"Seven Nation Army" on Classic Rock Stations

[Gregg.]

I notice I keep hearing "Seven Nation Army" by White Stripes on Classic Rock stations, especially those owned by iHeart. The song was released in 2003. I like it! It certainly sounds like Classic Rock. But it's interesting that the Classic Rock playlist now includes a song recorded 19 years ago.

Do Classic Rock stations play "Running Up That Hill"? This summer I was surprised that everyone from Top 40 to Hot AC to Classic Hits stations were playing Kate Bush. Hearing it on WCBS-FM brought a smile to my face, considering the station never played it as a Classic Hit until Stranger Things made it a 2022 hit. I haven't heard it the last month or so. So I wonder if it was added this summer and removed for the fall?

 

[CTListener]

"Running Up That Hill" has had its 15 minutes of delayed fame. I would guess that it will gradually disappear from classic hits playlists and be gone from most within 6 months. As for the White Stripes song, the classic rock format is always chasing a moving target.Twenty years has been the generally accepted cutoff for how old a song must be to fit the format, but nobody's going to quibble about adding a 2003 song at the tail end of 2022 except a few obsessive radio geeks.

 

[Marcos_C]

"Seven Nation Army" is a rock song that has been sung at countless sports stadiums worldwide for a number of years now, so it is not surprising that classic rock stations would begin playing it.

On the other hand, "Running Up That Hill" is more a new wave/sythn-pop song; therefore, I doubt that classic rock stations have been playing it. It certainly does fit the alternative format. In fact, I heard New York's Alt 92.3 play the song last week.

 

[macattack]

I don't think I'm ready to hear Linkin Park's grab bag of hits from "Meteora" on classic rock radio honestly.

 

[Battenkill50]

The Oak Ridge Boys recorded "Seven Nation Army" as well....

kw-MLB

 

[PTBoardOp94]

I notice I keep hearing "Seven Nation Army" by White Stripes on Classic Rock stations, especially those owned by iHeart. The song was released in 2003. I like it! It certainly sounds like Classic Rock. But it's interesting that the Classic Rock playlist now includes a song recorded 19 years ago.

Why wouldn't a song from 19 years ago be a candidate for any classic format (classic hits, classic rock, classic country)? That seems like a conservative time window to me.

The Oak Ridge Boys recorded "Seven Nation Army" as well....

Oof. Pulled that up on Spotify. Wish I hadn't.

 

[tbolt909]

Why wouldn't a song from 19 years ago be a candidate for any classic format (classic hits, classic rock, classic country)? That seems like a conservative time window to me.


Oof. Pulled that up on Spotify. Wish I hadn't.

Radio is about 25 years out of step. Many stations still think it's 1995. Some Classic Rock stations avoided Pearl Jam, Nirvana, and many others for a long long time. The Zeppelin and Pink Floyd stuff is now 50 years old.

Classic Rock doesn't have to be petrified "Fossil Rock". A lot of quality music in the last 30 years never made it to Radio playlists. The format could be much fresher with some effort, but Corporate doesn't care. Radio barely plays artists like Dave Matthews and Coldplay. Those bands get huge turnout at their concerts. There are many other examples as well...

 

[Gregg.]

I wouldn't say corporate doesn't care. Or that having familiar rock is "Fossil Rock." Classic Rock serves a function. It is supposed to be 100% familiar to the target audience. So if that means playing "Separate Ways," "Hotel California" and "Panama" for the 1000th time, I guess that's what they'll do.

A few stations have gone up against established Classic Rock outlets in some cities, playing a more updated version of Classic Rock: 80s/90s/2000s. One such station is Beasley's 92.9 WBOS Boston. But it is still far behind the standard iHeart Classic Rock station, 100.7 WZLX. WZLX is #6, WBOS is #18.

Similar story in Sacramento. Audacy Classic Rock outlet KSEG is #2 with a standard playlist. The 80s/90s/2000s Classic Rock station, owned by iHeart, is KYRV, #13. Do the more modern, harder-edged Classic Rock stations attract a younger male audience? I'm not sure.

 

[dlf1]

One of the challenges a Classic Rock station faces in updating the playlist is that the “source” for Classic Rock (aka AOR) has pretty well dried up. Rock stations post grunge started playing fewer and fewer currents and as a result, very few songs would likely make the cut.

Off the top of my head, a few post 2003 songs that could potentially fit on Classic Rock in the future would be;

1) Boulevard of Broken Dreams - Green Day
2) Slither and Fall to Pieces - Velvet Revolver
3) Crazy Bitch (edited) - Buckcherry
4) Whiskey Hangover - Godsmack
5) No Rest for the Wicked - Cage the Elephant
6) Country Song -Seether
7) Sounds of Silence - Disturbed

Under the Graveyard and the first two releases from the latest Ozzy Osbourne album also have potential (although Ozzy is a core artist at Classic Rock).

 

[dlf1]

Hail to the King by Avenged Sevenfold would also be a candidate.

 

[Marcos_C]

This morning, I was rewatching the video for "Seven Nation Army" on YouTube. While searching for the amazing work of video art, I found a short video that discusses the history of the White Stripes and how "Seven Nation Army" became a stadium chant.

There is one detail about the song that the video left out:

"The title of the song comes from when Jack White, as a young child in Detroit, misheard 'The Salvation Army' as 'The Seven Nation Army.'"

Seven Nation Army: Composition and lyrics (Wikipedia)

 

[CTListener]

One of the challenges a Classic Rock station faces in updating the playlist is that the “source” for Classic Rock (aka AOR) has pretty well dried up. Rock stations post grunge started playing fewer and fewer currents and as a result, very few songs would likely make the cut.

Off the top of my head, a few post 2003 songs that could potentially fit on Classic Rock in the future would be;

1) Boulevard of Broken Dreams - Green Day
2) Slither and Fall to Pieces - Velvet Revolver
3) Crazy Bitch (edited) - Buckcherry
4) Whiskey Hangover - Godsmack
5) No Rest for the Wicked - Cage the Elephant
6) Country Song -Seether
7) Sounds of Silence - Disturbed

Under the Graveyard and the first two releases from the latest Ozzy Osbourne album also have potential (although Ozzy is a core artist at Classic Rock).

Boulevard is already on quite a few classic rock stations. From the start, Green Day appealed to many older rock fans who were turned off by grunge, emo and similar genres. Green Day was energetic and socially and politically conscious, more like the performers of the '60s and '70s that Boomers and early Gen X'ers grew up following. Seether and Godsmack, not so much.

 

[macattack]

I suspect that Kings of Leon’s grab bag of hits from the end of the 00’s will eventually make it onto classic rock playlists along with a cadre of Shinedown songs.

KOL is primarily an Alternative artist but “Sex On Fire”, “Use Somebody”, and “Notion” definitely work as the softer end of the rock spectrum. A number of their songs saw Active Rock airplay anyway, particularly 2017’s “Waste A Moment”.

 

[Jstnpspck]

iHeart is well aware of the generational shift in Classic Rock- they offer three different Classic Rock formats in their current iteration of Premium Choice- Classic Rock 70’s, Classic Rock 80’s, and Classic Rock 90’s. The iH stations spinning Seven Nation Army are likely CR90’s stations. But even outside iH, as mentioned earlier, you’re hearing more Nirvana, Pearl Jam and Stone Temple Pilots across the board on CR stations in general. Seven Nation Army is a touch newer, but not too surprising to hear.