originally signed to Private Stock Records in 1978 before the label shut down, but was picked up by Polydor shortly afterward. They released his second album, Never Run, Never Hide, which featured “Into The Night”. It peaked at #11 on the Hot 100 in September 1980 during a long (at least for the time) twenty week chart run. Mardones fell off the radar almost immediately afterward due to drug abuse from his sudden fame. In 1989, KZZP-FM in Phoenix aired a “Where Are They Now?” type feature, the most popular artist covered on the segment being Mardones. Many people were intrigued to know about what was happening with him. This caught the attention of then-program director at Los Angeles radio station KQLZ-FM, “Pirate Radio”, Scott Shannon. When he was a disc jockey at WRBQ-FM in Tampa, Shannon had successfully returned Charlene‘s atrocious ballad “I’ve Never Been To Me” to the charts after flopping five years prior, which went to #3 in 1982. He thought he could do it again with yet another ballad, and so, he added it into rotation and soon it became a big hit once again. Re-entering in May 1989, it hit the #20 spot in a newer version, and though it didn’t top its original run, it propelled the song to become one of the most-played songs on FM radio of all-time. Mardones recorded new material after his brief resurgence, but nothing made the national charts.

REAL LIFE – “Send Me An Angel ’89” (#26 — July 22, 1989)
In 1983, this quartet from Melbourne, Australia managed a top ten hit in their native country, as well as two weeks in the #1 spot in New Zealand, with the original release of “Angel”. In the States, it crossed over several months later, debuting on the Hot 100 in mid-November before peaking at #29 for two weeks in February 1984 during a nineteen week chart run. Followup single “Catch Me I’m Falling” tanked, only reaching as high as #40. In 1989, as the band prepared a greatest hits package, the song was remixed slightly for a single release with some harder drums and a variation of the synth line (perhaps an updated keyboard) and once again, it climbed the charts. Returning to Hot 100 in May, it peaked in July at #26, three spots higher than the original release, before falling off by the end of the next month. The group had some success on Dance/Club Play chart after “Angel” got a second wind, but it was their last release to make the Hot 100.

Two other songs were rereleased in 1989, but just missed the top 40 on their second try despite becoming minor hits in their first run on the charts. In the summer, Peter Gabriel‘s “In Your Eyes” went as high as #41 after being featured in the film Say Anything, starring John Cusack. Maybe you held up a boombox or two over your head and blasted the song so your significant other could hear it. (Actually, scratch that, the neighbors would probably call the police.) Then, in the fall, Australian band Moving Pictures returned to the #46 spot what “What About Me?”, a song that took its sweet time peaking during its original run from 1982 into 1983. It spent nearly half a year in the Hot 100 and peaked at #29, enough to make it on to the 1983 year-end countdown. Gabriel is still making music; Moving Pictures never made the Hot 100 again.

For the best of everything that’s retro, keep it here on POP! Goes The Charts! Follow the blog and follow me on Twitter: @AdamFSoybel.

REWIND: Pop’s Biggest Paternity Case Turns 30

A little slice of Michael madness.

“If my ears are correct,” says KIIS-FM music director Mike Schaefer, “Michael Jackson’s ‘Billie Jean’ is going to the top of the charts. I crank it up every chance I get. The bass line, the lyrics, they’re just incredible. I’m telling you, it’s a mutha!” — Billboard Magazine (January 22, 1983)

Well, Schaefer’s ears didn’t deceive him: “Billie Jean” became the big hit record that he and a lot of other programmers thought it was going to be. Released as the second single from Michael Jackson‘s landmark album, Thriller, it marked a clear distinction from the first taste that listeners got of the album, a #2 duet with Paul McCartney from late 1982, “The Girl Is Mine”. The song became an international success and an iconic single for a multitude of reasons. Here’s just a fraction of why the song stands in the high ranks that it does today.

Recorded in 1982, the song details a woman, a groupie of sorts, who meets the protagonist at some sort of club and claims that he “is the one” who fathered her young child, which the protagonist denies. She tries to further prove her point by showing him a picture of the newborn son, whom he notes that “his eyes were like mine” but still refutes the statement that he is indeed the father of him. By the end, we don’t exactly know who is telling the truth in this story. Now, Jackson’s claimed in a few interviews that the character of Billie Jean is a sort of composite of some of the girls he and his brothers would encounter on tour during their early days in the late 1960’s. One biographer, J. Randy Taraborrelli, pointed out that in 1981, the year before the song was composed, a woman wrote a letter to Jackson claiming that he was the father of her child, continuing to send him letters that he ignored until one day, he received a package with photograph of the fan, as well as a letter and a gun. The latter incident would seem a little more believable as the inspiration for the song given the timing, but while he was alive, Jackson never really specified that one particular source was correct. I suppose we’ll never know, but whatever case you believe, the lyrics still make for quite the haunting tale.

Sonically, the bass line is everything in this song. It’s booming and intense and makes you just want to dance, despite the dense lyrical matter. It’s mixed together with guitar, strings, and of course, Jackson’s snapping and hiccup-style vocals. Daryl Hall of Hall & Oates mentioned that Jackson admitted to him that he essentially “copied that groove” from the duo’s 1981 hit, “I Can’t Go For That (No Can Do)”, but that Hall was fine with it, remarking that he himself had lifted it from someone else. At least he was inspired somewhere good. It’s hard to believe that Quincy Jones, the legendary producer, didn’t actually like the song when it was first created; he thought it was too “weak” to appear on Thriller. The two fell out over several issues, including a co-producer credit for Jackson, but eventually reconciled and decided that song, after being mixed by Bruce Swedien a total of ninety-one times, was finally ready to put on the record. Man, were things about to blow up for his status on the music scene.

Jackson’s single was one of the first big releases of that new year; thus, it was an instant impact once sales and airplay data starting rolling in. “Billie Jean” rocketed straight onto the Hot 100 at #47 on the chart dated January 22. It entered the top 40 next week, climbing to #37, then to #27, a more modest climb to #23, and then a huge rise up to #6 on the chart dated February 19. Two weeks later, it was spending its first of seven weeks at #1, ending its run in mid-April just as next single, “Beat It”, hit the top 5. The latter single only spent one week at the top. “Billie” last held a spot in the top 40 on May 21, at #29, spending a total of seventeen weeks there and twenty-four within the Hot 100. The song landed as the #2 song of the year on Billboard’s year-end chart. It also spent two weeks at #1 on rival Radio & Records’ airplay-only chart and six weeks at the top on Cashbox Magazine Top 100 chart.

On top of all this success, “Billie Jean” became one of the first big music videos by an African-American artist played on MTV in heavy rotation: the network had been criticized for not playing many of those artists since its inception a few years back. It earned GRAMMY Awards for Best Male R&B Vocal Performance and Best R&B Song. Plus, who can forget the moonwalk he danced during the song’s performance at Motown 25: Yesterday, Today, Forever? The song broken down racial barriers while breaking onto all kinds of charts. It remained one of the big sellers after Jackson’s death in 2009 as well, selling in excess of 3.5 million copies in the States when combining digital, physical and ringtone sales. It’s a true classic, one that we’ll be remembering for many years to come. Forget Maury — the biggest unsolved paternity case of all-time just celebrated its 30th anniversary of making the charts. Congrats to the long-gone, but still celebrated, King of Pop.

Voices Carry: Screaming and Shouting Up The Survey

Would you hold it against her?

Pipe down! Better yet, pipe into this. This week on the Hot 100, the collaboration between will.i.am and Britney Spears, “Scream & Shout”, rises to #6. It’s the first main-credited solo top ten hit for the leader of the Black Eyed Peas and twelfth for Spears. Question is, which word has appeared in the top ten more times before? “Scream” or “Shout”? You may be yelling at the top of your lungs when you find out. I would save your voice, however. Here they are:

THE SCREAMERS
MICHAEL & JANET JACKSON – “Scream” (#5, 1995)
One of the most hotly anticipated singles of the decade went in with a roar but bowed out pretty quickly despite two big names and a $7 million music video, which has influenced a number of other videos over the years. The song debuted on the radio during the third full week of May, with a CD single release just a week afterwards, combining in a huge #5 debut on the Hot 100 on the chart dated June 17. However, the airplay suddenly stopped building less than a month after it debuted and the single sales, though strong for a few weeks, started dropping by the end of July. The hype was just too big and it couldn’t sustain it. Both artists would hit the #1 spot on the Hot 100 after this single before Michael passed away in 2009. Janet’s last hit on a genre-specific chart was as recent as 2010.

USHER – “Scream” (#9, 2012)
This singer’s latest album, Looking 4 Myself, was one of his more polarizing to date in that it took him into a more dance and electronic direction, which alienated a lot of his Urban audience despite a few hits at the format. This was his only major mainstream hit from the album, which got to #6 on CHR radio and #9 on the Hot 100. 2013 marks the 20-year mark for Usher on the national charts, and I’m sure he’ll be around with some more big singles for years to come. (This is the most recent occurrence of the word “scream” appearing on the charts.)

THE SHOUTERS
JOEY DEE & THE STARLITERS – “Shout (Part One)” (#6, 1962)
Several months earlier, the band had a big debut #1 hit in “Peppermint Twist”, knocking out Chubby Checker‘s rereleased version of “The Twist”. This was followed by the similar “Hey, Let’s Twist”, which only got to #20. By that point, the countdown was all twisted out with a twister of songs by Billy Joe & The Checkmates, Gary U.S. Bonds, Sam Cooke and more. So, the band went in a different direction, recording this live version of the old Isley Brothers tune and shouting their way to a peak of #6. The band would continue to hit the Hot 100 through 1963.

ERNIE MARESCA – “Shout! Shout! (Knock Yourself Out)” (#6, 1962)
Though he only charted with one solo song, Maresca was very successful as a songwriter, co-writing/writing two big hits for Dion in 1961, “Runaround Sue” (#1) and “The Wanderer” (#2). He was also part of the band The Regents, who did the original version of “Barbara Ann” in 1961 (#13) before the Beach Boys made it into a top seller four years later. Maresca’s song peaked within two weeks of Dee’s; in fact, for the week of May 4, both songs were in the top ten! Dee & The Starliters fell from 6-10, while Maresca soared from 16-8. Now that’s something to shout about. He continued to write and sing until the end of the decade.

TEARS FOR FEARS – “Shout” (#1, 1985)
This English duo was just coming off a #1 hit with “Everybody Wants To Rule The World”, so expectations were high for their American followup, and it did not disappoint. “Shout” hit #1 in eight countries, including the United States, and launched parent album Songs From The Big Chair into the top spot on the Albums Chart. The group had two other top-5 hits following this, and a handful of top-40 entries, their last one being “Break It Down Again” in 1993.

(We’ve had some shouters on the air and selling big since then. The most recent top-40 appearance of it was in a rereleased version of “Twist and Shout” by The Beatles in 1986. It hit #23 after it was featured in Ferris Bueller’s Day Off. Shaggy also scored a CHR radio entry in 2000 with “Dance & Shout”, which sampled “Shake Your Body (Down To The Ground)” by The Jacksons. It went as high as #22 on that format chart and just missed the Hot 100.)

So, there you have it. There have been two other “Scream” titles and three other “Shout” titles besides “Scream & Shout” to make the top ten. It’s a pretty close race. Will the screamers eventually topple the shouters? Will a combination of two in “Scream & Shout” prove to be a #1 record in the next few weeks? Anything can happen in the chart game. For more music information, don’t raise your voice, just follow the blog and follow me on Twitter: @AdamFSoybel.

Shop Around: A Trip To The Musical Mini-Mart

“Shop” ’til you drop.

Ready to pop some tags? Macklemore & Ryan Lewis‘s “Thrift Shop” has been one of the big breakout records so far this year, already in the top 5 on the Billboard Hot 100. It’s a novelty record, and though that’s not the tone of their whole collaborative album, The Heist, it’s the song that’s seemed to catch the attention of fans and radio programmers alike. However, with a #5 peak thus far, it’s not the biggest single to mention a retail store in the history of the charts. Grab your cart and your list because we’ll be spending this next post looking at some different locations and “shop”-titled hits that rang up on the registers.

It should be noted that the most covered “Shop” song to hit the charts used the word as a verb rather than a noun. It’s “Shop Around”, originally a #2 hit for The Miracles in 1960 and then covered by The Captain & Tennille in 1976, which got as high as #4. The song itself is a about a young man who is told by his mother that he though he’s older now, he still has time to “shop around” for girls before he “takes a bride”. For the 1976 remake, the gender roles were changed. An answer record, “Don’t Let Him Shop Around” by Debbie Dean, hit the charts for a few weeks in 1961. The same thing happened for the similarly titled “Don’t Have To Shop Around” by The Mad Lads in 1965. Both didn’t reach higher than #92.

Other more general titles to hit the charts include “Love In Store” by Fleetwood Mac (#22, 1983) and “Window Shopper” by 50 Cent (#20, 2006).

Let’s divide the rest of our charting hits into four different categories:

CAFÉ/COFFEE SHOP
Five songs fit into this category, which is the most out of the four. The first was “Old Home Filler-Up An’ Keep On A-Truckin’ Café” by C.W. McCall, a #54 entry in 1974. He’s best known for his #1 hit, “Convoy”. In 1977, Carole King charted with her penultimate top-40 hit, “Hard Rock Café”, which went as high as #30. Finally, in 1981, the last charting song for jazz group Spyro Gyra peaked at #77: “Café Amore”. They hit the top 40 two years earlier with their lone hit, “Morning Dance”. The two other titles in this group didn’t hit until late 2007 and early 2008: “Coffee Shop” by Yung Joc featuring Gorilla Zoe (#78) and “Falling In Love At A Coffee Shop” by Landon Pigg (#93). The latter gained some digital strength from its use in an AT&T commercial.

CLOTHING
Besides the thrift shopping we’ve been doing as of late, the only other song about shopping for clothes to make the charts was way back in 1960. The Coasters, the same group who landed a #1 hit with “Yakety Yak” in 1958, took “Shoppin’ For Clothes” to #83 two years later. Plenty of songs mentioning articles of clothing have hit the charts since then, but none about actually buying them. I’ll spare you the list of those until another time. It will happen.

FOOD/BEVERAGE
Although not specifically mentioned in the title of the song, Toni Basil took a crazy trip to the supermarket to #77 in 1983, a song called “Shoppin’ From A-Z”. It was the followup to her #1 hit, “Mickey”. (Toni, what are you wearing in that video?!) Basil would hit the charts once more with another underperforming single before disappearing from the music scene. In 2011, rapper Mac Miller took “Frick Park Market”, named after a supermarket near his hometown of Pittsburgh, to #60 on the Hot 100. He has yet to make the top 40.

The biggest food-specific store song to hit the charts is also the biggest one on this list. It hit #1 for nine weeks, but even with the kid-friendly title, I’m not sure you would want to be sending your children there. “Candy Shop”, by 50 Cent and Olivia, was one of the massive Urban hits that year. Cent has had several top-5 hits since then, but they’ve been largely forgettable. His current single featuring Adam Levine and Eminem, “My Life”, recently peaked at #27 on the Hot 100.

One other additional entry, a novelty spoken-word record about a drunken man calling into an alcoholic beverage store, made the top 100 in 1971. That was “Ajax Liquor Store”, a #43 hit for the comedic duo of Hudson & Landry. They hit the top 100 once more the following year.

LAUNDRY
Need some clean clothes? Two songs about the laundromat have hit the Hot 100. The highest-charting one was a parody of 1964’s “Leader Of The Pack”, a #1 hit by girl group The Shangri-La’s. “Leader Of The Laundromat”, as done by a vocal group called The Detergents (lot of originality there) hit #19 the following year. They didn’t hit the top 40 again. In 2003, Nivea followed up her big top ten hit, “Don’t Mess With My Man”, with the song “Laundromat”, featuring vocals from R. Kelly. It peaked at #58.

Still have some money left over? Well, then you can spend it at any of the top 100 hits about restaurants, hotels, vacation destinations, etc. Don’t forget to take your Grandma’s coat with you.

For more chart information and music news, follow the blog and let me know what you think in the comments or on Twitter: @AdamFSoybel.

EDIT: On January 23, it was announced that “Thrift Shop” hit the #1 spot on the Billboard Hot 100. It’s now the second “shop” title to reach the spot since the aforementioned “Candy Shop”.

Cars And Guitars: The Biggest Brands by Singers and Bands

He’s wheely got a hit.

Rapper Nelly is about to release his new single entitled “Hey Porsche”, which name-checks the German car producer. It’s a carbon copy of Flo Rida‘s “Whistle”, but hey, if you like that song, you may as well like this one too. You may remember that he hit the top spot on the CHR chart in 2002 with “Dilemma” and “Hot In Herre”, in 2004 with “Over And Over”, as well as in 2010 with “Just A Dream”. Well, by my estimates, if the song becomes a big top ten hit over the spring and summer, it would be the first song to do so in twenty-five years that names a specific brand of car (rather than a general style of one, like “G.T.O.” by Ronny & The Daytonas, “Hot Rod Hearts” by Robbie Dupree or “Low Rider” by War.) So far, there’s been seven of them to achieve the feat since 1964, unless I’m missing something from earlier on, but hopefully all of you out in the blogosphere can help me out with that one. We’ve got some sporty automobiles in the lineup, so let’s cruise around the yard and see what’s parked in place.

THE RIP-CHORDS – “Hey Little Cobra” (1964) (#4)
This British sports car had only been around for a few years prior to this hit, which peaked at #4 in the spring of that year. They followed this single with another similar-themed song, “Three Window Coupe”, which hit #28. One of the lead vocalists on this is Bruce Johnston, who would later become a Beach Boy.

THE HONDELLS – “Little Honda” (1964) (#9)
Gosh, I guess a lot of musicians had cars on the brain in 1964. The Japanese-based automobile specialists have been pumping out cars since 1948, and sixteen years after, the only top-40 hit for this group of session musicians, former by producer Gary Usher, peaked at #4 on the week dated Halloween. It was originally performed by The Beach Boys, who took their version into the lower rungs on the chart. They charted with two other songs, none of which climbed higher than #52.

COMMANDER CODY & HIS LOST PLANET AIRMEN – “Hot Rod Lincoln” (1972) (#9)
Named after the late President, the Lincoln Motor Company has been putting out cars on the market since 1917. This Commander and his crew from the state of Michigan plucked the song out of the 50’s and brought it up to 1972, getting it as high as #9. Though they had three other singles chart, none of them managed to make the top 40. The group still tours today as the Commander Cody Band.

SAMMY JOHNS – “Chevy Van” (1975) (#5)
Did you see the U.S.A. in your Chevrolet? I think Johns and the girl who took in certainly did and then some, as many have since 1911. His only charting top-40 song as a solo artist hit the #5 spot on the Hot 100, though as a songwriter, his compositions for Waylon Jennings and Conway Twittty became top ten hits on the Country chart, and for Twitty, a #1. Johns recently passed away at the age of 66.

PRINCE – “Little Red Corvette” (1983) (#6)
We go from a Chevy van to a Chevrolet Corvette, which celebrates its sixtieth birthday in 2013. Prince just missed the top ten with “I Wanna Be Your Lover” in early 1980, but this song became his first of many top ten singles, peaking at #6. The Purple One still thinks the internet is over, so there’s no use in searching for a YouTube clip of it. Besides, I’m sure you already know the song well enough.

NATALIE COLE – “Pink Cadillac” (1988) (#5)
This General Motors vehicle has been in service for over a hundred years. Several other Hot 100 records over the years have featured this particular car it in their titles, like “Geronimo’s Cadillac” by Michael Murphey (#37, 1972) and “Look At That Cadillac” by the Stray Cats (#68, 1984). This one was the biggest of them. It was Bruce Springsteen that originally performed the song in 1984, appearing as the b-side of the biggest hit by The Boss, “Dancing In The Dark”. Though it had some AOR airplay at the time, it was Cole’s version in the spring of 1988 that gave the song a wider audience while at the same time becoming her biggest hit in a decade. This was the singer’s last top-5 entry on the Hot 100.

PEBBLES – “Mercedes Boy” (1988) (#2)
Here’s another German brand that’s put out a number of models of this car since 1901. California-born Pebbles took hold of wheel and drove her hot wheels to the runner-up spot in the summer of 1988, finishing just behind Cheap Trick‘s “The Flame” in July. It was her best performing single on the Hot 100, though she would hit the top ten with “Giving You The Benefit” two years later.

Close Calls:
THE BEACH BOYS – “Little Deuce Coupe” (1963) (#15)
WILSON PICKETT – “Mustang Sally” (1966) (#23)

Thanks for driving in to check out the post and keep a watch out for Nelly‘s latest hit to see if his trek up the highway is smooth sailing or a bumpy ride. Don’t forget to follow the blog and my handle on Twitter: @AdamFSoybel. Until next time, buckle up and have a safe trip.

SAMPLE THIS: A Match Made In Chart Heaven

Who’s crying now?

It’s been a relevant part of our music culture for several decades now: the art of the sample. It makes an artist’s song arrangement sound full while also making the original writer’s bank account look full. Now, I’m not talking about full remakes of a song. Those have largely gone out of fashion (at least on the mainstream surveys) in favor of just taking a part of the original arrangement and sticking it into an entirely new song. Hence, all these sample-heavy songs that have been hogging up the charts for years. Sometimes a new song interpolating an older one will out-peak that sample; at other times, it may be the exact opposite, but what happens when both the sample and the new song constructed with it peak at the exact same position? As you might expect, it rarely happens… but for the first time in 15-and-1/2 years and for the second time ever, it’s occurred in the Hot 100’s top ten.

“I Cry” is the fourth single from Flo Rida‘s 2012 release Wild Ones and several weeks ago, it peaked at #6 on the Hot 100. It’s still at #10 on this week’s survey, but it’s moving down and likely won’t go further than that #6 position. Now, a top ten record with your fourth single is pretty cool; not many artists can achieve that with a first single from an album, but, what makes it even more special is that the song it samples also peaked at #6 on the Hot 100. On the chart dated June 4, 1988, “Piano In The Dark” by Brenda Russell (and featuring Joe Esposito of the vocal group Brooklyn Dreams) hit the same spot before descending the chart. Of course, being the 1980’s, it was out of the top 40 by early July; Flo Rida won’t be out nearly that quick. No word on how either artist feels about the coincidence, but I’m sure they must be intrigued that they’re now a part of an interesting piece of chart trivia.

The only other time this full circle moment has been completed on the Hot 100 was in 1997. It was then that “I’ll Be Missing You” by Puff Daddy featuring Faith Evans and 112, a tribute record to the Notorious B.I.G. who had died several months earlier, debuted at #1 in June and stayed there for eleven weeks. The song samples the biggest hit ever for The Police, “Every Breath You Take”, which spent eight weeks at #1 in 1983. You may remember that Sting joined their crew for a memorable performance on the 1997 MTV Video Music Awards. You think they’ll mind sharing this chart achievement with the Rida/Russell combo? No fighting, kids.

As far as the Hot 100 is concerned, it’s happened one other time outside of the top ten. Last year, Pitbull‘s single from Men In Black III, “Back In Time”, and the song it samples, 1957’s “Love Is Strange” by Mickey & Sylvia, both peaked at #11. (NOTE: You could make a case for “Hippychick” by Soho (1990) and “Southside” by Moby & Gwen Stefani (2001), both #14 singles on the Hot 100, but since the original song sampled by The Smiths, “How Soon Is Now?”, didn’t chart in the States, I’m keeping it out. Plus, I don’t think Moby actually credits either one. It’s blatantly obvious, though. Put a lovely asterisk next to it.)

Since I like to look at the radio charts as well, this particular form of chart action has happened once on the CHR chart tabulated by Radio & Records. In 1988, George Michael hit #1 for four weeks with “Father Figure”. In 1993, P.M. Dawn returned the sample to the top for two weeks with “Looking Through Patient Eyes”. Unfortunately, “Eyes” only hit #6 on the Hot 100. Maybe it was wearing the wrong pair of glasses.

You never know what’s coming next in the world of sampling, so be on the lookout if your favorite song-sampling record comes close to the original’s peak position. It could just end up on this small but mighty list.

For more crazy chart information like you see here, follow the blog and find me on Twitter: @AdamFSoybel. Let me know if I missed any examples too!

“Reaching For The Stars”: The History and Future of the Countdown Show

The hits from host to host.

“Listen to the countdown; they’re playing our song again.” That’s a line from the 1979 #1 hit by M, “Pop Muzik”. If you were alive then, you probably heard that song a lot, but at least a few times listening to a countdown show. Give that line to any current-day star to sing and your average teen listener wouldn’t know what they were talking about. “A countdown show? Isn’t that what my mom used to listen to?” Unfortunately, for most of us chart fans out there, a music countdown show that can clearly tell you what song is at what position on the national scene is nothing but a memory, but it didn’t have to be that way.

Let’s go back to 1970. Two men came together in Hollywood to make a weekly three-hour radio show that played all forty songs at the top of Billboard’s Pop Singles (later Hot 100) list. It debuted on the July 4 weekend: American Top 40, hosted by Casey Kasem, co-created with Don Bustany. It started on a handful of stations and for the first few years, and wasn’t generating enough revenue to keep it afloat. Yet, it was the combination of the popular songs with a host who was more like a storyteller that kept people tuning in every week. You would hear tidbits about your favorite artists that you never knew before (and couldn’t find on Wikipedia nowadays either.) Plus, the show added an interactive element in that listeners could write in to have their music questions answered or send in a Long Distance Dedication (beginning in 1978) to someone who meant a lot to them. The show eventually expanded to four hours in October 1978  and that’s where it remained, still popular and giving stations the needed listenership they desired while entertaining the audience of several nations. In 1980, a weekly half-hour video program based off it, America’s Top 10, hosted by Kasem, became syndicated.

Of course, the knockoffs began in stride, though most didn’t come until almost a decade afterward. Remember Countdown America, hosted by John Leader? Rockin’ America Top 30 Countdown, hosted by Scott Shannon? The National Music Survey, hosted by Dick Clark? Top 40 Satellite Survey, hosted by Dan Ingram? Some of the names are probably familiar to you, like the late multi-talented Clark, or Shannon, who is the morning DJ at WPLJ-FM in New York City. Only one non-AT40 show from that era managed to stay on the air to this day: Rick Dees and his Weekly Top 40, which debuted in 1983. A few versions are syndicated each week, and you still can’t hear “Disco Duck” on any of them. Yet, somehow, Kasem and his countdown managed to stay ahead of the competition.

By 1988, Kasem was in contract disputes with ABC Watermark and they let him go, hiring Shadoe Stevens to replace him. If you’re a late night fan, you’d probably recognize him as the voiceover artist behind The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson. Stevens brought a different delivery to the show, but he had an eagerness and enthusiasm to do the countdown every week, though he did have his share of critics. However, he kept with routine of relaying interesting stories and facts about the artists and added some new features as time went on, like a flashback and a sneak peek segment, where the top new song added to CHR radio that week was highlighted. Plus, he had a Whiplash Acrobatic Ensemble. It’s not like anyone else is going to recognize their staff as that. While he did that, Kasem headed to Westwood One to host Casey’s Top 40, which was AT40 with a few minor tweaks: the Long Distance Dedication, which remained with Stevens, became known as a Request & Dedication with Kasem, and the chart source changed. Stevens counted down the Hot 100; Kasem took on the Radio & Records chart, which Dees was also using on his show. In 1992, Kasem began an AC-based show, Casey’s Countdown, and in 1994, a Hot AC show, Casey’s Hot 20.

Long story short: Stevens changed chart sources a few times after the Hot 100 changed its formula (which had a positive effect on rap records), his input on the show was diminished in later years (not his fault) and he was off the air in the States by the summer of 1994, replaced with Dees. However, American Top 40 still aired internationally until January 1995, when it was cancelled entirely and replaced with the World Chart Show. Yes, even though it celebrated a 40th anniversary back in 2010, the name was technically off-the-air for three years and change until March 1998, when Kasem jumped back from Westwood One to AM/FM (later Premiere Radio Networks) to host the countdown that was originally his. Westwood One planned to stop him with a show called Top 40 Countdown, hosted by either David Perry or Jeff Wyatt, both regional disc jockeys, but it never materialized as a full, weekly show. Kasem hosted AT40 until January 3, 2004 and his AC and Hot AC shows until July 4, 2009, and as far as I’m concerned, that’s where this story should have ended.

By November 2003, most of the radio industry knew that Kasem was being replaced by the host of American Idol, Ryan Seacrest. In fact, Seacrest guest-hosted AT40 in the fall of 2003, which showed him as a pretentious punk who wasn’t committed to making a serious effort. It was bad. So, come January 10, 2004 (yes, he’s entering his tenth year hosting this weekend), this disaster had to take the air. The imaging was updated, the chart source changed so that older songs re-entered the survey, sound bites were added and there was little chart information presented. Basically, it was a chart fan’s worst nightmare, and Seacrest seemed so smug about it. A “thank you” message to Kasem on the first show was followed with a remark that he if kept talking the way he did, he would “cry” in the same way that he did at some “love story movies,” said in gest. Really? A month after this aired, Seacrest replaced Rick Dees as the morning man at KIIS-FM in Los Angeles for “On Air With Ryan Seacrest”, where he has been since. That was hinted at in his first AT40 episode when he name-checked KIIS-FM disc jockeys in some off-the-script comments. It chugged along, gaining more international affiliates while simultaneously putting even more of a focus on celebrity rather the music, because obviously a long-standing music countdown really needs pre-recorded interviews to make it work. The chart itself was also two weeks behind the national statistics, which still happens today, and also shows what little effort is put in to make the music selections actually match the data out there. Did I mention they’ve played the wrong versions of songs for their entire run on?

The show’s gone from bad to worse since Seacrest’s morning show began airing daily on Clear Channel stations in 2008, who decided that as a cost-cutting measure, they should crush the dreams of talented enough people by filling the air for four hours a day with a satellite-delivered show. Perfect sense. All the interviews on American Top 40 are now cut and paste straight from that in order to fill time that doesn’t see Seacrest plugging his latest Kardashian family spinoff or contests on his website with some sponsor he’s partnering with. I mean, you actually want to air them again? Nobody listened to them in first place, so force them down a second time. Again, perfect sense. In a move several years ago, the radio company made AT40 a market exclusive in those stations with a CC-owned CHR or Hot AC station; thus, many long-running affiliates lost the show entirely. As of 2012, the main tagline used in the opening bumper of the show is now “the stars, the sleaze, and the hits”, which basically shows how much of an emphasis the show puts on the music countdown part of it if the music part has to come last. Oh, by the way, it’s referred to as “On Air With Ryan Seacrest on American Top 40” in some tags, as if he and corporate went in one day and were like, “we have to dumb this thing down even further so people know it’s the same damn show.” It’s a joke. It’s like his purposely taking the piss on himself. The problem is that people don’t care about it. It’s not like a snarky tweet is going to do anything. We need action, not empty promises, and we’re at the point that this show is so far removed from its original intent that it should just go off the air, but it won’t.

Thus, the future of the countdown. I’m guessing that this will be the last year for the Dees countdown on the radio. It would be fitting simply for the fact that the Weekly Top 40 marks its 30th anniversary in the fall of this year and it would be a nice sort of way to go out. It’s not like I would be surprised if this didn’t happen, but the guy’s lost a lot of affiliates and isn’t hosting a morning show anymore. He’s had a good run, but he’s been running on the same tired material for years; time to think about packing it up. Most of the subsidiary countdowns, like the ones hosted by Hollywood Hamilton and Nick Cannon, will probably be gone in the next few years. They generally air in small markets anyways. All the country ones are safe: Kix Brooks, Lon Helton, Bob Kingsley, etc. Even the Atrocity Top 40 will be on until 2015; that’s when Seacrest’s contract with Clear Channel is up, but you’re probably going to see that renewed along with his expanded deal with NBC. Don’t get me started on how made television a steaming pile of mindless crap too.

So, am I unfairly targeting Seacrest as the scapegoat? Yes and no. Some of these changes to American Top 40 were more of a corporate decision, but since he’s a step away from owning the Clear Channel company, he would have to approve most of them. The writers can’t do anything substantial because it’s probably at the point where Seacrest does his talk breaks in one-half hour on a Monday morning before pitching another reality show. It’s not like the producers can help it either when they have so little to work to with. I’m not in his target audience, I realize that. Am I frustrated that I could never host American Top 40? Well, duh, the traditionalist in me would have set it straight in a way that honored Kasem’s legacy rather than turning into a gossip show that can’t even stand on its own without being umbrellaed under another name. My personal top 40 was inspired from sitting on the floor of my room on Sunday morning listening to Kasem’s broadcast on the radio, but this doesn’t count in the real world. The countdown show of yesterday has been gone for the years, and the “countdown show” of today is slowly crawling towards its death. I can’t say for sure when it’ll end, and when it does, I doubt many people are going to notice. As much as I would love someone to come and start a countdown revolution (I would write and record the whole thing if I could) it’ll never happen, and you’ll still never know where your favorite song is on the chart because the artist, title and position were never announced.

Between the changing chart sources, music genre shifts, and a host who prefers breaking celebrity stories instead of breaking new artists, much has gone wrong with respect to the top-40 countdown. Thus, it’s too late to repair for the next generation. If you must, listen to the old Casey Kasem shows and relive the nostalgia of what was the perfect balance of music and trivia and not the current-day schlock. When Kasem said to “keep reaching for the stars,” Seacrest, he didn’t mean the ones you see in the press. Goodness.