WCFL Chicago Top 40 Charts 1965-1976 [Paperback]

Ron Smith (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 29, 2007

WCFL Chicago Top 40 Charts 1965-1976 lists, by title and artist, every tune that charted on the WCFL-AM weekly music surveys in the Windy City from the first chart in late 1965 through the final survey in February of 1976 (less than a month before the station itself stopped playing top 40 music altogether). WCFL’s status as Chicago’s second great top 40 radio station should in no way diminish the memory of what it accomplished and the enjoyment it brought to the city in a little over a decade—a decade that can truly be called the “golden age of Chicago top 40 radio.” Combining high energy, attitude and musical daring, WCFL even managed at one point to dethrone perennial top 40 powerhouse WLS-AM. Re-live the days of “The Voice of Labor” with these rankings of the top songs of each year, the top artists and songs of the decade and a listing of every #1 hit. For those who grew up in the Windy City or are fans of Chicago radio, WCFL Chicago Top 40 Charts 1965-1976 is an essential reference.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Ron Smith has been involved in oldies radio for over 30 years as a disk jockey, program and music director, most recently as the Music Director and Evening DJ at Real Oldies 1690 in Chicago. He also served for more than eight years as Music Director of WJMK-FM, Oldies 104.3 in the Windy City. He was Senior Music Programmer of Internet Radio for RadioWave.com and created and hosted streaming channels for MusicNow.com, including the Net’s only all-Elvis station. Since 1995, he has delighted fans of ’50s, ’60s and ’70s music with the Internet’s premiere oldies Web site—www.oldiesmusic.com.

Smith is the author of three reference books of the WLS and WYTZ Silver Dollar Surveys—Chicago Top 40 Charts 1960-1969, 1970-1979 and 1980-1990. He resides in suburban Chicago with his vast music and book libraries.

Product Details

• Paperback: 248 pages
• Publisher: iUniverse, Inc. (March 29, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0595431801
• ISBN-13: 978-0595431809
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 13.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #252,297 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Ron Smith has been involved in Oldies radio for nearly 40 years as a Disk Jockey, Program and Music Director, most recently as the Music Director and Evening DJ at Real Oldies 1690 in Chicago. He also served for more than eight years as Music Director of WJMK-FM, Oldies 104.3 in the Windy City. He was Senior Music Programmer of Internet Radio for Radiowave.com and created and hosted streaming channels for MusicNow.com, including the Net's only all-Elvis station. His '50s Hits and '60s Hits channels are currently enjoyed on Slacker.com. And, since 1995, he has delighted fans of '50s, '60s and '70s music with the Internet's premiere Oldies web site- www.oldiesmusic.com. Smith is the author of four reference books of Chicago music charts. He resides in suburban Chicago with his vast music and book libraries.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Great Record of Super 'CFL as a Top 40 Station, April 23, 2007

By 

Robert A. Jones "BJ the DJ" (Eastern Oregon) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: WCFL Chicago Top 40 Charts 1965-1976 (Paperback)

I just received my copy of Ron's new book, "WCFL Chicago Top 40 Charts 1965-1976". It is a worthy companion to his three volumes based on the WLS charts.

It inclues an artist section, which lists every charted single by artist and title, with its debut date, peak date, peak position, and number of weeks on the chart. This is followed by a title section, which is more than just an index, as it includes all the information from the artist section of the database, but arranged in title order.

Next is a chronological list of every song that made it to #1 on the WCFL surveys, from December 1965 through February 1976. This is followed by year-by-year lists of the 40 most popular songs on 'CFL from 1966 through 1975, an all-time 'CFL top 40 songs list, and an all-time top 100 artists list, all based on the weekly WCFL music surveys.

The introduction gives a concise capsule history of WCFL's years as a top 40 station.

If you were listening to top 40 radio in Chicago in the '60s and '70s you will find this book to be a treasure trove of half-forgotten musical facts. There were significant differences between the playlists of WLS and WCFL when they were battling for ratings supremacy in Chicago. If you have never been to Chicago and never heard WCFL, you will still find this book to be interesting, because if you're reading this essay you are probably an oldies junkie like me and will enjoy the comparisons between what WCFL featured and how the same songs fared on WLS or in Billboard, or even on CHUM! (By the way, aside from Chicago and Toronto, have any other cities had the local top 40 charts covered in book form?)

Support your local disc jockey! Buy this book!

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Nice but not nice enough...., January 8, 2011

By 

Large Lee - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: WCFL Chicago Top 40 Charts 1965-1976 (Paperback)

Excellent resource for chart watchers. But be aware, as extensive as this book is in terms of numbers, it's just that. Numbers and more numbers.

That in itself is not bad. But perhaps a future edition will include illustrations of many of the music survey covers during the period this book covers.