1 of 1- RadioActive
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How Excessive Radio Play Ruined A Band's Career
Ever wonder how much is too much when it comes to playing the hits? It was practically the modus operandi that made the old WABC Musicradio a legend. (At one point, I think their playlist consisted of about 14 songs, on the theory that the kids just wanted to hear the hits.)
But WABC was old news by the time The Knack emerged as a hot band at the end of the 70s. And its "My Sharona" would certainly have received multiple airings an hour on the station, which went all talk in 1982.
But it was that endless repetition that may have doomed the band, even though the song was #1 on Billboard for six straight weeks.
"By August 1979, the backlash to ‘My Sharona’ had grown so fierce that The Washington Post ran a story about it. It revealed that critics of the band were accusing it of insincerity and insensitivity, with one Los Angeles writer dismissing their songs as “music for Ken and Barbie dolls, not for human beings.” Things got even worse when a San Francisco conceptual artist named Hugh Brown became so fed up with ‘My Sharona’ that he launched a campaign against the band. He named his effort “Knuke the Knack.”
The linked article does get one thing wrong, though, because "Sharona" was not their last big hit. The Knack did have a pretty good follow-up called "Good Girls Don't," which went to #1 in Canada and #11 on Billboard. Still, it does illustrate how over-playing a song can result in listeners tiring of you much sooner than perhaps you deserve.
How One 1979 No. 1 Hit Sparked a Backlash So Savage It Destroyed the Band
- paterson1
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Re: How Excessive Radio Play Ruined A Band's Career
WABC playing My Sharona multiple times per hour?? Then the problem was WABC and not the group.
- mace
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Re: How Excessive Radio Play Ruined A Band's Career
From what I understand, WABC never broke records. They were added to their playlist after the songs were proven to be hits.
- Easily Amused
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Re: How Excessive Radio Play Ruined A Band's Career
Might well be an unpopular opinion around these parts, but if it wasn't for CanCon, Trooper would have been relegated to playing volunteer fire company picnics, and high school dances.
- paterson1
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Easily Amused wrote:
Might well be an unpopular opinion around these parts, but if it wasn't for CanCon, Trooper would have been relegated to playing volunteer fire company picnics, and high school dances.
I worked with a guy who was employed by MCA at their warehouse in Toronto in the late 70's. He claimed some weeks Trooper was near the top for album sales for the company, even outselling Elton John at times. I know they had several multi platinum albums and their Hot Shots LP sold over 600,000 copies in Canada. The only song that ever charted in the US was Raise A Little Hell at #57. In Canada Trooper had 17 charted songs with Janine the highest at #7. Raise A Little Hell only reached #27 in Canada but for some reason is the song that is always played on oldies stations. MCA released 8 Trooper albums of which 5 were platinum and multi platinum with one gold.
- RadioActive
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Re: How Excessive Radio Play Ruined A Band's Career
Oddly, the only Trooper song I ever hear on oldies stations these days is "We're Here For A Good Time," a tune that only charted at #43 in Canada. Not bad for a hit that was never really a hit.
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Thread Starter- Neumann Sennheiser
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Re: How Excessive Radio Play Ruined A Band's Career
Most of the older people here would likely have met and talked with Ra and the boys and if you did, I bet you were impressed with what swell bunch of regular, no ego guys they were.
They had a talent for writing hits in my opinion; Janine was a truly lovely song.
Not much later, starting from very similar roots and circumstances, along came Loverboy; and we all know how big their US success exploded.
It’s always the right sound at the right time combined with correct promotion.
- ig
- Iain Grant
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I figured this story would be about an Oshawa radio station & Sloane 
Madness takes its toll. Please have exact change.
- RadioAaron
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Re: How Excessive Radio Play Ruined A Band's Career
Oddly, the only Trooper song I ever hear on oldies stations these days is "We're Here For A Good Time," a tune that only charted at #43 in Canada. Not bad for a hit that was never really a hit.
That's why it kind of retroactively became a hit, of sorts. #43 is non-hit gold! So it got way more than its share of airplay. Stockholm syndrome and all.
- newsguy1
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Does anyone play "My Sharona" anymore, if so is it edited or censored?
"Never gonna stop, give it up, such a dirty mind, I always get it up for THE TOUCH OF THE YOUNGER KIND."
Jeffry Epstein's fave song, no doubt.
They did have to censor "Good Girls don't."
They changed the lyrics, "an in between age madness that you know you can't erase, 'til she's sittin' on your face."
They instead sang "that you know you can't erase, 'til you've put her in her place."
So, from sexual to sexist instead. Good job.