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Ross On Radio

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Writing about radio and music, from then and now. For the free, weekly Ross On Radio newsletter, sign-up here. tinyurl.com/mhcnx4u

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Latest posts by Ross On Radio @rossonradio.com

"Have You Ever Seen The Rain" into "The Tide Is High." Because sometimes radio station music scheduling software gives me #MomentsOfMusicSchedulingGrace

10.03.2026 15:07 πŸ‘ 2 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 1 πŸ“Œ 0

It's as easy to mock this as any other element of 311's music, but I liked how "Down" and "All Mixed Up" were up/positive in that minor chord moment. "Mixed" should have been a pop hit, but by then, CHR didn't need it.

09.03.2026 14:01 πŸ‘ 4 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0

I'm always happy when people discover music outside their immediate frame of reference, but the answer was actually "a little," because I taught myself music history, while teens now just randomly encounter songs on TikTok. #AT40

07.03.2026 20:44 πŸ‘ 6 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 1 πŸ“Œ 0

I recently spoke at a college radio seminar about oldies (now "classic hits") radio, and got a great question from a student asking if I resented her generation for co-opting older music. #AT40

07.03.2026 20:44 πŸ‘ 4 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 1 πŸ“Œ 0

A classmate had been through his own oldies phase and said "you'll be back." Soon I was. Part of it was that I didn't like seeing songs on the chart and not knowing what they were. But I also kept listening to oldies until I knew all the big hits. #AT40

07.03.2026 20:36 πŸ‘ 1 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 1 πŸ“Œ 0

In spring '75, I was mostly listening to Boston's oldies WROR, from which I won my first radio contest for knowing where Tom Jones was born. It was more because of "American Graffiti" than "The Bertha Butt Boogie." (I heard the hits on Top 40 WRKO in the car, anyway.) #AT40

07.03.2026 20:34 πŸ‘ 2 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 1 πŸ“Œ 0

I missed the Colonel's rantings at the time, but in Washington, D.C., the urban legend of the KFR still loomed large, plus there wasn't a store near me. Fried chicken was Roy Rogers for me. #AT40

07.03.2026 20:30 πŸ‘ 3 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 1 πŸ“Œ 0

A great week for British R&B with songs that sound both like the Supremes and the Jackson 5. #AT40

07.03.2026 18:32 πŸ‘ 5 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0

I am in a Starbucks playing Harry Styles, β€œAperture,” and it sounds great and completely accessible.

07.03.2026 15:59 πŸ‘ 4 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 2 πŸ“Œ 0

You just know that two twenty-four year olds conceived this campaign over Β£9 avocado toast.

07.03.2026 12:23 πŸ‘ 0 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0

I'm listening to a Friday night party show on a Classic Hits radio station somewhere and they're playing "Dust in the Wind." (To be fair, it was a request.) #AT40

06.03.2026 23:17 πŸ‘ 6 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 1 πŸ“Œ 0

"Magazine" was still on Mushroom when it was reissued in 1978 though...

I saw Heart in the mid-'00s with a Zep-loving friend who had no initial interest, but it was a great show and brought him around. #AT40

06.03.2026 03:33 πŸ‘ 5 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 1 πŸ“Œ 0
McFadden & Whitehead - Ain't No Stoppin' Us Now (Lyrics)
McFadden & Whitehead - Ain't No Stoppin' Us Now (Lyrics) YouTube video by Pulse Nomad

One more eternal classic, though. Peaked at #13, but looms much larger in memory if you lived between D.C. and New York. #AT40 www.youtube.com/watch?v=H8-y...

06.03.2026 03:09 πŸ‘ 3 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 1 πŸ“Œ 0

I knew "I Don't Wanna Go" because the R&B group The Moments somehow recorded an entire album of Carole Bayer Sager songs in 1977, including an early appearance of "Don't Cry Out Loud." In my memory, Joey sings better than John, but not Ray, Goodman & Brown. #AT40

06.03.2026 03:05 πŸ‘ 2 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0

We have, through previous postings, established a diplomatic back channel of disco appreciation. #AT40

06.03.2026 03:00 πŸ‘ 3 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0

I immediately disliked "Boogie Nights" and "Groove Line" as corny, pop disco (and "corny" and "pop" are not usually pejoratives for me). But I somehow owned them both, and now, of course, I bow to the genius of Rod Temperton. #AT40

06.03.2026 02:57 πŸ‘ 3 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 1 πŸ“Œ 0

I'm pretty sure I heard "Heartless" on the radio for a few days in summer '77, before Mushroom Records was forced to pull it for nine months as a result of a legal dispute with the band and their new CBS label, Portrait. #AT40

06.03.2026 02:48 πŸ‘ 16 πŸ” 1 πŸ’¬ 1 πŸ“Œ 0

... but make it not soulful. #AT40

06.03.2026 02:43 πŸ‘ 3 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 1 πŸ“Œ 0

There are songs I liked as currents that I don't even enjoy hearing once a year on #AT40 now. I liked the novelty of uptempo, disco Seals & Crofts in 1978. Sounding pretty flat now. #AT40

06.03.2026 02:36 πŸ‘ 6 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 1 πŸ“Œ 0

Right, I also owned "Simple Dreams," so having the lyric sheet helped. #AT40

06.03.2026 02:35 πŸ‘ 4 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0

No, it was on the charts around the same time as "Solsbury Hill." They almost cancelled each other out, although one endured more later. #AT40

06.03.2026 02:30 πŸ‘ 5 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 2 πŸ“Œ 0

I can't imagine "Almost Summer" made anybody too jealous. Existed mostly on #AT40 and the smaller suburban weekend countdowns I listened to because they played more mid-charters. Didn't spur a hit album or movie.

06.03.2026 02:28 πŸ‘ 7 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 1 πŸ“Œ 0

"Follow" was Genesis' first top 40 hit. "Your Own Special Way" made the Hot 100 a year earlier and I wonder if @clccw.bsky.social remembers hearing it in Buffalo. (I used to listen to WKBW in Washington, D.C.)

06.03.2026 02:24 πŸ‘ 5 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 1 πŸ“Œ 0

I once saw an "American Idol" contestant do a surprisingly good version of "Stay"--for anybody who is not Chaka Khan. Simon Cowell didn't like her choice and it was clear that he didn't know the song. #AT40

06.03.2026 02:09 πŸ‘ 6 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0
Preview
The Song That Wouldn’t Stay Lost Forever - RadioInsight If I wanted extra assurance that I was going to enjoy a day’s radio listening, I would make sure it included Radio Calima. Being a broad AC station targeting Italian-speakers in Spain’s Canary Islands...

Before we kick off #AT40 tonight, here's an article I published today about "oh wow" songs--the one that surprised me this week (from the '10s, not the '70s, because I hear those with you all the time), and some of the songs that surprised readers recently. radioinsight.com/blogs/342147...

06.03.2026 01:48 πŸ‘ 9 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0

I believe you. I respect her virtuosity, but at this miserable moment in pop music, boy, do I want her to get from "Chasing Pavements" to "Rolling in the Deep" as soon as possible.

Or I want her to go from "Vision of Love"--another song I could neither deny nor enjoy--to "Emotions," quickly.

05.03.2026 03:21 πŸ‘ 1 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 1 πŸ“Œ 0

#1 at Rhythmic Top 40 (the poppier-leaning Hip-Hop stations), too, although *not* on the Hip-Hop chart. It was very much of a piece with 24k Goldn, Kid Laroi, etc., at the moment. Also, radio probably liked "Montero" for not being as confounding as "Old Town Road."

02.03.2026 16:35 πŸ‘ 3 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0
Preview
Big Hits Energy 2026

Saturdays belong to the '70s and #AT40. Sunday night belongs to #BigHitsEnergy, my playlist of new uptempo hit music especially for peers wanting to keep up with new music. open.spotify.com/playlist/0Hg...

02.03.2026 02:41 πŸ‘ 4 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0

Jerry Reed became a hero after "Smokey & the Bandit," which gave me a new appreciation for the early '70s hits. #AT40

28.02.2026 19:01 πŸ‘ 4 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 1 πŸ“Œ 0

Amos Moses sounded like "Tippytoe" to me, also. Jerry Reed gets a mention in the new Paul McCartney documentary that started streaming last night. #AT40

28.02.2026 18:59 πŸ‘ 7 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 1 πŸ“Œ 0