For the last 15 years, working extensively in the Classic Hits format has meant two things. Hurriedly scheduling in more music by artists after the news of their passing, as I did last week for Gordon Lightfoot. Also, engaging with readers or staffers about why Classic Hits only plays some artists after their death. (I’m happy to say the stations I worked with did play Lightfoot already, but we added more.)
I’ve been tackling the question of acknowledging veteran acts in this column since at least 2016. I came back to it last year following the passing of Olivia Newton-John, one of many artists whose catalogs I was sad to see reduced to one enduring radio song, even during their lifetime. Even six years ago, I wrote “my best solution so far is a better representation and appreciation of all veteran hitmakers while they are among us.”
About a year ago, I had another prompt. I was on my Saturday afternoon American Top 40 Twitter thread when Jerry Butler & Brenda Lee Eager’s “Ain’t Understanding Mellow” played on a 1972 show, a song not known to many of the people on the thread. It’s a stately ballad that I grew into over the years myself. I understood if it wasn’t an immediate first listen for everybody. But the “who is this Jerry Butler guy?” comment bothered me. If you’re reading this column, you probably don’t have that issue. Just in case, I’d rather make sure you know now.
In 2016, I turned my Living Legends idea into a special weekend for a Classic Hits station I worked with. Now, I realize, it needs to be a playlist. For one thing, we’re fortunate that it’s still not a small group that have earned our appreciation now. When Christine McVie died, the Philadelphia Inquirer’s Dan DeLuca tweeted, “It would have been good if people said some of these nice things … when she was alive.” But McVie was a low-key person who kept her battle private. It’s hard to choose the artists to salute unless you focus on all of them. So here we are.
With the help of Facebook friends, I’ve created a mostly uptempo playlist for artists around age 70 and older (at least at the outset). I’ve also tried to populate Living Legends 101 with songs that go beyond the 1-2 songs represented by certain artists at today’s Classic Hits radio. (For ’60s and ’70s artists, it’s a little different, as major large-market FMs move beyond that era.) If Oldies radio were playing any Jerry Butler, it would probably be “Only the Strong Survive.” But the whole idea is that you’re not hearing it elsewhere.
Other initial ground rules:
- Artists are mostly rock era;
- Groups are represented if their lead vocalist or primary songwriter is still among us;
- Song and artist choices are subjective. Omissions are inevitable, because we’re lucky that it is such a big group. Artists will continue to be added. (Four hours later, I’ve already added a few.) Many listeners are still fighting the battle of the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame inductees, but that’s not the intent here.
- Neil Young, Joni Mitchell, and Eddy Grant aren’t here because they aren’t on Spotify. Toni Basil should be on here, so I should probably get over Spotify’s “Mickey” being re-recorded.
A few readers were reluctant to play along. When McVie died, I tweeted DeLuca and asked who else deserved to be saluted now. “For now, I’m going to cop out and say too many to mention,” he said. Plus, DeLuca was reluctant to jinx any artist. So am I. But I recognize my lack of real power over the time/space continuum when it comes to all my favorite bands. At least that continuum is being regularly jolted now by syncs and bringbacks that give songs extra endurance. I hope this list does too.
