Over-played songs you hear on the radio -- You know the ones.....

[Bongwater]

ANYTHING BY AC/DC (These guys are SOOOO DONE!!)

In fact, I'll go as far as to say anything before 1990 has been plowed into the ground. I'm just so burnt out by it all. This stuff ought to be on the nostalgia stations by now..... :

 

[DIZ Guy]

How about songs that USED TO GET A LOT OF AIRPLAY, but have vanished....

1. All Night Long, Rainbow
2. Golden Country, REO Speedwagon
3. Take Me To The Top, Loverboy
4. Dangerous Type, The Cars
5. Slip Kid, The Who
6. Wire, U2
7. Heaven & Hell, Black Sabbath
8. Hey, Hey, My, My (Into The Black), Neil Young
9. Not Now John, Pink Floyd
10. Shooting Shark, Blue Oyster Cult...

Mix some of those tunes in......

 

[mcamp]

How about songs that USED TO GET A LOT OF AIRPLAY, but have vanished....

1. All Night Long, Rainbow
2. Golden Country, REO Speedwagon
3. Take Me To The Top, Loverboy
4. Dangerous Type, The Cars
5. Slip Kid, The Who
6. Wire, U2
7. Heaven & Hell, Black Sabbath
8. Hey, Hey, My, My (Into The Black), Neil Young
9. Not Now John, Pink Floyd
10. Shooting Shark, Blue Oyster Cult...

Mix some of those tunes in......

This is an entirely different subject....and we can all probably come of w/ countless songs that used to be part of the regular rotation that are all but forgotten.

 

[TheRover]

How about songs that USED TO GET A LOT OF AIRPLAY, but have vanished....

1. All Night Long, Rainbow
2. Golden Country, REO Speedwagon
3. Take Me To The Top, Loverboy
4. Dangerous Type, The Cars
5. Slip Kid, The Who
6. Wire, U2
7. Heaven & Hell, Black Sabbath
8. Hey, Hey, My, My (Into The Black), Neil Young
9. Not Now John, Pink Floyd
10. Shooting Shark, Blue Oyster Cult...

Mix some of those tunes in......

NO,

Just goingback to old overplayed songs, is NOT the answer to invigorating raock radio from the artists we love!

I want to live somwhere in the US where they have a station that DOES NOT play the over-played hits current playlists, or forgotten over-played hits.

I need to live where I can find something other than "Hit" radio on a commercial FM station.

 

[KOOL Listener Lauren]

The same three or four Led Zeppelin songs, that are always one of the top played songs on a classic rock station... same thing with CCR and Pink Floyd. All they have to do is throw in some of their OTHER stuff and they'd be good. They all have plenty of hits! 8)

DIZ Guy, nice song list!

 

[DIZ Guy]

Overplayed songs.......

Hell, that is an easy list to come up with...

1. Life's Been Good , Joe Walsh
2. Life In the Fast Lane, The Eagles
3. Comfortably Numb, Pink Floyd
4. Back In Black, AC/DC
5. Pride , U2
6. Smoke On The Water, Deep Purple
7. Feels Like The First Time, Foreigner
8. Turn Up The Radio, Autograph (This one always puzzles me...)
9. Lay Down Sally, Eric Clapton
10. Go Your Own Way, Fleetwood Mac...

One can hear those songs at anytime of the day on ANY classic rock station ......

It would be a lot cooler if this was the list..(using the same artists)

1. Life Of Illusion , Joe Walsh (all over rock radio in 1981)
2 The Disco Strangler, The Eagles (all over rock radio in 1979/80)
3. Not Now John, Pink Floyd (One of the most played rock tracks throughout the summer of 1983)
4. Let's Get It Up, AC/DC (all over rock radio during the spring of '82)
5. Night & Day , U2 ( a great track that was all over KROQ in the fall of '90, kind of pre-Achtung Baby)
6. Burn, Deep Purple ( David Coverdale on vocals, I remember hearing this gem alot in the late 70's)
7. That Was Yesterday, Foreigner (all over rock radio in the spring of '85)
8. Instead the one -hit wonder Autograph, how about "Call To The Heart" from the one-hit wonder Guiffrea!!! That song was out at the same time as "Turn Up the radio" (early '85) and was more popular..
9. The Core , Eric Clapton ( one of his all-time greats)
10. Hypnotize, Fleetwood Mac ( A Great tune that was all over the place in the early 80's)...

 

[Markieo]

My votes go for "Brown Eyed Girl" and "Ramblin' Man"...an overplayed marriage in hell! :

 

[Biz Listener]

This is an entirely different subject....and we can all probably come of w/ countless songs that used to be part of the regular rotation that are all but forgotten.

DIZ Guy has it right. Look at how many responses in this thread about songs simply listed bands. The bands who recorded the most over-played songs also recorded lots of other good songs. But as long as classic rock stations beat a handful of their songs into the dirt, it makes people start to dislike the bands, not just the overplayed songs.

I listen to classic rock because I like the sound. I've always liked the sound. I liked it when it was new. I liked rock back in the 60's, 70's, and 80's much more than disco or soul or country or polkas or any other musical genre. I still like that style of music today. I like old songs that have that "classic" sound. I like new songs that have that "classic" sound.

When I heard new songs back in the 60's, 70's, or 80's that had the rock sound that I liked, I enjoyed them. When I heard old songs that I hadn't ever heard before, like an album cut at a friend's house from a record he owned that I didn't own, I liked that. Sometimes I'd buy an album that was 10 or 15 years old because I heard some of the cuts from it that were never played on the radio when it was new.

So, maybe programmers at classic rock stations that are starting to slip in the ratings should try something new to maybe save themselves. Maybe they should go back through the albums that their current playlist songs came from, and re-listen to them as if they were hearing them for the first time and picking which cuts to play. Use the same process to pick cuts from those old albums that were used when the albums were new, only without the pressure from the labels' A&R and promo people.

And, take that a step further. If you're selecting what songs to play on the air, use your ears. Don't use a calendar or old sales data from back issues of Billboard. Deciding what songs to play on a "classic" rock station should be a process determined exclusively by the sound of the songs. To paraphrase Kris Kristofferson, if it sounds like a classic rock song, then it's a classic rock song. If Springsteen's songs that he recorded in the 70's and 80's sound "classic", then some of his songs recorded in the 90's or the 00's should also sound "classic".

The same goes for new recordings by Petty, McCartney, and every other core artist on the classic rock station's playlists. And, if some new guy or band comes along playing new songs that have the retro, classic rock sound, then play those songs, too. Stations that play old lounge lizard music will play new songs by Harry Connick, Jr or Michael Buble that have the retro, lounge-lizard sound. So why won't a classic rock station play new songs that sound like old classics?

Face it, if your classic rock station is playing narrow-playlist, repeat the old hits until we've burned 'em out format, and your ratings are starting to slip, sooner or later the station owners are going to bring in someone to replace you when they blow up the classic rock format and do a total flip. You can keep on keepin' on until that happens or you can make some adjustments to what you're doing now. Either stick to what you're doing and keep your resume up-to-date, or improve your station by challenging the old paradigm and maybe your ratings will go up and you'll become known as a visionary and trend-setter.

I can't speak for anyone else, but given a choice between certain unemployment and a gamble that might pay off, I'll take the possibility of success over the certainty of failure.

 

[firepoint525]

Excellent points, biz listener, but you are going with the assumption that programming decisions regarding your local classic rock station are made within the four walls of that station by said station's PD. Nothing could be further from the truth. Programming decisions about what to play on your local station are made from corporate headquarters, which could be thousands of miles away from your local station. Your station's PD would probably love to have the freedom to pick and choose what songs to play, as you suggest. But the reality of the matter is that corporate likely would never give him that level of freedom, or give him carte blanche with the station's playlist!

Do the station's corporate owners care if the station suffers in the ratings because its playlist is too bland? No, of course not! If the station faulters, the owners will simply take it over to a completely new format! They are not interested in "tweaking." They would rather throw out the baby with the bathwater!

Just as government that is closest to the citizens is best able to represent the needs of its citizens, so radio ownership that is closest to its listeners (in other words, the most local ownership) is best able to gauge the feedback of its own listeners, and have its "fingers" on the community's "pulse."

 

[Biz Listener]

Excellent points, biz listener, but you are going with the assumption that programming decisions regarding your local classic rock station are made within the four walls of that station by said station's PD.

Not really. Everything I suggested about broadening playlists could be just as easily implemented by some corporate suit as by a local PD with higher than usual power to make programming decisions. With the exception of a few cities here and there, most major markets in America are largely populated by people who moved there from someplace else. Over the past few decades, almost all pop culture in America has been national instead of local. Odds are that any loosened playlist that works on the East Coast would work on the West Coast and all points in between.

As for blowing up stations and starting over, what I'm suggesting could be seen as a whole new format. It could be an alternative to Bob, Dave, or Sam. Call it "Ralphie", with slogans like "Ralphie plays all the songs in his album stash".

 

[TheRover]

The corporate tie-ins are to be expected, although they are disdainful.

Perfect example.....

I am hearing, as I expected, even more frequency of the over-played commerical Aerosmith "Hits"....

Why ?

Because of the HUGE stake in the new Aresomith Rock Video Game that just hit the streets. I don't know the individual stakes for the parent/holding companies.... but you can be sure all these big holding companies are in bed with each other and having "sleep-overs" all of the time. ;D

Even more frequency now on the over-played AC/DC commerical hits, as they build momentum worldwide for their next studio release. More sleep-overs for this, for sure !! Bid splashes are so very important, like for a big movie release, whether it's good, bad, or just plain dirt.....

I haven't heard any fromthe new AC/DC.... but if it's in the same vein as the commercial AC/DC numbers they've been cramming down our throats lately.... then I'm not to optimistic.... But time will tell......

Calssic Rock Radio is a Disease..... That thinks it's a Picture of Vitality and Health.... Musically, they couldn't be further from the truth....

"Our listeners like pablum ! ! ! --- Now go away !!!" they would tell you !!!!

 

[Biz Listener]

You left one thing out -- catalog sales. While no single vintage album is selling whopping amounts, there are still new CD copies of old vinyl albums in production and selling. Even without new video games or new releases, Aerosmith's label is still making money from sales of the old albums, just as all labels are.

Didja ever notice that if a "classic" rock act's old label goes out of business, their old songs seem to disappear from the classic rock airwaves?

 

[firepoint525]

Again you are going with the assumption that someone in a position of power actually wants to make such changes! As long as the station is profitable and raking in the $$$$, that ain't gonna happen! Even if someone on the board of directors wanted to make the types of changes you have suggested here, he would be overruled by the rest of the board. And if it isn't profitable, they would "blow it up" and start over as you said, only with a new format.

Again, to use the government example, a guy from your district runs for Congress because he wants to "shake things up" in Washington. But when he gets there, he realizes he's just one of 435 Congressmen (535 if you count the Senate, too.) He may want to make some changes, but as one of 435, he's rather powerless to do so.

Excellent points, biz listener, but you are going with the assumption that programming decisions regarding your local classic rock station are made within the four walls of that station by said station's PD.

Not really. Everything I suggested about broadening playlists could be just as easily implemented by some corporate suit as by a local PD with higher than usual power to make programming decisions. With the exception of a few cities here and there, most major markets in America are largely populated by people who moved there from someplace else. Over the past few decades, almost all pop culture in America has been national instead of local. Odds are that any loosened playlist that works on the East Coast would work on the West Coast and all points in between.

As for blowing up stations and starting over, what I'm suggesting could be seen as a whole new format. It could be an alternative to Bob, Dave, or Sam. Call it "Ralphie", with slogans like "Ralphie plays all the songs in his album stash".

 

[Biz Listener]

Again you are going with the assumption that someone in a position of power actually wants to make such changes!

Actually, consider this venue's purpose, I'm only engaging in idle speculation. I don't much care if it happens or not. I'm not interested in the odds of it happening or not. I'm simply speaking as someone who actually listens to the radio and describing something I'd like to see happen because it would make radio more fun to listen to for me. The fact of the matter is, as radio grows more and more irrelevant every day, it doesn't much matter what anyone suggests or what anyone actually does. Terrestrial radio is on the way to joining drive-in movie theatres, wind-up Victrolas, and player pianos.

 

[mcamp]

This is an entirely different subject....and we can all probably come of w/ countless songs that used to be part of the regular rotation that are all but forgotten.

DIZ Guy has it right. Look at how many responses in this thread about songs simply listed bands. The bands who recorded the most over-played songs also recorded lots of other good songs. But as long as classic rock stations beat a handful of their songs into the dirt, it makes people start to dislike the bands, not just the overplayed songs.

What it comes down to is that as every year passes, the list of bands and songs are pared down.
Some bands still have a good bit of their catalog that radio plays: Led Zeppelin, Aerosmith, Rolling Stones, Pink Floyd, Tom Petty, The Police, U2, The Who, The Eagles, etc...radio has burned out these bands. If classic rock radio didn't play any of the acts listed, they would probably only have enough material for 4 hours a day.
The problem with the format is that it's a time capsule, with only a handful of acts who still record, and we actually hear a "new" song....nothing left to do but beat the ol' catalog in the ground...a la classical radio.
The other problem with the format...it has created a new generation of "kids" that think that Tom Petty, and Steve Miller was what "it" was ALL about.....revisionist history....Rock and Roll Hall of Fame perpetuates it.....they add the RRHOF to a touring act as though it's some sort of prestige. The whole system sucks....and it's the same no matter where you travel in this country...same old songs wherever you go....no local flavor/ hits....same boring programming.....and the sad part, people still tune in, almost zombie like...background music/ Muzak....you find yourself humming a song subliminally that you hate.
Lets face it....1972 isn't coming thru that door....it is what it is (classic rock)....tune out and hit them where it hurts....in their ratings!!

 

[Biz Listener]

What it comes down to is that as every year passes, the list of bands and songs are pared down.
Some bands still have a good bit of their catalog that radio plays: Led Zeppelin, Aerosmith, Rolling Stones, Pink Floyd, Tom Petty, The Police, U2, The Who, The Eagles, etc...radio has burned out these bands. If classic rock radio didn't play any of the acts listed, they would probably only have enough material for 4 hours a day.

Not that I'll ever get the chance, but I'll wager that I could put together a playlist consisting of nothing but a mix of "other" cuts that didn't get airplay from the albums of the acts you mentioned back when those albums were new, newly recorded songs from those same artists, and newly recorded songs that have a similar "classic" sound from newer artists, and it would pull ratings equal to any similarly powered station on the air. What's more, I'll wager that I could attract a better and more appealing demographic mix than most "classic rock" stations on the air.

And don't bother telling me that will never happen. I know it will never happen. But what the heck, about the only thing internet forums about radio are good for is idle speculation and musings over things that will never, ever change.

What I'm suggesting could make any broadcaster who attempts it a reasonably big pile of money, but that'll never happen.

 

[DIZ Guy]

Mcamp mentioned the "Rock & Roll Hall Of Fame". Now there is one organization that had become a total JOKE!!!!

Madonna, an artist who has NEVER recorded a rock tune, was inducted this year by JUSTIN TIMBERLAKE!!!!

I do not think that I need to say anything else....

 

[mcamp]

Mcamp mentioned the "Rock & Roll Hall Of Fame". Now there is one organization that had become a total JOKE!!!!

Madonna, an artist who has NEVER recorded a rock tune, was inducted this year by JUSTIN TIMBERLAKE!!!!

I do not think that I need to say anything else....

What it comes down to...the whole industry is sleeping together....then pat each other on the back for a job well done.....it's rather sickening. No wonder why people like you, me, The Rover, etc...are so cynical......really, what does commercial radio have to offer???? I'm tired of hearing..."just because you don't like the song, doesn't mean nobody else does" crap. If commercial radio were a library, it would have 50 books, all Cliff Notes.

 

[firepoint525]

Mcamp mentioned the "Rock & Roll Hall Of Fame". Now there is one organization that had become a total JOKE!!!!

Madonna, an artist who has NEVER recorded a rock tune, was inducted this year by JUSTIN TIMBERLAKE!!!!

I do not think that I need to say anything else....

The so-called "Rock & Roll" Hall of Fame jumped the shark when they let Madonna in! She has no talent, and she repeatedly used controversy (not talent) to sell records! I was not aware that she was inducted by Justin Timberlake, but he ain't "rock" either. :

Remind me to scratch off the "Rock & Roll" Hall of Fame from the list of places I want to visit! :

 

[mcamp]

Mcamp mentioned the "Rock & Roll Hall Of Fame". Now there is one organization that had become a total JOKE!!!!

Madonna, an artist who has NEVER recorded a rock tune, was inducted this year by JUSTIN TIMBERLAKE!!!!

I do not think that I need to say anything else....

My beef w/ the RRHOF: it's bias against prog rock and heavy metal/ hard rock....I've been down this road before, so sorry for the repitition....Jethro Tull, King Crimson, Yes, Deep Purple, Supertramp, Judas Priest, Todd Rundgren, Genesis, Rush, are just a few I can think of that are deserving to be in...in the mean time, we have to watch Tom Petty, Madonna, et al be inducted, when there are countless bands that came out way before them that deserve to be in....I wouldn't give them a dime for admission.