Top 40

St. James Encyclopedia of Pop Culture, Jan 29, 2002 by Willie Collins

Top 40 is a listing of the 40 most popular single records in the nation for a given week, and is derived from radio station playlists and retail sales. The listing is based on trade magazines including Gavin Report, Cashbox, and Billboard. Top 40 also is an AM radio format that consists of music, trivial talk, news, and promotions including services, money, and goods given to listeners. Though Top 40 radio has undergone many changes in its 45-year history, it remains a viable format. From 1956 to the present, Top 40 has provided Americans, especially those born in the 1940s, a musical smorgasbord served up through their favorite disc jockey. Disc jockeys were chosen on the basis of their voice, excitement, and sex appeal. The Top 40 format did not leave much room for personalities, and for that reason did not appeal to some disc jockeys. At first, Top 40 was not aimed at a teenage market; instead disc jockeys, adhering to a playlist, entertained and did what was called "formula radio." But Top 40 soon became a bridge from adult-oriented music to rock 'n' roll and rhythm and blues to other styles. The youth market gravitated to Top 40, and with the evolution of rock 'n' roll contributed to its early success. By 1958, Top 40 stations had spread from the Midwest to the rest of the country.

While the Top 40 format originated in 1956, there were earlier developments in radio that helped in its formation. In 1935, Your Hit Parade, a program on NBC, featured live performances of the most-liked songs based on sheet music, records, and airplay. In 1941, Lucky Lager Dance Time, a Los Angeles radio program on KFAC, first aired playing hit records and a "Lucky Ten" countdown. By 1949, KOWH, an Omaha, Nebraska, radio station, featured a playlist of popular records. Popular disc jockey Alan Freed produced the Moondog Rock and Roll Party in 1951 that introduced black music to a mostly white audience. In 1953, radio still held its own against television, with 96 percent of homes and 76 percent of cars having radios. Americans listened to radio on a daily basis or at least once per week. In 1953, New Orleans radio station WDSU played the top 20. Top 40 became an expanded version of previous programs, including Your Hit Parade and Lucky Lager Dance Time, and was programmed over a full broadcast day with disc jockeys and local advertisements.

The exact origin of the Top 40 is disputed and there are several explanations of its beginning. In one instance, Top 40 began in the context of several bars in several cities, including Omaha, New Orleans, Dallas, San Antonio, and Houston. Another story credits radio programmer Bill Gavin with having invented the Top 40 chart. Most scholars of radio and disc jockey Dick Clark, however, give credence to Top 40 beginning at a bar in Omaha where in an interval of two years from 1953 to 1955, Todd Storz, operator of KOWH devised the format. The story goes that Storz and his program director, Bill Stewart, were sitting in a bar in Omaha, when they became aware that patrons played the same jukebox selections repeatedly over the course of four hours. When one of the patrons was asked why, she plainly responded, "I like 'em." Inspired by her response, Stewart, based on the most-played records on the jukebox, developed a playlist of thirty songs. Storz implemented this playlist at KOWH and the ratings improved drastically. Yet, another etymology of Top 40 has Storz developing a radio program at his New Orleans station WTIX called Top 40 at 1450 immediately after acquiring it in 1953. The program was in response to rival station WDSU's The Top 20 at 1280 show. Disc jockey Bob Howard, reasoned that if a list of 20 hits was satisfactory, then 40 would be outstanding, and consequently developed a show of 40 selections called Top 40 at 1450. In 1955, influenced by Howard, Storz at WTIX radio in New Orleans continued the concept at an Omaha radio station. KLIF owner Gordon McLendon also initiated the Top 40 format, including goofy promotions and jingles. By 1956, Top 40 had developed into a popular format.

Several key individuals were considered pioneers of Top 40, with each bringing an innovation that became part and parcel to the format. Gordon McLendon, called "the Orson Welles of radio," was a creative talent with programming and promotional ideas that gave early Top 40 its form, vitality, and innovative jingles. In radio, jingles are the most reliable indicators for listeners remembering a station. Jingles existed before Top 40, but it was McLendon who hired a music director, who in turn employed a vocal group to record jingles designed for Top 40.

Mike Joseph and Chuck Blore were also two important programmers in early Top 40 radio. It was McLendon who employed Blore as a disc jockey and program director. Blore is credited with the concept of "Color Radio," a term inspired by color television and a format developed in 1958 at KFWB in Los Angeles. "Color Radio" had nothing to do with ethnic diversity, but rather diversity in promotions, news, music, and a strong amusement and entertainment element. Joseph, a radio consultant, kept the industry focused on playing the hits and giving listeners what they wanted--always a central mission of Top 40 radio. Bill Gavin, programmer for the Lucky Lager Dance Time programs heard on 48 western stations, monitored sales and combined these data with other statistics, creating the Bill Gavin's Record Report in 1958. This information base became the foundation on which the Top 40 playlist was created. The Gavin Report was an innovation in the radio business that gave statistics on various markets and was essential to the development of Top 40.