Adult Contemporary Music Then vs. Now

[RobertZ]

From my first awareness of the LP [[about 1963, via: my parents' collection) through the mid '70s AC artists such as Sinatra, Patti Page, The Ray Conniff Singers, Tony Bennet, Doris Day, Johnny Mathis, Andy Williams, and many many more each released several LPs yearly. This were lushly but simply produced discs featuring usually either songs-of-the-day cover versions, or concept LPs. These were all mid-career and middle-aged artists.

Here's my question. This concept occurs no longer. The artists we love release rarely if at all. What has changed, either in "society" or the music industry, to have eliminated this practice? Were those '63 - mid '70s LPs such HUGE sellers for all of the artists concerned [[I doubt it)?

Anybody know?

[Jerry Oz]

There aren't many pop artists who make it into their 40s and beyond. The closest thing that I think compares to what you describe would be Barbra Streisand's album of duets that came out this year. Some, like Mariah Carey, try to hold onto their teenage years for fear life. Others, like Celine Dion, might be lucky to find a steady gig but those are few and far between. Still others, like Madonna, are eccentric and rarely release new music.

Of course, men fare better with the Michael Bubles and Josh Grobins of the world being able to maintain in spite of being older. I doubt you will ever see albums filled with covers come into popularity again. The only songs worth covering [[in my humble opinion) are two generations old and there are fewer of us older folks left to buy them.

Finally, the music industry eats its young and if artists survive until they are 40 or 50, they aren't likely to be given opportunities because they know what a level playing field is and are less likely to accept being abused. And what weaselly record exec wants that?

[soulster]

From my first awareness of the LP [[about 1963, via: my parents' collection) through the mid '70s AC artists such as Sinatra, Patti Page, The Ray Conniff Singers, Tony Bennet, Doris Day, Johnny Mathis, Andy Williams, and many many more each released several LPs yearly. This were lushly but simply produced discs featuring usually either songs-of-the-day cover versions, or concept LPs. These were all mid-career and middle-aged artists.

Here's my question. This concept occurs no longer. The artists we love release rarely if at all. What has changed, either in "society" or the music industry, to have eliminated this practice? Were those '63 - mid '70s LPs such HUGE sellers for all of the artists concerned [[I doubt it)?

Anybody know?

Well, first of all, your time-line is way off! The artists you mention fell out of style way back in the late 50s! By the time time 70s rolled around, adult contemporary had been taken over by the likes of Carpenters, Tom Jones, Bread, Melissa Manchester, Barry Manilow, and The Captain & Tennille. Andy Williams had a hit in 1971 with "Love Story", but even that was because it was tied to a film. Barbra Streisand, Dionne Warwick, Neil Sedaka, and to a much lesser degree, Johnny Mathis, were about the only holdouts from that 50s and early 60s era. And, Sedaka was doing teen pop in the early 60s. All of those 70s AC artists I mentioned had major pop/rock, R&B, and disco hits, as well as AC hits.

[RobertZ]

Well, first of all, your time-line is way off!.

Well that's not quite true, and I have LPs in my possession that prove the point! Here are some discographies from the years of which I speak [[excuse the sloppy cut-and-paste)

Peggy Lee:

1963 Mink Jazz 1963 I'm a Woman 1964 In Love Again! 1964 In the Name of Love 1965 Pass Me By 1965 Then Was Then – Now Is Now! 1965 Happy Holiday 1966 Guitars a là Lee

1966 Big $pender 1967 Extra Special! 1967 Somethin' Groovy! 1968 2 Shows Nightly 1969 A Natural Woman 1969 Is That All There Is? 1970 Bridge Over Troubled Water 1970 Make It With You 1971 Where Did They Go 1972 Norma Deloris Egstrom from Jamestown, North Dakota

[RobertZ]

Jerry Vale:

• Arrivederci, Roma [[1963)
• The Language of Love [[1963)
• Be My Love [[1964)
• Till the End of Time and Other Great Love Themes [[1964)
• Christmas Greetings from Jerry Vale [[1964)
• Have You Looked Into Your Heart [[1965)
• There Goes My Heart [[1965)
• Everybody Loves Somebody [[1966)
• It's Magic [[1966)
• The Impossible Dream [[1967)
• Time Alone Will Tell and Other Great Hits of Today [[1967)
• I Hear a Rhapsody [[1968)
• You Don't Have to Say You Love Me [[1968)
• This Guy's In Love with You [[1968)
• Till [[1969)
• As Long As She Needs Me [[1969)
• Where's the Playground Susie? [[1969)
• Let It Be [[1970)
• We've Only Just Begun [[1971)
• The Jerry Vale Italian Album [[1971)
• I Don't Know How to Love Her [[1971)
• Sings the Great Hits of Nat King Cole [[1972)
• Alone Again [[Naturally) [[1972)
• Love Is a Many-Splendored Thing [[1973)
• What a Wonderful World [[1973)

[RobertZ]

Patti Page:

Say Wonderful Things	Release date: 1963 Label: Columbia Records	83
The Singing Rage	Release date: 1963 Label: Mercury Records	—
Blue Dream Street	Release date: 1964 Label: Mercury Records	—
The Nearness of You	Release date: 1964 Label: Mercury Records	—
Hush, Hush, Sweet Charlotte	Release date: 1964 Label: Columbia Records	27
Today My Way	Release date: 1967 Label: Columbia Records	—
Gentle on My Mind	Release date: 1968 Label: Columbia Records	168
"—" denotes releases that did not chart

1970s–2000s

Title[1]	Details	Peak positions
US Country[2]
Stand by Your Man	Release date: 1970 Label: Harmony Records	—
Honey Come Back	Release date: 1970 Label: Columbia Records	—
I'd Rather Be Sorry	Release date: 1971 Label: Mercury Records

[RobertZ]

Ray Conniff:

You Make Me Feel So Young [[1963) Speak to Me of Love [[1963) Friendly Persuasion [[1964) Invisible Tears [[1964) Love Affair [[1965) Music From 'Mary Poppins', 'The Sound of Music', 'My Fair Lady' & Other Great Movie Themes [[1965) Christmas Album: Here We Come A-Caroling [[1965, platinum album) Happiness Is [[1965) Somewhere My Love [[1966, platinum album) Ray Conniff's World of Hits [[1966) En Español [[The Ray Conniff Singers Sing It in Spanish) [[1966) This Is My Song [[1967) Ray Conniff's Hawaiian Album [[1967) It Must Be Him [[1967, gold album) Honey [[1968, gold album) Turn Around Look at Me [[1968) I Love How You Love Me [[1969) Live Europa Tournee 1969/Concert in Stereo [[1969) Jean [[1969) Concert In Stereo: Live at 'The Sahara Tahoe' [[1969) Bridge Over Troubled Water [[1970) We've Only Just Begun [[1970) Love Story [[1970) Great Contemporary Instrumental Hits [[1971)

I'd Like to Teach the World to Sing [[1971) Love Theme from "The Godfather" [[1972) Alone Again [[Naturally) [[1972) I Can See Clearly Now [[1972) Ray Conniff in Britain [[1973) You Are the Sunshine of My Life [[1973) Harmony [[1973) The Way We Were [[1973) The Happy Sound of Ray Conniff [[1974) Ray Conniff in Moscow [[1974) Laughter in the Rain [[1975) Another Somebody Done Somebody Wrong Song [[1975) Love Will Keep Us Together [[1975) I Write the Songs [[1975) Live in Japan [[1975) Send in the Clowns [[1976)

[RobertZ]

That's just a few artists, but the AC LP market was thriving up through '75 or so

[arr&bee]

from my first awareness of the lp [[about 1963, via: My parents' collection) through the mid '70s ac artists such as sinatra, patti page, the ray conniff singers, tony bennet, doris day, johnny mathis, andy williams, and many many more each released several lps yearly. This were lushly but simply produced discs featuring usually either songs-of-the-day cover versions, or concept lps. These were all mid-career and middle-aged artists.

Here's my question. This concept occurs no longer. The artists we love release rarely if at all. What has changed, either in "society" or the music industry, to have eliminated this practice? Were those '63 - mid '70s lps such huge sellers for all of the artists concerned [[i doubt it)?

Anybody know?

answer?the world has changed,it's no longer about good mellow music it's about sex..moanin an groanin and sound effects,hell i have to cover my grandkids ears when i'm playing the radio today.

[soulster]

Well that's not quite true, and I have LPs in my possession that prove the point! Here are some discographies from the years of which I speak [[excuse the sloppy cut-and-paste)

Peggy Lee:

1963 Mink Jazz 1963 I'm a Woman 1964 In Love Again! 1964 In the Name of Love 1965 Pass Me By 1965 Then Was Then – Now Is Now! 1965 Happy Holiday 1966 Guitars a là Lee

1966 Big $pender 1967 Extra Special! 1967 Somethin' Groovy! 1968 2 Shows Nightly 1969 A Natural Woman 1969 Is That All There Is? 1970 Bridge Over Troubled Water 1970 Make It With You 1971 Where Did They Go 1972 Norma Deloris Egstrom from Jamestown, North Dakota

My point is that most of them, aside from the few I mentioned, were no longer on the upper reaches of the charts, or on the radio, if at all.

[RobertZ]

My point is that most of them, aside from the few I mentioned, were no longer on the upper reaches of the charts, or on the radio, if at all.

Understood! Ironically that's my point as well - that "older" artists who were no longer charting singles regularly still churned out LPs for their core audience.

[soulster]

Understood! Ironically that's my point as well - that "older" artists who were no longer charting singles regularly still churned out LPs for their core audience.

A core audience that was gradually shrinking, or no longer buying music at the point.

[roger]

I don't have AC/Easy Listening chart chart figures but I do have Billboard "Pop" chart data ....

FRANK SINATRA was still a major U.S. seller as late as 1965/6/7 and had a #1 Billboard Hot-100 hits in 1966 with "Strangers In The Night" and in 1967 with "Something Stupid" [[his duet with his daughter Nancy). In between these two #1s he hit #4 with "That's Life".

Sinatra's LPs were also selling well at this time with his "Strangers In The Night" set reaching #1 on Billboard's "Pop" listing in 1966. His "At The Sands" and "That's Life" LPs also reached Billboard's Top 10. His 1969 L.P. "My Way" just missed Billboard's "Pop" Top 10, peaking at #11. His 1973 L.P. "Ol' Blue Eyes Is Back" peaked at #13, but its title does suggest that even Mr Sinatra's management thought he had been in decline after "My Way".

TONY BENNETT's "I Left My Heart In San Francisco" L.P. was on Billboard's "Pop" charts for three years from mid 1962 and peaked at #5. He was a strong seller from 1963 to 1966 and had big selling L.P.s such as "I Wanna Be Around" [[#3 in 1963), "The Many Moods Of Tony" [[#20 in 1964) and "The Movie Song Album" [[#18 in 1966). After 1966 his only Top 100 L.P. was "Love Story" [[#67 in 1971).

DORIS DAY had no Billboard "Pop" chart entries [[LP or Hot-100) after 1964.

RAY CONNIFF had a Platinum L.P. with "Somewhere My Love" [[#3 in 1966), and two Gold L.Ps in 1968 with "It Must Be Him" and "Honey" [[#25 and #22 respectively on Billboard's "Pop" charts.) After this he only had two Top 100 L.P. entries .. "Bridge Over Troubled Waters" [[#47 in 1970) and "Love Story" [[what else ) [[#98 in 1971). The single of "Somewhere My Love" was also a major hit, reaching #9 in 1966.

ANDY WILLIAMS was at #1 on Billboard's L.P. chart for 16 weeks in 1963 with "The Days Of Wine And Roses" and had a further 9 Top 10 LPs in the 1960s .. culminating with "Happy Heart" [[#9 in 1969). In The 1970s "Love Story" reached #5 in 1971 and "The Godfather" reached #29 in 1972 but after 1974 his LPs failed to chart, though he had a #72 hit single in 1976 with "Tell It Like It Is" .

JOHNNY MATHIS LPs sold consistently throughout the 1960s and early 1970s, though his peak period was in the 1957-60 era. The biggest charting were "Johnny's Newest Hits" [[#6 in 1963) and "The Shadow Of Your Smile [[#9 in 1966), "Tender Is The Night" [[#14 in 1964) and "Love Is Blue" [[#26 in 1968). Chart positions dropped off after "Love Story" [[yeah!! ) [[#47 in 1971) though his "All Time Greatest Hits" from 1972 was awarded Platinum and "Feelings" from 1975 went Gold.

Roger