When WBZ played covers instead of hits

[Doug Drown]

<<Btw, anybody recall a song by a group called the New Hope-- "Won't
Find Better Than Me"?  It was only a hit in certain cities, but it
got a lot of airplay in Boston...>>

I do.  I don't recall the lyrics, but I remember the song.   -Doug

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Donna Halper" <dlh@donnahalper.com>
To: "Roger Kirk" <rogerkirk@ttlc.net>; "Kevin Vahey" <kvahey@gmail.com>
Cc: <boston-radio-interest@rolinin.bostonradio.org>
Sent: Tuesday, June 19, 2007 12:47 PM
Subject: Re: When WBZ played covers instead of hits


>
> >Roger wrote--
> >Not limited to Boston.
> >
> >The Jordan Bros. were also played in Portland ME on WLOB - which was
> >king of the Top 40 stack by then.  WJAB had been (when 'LOB was
> >beautiful music) but they were a daytimer and when 'LOB flipped,
> >they sank like a stone.  Jim Sands and Bob Fuller both crossed the
> >street to work at WLOB.
> >
> >WLOB played both the New Happiness and the New Vaudville Band's versions.
> >
> >They also played "The Pied Piper" by the Changing Times instead of
> >Crispian St. Peters.
>
> And at the risk of being a skeptic, it wasn't just altruism and "we
> played what we wanted to."  Let us not forget (gasp) payola.  A
> number of the disc jockeys had close relationships with record
> promoters, and while I would like to say that such friendships never
> influenced what got played, the evidence says they did.  I know from
> talking to various people (as well as from my own observations when I
> became a college music director and met some of the local record
> promoters) that even in the 60s, despite the big payola scandals of
> the late 50s, the influence of certain promo men (and nearly all of
> them were guys, back then) continued to occur, although in more
> subtle ways.  And yes, a d.j. might play a version of a song just
> because a particular promoter was working that record and "really
> needed an ad this week".  That's also how a lot of "local hits"
> happened-- in some cases, yes the jock or the PD loved the song and
> wanted to play it, but in other cases, a record promoter's ties to
> the song or the artist, and the resulting benefits that accrued to
> the announcer who then gave the song some attention, were key factors
> in how decisions were made.
>
> Btw, anybody recall a song by a group called the New Hope-- "Won't
> Find Better Than Me"?  It was only a hit in certain cities, but it
> got a lot of airplay in Boston...
>