Ross On Radio
@rossonradio.com
Writing about radio and music, from then and now.
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Speaking of yacht rock...
If anybody wants a second choice besides SiriusXM's channel, this station debuted in Norfolk today. #AT40
www.929thewave.com
If anybody wants a second choice besides SiriusXM's channel, this station debuted in Norfolk today. #AT40
www.929thewave.com
92.9 The Wave (WTVW FM)
www.929thewave.com
February 6, 2026 at 3:04 AM
Speaking of yacht rock...
If anybody wants a second choice besides SiriusXM's channel, this station debuted in Norfolk today. #AT40
www.929thewave.com
If anybody wants a second choice besides SiriusXM's channel, this station debuted in Norfolk today. #AT40
www.929thewave.com
On an #AT40 with "Come Sail Away" and "Close Encounters," return with me to those innocent days when people could fantasize about starships without ever completely giving in to conspiracy theory.
They kept their foot on the ground and kept reaching for, well, you know...
They kept their foot on the ground and kept reaching for, well, you know...
January 31, 2026 at 7:14 PM
On an #AT40 with "Come Sail Away" and "Close Encounters," return with me to those innocent days when people could fantasize about starships without ever completely giving in to conspiracy theory.
They kept their foot on the ground and kept reaching for, well, you know...
They kept their foot on the ground and kept reaching for, well, you know...
While we're between Barry Manilow hits on #AT40 until "Can't Smile Without You" charts, I wanted to make sure everybody including @radiofreetom.bsky.social knows that there's a new Manilow song and it's on the Adult Contemporary charts (not hard to do these days). www.youtube.com/watch?v=JOgg...
Barry Manilow - Once Before I Go (Official Music Video)
YouTube video by Barry Manilow
www.youtube.com
January 31, 2026 at 5:42 PM
While we're between Barry Manilow hits on #AT40 until "Can't Smile Without You" charts, I wanted to make sure everybody including @radiofreetom.bsky.social knows that there's a new Manilow song and it's on the Adult Contemporary charts (not hard to do these days). www.youtube.com/watch?v=JOgg...
"Easy To Love" is Leo Sayer after having listened to Boz Scaggs.
Then again, "Easy To Love" is two years before Boz Scaggs, "Jojo," so there must have been mutual appreciation. #AT40 #YachtRock
Then again, "Easy To Love" is two years before Boz Scaggs, "Jojo," so there must have been mutual appreciation. #AT40 #YachtRock
January 31, 2026 at 5:23 PM
"Easy To Love" is Leo Sayer after having listened to Boz Scaggs.
Then again, "Easy To Love" is two years before Boz Scaggs, "Jojo," so there must have been mutual appreciation. #AT40 #YachtRock
Then again, "Easy To Love" is two years before Boz Scaggs, "Jojo," so there must have been mutual appreciation. #AT40 #YachtRock
It competes with "Isn't It Time" and a few others, but "Thunder Island" is another contender for the ultimate #AT40 record. Fun, uptempo, still sounds like a hit, and disappeared surprisingly quickly.
January 31, 2026 at 5:19 PM
It competes with "Isn't It Time" and a few others, but "Thunder Island" is another contender for the ultimate #AT40 record. Fun, uptempo, still sounds like a hit, and disappeared surprisingly quickly.
Throughout Abba's streak, the UK (and the world) was usually a single ahead of us, not just "Name of the Game." Since the import shops near me would never order anything as mainstream as Abba, pre-internet, I knew those songs just as names on a Billboard Hits of the World page for two months. #AT40
January 31, 2026 at 5:09 PM
Throughout Abba's streak, the UK (and the world) was usually a single ahead of us, not just "Name of the Game." Since the import shops near me would never order anything as mainstream as Abba, pre-internet, I knew those songs just as names on a Billboard Hits of the World page for two months. #AT40
There was, in my town, a supermarket that played classic R&B, sometimes deep. I was delighted when they played "Maybe Tomorrow." Even more so when three women came around the corner singing along to it, too. #AT40
January 30, 2026 at 2:55 AM
There was, in my town, a supermarket that played classic R&B, sometimes deep. I was delighted when they played "Maybe Tomorrow." Even more so when three women came around the corner singing along to it, too. #AT40
Almost like Elton John, the Big Is Back. For #AT40 friends and anybody else interested in current, uptempo music. open.spotify.com/playlist/0Hg...
Big Hits Energy 2026
open.spotify.com
January 19, 2026 at 3:31 AM
Almost like Elton John, the Big Is Back. For #AT40 friends and anybody else interested in current, uptempo music. open.spotify.com/playlist/0Hg...
From "Let Your Hair Down" to "Boogie Oogie Oogie" to "Get Down On It," we used to have a lot of R&B hits specifically exhorting the crowd to loosen up and dance. With clubs and concerts back in business for a while now, it would be fun if those came back. #AT40
January 17, 2026 at 5:10 PM
From "Let Your Hair Down" to "Boogie Oogie Oogie" to "Get Down On It," we used to have a lot of R&B hits specifically exhorting the crowd to loosen up and dance. With clubs and concerts back in business for a while now, it would be fun if those came back. #AT40
Patty Loveless/I Try to Think About Elvis to Colin Raye/I Think About You. Classic Country #MomentsOfMusicSchedulingGrace
January 16, 2026 at 1:29 PM
Patty Loveless/I Try to Think About Elvis to Colin Raye/I Think About You. Classic Country #MomentsOfMusicSchedulingGrace
If we were hearing the real Jan. 1, 1980 #AT40 countdown, we'd be hearing the debut of the epoch dividing "Rapper's Delight" at #37, mostly because of sales since pop radio doesn't know what to do with it.
January 3, 2026 at 5:54 PM
If we were hearing the real Jan. 1, 1980 #AT40 countdown, we'd be hearing the debut of the epoch dividing "Rapper's Delight" at #37, mostly because of sales since pop radio doesn't know what to do with it.
Just noticed that the guitarist on the decidedly unswampy "The Way We Were" is throwing in some country-funk riffs from "Rainy Night In Georgia." #AT40 #ThisSoundsLikeThat
January 3, 2026 at 5:15 PM
Just noticed that the guitarist on the decidedly unswampy "The Way We Were" is throwing in some country-funk riffs from "Rainy Night In Georgia." #AT40 #ThisSoundsLikeThat
For #AT40 friends and others keeping up with new music, these are the songs that were not just big hits in 2025 but trend-defining.
Songs That Made a Difference in 2025 by @RossOnRadio.com
Songs That Made a Difference in 2025
Pop-music doldrums are usually particularly frustrating because there’s always perfectly good hit music that Top 40 could be playing but does not. How different 1980-82 would have been if “Rapper’s Delight” and “Super Freak” had been more than grudgingly acknowledged, or if “Tainted Love” and “Mickey” could have happened sooner, rather than each needing six months and the extra support of MTV.
radioinsight.com
December 31, 2025 at 12:53 AM
For #AT40 friends and others keeping up with new music, these are the songs that were not just big hits in 2025 but trend-defining.
Ruin two bands by combining them:
Sweet Ratt
Sweet Ratt
Ruin two bands by combining them:
Gang Of Four Tops
Gang Of Four Tops
ruin two bands by combining them:
Wet Willie Leg
Wet Willie Leg
December 29, 2025 at 11:11 PM
Ruin two bands by combining them:
Sweet Ratt
Sweet Ratt
Looking for a break from holiday music? My Big Hits Energy playlist didn't take six weeks off. It's refreshed and ready for 2025 for #AT40 friends and others. open.spotify.com/playlist/0Hg...
Spotify – Web Player
open.spotify.com
December 29, 2025 at 3:37 AM
Looking for a break from holiday music? My Big Hits Energy playlist didn't take six weeks off. It's refreshed and ready for 2025 for #AT40 friends and others. open.spotify.com/playlist/0Hg...
Hey, I don't even try to avoid "Last Christmas." (I work with holiday radio and would have been done by Dec. 1, anyway.)
But in the last 12 hours, I have heard two *different* versions of "Grandma Got Run Over By a Reindeer." Not Whamageddon but #Grandmageddon. #AT40
But in the last 12 hours, I have heard two *different* versions of "Grandma Got Run Over By a Reindeer." Not Whamageddon but #Grandmageddon. #AT40
December 25, 2025 at 6:47 PM
Hey, I don't even try to avoid "Last Christmas." (I work with holiday radio and would have been done by Dec. 1, anyway.)
But in the last 12 hours, I have heard two *different* versions of "Grandma Got Run Over By a Reindeer." Not Whamageddon but #Grandmageddon. #AT40
But in the last 12 hours, I have heard two *different* versions of "Grandma Got Run Over By a Reindeer." Not Whamageddon but #Grandmageddon. #AT40
Here's a great lesser-known Chris Rea song I found as an oldie on European radio in the late '90s, proving that he rolled deep. You'd be hard pressed to pinpoint exactly when this is from if you didn't know because it's an interesting mix of elements. #AT40
www.youtube.com/watch?v=SInT...
www.youtube.com/watch?v=SInT...
JULIA 💚 CHRIS REA
YouTube video by setzehomes
www.youtube.com
December 22, 2025 at 7:58 PM
Here's a great lesser-known Chris Rea song I found as an oldie on European radio in the late '90s, proving that he rolled deep. You'd be hard pressed to pinpoint exactly when this is from if you didn't know because it's an interesting mix of elements. #AT40
www.youtube.com/watch?v=SInT...
www.youtube.com/watch?v=SInT...
Chris Rea's "Fool (If You Think It's Over)" is one of the defining songs of the #AT40 thread. In Canada and the UK, he's all over the radio now because of "Driving Home For Christmas. I'm glad he had a great second act there, even if the US is spottier on his '80s hits. RIP.
December 22, 2025 at 6:51 PM
Chris Rea's "Fool (If You Think It's Over)" is one of the defining songs of the #AT40 thread. In Canada and the UK, he's all over the radio now because of "Driving Home For Christmas. I'm glad he had a great second act there, even if the US is spottier on his '80s hits. RIP.
I am so happy to see @kylieminogue.music-social.com's "X-M-A-S" as the UK's Christmas No. 1 this week, taking it back from older titles (not that "Last Christmas" wasn't deserving) and previous years that were mostly novelties/oddities. If it could only happen here. #AT40
December 19, 2025 at 6:40 PM
I am so happy to see @kylieminogue.music-social.com's "X-M-A-S" as the UK's Christmas No. 1 this week, taking it back from older titles (not that "Last Christmas" wasn't deserving) and previous years that were mostly novelties/oddities. If it could only happen here. #AT40
"Take a Chance on Me" into "Take On Me." The radio music plotting software puts two Nordic songs of similar intent next to each other, creating #MomentsOfMusicSchedulingGrace.
December 15, 2025 at 9:55 PM
"Take a Chance on Me" into "Take On Me." The radio music plotting software puts two Nordic songs of similar intent next to each other, creating #MomentsOfMusicSchedulingGrace.
When Casey Kasem called Michael Jackson "one of the most successful lead singers in the history of popular music," they had just hit their second anniversary as a hitmaking act. #AT40
December 6, 2025 at 6:59 PM
When Casey Kasem called Michael Jackson "one of the most successful lead singers in the history of popular music," they had just hit their second anniversary as a hitmaking act. #AT40
My personal "greatest single of all time" changes several times a week, but it always changes when I hear "Respect Yourself" again. #AT40
December 6, 2025 at 6:19 PM
My personal "greatest single of all time" changes several times a week, but it always changes when I hear "Respect Yourself" again. #AT40