SPRING 1996

Just a couple of years ago, some thought '70s pop oldies had tremendous audience potential. It must have seemed logical...after all, why wouldn't 30-40 year olds want to re-live the music of their youth, just as those a decade or more older did? Unfortunately, '70s pop has not lived up to its hype.

Note that I'm NOT talking about the rock-based '70s music that the successful "Arrow" stations emphasize. Rock-based '70s music has the biggest, broadest appeal of any music genres...

For example, '70s CLASSIC ROCK -- by performers like The Eagles, Fleetwood Mac and the Doobie Brothers -- and ROCK A/C -- ongoing performers who emerged in the '70s, like Elton John, Rod Stewart and Billy Joel -- are typically positive in every cell from 25 to 54.

I'm NOT talking about that kind of '70s music.

And I'm not even talking about other, more controversial '70s genres. CORPORATE ROCK -- by performers like Boston, Kansas and Journey -- is the bane of "Gen X"/Alternative rockers, but still has solid 35-44 appeal. '70s SINGER-SONGWRITERS -- like James Taylor, Harry Chapin, Jim Croce -- also remain viable for many.

Unfortunately, much '70s POP is no longer viable. That's the kind of '70s music I'm talking about...

Some of the biggest hitmakers of the '70s are "pure poison," as far as the vast majority of listeners are concerned. For example, let's look at what Joel Whitburn says are the decade's Top Ten records...

How many of these -- the Top Ten songs of the decade -- remain viable today? Would you play Debbie Boone or Chic on your station?

Of course, every era has its share of disposable music. But the '70's had more than its share. Compared to '50's and '60s oldies, a much higher percentage of major '70s hits do not have "legs" -- that is, ongoing programming value.

It pains me to acknowledge this...I programmed in the '70s. At the time, who knew that so many of the songs I confidently added then would be merely history twenty years later?

'70s Music Listeners Hate

"Turnoff" '70s music comes in two main flavors -- what I'll call WIMP '70s and what everyone calls DISCO...

WIMP '70s include songs by performers like Barry Manilow, Dawn, Captain & Tennille, John Denver, Bread, The Carpenters and Helen Reddy.

These artists had many "monster" hits. Manilow, for example, had 10 Top Ten songs in the '70s and three Number Ones. Reddy had six Top Tens and three Number Ones. Even Captain & Tennille had six Top Ten records! (Can you name all six?)

It's hard to imagine today, because these performers are virtually "shut out" of all but the softest contemporary formats. They're far more suited to "Music of Your Life" than to any format targeting today's 30 to 40 year olds. Yet those listeners were teens when these artists were experiencing huge CHR success!

Then, there's DISCO. In the mid-to-late '70s, disco music was a major element of the CHR format. Acts like the Bee Gees (and little brother Andy Gibb), Donna Summer and KC & the Sunshine Band had multiple Top Tens and Number Ones. Disco also spawned numerous "one hit wonders" like The Hues Corporation, Van McCoy, Anita Ward, Silver Convention, Amii Stewart, etc. (And, let's never forget the Village People!)

Big hits. But a '70s music test reveals that disco is the music listeners "love to hate."

What happened to '70s pop? I see two historical factors...

The "Great Divide"

When I was a '60s teen in Chicago, "everyone" was tuned to WLS or WCFL. We were a generation all listening to the same Top 40 songs.

Then, the late '60s drug and anti-war counterculture spawned an explosion of "rock artists" -- who would no longer limit themselves to short, commercial tunes for AM radio. The Beatles sparked the trend with Sergeant Pepper -- an album that was a complete work rather than a few hits and "filler." Performers like Jimi Hendrix, Quicksilver, Big Brother, Cream, Traffic and Iron Butterfly followed their lead.

For the most part, Top 40 radio ignored this revolution. Instead, it retorted with some of the most contrived music imaginable -- what came to be known as "bubblegum," by performers like The Monkees and (worse), Archies, Bobby Sherman, etc.

But rock's creative explosion could not be contained. Album- oriented artists emerged on the new FM "Underground" stations.

The battle lines were clearly drawn...album artists versus "bubblegum trash," AM versus FM, hip versus non-hip.

Given that kind of fragmentation, pop-oriented '70s (or later) stations simply cannot achieve the kind of success that '50s and '60s Oldies stations have! Because the mass appeal and "mass concensus" that existed prior to 1970 has been much less common since then.

Disco Sucks!

Marketing strategists Ries and Trout talk about "repositioning the competition" -- in essence, making it unacceptable, unappealing or simply "uncool."

In the late '70s, Chicago AOR personality Steve Dahl brilliantly repositioned disco with his "Disco Sucks!" campaign.

The effort reached its climax with his "Disco Demolition" in the summer of '79. Between games of a Comiskey Park doubleheader, Dahl destroyed a huge pile of disco records "donated" by White Sox fans.

Dahl's event received national press, and "Disco Sucks!" became a battle cry across the country for AOR jocks eager to build their own reputations. As a music genre, disco died not long after that. And to this day, focus group respondents will tell you that they "hate disco."

After all, who wants to admit to liking music that "sucks?"

The "Bottom Line"

What does all this mean for you? If '70s music is part of your station's music mix, it must be very selective in terms of which '70s it plays. Some is great from listeners' point of view; some brings "sudden death."

For all of us, the lesson of '70s pop is that following format hype and "industry buzz" is no way to determine a station's direction. (I feel especially strongly that research firms have no business pushing any format!) The fact is, determining and serving listeners' needs is the only way to achieve successful ratings.

RETURN TO RESEARCH INSIGHTS MENU