One of the oldest radio stations in the United States (if not the oldest), KDKA in Pittsburgh has broadcast a news-talk format since 1992, but was a Top 40 station throughout the ’60’s, ’70’s, and ’80’s. Here’s their Top Ten from July 2, 1971.
- Glen Campbell, “The Last Time I Saw Her”: Title track from his 20th album, a song written by Gordon Lightfoot. Reached #12 on the Easy Listening chart in 1971.
- Steve Alaimo, “When My Little Girl Is Smiling”: Written by Gerry Goffin and Carole King and originally done by The Drifters in 1961. Alaimo’s version only reached #72.
- Jack Jones, “Let Me Be The One”: Written by Roger Nichols and Paul Williams and done by the Carpenters on their eponymous 1971 album. Jack Jones’s cover reached #18 on the Adult Contemporary chart.
- John Denver, “Take Me Home, Country Roads”: John wrote this with the help of Bill Danoff and Taffy Nivert, and it was released as a single in April. It rose to #2 on the Hot 100 in August. The State of West Virginia has adopted this as one of its state songs.
- Cat Stevens, “Moonshadow”: From his 1971 album Teaser and the Firecat, the current Yusuf Islam considers this his favorite among his old songs. It reached #30 on the Hot 100 and #10 on the Easy Listening chart.
- Bobby Goldsboro, “Come Back Home”: Title track from Goldsboro’s 1971 album, the song reached #15 on the US Easy listening chart.
- Jonathan King, “Lazy Bones”: An oldie by Johnny Mercer and Hoagy Carmichael, Jonathan’s version reached the Top 20 in the UK and #34 on the Hot 100.
- Gordon Lightfoot, “Talking In Your Sleep”: From Gordon’s seventh studio album Summer Side of Life. It peaked at #64 on the Hot 100 but reached #19 in Canada.
- Lobo, “I’m The Only One”: Roland Kent LaVoie, better known as Lobo, released this as the B side of his “She Didn’t Do Magic.” The song reached #14 on the Adult Contemporary chart.
- Bobby Russell, “Saturday Morning Confusion”: A song about dealing with a hangover as well as his wife, kids, and neighbors. It reached #24 on the Country chart, #28 on the Hot 100, and #13 on the Adult Contemporary chart.
See you back here tomorrow with E!
In April, my Monday A to Z Challenge entries will also be my Monday’s Music Moves Me posts.
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I had to learn Take Me Home, Country Road when I was in about year 4 at school. Can’t remember why we had to learn it, but it’s stuck with me ever since.
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Maybe your teacher liked it. “Aw, teacher, why do we have to learn this?” “BECAUSE I SAID SO!”
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This is not what I would have expected from a 1971 top 10 survey, which makes it interesting. Pittsburgh must have had way different musical tastes than New York City – perhaps half of these songs are new to me – interesting indeed. But ahhhh….Cat Stevens….
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They were more an adult contemporary/easy listening station, from what I gathered from the Wikipedia article, and the hits tend to lean more in that direction. It was a surprise to me as well.
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I miss John Denver. I loved his Annie’s Song. And I still have my vinyl album of Cat Stevens Teaser and the Firecat, but I no longer have a record player to play it on. (Still can’t part with it, though.)
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That Cat Stevens album could be worth quite a bit if it’s still in good shape. There are some pretty reasonable turntables available, too…
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Some of these are new to me!
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Likewise….
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I remember the call letters from when I lived in Pittsburgh for a year when I was about 7 or 8. I wasn’t really paying much attention to music on the radio back then, but I knew those call letters. My mother was probably listening to that station at the time.
Arlee Bird
Tossing It Out
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KDKA was a TV station as well. That’s where you might remember it from…
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I only recognized a few of those songs. My musical wheelhouse is classic rock and pop, not Easy Listening or Adult Contemporary. I only started listening to the AC countdown when I was thirteen, in 1993.
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KDKA was more of an adult contemporary station, tending to play more of the lighter hits. I started doing the radio surveys a couple of years ago because I wanted to remember what some of the songs sounded like, and in the process I’ve found lots of songs that I swear I’ve never heard, even though I was around when they were popular…
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John,
A handful of the artists on today’s list I know well. The only songs from the list I remember are “Country Roads” and “Moonshadow”. The later, I’m not sure if I recall that one from back in the day or it’s a title that was introduced to me since I began blogging. Excellent playlist for country music. I really love your theme! It gives me some fine tunes to play while I do other things. 🙂
Curious as a Cathy’s Looney Tunes A-Z Daffy Duck Art Sketch. Join the fun at your leisure. Happy A2Zing, my friend!
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By the end of the month you’ll have quite a collection. Maybe I’ll start a second blog just for music, eventually….
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Going against the grain here. Glad I didn’t have to listen to this station, 1971 was a year with some great music and with the exception of Country Roads none of these songs are in my memory at all.
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KDKA always had more of an adult contemporary vibe, but I’m sure you remember “Moonshadow”…? Or “Talking In Your Sleep”…?
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Wow! A great selection of songs! Glen Campbell and John Denver produced some great music.
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They certainly did, and even the album cuts that never made it to the radio were worth listening to.
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I miss their music among others.
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I’m being followed by a moon shadow …moon shadow, moon shadow …
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Yep, that’s the one…
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Now this was a nice listen although I hadn’t heard of some. I always love John Denver, whom I miss like Roy Orbison, John Candy and Robin Williams. I like Gordon Lightfoot. I also like Alaimo and the song sung by Glenn Campbell.
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That’s an eclectic group of people you miss….
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Really and truly I love all these songs 💜💜💜
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They are good, aren’t they?
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Absolutely
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Oh, Moonshadow was written in 1971? Thank you for the playlist, I will check the songs, as the titles don’t ring a bell for me…
Quilting Patchwork & Appliqué
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Hard to imagine that song’s been around 50 years, isn’t it?
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