Updated Further: WCBS-FM A to Z - not quite
Someone at WCBS-FM radio (101.1 FM in New York City or wcbsfm.com), we don't know who, had a great idea: Play every song in the WCBS-FM library, from A to Z.
Great idea, as listeners finally get to hear more than just the small subset of songs the station keeps otherwise playing. Sadly, however, a lot of songs are missing.
Here is just a very small sampling of some songs that were and were not played:
(Just added the last item above - They played "In the Still of the Night" but not "Tonite Tonite", and the latter was glaringly missing while Norm N. Nite was on the air broadcasting from the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame! Why didn't he say something or just make sure it got played?)
The order of a number of songs is totally illogical. Sometimes a song beginning with "The" fell into the letter of the next word, and others fell into the "The" section of the survey. Same for song titles beginning with "A" or "I". Very strange and confusing.
Although lots of other great songs from the 50's through the 80's were played, many great songs are missing. Instead, some never heard of before (and hopefully never to be heard again) songs got airplay. I can't even tell you the names of the really bad non-hit songs that got played, because I never heard them before and no one ever said what was played. (Perhaps the DJs were just too embarrassed to tell us.)
So while this was a great idea, the claim by the station that they are playing everything in their library is clearly not quite accurate, because the real WCBS-FM would have played the songs listed above and the many, many, more that have been skipped along the way. It is hard to figure out the logic of the choices, as many singles were excluded, but a number of album-only songs got played. I hope they do this again -- and next time really play ALL the music from A-Z from the 1950's through the 1980's.
As I've pointed out in previous articles, there would be no rock & roll of the 60's, 70's or 80's without the rock & roll of the 50's.
Richard Kuper
The Op Ed Page
http://TheOpEdPage.com
Great idea, as listeners finally get to hear more than just the small subset of songs the station keeps otherwise playing. Sadly, however, a lot of songs are missing.
Here is just a very small sampling of some songs that were and were not played:
| Played | Not Played | |
| Love Me Tender - Elvis Presley | Love Me - Elvis Presley | |
| Loving You - Elvis Presley | ||
| Stay - Maurice Williams & the Zodiacs | Stay - 4 Seasons | |
| Stay - Jackson Browne | ||
| Little Darlin' - Diamonds | Little Darlin' - Gladiolas (Maurice Williams) | |
| Silhouettes - Herman's Hermits | Silhouettes - Rays | |
| Sukiyaki - A Taste of Honey | Sukiyaki - Kyu Sakamoto | |
| Soon - 4 Seasons | ||
| Alone - Heart | Alone - 4 Seaons | |
| Bye Bye Baby - 4 Seasons | ||
| Could It Be Magic - Barry Manilow | Could This Be Magic - Dubs | |
| Leader of the Pack - Shangri-Las | Leader of the Laundromat - Detergents | |
| Gloria - Shadows of Night | Gloria - Cadillacs | |
| Gloria - Them | Gloria - The Passions | |
| Gloria - Laura Branigan | ||
| Crying in the Chapel - Elvis Presley | Cry - Johnny Ray | |
| Do You Wanna Dance? - Beach Boys | Do You Wanna Dance? - Bobby Freeman | |
| Do You Want to Dance? - Bette Midler | ||
| Daddy's Home - Shep & The Limelites | ||
| Ain't That A Shame - Fats Domino | Ain't That A Shame - 4 Seasons | |
| Ain't That A Shame - Pat Boone | ||
| Baby Blue - Badfinger | Baby Blue - Echoes | |
| Everybody Loves Somebody Sometime - Dean Martin | ||
| Go Away Little Girl - Happenings | Go Away Little Girl - Steve Lawrence | |
| Go Away Little Girl - Donny Osmond | ||
| I Feel Fine - Beatles | ||
| Chances Are - Johnny Mathis | ||
| It's Not For Me To Say - Johnny Mathis | ||
| Love Potion Number Nine - Searchers | Love Potion Number Nine - Clovers | |
| Surfer Girl - Beach Boys | Surf City - Jan & Dean | |
| Surfin' Bird - Trashmen | ||
| Surfin' U.S.A. - Beach Boys | ||
| In The Still of the Night - Five Satins | Tonite Tonite - Mello-Kings | |
(Just added the last item above - They played "In the Still of the Night" but not "Tonite Tonite", and the latter was glaringly missing while Norm N. Nite was on the air broadcasting from the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame! Why didn't he say something or just make sure it got played?)
The order of a number of songs is totally illogical. Sometimes a song beginning with "The" fell into the letter of the next word, and others fell into the "The" section of the survey. Same for song titles beginning with "A" or "I". Very strange and confusing.
Although lots of other great songs from the 50's through the 80's were played, many great songs are missing. Instead, some never heard of before (and hopefully never to be heard again) songs got airplay. I can't even tell you the names of the really bad non-hit songs that got played, because I never heard them before and no one ever said what was played. (Perhaps the DJs were just too embarrassed to tell us.)
So while this was a great idea, the claim by the station that they are playing everything in their library is clearly not quite accurate, because the real WCBS-FM would have played the songs listed above and the many, many, more that have been skipped along the way. It is hard to figure out the logic of the choices, as many singles were excluded, but a number of album-only songs got played. I hope they do this again -- and next time really play ALL the music from A-Z from the 1950's through the 1980's.
As I've pointed out in previous articles, there would be no rock & roll of the 60's, 70's or 80's without the rock & roll of the 50's.
Richard Kuper
The Op Ed Page
http://TheOpEdPage.com
Labels: 50, 60, 70, 80, cbs, cbs-fm, eighties, fifties, kuper, music, oldies, op ed, opinion, seventies, sixties, wcbs, wcbs-fm
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