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. videoman

    videoman Senior Member

    Location:
    Lake Tahoe, NV
    I listened to a few different AM stations at the time, but I'm pretty sure KFRC was playing it.
     
  2. zebop

    zebop Well Known Stranger

    I remember hearing that dreadful song back then. It was never a favorite, certainly never want to hear it again.
     
  3. videoman

    videoman Senior Member

    Location:
    Lake Tahoe, NV
    Not a bad Top 20. I might have to make a CD of that. (Leaving of Chuck Berry, Donny Osmond and Helen Reddy though.)
     
  4. Slokes

    Slokes Cruel But Fair

    Location:
    Greenwich, CT USA
    Considering all the great Chuck Berry songs that were denied a number-one place, at a time when Elvis was hardly ever OUT of the top slot, there was a bit of bizarre comic/karmic justice with such a slight effort representing Berry's sole walk on the moon.

    Not to say that "Burning Love" isn't a killer single and "My Ding-A-Ling" annoyingly slight. I do like the guitar and the singing Brits, but this is not a song I want to hear more than once every third month.
     
  5. rockclassics

    rockclassics Senior Member

    Location:
    Mainline Florida
    It got played to death on Top 40 in the St. Louis area when it was a hit. But, keep in mind that there was an edited 45 version that most of the Top 40 stations played. The hit version cut out a lot of the innuendo and suggestiveness of the song. If you wanted to hear it in all its "glory" you had to buy the album for the full length version which was 6 - 8 minutes IIRC.
     
  6. eriejwg

    eriejwg Active Member

    Location:
    Erie, PA
    Got airplay here in Erie on WJET.
     
  7. It was played to death. I remember hearing it quite a bit on top 40,
     
  8. KFRC and KYA Top 40 radio played the song to death here in the Bay Area. I was starting up 10th Grade in high school when that song came out! Goofy ditty and Chuck's only Hot 100 #1 single...:rolleyes:
     
  9. flashdaily

    flashdaily Active Member

    I was in high school when it came out, and it was played a lot in Seattle, along with his other two "comeback" hits, "Reelin' And Rockin'" and "You Never Can Tell". We thought it was hilarious and a bit daring back then, but I have no idea how people would react to it nowadays. It was a novelty record, and like most novelty records it did not become a staple of oldies radio formats over the ears. Chuck Berry's early seventies comeback was something of a novelty in itself, and it seemed there was novelty all over the airwaves, with Commander Cody's remake of "Hot Rod Lincoln" and somebody's remake of "The Lion Sleeps Tonight".
     
  10. JamieC

    JamieC Senior Member

    Location:
    Detroit Mi USA
    Heavy rotation in Detroit. The unedited track is best In Fact the live side of the LP is GREAT.
     
  11. -Alan

    -Alan Senior Member

    Location:
    Connecticut, USA
    Chuck Berry did have three singles that reached #1 on the R&B chart:

    Maybelline (#1 for 11 weeks in 1955 - which was pretty amazing since it was only on the chart for 16 weeks total)
    School Day (#1 for 5 weeks in 1957)
    Sweet Little Sixteen (#1 for 3 weeks in 1958)

    Sweet Little Sixteen spent three weeks at #2 on the Top 100 in 1958 and was kept out of the #1 spot by The Champs' Tequila all three weeks. Tequila leapt into the #1 spot from #9, which was fairly unusual for that era.

    US Billboard Top 100 Singles Week Ending 8th March, 1958
    Issue Date 17th March, 1958
    TW LW TITLE-Artist (Label)-Weeks on Chart (Position on seperate charts)
    (Peak Position)
    1 9 TEQUILA
    The Champs (Challenge)-4 (1S/8A) (1 week at #1) (1)
    2 3 SWEET LITTLE SIXTEEN
    Chuck Berry (Chess)-5 (2S/5A) (2)
    3 1 DON'T
    Elvis Presley (RCA Victor)-8 (3S/1A) (1)
    4 6 26 MILES (Santa Catalina)
    The Four Preps (Capitol)-9 (5S/2A) (4)
    5 5 OH JULIE
    The Crescendos (Nasco)-11 (7S/11A) (5)
    6 7T WHO'S SORRY NOW
    Connie Francis (MGM)-4 (8S/9A) (6)
    7 2 GET A JOB
    The Silhouettes (Ember)-9 (10S/13A) (1)
    8 7T THE WALK
    Jimmie McCracklin and His Band (Checker)-4 (11S) (7)
    9 13 SUGARTIME
    The McGuire Sisters (Coral)-12 (12S/4A) (5)
    10 16 GOOD GOLLY, MISS MOLLY
    Little Richard (Specialty)-5 (13S) (10)
    ------
    11 4 SHORT SHORTS
    The Royal Teens (ABC-Paramount)-8 (14S/15A) (3)
    12 11T SAIL ALONG SILVERY MOON
    Billy Vaughn and His Orchestra (Dot)-13 (9S/7A) (5)
    13T 14T CATCH A FALLING STAR
    Perry Como (RCA Victor)-9 (6S/3A) (9)
    13T 56T LOLLIPOP
    The Chrodettes (Cadence)-2 (15S/14A) (13)
    15 26 BREATHLESS
    Jerry Lee Lewis (Sun)-3 (16S/25TA) (15)
    16 17 A WONDERFUL TIME UP THERE
    Pat Boone (Dot)-5 (4S/19A) (16)
    17 10 THE STROLL
    The Diamonds (Mercury)-12 (17S) (5)
    18 24T IT'S TOO SOON TO KNOW
    Pat Boone (Dot)-5 (4S/17A) (14)
    19 11T AT THE HOP
    Danny and the Juniors (ABC-Paramount)-15 (18S/22A) (1)
    20 28T ROCK AND ROLL IS HERE TO STAY
    Danny and the Juniors (ABC-Paramount)-3 (19S) (20)

    T=Tie for the position on the chart
    S=Sales Chart Position
    A=Airplay (Jockeys) Chart Position
     
  12. shepherdfan

    shepherdfan Western European Socialist Music Lover

    Location:
    Eugene, OR
    Videoman,
    You are correct. KFRC played it a lot as well as KLIV. I also recall the latter "Reelin' and Rockin" being played a ton as well.
     
  13. kwadguy

    kwadguy Senior Member

    Location:
    Cambridge, MA
    Sorry for the brain fart in my previous posting. I meant to say I heard it on 1360/KRUX, which was the top 40 station I was loyal to in those days.
     
  14. Vidiot

    Vidiot Now in 4K HDR!

    Location:
    Hollywood, USA
    Not played in Tampa on the big Top 40 station there, WLCY-AM. They also never played Three Dog Night's "Joy to the World" from the year before, due to a squabble between the radio station and MCA Records. Those are two songs I never heard very often until I moved to LA a few years later.

    Ironically, songs like this were played on the weekend syndicated American Top 40 show, but you'd never know the songs made it to #1 otherwise -- unless you read Billboard or listened to other stations. WLCY had about 40% of the market (maybe 90% of the teenage market) from the early 1960s to the mid-1970s, so if they didn't play it, you probably wouldn't hear it if you lived in Tampa.
     
  15. Adam9

    Adam9 Русский военный корабль, иди на хуй.

    Location:
    Toronto, Canada
    I heard it on the radio a lot back in the day. Over in the UK it must've been played by the BBC because Mary Whitehouse, self-appointed guardian of public morals wanted it banned from the airwaves.
    I sang along with Chuck on a version of the song months before it was released. Of course it was with thousands of others at the Toronto Rock'n'Roll Revival (the same one Lennon played). I've always liked the song expecially the long version. :hide: It's probably a combination of love for juvenile humour and arrested development on my part. :D
     
  16. tim_neely

    tim_neely Forum Hall Of Fame

    Location:
    Central VA
    Never heard it on the radio in Philadelphia. It wasn't played as an oldie, either. It's possible it was played late at night, when I wouldn't have been listening, because I did find it on the WFIL Top 30 chart of September 25, 1972 at #13, moving up from #20.

    The first time I ever heard "My Ding-a-Ling" was when I bought a used copy of the 45 in 1975. I had heard of the song, because it was on the list from the 1973 World Almanac of million-selling singles in 1972. Though I wasn't as tuned in to Top 40 radio in '72 as I had been in '71 or would be in '73, I heard most of the big hits, even if I didn't know them by name at the time. But I never heard "My Ding-a-Ling."
     
  17. MikeP5877

    MikeP5877 V/VIII/MCMLXXVII

    Location:
    OH
    I was too young at the time to remember if I heard the song on radio or not. First time I heard it was on a Ronco record called "Funky Favorites"

    But....did you know that "My Ding-A-Ling" was written and recorded by New Orleans great Dave Bartholomew almost 20 years earlier? I just found that out a few months ago when I bought the King R&B Box Set. Chuck put his name on the songwriting credit, but it's not his.

    I can only assume that Bartholomew was too embarrased to sue... :D
     
  18. The Panda

    The Panda Forum Mutant

    Location:
    Marple, PA, USA
    I didn't hear it in Phila either, but it was played a lot on the local Reading PA AM station. Go figure......
     
  19. Todd E

    Todd E Forum Resident

    Location:
    Hollywood-adjacent
    Probably a p.d. song that Bartholomew adapted. Bobby Mitchell had a version (as "Toy Bell") between Bartholomew's and Berry's.
     
  20. rstamberg

    rstamberg Senior Member

    Location:
    Riverside, CT
    Ditto the AM stations in NY.
     
  21. il pleut

    il pleut New Member

    unfortunately no.
     
  22. dasacco

    dasacco Senior Member

    Location:
    Massachussetts
    I remember it being a big hit. I loved it then and still do, but not the short version. The long version really shows Chuck's abilities as a performer. The way he gets the crowd involved is pure genius. The short version on the single cuts it up so much you don't get to hear him "work".

    His only number 1? Of course that's a travesty, but it put him back on the map and I'd bet it turned a lot more people on to what he did in his prime.

    I give it a :thumbsup:
     
  23. babyblue

    babyblue Patches Pal!

    Location:
    Pacific NW
    I was in jr. high when the record was released and they certainly played it to death on the radio in Spokane, Washington. So much so that it scared me away from the rest of Chuck Berry's work for years. I was sick of hearing it and can't really say if I even like it now. I don't think I have it on any of my Berry discs.
     
  24. flashdaily

    flashdaily Active Member

    Best line in the whole song was "slipped and had a turr-ible fall"!
     
  25. McLover

    McLover Senior Member

    Here in the Bible Belt, quite a number of stations wouldn't play this or only played it after 10 PM. Most of the Knoxville area stations didn't play "My Ding-A Ling" or only played it when it made the top 5.
     
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