WCBS-FM, the biggest oldies station in the country in the 70s and 80s, recently counted down their top 500 artists of all time. Elvis used to be their #1 artist years ago, now he's #51, behind such luminaries as Eddie Money, BTO and America.

100. TOTO
99. BENSON, GEORGE
98. ADAMS, BRYAN
97. KING, EVELYN
96. LOGGINS, KENNY
95. GENESIS
94. WAR
93. BUFFETT, JIMMY
92. BROWN, JAMES
91. BENATAR, PAT
90. RAFFERTY, GERRY
89. BADFINGER
88. JAMES, RICK
87. RASCALS
86. KNIGHT, GLADYS & THE PIPS
85. LYNYRD SKYNYRD
84. SCAGGS, BOZ
83. COLLINS, PHIL
82. GAYNOR, GLORIA
81. MANN, MANFRED
80. KOOL & THE GANG
79. CLAPTON, ERIC
78. TAVARES
77. REO SPEEDWAGON
76. WITHERS, BILL
75. STEPPENWOLF
74. PICKETT, WILSON
73. BOSTON
72. Whitney Houston
71. ISLEY BROTHERS
70. BROWNE, JACKSON
69. CARS
68. WILD CHERRY
67. POLICE
66. FRAMPTON, PETER
65. SIMON & GARFUNKEL
64. BLONDIE
63. GRAND FUNK
62. MADONNA
61. PRINCE
60. LEWIS, HUEY & THE NEWS
59. SANTANA
58. CHIC
57. SUPERTRAMP
56. O’JAYS
55. ELECTRIC LIGHT ORCHESTRA
54. CROCE, JIM
53. ROBINSON, SMOKEY/MIRACLES
52. FOREIGNER
51. PRESLEY, ELVIS
50. BACHMAN-TURNER OVERDRIVE
49. JACKSON 5
48. MONEY, EDDIE
47. SLY & THE FAMILY STONE
46. MELLENCAMP, JOHN C
45. SIMON, PAUL
44. FRANKLIN, ARETHA
43. GUESS WHO
42. WHITE, BARRY
41. JAMES TOMMY & SHONDELLS
40. STEELY DAN
39. DOORS
38. MARTHA & VANDELLAS
37. Three Dog Night
36. SPINNERS
35. SPRINGSTEEN, BRUCE
34. COMMODORES
33. MORRISON, VAN
32. AMERICA
31. MONKEES
30. EARTH, WIND & FIRE
29. QUEEN
28. FOUR SEASONS
27. GAYE, MARVIN
26. SEGER, BOB
25. TEMPTATIONS
24. MCCARTNEY, PAUL
23. KC & SUNSHINE BAND
22. MILLER, STEVE
21. FOUR TOPS
20. JOURNEY
19. SUMMER, DONNA
18. BON JOVI
17. DIAMOND, NEIL
16. STEWART, ROD
15. HALL & OATES
14. JACKSON, MICHAEL
13. BEACH BOYS
12. FLEETWOOD MAC
11. CREEDENCE CLEARWATER REVIVAL
10. DOOBIE BROTHERS
9. CHICAGO
8. BEE GEES
7. SUPREMES
6. EAGLES
5. WONDER, STEVIE
4. ROLLING STONES
3. JOEL, BILLY
2. JOHN, ELTON
1. THE BEATLES

Uhh... what a bizarre list. How was this decided?

Anyway, placements after the top 100 that interest me:

101. Frank Sinatra
102. John Lennon

106. Roy Orbison

109. George Harrison

111. David Bowie

121. Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers

123. The Who

126. ABBA

131. Aerosmith
132. Diana Ross
133. Dire Straits

135. Stevie Nicks
136. Don Henley
137. Otis Redding

139. Free

142. Lionel Richie

144. Led Zeppelin

149. Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young

151. Bob Dylan

153. The Hollies

155. Donovan

157. ZZ Top

167. U2

169. The Animals

172. The Mamas & The Papas

176. The Righteous Brothers

178. The Lovin' Spoonful

180. Van Halen

189. The Allman Brothers Band

193. The Kinks

197. The Pretenders

200. The Byrds

211. Jefferson Airplane/Starship

232. Bill Haley & His Comets

246. Pink Floyd

284. Cream

292. Neil Young

296. The Dave Clark Five

320. Chuck Berry

323. Yes

341. Janis Joplin/Big Brother & The Holding Company

349. Deep Purple

387. The Clash

391. Fats Domino

399. Jerry Lee Lewis

405. Small Faces/Faces

410. Bob Marley & The Wailers

431. Grateful Dead

434. Little Richard

439. Pete Townshend

448. Lou Reed

450. Parliament
451. Def Leppard

472. The Yardbirds

494. The Coasters

499. The Band

Full list

Greatest name that didn't make the list at all? Either Jimi Hendrix or Buddy Holly. I'm stunned that Buddy Holly isn't in there.

Yes, that's shocking.

The core of their programming is now top 40 hits from 1973 to 1986 or so. That's why no Hendrix. He only had one top 40 hit.

Wow, that's a really weird list.

Oldies radio today pretty much doesn't have anything pre-Beatles (with a couple of exceptions for things such as "Stand By Me" which have been hits again, and occasionally something such as "Shout"), so on the face of it the lack of Buddy Holly makes sense. But then the list does have Richie Valens, so that bit of sense went out the window!

My best guess is that they just ranked the artists in order of how much the station played them within a certain period. And anyone below 350 or so got played very, very little.

Yes, and these days something like "La Bamba" likely gets played more often on the station than Buddy Holly's entire catalog. Because people in the targeted age group remember the Valens movie, but not the Holly movie.

Wow, and we rag on VH1 for having shitty lists. What was this based on? Names picked out of a hat? If so, I wouldn't be surprised if the tag off the hat didn't make the list somewhere.

I love Steely Dan to death. But 40th greatest rock artist of all time? Tsch.

Tavares at #78! Buh?

I live in the part of the US where Tavares is from and I doubt no one from around here would put them in a list of top 1000 artists of all time let alone Top 100, let alone 78.

EDIT: Holy shit, I didn't see Wild Cherry at #68 until now.

Damn, is Carl Douglas on there somewhere? How about Starland Vocal Band?

It's not a "rock" list. There's non rock acts on there (Sinatra, Streisand, etc...)

Just noticed it. Point still stands. Steely Dan definitely isn't the 40th best pop music act of all time.

And Sinatra's lower than there's any right to be if its supposed to be an all-pop music list.

I think Brett might be right. They just went by how often each artist is played on the station, and they probably play the shit out of "Play That Funky Music."

It was a great station in the 1972-1977 or so time, but it's been all downhill since then.

The main era of their playlist is 1973-1985 or so. Frank didn't have much of note in those years. I highly doubt they play much of his pre-reprise stuff, so he probably has 5-7 songs that are in rotation.

New York, New York
Summer Wind
My Way
That's Life
Strangers In The Night
Fly Me To The Moon

I doubt they even play "Somethin' Stupid" in regular rotation, sounds too dated for their format.

Surprising to see The Who ahead of ABBA on an oldies pop station, though. Especially if their focus is Top Forty from 1973 - 1986. That's right in the ABBA sweet spot.

ABBA was never very big in NYC. They probably play about 6-7 ABBA records and maybe 8-10 Who songs.

AND the Who have a couple of songs that transcend not making the top 40, like "Baba" and "I Can't Explain." I highly doubt they play "My generation" though. It's too hard edged for their format. In fact, I never heard it even in the station's heydey in the 70s.

Certain pre-1973 acts are played a lot if their sound is judged to be modern enough. Obviously their #1 act was done before 1973. They play plenty of 60s Motown, but not much of the second and third tier British acts from the mid-60s anymore. And of course, plenty of Four Seasons, given that their coverage in NY-NJ and that "Jersey Boys" is big with their targeted audience.

But you won't hear "What Kind Of Fool" by the Tams or "My True Story" by the Jive Five or very many other doo wops. They want to get away from doo wops and 50s music that is mainly only of interest to 65+ year olds at this point.

But it's just fucking embarrasing to see Eddie Money listed above Elvis.

Here's their latest version of their listener voted top 99 songs of all time, from the top 1001 that they counted down last Labor Day.

99 Newton-John/Travolta “You’re The One That I Want”

98 Bee Gees “Night Fever”

97 Steppenwolf “Born To Be Wild”

96 Presley, Elvis “Suspicious Minds”

95 Doobie Brothers “What A Fool Believes”

94 Creedence Clearwater Revival “Down On The Corner”

93 Nightingale, Maxine “Right Back Where We Started…”

92 Chapin, Harry “Cat’s In The Cradle”

91 Springfield, Rick “Jessie’s Girl”

90 Jackson 5 “ABC”

89 America “A Horse With No Name”

88 Rolling Stones “Honky Tonk Women”

87 Rafferty, Gerry “Baker Street”

86 Monkees “I’m A Believer”

85 Supertramp “The Logical Song”

84 Croce, Jim “Bad, Bad Leroy Brown”

83 Four Seasons “Candy Girl”

82 Electric Light Orchestra “Don’t Bring Me Down”

81 Simon & Garfunkel “Homeward Bound”

80 Joel, Billy “It’s Still Rock And Roll…”

79 Hall & Oates “You’ve Lost That Lovin Feelin”

78 Steam “Na Na Hey Hey Kiss Him Goodbye”

77 Foundations “Build Me Up Buttercup”

76 Electric Light Orchestra “Evil Woman”

75 Joel, Billy “Piano Man”

74 White, Barry “Can’t Get Enough Of Your Love”

73 Rolling Stones “(I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction”

72 John, Elton/Dee,Kiki “Don’t Go Breaking My Heart”

71 Bachman-Turner Overdrive “Takin’ Care Of Business”

70 Steely Dan “Reeling In The Years”

69 Nash, Johnny “I Can See Clearly Now”

68 Guess Who “American Woman”

67 Drifters “Under The Boardwalk”

66 Wonder, Stevie “Superstition”

65 Steppenwolf “Magic Carpet Ride”

64 Steely Dan “Do It Again”

63 Kc & Sunshine Band “That’s The Way (I Like It)”

62 Beach Boys “Good Vibrations”

61 Joel, Billy “Only The Good Die Young”

60 Redding, Otis “(Sittin’ On) The Dock Of The Bay”

59 Valli, Frankie “Grease”

58 Eagles “One Of These Nights”

57 Creedence Clearwater Revival “Proud Mary”

56 Fleetwood Mac “Go Your Own Way”

55 John, Elton “Bennie And The Jets”

54 Four Seasons “Who Loves You”

53 Simon & Garfunkel “Mrs. Robinson”

52 War “Low Rider”

51 Frampton, Peter “Baby, I Love Your Way”

50 Orbison, Roy “Oh! Pretty Woman”

49 Hall & Oates “Rich Girl”

48 Greenbaum, Norman “Spirit In The Sky”

47 Gaynor, Gloria “I Will Survive”

46 Doobie Brothers “Listen To The Music”

45 Looking Glass “Brandy (You’re A Fine Girl)”

44 Creedence Clearwater Revival “Bad Moon Rising”

43 Chicago “Saturday In The Park”

42 Fleetwood Mac “Don’t Stop”

41 Earth, Wind & Fire “September”

40 Diamond, Neil “Sweet Caroline”

39 Eagles “Take It Easy”

38 Mann, Manfred “Blinded By The Light”

37 Abba “Dancing Queen”

36 Seger, Bob “Old Time Rock & Roll”

35 Gray, Dobie “Drift Away”

34 Miller, Steve “Rock’n Me”

33 King, Ben E. “Stand By Me”

32 John, Elton “Crocodile Rock”

31 Miller, Steve “The Joker”

30 Fleetwood Mac “Dreams”

29 Four Seasons Rag Doll

28 Stewart, Rod “Maggie May”

27 Commodores “Brick House”

26 Joel, Billy “My Life”

25 Bee Gees “Stayin’ Alive”

24 Presley, Elvis “Are You Lonesome Tonight”

23 America “Sister Golden Hair”

22 Darin, Bobby “Mack The Knife”

21 Hollies “Long Cool Woman (In A Black..)”

20 Temptations “My Girl”

19 Bachman-Turner Overdrive “You Ain’t Seen Nothing Yet”

18 Wild Cherry “Play That Funky Music”

17 Boston “More Than A Feeling”

16 Kc & Sunshine Band “Get Down Tonight”

15 Five Satins “In The Still Of The Night”

14 Jackson, Michael “Billie Jean”

13 Led Zepplin “Stairway To Heaven”

12 Four Seasons “December, 1963 (Oh, What A Night)”

11 Franklin, Aretha “Respect”

10 American Pie - Don McLean

9 Journey “Don’t Stop Believin

8 Frank Sinatra New York, New York

7 Jimmy Buffett “Margaritaville”

6 Elton John “Your Song”

5 Lynyrd Skynyrd “Sweet Home Alabama”

4 Beatles “Hey Jude”

3 Four Seasons “Sherry”

2 Eagles “Hotel California”

1 Van Morrison “Brown Eyed Girl”

Could the top ten be any whiter?