Ross On Radio

The time has come on Saturday afternoon for new pop music on my #BigHitsEnergy playlist. New music from every format and around the world. We have an Earth Wind & Fire sample for #AT40 friends. Also Red Hot Chili Peppers' "By The Way" turned sideways. open.spotify.com/playlist/0Hg...

The Diana & Marvin album is sadly much less than the sum of its parts. They both had better things to do at the time and he really didn't want to be there. "My Mistake" and "You Are Everything" are both good, but by then, it's a trifle in both careers. #AT40

Happened a little differently for each. Kool stayed funky until the hits dried up and disco happened. EW&F scored pop on their own terms, but leaned in w/ "Boogie W" and "After the Love.." Commodores ballads got a little more pop/country each time. More like "hey this pop airplay is nice." #AT40

I came to really appreciate Roberta Flack over the course of the '70s, even if I didn't like the early ballads. I saw her at a free concert on the Capitol steps in 1979. She started "Jesse" and there was a power outage. She came back 15 minutes later and the performance was even more powerful. #AT40

The Jacksons win the fall '73 battle vs. the Osmonds aesthetically, but they both lose on the charts to another teen act that we don't talk about much now. #AT40

Despite years of seeing it on the charts, I believe I am indeed hearing "Let Me In" by the Osmonds for the first time on #AT40. So many steals here--"MacArthur Park," "Reflections of My Life," "If I Fell," Motherlode's "When I Die." I like the rockin' Osmonds from this period, but eccch.

It's Sunday afternoon and I have updated my playlist of new uptempo (should be) hit music for #AT40 and other friends. open.spotify.com/playlist/0Hg...

Curious who among #AT40 friends knew that "Oh Babe What Would You Say" was supposed to sound like a '20s song when it was a hit? I guess I heard DJs say that, but I probably hadn't heard any songs from the '20s and '30s (except for those my parents sang as children's songs).

"Baby's Got Her Blue Jeans On" into "Tequila Makes Her Clothes Fall Off." Classic Country #MomentsOfMusicSchedulingGrace

Wink Martindale as #AT40 guest host has the same awkward feel as the Dick Clark show. It's another accomplished radio/TV host who was good at everything *but* being Casey.

George Harrison's "You" definitely has the feeling of somebody trying to make a hit record. Similar driving feel to "What Is Life," but not quite the same. Love song, rather than cosmic meditation. Still sounds fine to me, but nobody really cared at the time. #AT40

"I Only Want To Be With You" has an illustrious history. 1964 - Dusty Springfield 1976 - Bay City Rollers 1980 - Annie Lennox & Dave Stewart (as the Tourists) 1987 - Samantha Fox #AT40

I was in exactly the right moment of teenage boyhood to appreciate "Nice 'N' Nasty." But also a great driving groove. Probably the rough sketch for Musique's even dirtier, even more intense "In The Bush" two years later. #AT40

"Stand Tall" by Burton Cummings is indeed a collectable of sorts. It was the first single on the Epic subsidiary, Portrait. #AT40

They aren't playing it on #AT40 of course, but "It's a Long Way There" ends with a long guitar solo that feels a lot like "Hotel California" a few months later.

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On Sunday night, the hits (as I see them) come out to play. Welcome to another week of my new music playlist for #AT40 friends and others. Big Hits Energy! New music from the Linda Lindas, Ella Langley and another act you might have read something about Friday. open.spotify.com/playlist/0Hg...

Of all the song lyrics that aren't okay now, if they ever were, what else from our #AT40 listening is as bad as "if her daddy's poor/just do what you feel"?

I often wonder about the relationships that inspired the hits. I particularly wonder who prompted David Gates to write "Make It With You." Also, whether that line worked. #AT40

This would not be our last exposure to Boomer Castleman. He also produced this #AT40 classic. www.youtube.com/watch?v=EqrM...

They took over the format nearly a decade ago, but I have a new(?) name for bands like this-- "fill-ternative."

In 1976, it still happened occasionally that a Canadian artist would cover an album cut and try to have a Cancon radio hit with it. Here's the version of "Say You Love Me" that Canadian radio played (by the future author of "Something to Talk About"). www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kf0x...

"Disco Duck" is something that doesn't exist much in my world: uptempo, propulsive, fun (or meant to be) ... and reprehensible. Ultimately, as contemptuous of disco as Steve Dahl. #AT40

"A Little Bit More" is one of the least sexy sex songs ever. But "Muskrat Love" was in the wings. #AT40

Just like Gerry Rafferty's "Right Down The Line" and "Home and Dry," two other songs about appreciating a long-running marriage, there is sadness in knowing that John Hall's marriage still broke up after "Still The One." #AT40

At the airport and there’s a guy at the gate in a white shirt and slacks who, compared to other travelers, looks like a visitor from the corporate world of a slightly bygone era. I guess he circled back.

In the early '70s, there were a lot of artist salvos against feminism. "Another Day" still comes off to me as "hey, liberated woman, aren't you lonely?" But it hits differently because it's Sir Paul and not Paul Anka. #AT40

Brewer & Shipley and Wadsworth Mansion are all going home to "Sweet Mary." Hilarity ensues. #AT40

I've just realized that "Loves, Lines, Angles & Rhymes" is basically a rewrite of Dusty Springfield/"The Thomas Crown Affair"'s "Windmills of Your Mind." #AT40

Just watched (and can recommend) the documentary, "Peter Asher: Everywhere Man." Puts that overnight success of James Taylor in perspective. #AT40

Welcome, all. "Heavy Makes You Happy" answers the trivia question: what do the Staple Singers have in common with the Monkees? Also, written by Bobby Bloom. #AT40

Wondering how many of my #AT40 friends or other followers have heard the Song of Summer 2026 (and 20 week Billboard #1).

Anybody notice that the Alice Bowie riff is the “I Love Lucy” theme? #AT40

Earlier in 1977, the original version of "Calling Occupants" by a Canadian group called Klaatu was a mid-chart record after a rock writer decided that they must be the Beatles getting back together on the sly. #AT40

On the week of November 19, 1977, I didn't hate "You Light Up My Life." I might have still found it kinda moody and interesting, although I'm pretty sure the bloom was off. I hated "The Way I Feel Tonight" by the Bay City Rollers, which I found so hokey it probably deflected from Debby. #AT40