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When did classic rock become "classic rock"?

jlindsey86

jlindsey86

Well-Known Member
Im sure I will get several opinions on this, but thats a good thing. Here in north TX we have a classic rock station 92.5 KZPS who occasionaly advertise as being the best north TX classic rock station for the past 20 years. What I find funny is that they do play quite a bit of rock from '87-'94. Such as Metallica, Guns N Roses, Queensryche, Nirvana, Pearl Jam. Most of these bands were just getting started in '87 and didnt have there biggest hits until a couple of years later. So obviously in '87 these guys werent classic rock and its still hard for me to consider them as. What I want to know is what was considered classic rock back in 1987 and how old does a song or band have to be to be considered classic.

By 1987 Van Halen had basically run their course, sure they had a couple of big hits left, but I know they werent considered classic rock at that time. Maybe a better example would be AC/DC. There is no doubt that their heyday was throughout the later 70's and early 80's with smaller hits in the mid eighties. Sure they still had a large fanbase but would I be correct in saying that in '87 or 88' AC/DC werent exactly current. Werent bands such as U2, Bon Jovi, REM, Cinderella, Motley Crue, and Def Leppard tearing up the charts? So even though AC/DC still had a big comeback with Razors Edge in 1990 were they "classic rock" in the late eighties? If not then who were? It seems like since most of the classic rock stations play alot of the above mentioned bands then there wasnt much for a "classic rock" station to play in the late eighties.

I guess one thing I am getting at if Nirvanas material (say '90-94) is being played on a classic rock station then it wont be but just a couple of more years and they will be playing Creed. Hell they've played Metallica's "Unforgiven II" and that came out in 1997.
 
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Once the song has been played too much on the radio to be enjoyed anymore, it goes into this format.
 
I hate the term "classic rock" as its redundant and creates an unnecessary category within a category. Give me a station that plays Elvis followed by the Clash followed the Dave Clark 5 followed by Zappa followed by Tom Petty and...you get the picture. Actually, Little Steven is doing this to great accolades.

Anyway, the term is malleable. I recall a NY station saying "today's classic rock" and they would throw on the latest Petty. While I love Petty, it seems something has to be around a while until it attains classic status.

The term was originally created to define the 60s era bands and to seperate them from the punk/new wave sound. Now, as that demographic ages, you have to redefine it yet again or at least tweak it.

Eric Burdon, Bill Haley, Nirvana. Bring it all on. I just want good rock and roll.
 
Jack Lord said:
I. Give me a station that plays Elvis followed by the Clash followed the Dave Clark 5 followed by Zappa followed by Tom Petty and...you get the picture. A
Eric Burdon, Bill Haley, Nirvana. Bring it all on. I just want good rock and roll.
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HERE, HERE!!! I stand and applaud!
 
Jack Lord said:
I hate the term "classic rock" as its redundant and creates an unnecessary category within a category. Give me a station that plays Elvis followed by the Clash followed the Dave Clark 5 followed by Zappa followed by Tom Petty and...you get the picture. Actually, Little Steven is doing this to great accolades.

Anyway, the term is malleable. I recall a NY station saying "today's classic rock" and they would throw on the latest Petty. While I love Petty, it seems something has to be around a while until it attains classic status.

The term was originally created to define the 60s era bands and to seperate them from the punk/new wave sound. Now, as that demographic ages, you have to redefine it yet again or at least tweak it.

Eric Burdon, Bill Haley, Nirvana. Bring it all on. I just want good rock and roll.
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That makes sense. I guess I didnt really come right out and ask why the term "classic rock" came to be. I definately agree with you about it being an unnecessary category, to me there shouldnt really be any categories in music. I hate it when people try to label something as they see it.
 
I read somewhere, Led Zep invented the genre "classic rock". I like the debate of who falls into 'anthem rock' vs. 'classic rock'. This is always a great road trip conversation......
 
I send out a plea to all Classic Rock stations, if you are going to play something by Hendrix, enough with All Along the Watchtower. Jimi had a more tunes then just that
 
Classic Rock as a format is the de-evolution of AOR (Album Oriented Radio) which was itself the de-evolution of the truly classic "underground" FM of the late 1960's/early 1970's.

EDIT: IMO, of course!
 
Al I know is, I've been listening to classic rock stations since elementary school (early 80's) and they played the same thing then that they do now: Bad Company, Zep, Stones, Foreigner, Boston, Aerosmith.
 
mg196 said:
Al I know is, I've been listening to classic rock stations since elementary school (early 80's) and they played the same thing then that they do now: Bad Company, Zep, Stones, Foreigner, Boston, Aerosmith.
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Yes yes yes.
I have a station in my area that has played that and other similar stuff since the early 70's. They have never changed their playlist. They're stuck in the time period of say 1969 to 1978.
"Behind the tiimes, ALL the time!" is my personal slogan for the station. The only time I listen to them is for Little Steven.
Tom
 
mg196 said:
Al I know is, I've been listening to classic rock stations since elementary school (early 80's) and they played the same thing then that they do now: Bad Company, Zep, Stones, Foreigner, Boston, Aerosmith.
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I remember that format in Philly in the late 80's. I'd add Yes, ELP, Genesis, Queen, and a lot of other prog-rock. Anyway, moving to the Midwest in the early 90's I found the bands mg196 was talking about, minus my add list, and with the addition of Molly Hatchet, Skynyrd, Outlaws, etc. And Seger, who truly is the Springsteen of the Midwest. Oddly, I don't remember hearing all that much Nugent until I moved out here, either. So there's a similar core, with the regional fixation more on prog in the East and Southern in the midwest and probably south? All I know is, I rarely hear Yes or Elvis Costello on the radio around here and I miss 'em. And a big shout-out to Pierre Robert (that's ROW-BARE) on the mighty 93.3 WMMR Phi-la-delphia for the musical education...
Dan
 
My bitch is that the classic stations play the same five songs from any given band. We do have a station out of Little Rock that plays "deep cuts" the occasional Floyd "One of These Days", Doors "the WASP", Robin Trower, ect. Just my $.02
 
As a rough rule-of-thumb, I draw the line on classic rock at about the same time that we draw the line for classic/vintage audio gear: the fifites, sixties and seventies gave us CLASSIC rock. With a few 1980s exceptions, that was the end of it.

Since then? Well, disco was superseded by hip-hop and rap; pop stations started playing Blur trying to imitate the Beatles instead of playing the Beatles; Janis Joplin, Janis Ian and Linda Ronstadt got replaced by the likes of Madonna and then Britney Spears and now Paris Hilton [excuse me whle I :puke:] and NOTHING has ever begun to replace the likes of Led Zep, Steppenwolf, The Guess Who, Aerosmith, Deep Purple, AC/DC, etc...

The term "Rock Classics" might actually be extended to include a wide range of songs and styles including everything from Chubby Checkers' Twist songs to BTO's "Let it Ride" to Bob Seeger's ballads; from "anthems" to "heavy metal" and perhaps some crossover tunes [Like Arlo Guthrie's "City of New Orleans" and some James Taylor folk songs] but I can't think of anything since the mid-late 80s (at the latest) that I'd consider classic rock.

Punk is not classic rock. SOME few disco crossover songs may be. Rap and Hip-Hop definitely are not. Bubble Gum songs from the same era might get played for chuckles, but aren't really classics rock. A few early Bon Jovi songs and later Aerosmith songs and a few Prince tunes might slip through on a pass, if they say please.

That's my own subjective, personal, idiosyncratic take on it. Others may disagree.
 
While I am not always pleased with the quality of signal, XM Radio has a station that is called Deep Tracks on Channel 40 that does go beyond the basic top 5 hits of any one particular group of the 60's/70's genre. Top Tracks on Channel 46 fits more into the Classic Rock that most of us expect in that format.

I do enjoy No commercials and in the car, the sound quality is not really even an issue.
 
KGON 92.5 fm Portland Oregon. is the definition of Classic rock. Their playlist includes somewhere around 900+ songs. And the majority of their mid day is taken up with what amounts to requests. The evenings are usually some sort of show centered on a specific band or other rock history type show. Their early Beatles shows is excellent.

Of course KGON is special while they are owned by some big assed company they have such a big market share that they do their own thing. With DJ's that have been with the station for over 25 years in most cases.

ONLY bad thing is the Mark And Brian Show out of LA in the morning. So before the 25 song set starts at 10:00 it sucks.

Streaming available on line.
 
Can it be said that the classic rock format would extend to the repertoire of artists from the "classic" era but playing in another era-e.g. mid 80's resurgence of Purple, Yes, Moodies, Winwood, etc? I mean, I never hear anything newer than "Start Me Up" as far as Stones here, but there are a few later tracks I could do with hearing now and again. But noooo-here's "Brown Sugar" again.
Then again, the local classic station here does run an all-request lunch hour and people keep requesting the same old crap. Or, they only use the ones that fit their library. That's it. It's a plot.
Just another reason to keep the vinyl. I am never gonna hear "Darkness On The Edge Of Town" on the radio in the Midwest. Or anything by Yes except "Roundabout".
Also, the "oldies" station here has switched to "the greatest hits of the 60's and 70's" and it's not a bad mix but they keep throwing Huey Lewis in there and that's MY teenage years...this is the OLDIES STATION!!
Sigh.
Dan
 
If you ask me, a CD by a pair of geezers like Eric Clapton and J.J. Cale is Classic Rock from the git-go. The classic rock station that I listen to agrees... but they have a much larger playlist than most.
 
My bitch is that the classic stations play the same five songs from any given band.
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Yea you got that right!

Its a sanctioned contradiction. DJs rave about performers such as Van Morrison but play just "Moondance", "Brown Eyed Girl" and a couple of others. For crying out loud, the man has loads of critically acclaimed albums spanning the 60s to the present. That means he has a lot more songs worth playing. Ditto Hendrix, Dylan and scores of others.
 
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