Mike Riccio On The 29th Top 77 Songs Of All Time Of All Time
by Scott Benjamin 

 
Mike Riccio

The music produced when color television and cassette tapes were the cool innovations endures in the age of iPhones and artificial intelligence. 

Cousin Brucie , who has had stints at 77 WABC during both eras, has said the songs of the 1960s and ‘70s appeal to a wide audience. They have been featured for decades in movies and commercials. 

Mike Riccio - who some years ago was an air personality at WBLI and WLIX on Long Island - is a Survey Guy. In the late 1990s the Survey Guys helped put together a list for Musicradio77.com of all of the weekly record surveys during WABC’s Top 40 era. 

Riccio - a real estate agent who lives in East Meadow, Long Island -  is now assembling the Top 77 Of All Time for the 29^th year. 

Modeled after the Top 100 Songs Of The Year, which was a holiday season staple at WABC from 1964 through 1981, The Top 77 seeks to capture the same year-end excitement. 

The balloting began in late October and will continue through the first week of December at Rewound Radio.com, Musicradio77.com and OldiesBoard.com. Voters can select their top 10 songs. For years now, through the efforts of technical director Frank Dellorto, computerization allows voters to make quick selections through a pop-up function. 

In an interview with Musicradio77.com, he said that the top acts are from that era – The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, The Four Seasons, The Doors, Elvis Presley and the Motown Acts. 

“Even mega stars that are more current like Taylor Swift generally do not make the survey,” he said. “The survey honors ‘Heritage’ or ‘Legacy’ music- .the music of our lives that was the foundation of today's pop/rock music”. 

“II's incredible how ‘static’ the voting is every year. In other words, the same people tend to pick the same songs in the same order,” Riccio remarked. “How is that even possible that a person's top ten songs are exactly the same from year to year. I could understand that being the case perhaps for a person's favorite song, but someone saying that their top ten songs are EXACTLY the same over the past X number of years is hard to understand, at least to me. I think over the last 29 years of doing this survey, I must have had at least ten or 15 times that my #1 song has changed and not once have the same songs remained in my top ten from year to year.” 

The Beatles’ “Hey Jude,” which was number-one on the WABC Top 100 Songs Of 1968,” has won the gold medal in 26 of the 28 years that The Top 77 has held balloting. The only other songs to top the list have been “Rag Doll,” by The Four seasons and “Satisfaction,” by The Rolling Stones. 

Riccio said that 1969 is usually the most popular year, with 1968, 1970 and 1971 seeking the other top positions. 

He commented that in 2025, 3,429 different songs received votes and the ballots came form 42 states and 20 countries. 

Mike and Allan Sniffen, the founder of Musicradio77.com, will count down The Top 77 on Rewound Radio, Friday, December 26, at Noon (ET). During the holiday week those 77 songs and hundreds of other vote-getters will be featured on Rewound Radio – much the same way that Harry Harrison, Ron Lundy, Chuck Leonard Dan Ingram and Brucie presented the Top 100 Songs Of The Year. 

Stated Riccio, “We've thrived, and most importantly, music fans love The Top 77...  As the song goes... ’Ain't Nothing Like the Real Thing.’ “