ANymore, I can't tell what is considered Classic Rock, and what is not. For instance Def Leppard, are they considered Classic rock??? What about Bon Jovi's "Slippary when wet cd". Lately I've been hearing "wanted dead or alive" on KGON. I was also amazed to hear tracks off U2's "Achtung Baby"?? I heard "mysterious ways" on Kgon the other day. It just seems like Yesterday "Mysterious ways" was a new hit on the radio. Is that already classic rock??? Damn I feel old!
And what about some of the hair bands like Motley Crue?? They have got to be considered Classic Rock. "dr. Feelgood" "Kickstart my heart". And what about POISON, will they ever be considered Classic Rock." To me it seems the lines are blured on what is considered classic rock. Doesn't classic rock change ever 20 years. If thats the Case Nirvana and Pearl Jam will be considered Classic rock in a few years. correct??? Now for the last one, Guns N Roses. Classic Rock or not??? I say Yes.

Cinderella Better be considered Classic rock soon! I'm a huge Cinderella Fan! Nothing is better than driving down the highway, With "Don't know what you got tell its gone" Distorting on my speakers, with the windows rolled down on the Yugo.

I say yes as well. Also some of the questionable "Classic Rock" played falls into their "Everything That Rock's" category. I consider any new music from a classic rock band as defineately playable on a classic rock station if it is good!

"Silent Lucidity" from Queensryche started off connect the classics today at noon. That was a 91 release and an AWESOME pull....Thank You Very Much!

Who say's Radio don't sell music. On the way home tonight I stopped off and bought "Empire"....What a great CD!

You were right Justin....I think you recommended them a while back!

I've noticed that KGON has been playing U2 a LOT lately. They seem to be adding some 'newer' songs and other bands as well.

(and I secretly like the 'Crue, but don't tell anyone, it would ruin my image)

The day Cinderella is considered classic rock, is the day HELL FREEZES OVER!!!!

Attention all ladies, If you see Timberfake hitting on you, RUN LIKE HELL. The guy drives a Yugo and listenes to CINDERELLA! Enough said!

MOTLEY CRUE FUCKIN ROCKS!!! (pardon my french)

Dr Feelgood, Kickstart my heart, GIRLS GIRLS GIRLS! Love it.

Ive also gotta say, Kgon is opening up their playlist a lot more.
Im hearing deeper album cuts. The other day I heard "night train" by Guns N Roses. Nice job KGON, Im lovin it!

I don't consider 80's music classic rock. Rock, yes, but not classic rock in the truest sense.

IMHO to be classic rock, it has to come from the really progressive time when musicians were discovering new sounds and trying new things and I don't mean trying new drugs!!! Although too many of them were and we lost some of the best, Jimmy Hendrix, Janice Joplin and Jim Morrison just to name a few.

Personally, I was never a fan of Guns N Roses. The only song by them I like is Sweet Child of Mine and U2 is one band, along with the pretenders that I can't stand. Nothing will make me change stations quicker that when one of those two bands comes on!

But, hey! Those are my opinions and likings. That's why there are tons of different bands and dozens or radio stations or satellite channels!

Everyone can pick what they like!

Buns:

This made me think of Timberfake...just switch cars...and get slappy!

http://www.counterfeitmini.com/main.swf

(Still lovin' you, Justin)

It does not matter the designation for one tune or the other so long as the style and tone of the music played fit's the station's image. I hear the occasional Billy Idol but yet no Prince and I think I enjoy both about the same. Billy Idol just has a little more slant towards the Rock theme I guess. I don't hear very much which is good but a splash here and there is OK. 90's hair bands can be heard from time to time with some of their hard hitting more traditional rock tunes. The metal bands seem to be currently out of favor you and don't hear much from them. Sure you get "Iron Man" and a little Ozzy and Judas Priest but that's about it.

On a clear summers night it's always fun to "Bark at the Moon"

Merkin....That was almost as much fun as "George Bubbleyah"

Chuck Berry, Early Elvis, Little Richard are classic Rock.

Nope. Those are oldies, not Classic Rock!

Classic rock was originally conceived as a radio station programming format which evolved from the album oriented rock (AOR) format in the early-1980s. In the United States, this rock music format now features a large but limited playlist of songs ranging from the early 1960s through most of the 1980's with more emphasis on the earlier hits by artists associated with the loosely-defined "classic rock era".

And what about some of the hair bands like Motley Crue?
Yup.

She hates time, make it stop, when did Motley Crue become classic rock? And when did Ozzy become an actor, please make this STOP!
- excerpt from "1985" by Bowling For Soup (released in 2004)

"Silent Lucidity" from Queensryche started off connect the classics today at noon. That was a 91 release and an AWESOME pull...
Awesome song, one of my favorites to... wake up to! No, really - one morning over 10 years ago, my clock radio woke me up at 6 AM to the "wide awake to face the day, the dream is over - or has it just begun?" line. Stuck in my head ever since.

I think Poison should be considered classic rock! Why not? THey rocked, had a lot of hits and had better hair than most women I knew in the 80's. `Bands like Enuf Z nuff, good stuff that seems to have been forgotten. And who could possibly forget Saigon Kick. A great band with the big single "love is on the way".

A lot of the hair bands I would consider classic rock now ... there are so many genres of "classic rock", I do know that KGON's library is HUUUUUGE. Just like anything else, you have to filter out what you deem to be the classic rock from the crappy rock.

BTW...Newflyer...welcome to the jungle.

Welcome.....

but Brian, isin't Crappy rock a subjective term??

Good rule of thumb for me Beano is, the newer it is, the crappier it is.

But you're right, it is subjective.

Graduation Dates and Rock

1970's = Classic Rock
1980's = Arena Band Rock and Metal Band Rock
1990's = Grunge Rock and Hair Band Rock
2000's = Alternative Rock

The closer you are to a border the more tolerant you become for the next gen or prior gen music! Me early eighties so I am split with Classic Rock and Eighties Rock with a splash of "British Steel" for good measure.

"But you're right, it is subjective."

It has been said before and is probably the most accurate example of ones music preference. The teen years and music popular then will be what hangs with you the most! Your music preference is largely determined during those years.

The best descriptions that I have heard for the term "classic rock" are:
1) Comfort music for Baby Boomers
2) A retronym for of the first radio formats that Lee Abrams created; the format was a subset of the music that was played on early 1970s "progressive" or "freeform" FM stations.

By definition, "classic rock" is from the 1970s. However, it is possible that some stations in that format are getting desperate to shift their format away from Baby Boomers to Gen-X, the former being a more desirable demographic in the eyes of advertisers. If they are doing this, they will have to stop using the term "classic rock" for the same reason that 1980s music can't be called "oldies": years of marketing have made the public associate these terms with the music of the Baby Boom generation.

I'd like to throw in a little postscript to my above post: Although there were some classic rock stations in the 1980s, the term didn't come into heavy use until the mid 1990s. Up until that time, there were a lot of "rock" stations that were playing the 1970s music along with music from the 1980s and current hits. In the mid 1990s, when the "alternative"/modern rock formats came on the scene, many former "rock" stations opted to specialize in the 1970s "classic rock" sound.

The Classic Rock term doesn't carry a stigma with it the way Oldies does. It's also been evolving over the years.

The only problem I have with classic rock is that what was TOP 40 when the music was fresh and newly released is more than likely no longer valid. I you were to re-release it today you would most likely have an all new top forty due to peoples tastes changing and also the fact that those once top 40 hits have been played to death! I don't buy into research that says I want to here these songs over and over. If anything it is this fact that has started me pursueing different means of audio entertainment such as my ZUNE. Some may not consider "B" sides relavent but they are in fact "FRESH" and not played to death. A good dose of these, IMHO, could do a lot to freshen any stations playlist! I'm not saying don't play the top 40 hits but cut back the ratio and increase the airtime for lesser played but equally great hits.
Even though I love Sammy Hagars music I actually have started to change the station every time I hear "I Can't Drive 55". What, is that his only hit or what....Geeeeeez!

All i'm saying is that 50% or better of prior top 40 would probably no be so today! Dig a little deeper guys if you want to keep your audiences!

I agree Darktemper. Ive noticed Kgon is starting to get smart and play some deeper album tracks. For instance I heard "night train" by Guns n roses on Kgon the other day. Excellent song that wasn't a huge hit for GNR. Nice job KGON please play more of the deper album cuts!

TDanner and others have covered this over and over. "Not familiar" equates to "don't like" to too many people. It's unfortunate but it is what it is.

Ya, I know that's what it is. The other side of the coin is "Ad Nausea"! Something that used to be great is now something to be avoided! There can be a happy middle ground! I'm not talking about the completely unfamiliar tracks but a little more of the top 100 plus the standard top 40 could freshen up a playlist. There are some great tracks that just did not happen to have videos made and the media to promote them but the music is equally as good. How can you say unfamiliar is don't like when the younger audience has never even heard it to say they don't like it. Isn't that old top 40 research a little dated to the older crowd? If you were to play those albums again for today's new audiences i'd bet you'd get a whole different top 40 list from those albums.
Think of it like cake. If all you get is the icing you can only take so much and then you turn away from it. But put that icing on cake and you got magic!

Hell, I know a lot of people that even scrape of the icing just to get at the cake!

These tests are ongoing. What is and isn't played and to what degree is based on the results of recent tests.

Is my station Classic Rock?
http://www.live365.com/stations/rockhitsradio

As on your playlist, Blondie and Chumbawumba wouldn't be considered 'Classic Rock'. Stray Cats is iffy, but playable.(But its YOUR station--you can play whatever you want! Maybe you start a 'Variety Hits' station--you could name it "Vern FM.")

I am surprised that in some markets, newer acts like White Stripes is played on some Classic Rock stations, most notably CFMI in Vancouver.

I always thought an important element missing from Classic Rock stations is new releases by Classic Rock artists, along with a small sprinkling of other recent material that doesn't stray far from the overall station sound.

The biggest artists and groups of all time, like the Rolling Stones and Tom Petty have been marginalized by stations that target the very same demographic that the Stones and TP are trying to reach with their newer recordings.

KZEL and KLOO-FM have made format adjustments address this issue, but I haven't sought out KGON lately to see where they are at.

I somewhat concur, Randy. I haven't listened to KGON that much(don't recieve it well where I live/work) I'm not sure what KGON is doing.

On my "Classic Rock 'i-Pod on Steroids'"(PC with 120GB hard drive running ZaraRadio feeding .wav audio to my home and workplace) I include newer songs by classic rock acts like 'Far Cry' from Rush.

Hopefully with newer songs like White Stripes 'Icky Thump' and The Trews(band from Nova Scotia) 'Poor Old Broken Hearted Me' 'rock' maybe making a comeback.

I don't know if "Boomers" are 'afraind' of newer AOR music or not, but I do know that a lot of the 18-30 age group males that I meet listen a lot what would be considered Classic Rock.(Music that is older than most of them!)

Nail.....meet Head. Hit it straight on. That is one thing on my agenda should I get selected for the upcoming KGON panel survey at their offices. Were is the current stuff from classic rock artists?

"Maybe you start a 'Variety Hits' station--you could name it "Vern FM."
Look at my station name!
http://www.live365.com/stations/rockhitsradio

"Where is the current stuff from classic rock artists?"

Exactly. If it ranks up there with their best stuff, why is it not being played? Neil Young is another glaring example of this shortsightedness.

I'm not a big fan of Neil, but I may pick up his "Living with War" CD, featuring "Let's Impeach the President," just on principle.

I'm still Classic Rock!
http://www.live365.com/stations/rockhitsradio
Broadband Stream only!