During the ‘90s heyday of Oldies as a ‘50s-and ‘60s-based radio format, it was easy to identify the most ubiquitous song from early fall 1967. “The Letter” by the Box Tops was one of the format’s signature hits — prominent among the most-unavoidable titles on the format’s “top 300” safe-list. “The Letter” was a four-week No. 1 hit. It was Billboard’s No. 2 song of 1967. “The Letter” was particularly easy to program because it was less than two minutes long, and because few Oldies stations played more than two Box Tops songs. (“Cry Like a Baby” wasn’t exactly rare on Oldies radio, but it wasn’t a top 300 song.)
“Brown Eyed Girl” was always a staple at Oldies radio as well, even though Van Morrison’s hit had peaked only at No. 10 on the Billboard Hot 100, barely played by Top 40 powerhouse WABC New York at the time. At that point, “Brown Eyed Girl” was not yet the most enduring song of 1967. It was certainly not yet the only enduring song of 1967, something it has become over the last decade or so. When “To Sir With Love,” “Respect,” and “I’m a Believer” were Oldies staples as well, “Brown Eyed Girl” was just another big oldie from 1967.
Chart fans ponder this at least once a year, usually in late September/early October. This year, it began with a tweet of the WCFL Chicago survey for October 12, 1967. “Brown Eyed Girl” had peaked in late September at No. 4 on WCFL, the week it went No. 10 nationally, and was just dropping that week to No. 6. That made me wonder about the “Lost Factor” for the other songs in the top 10 for that week.
The Lost Factor is my calculation of the distance between a song’s hit status at the time and its airplay now. The formula is based on points for the song’s placing on the year-end top 100 divided by the number of monitored spins from BDSRadio over a seven-day period. Any song with a “Lost Factor” of a 1.0 or higher can be thought of as not receiving airplay proportionate to its hit status at the time. Because there’s not much ‘60s on large-market FM Classic Hits stations, even some of those top 300 warhorses are above a 1.0 Lost Factor. Still, some ‘60s songs are more lost than others, particularly the early ‘60s, instrumentals, movie themes, and MOR acts.
“Brown Eyed Girl” was the No. 35 song of 1967, according to Billboard. That might seem like the charts already correcting themselves, but Morrison is flanked by the No. 34 “Get On Up” by the Esquires (which peaked at No. 11) and the No. 36 “Jimmy Mack” by Martha & the Vandellas (No. 10). In a time when the charts moved faster than they do now, and the shelf between the first tier of hits and the second was not as lopsided, those all seemed like legitimate, decently sized hits. “Get On Up” never became a library staple, and has a lost factor of 10 now; “Jimmy Mack” was on the safe list for a while and now has a lost factor around a 5.
Here’s how the top 10 for Sept. 30, 1967 — the peak week for “Brown Eyed Girl” — fares now. (These songs aren’t ranked by “Lost Factor”; they appear in the order they did on that week’s chart.)
- Box Tops, “The Letter” (lost factor: 2; spins last week: 53)
- Bobbie Gentry, “Ode to Billie Joe” (2; 60)
- Association, “Never My Love” (2; 33)
- Bobby Vee, “Come Back When You Grow Up” (12, 7)
- Diana Ross & Supremes, “Reflections” (3, 22)
- Jay & Techniques, “Apples, Peaches, Pumpkin Pie” (4, 22)
- Jackie Wilson, “(Your Love Keeps Lifting Me) Higher and Higher” (0.97, 49)
- Wilson Pickett, “Funky Broadway” (5, 6)
- Peter, Paul & Mary, “I Dig Rock and Roll Music” (0.55, 18)
- Van Morrison, “Brown Eyed Girl” (0.06, 965)
Besides “The Letter,” I remember “Never My Love,” “Higher and Higher,” “Ode to Billie Joe,” and “Reflections” as format staples, although “Reflections” was just one of many Supremes hits in the format. “Apples, Peaches, Pumpkin Pie” was at best secondary; “Funky Broadway” was a treat when I encountered it. While I’d guess it was different in the Midwest, I don’t remember hearing “Come Back When You Grow Up” much. Like the songs with high lost factors now, it already had some throwback element in 1967, because it was a pre-Beatles hitmaker’s comeback song.
By the time I began working closely with Classic Hits stations in the late ‘00s, only two of the songs in that top 10 were still likely to test: “Brown Eyed Girl” and “The Letter.” Seeing “Brown Eyed Girl” somewhere near “Unchained Melody” at the top meant you had a valid music test. By the early ‘10s, “The Letter” might or might not make the cut, and without the Classic Rock airplay that legitimized Morrison or Creedence Clearwater Revival, it was starting to feel very old to PDs.
Out of the top 100 songs of the year, 75 have a “lost factor” of a 1.0 or higher including “I’m a Believer” (1.02); “All You Need Is Love” (1.03); “Happy Together” (1.43), “Groovin’” (1.61), “Soul Man” (1.86). Many of the others, such as “I Dig Rock and Roll Music,” have relatively low spins, but weren’t as big hits to begin with, giving them a low “lost factor” but not quite durability. It’s not quite only “Brown Eyed Girl” that endures, but only three other songs have both more than 100 spins and less than a 1.0 “lost factor” — “For What It’s Worth,” “Light My Fire,” and “Respect.”
As for the 1967 hits with the highest “lost factor,” they tend to be ‘60s MOR, although they also contain several novelties, one garage-band classic, and a few legitimately great R&B titles from the Temptations and Peaches & Herb.
- Vikki Carr, “It Must Be Him” (lost factor: 76; spins for the previous week: 0)
- Bobby Vinton, “Please Love Me Forever” (58, 0)
- Dionne Warwick, “Alfie” (57, 0)
- Ed Ames, “My Cup Runneth Over” (55, 0)
- Lesley Gore, “California Nights” (40, 0)
- Hombres, “Let It Out (Let It All Hang Out)” (32, 0)
- Peaches & Herb, “Close Your Eyes” (30, 0)
- Booker T & the M.G.s, “Groovin’” (29, 0)
- Royal Guardsmen, “Snoopy vs. the Red Baron” (17, 0—but “Snoopy’s Christmas” is coming)
- Janis Ian, “Society’s Child” (16, 0)
- Temptations, “You’re My Everything” (15, 3)
- Sandy Posey, “I Take It Back” (13, 0)
- Bobby Vee, “Come Back When You Come Up” (13, 7)
- Engelbert Humperdinck, “Release Me” (12, 6)
- Diana Ross & the Supremes, “The Happening” (10, 7)
“The Happening” falls into several of our favorite “lost factor” categories: female MOR, movie themes, and “songs that deliberately sounded old at the time” thanks to its vaudeville feel. Ironically, the No. 20 lost song of the year is another pre-rock throwback, a remake of the depression-era “I Got Rhythm” by the Happenings.
Many Ross On Radio readers aren’t yet at the point where they need to search out a place to hear “The Letter” again. But if you’re curious about which of the stations monitored by BDSRadio still play the ‘60s, the song’s five highest-spinning stations are a representative sample:
- WLMI (Cruisin’ 92.9) Lansing, Mich., doing an older-leaning version of Classic Rock reminiscent of the early days of the “Classic Hits” format (when that meant “softer classic rock,” not just “today’s successor to oldies”).
- KONO-AM San Antonio’s ‘60s and ‘70s AM companion to the Classic Hits format on its FM.
- KOAI (The Wow Factor) Phoenix, which was recently profiled in this column.
- KORL (Oldies 101.1) Honolulu.
- WECK Buffalo, N.Y. – We’ve written a lot about KDRI Tucson, Ariz., but WECK has made many similar ratings strides as a locally owned radio station where a staff with market heritage plays ‘60s, ‘70s, and even some pre-Beatles.
And if this is the first “Lost Factor” article you’re seeing, check out the rest of the series here.
Sean: Thank you for another fun Lost Factor article.
As a young teen in ’67 and later as a programmer of oldies stations in the ’90s and ’00s, I have always had a particular love for the hits of ’67. The year was a 60s counterculture explosion, from Sgt. Pepper to Height Asbury, Monterey Pop, Viet Nam protests and mini-skirts, and the chart hits reflected it.
In the 1990s, and early 2000’s it was possible to get a secondary or tertiary test score on songs like “Come Back When You Grow Up,” “Apples, Peaches, Pumpkin Pie,” and even “I Dig Rock & Roll Music.” These were some of the titles that gave the format depth when mixed with powers such as “I’m A Believer,” “The Letter,” “Respect,” “Soul Man,” “For What It’s Worth,” and a Beatles song as soon as your “artist separation” would allow,–usually about an hour. “Brown-eyed Girl” was already outperforming its chart position, but not yet THE song that evokes the feeling of that amazing year.
What about the Rascals’ version of “Groovin'”–or did you mean the Rascals and wrote Booker T instead?
The Rascals’ “Groovin'” has a 1.61 Lost Factor–low compared to others from the year, but above a 1.0 on a song that used to be a format staple. The Booker T version is the one in the “Lost Top 15.” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=euWA4j0PPpo
I thought that the original “Classic Hits” designation meant “hit-based Classic Rock”, I didn’t think the tempo had anything to do with it!
Classic Hits usually had more of the soft rock acts, as well as some pop nuggets and even occasionally some of the Stevie Wonder and Bill WIthers type R&B artists who had been part of rock radio at the outset. Being poppier usually meant that it wasn’t as hard rocking.
Going from some very vague memories of the late ’80s, Milwaukee’s WKLH (whose calls were indeed based on its “Classic Hits” branding of that era) might’ve been pop-leaning enough to have played the Monkees.
Seems to me that most of the songs with the highest lost factor were already lost during the oldies formats of the 80’s and 90’s. I’m 45. So, I wasn’t around when those songs were new, but my parents frequently played oldies around the house and in the car and was somewhat familiar with the music. I started taking somewhat of a liking to it myself by the time I was 16, though I preferred classic rock. Of the songs with the highest lost factor, I only recognized two.
I did recognize “The Happening” and “I Got Rhythm,” however, as I moved to Kansas City after college, and KCMO-FM (then known as “Oldies 95”) played both fairly often. Oldies 95 wasn’t the first button I hit, but it had one out of five of my presets. I’m trying to remember my presets of more than 20 years ago, but I’m thinking they were KMXV “Mix 93.3,” KCMO-FM “Oldies 95,” KQRC 98.9, KCFX 101.1 “The Fox,” KYYS 102.1/99.7 “KY,” and KCIY 106.5 “Smooth Jazz, the City.”
Always found it interesting that “Brown Eyed Girl” became so heavily (read:over) played on oldies radio in the 90s and remains such today. Back in 1967, it was a garden variety hit that was in the same category as the likes of “You Keep Running Away” by the Four Tops or “Words” by the Monkees (both songs that I’d personally rather hear than BEG). Yet its this one that has persevered. And, you would think that this mid-chart hit would have burned to a crisp on radio at least 20 years ago. Interesting how testing works wonders for certain songs while giving others the hook.
Personally, I’d love to hear a classic hits presentation that hewed more closely to what was actually played on radio back in the late 60’s and early 70’s. That said, even I admit that there are some songs that were aired back in the day that even I would prefer to stay lost.
“Words” is a personal favorite and the first Monkees song I remember as a current; I’d just missed “I’m A Believer,” and the stations I listened to played that side, rather than “Plesasant Valley Sunday.” I don’t remember hearing “Words” as an oldie in the late ’60s/early ’70s. It’s entirely possible that I’ve heard it on the radio only a few times in life since it was a current.
Great article! I still consider 1967 to be the best year in pop music history, It was the year ky family moved from a small town in Indiana, where I seem to have barely known any radio station existed other than WOWO (which still rocked pretty good for a full service/news/farm/personality station. That summer, I discovered “Fun Radio 8” CKLW blasting out of the speakers at the pool of my lily-white Ohio town, with a lot of emphasis on Motown, but certainly playing the other hits, including some of the MOR ones during the school day. (Could Ed Ames hold a note or what?). “The Big 8” was born that July. I still most remember Ed Ames and Bobby Vee more from WOWO, “Society’s Child” definitely CKLW (though urban legend tells that The Big 8 waited on the song due to the riots that summer in Detroit).
Fun fact: “Jimmy Mack” was recorded in 1964.
When I worked at what was considered Classic Hits in the late 80s, it was indeed a mix of AOR acts, oldies and a smattering of R&B with a small current/recurrent playlist. Even in the late 80s, some advertisers were skittish on “rock”.
I’ve wondered from the label composer credit how much of the music of “The Happening” was Holland-Dozier-Holland (we knew the lyrics were there’s) and how much was Frank DeVol, the guy best known for the TV themes of “My Three Sons” and “The Brady Bunch” and the role of Happy Kyne on “Fernwood/America 2Night.”
I’ve wondered from the label composer credit how much of the music of “The Happening” was Holland-Dozier-Holland (we knew the lyrics were theirs) and how much was Frank DeVol, the guy best known for the TV themes of “My Three Sons” and “The Brady Bunch” and the role of Happy Kyne on “Fernwood/America 2Night.”