Entertainment For Lively Minds
Records that stick around
I don't know if Radio 2 operate some sort of set playlist when it comes to oldies, but the fact that I've heard She's Not There by Santana at least twice just from casual sporadic listening over the last couple of days suggests they might do. Which is fine by me. Its one of those records you never mind hearing. And it's one of those records that's succeeded in sticking around. Like Chris Rea's Driving Home For Christmas. Bit of a flop on first release, but it's stuck around. It's hard to pinpoint why some records stick around and some - more dazzling in their day - don't. A good example is The La's There She Goes: not much of a hit in its day but it stuck around in a way the much-more-talked-about contemporaries The Stone Roses never did.
And if there's one current record I'd bet on sticking around it's Alicia Keys' version of Jay Z's Empire State Of Mind. Probably not much of a hit with the massive - lyrics are a string of cliches and she manages to stretch the word bridge across about eight syllables - but I think it'll still be played on the radio well into the '20s & '30s.
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The first example of this syndrome that I remember was...
...."Drift Away" by Dobie Gray. Radio played it a lot, everybody agreed it was wonderful but nobody bought it. However, it kept on getting played.
I don't know how set the Rdaio Playlist is but most stations have a core playlist of tunes that are never far away. What this means is that if they're going to play a Santana record it will be "She's Not There" and if they're going to play "She's Not There" it will be Santana's version.
Actually
I think that Empire State Of Mind might be the first classic single of the decade. Seriously, it has a great hook.
Wasn't it was released
late last year?
The chorus...
is an obvious rip of "The Scientist" by Coldplay though
'How Long' by Ace...
only a moderate hit when released (No.20 in the UK), but you often hear it on Gold stations.
Radio 2 morning faves
Good Tradition by Tanita Tikaram gets played by Sarah Kennedy probably once a month. Also there was a period (long after the original hit) when both she and Terry Wogan used to play the "Stepped off the train" song by Everything but the Girl
I note Ms Kennedy has been rescheduled for 5am to 7am as of next week. The words "slippery" and "slope" loom large here. About bloody time and all
The days of long ago.............
I seem to recall that The Days of Pearly Spencer by David McWilliams was played endlessly back in the 60's - I thought it would have been huge but it sank like a stone - good song though and on the 'b' side was Harlem Lady - another good song.
I agree about Empire State of Mind - a future classic.
I had to go check the Guinness Book of Singles...
... because I really thought Pearly Spencer had been a hit, but no, no mention of McWilliams' version whatsoever! The fact that I listened to radio all through that time must be why I know it so well!
Regarding the playing of She's Not There...
... In the days before iPods and computerised playlists, whenever I used to hear different DJs playing the same obviously non-current playlist record, I liked to think it was similar to you or I hearing a tune somewhere and wanting to go home and play our copy. The DJ had heard his fellow, er, jock play the record and simply had to hear it again! What a quaint thought - it was probably more a case of lazy programming, a DJ playing whatever records had been left hanging around the studio!
...and my nomination for ones that stick around: I Saw The Light by Todd Rundgren, it only just scraped into the Top 40 in 1973.
Calling Ken Bruce.
His producer is the worst / best (best in my view..) for this. Alan Parsons Project, Journey, After The Fire, Quarterflash, Sniff 'n' The Tears, Kiss, Clout.. Loads of stuff, all from the '78-'82 era which I love, most of which failed even to bruise the upper reaches of the Top 40.
Another song for Richard's list is Danny Wilson's Mary's Prayer, another favourite of mine. Which only became a hit after No Limits played it again and again. And again. I still fancy Jenny Powell.