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IN TUNE
Top 40 radio - or "contemporary hit radio," as it's referred to today - hasn't changed much over the years. The goal is to grab the listener with easily hummable melodies and unforgettable hooks. Probably the only major difference between the hits of the 1960s through 1970s - dominated by the likes of Three Dog Night and the Carpenters who produced solid light AM fare - and today's hitmakers is the 1990s influence of hip-hop and rap which emphasizes groove and dance.
Thank the mid-1970s disco explosion for that, as that much- derided dance-based movement has proven to be much more influential than the flash-in-the-pan label it received from many rock pundits.
A look at top-40 artists today reveals as varied a palette as those mining the field decades earlier.
Working the same pop-dance-ballad territory as Whitney Houston, Mariah Carey has always been far more impressive than her material. Possessing a dazzling range, Carey was criticized early in her career for using her voice just to show off.
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