Was Chuck Berry's Song "My ding-a-ling" ignored by Radio While it was a Hit Song?

Discussion in 'Music Corner' started by houston, May 2, 2009.

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  1. houston

    houston Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Location:
    Dallas, Texas, USA
    must have been, because I started listening to pop radio in earnest around July, 1972, and know/heard all the songs from that period and the following months, when "my ding-a-ling" went to #1....I didn't know of the song untill the early 80's, and then only by reading billboard singles charts from past years...so was there an unofficial ban on the song? how did it hit #1? word of mouth? I listened to American Top 40 with Kasey Kasem then, I don't recall the song played or spoken of....am I wrong on that? surely American Top 40 couldn't just pretend "my ding-a-ling" had not charted...could they?
     
  2. videoman

    videoman Senior Member

    Location:
    Lake Tahoe, NV
    The AM radio stations I listened to out of San Franscico and Sacramento certainly played the song to death and I remember "American Top 40" playing it as well.
     
    tob likes this.
  3. reb

    reb Money Beats Soul

    Location:
    Long Island
    It was played in NY as frequently as any other AM "top 40 hit"
     
  4. Gary

    Gary Nauga Gort! Staff

    Location:
    Toronto
    I think it was overplayed around my area!
     
  5. kwadguy

    kwadguy Senior Member

    Location:
    Cambridge, MA
    Absolutely played to death on top 40 in Phoenix, where I lived at the time (93-KHJ).

    The funny thing is that as an 11 or 12 year old listening to that song, that's what I thought Chuck Berry was all about. His prime era of hits was before my time, so My Ding a Ling defined Chuck Berry to me at that point.
     
  6. -Alan

    -Alan Senior Member

    Location:
    Connecticut, USA
    It was played on my local stations, but probably not yours!

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/My_Ding-a-Ling
     
  7. dgsinner

    dgsinner New Member

    Location:
    Far East
    I remember hearing it all the time on AM in rural California. Even there.

    Dale
     
  8. Gary

    Gary Nauga Gort! Staff

    Location:
    Toronto
    I can relate to this.... :)
     
  9. Jerry

    Jerry Grateful Gort Staff

    Location:
    New England
    Incessant in tri-state area.
     
  10. houston

    houston Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Location:
    Dallas, Texas, USA
    I'm surprised you all remember it played a lot, because I remember Chuck's follow-up hit, the live version of "reelin' and rockin'" being played on radio, and Top 40....it came out 2 months after "my ding-a-ling", but only peaked at #27, so it's odd that I would remember hearing that one...and no mention of it following up a #1 hit, it was years later before I ever heard about "my ding-a-ling", let alone actually heard the song :confused:
     
  11. gottafeelin

    gottafeelin Forum Resident

    Location:
    Georgia
    That's what she said.
     
  12. Lord Hawthorne

    Lord Hawthorne Currently Untitled

    Location:
    Portland, Oregon
    It sure got played a lot around here, even a country station picked it up.
     
  13. houston

    houston Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Location:
    Dallas, Texas, USA
    now we are getting somewhere! I listened to WPGC out of Washington, D.C., it must have banned the song
     
  14. videoman

    videoman Senior Member

    Location:
    Lake Tahoe, NV
    I have one distinct memory of this song: I was 11 when it was a hit, and I was in the car with my grandmother who absolutely hated rock music and very reluctantly let me turn on the radio only once in a while when she was driving me somewhere. "My Ding-A-Ling" comes on and she says "now THAT'S a nice song! why can't they write more songs like THAT?...." I assume she thought the nursery-rhyme melody was cute?

    I could only smile and shake my head....even at eleven.
     
    2trackmind, Aftermath and Hot Ptah like this.
  15. Roninblues

    Roninblues 猿も木から落ちる。

    Amen, brother. If I never hear it again, it will be too soon. Out of all his great songs this was his #1. :thumbsdn:
     
    janschfan likes this.
  16. videoman

    videoman Senior Member

    Location:
    Lake Tahoe, NV
    I don't remember hating the song, but I bought a LOT of 45's at the time, and bought nearly every #1 simply just because. But I never bought "My Ding-A-Ling".

    I was an "American Top 40" addict from early 1972 (I remember the very first week I listened to it "Heart of Gold" was #1...I think that was in March?) until around 1975 or so when I finally outgrew it. Good memories of being huddled around my little clock-radio on Sunday afternoons wondering if my favorite songs were going to go up or down on Casey's Coast-to-Coast.
     
    druboogie likes this.
  17. Gary Mack

    Gary Mack Active Member

    Location:
    Arlington, Texas
    We played it at KRUX, but the other top 40 in town, KRIZ, did not. I don't remember whether the album station, KDKB, played it.

    GM
     
  18. Eric

    Eric Member

    Location:
    crownsville md
    I heard this song way too many times when it was popular, it scared me away from Chuck Berry stuff for a few years.
     
  19. rburly

    rburly Sitting comfortably with Item 9

    Location:
    Orlando
    They played it quite often in Cincinnati, which is often thought of as a prudish city. It got plenty of airtime.
     
  20. mrstats

    mrstats Senior Member

    They played it all the time on AM radio in my area.
     
  21. -Alan

    -Alan Senior Member

    Location:
    Connecticut, USA
    WABC-AM New York (Musicradio 77), the powerhouse pop station in NYC at the time, did not play My Ding-a-Ling. Here is a copy of their survey for November 7, 1972, when My Ding-a-Ling was finishing up a national two week stay at #1 on the Billboard Hot 100. The "Special Note" at the end of the survey refers to rival station WWDJ in New Jersey, which did play the song.

    http://www.nydailynews.com/archives.../2001-05-16_a_30-year-old_memory_for_top.html

    http://www.musicradio77.com/Surveys/1972/surveynov772.html
     

    Attached Files:

  22. RW-audio

    RW-audio Forum Resident

    Location:
    Texas Hill Country
    If I recall, it kept Elvis from having one last #1 with 'Burning Love', which peaked at #2 instead just behind this...
     
  23. I was in Berkeley, CA in 1972. I don't recall ever hearing it on radio.

    I first heard the song in the 1960s at a Doug Clark & The Hot Nuts performance in Carrboro, NC. Their version was far naughtier (and better) than Chuck Berry's. The Hot Nuts were an underground sensation in the Carolinas for a time. All their songs were obscene except the instrumentals and they were never on the radio AFAIK. They were a pretty talented R&B band.
     
  24. -Alan

    -Alan Senior Member

    Location:
    Connecticut, USA
    Correct! It also kept Use Me by Bill Withers out of the #1 spot the previous week.

    US Billboard Top 100 Singles Week Ending 28th October, 1972
    TW LW TITLE Artist (Label)-Weeks on Chart
    1 1 MY DING-A-LING
    Chuck Berry (Chess)-11 (2 weeks at #1)
    2 3 BURNING LOVE/
    IT'S A MATTER OF TIME
    Elvis Presley (RCA)-11
    3 5 NIGHTS IN WHITE SATIN
    The Moody Blues (Deram)-13
    4 2 USE ME
    Bill Withers (Sussex)-10
    5 20 I CAN SEE CLEARLY NOW
    Johnny Nash (Epic)-8
    6 12 FREDDIE'S DEAD (Theme From "Superfly")
    Curtis Mayfield (Curtom)-11
    7 8 GARDEN PARTY
    Rick Nelson and the Stone Canyon Band (Decca)-14
    8 6 BEN
    Michael Jackson (Motown)-13
    9 4 EVERYBODY PLAYS THE FOOL
    The Main Ingredient (RCA)-16
    10 14 GOOD TIME CHARLIE'S GOT THE BLUES
    Danny O'Keefe (Signpost)-9
    ------
    11 11 TIGHT ROPE
    Leon Russell (Shelter)-10
    12 17 LISTEN TO THE MUSIC
    The Doobie Brothers (Warner Brothers)-9
    13 15 WHY/
    LONELY BOY
    Donny Osmond (MGM)-10
    14 28 I'LL BE AROUND/
    HOW COULD I LET YOU GET AWAY
    The Spinners (Atlantic)-11
    15 30 I'D LOVE YOU TO WANT ME
    Lobo (Big Tree)-6
    16 22 WITCHY WOMAN
    The Eagles (Asylum)-8
    17 27 I AM WOMAN
    Helen Reddy (Capitol)-10
    18 19 THE CITY OF NEW ORLEANS
    Arlo Guthrie (Reprise)-14
    19 21 IF I COULD REACH YOU
    The 5th Dimension (Bell)-8
    20 23 STARTING ALL OVER AGAIN
    Mel and Tim (Stax)-15
    ------
     
  25. dgsinner

    dgsinner New Member

    Location:
    Far East
    Crazy, isn't it. Dumb song then, dumb song now.

    Dale
     
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