Great Big Forgotten Hits

Oldies radio, hah! A truly Nlightened oldies radio station would play NEthing old & great, whether it was a hit or not -- would have a playlist WAY more OPEN, like I once thot pop-music radio was SUPPOSED 2 B.
A truly Nlightened oldies station wouldn't B afraid of playing NEthing from Led Zep's "Stairway to Heaven" 2 Elvis's "Mystery Train" 2 Hank Williams Sr. 2 old country-western trucking songs like Dave Dudley's "Six Days on the Road," or "Give Me 40 Acres," or that 1 about the girl wearin nothin but a towel & a smile in a picture on the billboard in the middle of the big 'ol highway....
An Nlightened oldies station would play NEthing great from rock & pop 2 folk 2 jazz 2 country (Johnny Cash did some GREAT SONGS! So did Buck Owens! EVERYBODY should hear them!) 2 great soundtrack songs 2 Broadway standards.... Andy Williams 2 Yes, Barbara Streisand 2 ZZ Top, the Stones 2 C.W. McCall, the Osmonds 2 Frank Zappa, the Beatles 2 Aaron Copland.
Am I asking 2 much? Apparently I am. Why do we HAVE formats on radio NEway?
Locally we've got Seattle's KJR, who've bn around 4EVER & will play NETHING -- when's the last time U heard Leif Garrett or Shaun Cassidy on the radio? 4 me it was LAST WEEK, & I'm NOT HAPPY about it --& we've got KBSG, who actually don't do 2 badly & hava little taste & get a little old-time Top 40 radio feel with those syndicated specials they sometimes run on wknds.
We've also got KZOK, The Classic Rock Station, who mean well -- but who keep playing THE SAME Classic Rock Oldies U've already heard 40,000 times -- "Smoke on the Water"! "Tush"! "Keep On Loving You"! "Roundabout"! "Satisfaction"! "All Right Now"! "Money"! "Comfortably Numb"! & of course "Stairway to Heaven"! -- & they play them over & over & OVER. Truthfully, the best oldies station I've got is my stereo. & of course it ain't as well-stocked as I'd like, tho Ghod knows I've tried, & I'm not yet DONE trying.
But when was the last time U heard NE of these old big hits on yr favrite local oldies station. My bet is: Not lately....
* "The Rapper," The Jaggerz (#2/1970) -- Probly not what yr thinking. This catchy # is about a guy who uses NE lines he can think of 2 strike-up conversations with attractive women. Can't hardly fault him 4 that. But my favrite lines R in the chorus: "Rap-a-rap-a-rap they call him the rapper/...You know what he's after." A little dated, but a pretty daring subtext 4 1970. The Jaggerz included Donnie Iris, who hadda coupla late-70's hits including "Ah! Leah." The Jaggerz recorded 4 Kama Sutra/Buddha, who were sorta a power in the late-'60s/early-'70s U.S. bubblegum-pop market with acts like the Lovin Spoonful, 1910 Fruitgum Co., Ohio Express, & later Brewer and Shipley, Ocean, Stories & others. Label-owner Neal Bogart later 4med Casablanca Records & inflicted massive disco overdose on us all....
* "Daydreaming" (#5/1972), "Until You Come Back to Me" (#3/73), Aretha Franklin -- My Ghod this woman was amazing. "Daydreaming" is at times laid-back & leisurely with great intertwining vocals by Aretha & whoever's singing with her, then steps up 4 marvelous rushed unison choruses without losing that dreamy mood. "Until You Come Back to Me" is Aretha speaking directly 2 her lover about the changes she's gone thru since he left & what she's gonna do 2 get him back -- & U absolutely BLIEVE she's talking 2 some1 specific. The same backing singers R in support, & there's great keyboard & flute touches. Urban & hip-hop stations otta B playing both of these -- mayB they R & I just don't know it....
* "You Are Everything" (#9/1971), "Betcha By Golly Wow" (#3/1972), The Stylistics -- My Ghod, this stuff is so sweet it'll rot yr teeth right out. MayB what they useta call "sweet soul" is way outta style now, but The Stylistics were pretty amazing. These songs R so gushingly romantic they'll make U swoon, & lead singer Russell Thompkins Jr. was stunning. These songs R so sweet, so pretty, mayB emotion like this can't B broadcast on radio NEmore without some dumb DJ making a joke. But give these songs a chance & they will knock U OUT!
* "Baby I Love You," The Ronettes (#24/1964) -- "Be My Baby" is immortal, & will probly never B 4got10 thanks 2 the showcase it got during the opening credits 4 DIRTY DANCING. But this is just as great (I think better), with a terrific heartfelt lyric & a heartbreaking vocal per4mance from Ronnie Spector -- with a voice like that, how could U NOT tell her that U feel the same? & that great hook: "Woh-oh, WOH-oh-oh-oh...."
* "Denise," Randy and the Rainbows (#10/1963) -- 4 me, The Ultimate Doo-Wop Song. The only time I've EVER heard it played on the radio was while I was driving thru the snow in Utah's Wasatch Mountains in Jan 1998, heading home to Wyoming after a week-long Caribbean cruise with the X, the song's sweet choruses coming thru like a broadcast from another, warmer planet: "Oh Denise shooby-doo, I'm in love with you...." Chillingly beautiful. Some of the same feeling I got from hearing The Stylistics, 2 B honest. Blondie did a cover version of this back in '78, but I've never heard it. Don't know how they coulda bettered the original....
* "Love (Can Make You Happy)," Mercy (#2/1969) -- Big, mushy, sentimental, gooey, cosmic MOR love-ballad & I am an absolute sucker 4 it. Gorgeous group-choral vocals, & instrumentation almost slushy enuf 4 Sergio Mendes/Brazil '66 or the Sandpipers or some other no-talent. Brilliant, & WAY 2 sweet & naive 2 get played straight-faced on the radio NEmore. When's the last time U heard it?
*"Green-Eyed Lady" (#3/1970), +"Don't Call Us, We'll Call You" (#9/75), Sugar Loaf -- Sugar Loaf were from Denver. "Green-Eyed Lady" is pure 1970, kinda psychedelic, kinda sexist, lotsa swirly organ, a little dated but who cares. "Don't Call Us" is a cynical & funny music-biz song, supposedly about how the band were turned-down 4 a record deal by CBS. Suprised it made the Top 10 in the rather boring musical winter of '75....
+ "No Matter What Shape (Your Stomach's In)," Gary Farr and the T-Bones (#3/1966) -- With a tune originally used in an Alka-Seltzer commercial, this is a lite, airy, innocent mid-'6os instrumental that's actually kinda haunting & timeless with its wordless female vocals & surf-guitar & Farfisa organ touches. Think I last heard it on radio around 1972.
Just a few suggestions 2 liven-up oldies radio with, nothing 2 obscure or shocking. Just a few songs I haven't heard in ages. & if NEbody out there works in radio & thinks they could liven things up a little ... would U like a suggested play list?