The 2004 Musicradio 77 Web Site All Time Favorite Hits
Commentary and analysis by Mike Riccio.
Compilation by Tom Natoli and Mike Riccio.
Technical assistance from Craig Harris and Chad Olszyk.

(as voted by site visitors 10/26/04 through 12/12/04)

It's the seventh annual Musicradio77.com Top 77 All-Time Favorite list as voted by you!

For a "countdown" version of the results, click here

SO, I must start by giving a HUGE thanks to fellow "Survey Guy" Tom Natoli for helping to put this list together this year. I couldn't be more sincere in saying that, without Tom's help, I'd have had some serious problems getting this out on time, or at all! In fact, things really got exciting this year as Tom and I employed the help on the technical end of Chad Olszyk and especially Craig Harris. Craig is an Excel program wizard, and he came up with some incredible programming tips that made the calculation and analysis not only more accurate, but also incredibly easier to do. At this point, the system we've developed to determine this list outpaces any other one I've ever known of at any radio station or have seen in use for any survey compilation. So thanks, guys, for joining the "Top 77" team and making this project one to be more proud of than ever! I'm happy to say that, without a doubt, this is the most accurate Top 77 list we've ever had.

As for the voting, how did it go? Well, we ended up with just under 600 people voting for nearly 1000 different songs. (These numbers are well over the minimums needed for a statistical sampling, meaning that this list is a very accurate assessment of site visitors' favorite songs.) Only approximately 13.7% of our voters were female, or just about one in seven. That's down from nearly 23% last year.

We were all over the map once again this year with votes coming in from 41 states and Washington D.C. So who were the U.S.A. "slackers" this year? Well, we NEVER heard from Alaska, Arkansas, Hawaii, Idaho, Iowa, Montana, North Dakota, Oregon and South Dakota. Ahh, I give up on these nine states! Party poopers... Outside of the USA, our fine neighbors up north in Canada checked in with more voters than all but SEVEN of our own states! Nice job, eh? Beyond that, we heard from Australia, Burmuda, England, Ireland, Norway, Puerto Rico, Spain, Wales (did Tom Jones vote?) and our old favorite, the North Mariana Islands.

Keep those cards and letters coming, dear friends. Your comments are what keep us going. Like those from lovely regular Hilary who writes, "Thanks Mike Riccio and everyone else involved. (The survey) is a pleasant diversion during the holidays and has become a tradition!" And to Matt Vandermast of New Jersey..." As always, thanks Mike!" Jeff S. from the Bronx had his annual frustration that "Hey Jude" always does so well (hey, Jeff, don't make it bad, lots of voters just like it better. Remember to vote for your favorite song, and it won't be long, before you'll feel better, better, better ,better, ahhhh!). At any rate, he writes "My many thanks to Mike...for all his tedious hard work and devotion for compiling this monster." You're welcome, but don't forget Tom Natoli's help in slaying this dragon this year!

MusicRadio was remembered fondly by voters. New York's Mark Barrett quoted Ron Lundy (God love him) right out of 1975 with "WABC, New York. The Greatest City in the World!" Long Island's Kim Brandnor writes that "...whenever these songs come on the air, they make me move and I don't change the station!!!!!!!!!!!!" (He's talking about "Tighten Up", "Tighter and Tighter" and "These Boots Are Made for Walkin'"). Pete Stassa from Massachusetts voted for three songs that are, according to him, "...perfect examples of songs that compelled me to roll them windows down and crank it up!" ("Hey Jude", "Tears of a Clown", "MacArthur Park"). Mark Nemeth from North Carolina remembers hearing his favorite, "D.O.A." by Bloodrock on "...Sneak Preview...with Chuck Leonard." And Stuart from Brooklyn voted for "Muskrat Love" by, in deference to Big Dan Ingram, "The Captain and Schlemiel". (Da-aaa-an Ingram - chime)!

Love those unique voter names, like Lars Storm appropriately from Oslo, Norway (where snow storms lead to avalanches). And Tay Woo...Thank Yoo... for voting from Derry, New Hampshire. What about "Just Vic" from Pittsburgh. That's "Just"...so...funny. But my personal favorite is "Little Yiddle" from Florida who led the charge for Americana hits by voting for the Star Spangled Banner and "God Bless America". Please, stand and salute, Little. You were joined by New Jersey's Marc Snyder, who voted for "God Bless America" along with, what else, "American Pie". And Tom Trigger from St. Louis(who sounds like a cowboy movie star) voted for "Kentucky Rain" (Elvis) as his favorite. Here's a good one who else could have voted for the Ides of March except Roman Sohor from New Jersey. Can someone tell me who could disagree with Andy Agree from Omaha. He likes "Ball of Confusion" by the Temptations as his fave. Muggy Z. (!) from Connecticut voted for "Because" by the DC5 as his "...#1 pick seven years straight!". Yo, Muggy, it finally paid off. Your song finished higher than ever this year. And I guess it's appropriate that Tampa's "Dr. Johnny P. Love Train" voted for "When a Man Loves a Woman", but wouldn't it have made even MORE sense to vote for the O'Jays song? In a similar vein, shouldn't New Jersey's Norman Wolff have voted for "Li'l Red Riding Hood" or at LEAST "The Hair on My Chinny Chin Chin" instead of "96 Tears" as his favorite?

On the subject of names, I just loved Maryland native Shaunmarie Rega's name. Is that pretty, or what? "Shaunmarie...Makes me want to go to eharmony.com immediately. (Her fave was "I Can't Help Myself" by the Four Tops.)

It was great to see some regular friend of MusicRadio77.com join in the fun. Phil DeGasperis checked in from New York with votes for classics, "Hey Jude", "My Girl" and "Mack the Knife". Niiiice! And hi there, Mary Shaw from Staten Island. This number one radio fan and site visitor kept the fires burning for "In the Still of the Nite" by the Five Satins. Hello to Michael Judge, another frequent board contributor who voted the Elton John line all the way for his top three. Pretty Pink Lady Patty posted picks from Pigeon Forge, Tennessee (Is that near good, ol' Rocky Top, Rocky Top Tennessee?) for Johnny Mathis/Jane Olivor, Lesley Gore and the Chords. And Memphis' very own Steve West, who ALMOST made it possible for us to have an audio version of the countdown this year, got eclectic with a mix of the Emotions, the Scorpions and the Remingtons. Hey Steve...thanks for trying...maybe NEXT year.

Gary Pfiefer from Arizona checked in by voting for some super sixties hits, let by the classic from the Shadows of Knight, "Gloria"...G-L-O-R-I-A-a-a-a-a! Tony Nardini from Joisey City, New Joisey liked Norman Greenbaum's "Spirit in the Sky" so much he voted twice, but even God couldn't help on this one, Tony. Norman missed the Top 77. WMCA devotee and friend John Pocaro remembered the golden age of WABC versus WMCA with votes for "Satisfaction", "Light My Fire" and "Incense and Peppermints". Nice choices, John. They all made the list. And Tony Marzocco checked in from sunny and way-too-hot Florida to honor the late Skeeter Davis with a vote for "I Can't Stay Mad at You" along with a vote for a gal I STILL have a crush on after all these year, Diane Renay and "Kiss Me Sailor". Site pal Ralph Hahn from New Jersey checked in by voting for Harry Chapin, the Young Rascals and the Beatles. But Ralph, without your support "(I Wanna) Testify and the Parliaments stand NO chance at all! And finally, what wrap-up would be complete without some select words from site regular Steve Green from Pennsylvania waxing poetic. Let's go with how he described his #2 favorite, "Do Something to Me" by Tommy James and the Shondells. "...Sloppier, cheaper and hornier than even 'Mony Mony', this is a gold medal garage band masterpiece...overlooked." Ummm, errr...OK, Steve.

We heard from many of our areas finest DJ's, too, as Pat St. John, Mike McCann and Johnny Donovan all got in their votes for favorites from, among others, Frank SInatra (doobie doobie doo) and the Doobie Brothers, Elvis Presley, Chubby Checker, the Beach Boys, Jerry Lee Lewis and the Everly Brothers,

To Heather from Tennessee, who was "..."NOT a fan of the old school stuff..." and so voted for U2, Shania Twain, and Deana Carter, it's OK. Anyone who votes for Shania is OK in my book. But is there REALLY a song called "Did I Shave My Legs for This?" Stephen Gair from Bermuda really touched the raw rockin' nerve of rock and roll with his votes for "Rock Around the Clock", "With You or Without You" and "Anarchy in the U.K." Now, THAT'S what defines rock. Just as Loren M. from New Jersey defines "classics" with her votes for "That's Amore" (Dean Martin) and "I Wanna Be Around" (Tony Bennett). Doug Schwabe from Pittsburgh saluted the one-hit wonders from 1974 led by "The Night Chicago Died" (Paper Lace). Staten Island's Herbie Gibson wished CBS-FM was still playing his faves, "Walking Along" (Solitaires), "It's a Disco Night" (Isley Brothers) and "Have You Heard" (Duprees). Errrr, Herbie, sorry but I don't even think the Solitaires themselves play that song anymore. New Jersey's John Cashman was between a rock and a hard place, voting for "ROCK Around the Clock" and "ROCKin' Around the Christmas Tree" as his #1 and #3, with #2 between them, "A HARD Day's Night". New York's Arneil Dewitt misses the late Richard Harris, whom he remembers as "almost starting to sing" when Paul Schaefer introduced him on Letterman with the opening " MacArthur Park" chords. More late, greats were honored by Rich Klein from Texas with votes for Johnny Bristol, Tyrone Davis and McFadden & Whitehead, just some of the talent lost in 2004.

We know it's hard to pick just three favorites, but Jim Magin of Ellicott City, Maryland, gave us his top 42! Two things, Jim --- only the first three counted, and WHY 42??? Ah, but you didn't top Jim Fraas from Massachusetts. After voting for "Stairway to Heaven", "Satisfaction" and "Ain't No Mountain...", he went on to email me with his personal prediction for each song in the top 100. Now THAT'S dedication...I think.

I guess all those radio stations playing Christmas songs since September 1 (or so it seemed) must have gotten to some of our troops, like New Jersey's Jackie Rose, who voted for "White Christmas", "Christmas Sarajavo" and "O, Holy Night". And Pedro Hazel, who can' get enough of "Ain't No Mountain High Enough" (voting for two versions of it) added "'Tis the season to be jolly." (Yeah, Pedro, for everyone but Tom and me spending endless nights working on this survey!).

Arnold Katz's top pick was for "Conquistador" (Procol Harum) as he wrote "1972 is THE year for wonderful memories of the Big 8 in Detroit!" Hey, wait a minute, Arnold, this is the WABC MusicRadio website! But I DO love the name of the town he's from...Strawberry Plains, Tennessee. (Let me take you down, 'cause I'm going to...oh, forget it.) But Paul Melville from Austin from Australia picked another decade. "As a child of the eighties, I felt I had to honor the decade of my childhood and three of my favorite songs from that era", he writes. Jeez, I sure wish the 80's was MY "childhood" decade! Ouch.

Love those clever voters! Art "Red" Day likes to count, and so he voted for..."One", "1-2-3", and "1,2,3 Red Light". Do you know the artists? Or New Jersey's love-stricken Bart Goble who voted for "Lovers Never Say Goodbye", "Lover's Question" and "Love Eyes". Flower power lives, at least with Florida's Karen Rubin, who just loves "San Francisco (Be Sure to Wear Flowers in Your Hair", "White Rabbit", and "Sunshine of Your Love". (Can Haight-Asbury be far behind?) Friend Big John Libynski from Diamondbacks country kept that theme by voting for "Rock 'N Me",, "Take It Easy" and "By the Time I Get to Phoenix". Can you figure out the "Arizona" connection in each?

Sports fans checked in this year, too. With JETS fan Brad Cravello voting for "Bennie and the JETS", "JET", and "Leaving on a JET Plane". Clever, Brad, but unless quarterback CHAD gets his act together, the Jets will be leaving on a jet plane to go HOME for the summer. Steve Rogers from New York "just wanted to do something different and list three classic New York city sports teams novelty songs" so he voted for "Let's Go Mets Go", "Go New York, Go New York, Go" and the original Yankees theme. And thanks for nothing, Dave Coyle from California, for reminding me of the "2004 MLB playoffs and World Series" with votes for (grrrrrr...) "Dirty Water" (The Standells) "New York, New York" from Frank and "St. Louis Toodle-ooo" from Steely Dan.

And how about some of the obscure songs that got number one votes...like New Yorker M. Calhoon's fave "Once in a Very Blue Moon" by Nanci Griffith, or that GREAT one hit wonder by Barry and the Tamerlanes, "I Wonder What She's Doing Tonight" (thanks to Joe Condon in New York). I LOVE Virginia resident Steve Bressi 's pick ("Who Do You Think You Are" - Bo Donaldson and the Heywoods). Tennessee's Veronica Kim likes Britney Spears' "Toxic" (it finished #192, Veronica). California's sunny gate opened for Sonny Gait just in time to vote for Chad and Jeremy's "Distant Shores" as #1. Texas' Karen Pullig was pulling for the Cowsills, voting for "Hair", "We Can Fly" and "Indian Lake" (good songs, Karen). But NOTHING could top Illinois' Dave Murphy's vote for "The Roach" by Gene and Wendell (1961) for #1. Urgghhh! I'm getting creeped out just thinking of it!

Those novelty hits keep getting votes, too. From Pennsylvania's John Carpenter who took time out from movie-making to vote for "Loving You Has Made Me Bananas" by Guy Marks (and I thought I was the only one who remembered that) to Angie Picone of Connecticut whose favorite song is "Dominick the Donkey" followed closely by "Shaddap You Face" (a good suggestion). New Jersey's Bob Whitney remembered "They're Coming to Take Me Away, Ha-Haaa!", "Tie Me Kangaroo Down Sport" and "Old Rivers". And unique?...how about New York' native Peter Dintino's vote for Enrico Caruso's "O Solo Mio"?

So, thanks to all of you for voting. Now let's get to the results, already! Once again, here's a reminder of how this list was compiled. Voters were asked to choose their three all-time favorite songs from any era, not just the years that WABC was a music station. Songs that got votes received three points if they were voted as a number one favorite, two points as a number two favorite, or one point as a number three favorite. Points were tallied and those songs with the most votes were ranked highest. The number of people who voted for each song was also factored in with a variably weighted system for the final ranking. Ties were broken based on the number of voters for each song, then by the number of #1, #2 and #3 votes for the song, and finally, if still tied, by the higher ranking song on the WABC and national surveys.

SO let's get down to it, this year's all-time faves!

THE WABC MUSICRADIO77 WEB SITE ALL TIME TOP 77
2004 edition

 

98/99/00/01/02/03/04
--/--/--/--/--/--/77. THIS MAGIC MOMENT - Jay & the Americans (1969)
--/--/ 6/ 7/28/30/76. BEST THING THAT EVER HAPPENED TO ME - 
                      Gladys Knight & the Pips (1974)
--/--/--/--/60/--/75. SOMETHING - Beatles (1969)
65/68/--/--/44/--/74.*STAYIN' ALIVE - Bee Gees (1978)
--/--/--/--/--/--/73. SOMEBODY TO LOVE - Jefferson Airplane (1967)
--/--/--/--/--/--/72. YOU WERE ON MY MIND - We Five (1965)
--/--/--/--/--/--/71. BAKER STREET - Gerry Rafferty (1978)
--/--/69/--/48/35/70.*CRYSTAL BLUE PERSUASION - 
                      Tommy James & Shondells (1969)
--/--/--/--/--/--/69.*I WILL SURVIVE - Gloria Gaynor (1979)
--/--/--/--/--/--/68. JOHNNY B. GOODE - Chuck Berry (1958)
--/--/--/--/--/--/67. VEHICLE - Ides of March (1970)
35/28/19/51/--/--/66. SINCE I DON'T HAVE YOU - Skyliners (1959)
--/--/--/--/--/--/65.*CAN'T TAKE MY EYES OFF OF YOU - 
                      Frankie Valli (1967)
--/--/--/--/--/46/64.*CRIMSON AND CLOVER - 
                      Tommy James & Shondells (1969)
--/--/--/--/64/--/63. WHAT A WONDERFUL WORLD - 
                      Louis Armstrong (1968/1987)
--/--/33/--/--/--/62.*I FEEL FINE - Beatles (1964)
--/--/--/70/--/--/61. MAGIC - Pilot (1975)
32/44/31/39/--/--/60. HE'S A REBEL - Crystals (1962)
--/--/32/41/57/24/59.*YESTERDAY - Beatles (1965)
--/63/--/--/35/--/58. MY WAY - Frank Sinatra (1969)
--/--/--/--/--/--/57. KENTUCKY RAIN - Elvis Presley (1970)
12/43/--/16/27/22/56. A DAY IN THE LIFE - Beatles (1967) 
                      (from LP "Sgt. Pepper's...")
--/--/--/--/--/--/55. PAPA WAS A ROLLIN' STONE - Temptations (1972)
--/--/--/36/--/68/54.*HONKY TONK WOMEN - Rolling Stones (1969)
 9/74/73/--/73/62/53.*JAZZMAN - Carole King (1974)
--/--/--/--/32/--/52.*TO SIR WITH LOVE - Lulu (1967)
24/--/44/53/62/36/51. LAYLA - Derek & the Dominoes (1972)
--/--/--/--/--/--/50. TIME HAS COME TODAY - Chambers Brothers(1968)
31/--/--/--/--/--/49. SUSPICIOUS MINDS  - Elvis Presley (1969)
--/--/--/--/--/--/48. HAIR - Cowsills (1969)
--/--/--/75/--/49/47.*HOUSE OF THE RISING SUN - Animals (1964)
--/--/--/--/--/--/46. HEY YA - Outkast (2003)
--/--/--/--/--/57/45. (WE'RE GONNA) ROCK AROUND THE CLOCK - 
                      Bill Haley & Comets (1955)
--/--/--/--/--/43/44.*RUNAROUND SUE - Dion (1961)
--/--/--/--/18/51/43. DAY AFTER DAY - Badfinger (1972)
--/--/--/--/--/--/42. 96 TEARS - ? & the Mysterians (1966) 
--/--/40/17/--/71/41. GOD ONLY KNOWS - Beach Boys (1966)
36/--/37/40/20/27/40. TAXI - Harry Chapin (1972)
--/--/--/44/--/--/39.*HELP! - Beatles (1965)
48/--/--/33/43/26/38. IN MY LIFE - Beatles (1966)
27/25/24/34/72/28/37.*NIGHTS IN WHITE SATIN - Moody Blues (1972)
74/46/--/--/42/--/36. YOUR SONG - Elton John (1971)
--/34/--/28/--/34/35. BORN TO RUN - Bruce Springsteen (1975)
--/--/--/24/26/21/34.*MY SWEET LORD - George Harrison (1971)
--/--/--/--/36/--/33. BOHEMIAN RHAPSODY - Queen (1976/1992)
65/68/--/--/--/74/32.*I CAN'T HELP MYSELF - Four Tops (1965)
40/--/30/--/--/59/31.*CHERISH - Association (1966)
--/--/--/--/--/55/30.*LIGHTNIN' STRIKES - Lou Christie (1966)
 3/12/62/72/--/25/29. MY GIRL - Temptations (1965)
--/30/--/--/--/19/28. STRAWBERRY FIELDS FOREVER - Beatles (1967)
--/57/--/--/40/18/27.*THE RAIN, THE PARK AND OTHER THINGS - 
                      Cowsills (1967)
--/60/--/22/30/40/26.*YOU'VE LOST THAT LOVIN' FEELIN' - 
                      Righteous Brothers (1965)
49/ 2/15/--/--/39/25. MACK THE KNIFE - Bobby Darin (1959)
--/23/26/52/12/37/24.*INCENSE AND PEPPERMINTS - 
                      Strawberry Alarm Clock (1967)
 4/ 9/14/20/19/13/23.*SHE LOVES YOU - Beatles (1964)
52/--/--/--/--/--/22.*SHERRY - Four Seasons (1962)
62/13/55/--/--/--/21. GLAD ALL OVER - Dave Clark Five (1964)
--/ 4/18/--/21/58/20. BEYOND THE SEA - Bobby Darin (1960)
--/32/21/59/16/23/19. LIKE A ROLLING STONE - Bob Dylan (1965)
26/61/12/ 9/10/12/18. IMAGINE - John Lennon (1971)
56/--/53/19/14/ 4/17.*LET IT BE - Beatles (1970)
--/--/46/--/--/51/16.*OH, PRETTY WOMAN! - Roy Orbison (1964)
--/20/27/21/17/16/15. UNCHAINED MELODY - Righteous Brothers (1965/1990)
19/52/59/64/47/17/14.*BRIDGE OVER TROUBLED WATER - 
                      Simon & Garfunkel (1970)
23/ 7/13/18/23/14/13. GOOD VIBRATIONS - Beach Boys (1966)
 8/ 8/10/12/13/11/12. STAIRWAY TO HEAVEN - Led Zeppelin (1971)
                      (from the unofficially titled LP "Led Zeppelin IV")
--/14/35/13/37/54/11. BECAUSE - Dave Clark Five (1964)
--/58/34/56/22/33/10.*RAG DOLL - Four Seasons (1964)
15/ 5/ 3/10/ 5/10/ 9.*AMERICAN PIE - Don McLean (1972)
14/17/ 4/ 5/ 3/ 3/ 8. MACARTHUR PARK - Richard Harris (1968)
17/11/ 2/ 2/ 6/ 8/ 7. IN THE STILL OF THE NITE - Five Satins (1956)
10/10/ 7/14/15/ 5/ 6.*I WANT TO HOLD YOUR HAND - Beatles (1964)
16/18/11/ 6/ 8/ 7/ 5.*A HORSE WITH NO NAME - America (1972)
 2/ 3/ 9/15/11/ 9/ 4.*LIGHT MY FIRE - Doors (1967)
 5/16/ 8/ 4/ 2/ 6/ 3.*(I CAN'T GET NO) SATISFACTION - 
                      Rolling Stones (1965)
 6/ 6/ 5/ 3/ 7/ 2/ 2.*AIN'T NO MOUNTAIN HIGH ENOUGH - Diana Ross (1970)

"WABC Super Hit One!...Hit One!...Hit One!"

 1/ 1/ 1/ 1/ 1/ 1/ 1.*HEY JUDE - Beatles (1968) 
                     (SEVENTH straight year at #1)

Asterisks (*) indicate a former #1 song on the WABC weekly survey.
Analysis by Mike Riccio  

www.musicradio77.com

There you have it!

The official WABC Musicradio77 Web Site Top Hit List -
2004 Edition - As voted by you!

The columns above to the left of the Top 77 numbers indicate past year's' position so that you can
see the entire history of each song on our Top 77.

And so we've completed another year and another interesting list of your all-time favorites. This year in the Top 77 you voted for five songs from the 50's, 47 songs from the 60's, 24 from the 70's, only one from the 80's (which was also a 60's song, "What a Wonderful World"), only two from the 90's (again, both charting also in the 60's - "Unchained Melody" - and the 70's - "Bohemian Rhapsody") and one from the 00's. It's surprising that as the years go by, more songs from the eighties and nineties are not getting votes. Instead, the year ratio has remained pretty much unchanged. 31 songs in the Top 77 are former #1 hits on MusicRadio, which is just over 40% of the total.

It's amazing how strong "Hey Jude" remains as it tops our list for the seventh year in a row. It led the voting from the beginning, and ended up 41% stronger than the runner-up and 300% stronger (!) than ANY song lower than the top four! It's also interesting to note that over 92% of the votes for this song came from male voters. This is in sharp contrast to the #2 song, where female voters, casting over 44% of the song's votes, helped Diana Ross hold steady this year in the runner-up slot. Overall, the Beatles finished with 11 songs in the Top 77, plus two solo efforts. That means that you voted for Beatles songs for more than one of every 11 songs in the Top 77. Overall, of all songs voted for, over one in 14 were cast for the Fab Four; however, it IS interesting to note that last year you voted for 61 Beatles songs as opposed to 41 this year, and the biggest drop OUT of the Top 77 this year belonged to an ex-Beatle, Paul McCartney, who tumbled off the survey from #14 last year with "Maybe I'm Amazed".

Especially notable to me this year were how strong the "superhits" remained on the list. The entire top nine is filled with songs that have proven to be site visitors' favorites year after year. It was nice to see "Rag Doll" and "Oh, Pretty Woman!" finally take their place among the biggies, as they both finished in their highest slots ever.

What other surprises are on the list? Well, once again some mega-artists are not represented at all, like the Supremes, Stevie Wonder, Aretha Franklin, Madonna, Billy Joel and Ray Charles (especially in light of Ray's death and bio-flick). And I won't even get started on some of the superhits that are not represented. I remain forever amazed that Elvis' "Kentucky Rain" got more votes than other hits from the King, like "Don't Be Cruel", "Hound Dog", "Can't Help Falling in Love", etc. etc.

The Dave Clark Five came back strong this year with two songs making the final cut including the biggest new entry to the list, "Glad All Over" at #21. And it was nice to see Bobby Darin stay strong with his two best-known hits, with voting no doubt helped by the current hit movie starring Kevin Spacey.

Outkast took honors this year as the most recent song to make the list (joining company with other "recent" gate-crashers like "Smooth" by Santana, "Smells Like Teen Spirit" by Nirvana, "Make It Happen" by Mariah Carey and "Because You Loved Me" by Celine Dion). Every year a more recent song seems to crack the list, but Outkast now wins the prize for the newest title EVER to make the Top 77.

There were 14 brand new entries to the list this year, songs that NEVER made previous Top 77's. Most notable are "I Will Survive" (#69) and "Johnny B. Goode (#68), both of which you would have figured to make the survey much sooner.

And congratulations go out to the songs that have made the list each of our seven years. That number is now down to only 14 hits.

This year's "Missed It By THAT Much" award goes to "Palisades Park" by Freddie Cannon, which narrowly missed making the list, finishing at #78. Outside of Outkast's "Hey Ya!", no other current or newer hit made a run at the Top 77. In fact, we have to go all the way down to #192 to find 2004's "Toxic" by Brittney Spears.

Now, let's move on to some interesting specific breakdowns based on ALL votes, not just the Top 77 portion of the survey:

 

Who voted?

Here are the top states by percent of overall votes:

1. New York (23.57%)
2. New Jersey (20.62%)
3. Florida (5.89%)
4. Connecticut (5.72%)
5. Pennyslvania (4.51%)
6. Massachusetts (3.47%)
7. Tennessee (2.95%)
8. (tie) California and Virginia (2.60%)
9. Maryland (2.25%)
10.Arizona (1.73%)
This year Massachusetts, Maryland and Arizona 
enter the top ten,
and Minnesota, Texas and Ohio drop off.

www.musicradio77.com
Analysis by Mike Riccio

 

 

Top Artists
1. Beatles (1) 41 songs
2. Elvis Presley (4) 17 songs
3. Rolling Stones (2)(14 songs
4. Four Seasons (6) 13 songs
5. Elton John (8) 11 songs
6. Beach Boys (5) 11 songs
7. Doors (--) 9 songs
8. Chicago (--) 9 songs
9. Four Tops (--) 8 songs
10.U2 (--) 7 songs
Ties were broken by top total points. 
Last year's position is in brackets.
Paul McCartney/Wings, the Bee Gees, the Supremes, 
and Dion/Dion & the Belmonts dropped out.
It's interesting to not the strong showing of U2, 
even though none of their songs made the Top 77.
And it's amazing to see EIGHT songs from 
the Four Tops get votes!

www.musicradio77.com
Analysis by Mike Riccio

 

 

Top Hits by Decade

1950’s
(7.7% of the vote)

1. In the Still of the Nite - Five Satins (1956)
2. Mack the Knife - Bobby Darin (1959)
3. Rock Around the Clock - Bill Haley & Comets (1955)
4. Since I Don't Have You - Skyliners (1959)
5. Johnny B. Goode - Chuck Berry (1958)
6. Come Go with Me - Del-Vikings (1957)
7. Little Star - Elegants (1958)
8. Earth Angel - Penguins (1955)
9. I Only Have Eyes for You - Flamingos (1959)
10.Whispering Bells - Del-Vikings (1957)

 

1960’s
(46.59% of the vote)

1. Hey Jude - Beatles (1968)
2. (I Can't Get No) Satisfaction - Rolling Stones (1965)
3. Light My Fire - Doors (1967)
4. I Want to Hold Your Hand - Beatles (1964)
5. MacArthur Park - Richard Harris (1968)
6. Rag Doll - Four Seasons (1964)
7. Because - Dave Clark Five (1964)
8. Good Vibrations - Beach Boys (1966)
9. Unchained Melody - Righteous Brothers (1965)
10.Oh, Pretty Woman! - Roy Orbison (1964)

 

1970’s
(34.27% of the vote)

1. Ain't No Mountain High Enough - Diana Ross (1970)
2. A Horse with No Name - America (1972)
3. American Pie - Don McLean (1972) 
4. Stairway to Heaven - Led Zeppelin (1971)
5. Bridge Over Troubled Water - Simon & Garfunkel (1970)
6. Let It Be - Beatles (1970)
7. Imagine - John Lennon (1971)
8. Bohemian Rhapsody - Queen (1976)
9. My Sweet Lord - George Harrison (1970)
10.Born to Run - Bruce Springsteen (1975)

 

1980’s 
(5.5% of the vote)
1. What a Wonderful World - Louis Armstrong (1988) re-release
2. Theme from "New York, New York" - Frank Sinatra (1980)
3. Do You Love Me - Contours (1988) re-release
4. Centerfold - J. Geils Band (1982)
5. Summer of '69 - Bryan Adams (1985)
6. Woman - John Lennon (1981)
7. Rock the Casbah - Clash (1983)
8. Every Breath You Take - Police (1983)
9. Endless Love - Diana Ross & Lionel Richie (1981)
10.Down Under - Men at Work (1983)

 

1990’s
(3.1% of the vote)

1. Unchained Melody - Righteous Brothers (1990)
2. Bohemian Rhapsody - Queen (1992)
3. I Will Always Love You - Whitney Houston (1992)
4. Layla (live) - Eric Clapton (1992)
The remaining votes were too scattered
to list a balance of the top ten.

 

2000's
(3.8% of the vote)

1. Hey Ya! - Outkast (2003)
2. Toxic - Britney Spears (2004)
3. It's My Life - Bon Jovi (2000)
4. Lose Yourself - Eminem (2002)
5. This Love - Maroon 5 (2004)
The remaining votes were too scattered
to list a balance of the top ten.

 

www.musicradio77.com
Analysis by Mike Riccio

 

And so ends another year of voting and another great list of your favorites. A tremendous thanks, once again, to fellow "Survey Guy" Tom Natoli for his invaluable help this year. And thanks to Craig Harris and Chad Olszyk for their technical assistance. As I also always must do, my thanks go to this site's program manager, Allan Sniffen for his support, advice and help in putting this together at the site. And, of course, thanks to all of you who voted and sent me comments, encouragement and good wishes during the voting period. As I always say, your positive response is the main reason that I continue with this massive project each year. When your interest in it disappears, my enthusiasm will also diminish. So, again, thanks to all of you who participated in making this as much of a tradition for us as were the WABC top 100's of the year.

And please take time to send me your comments at mikericcio@juno.com or post your comments at the New York Radio Message Board. They are very much appreciated.

Now, it's time for me to go into hibernation and catch up on about two months of sleep, until I emerge next year to do it all over again (maybe). Goodnight, kiddies!

Mike Riccio (MusicRadio77.com "Survey Guy")

 

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