Re: The "Stairway To Heaven" of college radio?

Perhaps Delvin would know this, but do college/public stations compile the most played songs, the way commercial stations do? I remember commercial stations would take votes from their listeners for biggest songs ever and have a countdown show, usually over a holiday weekend. In TP land, it would include :

"Bela Lugosi's Dead" (a local college station DJ called this one the "Stairway To Heaven" of college radio, hence the name of this thread)
Beat Happening's "Indian Summer" (Dean Warham of Luna nominated this one)
"How Soon Is Now" (my nomination)

Not saying the BEST songs ever, just the biggest, most popular "hits."

(*breathless radio announcer voice*) "..and the number one alternative song EVER is..."



Post Edited (03-14-18 17:55)

"That's When I Reach For My Revolver"
"Radio Free Europe"
"Kerosene"

But I haven't listened to college radio since the late '80s, so I don't know what the current additions what would be. I did read somewhere that Spoon's "Hot Thoughts" was the most played song on college radio last year (it also got airplay on commercial "alternative" radio.)

Yeah, that Violent Femmes debut really is the uber alt-rock album. Unlike most albums listed in TP, it actually went platinum, it just took years...and I don't think it ever made the charts? I wonder if it's still a dorm-room staple.

It finally charted around 1988, but I don't think it got higher than #180 or so, despite slowly selling more than a million copies. That was one of those albums everyone I knew in college with an interest in even slightly non-mainstream rock music owned. (I've never liked the band or owned a copy.)

Boys Don't Cry although that seems too mundane but year in and year out it was there ...........and it popped up on all kinds of different types of college shows and then they did a re-mix and it was still there and then college radio morphed into something else and still it remained to the extent that any sane boy would be crying his eyes out and screaming by this time.......

#3 pick - Violent Femmes "Blister In The Sun"
#2 pick - Dramarama "Anything Anything"
#1 pick - Paul Kelly & The Messengers' "Before Too Long"

Blister in the Sun is on Classic Rock radio.

I don't listen to radio much (why cut into my collection-listening-time/surrender control; though I did on a recent drive to Seattle and should type up that story) but on the stations I've heard it would definitely be Karma Police.

np:: Superchunk - What a Time



Post Edited (03-15-18 06:03)

I know that the "powers-that-be" used to trace the "adds" at KRCC ... which is why they discouraged the DJs from bringing in their own favorites to play. (Sorry, I can't recall the name of the organization that would track those additions ... hard to think at 5AM.) But if there's a compiled chart somewhere of all-time college radio favorites, I haven't seen it.

My wife probably would know. During the late '80s, she managed WVUA, the station at the University of Alabama. The big joke there was that its real call letters were WREM, broadcasting out of Replacements University. I'll ask her later.

Intriguing notion. I am inclined to lean toward "Radio Free Europe" but I listened to college radio from '81-'01 and nothing really seemed to have the mind-numbing stickiness of "Stairway To Heaven," in all honesty.



Former TP subscriber [81, 82, 83, 84]

[postpunkmonk.com]
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One of my favorite all time radio stations, WOXY 97X in Oxford Ohio used to have annual countdown of the best alt songs ever. Here is a link to numerous years, How Soon As Now wins several times but not every time. This station has quite the history so I give a lot of credence to their lists. They were a somewhat commercial station so they never got way out there with many of the obscure artists. But they had it covered. I am sure you can find some of these countdowns on the web, made for a great playlist.

[www.rocklists.com]

I have that same "I've never owned this yet I've memorized it" feeling (and I'm the same way with THRILLER, but I think "Billie Jean" beats any Violent Femmes song). According to Wikipedia, it went platinum in Feb. 1991 and finally entered the Billboard top 200 in Aug. 1991, peaking at #171. I know record sales have drastically dropped off and the generation of students now entering college have stopped buying the album as a rite of passage a la LEGEND & DARK SIDE OF THE MOON, otherwise it'd be double platinum by now.

The wiki article on "How Soon Is Now?" sez: "Sire Records chief Seymour Stein called it "the 'Stairway to Heaven' of the Eighties." So there ya go!

Tho "Blue Monday" might have been even more ubiquitous.



Post Edited (03-15-18 22:27)

You college kids get off my lawn. Get off my effing lawn damn you. Sicka youse college kids.

> That was one of those albums everyone I knew in college with an interest in even slightly
> non-mainstream rock music owned.

The first time we saw The Refreshments, a co-worker of mine came along -- a very good, very cool guy with a broad range of musical tastes. The opening act ended up stranded by bad weather that night, so The Refreshments played an extra-long set, including some covers during the encores. The band was a big hit that night.

On the drive home, my friend commented about the set. "There was one song they played toward the end, where the chorus went, 'What do I have to do, to prove my love to you' ... man, it seemed like everyone there knew that song but me! You two were singing along, but it was a new one on me." We told him it was the Violent Femmes.

"Oh, cool," he said. "And there was that next song, with the counting part ... 'I take one, one, one for, something, and two, two, two for ...' Everybody knew that one but me, too."

"That was the Violent Femmes too."

"Really? Wow! And what about the one after that -- you know, where it got slowly more and more quiet, before the last chorus ... and then everyone sang it out really loud?"

"Yeah ... that was the Violent Femmes too."

By now, the poor guy was looking a bit sheepish. "I guess a facet of my musical knowledge needs polishing. I'm also guessing you have their albums."

Delvin, guess your friend never a) went to college in the '80s; b) listened to any alternative radio for more than 5 minutes.

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That was one of those albums everyone I knew in college with an interest in even slightly non-mainstream rock music owned.

I've never owned a copy of it, nor have I ever intentionally sat down to listen to it, yet, like another album released in '82 (MJ's "Thriller") I have it memorized. Think it was Hollowbody Kay who said that he knew that album so well he could walk around in it blindfolded and never hit the furniture.

I personally used to refer to "How Soon Is Now?" as the "'Stairway' of College Rock" so I'll stick with that.

I brought this up to my wife, and she said CMJ used to compile and present college radio charts. She didn't recall ever seeing any best-of or most-played lists. From her own experience at WVUA, she said "Radio Free Europe" probably would lay claim to the distinction of alt's "Stairway to Heaven." (She also added, "'Bela Lugosi's Dead'" would only qualify in that both songs are too freakin' long.")

As for my friend, he did go to college in the '80s, and like I said, his taste in music was pretty wide-ranging. He introduced me to more than one good band. I guess Violent Femmes just missed his radar.

Hell, Violent Femmes were under my radar too, as I gravitated to more polished art rock spectrum of New Wave + Post-Punk [can't escape My Prog Roots…] and folk-punk, no matter how witty, was nowhere near my main musical tastes in 1983. I thought of them as the reaction against Post-Punk and to be ignored. Though I did hear it a lot while outside of my home in that period in much the same way that I did with R.E.M's Hib-Tone single and "New Order's "Power, Corruption + Lies." Some things were socially unavoidable, even in sleepy Orlando. I've never owned or actively listened to Violent Femmes, though I did buy the Mercy Seat album!



Post Edited (03-16-18 15:19)

Former TP subscriber [81, 82, 83, 84]

[postpunkmonk.com]
For further rumination on the Fresh New Sound of Yesterday®

I did buy the Femmes' debut, not too long after it came out (or at least, before they released their second album). What turned me on to the Femmes wasn't college radio; believe it or not, I remember them from MTV. "Gone Daddy Gone" was the first song I heard from them, and while the black & white video was no mean shakes, I really dug the song. A couple of local cover bands that I liked picked up on the songs from that album, and I heard enough to convince me it'd be a good purchase.

A year or two after that -- this would be summer '85 -- I saw the Femmes for the first time, at the Rainbow Music Hall in Denver. Fishbone was the opening act. Talk about an unforgettable show, and tremendous bang for the buck. Fishbone played an hour-long set, and then the Femmes performed for three hours. Sounds like a lot, for a band with only two albums out at the time, but they added all sorts of covers, drew out a few numbers for sing-alongs (no surprise), and in general, made sure everyone in the audience was engaged & entertained.

The last encore truly was unforgettable. They played "Blister in the Sun," dragging out the quieter-and-quieter section ... and stopped it cold, on an unresolved chord. All three Femmes froze on stage at that point, maintaining their silence, just letting the audience wonder what the hell they were up to. Then Gano waved over his shoulder, and the Femmes' horn section came onstage, along with all the members of Fishbone -- so they had eleven musicians onstage in all. The whole ensemble kicked into a rollicking version of the Batman theme.

Holy cow, that kicked the excitement up! People were jumping onstage, dancing and bouncing around, until you couldn't see the musicians anymore. When they hit the final "Bat-maaan!!!" everyone jumped off! It looked as if the stage was spewing people! The Femmes' horn players and all the Fishbone guys left the stage, leaving just the core trio ... who picked up "Blister" exactly where they'd left it off, taking it to the end.

Since then, I've lost count of how many times I've seen the Femmes. I've seen them headlining and opening, in big venues and small, at all-day festivals (where I suspect they were a last-minute addition) and one-off shows, and even once for free on a college campus. But I've never picked up any of their music beyond their first album. Heard plenty of their later work, but never found much else that tickled my ear.

Thats great Delvin. Having seen both bands live (Fishbone several times), i can only imagine . Pandemonium ensues!

WAIT A MINUTE, hold the phone, stop the presses - how could we have forgotten...

..."Love Will Tear Us Apart"?

If for no other reason, it's become the most cliched song to cover not named "Halleluja."

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I'm thinking that "Blister In The Sun" might be the winner here. I knew tons of folks back in the day who loathed the Smiths and R.E.M. who owned that album.

However ... "How Soon Is Now?" and "Radio Free Europe" are also obvious contenders.

Based on how easy the Femmes tune is to play, I'll bet dudes in guitar shops blister when they hear those few notes. Which is partly what's driving my nomination. I know there's a commandment about not playing STH in guitar shops.

I'm clearly the least qualified here but would Tell Me When It's Over be in the ballpark?

Was/is there no alt radio scene Down Under, Aitch?

Dream Syndicate were popular enough to jump to a major label, but were not as omni-present as the other nominees.

Has there ever been a good cover of Love Will Tear Us Apart? Is it possible? It's one of those songs that other artists seem to misinterpret the magic ingredient. Like those who play Big Yellow Taxi by Joni Mitchell as a slow R&B number. Or every cover of David Bowie's Heroes misses the desparation in the voice.

The only cover of "Love Will Tear Us Apart" that I like that pops to mind is "Dub Will Tear Us Apart" by Jah Division! By taking the novelty route, they sidestep having to realize the emotional intent of the original since, let's face, few are up to that task. And it's some durn good reggae, to boot.

So far as I know, there are no good ways to cover "Heroes." having heard remakes ranging from okay to ghastly, it should really just be put under glass, never to be touched again.



Post Edited (04-09-18 16:48)

King Crimson have been doing a decent version of "Heroes" of late. It helps, of course, to have one of the guys who played on the original in the band.

A buddy of mine worked in a guitar shop in the late 80s. "STH" was replaced by "Sweet Child o' Mine," at least for a while, as the show-off piece.

Quote

"STH" was replaced by "Sweet Child o' Mine," at least for a while, as the show-off piece.

I'm not struggling to believe that. Or to find it endlessly amusing.

. . .

YouTube is lousy bad video versions. Hope y'all enjoy this one.

> ..."Love Will Tear Us Apart"?
>
> If for no other reason, it's become the most cliched song to cover not named "Halleluja."

The key difference being, "Love Will Tear Us Apart" is almost impossible to cover well. On the other hand, it takes effort to cover any Leonard Cohen song without improving on the original.

There's a place in hell reserved for Simple Minds thanks to their 2001 cover of "Love Will Tear Us Apart!"



Former TP subscriber [81, 82, 83, 84]

[postpunkmonk.com]
For further rumination on the Fresh New Sound of Yesterday®

Yep. Right next door to Paul Young's cell. (I actually saw him live, as an opening act. He was no great shakes on the radio or MTV at the time, IMO, but I'd never heard his version of the JD classic until that night. My disinterest in him as an artist turned into acute hatred.)

I've heard only two bands cover "Love Will Tear Us Apart" well. One of them was New Order. (Does that count?) The other was The Auto-No, a band from Colorado Springs that I've mentioned on this board more than once.

The first time I'd heard of Joy Division was when I heard the Swans (fairly straight) cover of "Love Will Tear Us Apart".

> So far as I know, there are no good ways to cover "Heroes."

Peter Gabriel did a great job on "Heroes" on Scratch My Back, precisely because he didn't imitate the original.