Modern English "I Melt With You"

What the heck happened to The Dove? Since my last visit in March, the soft rock radio station that always sounds locked in a closet dated "1990" has clearly done a music test. Radio stations often "test" hooks of songs and then develop their playlist based on the results. While not an exact science, the methodology continues at most radio stations today.

Clearly The Dove's music test included some participants who were former Disco Queens as I heard more than my requisite fill of Donna Summer, KC & the Sunshine Band and Bee Gees during my stay in Bradenton Beach. Heck, The Dove even added some upbeat '80s tunes like "I Melt With You" from Modern English. All that aside, no part of me is upset that I missed "Escape (The Pina Colada Song)" which seemed to play daily last March.

Sarah McLachlan - "Angel"

Most Adult Contemporary radio stations shuffle through 300-400 songs on any given day -- lending an answer to the age-old question from listeners: "Why do you guys always play the same songs?".  Radio stations develop their music library by testing the hooks from hundreds of songs in focus groups (known as auditorium testing).  While not a perfect method, auditorium testing is standard in the industry.  One of the major problems with it, however, is that certain songs may test well, yet you don't want to hear them day after day on the radio.  One such example is the death march known as "Angel" from Sarah McLachlan.  While the song proved to be a massive hit in 1999 thanks to its inclusion on The City of Angels Soundtrack, there's certainly a time and place to hear a painfully slow ballad about a keyboardist who overdosed on heroin...and that time and place is not every day at work.