Time would validate #AT40, not Billboard, on “La Grange.”

Sending my #AT40 friends off to their cookouts with not just the usual new music playlist, but a link to all of them--one of which will be right for the afternoon/evening. open.spotify.com/user/marsnee...

I always complain that there are no vestiges of localism left at radio. So I must disclose that "Fickle 93" is playing Rochester, NY's own Chuck Mangione's "Cannonball Run Theme" on a #YachtRock weekend. #AT40 fickle933.com

"Best of My Love" was not a song that a middle schooler could relate to. I came to recognize it as the Eagles' finest, most incisive lyric, but when you're not in the mood for it, it's a slog. #AT40

"You're No Good" as a breakthrough single for Linda Ronstadt is hardly male pandering. That might have been Casey's most patronizing intro of all. #AT40

Today, there would be no third single from a not-yet-successful Doobie Brothers album. The only shot for "Black Water" would be when somebody used it two years later on TikTok. #AT40

A lot has happened in today's hit music recently. Here's my weekly recap of the best of now for #AT40 and other friends. open.spotify.com/playlist/0Hg...

He waited years for stardom. When it came time for a follow-up, he made a dirty song about making out with a boat. #AT40

Among R&B fans, "One Less Bell to Answer" was the biggest and most enduring of the Fifth Dimension hits. "Because it's so bluesy," somebody told me. #AT40

"Heaven Help Us All" was corny to me for years, especially knowing that it came from the same pen as "I've Never Been To Me." But it's devastating now. #AT40

Because it was a B-side, I never heard Elvis Presley's "Patch It Up" until many years later on an oldies station from Australia, where it was a much bigger hit. Great song. I was at the age where I didn't know why he had been a big deal. This would have made me like him sooner. #AT40

There are not enough "we're still together" songs in pop music (and one of them is "Through the Years," not a favorite). #AT40

Thinking that some #AT40 friends will want to give this song some likes (on the original post). bsky.app/profile/what...

If you enjoyed this on yesterday’s #AT40, as we always do, give the original post some likes!

I think it was billed as CCR's last single at the time, and "Someday Never Comes" certainly felt like it, even to a kid. Plus, there was the resonance with "Someday We'll Be Together," which helped define cheerful/mournful for me a few years earlier. #AT40

Everywhere in the world, besides North America, where there is a Classic Soul format or side channel, Randy Crawford is a core artist.

Part of what made 1980-82 so dull on top 40 radio in America is that we were getting the second and third string knockoffs of this sound. I love this Carly song. “Cool Night” not so much. #AT40

May 13 1978 is a very solid #AT40. In fact, by 12:45 p.m., ET today, I think you'll agree that the first 10 songs are best described as the "Sturdy Thirty."

I want to leave the #AT40 gang tonight on an optimistic note. Discovered this tonight on an aircheck of an R&B station from 1970. From the Broadway musical "Purlie." I like to think this is a song for our times. www.youtube.com/watch?v=M05X...

This is a very "Sean vs. the world" thing, but I hated "Love Will Keep Us Together" and loved "The Way I Want to Touch You," which seemed like the height of adult sophistication. Even now, and even knowing what we know about the Captain & Tennille marriage, it's sexier to me than "Feelings." #AT40

There is (probably) unintentional irony in Casey telling the story about the Staple Singers *not* abandoning gospel, right before playing "Let's Do It Again." #AT40

In a time when every hit has a "feature," somebody should create a project to give every uncredited guest artist their due in the chart archives--e.g., Chaka Khan on "Higher Love." #AT40

First there was "Gone at Last" with Phoebe Snow. Then there was "My Little Town" with Art Garfunkel. Finally, as the third single, they went with "50 Ways to Leave Your Lover." Wonder if that was Paul's decision or the label? (He would end up suing them in the near future.) #AT40

It's often the case that you like the version of a song you hear first. I wonder if there's a child of 1975 among us who learned "Heat Wave" from Linda Ronstadt and prefers it to Martha & the Vandellas? #AT40

I often say that "Flash Light" was the moment my brother and I noticed that our R&B-loving mom started to not like what was on the radio. But, really, it was "I Wanna Do Somethin' Freaky To You." #AT40

In Chicago, "Do It Anyway You Wanna" became the basis for a local classic, Charlie Green's "Bus Stop" that you still heard on R&B oldies radio 30 years later. #AT40 www.youtube.com/watch?v=0IvF...

Freddy Fender was all about the '50s. but, still imagine the conversation in the A&R office... "We want to do 'Secret Love'" "The Doris Day song?" "Yes, and Country, and partially in Spanish." #AT40

The UK (and Elton John) gave Neil Sedaka his comeback. Interestingly, "Bad Blood" had been out in England for about a year when it became a hit here. Also, about the time "Laughter in the Rain" became an American hit, he went cold in the UK and stopped having chart records. #AT40

A year (and change) before "Something Better to Do" with its '30s/40s feel.. Anne Murray recorded this '30s/'40s flavored song for "Oklahoma Crude" that barely got noticed even during her hit streak. Noticing tonight how similar they are. #AT40 www.youtube.com/watch?v=hAom...

We know that "I Write The Songs" isn't really from Barry Manilow (or any singer's) POV. It's actually the kid who got trapped in the radio during "Angie Baby" 15 months earlier. #AT40

"Two Pina Coladas" by Garth Brooks into "Three Wooden Crosses" by Randy Travis. Doing the music for Classic Country stations often gives me these #MomentsOfMusicSchedulingGrace

If Vicki Lawrence hadn't confessed to the two murders, we would finally know the truth about "The Night the Lights Went Out in Georgia" thanks to DNA evidence and a new podcast. #AT40

With child labor laws being rolled back, we are less protected from having "Sing" and "Playground In My Mind" in #AT40 at the same time again.

Agreed on "Wildflower." In an era with so much to polarize, it's still "boring" that turns me off the most. Also, the whole "fragile womanchild" lyric was icky, even in #AT40.

"Pillow Talk" wasn't just a controversial lyric when it was new. Even in the "Playground In My Mind" era, it was so different/off-kilter such that a lot of radio people just considered it a bad record. #AT40

I love that Casey is using "rock" and "rocker" to refer to First Choice and the Five Satins, and not giving in to the '70s revisionism where R&B was no longer included (the discussion that plays out every time the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame inductees are announced). #AT40

Bobby Womack's original "I Can Understand It" was never a single, but it was a classic, and eventually it was the version that you heard on R&B Oldies stations. Same as Al Green's "Love and Happiness." #AT40

Errol Brown's character did seem to rebound from the tragedy of "Emma" very quickly. Many years later, a new podcast reopens the question of "was she really *that* depressed over the lack of acting jobs?" #AT40

These songs are distant echoes now but they were all part of the hit music excitement in spring '83. "Family Man" had already been a hit in Canada for Mike ("Tubular Bells") Oldfield, who was on a second UK/Europe hit streak with his sister as vocalist. #AT40

Lots of new music from across the hit music spectrum this week on my new music playlist, Big Hits Energy, for #AT40 friends staying current, and others. open.spotify.com/playlist/0Hg...

This is a UK site that posts songs on their anniversary and people effectively vote on them through likes on the OP. Want to make sure that my #AT40 friends see this one.

My favorite Dave Mason song--the just-missed #AT40 follow-up to "We Just Disagree." He played it when I saw him live about a decade ago. #RIP www.youtube.com/watch?v=YJ1x...

You know it's a different time when the Mobil stations are advertising a choice of free dessert toppings with every fill-up. #AT40

Some audio that #AT40 friends might enjoy. Top 40 KEWI Topeka from November '71, going well beyond the "dirty 30." archive.org/details/kewi...

If it hadn't been for the Ike & Tina Turner version of "Proud Mary," this is the (also great) R&B hit that every music supervisor would be reaching for today. #AT40 www.youtube.com/watch?v=tSIG...

"No Love At All" had already been a Country hit for Lynn Anderson a year earlier, and, hard to believe but her version cooks. #AT40 www.youtube.com/watch?v=K3BZ...

"What Is Life" is one of those great moments where a substantial lyric is part of a great sounding "radio record." #AT40

"Love's Lines, Angles, and Rhymes" is rare example of a song I don't remember as a current being as high as No. 19 on #AT40.

"We Can Work It Out" used to be my favorite Beatles song and no remake could live up to it. Now, my allegiance has switched sides (literally) to "Day Tripper" and the Stevie Wonder version sounds great on #AT40.

"Don't Speak" to "Just Dance" #MomentsOfMusicSchedulingGrace