How much of Presence was played on rock radio back in 1976?

[shadowwave]

The only single was CSR which I don't think exactly lit the radio on fire. But back when DJ's weren't corporate puppets and had more autonomy they would play multiple album track besides the single, to the extent that they would even show up on the US mainstream rock chart. However this chart did not exist until 1981, nor can I find any equivalent of it from another country existing back in 76. So to those of you who were around back in 76, which tracks do you remember hearing on your local station? WMMR Philadelphia almost never plays anything from Presence today.

[jabe]

May I digress?
Thank you.

My first semester freshman year in college, sat across from me in my Latin class,
a fairly attractive, shy, well built coed, who often wore her longish hair in a bun or ponytail,
which exposed her divine neck. Fuck!

We became friends and would study in the library. 
I'd escort her back to her dorm and peck her cheek or lighty tongue her neck before we
bid adieu. This continued for several weeks.
Our Latin final was on a Saturday... she suggested we study in her dorm room that Friday evening. 
I snuck a few beers in and we studied our Latin for maybe 45 minutes.
That woman tore me, tore me to smithereens!

I left her dorm room a new man and kicked ass on that Latin final!

Back to topic , all I remember hearing on FM, and this would be 1977, was Hots On For Nowhere.
And I distinctly remember this because my Latin study buddy and I were headed to the airport to 
pick up her suitemate who'd met some dude in a Birmingham bar and he'd flown her up to Philly, Chicago,
somewhere up there for a bang session. 

Yep, Hots On For Nowhere.
Ironic how that title sums up me and my classmate.
There's more to our  history, but it's like Robert wrote the perfect 
title to a song to what our situation became.

 

Edited November 21, 2021 by jabe

[chillumpuffer]

In the UK, Alan Freeman (who introduced the band at Earls Court) , had a Saturday afternoon rock show on BBC Radio 1. I clearly remember him playing Nobody's Fault But Mine and Achilles Last Stand before the album came out. I used to record the show so would have it taped. Great show it was. Not arf'

[John M]

I wish I could remember.  The spring and summer of 1976 is a blur.  I know I heard Achilles and Nobody's Fault on the radio.  Can't recall how often and can't recall if I ever heard any of the other tracks on the radio then.

[KC7291]

Hmmmm, where I lived I could pick up 2 AOR statins on my car's FM radio, one from Chicago and one, if memory serves, from Niles, Michigan.  I recall hearing CSR and Achilles, though like John I cannot remember now often.  Forced to guess I might say 3x and once, respectively, but I only listened in my car and I didn't spend all that much time driving back then.  

[Boleskine]

Nicky Horne played Achilles a lot on Capital Radio (London)

John Peel definitely played NFBM on Radio 1 as I downloaded a show from April 1976 recently and heard it 

[gibsonfan159]

10 hours ago, chillumpuffer said:

In the UK, Alan Freeman (who introduced the band at Earls Court) , had a Saturday afternoon rock show on BBC Radio 1. I clearly remember him playing Nobody's Fault But Mine and Achilles Last Stand before the album came out. I used to record the show so would have it taped. Great show it was. Not arf'

Imagine hearing those two tracks and anticipating the whole album.

[Xolo1974]

12 hours ago, chillumpuffer said:

In the UK, Alan Freeman (who introduced the band at Earls Court) , had a Saturday afternoon rock show on BBC Radio 1. I clearly remember him playing Nobody's Fault But Mine and Achilles Last Stand before the album came out. I used to record the show so would have it taped. Great show it was. Not arf'

Great story mate…pop pickers 

[BobDobbs]

In Chicago, WMET & the LOOP played NFBM & HOFN a LOT. Achilles got airplay quite a bit on more expansive format stations such as WXRT as did Tea for One & CSR.

Chicago was always a massive Zeppelin stronghold and never really took to punk rock. I remember some dude in my Freshman year in HS getting his ass kicked just for wearing a Sex Pistols shirt. Chicago was a weird place when it came to music. Not friendly in any way to punk, new wave, or alternative music at all until the mid-80's.

[Strider]

In 1976 I listened primarily to KMET 94.7 FM, followed in order by KLOS 95.5 FM, KWST 106 FM, and KROQ 106.7 FM. I had abandoned KHJ and all of the AM stations by now as they had primarily moved to shitty disco and pop and the sound sucked on AM compared to FM stereo.

Los Angeles/Southern California was Led Zeppelin land. Zeppelin dominated rock radio in the Southland. In 1976, local radio was still heavily playing "Physical Graffiti" tracks like it was a new album. "Stairway to Heaven" was still the most played Led Zeppelin tune on the radio, but "Kashmir" was a close second.

When "Presence" came out, "Achilles Last Stand" and "Nobody's Fault But Mine" immediately became the two prime tracks DJs focused on and the songs listener's requested most often. Then KMET's Jim Ladd started playing "For Your Life" and "Tea For One" a lot on his nightly 10pm to 2am program. "For Your Life" caught on with the other DJs more than "Tea For One", which suited late nights more than the morning or afternoon drive time slots.

Here are the Presence songs in the order I heard them the most on local radio in 1976-77.

1. Achilles Last Stand

2. Nobody's Fault But Mine

3. For Your Life

4. Hots On For Nowhere

5. Royal Orleans

6. Candy Store Rock (probably Zeppelin's worst single...It just never caught on)

7. Tea For One

[Electrophile]

Not being born until 1982, I can't say what Presence songs were played on the radio when it came out, however, I have heard Achilles Last Stand and Nobody's Fault But Mine on the radio later at night, when whoever the on-air personality is has the time to play longer album cuts rather than just single edits. I would imagine that the same was true in 1976. For example, I always hear the album of version of "Riders on the Storm" later at night as opposed to earlier in the day. If it's played earlier, it's the single edit.

[JTM]

On 11/21/2021 at 8:42 AM, chillumpuffer said:

In the UK, Alan Freeman (who introduced the band at Earls Court) , had a Saturday afternoon rock show on BBC Radio 1. I clearly remember him playing Nobody's Fault But Mine and Achilles Last Stand before the album came out. I used to record the show so would have it taped. Great show it was. Not arf'

What great radio we had back then Tommy Vance on Friday nights, Fluff on Saturday afternoons, In Concert Saturday evening, Peel from 10pm Monday to Thursday. As for Presence it was either Fluff or TV that played the whole album, put me off buying it for a long tilme, didn't like what I heard. It's always been my seventh favourite Zeppelin album.

[Walter]

On 11/21/2021 at 6:50 PM, BobDobbs said:

In Chicago, WMET & the LOOP played NFBM & HOFN a LOT. Achilles got airplay quite a bit on more expansive format stations such as WXRT as did Tea for One & CSR.

Chicago was always a massive Zeppelin stronghold and never really took to punk rock. I remember some dude in my Freshman year in HS getting his ass kicked just for wearing a Sex Pistols shirt. Chicago was a weird place when it came to music. Not friendly in any way to punk, new wave, or alternative music at all until the mid-80's.

Plus the “Death to Disco” fiasco at Comiskey Park!
 

[BobDobbs]

On 11/23/2021 at 12:16 PM, Walter said:

Plus the “Death to Disco” fiasco at Comiskey Park!
 

That was a god damned debacle. I just don't know what the hell is wrong with some Chicago folk but that event was a shit show. At the time I was no fan of disco and I was 11 year old in 79/ when this happened. At 11 years old I was cognizant enough to understand you don't trash a baseball field because you don't like a particular type of music. 

Just a bunch of Old Style swilling, brat eating jackoffs as far as I was concerned at the time. Later I became a musician (joined band in jr. high and continued through HS and switched from trumpet to guitar when I hit 15 and joined the HS jazz band) which gave me a greater appreciation of all types of music including disco.

Then again I remember being in shop class in 79' and almost getting into fistfights over Zeppelin vs. Stones vs. Who. People be cray cray!

[Victor]

I remember a UK radio show one afternoon playing the whole album before it was released. I can't remember who the DJ was, I don't think it was Alan Freeman.

 

[Bong-Man]

"Achilles Last Stand" was played early in Detroit, before the album was even released.  The entire album was featured track by track beginning on Tuesday, March 30th, 1976. the same day I purchased it right out of the box at a local Harmony House.  Once the initial buzz was over, "NFBM" was pretty much the only song that was heard in regular rotation.  Presence was released right in the era where rock DJs were quickly losing their independence as far as programming.  You shall play "Dreamweaver" every 90 minutes!     

Steve Dahl was the DJ responsible for Disco Demolition Day at Comiskey.  The White Sox doubleheader was against the Tigers, and I still remember the Tigers' announcers, Hall of Famers George Kell & Al Kaline being totally outraged at the proceedings.  Dahl left Detroit radio for Chicago and left us with Howard Stern.  Both would lose their jobs when their stations switched formats to disco.  On the local scene, that was the end of WABX & WWWW, which were both great local Detroit rock stations.  One of them had a show on Sunday night called, "The 7th day", where they played 7 albums in a row.  Great stuff.    

[The Only Way To Fly]

On 11/27/2021 at 6:39 AM, Bong-Man said:

Steve Dahl was the DJ responsible for Disco Demolition Day at Comiskey.  The White Sox doubleheader was against the Tigers, and I still remember the Tigers' announcers, Hall of Famers George Kell & Al Kaline being totally outraged at the proceedings.  Dahl left Detroit radio for Chicago and left us with Howard Stern. 

Cool to her someone from Detroit comment on this. Growing up in Chicago in the 1980's Steve Dahl was a HUGE radio presence. I was a regular Dahl listener until I moved to Phoenix, just about a year ago. 

 

 

[kirchzep27]

I wonder what the statistics are for this, super curious, cause my music memories mostly start in 1979 being 10yrs old with the hype over the new zeppelin album. So the stations that my parents played in the car, had a lot to the music that I heard. So I know that I heard Donna Summer and Blondie, right next to All my Love and Fool in the Rain. Yet I have my transistor radio memories of listening to kashmir and stairway before that. 

[BobDobbs]

On 11/27/2021 at 6:39 AM, Bong-Man said:

"Achilles Last Stand" was played early in Detroit, before the album was even released.  The entire album was featured track by track beginning on Tuesday, March 30th, 1976. the same day I purchased it right out of the box at a local Harmony House.  Once the initial buzz was over, "NFBM" was pretty much the only song that was heard in regular rotation.  Presence was released right in the era where rock DJs were quickly losing their independence as far as programming.  You shall play "Dreamweaver" every 90 minutes!     

Steve Dahl was the DJ responsible for Disco Demolition Day at Comiskey.  The White Sox doubleheader was against the Tigers, and I still remember the Tigers' announcers, Hall of Famers George Kell & Al Kaline being totally outraged at the proceedings.  Dahl left Detroit radio for Chicago and left us with Howard Stern.  Both would lose their jobs when their stations switched formats to disco.  On the local scene, that was the end of WABX & WWWW, which were both great local Detroit rock stations.  One of them had a show on Sunday night called, "The 7th day", where they played 7 albums in a row.  Great stuff.    

Hey now buddy, Dreamweaver is the GOAT! Should be every 30 minutes with some Captain & Tennille & Starland Vocal Band tossed in for good measure.

Time for some muskrat Susie & muskrat Sam, oh yeah.

[Xolo1974]

On 11/22/2021 at 6:25 PM, JTM said:

What great radio we had back then Tommy Vance on Friday nights, Fluff on Saturday afternoons, In Concert Saturday evening, Peel from 10pm Monday to Thursday. As for Presence it was either Fluff or TV that played the whole album, put me off buying it for a long tilme, didn't like what I heard. It's always been my seventh favourite Zeppelin album.

I was born in 74, and remember Fluff and Tommy Vance. Used to listen to the Saturday night rock show with Fluff Freeman in the early 90’s while I was getting ready to go out on the town with me mates. Used to start at 7pm and I’d be in the bath. An hour of the show was dedicated to a classic rock concert. It’s where I first heard the Paris Theatre ‘71 show. Blew me away. Great memories. 

[chillumpuffer]

3 hours ago, Xolo1974 said:

I was born in 74, and remember Fluff and Tommy Vance. Used to listen to the Saturday night rock show with Fluff Freeman in the early 90’s while I was getting ready to go out on the town with me mates. Used to start at 7pm and I’d be in the bath. An hour of the show was dedicated to a classic rock concert. It’s where I first heard the Paris Theatre ‘71 show. Blew me away. Great memories. 

Tut tut. You Younguns !!

Fluff's original show was on Saturday afternoons at 2.00pm. He had that same intro take from "Frankenstein" by The Edgar Winter Group and when he announced "pop pickers" a new Led Zeppelin album I nearly creamed me jeans. 

[ScarletMacaw]

I remember 1976 very well. "Nobody's Fault But Mine" was played a fair amount on the radio. "Achilles' Last Stand" I heard a few times.