quote:

---

Originally posted by rocker

That was an interesting article. And after reading it I have 'others' to blame besides all those 'usual suspects' about the bands success or lack of it in various markets particularly on the East Coast. I'm thinking that the PD's of stations in the East just weren't attentive to some stuff coming from the West Coast. Now in retrospect I really don't think they were doing their job and dropped the ball on the band. Now some were attentive I'd say because there were some stations who were playing their music, ABC-FM and NEW-FM for example in New York. But apparently it just wasn't enough to get them "share of voice" out there in the am-fm music scene.

---

quote:

---

Originally posted by Buffalo

Observations on the Charting of Love’s First Two Elektra Singles: A Case of Missed Opportunities and Unrewarded Greatness

by Mark Teehan


My Little Red Book (Elektra 45603. Released 3/28/1966)

While Love was playing to packed crowds at the Whiskey A Go Go on Hollywood’s exciting Sunset Strip in March 1966, their first single- an energized cover of a Burt Bacharach and Hal David tune, showcased in the 1965 movie What’s New *****cat and originally recorded by the British group Manfred Mann- actually broke first on San Bernardino’s (41st-largest market, with Riverside) innovative KFXM. Located east of LA in the ‘Inland Empire,’ KFXM charted “My Little Red Book” almost immediately after its release on 1 April, at #33. Shortly afterwards, KRLA- the second-rated pop station in LA (2nd-largest market)- added the record to its play list at #37 (4/9/66). Surprisingly, before the other two LA pop stations could ‘go on’ the single, it emerged in distant Detroit, the fifth-largest market. Paul Cannon, the music director of bold, top-rated WKNR (‘Keener 13’), added Love’s record to his Top 30 on 13 April, at #28, while rival WXYZ followed (#28, 4/16/66). Subsequently, Ron Jacobs, the program director (PD) at LA’s top-rated pop outlet KHJ, added the record to his Top 30 (#30, 4/20/66), while rival KFWB charted it a week later (#34, 4/27/66).

Aside from Detroit, another top market outside California that fueled the early national chart success of “My Little Red Book” was that of Dallas (15th-largest). Billboard tabbed the single as a ‘Regional Breakout’ in this area, including Ft. Worth, on 16 April as sales surged and Dallas station KBOX started playing it; by mid-May, it had risen to #14 on that station (5/13/66; Love played a rare concert outside their home state in Dallas, but it is not clear when this occurred; Einarson, 122). Meanwhile, the record had broken into the Top 10’s of all three LA stations (#7, KHJ, 5/11/66; #6, KRLA, 5/14/66; #10, KFWB, 5/11/66), as well as San Bernardino’s KFXM (#6, 5/6/66), and blasted into the Top 5 of both Detroit stations (#3 on both WKNR and WXYZ, 5/9/66). As a result of these local survey surges, “My Little Red Book” earned a ‘bulleted’ gain to #76 on Cash Box in its fourth week of charting (5/14/66), while it inexplicably lagged behind on Billboard (#83). Elektra’s full-page ad in the latter on 7 May provided more steam for the record.

After Clark Weber, the PD for Chicago’s (3rd-largest market) landmark 50,000-watt WLS, added Love’s single to his play list on 6 May, followed by San Diego’s (19th-largest) KCBQ (#33, 5/8/66), Billboard finally rewarded “My Little Red Book” with a ‘starred’ gain to #68 on 21 May 1966, in its fifth week on the ‘Hot 100.’ At the same time, Cash Box showed the single making a solid, bulleted gain of fifteen spots to #61. Undoubtedly, the record’s strong airplay and sales in LA, Detroit, and Dallas played a major role in this national progress. When Miami’s (18th-largest) front-running WQAM added it on 21 May (#49), and WLS first charted it on their Top 40 survey (#30, 5/20/66), Love’s single made dual highlighted gains on both Billboard (to #57) and Cash Box (to #51) on 28 May.

Unfortunately, this moderate momentum could not be sustained: as “My Little Red Book” faded from the surveys of its original three bases of support- LA, Detroit, and Dallas- there was not any compensating strong activity in other major and medium markets. The single registered a mediocre run on Chicago’s WLS, spending only one week in that station’s Top 20 (#18, 7/1/66) among eight weeks of charting, while it failed to impress on New York City’s (#1 market) pioneering WMCA (#30 peak, 6/16/66, in its fourth and final week). Love’s national chart fate had been sealed when Elektra failed to crack the essential heartland state of Ohio; “My Little Red Book” had gone nowhere on Cleveland’s (9th-largest) powerful WKYC (one week at #40, 4/20/66). Likewise, it had stiffed in San Diego (#29 peak on leading station KGB, 5/27/66, after being a ‘Hitbound Pick’) and in the smaller medium market of Grand Rapids, Michigan (63rd-ranked; #26 peak, WERX, 5/26/66). An impressive Top 10 showing on Miami’s WQAM (#9 peak, 6/18/66), together with moderate success on Hartford’s (52nd-ranked center) WPOP (five weeks of airplay, starting 6/10/66; #16 peak, 7/1/66), proved insufficient to stem its slowdown on the national charts: three weeks of un-highlighted gains on Billboard, culminating in a disappointing peak of #52 on 18 June. On Cash Box, it had peaked at a more noteworthy #35 the previous week.

Inexplicably, despite Love’s Fillmore concert in San Francisco (6th-largest market, with Oakland) in April, vaunted station KYA waited nine weeks before finally adding “My Little Red Book” to its play list on 18 June (#28). Ironically, that was the same date that Love appeared on Dick Clark’s American Bandstand, lip-synching the song’s lyrics (Einarson, 115-116). At the same time, the record appeared on the survey of nearby San Jose’s (25th-largest) KLIV at #27. By then, as far as the national charts were concerned, this Nor Cal survey activity was too late: Love’s single spent its last week on Cash Box, (#39, 6/18/66), while it exited from Billboard after the following week (#56, 6/25/66). Thus, the subsequent solid survey performance of this record in these markets was wasted nationally: a three-week peak at #11 on KYA (7/1/66-7/15/66), and a #9 crest on KLIV (7/30/66). This led to the bizarre situation where these stations were still playing the single two (KYA) and three (KLIV) weeks after its follow-up had charted on Billboard! The blame for this incredibly inefficient promotion and unfathomable delay in coordinating radio station airplay in the Nor Cal region must be assigned to Elektra. Ultimately, this unfortunate situation perfectly illustrated the pop music industry truism that the timely manner in which a single was spread across the country was paramount. It can be argued that, had Elektra convinced KYA and KLIV to add “My Little Red Book” to their play lists by mid-May, it would have easily made Billboard’s Top Forty, and Cash Box’s Top 25. The label’s failure in this matter was inexcusable considering that it related solely to the California region.


7 & 7 Is (Elektra 45605. Released 7/5/1966).

Love’s second single, released in early July 1966, was- in biographer John Einarson’s words- a “revolutionary creation” by virtue of its being “…a loud, aggressive, no-holds-barred, garage-style punk song…. (Einarson, 116). Billboard selected it as a second-tier ‘Spotlight 60 Pick,’ describing it as a “Racous rocker that never stops, should hit hard and fast.” (7/9/66). That magazine predicted that “7& 7 Is” “…would surpass the successful ‘My Little Red Book.’” (ibid). The fact that the group, led by Arthur Lee, now had more name recognition also helped.

Whereas the band’s debut single suffered from a ten-week time lag between initial airplay in LA and that in Nor Cal, “7 & 7 Is” was added within one week of its LA debut (KHJ, #28, 7/13/66) by ‘hip’ station KFRC in San Francisco (#29, 7/20/66). Several weeks later, San Jose’s KLIV charted it (#28, 8/6/66), while monster station KYA went on it shortly afterwards (#19, 8/12/66): Elektra had learned from its earlier marketing mistakes. In the group’s home base of LA, their second single surprisingly did not fare quite as well as its predecessor, peaking in early August on leading station KHJ at #10 (8/3/66), while rival KFWB tracked it at #11 (8/9/66). KRLA had switched to an ‘All Request’ survey, and while some of its summer 1966 surveys were missing, that station had “7 & 7 Is” at #6 on 13 August. On a more ominous note, once again Love stiffed in San Diego: after being touted as a ‘Hitbound Pick’ by top station KGB (8/6/66), their latest record went to #28 (8/13/66) and then vanished. Such a failure suggested that it would face unforeseen challenges throughout the rest of the country.

Nevertheless, this coordinated California momentum was largely responsible for Love’s new single earning its first ‘star’ on Billboard on 20 August, as it climbed from #63 to #53 in its fifth week of charting. Meanwhile on Cash Box, which had first charted the record two weeks after its rival (#81 with a ‘bullet,’ 8/6/66), “7 & 7 Is” stood at #52 with its third ‘bullet’ on the same date (8/20/66).

While Love’s follow-up single did not chart quite as high as its predecessor on the LA surveys and registered noticeably lower peaks in certain key markets- Detroit (WKNR, #17, 8/29/66), Chicago (WLS, #28, 9/9/66), and Miami (WQAM, #28, 8/20/66)- it benefited from moderate, if delayed, airplay in the pivotal state of Ohio. Once Cleveland’s influential WKYC added “7 & 7 Is” to its play list on 9 September, WCOL in Columbus (31st-largest center) followed suit (#34, 9/12/66; in an interesting twist, this station referred to the record as “7 Plus 7 Is”). The latter market, as a college town, was viewed as a critical testing ground for new pop records, and gave Love valuable airplay in mainstream America. Furthermore, the single received exposure in other markets such as Connecticut (Hartford and New Haven) and Orlando, Florida.

Nonetheless, as Elektra’s limited promotional resources were stretched thin on the national level, many of these new ‘adds’ occurred at the end of August, or later, when the single earned its last highlighted gains on both national trades (#42 on Billboard, #40 on Cash Box, both 8/27/66). For example, Detroit’s groundbreaking WKNR did not add “7 & 7 Is” until 22 August, even though lower-rated rival WXYZ had jumped on it two weeks earlier (#35, 8/8/66). Similarly, Orlando’s (68th-largest center) WLOF waited until 26 August before charting it at #35, while Buffalo’s (23rd-largest) WYSL held off until 4 September (#44).

Although “7 & 7 Is” registered excellent Top 5 peaks in San Jose (KLIV, #5, 9/10/66) and Denver (24th-largest market, KIMN, #5, 9/19/66), as well as #6 crests in New Haven (64th-largest, WAVZ, 9/3/66) and Orlando (WLOF, 9/30/66), its lack of sustained success in major markets such as LA, Chicago, Detroit, San Francisco (#10 peak, KYA, 8/26/66) and Cleveland (#15 peak, WKYC, 9/16/66-9/23/66) prevented it from penetrating the national Top Thirty. Consequently, as a ‘turntable hit’ that received moderate airplay but lacked the all-important sales numbers, it peaked at #33 on both national magazines: the exclusively sales-based Cash Box (9/10/66), and Billboard, which factored both airplay and sales into its rankings (9/17/66). While “7 & 7 Is” eventually received airplay on more stations than “My Little Red Book,” the overall delay in stations outside California adding it to their play lists meant that it failed to earn a much-coveted ‘star’ on Billboard until six weeks after its release. This represented a damaging loss in time during the critical ‘launch’ period of a pop/rock record, when it needed to score explosive gains on the national charts in order to influence stations throughout the country to add it to their play lists.

Ultimately, one might contend that, despite its dazzling musical innovation, “7 & 7 Is” was too radical for its time, too garage-punk for many radio stations and the record-buying public- hence their hesitation and the record’s weak sales. It was no coincidence that Love’s second single failed to receive any airplay in the nation’s top market, the New York metropolitan area; even bold WMCA shunned it. The fact that it barely made the Top 10 in LA and San Francisco, and went nowhere in San Diego, was revealing. In the final analysis, the surviving local survey evidence indicated that Elektra did a reasonable job in promoting “7 & 7 Is”- especially considering its lack of national clout- and can not be solely faulted for the single’s failure to breech the national Top Twenty.


Conclusion

Biographer John Einarson has thoroughly discussed Arthur Lee’s stubborn aversion to touring outside of California, due to personal insecurity and control issues (119-122). This lack of touring support obviously hampered Elektra’s promotional efforts, which were already limited by the label’s inadequate resources and lack of experience in promoting rock bands. While one can understand Lee’s dread of relentless, road-bound national tours, why he did not agree to targeting a few selected cities to play in was mystifying. The surviving local survey evidence indicated that had Love played coordinated concerts in cities such as Detroit, Chicago, New York City, and Miami, their first, more commercially appealing single probably would have fared better on the national charts. Incredibly, “My Little Red Book” charted better in Detroit- presumably without any touring support- than it did in LA. In addition, it performed extremely well on Miami’s local surveys, charting for a noteworthy ten weeks on WQAM, and at least made the Top 20 in the medium markets of Dallas and Hartford. Love’s successful Dallas concert at an unspecified date- presumably slightly later in their career- demonstrated the efficacy of focused touring outside of California (ibid, 122). As for “7 & 7 Is,” its radical brilliance limited its sales potential, but certainly a few selected concerts beyond the Golden State would not have hurt.

A case could be made that the responsibility for the failure of Love’s first two singles to achieve national Top Twenty rankings must be shared by both Elektra, with its lack of major-label distribution and experience in promoting rock music, and Arthur Lee, who openly admitted his distaste for touring outside California and accepted the blame for the consequences of this attitude (Einarson, 121-122). Whereas Elektra clearly botched the marketing of “My Little Red Book” in northern California, the fact that the label secured strong airplay and sales for it in Detroit, as well as moderate success in Dallas, Miami, and Hartford, has been ignored. Likewise, the Top 20 charting of “7 & 7 Is” outside California in markets such as Cleveland (#15 peak), Columbus (#13), Denver (#5), New Haven (#6), and Orlando (#6) made Ronnie Haran’s (the band’s manager) allegations that Elektra “didn’t have their act together” and “didn’t know what they were doing” somewhat questionable (Quoted in Einarson, 120). In the end, Arthur Lee’s refusal to ‘play the game’ of the pop music industry made Elektra’s flawed promotional efforts problematic, and doomed Love’s first two singles to ‘minor hit’ status, despite their musical excellence.


Notes

This essay has been inspired by John Einarson’s superb book, Forever Changes- Arthur Lee and the Book of Love, and is dedicated to the timeless, brilliant music and memory of Arthur Lee and Love.


References (selected)

Einarson, John. 2010. Arthur Lee and the Book of Love. London: Jawbone Press.

Geisler, Steven M., 2008. WQAM Fabulous 56 Surveys-Text. http://www.560.com/surveys_sixties_text.htm (consulted November 2010)

Jim, Alaska, 2000-2009. Alaska Jim’s Music Charts. http://www.alaskajim.com/charts/weeklysingles/1966.php (consulted November 2010)

Price, Randy, 2006-2010. The Legendary Cash Box Magazine Charts-1966. Cash Box Chart Data collected by Randy Price. http://cashboxmagazine.com (consulted November 2010)

Tracy, Doug, 2004. WCOL Surveys. http://www.columbusmusichistory.com/html/wcol-surveys-1966.html

Warden, Timothy C., © 2003-2007. Airheads Radio Survey Archives. http://www.lassolanos.com/arsa/charts_item.php?hsid=7550,87

Whitburn, Joel. 1990. Joel Whitburn Presents The Billboard Hot 100 Charts- The Sixties. Menonomee Falls, Wisconsin: Record Research Inc.

---