You’re probably not an American if you don’t swear allegiance to “Pinball Wizard,” “Bad to the Bone” or “(I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction.”
Classic rock doesn’t get much classier than those tunes, and rock stations won’t let you forget it. And that’s the problem. I recently cancelled my SiriusXM subscription, so now I’m dependent on commercial radio for times when I don’t feel like cranking up my iPod. Classic rock radio sure is comforting, and some of the timeless songs in their repertoire duly deserve their immortal status.
But how many times can you hear “Stairway to Heaven” or “Brown Eyed Girl” before diving for the scan button?
Rock radio programmers should take a voluntary vow to leave a some rock staples off the set list for a spell. All it would take is six months without “All Along the Watchtower,” and suddenly the song will feel fresher than it has in decades.
Of course, that means falling back on deep cuts, the kind of music that strikes fear into the heart of your average radio programmer. It also could allow deejays to spin a few of their personal favorites. Who knows? Maybe audiences will find a new appreciation for unsung acts like John Hiatt and John Wesley Harding?
Some classic rock tracks don’t require any hiatus. I could hear The Kinks’ “Lola” in an eternal loop and smile from ear to ear. And any ELO song is guaranteed to make me drive at least five miles per hour faster than I should be driving. Sorry, Mom.
But some songs simply need a break. They’ve been hard at work for three to four decades. They deserve a vacation, and they’ll come back refreshed and ready to entertain us again.
But how many times can you hear “Stairway to Heaven” or “Brown Eyed Girl” before diving for the scan button?
Six.
42. Each, for the studio and live versions of “Stairway.” Not counting time spent learning to play it on guitar.
“Stairway to Gilligan” on the other hand, can be played infinite times, much like the series itself.
Let’s add “Sweet Home Alabama” and “Black Water” to that list. And I know that Heart played more than three songs, although you wouldn’t know it from listening to the radio.
I wonder sometimes if our local classic rock station only has a 25 CD K-Tel “Best of” collection set to ‘random play.’
I forget if it was Mick Jagger or Keith Richards who commented once that they’ve written and recorded literally hundreds of songs. And yet invariably, only “Brown Sugar,” “Sympathy for the Devil,” “Start Me Up” and “Satisfaction” get constant airplay.
I hear “Tears go by” and “under my thumb” quite a lot.
“Jumpin’ Jack Flash” and their ballads(“Wild Horses” and “Angie”) are also staples. They should know better… haven’t they figured out “You Can’t Always Get What You Want”. Okay, I’m done.
I keep wondering if “Classic Rock” and “Soft Rock” formats on stations the likes of LA’s KRTH and KOST are meant as eternal punishment for the 60s and 70s. In our office, the piped in music has Rupert Holmes’ “Escape” also known as the infernal “Pina Colata Song” at least once a day, plus the others you mention. Please, please make it all go away!!!!
Why is it that “Escape” makes me want to fellate a shotgun but I don’t grow tired of “Margaritaville”. Is it the inherent superiority of tequila to rum?
I never understood radio. I listen to what I want to hear when I want to hear it.
I’ve never comprehended that stupid conspiracy where an album comes out with 10 tracks on it, but every radio station (for some odd reason; Hmmm… I wonder why) decides to play track #1 all at the same time. Then a couple weeks later they all decide to play track #4 at the same time. Then it’s track #6 in eerie nationwide unison. Then the album is deemed “dead,” and they never EVER go back and revisit it to see if there was anything else good on it.
When I first got into music, my favorite albums were “Tarkus” and “Tales From Topographic Oceans.” Yeah, say whatever you want to about that (I’m a nerd; I know), but it taught me never to turn to the radio for entertainment!
Yeah, I pretty invariably like one of the no-air cuts best, going back to “Mr Guder” and “Crescent Noon” on he Carpenter’s albums.
“Mr. Guder!”
I suddenly like you, sir!
I was a DJ at a college radio station about 30 years ago and the albums (vinyl, in those days) that record labels provided to us had “Suggested tracks for airplay” stickers on them. Invariably those tracks were what they thought were the commercial, accessible, potential hits.
Ahhh, ELP and Yes. Unfortunately in the vein of this thread they would be known for Lucky Man and Roundabout/Lonely Heart, over and over and over and over…and I’m a prog rock fan of that era.
omg, YES. ESPECIALLY those used in commercials aimed at we “folks of a certain generation”! Shameless & sickening.
I can could listen to Eric Clapton’s LAYLA (either Derrick and the Dominoes or Unplugged) in a perpetual loop. but I get your point.
And I really need to mention Ten Years afters A Space In Time to our local “oldies” station. It’s like they’ve never heard of it.
I feel your pain. Back in the days when I was a dj who came in a half hour early to pick out the first hour of my daily afternoon radio show, I felt and many listeners felt that radio was a cool thing. Unfortunately, those playlists are now for the most part selected by programmers and consultants who claim that they do “extensive research” into the music they suggest and that the songs now repeated over and over are the “safe ones” and the ones fans want to hear…If that’s true, I wonder why I continually read posts from disappointed fans such as yourself…
You are correct, the magic of radio is gone.
“Extensive research” meaning “briefcase full of cocaine from the record label guy.”
Rock and roll is an evil plot to destroy our culture, perpetrated by The Lightning Bug, master of disguise, from his secret base on the Moon.
The Lightning Bug: “You can thank your ‘rock and roll detector’ for leading you to your doom!”
Agent Sleeve Coat: “Thanks!”
The Wichita Falls, TX rocker, KYYI (da Bear) could plausibly be re-identified KSRV, All Stevie Ray, all the time. C’mon, I get he was a texican but for the love of all that’s holy, could ya %*#(ing buy a different cd?
I like all those songs…and I’m not sick of any of them.
Guess I’m lucky (or overly tolerant).
During my outlaw radio days, there were some things that would cost a license to play, notably Arlo Guthrie’s “Alice’s Restaurant” and “Rock and Roll Nigger” by Patty Smith.
But the R&R Canon can survive without them.
At the same time, though, I worked at a guitar shop, where I got my forst lessons in handgun handling: “Stairway to Heaven? Right under the counter in the holster. No warning shots. Shot to kill.”
But it breaks my heart to see those stars, smashing perfectly good guitars (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d5begHSoQ1s)
Plus the Jamie Lee Curtis strip scene with soundtrack by John Hiatt: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JQTEaGR5R6E&feature=related
I agree. When I hear Jimi’s “…Watchtower” now, for the hundredth time, I reach for the dial. But then I began my transition into classical and jazz in my early 30s, three decades ago. I wonder how many youngins have even heard the Bloomfield-Kooper-Stills “Super Session”, for example. If Jeff Beck live at Ronnie Scott’s could reach a younger generation, of players especially, Strats might fly off the shelves. Think of all those gems you found on an album by accident that never got air play. One lifelong favorite: Stills & Clapton, “Go Back Home”, from Stephen’s first solo effort simply titled “Stephen Stills” (1970).
Well, yeah, for those of us who grew up in the classic rock era, the standards can get a bit stale. But the interesting thing is the increasing popularity of the late 60s early 70s era with a segment of today’s teenagers. My 17 yr old son loves classic rock, and the reason is the guitar focus. He plays guitar and loves to learn and play the classics. The music is accessible, mostly literate, and fun to play. Sad to think that most of today’s kids will only have gangsta rap and single-named ‘ho music to feel nostalgic about.
Classic Rock radio is awful. It doesn’t matter where you live or which “classic rock” station you listen to, they all seem to believe the artists in their rotation only recorded two or three songs (at best). For example, according to classic rock radio:
The only Led Zeppelin songs ever recorded were Stairway to Heaven, the god-awful D’yer Maker, Rock and Roll, and (if you’re lucky) Black Dog.
Pink Floyd’s entire catalog consists of Money, Another Brick in the Wall Part 2, and Comfortably Numb.
Deep Purple’s only song…ever…was Smoke on the Water.
The Grateful Dead’s entire musical output is limited to Truckin’.
Bachman Turner Overdrive was a good band (according to classic rock radio). Even so, they only released two songs.
The Rolling Stones only had two recording sessions – the legendary one for Satisfaction, and another roughly 15 years later for Start Me Up.
Seriously, I can’t stand listening to the radio anymore. I bring my MP3 player to work and plug it into my boombox. I get more musical variety that way.
Thanks for saying what should have been said a long time ago. Retire some of those classics. Commercial radio is pretty bad. Lucky for us we have the internet now. Spotify is great and gives our ears a rest from overplayed tunage. Radio.com allows us to listen to radio stations in other parts of the country. Many of them still overplay songs but the mixes are different from local radio and so isn’t so bad.
Is registration necessary to attend the 1st Friday homeschool classes?