Monday 6pm: Max 20th Century – 1971 (Part III)

We feature the Top 50 Hits of 1971!

Wednesday 6pm: Max 20th Century – Part VII

In the final installment of 1970 music we feature the Top 50 Albums of the year.

Tuesday 6pm: Artist Countdown – Def Leppard

We have ranked and will play the Top 50 Def Leppard tunes.

Def Leppard are an English rock band formed in 1977 in Sheffield as part of the new wave of British heavy metal movement. Since 1992, the band has consisted of Joe Elliott (lead vocals), Rick Savage (bass, backing vocals), Rick Allen (drums, backing vocals), Phil Collen (guitars, backing vocals), and Vivian Campbell (guitars, backing vocals). This is the band’s longest lasting line-up.

The band’s strongest commercial success came between the early 1980s and the early 1990s. Their 1981 album, High ‘n’ Dry, was produced by Robert John “Mutt” Lange, who helped them begin to define their style, and the album’s standout track “Bringin’ On the Heartbreak” became one of the first rock videos played on MTV in 1982. The band’s next studio album, Pyromania, was released in January 1983, with “Photograph” and “Rock of Ages” as the lead singles. In the U.S., Pyromania was certified diamond (10× platinum), making Def Leppard among the most popular music groups at the time. In 2003, the album ranked number 384 on Rolling Stone’s 500 Greatest Albums of All Time.

Def Leppard’s fourth album Hysteria, released in 1987, topped the UK and U.S. album charts. As of 2009, it has reached beyond the success of Pyromania, having been certified 12× platinum for sales of over 12 million in the U.S. and has gone on to sell over 25 million copies worldwide. The album spawned seven hit singles, including the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 number one “Love Bites”, alongside “Pour Some Sugar on Me”, “Hysteria”, “Armageddon It”, “Animal”, “Rocket”, and “Women”. Their next studio album, Adrenalize (the first following the death of guitarist Steve Clark), reached number one in UK and U.S. charts in 1992, and contained several hits, including “Let’s Get Rocked” and “Have You Ever Needed Someone So Bad”. Their 1993 album, Retro Active, contained the acoustic hit song “Two Steps Behind”. Their greatest-hits album Vault, released in 1995, featured the UK hit “When Love & Hate Collide”.

As one of the world’s best-selling music artists, Def Leppard have sold more than 100 million records worldwide, and have two albums with RIAA diamond certification, Pyromania and Hysteria. They are one of only five rock bands with two original studio albums selling over 10 million copies in the U.S. The band were ranked No. 31 in VH1’s “100 Greatest Artists of Hard Rock” and ranked No. 70 in “100 Greatest Artists of All Time”. – Wikipedia

Tuesday 6pm: Artist Countdown: Linda Ronstadt Top 40 Hits

Linda Maria Ronstadt (born July 15, 1946) is an American popular music singer. She has earned 11 Grammy Awards, two Academy of Country Music awards, an Emmy Award, an ALMA Award, and numerous United States and internationally certified gold, platinum and multiplatinum albums. She has also earned nominations for a Tony Award and a Golden Globe award.

Ronstadt has collaborated with artists from a diverse spectrum of genres including Bette Midler, Billy Eckstine, Frank Zappa, Rosemary Clooney, Flaco Jiménez, Philip Glass, Carla Bley, The Chieftains, Warren Zevon, Emmylou Harris, Gram Parsons, Dolly Parton, Neil Young, Johnny Cash, and Nelson Riddle. She has lent her voice to over 120 albums and has sold more than 100 million records, making her one of the world’s best-selling artists of all time. Christopher Loudon of Jazz Times noted in 2004, Ronstadt is “Blessed with arguably the most sterling set of pipes of her generation … rarest of rarities – a chameleon who can blend into any background yet remain boldly distinctive … It’s an exceptional gift; one shared by few others.”

In total, she has released over 30 studio albums and 15 compilation or greatest hits albums. Ronstadt charted 38 Billboard Hot 100 singles, with 21 reaching the top 40, 10 in the top 10, three at #2, and “You’re No Good” at #1. This success did not translate to the UK, with only her single “Blue Bayou” reaching the UK Top 40. Her duet with Aaron Neville, “Don’t Know Much”, peaked at #2 in December 1989. In addition, she has charted 36 albums, 10 top-10 albums and three #1 albums on the Billboard Pop Album Chart.

In a 2011 interview with the Arizona Daily Star she said, “I am 100 percent retired and I’m not doing anything any more”. It was announced publicly in August 2013 that Linda had been diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease in December 2012, which left her unable to sing.

Her autobiography, Simple Dreams: A Musical Memoir, was released in September 2013. It debuted in the Top 10 on The New York Times Best Sellers List.

Linda Ronstadt was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in April, 2014. – Wikipedia

Tuesday 6pm: Artist Countdown: John Mellencamp Top 50 Hits

John J Mellencamp (born October 7, 1951), previously known as Johnny Cougar, John Cougar, and John Cougar Mellencamp, is an American musician, singer-songwriter, painter, and actor. He is known for his catchy, populist brand of heartland rock, which emphasizes traditional instrumentation. Mellencamp rose to fame in the 1980s while “honing an almost startlingly plainspoken writing style that, starting in 1982, yielded a string of Top 10 singles,” including “Hurts So Good,” “Jack & Diane,” “Crumblin’ Down,” “Pink Houses,” “Lonely Ol’ Night,” “Small Town,” “R.O.C.K. in the U.S.A.,” “Paper in Fire” and “Cherry Bomb.” He has amassed 22 Top 40 hits in the United States. In addition, he holds the record for the most tracks by a solo artist to hit number one on the Hot Mainstream Rock Tracks chart, with seven. Mellencamp has been nominated for 13 Grammy Awards, winning one. Mellencamp released his latest album, Sad Clowns & Hillbillies, on April 28, 2017, to widespread critical acclaim.

Mellencamp is also one of the founding members of Farm Aid, an organization that began in 1985 with a concert in Champaign, Illinois, to raise awareness about the loss of family farms and to raise funds to keep farm families on their land. Farm Aid concerts have remained an annual event over the past 33 years, and as of 2018 the organization has raised over $50 million to promote a strong and resilient family farm system of agriculture.

Mellencamp was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame on March 10, 2008. On June 14, 2018, Mellencamp was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame. His biggest musical influences are Bob Dylan, Woody Guthrie, James Brown and the Rolling Stones. Rolling Stone contributor Anthony DeCurtis said: “Mellencamp has created an important body of work that has earned him both critical regard and an enormous audience. His songs document the joys and struggles of ordinary people seeking to make their way, and he has consistently brought the fresh air of common experience to the typically glamour-addled world of popular music.”  – Wikipedia

Sunday 3pm: Top 50 Country Hits of the 1980’s with Ron Kovacs

Friday 6pm: Top 50 Albums of 1970 with Ron Kovacs

We feature the Top 50 Albums of 1970 at 6pm with Ron Kovacs