MAIN RADIO STATION SURVEY PAGE

MY APOLOGIES FOR NOT KEEPING UP WITH THE WEBSITE (ADDING SURVEYS IN A MORE PUNCTUAL MANNER). AS SOON AS TIME PERMITS, MORE SURVEYS WILL BE ADDED.

Welcome to Mike's Radio Station Survey page! One of my major interests in life is contemporary radio, primarily the Top 40 format. In particular, I have always loved those little printed radio station surveys we all used to pick up at our favorite local record stores. Unfortunately, the days of collecting weekly surveys are long gone (as music trade publications now rely on more up-to-date data collection methods; SoundScan for record sales and Broadcast Data Systems for airplay details). Such a modern data collection process allows for more accurate national charts (i.e. Billboard HOT 100 weekly charts).

But years ago, Billboard Magazine, the most reputable music trade publication in the U.S., used to rely on those little weekly surveys to compile their national HOT 100 charts. Radio stations would either mail in their weekly playlist or (for stations in larger markets) received a call from Billboard and announced their top hits over the phone. For years, I have been trying to track down this weekly data. Unfortunately, Billboard has announced that this specific information has been lost. My mission is to recover as much of this data as humanly possible, then cross-reference these radio surveys with weekly Billboard HOT 100 charts. Please note that my intent is not to discredit Billboard and their methodology but rather inform the interested public what hits were big in what markets and at what time. For example, in the 1960s, not all stations played all the hits you saw listed in the top 20 portion of the national HOT 100 chart. And just like Top 40 radio during the 1990s, in the 1960s, some #1 national hits were almost ignored at certain radio stations. As Notorius BIG's "Hypnotized" sky-rocketted to #1 in 1997, only a handful of Top 40 stations around the country played this rap record. Similarly, WBZ in Boston ignored New Vaudeville Band's WINCHESTER CATHEDRAL in late 1966 and KJR in Seattle virtually ignored MY GIRL by The Temptations in early 1965. Both of these titles were #1 national hits! Conversely, how about those #1 regional hits that were poor performers nationally....for example: IT'S COLD OUTSIDE by The Choir, #1 at WIXY-Cleveland but peaked at a dismal #87 on the national chart. In Jan 1968, I'M IN LOVE by Wilson Pickett reached #1 at WKGN-Knoxville yet only peaked at #49 nationally....and the soul instrumental KOOL AND THE GANG by Kool and the Gang (fall 1969) shot all the way to #1 at WLAN-Lancaster(PA) yet couldn't get any higher than #59 on Billboard's HOT 100 chart!!

And how about those stations that added new hits way late in the game? Exactly why did Drake-formatted stations like KYNO (Fresno) and KGB (San Diego) add BABY YOU GOT IT by Brenton Wood *after* the song dropped off Billboard's HOT 100 national chart? It certainly did NOT extend the chart life of this song or even revive it to "Bubbling Under" status. Speaking of KYNO, did you know they passed up on the top 10 national hit CARRIE ANN by the Hollies in 1967?

On this website, I hope to uncover all these fine details behind those assigned bullets on Billboard HOT 100 charts. When you visit my radio station survey pages, please scroll down to the bottom of each page and look for the sections titled MY NOTES. There you will discover different chart anomolies and other assorted details, interspersed with my personal comments about certain songs I may (or may not) like.

As I collect (or dig up) more radio station surveys from around the country, I will attempt to post them onto this website (that is, if they are not already posted elsewhere). Currently, I do not possess complete survey sets for any radio stations so if you can fill in the holes by supplying those missing surveys, I'd be most appreciative. I DO NOT need original surveys- photocopies, graphic/text files, or even "in-house" station playlists (with position numbers) would be sufficient. *Please* contact me at my e-mail address below so we can make an arrangement (trade or otherwise)....thank you!!!

Also, if you have weekly surveys for a radio station not listed here, and you would like to see them posted on a permanent website, please contact me. If you send me photocopies (originals not necessary), I would be glad to transcribe them to HTML and post them here.

Stay tuned for weekly surveys from the following stations (as they become available): KOL-Seattle, WSBA-Lancaster/Harrisburg, WQED-Pittsburgh, WJET-Erie, KLIV-San Jose, WHB-Kansas City, WLLH- Lowell (MA), and KRUX-Phoenix.

Hope you enjoy the website!

Note: most surveys were transcribed directly from originals (all errors/mispellings found on original surveys are noted). I only list hit singles (commercially available 45s) except for cases in which a station decides to list album cuts (or full length albums) as part of the playlist.