Denro has replied to my recent request for clarification on two favorite singles from ’69 — ‘Will You Be Staying After Sunday’ and ‘Morning Girl’. The big surprise for me was that WABC didn’t play the Peppermint Rainbow’s record. Doing well in Los Angeles and Boston apparently wasn’t enough to compensate for the lack of airplay in New York.
It may have only hit #32 on Billboard, but ‘Will You Be Staying After Sunday’ peaked at #12 on WRKO and #11 on WMEX. I know, because I bought the original 45, probably at Woolworths in the Falmouth Plaza.
Later, when I started getting Joel Whitburn’s books, I was always confused by lower charting songs that I knew were “hits” in my mind. Then I discovered the treasure trove of local Radio Charts!
Of course, if you had stayed in Norwalk and listened to WABC, you were out of luck. It never charted – nor was it apparently played – on WABC. But it was big on local CT stations!
It reached #4 on KHJ – 3 weeks before! The week that WYBSAS peaked on RKO, Morning Girl was making its debut.
Ding! Ding! Ding! And Denro wins the round. I wanted to say something, but wasn’t 100% sure. The problem was “Sunday” was literally a new song (to me) as we pulled into our new driveway in Acton since we WABC. Too bad! They missed out on a potential big hit!
Trivia: Do you remember that “Fire” was playing exactly as we crossed from CT into MA? On what station, I have no idea, but the ears on the Pratt kids sure perked up.
P.S. Outstanding job on the radio charts. Fascinating reading.