I found some old WIRL Radio “Good Guy” music surveys online and thought they’d be fun to put up today and it wouldn’t involve a lot of time and so here we go on a special unexpected surprise MBIP Saturday post!
June 30, 1962
I was four-years-old when this survey came out! And yeah, I know most of you weren’t born yet, so just shut up about that! Anyway the number one song was “Palisades Park” by Freddie Cannon and it’s one of the few songs and artists on this survey I know something about. One interesting trivia fact about “Palisades Park” is that it was written by Chuck Barris, who later gained fame as the host of the wacky game show, The Gong Show.
July 28, 1962
WIRL broadcasting veteran Robyn Weaver is pictured on this survey. Once again, I haven’t heard a lot of these songs on this survey, probably the best known was number 14, “Loco-Motion” by Little Eva. That song was later covered by Grand Funk Railroad.
August 31, 1963
Allan Sherman is in at number three with, “Hello Muddah, Hello Fadduh.” One of the first albums I can ever remember listening to is an Allen Sherman record called, “My Son The Nut.” I listened to that a lot as a kid and I know it was a big influence on Weird Al Yankovic. I got a kick out of song number twelve by Major Lance called, “Monkey Time.” I’m hoping that was an ode to masturbation and now I’ll have to Google it to find out!
March 7, 1964
The Beatles have not one, not two but three songs in the top ten at the same time. Beatlemania has officially begun! Also in at number 30 is the theme song that all my ex-girlfriends and ex-wife used to sing, “He’ll Have To Do.”
October 30, 1965
The song at number 38 is interesting, the song is, "Roses & Rainbows" and the artist is Danny Hutton who became famous as one of the three lead singers in Three Dog Night. Also note songs by The Beatles, The Rolling Stones and Herman’s Hermits in the top twenty. The British Invasion is in full swing!
January 22, 1966
Mike Douglas who would go on to be a talk show host has the number six spot on this survey with a song entitled, “The Men In My Girl’s LIfe.” The original title to that song was, “All My Daughters Are Dirty, Filthy, Lying Whores.” But that was deemed a little too risque for 1966, so they re-named it.
April 22, 1967
This survey was dated three days before my ninth birthday and by this time my brother Jim and I were avid rock ‘n roll fans and were collecting records. Mainly 45’s because albums were way too pricey for us. We got those for Christmas and on our birthdays. The records we had from this survey included: “Happy Together,” “Penny Lane,” “You Got What It Takes” and “I Think We’re Alone Now.”
August 12, 1967
Here’s a survey from the Summer of Love! Check out the songs in the top ten! The Doors, The Monkees, The Hollies Stevie Wonder, Procul Harem and The Beatles. This was truly a golden age of music and I’m glad I got to live through it and experience it. Almost every song is a gem on this survey, however number 35 kind of gives me the creeps, the title is, “Come Back When You Grow Up.” Yikes.
May 13, 1970
As the ‘70’s were ushered in, the number one song is, “Vehicle,” by Ides of March and I always hated that song! Now it’s going to be stuck in my head all day. Aaaahhh!
October 7, 1970
The number one song is “Joanne” by Michael Nesmith. This was Michael Nesmith’s only solo song to chart in the U.S. It hit number one in Peoria, but on the Billboard charts it made it to 21. The last song on the survey at number 40 is called, “Somebody’s Been Sleeping.” And the band’s name is perfect for that song: 100 Proof.
March 15th, 1974
Now the survey has changed design and it looks kind of like boring newsletter. As you can see from some of the artists on this survey—Barbara Streisand, Terry Jacks, John Denver and Blue Swede, it wasn’t a great year for rock ‘n roll. I guess it’s no coincidence that this was the year I started doing acid and other psychedelic drugs!
January 26, 1975
The survey takes on another look which is a movie themed, “Now Playing” thing-a-me-bob. Even The Beatles solo songs were getting to be somewhat sub-starndard and by this time I’m pretty much wasted 24/7 on pot, acid, booze and all kinds of uppers, downers and all-arounders. So I was making my own kind of music by this time!
August 9, 1975
The top two songs show that disco music is on the way! This is also the year I discovered punk rock via The Ramones, but you weren’t going to hear them on WIRL or on any other radio station. Luckily, by this time everyone had cassette players in their cars, so I wasn’t listening to the radio much anymore.
October 6, 1975
The number one song was called, “Black Superman,” by Johnny Makelin. I’ve never heard of that song or the artist. I guess I really was out of it those days!
November 1, 1975
This is interesting because “Born To Run” by Bruce Springsteen is at number 25. This was his first song that charted in the top 40, I believe. It wouldn’t be his last either. The number one song was “Bad Blood” by Neil Sedaka who was making a comeback with this duet with Elton John. I think this was his last song that topped the charts. And on the news this day was a report that Mike Douglas’ daughters were still dirty, filthy, lying whores.
Okay, time to end our broadcasting day here, keep your feets on your legs and your hands in your pockets and we’ll see you all tomorrow!
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