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the meaning of top 40

U

uethanian

Mar 11, 2007
1,070
4
#1
i got to get this one out there.

one out of every-so-many people on TB respond to a post with the phrase top 40. "back in the day, when i was in a top 40 group"..."my top 40 group plays every week"..."my top 40 band toured with other top 40 bands (?)"...

wat
exactly
does
it
mean?

top 40 of what? what segment of the music industry are you referring to? when i hear top 40 i think of all the lame pop/alt rock songs that play continuously on the radio. so are you saying that you're on the radio? right now? why wont anyone mention the name of their supposed top 40 band? you're in the top 40 (whatever that is) but you're not popular enough to be known? people seem to go from top 40 group to top 40 group pretty freely...are these more "projects" than actual bands? heck i could say im in the top 40 and no one would question it.

sorry if that sounds really condescending, but the phrase top 40 is sooo vague. please, enlighten me.
 
#4
Yeah, and I'd say they could either mean hits from the Top 40 lists of a specific time period, or across several decades.

A better question is, "why 40?" Why did the number 40 achieve such a standard status? Was it something popularized by a specific personality such as Wolfman Jack or Kasey Kasem, or were they all doing it?
 
#5
bongomania said:
Yeah, and I'd say they could either mean hits from the Top 40 lists of a specific time period, or across several decades.

A better question is, "why 40?" Why did the number 40 achieve such a standard status? Was it something popularized by a specific personality such as Wolfman Jack or Kasey Kasem, or were they all doing it?
Click to expand...
I totally would've made a top 37 chart.
 
#7
When someone says they play top 40 I assume they mean current top 40, not past tense. Thats a cover band that keeps up with current music and is constantly learning new pop songs. If you play old stuff that was in the top 40 at one time your a classic rock band or a pop band, but i wouldnt consider that top 40.
 
#9
I interpret it to mean songs that have been popular at ANY point in time. You could play 90's Top 40, classic rock Top 40, motown Top 40, etc.... People hear top 40 and they know that these songs are or were popular at some point in time, and they are probably good songs.
 

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