In the US, a radio DJ would pick up an old 45, like what he was hearing & start to feature that cut on his show. Lots of times, his audience would react favourably and the single would start to sell again. This happened on numerous occasions & most have been well documented.

OTHER TIMES, a locally distributed 45 would eventually find it's way into another area, a radio DJ there would play it (not realising it had been issued weeks / months ago ... AND AGAIN, the 45 would take off and start selling in that area.

HOWEVER, it wasn't common (to my knowledge, for a release by a known artist on a well known nationally distributed label to take off and still be selling 6 months after it had been first released. Some 45's would catch on slowly, becoming popular in one city at first. DJ's in other areas would see it listed as doing well (in say Baltimore) & they'd start playing it. It's popularity would then slowly spread with the last area in which it became popular being some time after it had first took off in the first city.

BUT Eddie Holman's Parkway 45 release (THIS CAN'T BE TRUE) from September 1965 was still charting in Baltimore & Boston over 6 months after it had first hit record shop shelves. I can believe it may have taken time to reach & become popular in Boston BUT Baltimore is only just down the road from Philly (just 100 miles away). The chart's below are from the end of March 1966 . . . at the time it was still in the top 30 national R&B chart & at #66 on the Hot 100 pop chart.  

ALSO, I have been told that Eddie was out doing live shows (in places such as Pittsburgh -- 300 miles from Philly) to promote the 45 in summer 1966.

Eddie's follow up 45 (which included "Eddie's My Name" on the B side) had been released in April 66, so I guess he should really have been promoting "Don't Stop Now" at the time. Cameo were placing ads in the US music press to promote DSN in early May 66. It was also on the LA chart & bubbling under the Hot 100 at the same time.

Anyone know why / how this would have happened ?

 

     

More Eddie Holman related stuff ... the Parkway 45 items all dating from April / May 66.

Eddie obviously believed "Don't Stop Now" was a good song as he cut it again for ABC & it got released on 45 again ... 

Edited August 19, 2024Aug 19 by Roburt

Seems Eddie's Parkway 45 "Don't Stop Now" was expected to do well (chart wise) as it was a BREAK-OUT 45 in certain cities. However, that didn't happen; it's popularity didn't spread out right across the US.

MIND YOU, at the time it seems that Detroit & LA were the hot cities for breaking new releases ... I'd guess though that was coz 'little indie labels' in the 2 cities were putting out great 45's at the time. So singles by the likes of the Capitols & Shades of Blue had got their 1st radio exposure in their 'home towns'. From there, they'd spread out right across the US, making the R&B and pop charts in the process.  

Maybe his new 45's lukewarm reception in many markets was the reason he was still out promoting "This Can't Be True" even after it's follow-up was in the shops. Mind you, Pittsburgh was one of the few cities it had done well in, so maybe that was the reason he was still promoting it there in summer 66.

Edited August 20, 2024Aug 20 by Roburt

I agree with you that Boston took it's time adding "This Can't Be True", but I think you should cut Baltimore some slack. Not sure where you got the Baltimore list in your 1st post ( from some Pop station in the city?) but one of Baltimore's biggest Soul stations was playing  "This ..." much earlier. And since it was Top 5 on the chart, they were probably playing a month or so before that-

 

 

Edited August 21, 2024Aug 21 by The Yank

The Baltimore chart was printed in Billboard. It was the Balto radio chart  -- based on the stns in the city (pop & soul). Billboard printed such charts for around 16 cities in most editions of the mag. 

I don't doubt that WWIN were on the 45's case much earlier as they were the top black stn in the city.