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Thread: GOD, I Really Hate Classic Rock Radio !!!

  1. #26
    Member Vic2012's Avatar
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    This could be just romanticizing the past on my part, but I also think that there was a lot more variety in the classic rock programming 25 years ago than there is now.
    I remember classic/rock radio having a lot more variety just 15-20 years ago. I also remember when we had at least one "rock" radio station that played contemporary rock as well as some classic rock and heavy metal. All that's gone now. It may be a regional issue. "New rock" radio is dead down here. All that's left is "oldies" radio (which is now actually classic/rock radio but occasionally you hear some 60s stuff like Beach Boys mixed in with Jimi hendrix, Santana, the usual suspects (no Zeppelin though). And there's still the ever present, "classic rock" station that's been around for 25 years, playing the same Zep, Skynyrd, Floyd songs at any given time. But I remember when that station played a lot more Yes, Tull, ELP, etc. Forget it now. Most people just listen to the classic/rock station as wallpaper. They hear the same songs all the time. The corporations know this so the classic/rock station's only real purpose to still exist is for advertizing. It's the same in pubs and restaurants. The piped in house music is all classic/rock. They know that most of the people paying money to eat and drink average in age about 40-45, so classic/rock is familiar to them. If they play hip-hop, or "freestyle" or too much crappy pop people start getting up and leaving. It's no joke, I've witnessed this in pubs and restaurants. Well, I guess if I'm gonna be forcefed music and my choices are: classic/rock, hip-hop, dance/pop, or shitty, pop/salsa/tropical I'll take classic/rock every time.

  2. #27
    Studmuffin Scott Bails's Avatar
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    I think it's pretty obvious that Clear Channel and the other corporations completely ruined radio as we used to know it.
    Music isn't about chops, or even about talent - it's about sound and the way that sound communicates to people. Mike Keneally

  3. #28
    Radio has pretty much always been a commercial, (mercenary) enterprise. Playlists have rarely been generated based on what someone really digs (even program directors) so maybe it shouldn't be surprising that almost no one really gets a great buzz off what gets played across the board. Still, can't help occasionally thinking how cool it would be "classic" rock stations lived up their potential to provide an engaging listening experience... selecting recordings that segue well, using the element of surprise once in a while or maybe by playing more than one or two tracks from artists who have a deep catalog.

  4. #29
    Quote Originally Posted by ItalProgRules View Post
    I disagree with this premise. See my post. And I'm not talking one or two FB postings, I'm talking a deluge of them.
    And yet, I bet if you asked anyone directly connected with the station, they'll give you the exact same reply that I got, that "We can't play the obscure stuff, it'll make people change the station".

    As far as a lot of people kvetching on the official Facebook page about the limited playlist, you may have dozens or even hundreds of people who wish they'd change things up, but the station management perceives the situation as there being thousands of listeners who are happy with the present playlist. And management isn't gonna take chances on losing excessively large number of listeners (because remember, this is a business) just to please a few hundred people who wish the station's playlist had more than just one or two Thin Lizzy songs on it (one of which only gets played occasionally).

  5. #30
    Estimated Prophet notallwhowander's Avatar
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    I think the sonic wallpaper comment is astute. I don't think that is what people want as much as what is on offer. Owners and programmers know they can get a certain ratings number with a particular format, so they stick to that, eliminating any risk. That people might or might not like something is more than the programmers are willing to deal with.

    Quote Originally Posted by Scott Bails View Post
    I think it's pretty obvious that Clear Channel and the other corporations completely ruined radio as we used to know it.
    Yeah, and our laws and policy gave them that power. This isn't something that just happened, or the inevitable result of market forces, things were different, then the ownership rules were changed, and so we have this mess now.
    Wake up to find out that you are the eyes of the world.

  6. #31
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    people have been talking about the death of Rock Radio since like 1980!

  7. #32
    Member Digital_Man's Avatar
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    (maybe the occasional Beatles, Moody Blues or Hendrix as an exception)


    Don't forget Cream who only existed between 66 and 68 and only put out three albums while they were in existence.
    Do not suffer through the game of chance that plays....always doors to lock away your dreams (To Be Over)

  8. #33
    Member Digital_Man's Avatar
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    If you are an on air jock & you deviate... you're out the door.



    I don't know about that. It's certainly frowned on but I don't think it would be cause for an automatic dismissal(maybe a warning though if the dj was caught). Why do I say this? Because how do you explain the fact that in 2002 I heard the song "blackest eyes" by Porcupine Tree on a corporate rock radio station. The album In Absentia did nothing as far as chart success goes and was not played on the radio at all(that I heard other than that one time). The dj told a little story about how the band started out as a fictitious psychedelic band so he obviously knew the band's history. I suppose he knew the risks but I don't think he got fired for that. I suppose it's possible though.


    Anyway, I agree that classic rock radio sucks. It has ruined many great songs by Led Zeppelin, The Who, Doors, Rolling Stones and many other groups even prog bands like ELP and Yes.
    Do not suffer through the game of chance that plays....always doors to lock away your dreams (To Be Over)

  9. #34
    I haven't bothered with commercial radio for years, save the odd Duke basketball or Carolina Hurricanes hockey game. It's probably been at least 25 years since I consistently bothered to try to listen to the FM rock stations. I recall it all starting to go downhill by the early 1980s, and every time you think it's gotten as bad as it can get, lo and behold it gets worse. Crap. Rot. Garbage.

    Admiral Kirk and I used to work together in radio back in the mid-late 1980s, and his take on the Classic rock radio mess is similar to mine. If I want to hear it, I'll listen to my own albums. For example the last time I played The Who's Odds and Sods I actually enjoyed "Long Live Rock" because I haven't let radio ruin it for me.

    I don't care about satellite or internet radio either (save Lino's show sometimes, if I get out of bed early enough on Fridays ). Hell I really don't bother much with the college stations or the local classical station any more either. The classical stations' programming has stagnated, and the local college stations, as lively as they can be, often go too deeply into pretentious eclecticism or amateurish noise for me.

    Most unfortunately, my wife has taken a shine to the local Christian rock station, so I get exposed to that from time to time. It's like getting hit with a glancing blow of aural acid to my musical sensibilities; I'm an agnostic, and the message doesn't bother me, but as far as musical content is concerned, they play some of the most God-awful (no pun intended) offal known to mankind. If there is a musical hell, this is the kind of shit that they play. Hearing an auto-tune drenched, faux-Jamaican voice rapping about the rapture can and will open up new and truly bottomless levels of suffering!

    At this point all my car listening is done via iPod, or if I'm in my work truck, a case of trusty old cassettes does the trick. And I still acquire and listen to new and/or different stuff all the time. When I can listen to what I want, how I want, when I want, it doesn't make much sense to turn things over to the Central Scrutinizer.
    Hired on to work for Mr. Bill Cox, a-fixin' lawn mowers and what-not, since 1964.

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  10. #35
    That's Mr. to you, Sir!! Trane's Avatar
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    Well, Belgium's main classic rock station (state-owned) has gradually evolved to include 80's pop-rock stuff (as to keep their 40-60's targetted audience)..... ans obviously I preferred the older version... It's got the biggest market share in French-speaking Belgium nowadays (6.7%)... and gets many fans in Flanders and Northern France, where no such CR radios exists... In The Netherlands, there used to be Arrow Rock, but it disappeared from the airwaves a few years bck

    Actually it (Classic Rock 21) >> now Classic 21 was never a 100% CR station, because it played new suff from old bands and newer bands that sounded classic rock
    my music collection increased tenfolds when I switched from drug-addicts to complete nutcases.

  11. #36
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    you may have dozens or even hundreds of people who wish they'd change things up, but the station management perceives the situation as there being thousands of listeners who are happy with the present playlist
    I'm sure it's probably more than dozens or hundreds of listeners that wish they'd change it up, but they (the corporations/radio stations) are obviously doing something right, because this radio format just will not go away. I can only speak for this area of the country I live in, but we've had the same "classic/rock" radio station doing the same thing for more than 20 years. And it's the same "morning zoo" (morning drive, or whatever it's called) and the same cast of yobos and clowns doing their morning comedy thing for at least 15-20 years. It's really amazing. How do I know this if I stopped tuning in at least ten years ago? Once in a while I get bored with my CDrs and AM/Sportstalk so I'll change to FM radio, just to see what's going on. And I swear, it's the usual chatter, with the usual clowns, and when they finally put on a "block of songs" the first thing you hear is "Sweet Home Alabama" . It's actually funny.

    But the format works, for the average, everyday American worker. In my work I have to do a lot of troubleshooting, so I visit my customers in their cubicles. Depending on who the customer is they're usually listening to some sonic wallpaper while they sit comatose at their workstations. If they're white/middle-aged, they're listening to the classic/rock station. And being the rock nerd I am I'll actually be paying attention to the music while I'm troubleshooting. I'll actually try to engage the customer in a talk about the music we're hearing. The responses are usually, "what?" , "oh that's nice, yeah I remember them." It's funny, but it's kinda sad and pathetic. But that's their demographic, the everyday, American worker who sits in a cubicle or drives a truck for a living.

  12. #37
    Highly Evolved Orangutan JKL2000's Avatar
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    I like the way The Classic Rock Society let's the term mean whatever they want it to mean. I've found out about artists that are anything but classic rock from their magazine. I agree, though, that it's a dumb term. Maybe the term should be "Classic Rock Radio," as in Rock Radio that's "classic."

  13. #38
    Member Mikhael's Avatar
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    It's crap. Sheer and utter commercial crap, from large corporations that don't give a fig about their customer. I wonder what would happen if all the Clear Channel stations started playing new stuff? Would audiences tune out, or actually start tuning in?
    Gnish-gnosh borble wiff, shlauuffin oople tirk.

  14. #39
    I worked a couple jobs ( kitchen and record store warehouse) where we would play classic rock bingo. Fill in the spaces with a band instead of numbers. Center space was Free. Those would always be the days when they would play unusual stuff or no Led Zeppelin. I used to have a row that I thought couldn't lose. Something like Floyd, Zep, Boston, Seger. It never worked until the last time I played and the game ended in twenty minutes. Could be fun occasionally and make you want to hear the same old shit, especially if there was money involved.

  15. #40
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    Quote Originally Posted by Vic2012 View Post
    I can only speak for this area of the country I live in, but we've had the same "classic/rock" radio station doing the same thing for more than 20 years. And it's the same "morning zoo" (morning drive, or whatever it's called) and the same cast of yobos and clowns doing their morning comedy thing for at least 15-20 years. It's really amazing. How do I know this if I stopped tuning in at least ten years ago? Once in a while I get bored with my CDrs and AM/Sportstalk so I'll change to FM radio, just to see what's going on. And I swear, it's the usual chatter, with the usual clowns, and when they finally put on a "block of songs" the first thing you hear is "Sweet Home Alabama" . It's actually funny.
    Sounds like Tampa. I wonder if there's something in the aquifer ?? It's as if they stopped buying records and CDs in 1980 and just started playing what they had laying around. Sure, that formula works with an aging demographic , and it obviously is working for the bean-counters. So I'm going to have to call that reality. So, what's the next step, Mr Accountant, in 10 years Beautiful Rock Melodies, followed in 10 more by Sacred Rock Hymns ? So I'm going to have to call that reality. And to paraphrase Triumph (The Insult Comic Dog) -- A reality I can Poop On !!

    Like pretty much everything else, radio will change or die. Major corporations have bought up anything successful and are squeezing out the $$, the creativity, the originality.( The Homogenization Of The American Trained Consumer). Any growth or evolution is going to happen on the Internet. Transmitters = railroad tracks. Handhelds have already taken over. Neighborhood radio, local school radio, (what am I talking about 'radio'- of course there's video too) broadcasting will get closer to everyone. I believe Alvin Toffler covered all this in his book Future Shock. (Amazing book - describes the world with the internet - Before it was invented.)

  16. #41
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    Quote Originally Posted by 80s were ok View Post
    people have been talking about the death of Rock Radio since like 1980!
    And for the most part,with some exceptions of course, that's when commercial rock radio began its steep decline. The 70's were the years of the really good rock radio stations, at least in Chicago where I live.

    We still have a pretty good one in WXRT, not as good as it once was but the best rock station in Chicago, by miles.

  17. #42
    Tribesman sonic's Avatar
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    People still listen to radio??? I haven't listened to radio since 1990 and it was bad enough then.

  18. #43
    I agree completely. Classic Rock DJs act like there has only been ten songs in the past fifty years, so they just those same ten songs over and over and over again on an endless loop. That's why I don't listen to Classic Rock radio. Also, to be honest, the only Classic Rock that I actually like is Aerosmith, Def Leppard, Elton John, and The Beatles and my local Classic Rock station never even plays those guys!

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    Other than sports radio, I haven't listened to the radio for 20 years. When I travel if I occasionally run across a classic rock station, I can handle it. But then, I haven't heard any of the songs for over two decades so hearing a few of them once in a while doesn't bother me.
    "The woods would be very silent if the only birds that sang were those who sang best..." - Henry David Thoreau

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    Quote Originally Posted by gryphs also View Post
    Other than sports radio, I haven't listened to the radio for 20 years. When I travel if I occasionally run across a classic rock station, I can handle it.
    Same here. My drive to work is very short. Most everything else is a short trip also, so I listen to sports, and talk radio (even the kind I disagree with), but usually when the sports turns to stuff like basketball and hockey, and then I have to switch away. For longer rides it's XM. Anyone who complains about "classic rock radio" has no reason to, unless they've got a gun to their head. There are other options. Otherwise, just turn the fucking thing off.

  21. #46
    Member Digital_Man's Avatar
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    Why not listen to XM for the shorter rides too. I know I would if I still had it. I hope my next car has satellite radio because even though you have to pay for it it's definitely worth it and still a lot better than regular radio(despite no full blown prog channel on XM).

  22. #47
    Member Digital_Man's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by gryphs also View Post
    Other than sports radio, I haven't listened to the radio for 20 years. When I travel if I occasionally run across a classic rock station, I can handle it. But then, I haven't heard any of the songs for over two decades so hearing a few of them once in a while doesn't bother me.

    So does this mean you don't like YES, ELP, Jethro TUll and Pink Floyd and to a lesser extent Genesis and Rush who are all considered classic rock now too?

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    Anybody live in So Cal? I listen to a station called 95.5 KLOS. They have a DJ named Bob Coburn that does a show Sundays 9:20 P.M-midnight called Nighttime Nuggets. He plays some pretty obscure stuff. He's even played some Gabriel-era Genesis and some Bebop Deluxe.

  24. #49
    Quote Originally Posted by Digital_Man View Post
    So does this mean you don't like YES, ELP, Jethro TUll and Pink Floyd and to a lesser extent Genesis and Rush who are all considered classic rock now too?
    Let's be real, you're gonna get one Aqualung per one thousand Slow Rides. And the Pink Floyd will be Another Brick In The Wall and at this point I'd just as soon hear Loverboy

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    Quote Originally Posted by trurl View Post
    Let's be real, you're gonna get one Aqualung per one thousand Slow Rides. And the Pink Floyd will be Another Brick In The Wall and at this point I'd just as soon hear Loverboy
    Speaking of KLOS, they sometimes pull out Echoes.

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