Familiar song returns to No. 1 in WDVE Memorial Day 500 countdown
“Stairway to Heaven” ascended back to the top.
The Led Zeppelin song finished first in the DVE Memorial Day 500 countdown, which ended Monday night. It bested Queen’s “Bohemian Rhapsody,” Guns ‘N Roses’ “Sweet Child of Mine,” “Free Bird” by Lynyrd Skynyrd and “Another Brick in the Wall” by Pink Floyd.
The entire list is here.
The popular WDVE-FM 102.5 countdown returned to the airwaves last year for the first time in more than two decades.
The station brought the countdown back last year as part of the 50th anniversary of the station, said John Moschitta, program director for WDVE/WXDX iHeartMedia Pittsburgh
They decide on songs based on listener feedback on the website, the amount of spins a song has received over the years and some research, he previously told the Tribune-Review.
Which band had the most songs? Led Zeppelin led them all with an impressive 26 tunes. The closest was Pink Floyd with 16, and 15 each for Tom Petty and Van Halen. AC/DC and Aerosmith had 14. The Doors came in with 11. The Beatles, Eagles and Queen each had 10.
The four-day countdown began Friday via the station’s Twitter account. Paul Petroskey of Brookline entertained listeners when he was granted permission to take over the account. Known as “Weird Paul” for his YouTube video channel, he was creating this kind of internet content before the platform became popular.
I hope that you've enjoyed me tweeting the countdown this weekend. Don't forget you can follow me for my fun here on Twitter @weirdpaul or at https://t.co/HCajvYIeXT https://t.co/spl5nof9rK and https://t.co/IyOIsWtu0d
— 102.5 WDVE (@DVERADIO) May 25, 2020
Petroskey, 49, happened upon WDVE at 14 years old when he wanted to listen to new music genres. It was May 1985, the first year the countdown was on.
WDVE disc jockeys lauded Petroskey’s performance. Randy Baumann said to give “Weird Paul” a “big round of applause.”
Big round of applause for @weirdpaul for live tweeting the DVE Memorial Day 500 the entire weekend. Herculean effort buddy! #dve #weirdpaul #md500
— Randy Baumann (@DVERandy) May 25, 2020
Chad Tyson also gave a shout out.
Thanks to everybody for listening to the #DVEMemorialDay500 on @DVERADIO. Hopefully yinz enjoyed it as much as we did!! And shout out to @weirdpaul for the awesome job live tweeting the countdown!
Number 1 song this year: @ledzeppelin “Stairway To Heaven” pic.twitter.com/1vETd3pnHt
— Chad Tyson (@chadtyson) May 25, 2020
Petroskey said “Stairway to Heaven” always was No. 1 in the 1980s. He would know, since he’s kept a list of the tunes. He has video of himself showing off the old countdown lists.
When asked how much sleep he got over the weekend Petroskey said more than during past countdowns because the station took breaks. The songs played from 1 p.m. to midnight Friday, 9 a.m. to midnight Saturday and Sunday and 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. Monday.
He said he sat at his desk in front of his computer and listened on the radio.
“Doing this via social media was crazy,” he said. “It was special tweeting from the WDVE Twitter because I was tweeting to the station’s audience.”
He said what was interesting was one follower would complain about a particular song being played while another would say how great that same song was and were happy to be hearing it.
Petroskey said he tried to find different angles about a song to tweet so he wasn’t repeating the same message. He said the countdown was similar to last year so he pretty much anticipated what the next song would be, including the top tune.
“Stairway to Heaven” was destined to be the No. 1 song,” he said. “It has earned that spot over time.”
Petroskey was a guest on the DVE Morning show Tuesday.
Over the weekend, while he updated followers he included current news when he introduced “Another One Bites the Dust” by Queen at No. 58, falling 36 places from last year.
“Best wishes to Brian May who is currently recovering from a heart attack,” Petroskey tweeted.
"Another One Bites the Dust" by Queen at number 58, falling 36 places from last year. Best wishes to Brian May who is currently recovering from a heart attack. @weirdpaul
— 102.5 WDVE (@DVERADIO) May 25, 2020
JoAnne Klimovich Harrop is a TribLive reporter covering the region's diverse culinary scene and unique homes. She writes features about interesting people. The Edward R. Murrow award-winning journalist began her career as a sports reporter. She has been with the Trib for 26 years and is the author of "A Daughter's Promise." She can be reached at jharrop@triblive.com.
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