Most Frequently played song ever?

[hewhocaves]

(i believe this is as of the end of 2003)

According to the 'Classic Bands' website
http://www.classicbands.com/mostplayed.html

the most frequently played song ever is 'You Got That Lovin' Feeling' by the Righteous Brothers (blech!) at over 8 million time on the air. No source is given for this figure. I expect some sort of statistical sampling (obviously)

I disagree.. I think that the most frequently played song on the air is 'The Star Spangled Banner'. Basically, I think that all of the baseball games + all of the markets + all of the years since they started playing has alone got to come close to the 8 million mark. Nevermind all the minor league teams, the other professional sports, the other events and etc... that it gets played at.

So I crunched some numbers

gm/season years #teams home/away Markets years Totals

155 32 16 2 7 1930-1961 1111040
162 7 20 2 7 1962-1969 1428560
162 8 24 2 7 1969-1976 1864016
162 16 26 2 7 1977-1992 2807504
162 5 28 2 7 1993-1997 3125024
162 6 30 2 7 1997-2003 3533264

Anyway, as you can see by the bold, I'm about 4.5 million hits short. If you double the 'markets' category (which includes both network affiliates AND the ability for some AM stations to broadcast into different areas through a single trnasmitter), then you almost reach 8 million. (something like 7.5 mil)

This is, of course, something of an apples / oranges comparison. I'm considering the short range of FM broadcasting. Example: If song A is playing in Philly and in NYC then that counts as 2 for song A. If Yankees games can be picked up in Philly, that should count as 2 for the Yankees games.

Minor league games are another matter entirely (I rarely catch minor league games on the radio.) But each major league team currently has between 5 - 6 minor league affiliates. Prior to the 1960s there were even more minor league teams. I have no idea what their radio format was, if the games were even broadcast. If broadcasting was widespread, then the 8 million figure is easily obtainable.

John

[astromark]

Yes your star bungled balls up wins hands down...but who gets the royalties ?..:)
Personally, with no data back up I would think some mindless song like 'Snoopy's Christmas' would scoop the pool. It keeps on coming back every year...:)

[Moose]

I disagree. Judging by my local radio station, it's "Rehab".

/ Since Amy's in rehab and her daddy's on record no longer thinking she's fine, can we stop playing the song yet?

[BigDon]

I disagree. Judging by my local radio station, it's "Rehab".

/ Since Amy's in rehab and her daddy's on record no longer thinking she's fine, can we stop playing the song yet?

Why, I disagree with your disagreement and raise you a "Happy Birthday"

[Paul Beardsley]

I was surprised "Blue Monday" by New Order wasn't listed. How does it feel?

[KaiYeves]

The most parodied song is probably "American Pie".

[Parrothead]

I was surprised "Blue Monday" by New Order wasn't listed. How does it feel?


Yeah, but which version of the song? ;)

[Gillianren]

In my experience, the answer is, "A song you don't like."

[Frog march]

the cover song "A spoon full of sugar"(from the Mary Poppins musical) by Marilyn Manson.



ok I made that up, but maybe he reads this forum; I think it would be a good idea.

[Trebuchet]

I'm going to question the assertion that The Star Spangled Banner wins. In my experience, radio and TV stations find that an excellent time to get in another couple minutes of commercials, and almost never air it.

[clop]

I know virtually every single song in existence. In fact, if you were to give me a person's name, male or female, commonly used or not, I bet you a thousand dollars that I can think of a song that has that name somewhere in the lyrics.

clop

[novaderrik]

it has to be a tie between "We Will Rock You" by Queen and the "nananana hey hey hey goodbye" things that they play at EVERY sporting event in the USA. coming in close behind them, for the same reason, would be "Welcome to the Jungle" by Guns and Roses.

[ToSeek]

The most parodied song is probably "American Pie".

There were a bunch of guys singing that (surprisingly well, actually) in a diner I had lunch at yesterday. Fortunately, they only went for a couple of verses before petering out.

[hewhocaves]

I'm going to question the assertion that The Star Spangled Banner wins. In my experience, radio and TV stations find that an excellent time to get in another couple minutes of commercials, and almost never air it.

That is a very good point - and probably the best argument against the SSB being #1. But as a friend and I were discussing this and finally concluded... the answer is meaningless. (i.e. there are better ways to occupy the day, lol)

[Paul Beardsley]

In my experience, the answer is, "A song you don't like."

Valid point.

One evening in 1991 I went out for a meal with my future wife. We sat in a nice pub to enjoy our meal when "Vienna" by Ultravox came on the jukebox. That happened to be one of my favourite songs of all time, so I was rather pleased.

As we waited for our meal to arrive, "Vienna" ended. Then it started again. Eventually it ended again. Then it started again.

Either there was a fault in the juke box, or someone with an obsession had paid for it to be played over and over again, but it kept on playing.

Clare and I hurriedly finished our meal and decided not to have a sweet or a coffee - we just wanted to get out. Anything not to hear "Vienna" again.

I got over it, and now it's one of my favourite songs again. But I never would have guessed how much I could come to hate a favourite song through it being overplayed.

[mfumbesi]

I know virtually every single song in existence. In fact, if you were to give me a person's name, male or female, commonly used or not, I bet you a thousand dollars that I can think of a song that has that name somewhere in the lyrics.

clop
I hope you are joking.
Otherwise try this Hannes van Niekerk , male, recycled Dutch.

[SeanF]

Valid point.

One evening in 1991 I went out for a meal with my future wife. We sat in a nice pub to enjoy our meal when "Vienna" by Ultravox came on the jukebox. That happened to be one of my favourite songs of all time, so I was rather pleased.

As we waited for our meal to arrive, "Vienna" ended. Then it started again. Eventually it ended again. Then it started again.

Either there was a fault in the juke box, or someone with an obsession had paid for it to be played over and over again, but it kept on playing.

Clare and I hurriedly finished our meal and decided not to have a sweet or a coffee - we just wanted to get out. Anything not to hear "Vienna" again.

I got over it, and now it's one of my favourite songs again. But I never would have guessed how much I could come to hate a favourite song through it being overplayed.
When I was a teenager some friends and I were eating at a Pizza Hut with a jukebox. When we were done eating and on our way out, we stopped at the jukebox, put in a dollar, selected "Achy Breaky Heart" four times, and then left. :shifty:

[schlaugh]

.. I think that the most frequently played song on the air is 'The Star Spangled Banner'. Basically, I think that all of the baseball games + all of the markets + all of the years since they started playing has alone got to come close to the 8 million mark. Nevermind all the minor league teams, the other professional sports, the other events and etc... that it gets played at.

The SSB did not become a baseball staple until World War II so your numbers might be a bit smaller yet again. No telling how quickly the tradition was picked up by the minor league systems, nor how much of the SSB was ever transmitted over the airways before each game. These days the SSB is often not broadcast and instead the time is used for advertising.

From Wikipedia (and I've read this as well elsewhere):

In 1916, President Woodrow Wilson (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Woodrow_Wilson) ordered that "The Star-Spangled Banner" be played at military and other appropriate occasions. Although the playing of the song two years later during the seventh-inning stretch (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seventh-inning_stretch) of the 1918 World Series (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1918_World_Series) is often noted as the first instance that the Anthem was played at a baseball (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baseball) game, evidence shows that the "Star-Spangled Banner" was performed as early as 1897 at Opening Day ceremonies in Philadelphia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Philadelphia) and then more regularly at the Polo Grounds (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polo_Grounds) in New York City (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_York) beginning in 1898. However, the tradition of performing the national anthem before every baseball game began in World War II (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_War_II).[2] (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Star_Spangled_Banner#_note-1)Today, the anthem is performed before the beginning of all NBA (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NBA), NHL (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NHL), MLB (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MLB) and NFL (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NFL) games, as well as in a pre-race ceremonies portion of every NASCAR (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NASCAR) race.

[Paul Beardsley]

When I was a teenager some friends and I were eating at a Pizza Hut with a jukebox. When we were done eating and on our way out, we stopped at the jukebox, put in a dollar, selected "Achy Breaky Heart" four times, and then left. :shifty:

Ooh, that's just evil! :)

[clop]

I hope you are joking.
Otherwise try this Hannes van Niekerk , male, recycled Dutch.

Too easy! Would you like to take me up on the challenge? I accept PayPal.

clop

[closetgeek]

That is absolutely one of my favorite songs of all time. Did you know that it was the song to finally knock "Whatsa Matta U" out of the number one spot? That could be a good reason why I like it so much. I can't believe there was a jukebox that actually had it, even in 91. I spent a long time trying to find it and the only place I could was on one of the Living In Oblivion mix CD's.

Valid point.

One evening in 1991 I went out for a meal with my future wife. We sat in a nice pub to enjoy our meal when "Vienna" by Ultravox came on the jukebox. That happened to be one of my favourite songs of all time, so I was rather pleased.

As we waited for our meal to arrive, "Vienna" ended. Then it started again. Eventually it ended again. Then it started again.

Either there was a fault in the juke box, or someone with an obsession had paid for it to be played over and over again, but it kept on playing.

Clare and I hurriedly finished our meal and decided not to have a sweet or a coffee - we just wanted to get out. Anything not to hear "Vienna" again.

I got over it, and now it's one of my favourite songs again. But I never would have guessed how much I could come to hate a favourite song through it being overplayed.

[closetgeek]

We you the same person, in a pool hall in Coram NY, who played $10 worth of The Joker from Steve Miller and left?

When I was a teenager some friends and I were eating at a Pizza Hut with a jukebox. When we were done eating and on our way out, we stopped at the jukebox, put in a dollar, selected "Achy Breaky Heart" four times, and then left. :shifty:

[aurora]

If the criteria is people listening to it, as opposed to number of times it was broadcast, then perhaps the answer is something that plays at a ride at the Disney Parks. Perhaps "it's a small world" which has been playing nonstop since the 1960's (as I recall).

[Trebuchet]

If the criteria is people listening to it, as opposed to number of times it was broadcast, then perhaps the answer is something that plays at a ride at the Disney Parks. Perhaps "it's a small world" which has been playing nonstop since the 1960's (as I recall).

Thanks a bunch. :mad: Now I'm going to have that going through my head all afternoon.

[KaiYeves]

I know virtually every single song in existence. In fact, if you were to give me a person's name, male or female, commonly used or not, I bet you a thousand dollars that I can think of a song that has that name somewhere in the lyrics.
Okay.
Robert Ballard.

For once, I don't like the new avatar, Paul.

[clop]

Okay.
Robert Ballard.

For once, I don't like the new avatar, Paul.

Hmmm I think I can do it. Are you going to pay up if I succeed?

clop

[KaiYeves]

Hmmm I think I can do it. Are you going to pay up if I succeed?
I will PM you a joke on your birthday.

[novaderrik]

when the local hard rock station in the Minneapolis/St Paul area- 93X- changed formats from hard rock to alternative back in the fall of '93, they played "it's the end of the world as we know it, and i feel fine" over and over and over and over for 36 hours or so- from Friday am to Monday am.
my group of friends actually almost figured out all the words..
when they switched back to hard rock a couple of years later, they didn't play anything.. they just changed call letters and started playing good music again.

[Swift]

when the local hard rock station in the Minneapolis/St Paul area- 93X- changed formats from hard rock to alternative back in the fall of '93, they played "it's the end of the world as we know it, and i feel fine" over and over and over and over for 36 hours or so- from Friday am to Monday am.
my group of friends actually almost figured out all the words..
when they switched back to hard rock a couple of years later, they didn't play anything.. they just changed call letters and started playing good music again.
There was a station in Cleveland, 107.9 The End, that did the same thing. It was the first song they ever played and they played it for 24 hours in a row. When they went off the air (another format change), they did it for their last 24 hours. I still like the song.

[tdvance]

I'm not betting, but "Fiordigi" (sp?) warning, it's an old song and it ain't in English.

Todd

[Doodler]

I was surprised "Blue Monday" by New Order wasn't listed. How does it feel?

Orgy did a cover far superior to the original.


As far as most commonly played song? Soft cell: Tainted Love.

[farmerjumperdon]

I love you,
You love me,
We're a happy family . . .

[clop]

I hope you are joking.
Otherwise try this Hannes van Niekerk , male, recycled Dutch.

Happy birthday to you,
Happy birthday to you,
Happy birthday dear Hannes van Niekerk,
Happy birthday to you.


Right, pay up.

[BigDon]

There was a station in Cleveland, 107.9 The End, that did the same thing. It was the first song they ever played and they played it for 24 hours in a row. When they went off the air (another format change), they did it for their last 24 hours. I still like the song.

KMEL used to rock so hard that I had a Navy tech friend who was also a serious HAM radio operator and a member of the Brass Pounders League, (Guild?) custom make an antenna optimized to pick up their signal and filter out others. Three weeks later they went top forty. I was heart broken.

Dan Easton. His official callsign was "Geek". And he took it well. From Payette Idaho. He was the kind of guy who, while standing tiptoe on a tool box, armpit deep it a radar bay, impale his finger through and through on a crooked piece of safety wire, fall off the tool box yanking his finger off the wire and say, "Jeepers that hurt!" The guy beside me said, "Who are you? Jay North?"

(For the younsters http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jay_North)