Classic Rock on FM Radio - What It Is, and What It Isn't

"Classic rock was originally conceived as a radio station programming format which evolved from the album oriented rock (AOR) format in the early-1980's." - Wikipedia

Classic rock is not a synonym for rock and roll from the '60s and '70s (and '80s?); instead, it's a mere term coined by radio program directors as a marketing tool. From what I can tell, the narrative went something like this: In the 1980's, as new rock releases strayed from that "classic" sound (see punk and New Wave), separate radio programs were needed to cater to fans of the older sound. In that moment, our imagination of what rock and roll meant became forever blurred.

As the influx of new music for these classic rock shows slowed to a halt in the '80s and '90s, playlists were slimmed down drastically. There are other reasons for this, too, namely the Telecommunications Act of 1996 which killed small broadcast companies and freeform radio. Regardless of cause, today's classic rock stations are by and large grossly inaccurate representations of rock and roll. Shadows of their former selves. Historical portrayals no closer to the mark than 6th-grade Social Studies textbooks.

Let's take a gander, shall we, at the last ten songs played on the classic rock station I grew up with: 95.9 The Fox, "Fairfield County's Only (damn!) Classic Rock Station"...

• The Who "Who Are You" - gets enough airplay already as the theme song to CSI
• Jimi Hendrix "All Along The Watchtower" - gee, you hear this one all the time, but when was the last time they played Dylan's original recording?
• Led Zeppelin "Over the Hills and Far Away" - great song, overplayed
• Billy Joel "Only The Good Die Young" - why don't they ever play "Summer, Highland Falls"?
  
• Bryan Adams "Run To You" - ah, yes, Bryan Adams, he's got that classic rock sound. I've never actually heard of someone owning a Bryan Adams album.
• Robert Palmer "Bad Case of Loving You" - great song. Not gonna argue this one
• The Doobie Brothers "Black Water" - great song, overplayed
• Bon Jovi "You Give Love a Bad Name" - I feel like these hair band songs are thrown in to draw the slightly less-ancient crowd. Classic for who?
  
• The Allman Brothers Band "Melissa" - great song, overplayed. And they had so many gems you just don't hear anymore.
• Queen "We Will Rock You/We Are The Champions" - at the tiny but crazy-profitable intersection of music and sports

This list is a perfect example of what happens when rock and roll becomes Classic Rock. You lose the variety, the richness and the depth of the '60s/'70s rock music scene. What you get instead is a weird sort of pseudo-greatest hits that takes on a life of its own as later generations mistake the cream for the crop.

Now, here are some songs you will never hear on 95.9 The Fox or your local classic rock station:

• Neil Young "Everybody Knows This Is Nowhere"
• The Rolling Stones "Loving Cup"
• Bob Dylan "It's All Over Now, Baby Blue"
• Elton John "Amoreena"
• George Harrison "Beware of Darkness"
• Rod Stewart "Every Picture Tells A Story"
• Traffic "Dear Mr. Fantasy"
• U2 "Bullet The Blue Sky"
• The Who "My Wife"
  
• Anything off Joni Mitchell's Court and Spark

All enormously influential and popular songs in their day. Tracks like these have been left behind - to be discovered only occasionally by outliers like me who enjoy a good dig through their parents' vinyl.

So, the bad news is, if satellite radio doesn't catch on in the long run then most of our descendants will live harboring the illusion that rock history can be summed up in 500 songs or less. The good news is, digital music lasts forever and the good stuff will be waiting patiently in hard drives and servers for our childrens' children to discover and cherish.

By the way, the Wikipedia entry on "Classic Rock" is a recommended read: Classic Rock