To Radio, They’re Just Four Guys From Liverpool

The new Beatles single “Real Love” is selling briskly. The second of two songs built by the surviving Beatles from late-’70s John Lennon work tapes is No. 9 on the SoundScan national sales chart and No. 7 in Southern California.

But you might have trouble hearing it on the radio.

“There’s no doubt that people are interested in having a copy of it,” says Tracy Austin, music director of L.A. Top 40-oriented radio station KIIS-FM. “But we tend to play Mariah Carey and Madonna records a lot sooner than we would--oh God, this sounds ridiculous--the Beatles.”

It’s the same story all over town: Programmers of other L.A. area commercial stations with formats that would seem to accommodate the new song--including KBIG-FM and KYSR (“Star 98”)--are staying cool to it. There seems to be less urgency and awareness surrounding this song than its predecessor, “Free as a Bird,” the single released last November. A spokeswoman for station KACD (“CD103”) actually said “It’s not out yet and that’s why we’re not playing it,” though the song was in fact released on March 5.

Only adult alternative station KSCA-FM jumped on “Real Love” right off the bat.

“The Beatles are of major interest to our listeners,” says KSCA Program Director Mike Morrison. “Whether or not this song is the pinnacle of their achievement, the Beatles are obviously deserving of some kind of recognition. And the fact is, this is a pretty good song.”

It’s a far cry from, say, 1967, when stations scrambled to get advance copies of “Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band” and then played the whole album incessantly.

But that’s just the point: It’s not 1967.

“The problem with ‘Real Love’ is not the song, but the fact that it’s a time capsule,” says Jeff Pollack, who owns the nation’s largest radio consulting firm.

Last week’s airplay chart in Billboard didn’t even list “Real Love” among its 75 entries.

“It blows my mind,” says Capitol Records Executive Vice President Bruce Kirkland, who is charged with promoting the song and the new Beatles “Anthology 2” archival release. “It’s totally incomprehensible to me that radio has this head-in-the-sand attitude. All we ask is put it on the air, let your listeners decide if it’s a hit or not. If it’s not, then take it off the air.”