Are Classic Rock Stations Becoming "Repetitive?"
A while back, it occured to me that there is quite a bit of repetition in American radio nowadays - especially when it comes to classic hits/rock radio stations.
This all started when I noticed that my local classic rock station (won't say which one for geo privacy reasons) began what seemed to me like "reorganizing." It felt like they were dropping lots of 60s and 70s material, in favor of a 1975-95 focus. Before very long I was hearing things from bands like Soundgarden, NIrvana, and Metalica on there which was never the case before (perhaps rarely before 2015ish). I'd noticed that the likes of Yes (I made a fabulous review of Fragile in my last posting in case you haven't read it), ELP, Pink Floyd, AND EVEN GENESIS AND JETHRO TULL had become extinct on the airwaves faster than dinosaurs 65 million years ago. (Although when it's my "lucky day," I do happen to hear a pop hit from Genesis and something from Tull here and there). Karn Evil 9 (1st Impression, 2nd Part), as well as a handful of hits by Floyd still get played though not as often.
This got me feeling like we're headed for a disturbing trend in classic rock music and it led me to research what was going on and even "track" (follow playlists for a 24-hour time period) certain radio stations. The results will shock you! They shocked me.
It seems that in every region there is a particular "favorite." For example, in Seattle it seems Led Zeppelin is the most requested, while (surprise) in the Tampa Bay area, Eagles and the like are popular (maybe Eagles should've recorded Hotel Florida :) just kidding!)
For your viewing pleasure, take a look at ths interesting article. Halfway down, you will see a map that shows who gets played most on average by city. You guessed it, Billy Joel songs were rotated more often in NYC, but Creedence in Phoenix? Give me a break! Last I checked those boys releaed BAYOU Country NOT Desert Cuntry or Valley Country.
But folks let's all get serious now PROGRESSIVE ROCK IS DEAD. If a thousand pictures cdrawn from a blog post, then from this article, a thousand PHOTO ALBUMS can be made. In my study of classic rock stations across the country (and even one or two in Canada) one thing is true, classic rock is no longer CLASSIC rock. Maybe now it should be called repetitive rock or something like that.
The stations I analyzed all played a mix of hard rockers like Motley Crew, Def Leppard, Foreigner, and some neo-progresive bands a la Kansas, Styx, etc. RARELY IF EVER did I see a 1970s song by Yes, Jethro Tull, Moody Blues, ELP, OR EVEN PINK FLOYD make the playlist! Folks, these British prog rockers are the "ancestors" of prog rockers on the other side of the Atlantic like Rush, Kansas, Styx, etc. And the songs from ELP, Tull, or Floyd that DID get rotation were very limited. Lucky Man or Karn Evil 9 by ELP, Time, Money, Have a Cigar (rarely), Another Brick in The Wall (sometimes even WITHOUT the Happiest Days part in), and, if I was lucky, Aqualung, Locomotive Breath, and/or Bungle in The Jungle by Tull, but Uriah Heep or King Crimson? Hell no!
In the olden days, things were different. You could expect to hear Thick as a Brick or See Emily Play just about as much as you would hear, say Let's Go or Kickstart my Heart in this day and age. Even then, groups like Genesis only had their pop hits on the air. I maybe only ONCE heard the Lamb LIes Down on Broadway.
Even on the other side of the 49th, things aren't much better. Take CFMI in Vancouver. Their playlist features stuff from as late as 2000! BS! Smooth by Santana on a classic rock station? No thank you I got my finger on the tune button! Worse, those stations play more Canadian rockers like April Wine (which I actually understand) but seriously though they should play some classic Yes.
Now it is customary for classic rock stations to play hits by artists who continued their careers into the 90s (a la Living on The Edge by Aerosmith) but to add, say grunge? Oh come on! And if you think clasic ROCK is bad now, check out classic HITS. What was once a focus on 1964-90, has become a focus on like 1970 and onwards. Those stations, I noticed are so obssessed with 80s (especially those owned by Cumulus/iHeart) and play songs AS RECENTLY AS 2005. The classic hits station in my area before focused on rock, but today don't be surprised if you hear Iris, trust me you'll have a "WTF is going on here?" moment.
In short, classic rock/hits stations have really evolved for worse. What was once broad featuring psychodelia and prog rock is now more mainstream and next-gen focused. I hope this is not the wave of the future. I feel the new generations need to learn what was in the older generations' record players.
I know this was a little "sharp" for a blog posting, but please do comment on your humble opinions. Maybe we should all write to the FCC and have regulations set forth on what these stations MUST and CANNOT play. There should be, for example, a requirement to emphasize more on "forgotten" bands like King Crimson and Uriah Heep (Focus anybody?) Even SiriusXM's 2 classic rock channels, Vynl and Rewind, do better than the average classic rock station in your average metropolis.
:-)
This all started when I noticed that my local classic rock station (won't say which one for geo privacy reasons) began what seemed to me like "reorganizing." It felt like they were dropping lots of 60s and 70s material, in favor of a 1975-95 focus. Before very long I was hearing things from bands like Soundgarden, NIrvana, and Metalica on there which was never the case before (perhaps rarely before 2015ish). I'd noticed that the likes of Yes (I made a fabulous review of Fragile in my last posting in case you haven't read it), ELP, Pink Floyd, AND EVEN GENESIS AND JETHRO TULL had become extinct on the airwaves faster than dinosaurs 65 million years ago. (Although when it's my "lucky day," I do happen to hear a pop hit from Genesis and something from Tull here and there). Karn Evil 9 (1st Impression, 2nd Part), as well as a handful of hits by Floyd still get played though not as often.
This got me feeling like we're headed for a disturbing trend in classic rock music and it led me to research what was going on and even "track" (follow playlists for a 24-hour time period) certain radio stations. The results will shock you! They shocked me.
It seems that in every region there is a particular "favorite." For example, in Seattle it seems Led Zeppelin is the most requested, while (surprise) in the Tampa Bay area, Eagles and the like are popular (maybe Eagles should've recorded Hotel Florida :) just kidding!)
For your viewing pleasure, take a look at ths interesting article. Halfway down, you will see a map that shows who gets played most on average by city. You guessed it, Billy Joel songs were rotated more often in NYC, but Creedence in Phoenix? Give me a break! Last I checked those boys releaed BAYOU Country NOT Desert Cuntry or Valley Country.
But folks let's all get serious now PROGRESSIVE ROCK IS DEAD. If a thousand pictures cdrawn from a blog post, then from this article, a thousand PHOTO ALBUMS can be made. In my study of classic rock stations across the country (and even one or two in Canada) one thing is true, classic rock is no longer CLASSIC rock. Maybe now it should be called repetitive rock or something like that.
The stations I analyzed all played a mix of hard rockers like Motley Crew, Def Leppard, Foreigner, and some neo-progresive bands a la Kansas, Styx, etc. RARELY IF EVER did I see a 1970s song by Yes, Jethro Tull, Moody Blues, ELP, OR EVEN PINK FLOYD make the playlist! Folks, these British prog rockers are the "ancestors" of prog rockers on the other side of the Atlantic like Rush, Kansas, Styx, etc. And the songs from ELP, Tull, or Floyd that DID get rotation were very limited. Lucky Man or Karn Evil 9 by ELP, Time, Money, Have a Cigar (rarely), Another Brick in The Wall (sometimes even WITHOUT the Happiest Days part in), and, if I was lucky, Aqualung, Locomotive Breath, and/or Bungle in The Jungle by Tull, but Uriah Heep or King Crimson? Hell no!
In the olden days, things were different. You could expect to hear Thick as a Brick or See Emily Play just about as much as you would hear, say Let's Go or Kickstart my Heart in this day and age. Even then, groups like Genesis only had their pop hits on the air. I maybe only ONCE heard the Lamb LIes Down on Broadway.
Even on the other side of the 49th, things aren't much better. Take CFMI in Vancouver. Their playlist features stuff from as late as 2000! BS! Smooth by Santana on a classic rock station? No thank you I got my finger on the tune button! Worse, those stations play more Canadian rockers like April Wine (which I actually understand) but seriously though they should play some classic Yes.
Now it is customary for classic rock stations to play hits by artists who continued their careers into the 90s (a la Living on The Edge by Aerosmith) but to add, say grunge? Oh come on! And if you think clasic ROCK is bad now, check out classic HITS. What was once a focus on 1964-90, has become a focus on like 1970 and onwards. Those stations, I noticed are so obssessed with 80s (especially those owned by Cumulus/iHeart) and play songs AS RECENTLY AS 2005. The classic hits station in my area before focused on rock, but today don't be surprised if you hear Iris, trust me you'll have a "WTF is going on here?" moment.
In short, classic rock/hits stations have really evolved for worse. What was once broad featuring psychodelia and prog rock is now more mainstream and next-gen focused. I hope this is not the wave of the future. I feel the new generations need to learn what was in the older generations' record players.
I know this was a little "sharp" for a blog posting, but please do comment on your humble opinions. Maybe we should all write to the FCC and have regulations set forth on what these stations MUST and CANNOT play. There should be, for example, a requirement to emphasize more on "forgotten" bands like King Crimson and Uriah Heep (Focus anybody?) Even SiriusXM's 2 classic rock channels, Vynl and Rewind, do better than the average classic rock station in your average metropolis.
:-)
Comments
Post a Comment