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June 12, 2021 10:15 pm  #1


Another Ashby Show Error - Part III

I'm not entirely sure why this keeps happening or why it bugs me so much. (It might be because I have so much respect for Roger Ashby that I know these mistakes shouldn't keep occurring.) But there was yet another wrong song played on his Oldies Show this weekend and this time it was extremely noticeable and there's no way a claim could be made that they were just playing an alternate version. 

They were doing the countdown of the Top 5 songs for this week in 1964, when they came to #3. It was Chapel of Love by the Dixie Cups. But they played an entirely different version which I think was by the Ronettes - a record that was never a hit for that Phil Spector group. I'm not entirely sure but the one thing I do know was that it was not the hit that week from that year. 

This one stood out like the proverbial sore thumb, because they were counting down the specific charted songs, and "Chapel" is considered an oldies classic that everybody knows. It's just not the one they played. 

How does this keep happening? If wonder if Mr. Ashby is aware of these ongoing blunders. It's a shame, because otherwise the show is really good. 

 

June 13, 2021 9:41 pm  #2


Re: Another Ashby Show Error - Part III

I checked using Shazam and you were right -- it was the Ronettes version. Not only should this not be happening, but it's pretty incredible that in this case it was a version that never even made the Hot 100. I didn't even know that the Ronettes did this song, and I find it amazing that someone even managed to find it and substitute it for a record that went all the way to #1. 

 

June 13, 2021 10:04 pm  #3


Re: Another Ashby Show Error - Part III

RadioActive wrote:

How does this keep happening? If wonder if Mr. Ashby is aware of these ongoing blunders. It's a shame, because otherwise the show is really good. 

I'm guessing Roger isn't a member of The Big Yellow Board.  


PJ
 


ClassicHitsOnline.com...If you enjoy hearing the same 200 songs over and over again...listen to the other guys!
 

June 13, 2021 11:27 pm  #4


Re: Another Ashby Show Error - Part III

Actually, and I hope he won't mind if I reveal this, a few months ago, Roger Ashby did register here and is a member, although he's never posted anything. I was honoured that he chose to add his name to the SOWNY Board and I hope it means he occasionally reads some of the messages. Maybe he can put a stop to these odd (and infrequent but frustrating) problems with the wrong song being played on his otherwise terrific show. 

It's one of the few "appointment" radio shows that I listen to every week.  

     Thread Starter
 

June 15, 2021 10:46 am  #5


Re: Another Ashby Show Error - Part III

Bentwater wrote:

Part III?  This is a tough room; seasoned but tough. 

Respectfully, without castigating Roger in a 3 part observation, has anyone considered contacting Roger directly and giving him a friendly heads up about concerns? 

If every on-air mistake everywhere were to be highlighted in this forum it wouldn't seem constructive.  Just sayin'.

I have just done exactly that.
 


"Life without echo is really no life at all." - Dan Ingram
 

June 15, 2021 11:36 am  #6


Re: Another Ashby Show Error - Part III

That's great, Dale. I have hoped that he would either find out about these problems through the postings here, or alternatively that someone could contact him. I have certainly not viewed RA's postings as being overly critical, and I've tried to respond accordingly myself. I know that these mistakes are not being made by Roger, and I've thought that he probably doesn't know that they're being made. I would personally understand if alternate versions by the original artist were sometimes aired, but to hear completely different versions by other artists is definitely problematic. RA recently rightly cited the fact that a listener requested the Unit 4 + 2 version of Concrete and Clay, and while I don't mind the Eddie Rambeau version it defeated the point of playing the request. And the same thing is basically true to hear another artist's version of a song when doing a countdown (with the exception of if two versions were charting together, but that wasn't the case here at all ... I wasn't even aware that the Ronettes had ever done this song). 

 

June 15, 2021 12:07 pm  #7


Re: Another Ashby Show Error - Part III

The upside in all of this would be the fact that Roger's show is really listened to.  His show is regularly talked about and scrutinized like no other on SOWNY, and that is great.  I agree it is unfortunate that the occasional wrong song has been played but that likely isn't a big deal or even noticed by most of the regular audience.  To those in the radio business it does stick out more.  I have noticed that Roger is playing more requests so he obviously is getting a lot of people calling in.  I hope the show is popular and Bell continues to support it.  If not Roger and his unique show would sound great on CBC Radio 1 on the weekend.  And of course Moses and Zoomer would likely want to snap up the show in a heartbeat. 

 

June 16, 2021 4:34 pm  #8


Re: Another Ashby Show Error - Part III

Roger is aware of the problem and explained to me what is happening. Because of COVID, Roger and his producer work separately. Roger records the voice tracks and sends them to his producer, who then inserts the songs. The problem is that some of the songs are labelled improperly - for example "Chapel of Love" is labelled as being by the Dixie Cups but it is actually the Ronettes version. Roger's producer didn't grow up in that era so has no way of knowing the Dixie Cups from the Ronettes. He is blameless, as is Roger - the issue is that some songs in the system are labelled improperly. They are working to fix this problem. My thanks to Roger for calliing me to explain this.

Last edited by Dale Patterson (June 16, 2021 4:35 pm)


"Life without echo is really no life at all." - Dan Ingram
 

June 16, 2021 4:54 pm  #9


Re: Another Ashby Show Error - Part III

I figured it was something like that. Ashby is too good and too much a stickler for detail to have this happen. Hopefully, they'll get it fixed ASAP.

I'm going to try not to keep pointing this out if it happens again (but I can't stop others from doing it) and hopefully I won't have to, once it's repaired. But the Dixie Cups instance was especially egregious. That is one of the most famous oldies of all time and in the middle of a countdown, it stands out like the proverbial sore thumb. 

Thanks, Dale for contacting him and kudos to Roger for answering.  

     Thread Starter
 

June 16, 2021 5:22 pm  #10


Re: Another Ashby Show Error - Part III

Yes, I really appreciate this as well. Using Shazam would be a way of double-checking the songs, but although it works quickly I do realize that it could be rather time-consuming to use it to check an entire show -- and especially when most of the time it wouldn't find any issues. Still, I thought I'd toss the idea out there in case it might help any. A compromise might be to just use it to check requests and the countdown, since those are the parts of the show where getting the right version of a song matters most. 

 

June 16, 2021 8:24 pm  #11


Re: Another Ashby Show Error - Part III