Apr 21, 2013 5 min read

Regional radio lives – if only on Rich Appel’s online I.R.S. list on WRNJ in Hackettstown, N.J.

The “It Really Should’ve Been a Hit” special, timed to coincide with the IRS tax filing deadline, annually plays songs that Appel’s listeners believe merited Top 10 status. Granted, many of those filing forms are radio and/or music junkies, but the mass appeal of the countdown may well be its head-scratching status.

For instance, it’s difficult for today’s radio listeners to believe that perhaps the most-defining doo-wop song of all time, “In the Still of the Night,” was not a Top 10 hit. Neither were ’70s staples “Born to Run” or “Stairway to Heaven.”

As in most years, the list also is clogged with Beach Boy hits that really weren’t. This year, those include “Darlin’,” “Sail on Sailor,” “I Can Hear Music,” “The Little Girl I Once Knew” and, astonishingly, “God Only Knows,” which aside from “Good Vibrations,” is considered the ultimate Beach Boys classic.

We’ve discussed in this space before the sad plight of “Little Girl I Once Knew,” which died a premature death in 1965 simply because the group inserted extra-long pauses before the chorus, a gimmick that disc jockeys thought might prompt listeners to think something was wrong with their radio. One imagines there’s a similarly interesting tidbit to accompany all of the list’s “doomed” ditties.

With five songs on the list, the Beach Boys generated the most response, with Leslie Gore and the Grass Roots, each with three songs apiece, just behind. As those artists indicate, the “I.R.S” is primarily a conglomeration of ’60s music – and not necessarily because it’s baby boomers filing returns. Instead, the list embellishes what music fans of multiple generations firmly believe: that the ’60s were so packed with exceptional music and artists that many didn’t get their due.

According to Appel, who also writes a column for Billboard magazine, “Songs from the ’60s have dominated ever since the first I.R.S. Top 104 in 2008 – 78 of the 104 came from that decade. … During the mid-1960s, there were more songs to reach the Top 40 section of the pop chart, and Top 10 for that matter, than at any time (in chart history).

“There were many more independently run record labels and radio stations than now, so any station programmer could play any record that was brought in off the street. Because labels couldn’t afford to promote all across the U.S., what was working in Pittsburgh might be completely different than what was hitting in LA. Hence, you had lots of great records stopping below the top 10 on Billboard and Cashbox.”

That explains why people in these parts might pull their hair out when they listen to the countdown. So many songs that were big in Western Pennsylvania barely scratched the charts elsewhere. It’s been suggested that the I.R.S. countdown could be subtitled “Pittsburgh’s Greatest Hits.” That’s perhaps an exaggeration, but there are indeed many songs that scored better here than elsewhere, including the Flirtations’ “Nothing But a Heartache,” a KQV chart-topper that peaked at No. 34 nationwide. It is tops on the I.R.S. list this year.

My 2013 filing form, for the record, included, in descending order, “Love Power” by the Sandpebbles, “Tiny Dancer” by Elton John, “This Can’t Be True” by Eddie Holman, “Soul Coaxing” by Raymond Lefevre and “Time Waits for No One” by the Friends of Distinction. Only “Soul Coaxing” scored, dropping in at No. 47.

When I asked Rich his favorites, he said, “I’ve never filed an I.R.S. form myself, because it’s always been more fun watching what songs everyone else mentions on theirs, and, honestly, there are way too many great songs never to reach top 10 for me to narrow it down.”

When coaxed a little, he finally offered one choice per decade: “Bo Diddley,” Bo Diddley (1955); “And I Love Her,” The Beatles (1964); “White Lies Blue Eyes,” Bullet (1972); “Juicy Fruit,” Mtume (1983); and “Cotton Eye Joe,” Rednex (1995).

You can view the entire list at www.musicradio77.com and file an early 2014 form of your own at IRS104@Verizon.net. When you’re researching your choices, you might well discover a surprisingly snubbed “Stairway to Heaven” tune of your own.

For the fourth time in four months, the usually stable Pittsburgh radio market has a new No. 1. Arbitron places Bob-FM (WFFM) at the top, following one-month stays by WWSW, KDKA-AM and WDVE.

So far, there’s no Internet buzz on the cause for the monthly shifts in viewer habits. Let’s just say it’s a rarity in a region where KDKA-AM and WDVE once held on to the top spot for years at a time without interruption.

2013 I.R.S. Top 10

1. “Nothing But a Heartache” – Flirtations

2. “Mr. Dieingly Sad” – The Critters

3. “Can’t Find the Time” – Orpheus

4. “Shame Shame” – The Magic Lanterns

5. “Will You Be Staying After Sunday” – Peppermint Rainbow

6. “Things I’d Like to Say” – New Colony Six

7. “Taxi” – Harry Chapin

8. “Yellow River” – Christie

9. “Sugar on Sunday” – Clique

10. “Darlin'” – Beach Boys